Rogue (Exceptional) Read Free Page B

breathing, and brushed off her pants.  She hurried into a covering of trees and once she was out of sight, she released the breath she had been holding.
           She had now killed five Exceptional Guards in a month’s time.  She hadn’t felt guilty about the first three for a long time, knowing that, given the chance, they would have killed her.  But now that she had added two more to the count, she was starting to experience an awful feeling creeping up from her stomach.  Her mouth felt dry and the trees around her tilted slightly.  She bent her knees and pushed her head toward the ground, sucking in deep gulps of air.
           When Ally was sure that she wasn’t going to pass out, and that she could approach the others with a calm appearance, she stepped out of the trees and headed back toward the box homes.  Theo was awake now and sitting next to Flora.   Sabine was kneeling by his side, applying pressure to the wound and cleaning it simultaneously.  Willow sat off to the side with Cody, working on her shoe again, either fixing the same tear as before or starting on a new one. They had all fallen back into some time consuming tasks that helped pass their down time while traveling.
           Stosh caught up with Ally before she reached the group and stopped her.
           “Are you okay?” he asked.
           She looked over at him, still growing used to the fact that now that she was an Exceptional, her body was trying to compensate by rewarding her with a growth spurt.  There was a time when Ally was almost a foot shorter than him.  She gave her brother a nod.
          He sighed and ran his hand through his heavy hair, which had started to grow long again.  “It’s just that, well, you have been acting really strange recently.  When we left the City nothing seemed to bother you.  Not our mother’s death, not killing those Guards, but now you seem shaken.”
           Ally shrugged.  “I don’t know what to tell you, Stosh.  I have no idea what is going on in my mind.  Maybe the events of the past few months are finally catching up with me, or maybe this is all a part of my transformation into an Exceptional.”
           “Speaking of that,” Stosh interrupted her.  “I need to speak to you about something.  You know, Mother took me to get my shot just after you were taken from the settlement.”                
           “And?” Ally peered over his shoulder at the others, wanting to get back on the move in case more Exceptional Guards were nearby.
           “Well, what if I really am an Exceptional? I mean, we are twins.  We shared a womb and father.  Wouldn’t it make sense that I am too?”
           Ally’s eyes fell back on his.  She hadn’t thought about it that way, or bothered to ask if he had received a vaccination recently.  She thought about the vaccinations in her own pack back in the home they had spent the evening in.  She suddenly felt anxious to get them safely by her side.
           “There is only one way to know,” she finally responded.
           “I’m not sure I want to,” he said.
           Ally nodded her head.  “Well, you have a few months to decide.  Until then, let’s take this step-by-step, and together.”
           They walked over to the others and Ally kneeled down in front of Theo and Flora.  Flora still held a hint of fear in her eyes as she took in Ally, while Theo regarded her with a look of awe. 
           “What happened this morning? Start at the beginning,” she said to the both of them.
           Theo started, “The Guards burst into the home we were sleeping in and pulled us out by our legs, pinning us to the ground to cuff our wrists.  I put up a small fight which is how I ended up with this.” He motioned to the gash on his forehead.
           “That is when I started screaming,” Flora jumped in. “The Guard slammed Theo over