“Let us pretend,” Prof said, “that you really did figure it out on your own. That still doesn’t explain how you knew where we’d spring our trap.”
“Fortuity always sees the plays at Spritz’s place on the first Saturday of the month,” I said. “And he always goes to look for amusement afterward. It’s the only reliable time when you’d find him alone and in a mind-set where he could be baited into a trap.”
Prof glanced at Abraham, then at Tia. She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I think he’s telling the truth, Prof,” Megan said, her arms crossed, jacket open at the front. Don’t … stare …, I had to remind myself.
Prof looked at her. “Why?”
“It makes sense,” she said. “If Steelheart had known who we were going to hit, he’d have had something more elaborate planned for us than one boy with a rifle. Besides, Knees here did try to help. Kind of.”
“I helped! You’d be dead if it weren’t for me. Tell her, Hardman.”
The Reckoners looked confused.
“Who?” Abraham asked.
“Hardman,” I said, pointing at the sniper by the door.
“My name’s Cody, kid,” he said, amused.
“Then where’s Hardman?” I asked. “Megan told me he was up above, watching with his rifle to …” I trailed off.
There never was a sniper up above, I realized. At least, not one specifically told to watch me. Megan had just said that to make me stay put.
Abraham laughed deeply. “Got caught by the old invisible sniper gag, eh? Had you kneeling there thinking you’d be shot any moment. Is that why she calls you Knees?”
I blushed.
“All right, son,” Prof said. “I’m going to be nice to you and pretend none of this ever happened. Once we’re out that door, I want you to count to a thousand really slowly. Then you can leave. If you try to follow us, I’ll shoot you.” He waved to the others.
“No, wait!” I said, reaching for him.
The other four each had a gun out in a flash, all pointed at my head.
I gulped, then lowered my hand. “Wait, please,” I said a little more timidly. “I want to join you.”
“You want to what?” Tia asked.
“Join you,” I said. “That’s why I came today. I didn’t intend to get involved. I just wanted to apply.”
“We don’t exactly accept applications,” Abraham said.
Prof studied me.
“He was somewhat helpful,” Megan said. “And I … will admit that he is a decent shot. Maybe we should take him on, Prof.”
Well, whatever else happened, I’d managed to impress her. That seemed almost as great a victory as taking down Fortuity.
Eventually Prof shook his head. “We aren’t recruiting, son. Sorry. We’re going to leave, and I don’t want to ever see you anywhere near one of our operations again—I don’t want to even get a hint of you being in the same town as us. Stay in Newcago. After today’s mess, we won’t be coming back here for a long while.”
That seemed to settle it for all of them. Megan gave me a shrug, an almost apologetic one that seemed to indicate she’d said what she had as thanks for saving her from the thugs with the Uzis. The others gathered around Prof, joining him as he walked to the door.
I stood behind, feeling impotent and frustrated.
“You’re failing,” I said to them, my voice growing soft.
For some reason this made Prof hesitate. He glanced back at me, most of the others already out the door.
“You never go for the real targets,” I said bitterly. “You always pick the safe ones, like Fortuity. Epics you can isolate and kill. Monsters, yes, but relatively unimportant ones. Never the real monsters, the Epics who broke us and turned our nation to rubble.”
“We do what we can,” Prof said. “Getting ourselves killed trying to take out an invincible Epic wouldn’t serve anyone.”
“Killing men like Fortuity won’t do much either,” I said. “There are too many of them, and if you keep picking targets like him, nobody’s going to worry about you. You’re only an annoyance. You can’t change the world that way.”
“We’re not trying to,” Prof said. “We’re just killing Epics.”
“What would you have us do, lad?” Hardman—I mean, Cody—said, amused. “Take on Steelheart himself?”
“Yes,” I said fervently, stepping forward. “You want to change things, you want to make them afraid? He’s the one to attack! Show them that nobody’s above our vengeance!”
Prof shook his head. He continued on his way, black lab coat rustling. “I made this decision years ago, son. We have to fight the battles we have a chance of winning.”
He walked out into the hallway. I was left alone in the small room, the flashlight they’d left behind giving a cold glow to the steel chamber.
I had failed.
7
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I stood in the still, quiet box of a room lit by the abandoned flashlight. It appeared to be running low on charge, but the steel walls reflected the dim light well.
No, I thought.
I strode from the room, heedless of the warnings. Let them shoot me.
Their retreating figures were backlit by their mobiles, a group of dark forms in the cramped hallway.
“Nobody else fights,” I called after them. “Nobody else even tries! You’re the only ones left. If even you’re scared of men like Steelheart, then how can anyone ever think any differently?”
The Reckoners continued walking.
“Your work means something!” I yelled. “But it’s not enough! So long as the most powerful of the Epics consider themselves immune, nothing will change. So long as you leave them alone, you’re essentially proving what they’ve always said! That if an Epic is strong enough, he can take what he wants, do what he wants. You’re saying they deserve to rule.”
The group kept walking, though Prof—toward the rear—seemed to hesitate. It was only for a moment.
I took a deep breath. There was only one thing left to try. “I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.”
Prof stiffened.
That made the others pause. Prof looked over his shoulder at me. “What?”
“I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.”
“Impossible,” Abraham said. “The man is perfectly impervious.”
“I’ve seen it,” I said, heart thumping, face sweating. I’d never told anyone. The secret was too dangerous. If Steelheart knew that someone had survived the bank attack that day, he’d hunt me down. There would be no hiding, no running. Not if he thought I knew his weakness.
I didn’t, not completely. But I had a clue, perhaps the only one anyone had.
“Making up lies won’t get you on our team, son,” Prof said slowly.
“I’m not lying,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Not about this. Give me a few minutes to tell my story. At least listen.”
“This is foolishness,” Tia said, taking hold of Prof’s arm. “Prof, let’s go.”
Prof didn’t respond. He studied me, eyes searching my own, as if looking for something. I felt strangely exposed before him, naked. As if he could see my every wish and sin.