Chapter Twenty:

Epilogue

Cole MacGrath stood in front of the make-shift graveyard that the people of Empire City had built for the ones they'd lost. On one grave was a picture of his late girlfriend, Trish. He'd buried her himself. On a grave beside Trish's was a wreath of flowers that the people of Empire City had hung. It belonged to Joan MacGrath, though there was no body.

He remembered when they'd both died. Trish was being used in the sick game Kessler had made up, and Cole hadn't been fast enough to save both her, and the six doctors on the other building. Of the two choices, Cole had ultimately put the people of Empire City before himself, and let Trish fall to her death.

And Joan… Well, when they were on the boat, Cole, Zeke, and Alec watching the DARPA base anxiously, it had simply been engulfed in an incredible explosion of fire. Alec stopped looking as soon as he saw it happen, and headed inside the barge. Zeke and Cole had stared without any emotion, all too jumbled up to make sense of only one.

And when they'd gotten back to the city, to the hideout in the Historic District, Cole immediately set to work to make a memorial for his friend, right beside Trish. The people of Empire city knew of Joan, the crazy, and violent, yet caring fire Conduit who had saved them when Cole was on the other side of Empire City.

They were the ones, along with Cole, who stood in front of her memorial. Also on her memorial, almost hidden by the flowers of the wreath, was a picture of Alec, Zeke, Cole and Joan. Cole had a hand on her head, smiling at the camera. Zeke was leaning on Cole, looking as care-free as usual. Alec was smiling, but had his arms crossed. Joan was yelling angrily at Cole, one of her fists raised and getting ready to punch him.

People soon began to leave. They shuffled away quietly, casting some looks back at Cole and the memorial, and respectfully left him alone. It became evening too soon, it seemed. Cole could almost imagine Joan getting ticked at him for staying out so long, thinking about her.

Why do you think I'd stayed behind? he could hear her say. Get on with your stupid life, you stupid light-bulb! Or I'll kick your ass!

Cole snorted quietly. Yeah, she'd say that. And she'd carry out her threat, but she wasn't here anymore. Just like Trish.

Sighing, Cole finally left the memorial and the grave, looking back only once before he walked back to Zeke's place in the Neon.

"She was hope to them," he remembered Alec saying, just before he left. "She was hope in their eyes."

Cole couldn't help but agree.

Dr. Sebastian Wolfe wrote quietly in his notes outside near the swamp. The Militia was gaining power, but they didn't have enough support to effectively find him. Until then, he was safe to come and write out by the swamp as he pleased.

Something caught his eye. Dr. Wolfe looked at the water and saw a piece of debris float by, a clear name on the metal.

"DARPA," he muttered. "I wonder what it's doing out here…?"

He shut his book and put it in his coat, then pushed his glasses further up his nose. Wolfe almost left then and there, but again, something caught his eye. Close to shore, a body was floating. Then another, and another. Each were dressed in the same uniform; a blue DARPA jacket, with a bullet vest underneath. Most of the corpses looked as if they'd been burnt.

Lucy Kuo joined him on the bank, watching the bodies. "These've been coming in for a few days now," she said, startling the old man. "Whether it be debris or bodies, they've been coming steadily to New Marias."

Wolfe looked from Lucy to the water. "I wonder what's happened…"

Lucy shrugged, unable to provide an answer.

A piece of debris floated to the shore, not twenty metres from where the two were standing. They hadn't noticed it at first, until they realized that someone was crawling off of it.

Lucy was the first to reach the person, Wolfe following closely. They helped them to crawl onto the shore as they vomited out water from their lungs and coughed violently.

When they seemed to be done, Lucy crouched and turned them onto their back. And there now lay a girl in her late teens, with fiery red hair and pale skin.

"What happened?" Lucy asked, her tone worried.

The girl opened her silver-grey eyes, which were strangely bright. She looked at Lucy and Wolfe curiously, but didn't say a word.

"We should get her to my lab!" Wolfe said. "Before she dies of hypothermia, starvation, dehydration, or something else!"

Lucy nodded and helped the girl to he feet. Wolfe and Lucy helped the girl to walk, but were practically carrying her, due to how weak she was.

I have a feeling that we've gotten ourselves into something big, Wolfe thought. He looked to Lucy and she nodded, indicating that she was thinking the same. I just hope it isn't something bad.

The End…

For Now