Chapter Seven:

Ignorance

"Where were you?" Cole demanded.

I groggily looked up from my bed. "Eh?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Oh." I yawned and collapsed back onto my pillow. "Out."

"I noticed that much," he said, coming over to sit on my bed.

"You came into my house without knocking…"

"You gave me a key. I'm allowed." Cole sighed. "Jo, I was worried."

I took in a deep breath. "I went out with a friend."

"You have a friend?"

I glared at Cole. "Yeah. Shocking, isn't it?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "We went to a concert. No biggy."

"You're not gonna tell me anything other than that, are you?"

"Not a chance."

Cole got up and paced for a second. "Well, I was wondering, since it's your day off, if you wanted to go on patrol with me?"

"Sounds good," I replied. "Just lemme get changed. I'll be out in two seconds."

He smiled. "Okay. I'll wait on the roof."

I got into my usual outfit, nodachi and all, and met Cole on the roof within five minutes. He leaped off of the roof and used his Lightning Tether to propel himself towards another building. I jumped off after him and set myself on fire, following him rapidly. He finally reached a cable and balanced himself on it, then set off, skating across the cable. I matched his speed and followed closely.

"So, why don't your clothes burn off when you set yourself on fire?" Cole asked, raising his voice because of the wind.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe for the same reason your clothes don't catch fire when your lightning runs across it."

"That makes sense," he replied. "Hey, you don't sound weird when you talk!"

"Eh?" I looked at him, confused, and then I remembered. "Oh, right! I sounded like a demon when I you saw me in this form last time!"

"Yeah, it was kinda creepy." Cole used his Lightning Tether to jump to a building as the cable ended. He climbed the rest of the way up, and I just rolled onto the building, shutting my fire off.

"What is it?" I asked as he peered over the edge.

"See Flood Town?" he asked.

I looked where he was looking. "Yeah. What about it?"

"The Ice People are on the move. But why?" He paused.

I realized he wanted me to take a guess. "You really like the dramatic stuff, don't you?" I asked, smirking.

"I've taken a liking to it." Cole charged up his Lightning Tether. "Let's move. We have to see what they're up to!"

I followed without hesitation. Cole could have been a leader of some sort if he was just a normal person; maybe a Senator or even become the President! But I could tell that he liked his role as the protector of New Marias, and the world, much better.

We followed the Ice People for a time, keeping out of sight and watching for any others that might pop out. We were careful, and rewarded for it. We eventually stopped on a rooftop overlooking a base full of Ice People. They seemed to be making plans of some sort…

"Cole, you still have that camera, right?" I asked, having seen him show it to Zeke a few times.

"Yeah." Cole took the hint and took a few pictures of the Ice People. I took a few with my cell, just in case. "There, I got some good ones."

We checked the pictures on his camera. "It looks like they're planning an assault… on the Militia!"

Cole nodded. "Yeah, I recognize that part of the map. That's definitely Militia territory that I haven't cleared yet."

"Now, do we stand by and watch? They'll most likely be taking that part for themselves, so should we attack both factions in the confusion?"

He grinned. "Oh yeah."

About two hours later, we were hiding in a building in the area that the Ice People were going to attack, while avoiding the Militia. Seeing the guys with the machine-guns made my stomach churn uneasily, reminding me that I was no longer almost invulnerable. If anything, I had to keep that fire shield up and always watch my back. No matter what.

Finally, the Ice People came. They surprised the Militia, and gained the upper-hand easily.

Cole nodded to me, and I nodded back. It was time. We burst out of the building and attacked everyone in sight, sometimes combining our powers to give 'em something to cry about. We worked together easily, as if we'd rehearsed it. It didn't take long for Lucy to join us, either. She dropped in from the sky and created a gigantic ice crater, which I decided was one of her newer powers.

"Cole!" she called.

I saw them combine their powers, freezing several Militia. The Ice People were jumping around and avoiding our attacks expertly, but we'd get 'em eventually. I leaped into the air and met one in mid-jump. I smirked, and clamped my hands onto his face, smashing him into the ground.

Suddenly, I got a vision of Alden, and what I'd done to him. I'd tortured him with my fire, fascinated by the burn marks. I shook that image out of my head and focused on the Ice Person I had in my hands. He hit me in the gut with the butt of his gun, jarring my insides, so I burned him.

As soon as I did, I got off of him like he had the plague. He was knocked-out, but I didn't want to look at him again. I shut my eyes tight, willing the image of Alden to leave, but it wasn't listening.

"Joan!"

My eyes flew open, and I turned to see who had called my name, only to see Ice People speeding towards me. One grabbed me around the waist and bounded off, and I was immediately farther from Cole than I wanted to be.

"Get. Off. Of. Me!" I snarled, and lit myself on fire.

The Ice Person dropped me instantly, but I didn't catch myself. I hit the water with a great splash that reached almost where I had been dropped, and realized that they'd gotten me all the way to Flood Town before I'd set myself on fire.

I crawled onto the junk pile and stood to face the Ice People who surrounded me. They attacked, not with their guns, but with melee. I had suddenly become too tired to resist, and allowed them to hit me.

I deserve it! I thought as their guns beat me relentlessly. For what I did to Alden! To Sasha! For killing the Militia! For killing their friends! For killing those DARPA agents! I fell to the ground, but their beating continued. I deserve every bit of this…

The Ice People suddenly stopped and backed away. I heard their guns loading, and realized that it was really, truly, my death that I was hearing.

And just like that, they shot. The bullets sunk deep into my body, from nearly all directions, as their revenge was complete. I lay there, listening to them as they leaped back to the real fighting, in a pool of my blood, expecting to feel the cold of death coming for me.

Do I really want to live? Do I? Or do I deserve to die for this? For what I've done? I clenched my fist. I feel so… weak. I need to make a decision, and I need to act on it. Do I live? Or do I die?