The Freaks

chapter seventeen

The weightlessness only lasts for a moment.

I open my eyes and see stone. It takes me a couple of blinks to realize that we are just in front of where the entrance of the Ghetto would be, but instead there are larger rocks blocking the way to go to either in or out. I briefly saw this place in the distance just before the Freak transported myself, Serena and Nox into the Ghetto. The familiar tall buildings are still all around us.

Back then, it was pouring it down with rain, but now it's as dry as a bone. I can actually taste the dust swirling around in the air, making my lips dry and my throat scratchy the longer we just stand here.

The whole city, what was once known as London, is no longer how I remember it. Back before I became a Freak, the buildings used to be intact, but now they are crumbling and falling apart—bit by bit. The skyscrapers—at least that's what they seemed to be like when I was a child—are all cut in half. Not literally cut in half, but they might as well be. The roofs of all the buildings have caved in and in its place are jagged metal pipes and supports that are completely useless now.

The City of London, once a glamorous, shining place is now a ruined city.

Five years ago, there was a radiation attack. Not only did the radiation change us, the Freaks, it also changed everything around us. It destroyed our homes and our families and left us in its place to wander around amongst the rubble, searching for a place and a purpose in life.

How I wish the radiation destroyed us as well. Why couldn't it have killed all of us Freaks just like it did our parents, our friends, and all of our family? If it did then we wouldn't have to go through this hell of trying to survive.

"Do you know the plan?" Nox whispers to me as we continue to make our way to the other Soldiers and the prison, each footstep causing my heart to beat faster.

I turn my head to look at him but he doesn't look back. "You mean the one that was drilled into my head about a thousand times?" I turn back to the path, letting the words hang in the air for a few seconds before I say, "Yeah, I know the plan."

We lapse into silence again as my mind wanders. Nox doesn't react to my sarcasm but my heart is pounding too fast against my chest to care. The effects of Serena's kiss and the mission quite literally on our path is making my nerves skyrocket beyond my control.

I wonder briefly, as I glance over at him and catch his stony expression, if he feels the same as me. Whatever emotions are running through his mind are concealed perfectly; he looks like he does when he's sauntering aimlessly through the Ghetto.

"How do you know where you're going?" I ask him to break the silence.

He doesn't glance back at me as he says, "When Serena and I saved your arse from the execution, we travelled this route to get to the prison." He finally turns his head to look at me. "It seems to be the best place to go at the moment."

As silence cuts between us again, my mind can't help but wander to the bad scenarios about this mission. Surely the Soldiers will know who Jackson Parker and Timothy Hayes were; surely they will know that we are not them at first glance. Does Jackson and Timothy being privates help us in this situation? How long have they been Soldiers? Are they new enough that no one knows who they really are?

Despite all of the questions overwhelming my mind, my only real worry is if my American accent will be good enough, strangely.

I can do this, I tell myself as I lift my head up, keeping my chin high. I curl my fingers to form a fist, feeling the power of multiple abilities course through my every vein, cell and fibre of my being.