The Neo-Spartans: Altered World (6 page)

Quinn looked in the direction he was focused on and spotted two Social Defense Force vehicles cruising the area. Working in unison, brother and sister quickly moved along the rod, and shot inside the building. Once inside, Quinn smacked Gabriel on the back of his head.

              “Ouch! What was that for?”

              Instead of answering she grabbed his sleeve and they dashed out of the building. Slinking along, they ran down a gauntlet of condemned buildings. Taking the risk of something collapsing on them was a better choice than being cornered by the SD Forces. They sprinted through the abandoned alleys of the neighborhood, and through some gnarly underpasses that smelled of rot. They kept running until they were sure they’d put some distance between themselves and the cruisers they had spotted. When they reached the edge of the city, Quinn realized she was tight again, stretched like a rubber band, ready to snap. She stopped abruptly, grabbed Gabriel by the shoulders and gave him a hard shake.

              “Damn it, Gabriel! Cops! You got the cops after you! This is all your fault!”

              “Are you nuts? I’ve no idea why these cops were there…”

              “Cause you’re all idiots. You do this reckless nonsense like it’s an innocent game. It’s illegal and punishable. You’re Neo-Spartans for Pete’s sake. You’re going to make all of us suffer for the kicks you get out of this. How selfish are you?!”

              Gabriel rolled his eyes. He had heard the lecture many times. Before he could open his mouth, Quinn was all over him.

              “Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. You almost killed yourself there. For what? Just to spite me? To show off to the rest of the idiots what a hero you are by running away from your sister? You think you can pull this kind of crap and get away with it forever? You think your boring sister will always show up and straighten things out, cover it up, take the blame for it? Just cause you are so darn special?!! Well, I’m sick of it, Gabriel. I don’t care about your gift; I don’t care if it gets lost. It’s a total waste anyway. All it does is give you license to constantly screw up. Well, guess what? Your screw-ups are putting everybody else in danger. If you have some kind of suicide itch go ahead, scratch it, just don’t pull everybody else into your mess.”

              Gabriel just stared at her. Her face seemed strange to him, eyes darkened by ire, features twisted. It was a different Quinn. The annoyingly composed one was gone. Her words hurt him, but oddly enough, this change that took over her didn’t bother him. In fact, she was more accessible. He broke free from her grip and shoved her away.

              “Get over it, Quinn, nobody asked you for any favors. You do it ’cause you like it. Good reliable Quinn, solid as a rock. She’s the real Declan offspring, not like her useless brat of a brother. You love hearing junk like this, don’t you? It’s music to your ears. So you breathe down my neck, annoy the living daylights out of me and make sure you’re there when I trip up. So what do you expect me to do? I have to provide my big sister with the opportunity to shine again. And I do. So, relax. I make you look good. You should thank me instead of going all hissy and mental on me.”

              Quinn remained silent. Hmmph, thought Gabriel, he was right. Her furious outburst had made her more accessible. For the first time, what he said registered with her. He wasn’t just a static noise she ignored. She was shocked that her puny opponent had delivered a winning punch. It was just like regular fighting, Gabriel observed: she had left herself open and he had pummeled her with an effective blow. He made a mental note never to do this himself. It was ironic she had inadvertently taught him something.

              Quinn couldn’t look at his face any longer; she turned her back on him and started walking. She couldn’t wait to get back to the Triffid Forest and be done with this assignment. Gabriel followed from behind. He watched his sister closely. The drive was there but the confidence was gone. It had switched sides. It was with him now. And for the first time he didn’t try to escape into the fantasy of planning another incredible parkour stunt but looked forward to facing Kilbert. Gabriel was beginning to enjoy this power shift.

* * *

              When they reached the edge of the Triffid Forest, Quinn stopped and took a deep breath in an attempt to clear out the emotional crud. She glanced back at Gabriel. The glint in his eyes made her bristle involuntarily. Insolent little brat! What was he grinning about?! She nodded toward the forest and ventured in. They moved through the thick foliage of the jungle and the plants swayed and hissed with subdued undertones. Quinn knew the plants were sensing troubled water. She hurried along and soon found the groups of students dispersed throughout the forest, diligently planting seeds and tending to existing crops. She looked around for Kilbert but couldn’t spot him.

             
“What took you so long?” His voice made her jump. She whipped around to see him standing beside her. Kilbert had an uncanny ability to appear noiselessly out of nowhere. It was something they all tried to develop, but nobody was remotely close to his level of skill. Quinn met his eyes and realized he wasn’t just making conversation, he expected an answer.

              “We got hung up.”

              “That’s exactly why I sent you. To avoid hang ups.”

              For the second time today she felt as if she’d been stabbed. Maybe Gabriel was right. Maybe she did love cleaning up his mess so she could get Kilbert’s praise. And when she didn’t she felt awful. The thought of this sickened her. Quinn glared at Gabriel, wishing she could make him pay for this. The trees around her came to life. Gabriel noticed and the corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk.

              “Fail!”

              Kilbert ignored him but fixed Quinn with a hardened gaze. She knew she was in for it. Waking up the trees with sisterly love was not a smart move. Still, why was Kilbert cutting Gabriel so much slack?

              “Maybe you should ask him what took so long,” she said in her calmest voice.

              “I am asking you, Quinn.”

              This definitely stoked Gabriel’s fire.

              “Yeah, Quinn, he’s asking you. Dropping the ball on your responsibilities?”

              “This is your mess, Gabriel, cop to it.”

              There was no apology in her voice and the message was as much for her Kilbert as for her brother. Kilbert placed his hand firmly on her shoulder and made her look him in the eyes. His face was so placid, with not a trace of anger, and yet this scared her more than anything.

              “Quinn, imagine you were in charge of Pandora’s Box. You had to guard it carefully so it never got opened. But somehow your heart wasn’t in it. You were a bit reluctant, even negligent. So the box got opened and disasters of mythological proportions ensued. Now who would you say was responsible for that? The box or the person who was supposed to guard it and make sure the lid stayed tightly shut?”

              She felt the heat of guilt and shame rise from the pit of her stomach all the way up to her cheeks. She hated it when Kilbert used his wisdom and knowledge to pin her against the wall. But she was not in the mood for repentance. She stood up to him, unflinching. “Kilbert, why on Earth do we keep Pandora’s Box around?” She threw a look at Gabriel. “As we know, nothing good comes out of it.”

              “You’ve forgotten the story, haven’t you? One precious thing remained inside the box. Hope. You lose hope, you lose everything.”

              Quinn raised her hand, not wanting him to finish the thought. She couldn’t bear to hear it. He was so right, so wise and she was just as dumb as her little brother. She bit her lip. There was nothing she could say. No apology she could offer. She was crushed and Gabriel loved every second of it. He moved in pretend humility and gave her a hug of forgiveness, and whispered in her ear, “You know you just lost your star status, don’t you? Your life’s gonna get quite interesting from now on. You better guard
hope
real well… ’cause if you lose it the whole community will be devastated. You don’t want this on your conscience, do you?”

              His last words were drowned by the rushing rapids of Quinn’s blood. It pulsed in her neck and whooshed in her ears. Black spots appeared in front of her eyes, blurring her eyesight. She dug her fingers into Gabriel’s clothes, and shoved him away so hard he fell backwards on the fern covered ground. She leaned over him, blind with fury.

“Hope! You’re not hope. You’re a curse. You’re an illusion, a waste of everybody’s energy. You think you can threaten me? I don’t care if I fail to protect you. If you don’t want to protect yourself you can go to hell!”

              Gabriel jumped to his feet and tried to pummel her. It was time to take her down and show her who the stronger one was. Respect and reverence for your elders—BAH! Rules were for sissies…

              His rap of discontent was interrupted when he found himself flung into the nearby bushes. Quinn had stepped aside and used Gabriel’s forward momentum to fling him into thicket. He uprighted himself quickly, fists clenched. Suddenly the bushes came to life. Their meaty fronds went up and stiffened, creating an obstacle in front of Gabriel. But he was not going to be stopped by vegetation. He grabbed the stiffened frond and in a simple parkour move leapt over the barrier. He attacked Quinn, determined to inflict serious damage. But hurting Quinn physically was not as easy as hurting her emotionally. Her lightning-fast moves blocked his every assault. Before he could launch again Quinn had sent a blow to his leg and another to his stomach that left him doubled over and groaning. Before Quinn could deliver the final blow, a knotted, gnarled offshoot of a Triffid tree whipped her across her feet, taking her down. Another one lashed across her body, tearing her clothes. Gabriel saw this, and readied for an assault. Three root-like tendrils shot out of the thicket, wrapped around his limbs, pinning him to the ground. It was then that both of them noticed the forest had grown darker. The trees had closed in, trunks creaking as they bent forward, plants spewing mist, tendrils coiling for an attack. The coughs and the stifled cries of fear of the other students could be heard throughout the forest.

              “Stop!!!” Kilbert’s cry reverberated all around. It wasn’t a cry of anger, it wasn’t a command. It sounded like a pained plea. Everything turned still. Quinn and Gabriel were held in place, but the rest of the plants calmed down. Quinn felt drained but at peace. The blood stopped rushing madly through her. The rage was gone. Only sweet weakness possessed her body. The offshoots slithered away from her. She looked at her brother. He was still pinned down.

              Kilbert walked to the boy and knelt down. He gently stroked the tendrils with one hand and the other he placed on Gabriel’s forehead. Moments later the balance was restored. Gabriel lay dazed and grinning on the ground and the tendrils retreated peacefully. Kilbert gave him a hand and helped him up. Quinn was already up and the old man motioned her to follow him and her brother.

              The trio moved to the edge of the forest, stood silent and motionless. Quinn and Gabriel tried not to look at each other. Quinn wanted to explain, apologize, but her gut told her she would make things worse. The denial of having done something wrong left Gabriel with a dry, bitter taste in his mouth and an anxiousness to be yelled at. It was better when they screamed and blamed him for his screw-ups. It was unbearable when he had to deliver his own silent accusations. Kilbert watched the kids, wondering if there was anything they could say for themselves. But they had done the inexcusable. They had attacked each other in the Triffid Forest. All these years of work to gain the trust of the plants, and they had almost obliterated it in one fell swoop. Declan’s kids. He was the best leader the Neo-Spartans had ever had. Kilbert had been sure his kids were destined to follow in his steps. Now his confidence was on shaky ground. He looked at Quinn, and at Gabriel; they seemed lost.

              “You know you can’t come here for quite a while. The plants have memory for aggression. That means we will be short and somebody will do double shifts,” Kilbert said quietly.

              “I will do double shifts at the grow-ops, maybe even triple on Fridays. I have a spare and I can leave school an hour early.” Quinn’s guilt was churning up, making her oblige in any fashion possible.

              “Reason and consideration are half as useful after we’ve done something irreparable.” Kilbert’s words reached Gabriel and stirred him back to life.

              “So, we should try to do nothing?” said Gabriel.

              A slap on the old man’s face would’ve felt better.

              “You should go home, you ignorant little boy.”

              Kilbert simply couldn’t keep the promise he had made to himself not to berate him. Gabriel had gone too far. Kilbert needed to switch gears if the kid were to be saved. Relieved, Gabriel started walking. Quinn tried to follow him but Kilbert stopped her. She watched her brother recede, casting a glance over his shoulder, probably gloating that she was to stay behind and be lectured. She didn’t really want to hear Kilbert’s verdict so she jumped in.

              “I don’t know what happened, Kilbert. I’m so sorry, I just lost it. I can’t handle him anymore. He’s changing. He’s different somehow. He said things to me… and it hurt. And I got angry…”