“Nope.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“You also find out who the criminals at school are because suddenly they want to be your friends.”
“Did you start hanging out with them?” Enzo asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m not stupid. I can tell when people want to use me.”
Blue twisted in her seat to better see Enzo. “So why did you all rescue me from my cell?”
Enzo coughed uncomfortably and shifted behind the wheel. “I don’t know. Ben told us to do it. Maybe he knew we’d need your help escaping.”
“Oh.” She didn’t sound particularly pleased by the answer. “So you just needed to use my powers.”
“It had to be something more than that,” Charity said. Her father was dying. She refused to believe their trip to the prison had only been to prevent a worse death. “Blue must do something important in the future.”
“Important for who?” Blue asked. “For you?”
Charity sent a challenging look in her direction. “Is that too much a price to pay for rescuing you?”
“Depends on what you ask,” Blue said.
“No one will force you into anything.” Charity couldn’t keep the barb from her voice. “Most people help my family because they’re grateful.”
Blue slouched in her seat, every bit an ungrateful teenager. “What will I be asked to do when we get to New Salem?”
Did she want a detailed list? “You’ll go to school with the other children and work for the community one day a week like the rest of us.”
“Are other Empowereds there?”
“Not that I know of. People didn’t even know about my father.”
Blue sniffed suspiciously. “Will you tell people I’m a telekinetic?”
“Not unless you tell people I’m a psychic.”
Blue relaxed at that, and the group fell into silence again. More miles passed.
Blue and Enzo spoke to Charity every once in a while. She couldn’t carry a conversation for long. Her eyes kept being drawn to her father’s unconscious figure. It was as though she had to keep looking at him because she couldn’t believe what had happened. She’d always thought her father was indestructible. Larger than life.
How could she break this news to her family, to her mother? Charity would have to admit she’d been carrying a gun but hadn’t shot Schmitt before he’d killed her father. Why hadn’t her father told her to shoot sooner? He should’ve known.
Her father’s words came back to her.Sometimes there isn’t a safe option. But there had been. He should have warned her to shoot the man on sight. She would have rather lived with Enzo’s disapproval than with her father’s death.
The heart compression belt and oxygen pump from the first aid kit didn’t have the same power or effectiveness as ones in a hospital. After an hour, they kept flashing warnings that they weren’t intended for long-term use. Charity had no other choice but to keep them going.
More miles passed.
They saw signs for Springfield and went there to get gas and see if they could find a doctor.
No such luck.
Enzo bought a cheap phone and downloaded maps to lead them to Whitney Farms. He also bought some fruit that Charity ignored. She had no appetite.
Ten minutes later, the car turned off the interstate, and they started driving on less maintained roads to reach the Whitney farming compound. Charity couldn’t put off the inevitable.She pulled out her phone, looked at it for several trembling moments, then punched in her mother’s number.
Her mother picked up almost immediately. “Hello?”