I got my shield up in time, but it was instinct rather than a skill that saved us. Even then, it wasn't perfect. There was a burst of light from the cart. The blast radiated outwards. I went flying.
Then unconsciousness followed. Maybe it was only a few seconds, but it seemed longer. The next thing I knew, Mister Jones was helping me to my feet. He said something, but I was too woozy to make it out.
'Whassat?' I asked.
'You saved us, kid,' he said. 'All of us.'
'Don't call me kid,' I told him. 'My name's Axel.'
Although it could be Frank or Joe or Bill or anything, really.
Who knew?
'Axel.' He gripped my shoulder. 'Thank you.'
I looked around and only now appreciated the level of devastation. Whatever was packed into that cart was designed to blow us to kingdom come. Windows. Walls. Carpets. Everything was black and smoking or blasted into nothing. Most of the penthouse apartment is now open to the elements.
Chad was helping his sister up. Brodie was walking around, looking dazed. Dan—poor Dan—was picking himself up off the floor. Gripped tightly in his hand was the handle of the food cover. Attached to the handle was six inches of the cover. Where the food cart was is a hole in the floor.
If I hadn't put up my shield…
I didn't even want to think about it.
'Are you responsible for this?' Chad snapped, turning on Mister Jones. 'Did you try to kill us?'
Jones shook his head in disbelief. 'You don't get it, do you?' he said, now looking angry. 'I'm here to help you. This was Ravana and his group. They're going to keep on trying to kill you until they succeed. There's only one way for you to survive this.'
'And how's that?' Brodie asked.
'You need to come with me,' Jones said. 'You need to get trained so you can fight Typhoid.'
'And if we don't?' Ebony asked.
As far as I could remember, this was the first time Ebony had spoken. She appeared shaken from the explosion, but not weakened. I suspect that somewhere beneath that quiet exterior was a strong character waiting to emerge.
'Then you won't survive.' Jones spread his hands. 'Look around you. Typhoid almost got you this time. It's only because of Axel's powers that we're alive. And if you don't care about your own safety, what about the safety of everyone else?'
I could hear distant sirens. There was probably debris from the explosion spread all over the street. Maybe people down there were injured or dying.
Strangely, it was Chad who spoke for us.
'Okay,' he said. 'We'll do it your way, but we're not your puppets.'
I gave a laugh. 'It's hard to imagine you as a puppet, Chad.'
'Very funny.'
'We need to get out of here,' Jones said. The sirens were drawing closer. 'The police will be here asking questions that nobody wants to answer. There's a van waiting in the alley behind. We'll take the stairs.'
It turned out the stairs weren't only a good option but the only option. The elevators were non-operational since the blast. We encountered people evacuating the building on the way down. It was eerily reminiscent of our attack on Ravana's building.
This is getting to be a habit.
A few minutes later, we were climbing into the side of something that looked like a delivery van but was very different inside. The interior had lounge chairs, marble-topped benches, oak wardrobes, and a television. Everything was a little shrunk as if they expect the occupants to be escapees from The Wizard of Oz, but it was still comfortable.
Except it had no windows.
That was disconcerting, but we climbed aboard while Mister Jones got in front with the driver.
Even before the engine started, Dan made himself busy. It seemed his appetite knew no boundaries. No sooner were we seated than he began to search the fridge for food.
'Really?' I said. 'You're hungry?'
He frowned. 'Someone blew up my ice cream.'
Can't argue with that.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I looked for somewhere to sit. There was a place next to Ebony. I smiled, and she gave a small smile. I wasn't sure what to say. We'd been through a lot in a short time, but I barely knew her.
I stuck out my hand. 'Hi. I'm Axel.'
She looked at me as if I were slightly mad but shook hands.
'Uh, I'm Ebony,' she said, confused. 'We already met. Did you hit your head or—'
'No,' I said, reddening. 'I'm just kidding around.'
Well, that went well! Now she thinks I'm a crazy person!
If I'd been good with the girls before, I certainly wasn't now.
'How long do you think this will take?' she asked.
'I don't know.' Fortunately, she'd decided to ignore my gawkiness. 'Mister Jones said something about it taking several hours to get to the base.'
Ebony let out a long sigh. She seemed so fragile. It was hard to believe she was part of this superhero gig. She seemed more the type that would happily live in a country town as the local librarian.
'Maybe you won't have to fight,' I said suddenly. 'I mean if you don't want to.'
She looked at me, confused. 'I don't know what you mean.'
'I'm just saying, well, you didn't choose to be here, and you might want out.'
Ebony frowned. 'Where would I go?'
That was a good question. It was a big, bad world out there and especially tough for someone with no family, friends, or money. And for that matter, where would any of us go? We knew no one apart from each other and had no money or resources.
I noticed a mark on the back of Ebony's hand.
'Is that a burn?' I said, taking her hand. 'From the blast?'
'It's okay.'
'You should get it checked out.'
At that moment, Brodie came over and saw me holding Ebony's hand. Her eyes narrowed.
'Everything okay?' she asked.
'Ebony's got a burn on her hand.'
'Really?'
I didn't like the accusatory tone in Brodie's voice. I glanced back at Ebony and realized she was nice-looking. Not in the same way as Brodie. Ebony had more of an elf look. Still, she was an attractive girl.
I released her hand.
Yes, really, I thought. Why else would I be holding her hand?
'You should get that checked out,' Brodie said.
'I will,' Ebony said. 'I'll get them to look at it when we reach the facility.'
Brodie gave me a look like she wanted to hit me or something.
I settled back into my seat. The next few hours passed slowly. There were books in the van, but none were page-turners. The television was still showing all the same old junk. Chad came over to me.
'Got any ideas about where we're headed?' he asked.
I shrugged. 'I'm not sure. Probably some sort of military base.'
'I think we're going to South Carolina.'
'What's in South Carolina?' I asked.
'There's a major military base at Charleston,' he said. 'It would be easy for an organization like The Agency to work in conjunction with the American government.'
'You think The Agency is working with the government?'
'Sure, it is. Haven't you seen Men in Black? Haven't you seen all the conspiracy stuff about secret societies and the New World Order?'
'You think the government is in on this whole thing?'
'Who knows? I don't trust any of them.'
No argument there. 'It's hard to tell what's going on from inside this truck,' I said. 'We could be sitting in a car park with the engine running for all we know.'
'You watch,' he said. 'It's Charleston.'
I nodded. Closing my eyes, I slept until the van gave a sudden jolt. I wondered what had brought me back to life, but then I realized what it was: the truck had stopped. It looked like the others had grabbed a nap as well. No sooner were we looking blearily at each other than there was a distant beep beep beep, and I felt the truck go in reverse. It stopped again, and the entire rear opened, flipping upwards to reveal an underground facility illuminated by stark artificial lights.
Mister Jones waited outside.
'Welcome to The Agency,' he said.