I carried on so I thought I might as well share in case those of you who read the first bit wanted to read some more. I'm not going to be ambitious and try to rewrite the whole story from a different POV or anything, but I can't seem to resist gap-filling, mostly because I read the books and pick up hints that make me think they have more of a friendship than is really shown. While I appreciate that not everyone feels the same, I'd love it if Brianna loved Dekka back, but this (more or less) follows canon...
By the time we can see the lights of Perdido Beach, the tight formation we'd been walking in has started to drift apart again. Sam's speech about unity and the food we'd had at that grocery store helped bring us together, but now exhaustion's taking over again. My feet hurt from walking so far after spending all that time sitting on a bench with a block of concrete on my hands, and having proper food after going so long without has made me feel sick. Apart from the town kids, only Brianna seems to have any energy left. She darts from one place to another quicker than the eye can see, revelling at having her power back.
"Hurry up, Dekka," she calls as the blur up ahead of me vibrates to a halt and she suddenly becomes clear for me to see. "Honestly. You walk sooooo slowly."
"Not everyone has super-speed, Brianna," I call back, forcing myself to stride forwards a bit quicker to catch up in the hope she'll stay still for a bit and walk with me. I feel stronger when she's there, and I don't want the Perdido Beach kids to see me looking weak. "And you have no patience."
I flick my hand up, aiming at her feet, but she's too fast and is out of range instantly. But she comes back smiling and I look up to see the road widening as we approach the town.
"You'll have to do better than that if you want to get me," she crows, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me along quicker.
"I can't go faster," I confess reluctantly. "My feet hurt and I ate too much too quickly. Unless you want me to throw up, you'll have to go slow."
"That's gross, Dekka," she replies, but she stops pulling me and she doesn't run off.
When we reach the centre of town a short time later, the first place we go to is McDonald's. There's a skinny kid there, walking around and handing out hamburgers, and though I felt sick before, I don't turn one down.
Brianna takes two, and after eating them both without hardly pausing to breathe or chew, she swiftly brings them back up again. I hold her hair back from her face and hand her a glass of water when she's done.
"You were saying," I say pointedly, letting her go and finding several strands of her strawberry-blonde hair entwined in my fingers.
She pouts and opens her mouth to reply, but before she can, the Hispanic kid called Edilio who cut our ropes earlier jumps up on one of the tables. He tells us we're welcome in Perdido Beach and that we can go out and find somewhere to stay as long as we don't chuck any town kids out of their homes. 'We haven't got much,' he says, 'but we've got plenty of empty houses.' I can't help thinking that everyone will have even less soon. The McDonald's hamburgers won't last forever.
"Let's go!" says an apparently recovered Brianna.
She darts through the open doorway and a lot of us follow, obviously a lot more slowly. The first sight that greets me is Sam, Edilio and that blonde girl sitting on the steps outside the town hall. But as I walk towards them, I see Lana. She collapses onto the grass, worn out from healing us, I guess, so I go to her instead.
"Get a blanket or something," I command a younger kid wearing a filthy Coates uniform.
The kid rushes off back in McDonald's and I stop beside the healer, taking my jacket off and putting it under her head like a pillow.
"Help her," I say to the rest of the gathered kids.
Then I walk off into the night, thinking of nothing but finding a warm bed to sleep in. I don't want to get a reputation for being too caring, not in a place like this. That'd just cause me no end of trouble.
The blonde girl on the steps watches me go, but all thoughts of talk and questions are gone. If I don't sleep soon then I'll be passing out on the grass like the healer.
The house I stumbled into is on Fourth Avenue. Seeing the sign on its outer wall is the last thing I remember of last night before I dragged myself to the back door, forced it open, and then passed out on the floor of the utility room.
I'm still there when I wake up the following morning. Late the following morning.
My head hurts and my back aches from spending a night on the cold stone floor, but what bothers me most is thirst. And that means I have to get up and find water, however much I don't want to.
The kids wandering the street outside are all talking about Sam, Caine and Drake and the weird new kids from Coates who came to town last night. They see my torn and filthy uniform instantly, and though none of them dare to come close, I can feel their eyes following me as I walk. I'm going to have to find myself a change of clothes and be quick about it.
"What are you doing down here?" she says, her voice reaching me a split second before she crashes into me and almost knocks me over. "Sorry," she adds, not sounding the slightest bit sorry at all.
"You need to work on your stopping distance, Brianna," I reply mildly. "And what's wrong with here?"
"A girl like you needs to stay on the nice side of town," she says, bouncing ahead of me like it's a struggle to keep moving at a pace that's normal for everyone but her. "I've found you a house a few doors down from me. There's nobody living in it."
"I've got a house. Back there," I tell her, trying not to smile at the thought she wants me nearby.
"Oh, no," she says immediately as she grasps my wrist and pulls me across the plaza. "This way. You'll see."
She drags me all the way past town hall, past houses way bigger than the one I lived in before I went to Coates, and eventually stops at the corner of what is apparently called Sunset Street. She points across at a house that's neither too big nor too small, with bright shutters around the windows and, perhaps more important to me when I see all the kids running around and doing what they like, a solid-looking front door.
"I even have a key," she says, smirking triumphantly up at me and waving what I'm guessing is the aforementioned key at me. I can't say for sure because her hand moves so fast that it blurs. "So stay there. I've already told everyone it's your house and that they'll end up in orbit if they trash it."
"Thanks for that, Breeze," I reply, deliberately making myself sound sarcastic even though I only half mean it.
"Hey!" she retorts, pushing me playfully. "It's not every day a girl gets superpowers. I'm going to enjoy it even if you don't."
"I didn't say I wouldn't enjoy it sometimes," I tell her, and she's so busy trying to tease me into reacting that she doesn't realise what I'm doing until she's about a foot up off the floor.
"Dekka!"
I restore gravity and she's moving almost before she lands. I instinctively fly down my new garden path as fast as my legs will carry me even though I know there's no way she won't catch me.
Predictably, she's waiting on the doorstep with a smug look on her face when I get there. I stop, put my hands on my hips and just look at her. She stares back, and her smile reaches her eyes for the first time since our run in with Drake in the dinner hall.
"Keys," I say, holding my hand out to her.
"What do you say?" she sings back, still smiling.
"Now," I reply firmly, shaking my head in mock disapproval as it suddenly hits me that I've never cared for anyone like I care for her.
Nobody I've ever met could make me feel as many different emotions as Brianna, and for once in my life, my first instinct isn't to block her out and turn her away.
"They'll come tomorrow evening. I believe Caine needs to defeat me. I think it's an ego thing with him."
That's the first thing Sam says to us as we gather in the church for the so-called council of war. From what I know of Caine, I can't disagree with Perdido Beach's leader. With Caine, everything's about ego.
Then Sam carries on, talking about his fifteenth birthday and Caine's, a date that has taken on new significance for all of us since the coming of the FAYZ. If both of them poof then everything will change, and I'm already not so sure it'll be for the better.
"I'm glad I've got a few years to go," says Brianna, her voice muffled by the sound of some of the others calling words of encouragement to Sam.
"You're lucky," I reply. "I haven't."
"Your birthday's not yet," she says. "When is it?"
"Not yet," I tell her evasively. For some reason I don't want anyone to know. I'm guessing the only people who do are Computer Jack and then Caine and his lot. Jack's sure to have told them everything he knows to save his miserable skin. "But sooner than yours."
She shrugs dismissively. "You're tough, Dekka. You'll be able to fight the poof. Just like Sam's going to."
I'm about to reply when Astrid pointedly clears her throat and glares in our direction. Sam's still talking, confirming the crazy plan that's our only hope of winning.
"Sorry," answers Brianna sarcastically, glaring back. "Pardon me for breathing."
"Let the man finish, Breeze," I say, closing my hand around her wrist to hold her back before I realise what I'm doing.
She pulls away quickly and impatiently. I recoil and move away further along the pew. She must notice because she glances back at me before returning her attention to Sam. When she agrees to pass messages between everyone, to stay right in the middle of the action, I find myself agreeing to go to Coates with Sam. My power is useful, and I'm not the type to run away from a fight.
And if Brianna's involved then so am I. I won't hide while she stands proud. Besides, someone's got to be there to stop her doing something impulsive, brave and utterly stupid.
"What makes Astrid so special?" Brianna asks several minutes later, and I look up to see the blonde girl following Sam back out of the church. "Why's he hiding her and protecting her?"
"He loves her, Breeze," I reply softly. "A person will do anything to protect someone they love."
"That's just stupid," she says, flopping down onto the pew beside me. "Astrid should fight by his side, not hide behind him."
"Some people are the brawn and some are the brains," I answer eventually. "Not everyone can fight. Not everyone wants to."
"But why wouldn't you want to? One day I'll kill Caine and Drake for what they did to us."
"Don't do anything stupid tomorrow, will you? Promise me."
"It depends on what you call stupid."
"Anything that'll get you hurt," I reply immediately.
"You sound like my mom," she says, rolling her eyes and then resting her head on my shoulder as she yawns widely.
"Get up, Brianna. You can't sleep there."
"Can. I'm comfy."
She's snoring softly in a matter of seconds, and I get no response when I call her name. I try to push her but she whimpers and tucks her knees up without waking, wrapping both her arms around the one of mine nearest to her so I can't keep pushing.
"That's the first time I've seen her stay still since you all came down from Coates."
I look up and peer into the shadows, eventually making out a figure standing a short distance away.
"You're Dahra, aren't you?"
"That's me," she replies sardonically, stepping forwards so I can see her face. "Nurse extraordinaire of the FAYZ."
"You should be proud of what you do."
"I am. But that doesn't make it easy."
"I guess nothing's easy now," I say, trying to shift to a more comfortable position without waking Brianna. I needn't have worried because as soon as I move, she moves with me, her breathing pattern barely disturbed. "And it won't get better if Sam poofs tomorrow night."
"Sam won't poof."
"How can you know?"
"I don't. But I have to tell myself he won't because it helps me carry on."
"Fair enough," I reply. What else can I say?
"You're good friends then?" she asks, nodding her head at the oblivious, sleeping Brianna.
"I guess. We nearly starved to death together. Chained up with cement blocks on our hands. It promotes unity," I finish dryly.
"I heard about that. What Caine did is sick."
"Which is why I hope he'll die tomorrow," I reply, snarling at the thought of my former captor and torturer.
"Don't we all," Dahra says, smiling grimly before fading back into the shadows.
Brianna keeps snoring. I keep telling myself I'll wake her up in a minute.
In the end she's the one who wakes me.
The dawn light shines brightly through the stained glass windows.
I'm shaking as I stand outside the day care. I'm ashamed but I can't help it. I try to tell myself it's anticipation, because I might finally get the chance to have a go at Drake and I've been waiting for this since I left Coates. In a way it is, but I know well enough that I'm scared as well, scared of what I might see on the other side of those doors if we're too late.
Taylor grins with satisfaction as she pops up in front of us, laden down with a tray of uncooked burgers.
"I can do it!" she calls triumphantly, looking past me to Sam, as desperate for his approval as she's been since she met him. "It's going to work!"
"Go on then," I snap as I step forwards, raising my hands and lowering them again even though I really don't need the practice by now. "Get it over with."
Taylor vanishes and seconds later the noise of the snarling, yapping coyotes drifts back towards us.
"Dekka, now!" yells Sam the instant Taylor bounces back out.
My nerves are forgotten as I throw my hands up and the wall of the day care centre visibly shakes. The windows blow out and I can hear Drake bellowing at his unlikely allies, trying desperately to regain control even as he curses me viciously.
I keep my arms raised as Sam steps forwards and blows a hole in the wall as easily as if it were made of tissue paper. The cries of agony from the coyotes fill the air, but to my relief, the screams from the children are those of terror rather than pain.
"Sam, go!" shouts Edilio as soon as he's told those inside the building to duck down, and Sam burns another hole in the wall, much lower this time.
I can see inside now, can see the panicked children prone on the ground amidst the dust and the dirt and the filth. A lot of the coyotes are caught in my force field, some dead and some alive but all spinning around weightlessly.
"OK, Dekka!"
I drop my arms to my sides, restoring gravity instantly. The coyotes crash to the floor and the living scramble over the dead in their desperation to escape. Drake calls after them but his words mean nothing. They might be mutated FAYZ coyotes, but they're still animals. Survival instinct is stronger than anything else.
"Let's go," says Sam grimly, the frustration that Drake got away showing loud and clear on his face. "To the church, Taylor. And you," he adds, glancing back at me.
"Where's Brianna?"
"Wherever she wants to be, I suppose," he replies dryly, shrugging his shoulders. "She's not big on following orders."
"Not always a bad trait in a girl," I reply, matching his tone to hide my concern. "There's no point telling her to stay out of trouble but if you see her then tell her to be careful."
I object loudly as I walk towards the church, and though it's part of the act, it isn't much of an effort. I trace my finger over the scar on my head and picture Drake in my mind. I don't want to hide, I want to fight. I want him to pay for what he did. I want him to die before he can hurt anyone else.
And when I scan the plaza, Brianna's nowhere to be seen. That doesn't feel right either. If she's out there fighting then I should be as well, no matter what Sam told Caine.
"Everyone find shelter," calls Astrid, waving her arms at people in attempt to shepherd them to where she thinks they should be. "Sam said to get under the pews. Quickly."
I remain stubbornly by the clear part of a stained glass window that looks out onto the plaza, telling myself I'm waiting to see what happens next when I know really that I'm waiting for Brianna. I hear footsteps approaching and the irritated little sigh that accompanies it tells me who I'd see if I turned around.
"Dekka, I think you should take shelter with the rest. The older ones should set an example," Astrid adds in that uppity voice she sometimes has.
I glare back at her, silencing any further attempts to boss me around, and then look back out of the window.
"I'm in the church, aren't I? Nobody said anything about hiding."
"Suit yourself," she replies, and though she sounds pissed off at being dismissed and ignored, she's still Astrid the Genius, so she has the sense not to argue.
Sam's still standing by the fountain in the plaza, watching and waiting like the rest of us. I look away from him, but before I can walk away from the window, a flash I only half see drags my attention back.
"Breeze," I whisper, smiling at the sight of her as she stands there beside Sam, whole and unhurt.
They exchange a few words, and though I'm too far away to see her face clearly, her body language screams sulky reluctance. Sure enough, seconds later she's walking closer, keeping herself to normal pace so she can be seen heading into the church with the rest of us. I have to force myself not to run to the door to meet her.
"What's going on out there?" I ask, closing the door behind her seconds later. "Any sign of Caine? Or Drake?"
"I followed Drake," she says, scuffing the edge of her almost ruined sneaker on the tiled floor. "Back to his house. Sam wouldn't let me kill him. We could go back though. What do you say? You and me. We could go take him out and be back here in five. Or maybe ten. He has to at least suffer a little bit before he dies."
"We can't, Breezy," I reply, taking several seconds to gain enough control of my emotions to be able to stop myself from grinning back at her and reaching for the door. "You heard what Sam said. Bug's out there. The little creep will be watching and Caine will know if we leave. Then the whole plan will be ruined."
"But-"
"I know," I interrupt. "I want him dead as much as you do. But you know we can't."
"I suppose Caine might have something to say about it if the badass sisters leave the church," she replies, smiling up at me and then heading further inside.
"The badass sisters?" I call, following behind her at normal pace, which seems pitifully slow in comparison.
"No one beats the toughest chicks in the FAYZ. And everyone knows that's us," she replies, smiling sweetly at Astrid before sitting on top of the altar and irreverently swinging her legs back and forth.
"Brianna!" she gasps, and the combination of horror and offence on her picture-perfect pretty face is almost comical.
"Breeze," I growl, suddenly aware of how most of the other kids are staring at us. "Show some respect."
Her legs stop swinging but she doesn't move. She stares defiantly back and shrugs her shoulders.
"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" she retorts, pointedly scanning the ruined chaos that surrounds us.
"It's still an altar," I persist, stepping in front of Astrid so Brianna can't see her. If she can see her she'll only go out of her way to piss her off. "Get down."
"I didn't know you were religious," she says stubbornly.
"In a place like the FAYZ? It doesn't hurt to hedge my bets."
She laughs at that, the sound ringing like a bell around me in a way that seems strange when I think about everything horrific that's going on around us. Then she shrugs her shoulders again and jumps down. I try not to smirk or laugh, which is something made all the more difficult when I turn to see the disapproval on Astrid's face.
"I've got down but I'm not hiding," Brianna announces loudly, and when I sit down on a pew, she sits next to me, her leg so close to mine that I can feel her trembling, not in fear but like she's ready to take off at any second.
I begin to wish we'd gone after Drake. Together.
The noise of the car screeching into the plaza is soon followed by children's screams as the walls of the church begin to waver and shake around us.
"Caine," I hiss, standing up and bracing myself to go outside and fight back.
The door flies off its hinges and more kids begin to cry. I look for Breeze but she's already gone. I dread to think where.
"Everyone out!" I yell, knowing better than to rely on Astrid for guidance when action is needed instead of thought and planning.
But I'm too late. Caine hits the church twice more, and the second time makes the roof collapse. It rains stone and wood down on us all and there's nothing I can do to stop it.
The last thing I remember is the blow on the back of my head. Just like the first time I felt the full force of Caine's telekinesis. And when I woke from that, it was to find my hands encased in cement.
But just like then, there's nothing I can do about it. Everything goes black, but before it does, my last thought is that at least Brianna got out.
The first thing I feel when I wake up is pain. But when I try to move, I find my hands are still free. It isn't like before. I can get myself out. It'll hurt, but I can do it.
When I raise my hands and focus my power, the blocks of stone that landed on me begin to move upwards, slowly at first but quickly getting faster and faster. I then turn my hands the other way and raise myself up rather than risk disturbing more of the rubble. However I soon almost wish I'd stayed where I was because the moans of trapped kids reach me as soon as I set myself down at the edge of the ruined building.
Freeing them all is a slow and exhausting process, but I get there in the end. By the time the kid who Astrid put in charge of keeping count of everyone announces that there's no one left to find, I'm exhausted. And I feel even worse when I hear it's all over. I could have helped. I could have stood with Sam when he fought Caine and it might have been over quicker. Then less kids might have been killed by the coyotes. I should have been there. I never should have stayed in the church for so long.
"You can't be everywhere," says a voice from behind me, and I look around to see a very tired-looking Dahra. "You saved a lot of people today."
"Where's Caine?"
"Heading back to Coates, apparently," she replies. "Sam drove him out of Perdido Beach. With a little help from your friend the Breeze."
"What did she do?" I ask, already torn between horror and pride before I even hear the other girl's answer.
"Pointed a gun at Caine and threatened to shoot him," she says flatly as she looks over my shoulder. "If you wait for half a nanosecond then she'll tell you herself."
Sure enough, Brianna skids to a halt a second too late and crashes into me. Yet again. I catch her and set her back on her feet without missing a beat. I guess I'm used to it by now.
When she starts talking her voice quickly gets almost as fast as her feet, and though I assume she's telling me about what happened between Caine and Sam, I soon get lost and give up trying to find the thread of the conversation.
"So anyway," she finishes, finally seeming to pause for breath. "I've got to go…somewhere. But I'll be back later. I'll try to bring chocolate."
With anyone else I'd ask them where in the FAYZ they'd still get chocolate, but with Breeze I know better. She can get to places other people can't. She can go further away from the main town far more quickly than any of us. If it's out there she'll find it, and if she wants to share then I'm not going to argue.
When I saw Sam a short time later, he told me about Caine and the others running back towards Coates. He told me about what happened with the coyotes and the prees and gave me a thousand other details I simply didn't hear. All I heard was one sentence: Brianna's gone off to spy on them, to make sure they've really gone. I felt sick at the thought of it. Yes, she's fast, but she's not bulletproof. And once Caine gets hold of anyone properly, we both know from experience that it's virtually impossible to get away.
But now she's strolling towards me like she hasn't got a care in the world. And she knows I'm waiting for her. If she didn't then she'd be in front of me already. She's showing off, walking with that swagger she's always had that drives me crazier than she'll ever understand for so many different reasons.
"Hey," she calls, smirking smugly once she's only about a hundred metres away.
She takes off towards me, suddenly little more than a blur, but I'm ready. I flick my wrist and she goes flying, landing hard on the ground and skidding to a halt at my feet. I reach down to lift her up but she yanks her arm away, getting up on her own and then glowering at me with a pout that abruptly makes her look like the child she used to be rather than the young woman the FAYZ has turned her into.
"What're you playing at? What did you do that for?"
"I didn't do anything," I reply calmly, shrugging my shoulders and trying not to smile.
"You did. You did your freaky anti-gravity thing on purpose."
"You know why, Brianna."
"Don't," she replies petulantly.
"Because I need you to understand that you're not invincible. You can't go after Caine and Drake on your own. You can't run off without thinking first."
"I can. They can't touch me. Nobody can touch me."
"I did. Just then."
"That doesn't count. You're you. You wouldn't ever hurt me."
I look down at her, wondering if she knows just how true that is. She grins back, and I notice the spark in her eye a second too late. She vanishes from sight, pushing me first one way and then another, all so quick that I don't have time to react and before I know it I'm sitting on my backside on the dusty ground.
"Breeze!" I exclaim, reaching for her and growling when she jumps back.
"Revenge, Talent. You can't take on the Breeze without payback."
I start to stand up but she flops down onto the ground next to me so I stay where I am. As she passes me half a bar of the promised chocolate, I find myself wondering if this is what real friendship actually feels like.
Before the FAYZ, I wouldn't have known, so crazy though it sounds, maybe there's a part of me that's glad it happened.