Savrova’s eyes went wide for a moment, while the other Empowered clenched their weapons tight; the little girl looked ready to rip Frank’s throat out with her teeth — and probably could. “You would condemn these men to death, then,” Savrova finally replied. “And you would still be without your precious life force, whatever this is. Now, you are right about numbers. So, this is why you will come with us, rather than we let you go.” At this, Savrova switched back to Czech. “Zamířit!” A moment later, there were at least ten barrels bearing on the Americans.
Frank frowned. There really wasn’t a good way out of this. He knew — rather, Yushchenko knew — that this particular team of Empowered wouldn’t drift from their particular brand of ideology. It was worth a shot, but no luck.
He looked at the ground, trying to go for a defeated look, and dropped his weapon even as he felt his heart rate start to increase. That’s right. It’s go time. Tense up. Broadcast it to Maggie over there. “Fine,” Frank said. “Then can one of your boys give our man here a hand? He’s in pretty bad shape, and our colored fella here could use some help too.”
Frank turned to Cal, who had a quizzical look on his face. Frank nodded at him, then turned to Maggie and motioned for her to lower her weapon — but giving his hand enough of a wiggle that, he hoped, would get her ready to deploy her Enhancement. Maggie threw the rifle aside with disgust — a little too real to be feigned — but gave Frank just the slightest of nods.
“Vezměte své zbraně. Nápověda stařec,” Savrova barked. “Získejte nosítka pro zraněného muže.”
Mikhail suddenly straightened up and blinked several times, his gaze wandering for a moment. “Maria Ivanovna, ya chuvstvuyu, chto vernetsya,” he said in Russian.
“Slava Bogu. Rezyume negativnoye pole.” Savrova turned and smiled at Frank, whose heart dropped.
Here we go. “Now!” Frank yelled, pulling his knife again and sending it flying toward Mikhail in a smooth, expert motion. It buried itself in Mikhail’s stomach — not enough to kill him, but enough, according to Yushchenko’s memories, to continue to keep him from disabling all the Variant abilities in the area.
“Zachyťte je!” Savrova yelled, prompting several soldiers to rush toward the three remaining Variants. For a moment, Frank was surprised they weren’t just shooting, but then he remembered Yushchenko again — that wasn’t the plan. They were to be captured. Taken to Leningrad. And experimented on.
Frank dove for the mud on the trail, grasping his pistol with his right hand. He hit the deck and looked up to find two bodies lunging for him. There were two shots, and then Frank was covered in wounded men — but only for a moment. Just as the two soldiers fell on him, they were lifted back up — by that goddamn girl. Frank immediately rolled away just as the girl tried to hit him with the bodies of the men he’d just shot.
“Maggie!” Frank yelled. He ventured a look up the ridge, only to find her wrestling with the disappearing guy — the teleporter, as Yushchenko called him — and another couple guards. They would keep her distracted enough to prevent her focusing. Shit. Instinctively, Frank dodged just in time, avoiding another 185-pound soldier being used as a goddamn club.
Ekaterina tossed the two guards aside — very, very easily — and picked up a rock from the side of the trail that was easily fifty pounds, chucking it toward Frank as if it were a baseball. Frank ducked again, rolling into a crouch and getting his gun up. And then he paused.
That’s a ten-year-old girl.
The girl smiled wickedly at Frank, a smile that reminded him of a wolf baring its teeth, and then threw another large rock, sending him diving toward his left. He landed at the feet of Savrova, who trained a pistol down at him. “Don’t move a muscle,” she warned.
Suddenly, there was a horrible shriek.
Frank looked to see Cal — now looking like a goddamn twenty-year-old football player — with his hand on Ekaterina’s shoulder. “You need to put the gun down, ma’am,” Cal warned in the clear, baritone voice of his youth. “This girl here don’t need to get hurt now, does she?”
Frank couldn’t see what effect Cal was having on the girl, but he somehow seemed to be getting stronger — like someone was inside his body with an air pump, blowing up his muscles all at once. It was the damnedest thing in a long line of damned things Frank had seen lately.
Savrova turned to train her weapon on Cal — or at least, that’s what Frank thought she was doing.
Instead, she fired two rounds into Ellis’s prone body.
“Make your choice,” Savrova sneered. “Her life or his.”
Cal began to rush over, but the girl — apparently free of whatever Cal had been doing to her — grabbed him and leaped upon his back, pulling herself up onto him and shrieking hysterically in rage. She must’ve had enough strength left to unbalance Cal — she should’ve been able to throw him clear down the trail — and both came tumbling down onto the mud and rock.
Frank ran over to Ellis, sliding down next to him as if he were sliding into second. Immediately, Frank checked his pulse, felt for breath, all the little things the doctor told him to do. Nothing.
“Frank?”
Oh, shit. “Ellis? That you, Ellis?” Frank whispered, grasping the man’s hand as the Southerner’s voice echoed in his head.
“This isn’t good, Frank.”
“I know, Ellis. Cal’s on his way. Cal’s gonna help you.”
“Ain’t nothing that nigger can do now, Frank. He’s not a bad man. Tell him that for me, will you? It weren’t personal.”
“You tell him, Ellis.”
“They got me, Frank. They got me here. And it don’t look good. What they got planned.”
“Who? The Russians? What plan?”
“Frank… it… not… the Russians. Not the Russians. The thing that’s… it’s… no. NO!”
“ELLIS!”
And then Ellis was gone. Just… gone. Like nobody Frank had ever watched over before. All Ellis’s memories, his knowledge, literally torn away from the world, torn away from Frank’s waiting mind — pulled away violently, Frank realized with a dawning dread that focused his eyes down onto Ellis’s face. Ellis stared back, glassy-eyed, his mouth open, his brow furrowed, frozen in a death unlike any other Frank had experienced.
The dread spread through him, and Frank squeezed Ellis’s hand so hard. “Ellis, God, Ellis, you gotta come back. You gotta fight through.”
Nothing. And inside Frank, the fear and abject terror grew and grew, like a beast trying to claw its way out of his very soul. Such intense fear… whatever had happened, Frank knew as surely as he knew himself, was so very, very wrong.
“Frank.”
He looked up to see Maggie standing over him, Cal beside her.
“Wh… what?”
She shrugged. “They took off. Retreated. Like they heard a dog whistle or something and went running. No idea why.”
Frank let go of Ellis’s hand, felt his skin slowly peel away from Ellis’s cold, clammy fingers. “Good. That’s… good, I guess.” Frank staggered to his feet. “Cal, we’re taking Ellis home. Can you carry him?”
Cal nodded. “Could probably carry a truck right now, Frank. I got him.” He stooped down and scooped up Ellis’s limp body with the ease of picking up a baby.
Frank looked to Cal, then Maggie. “Got it from the girl. He somehow acquired her power,” Maggie said. “Something, isn’t it?”