Gramps was checking out Gran (which was his mom) and he said, tearing his gaze away. "What can we do for your Gran here?"

"Same thing with all of them, Gramps. She came because I called the state and all that jazz."

He grunted.

"So you gonna bomb the Graysheets or something?" Bry asked with a small laugh.

Parker nodded then said, "No, not me."

I gave him a hard gaze. "Who?"

He looked slightly embarrassed and Gramps said, "You've been working both angles, Parker?"

He nodded. "I have."

Mia raised her hand, ignoring the evidence of the battle.

Bry laughed and she gave him a mild glare. Mild by Jade standards.

Jade elbowed me and I laughed. So Empath of her.

"Ah... I was just wondering," Mia began, looking around at the statue-like dead. "You're saying that you had a plan to what... bomb the Graysheets?"

"It's already happening."

Mia nodded like it made sense but it didn't.

"You mean, that whole coming and rescuing me was a decoy to get that pervert scientist here, to distract the Graysheet 'guard'," Nevaeh made airquotes, "and get some wackos in place to do them in."

"Yes."

"Prick," Nevaeh said with conviction.

The barest smile turned the corners of Parker's mouth up.

Gramps shook his head at the hopelessness of it all.

I thought Parker had his hands full with this new girl.

As if there were a cue-by-jinx a huge explosion erupted to the west of us. My eyes bulged.

"You did it? You destroyed their headquarters?"

Parker shook his head. "My benefactors did."

Jade mouthed the word in confusion.

"Who?" Gramps said. "Stop the cryptic bullshit and spit it out."

The zombies moved slightly closer to Gramps, who promptly evaded them.

"A group that would circumvent the Graysheets. That would allow us to keep our powers, or..." he caught our eyes easily, dead and alive, "allow the future of our nation to be ruled by mundane or paranormal. Without bigotry or prejudice."

"That'll never happen," Randi said, Jonesy and Sophie nodding. They instinctively understood that history had a way of repeating itself and hanging on to archaic precepts.

Parker lifted a muscular shoulder, slamming the last vehicle door on the new dead.

The old dead followed us out of there.

We drove.

They ran.

*

I kept Tiff and the new AFTD, seven kinds of crazy, in separate vehicles and we raced to the Graysheet building. It was the beating and black heart of their organization.

The nucleus, as Dad would say.

The zombies kept to the greenbelts of woods that divided everything like green ribbons bisecting cement.

Other zombies joined us, riding on the tail of our death power. As we passed by, they followed like we were the Pied Piper.

By the time we arrived at the building there were over a thousand zombies.

What was interesting was the cops, firemen and general chaos of responders who had set up camp for the wounded were doing their job when the horde began to flow into the scene.

The yellow tape didn't stop anything or anyone. Our dead walked through it like dental floss.

Gary Zondorae was mobbed the minute he came on scene. "Thank God... Gary!" Joe gave a wave, soot covering him from head to toe. Several hails of "Doctor" followed.

Zondorae didn't respond.

Because Gary was mine now and looking very alive. Joe would've never known had he not interacted with him.

Unfortunately, he did.

Joe rushed up and skidded to a stop when he saw me. "What is Hart doing here?" Then, "Did Parker get the sample?" He looked at me with a superior grin.

Not for long.

"I don't know," Gary said nonchalantly. Joe took a step back, his hand that'd been raised to touch Gary snapping back against his body. "What's wrong with you?" Joe asked.

I knew when he got it. The draining of color on his face was a tell.

"You stupid brat," Joe Zondorae proclaimed in a voice that shook with emotion.

I just stared at him and was proud when the crooked mouth didn't erupt as Gary hissed at his brother.

His mouth was pink and perfect.

I did smile then.

"Shit," Joe whispered. "He's your zombie."

"Yeah... Joe," I said, making a loose circle around Gary while I appeared to admire my new zombie.

"Caleb," Gramps admonished. "Act your age, son."

I felt shame claim me like a wart on my ass. He was right, I was being childish.

Clyde looked at me in disappointment and I realized how much I had.

The Graysheets hadn't won, they were pushing forward an agenda to strip us of our abilities because we'd become a monster they couldn't control and were backpedaling big time. But had they succeeded in removing the possibility of procreation along with it?

Jade grabbed my hand and looked up at me.

She was counting on me to own it.

Sometimes manhood comes with stealth; sometimes it steals your boyhood quietly like a thief.

I'd say mine was taken in that moment.

With the Graysheets building a torch and my girlfriend's hand inside my sweaty grasp I committed. "Let's do it."

"Do what?" Jonesy asked, baffled.

"Just go with it Jones," Bry said, "float, dude."

"Right," Jonesy said, "Onward!" he cried raising his arm straight up like he held a sword.

"Gary no," Joe said, begging, as he tried to pluck the sleeve of his brother's shirt, now dark brown with the dried blood of his death.

Gary took his palm and with splayed fingers captured Joe's face and pushed him over.

"Ass over tea kettle," Gramps observed, following us.

Yeah, I thought as I glanced back to see Joe sprawled on the ground.

"This way, Master," Gary Zondorae said.

I nodded, following him closely.

John said, "That is so weird."

He was right, the irony of a Zondorae being on Team Dead was a flavor of surreal that was difficult to quantify.

The responders stood, staring at the horde as they crowded behind us, knowing that there was no gun in the world that would save them from the human ocean of death that flowed behind the three of us.

It was sheer numbers- again.

It still stood. The central vault that held the secrets of the genes. It survived.

It had been built like a bomb shelter above ground.

Gary placed his thumb on the pulse lock that hung at the entrance and it pulsed open with a soft whisper. He entered and we followed.

A small amount of his humanity remained because he stroked the glass slide as he removed it from the stainless steel that held it inside the tomb of the Graysheets.

Zondorae turned, handing it to me with a reluctance that let me know that some part of him rebelled. But I owned death. And in owning it; I owned him.

We looked at each other and he let a breath escape that sounded like a sob.

I released him. His regret was a black tide against my brain, entering every open place where I stored my emotions.

I couldn't abide it.

It was so terrible that I moved away from Jade when she would have touched me, sparing her that.

I watched as he wove through the bodies like an obstacle course, passing his fallen brother and not even glancing his way.

Dad showed up, picking his way through the rubble like a race car avoiding cones. He slowed as he saw the loose mess of zombies.

"Caleb...?" he asked, his expression telling me everything.

We were a few meters apart and as part of my new Introspection Plan I slid my gaze to Parker, my resolve vacillating.

I realized that no one should have what I did.

We weren't ready.

In that single thing, the Graysheets had finally made sense.

"Do it," I told Parker.

He pivoted smoothly, bringing out a collector he'd been holding. He clamped a strong hand over my wrist, and punched the teeth of the disc into my arm, turning it.

Blood flowed into the collection area.

"Caleb!" Dad screamed, his eyes frantic as he watched Parker take what would be The DNA Sample.

I got woozy right away. "What was in that?" I asked Parker in a slur.

"Sorry, it's just a part of the collection," Parker said, his face doubling in my vision.

I could see Dad coming for me. Gramps, Clyde and creepy Gran were racing to Parker's position. Then I was leaning like a tree.

Falling.

Clyde caught me, his expression very human, very worried.

I said the one thing that mattered.

Jade, I mouthed and he nodded.

He so got me.

CHAPTER 13

I opened my eyes and felt the throbbing in my arm before I looked at it. I noticed I was in the hospital too.

Seemed like I should have a annual pass or something, I always ended up here.

I went to sit up and Jezebel the Organic was there. She had a fresh needle mark herself.

I rolled my eyes up to meet hers. "Whoa cowboy, settle down. You're not going anywhere yet."

"Did they take away your ability?"

She frowned in confusion, then smiled. "I think you're not thinking clearly, Caleb."

I pointed to the mark on her arm.

Jezebel looked down with a confused glance. "Oh that. Right... I gave blood. I'm AB negative. They beg me for it."

Beg. For. It.

"Where...? Is Jade okay?" I asked.

"Who?" she asked, carefully laying her hands above my arm in a diagnostic hover, sensing my vitals. Whatever was there must have been okay because she nodded to herself and began to leave.

"Wait," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my naked ass waving a hello to the window behind me.

"No!" she frowned, pointing her finger. "What do you need?"

Jade. "I need my pulse."

Her brows rose.

"It's in the back pocket of my pants."

She rooted around till she found the all-black pulse. When I went to grab it she said, "Ten minutes, Mr. Hart. That was a powerful depressant that you were given. It was hard on your respiratory system."

"Okay," I said, my palm out for the pulse.

She slapped in my waiting hand and I breathed a sigh of relief as I curled my fingers around it; already that much closer to Jade.

Hot one, I thought into the pulse as soon as I depressed my thumb on the pad.

Initializing

I watched the green characters float, then clash in a blinding smack in the middle of the screen.

Then Jade was there.

Hey... are you okay?- Hot One

Yeah, it was some kind of big profanity block depressant.- Stud

What's going on?- Stud

Emotive Response High

Jade?- Stud

The plan is to herd us to a sanctioned building for a reversal.- Hot One

What? Wow, not wasting any time.- Stud

How could this happen when the heart of the Graysheets had been taken out? That should have left them with a bleeding chest wound, I thought, giving a small smile at the gusher they had.

What about those slides Zondorae gave me?

I thought those questions into the pulse.

Your dad took the slide to Anderson.- Hot One

The journalist?- Stud

Yes.- Hot One

Now the question was: Could Dad expose the very ones who had funded his research in order to make every kid a potential paranormal? The same ones who'd unilaterally decided to take said abilities from them.

Last time I noticed, we were living in America. The abilities could be a liability, but the Graysheets needed to be exposed for their manipulations. I had that pang of indecision again.

I'm getting all that!- Hot One

I lifted my thumb. It was beyond novice of me to leave it on the viral touchpad when I wasn't intending to convey thoughts.

Sorry smiles- Stud.

Smiles, it's okay. BTW, you'll be released today.- Hot One.

When?- Stud

I'm coming to get you.- Hot One

I relaxed even more.

What about the parents?- Stud

I thought is was weird as hell that Mom wasn't here doing the helicopter parent.

Hover-hover-hover.

They have you under guard.- Hot One

Really?- Stud

Really.- Hot One

I couldn't imagine a circumstance that Mom wouldn't come crashing through. I remembered passing out and the zombies, Dad... Gran (I gave a small shudder at that image) and wondered what had happened. The last thing I'd seen was Clyde's face above mine. Time would tell.

I didn't think we needed too much more time.

I love you, Jade.- Stud

You know that I do.- Hot One

We ended the pulse and I waited. There was so much to do I didn't even know where to begin with prioritizing it.

There were going to be repercussions to raising every zombie in four cities, I knew it. I couldn't hide behind a thing now.