It was never effortless to love Aaron Warner. He was a difficult teenage boy who seemed to forget a lot of the time that that was what he was-a teenage boy. He'd always felt that loving or even caring for him would be impossible for all the world to...
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TEARS ARE STREAMING down my face so profusely, I know it'll leave stains for the rest of my life. I need to control myself. Need to get Juliette and Kenji the help they need. Need to get them to Sonya and Sara.
My powers begin to wear off, as if that injection the soldiers gave me was necessary to keeping them alert and strong.
"Juliette—" I pant out, sobbing still.
She nods, frailly trying to get to her feet. "I-I'm here, Mara."
"You two need help," I sniffle out. "Sonya and Sara are going to help you. They will."
I help her stand and we make our way over to Kenji, whose entire body lies on the floor brokenly. It takes everything in me not to break apart again and die with him. I can't feel a pulse. I can't feel any sign of life on him. Please please please please—
"Mara," Juliette's soft whisper. I glance at her and take a deep breath. She hugs me again and says into my shoulder, "We're here. It's going to be okay."
All I can do is take her word for it. They don't know what Anderson is capable of. Or rather, what he was capable of. I can't believe he's dead. How is Aaron going to take it? He'll be fine, I know it, but. . .oh, God, I'm going to be Supreme Commander of North America.
I wash those thoughts away. They're too much for me right now and I can't handle it. Kenji needs help and I won't be distracted by things that haven't even happened yet.
So Juliette and I grab him by the arms and lift him. Only then do I notice how strong Juliette is. Have her powers advanced since I last saw them? Then I realize something even more mind blowing: she's not wearing any gloves. And she can still touch us. What happened—
We're running down the hall, kicking down a door that leads to Sonya and Sara. There they are. It tears my heart knowing they were so close and I never found out. However, they look healthy. At least Anderson most likely didn't torture them. If he had, I'd go right back to his corpse and shoot it until it was unrecognizable.
"Mara," Sonya says.
I nod once, controlling my emotions as best I can. "Hey. Kenji and Juliette need help. Now." I feel awful for giving them demands so instantly without even properly asking them how they are or what they went through but I care too much about my best friends to ask right now.
I thank any God there is the second they don't protest or start sobbing at the sight of their frail, weak bodies. Juliette can hardly stand and I'm the only thing holding her upright at the moment. We've placed Kenji on the bed and I could kiss the twins at the sight of them immediately getting to work.
They hold their hands to his head, first. Then his heart. Then they alternate, taking turns forcing life back into different parts of his body until Kenji is stirring, his eyes flickering but not opening, his head whipping back and forth.
