Chapter 12

Jack briskly strolled from bush to bush that lined the side of the road they had been camping all day.

From each bush he took only a quarter of its energy, his new found ability was already becoming as natural to him as breathing.

He made sure to be careful of the falling debris coming from above, as well as the shifting ground beneath his feet. The earthquakes still hadn’t let up.

After the eighth bush, Jack felt himself thrumming with the power of the bushes. It was a feeling he couldn’t have imagined, the dull throbbing warmth with a cool center now running along his core and all of his extremities.

Being as causous as possible, he returned to where the rest of the group had been prepairing.

“We’re all set!” Rachel spouted up, still trying to be more of a leader then follower.

Jack nodded his head and looked to his brother, seeing him smiling as Bryan nodded to his brother in confirmation, it was time.

The plan was far from simple, but Jack knew they could pull it off.

Almost all of it depended on him, but with his new handle on his abilities he was confident he could do what was needed.

On its surface it was basic, get the guns and run.

But Jack remembered something people always said in war movies, plans rarely hold once the first shot is fired.

Jack ducked around the corner, peering at the gate in front of the house. The guard was back, but he looked to be quite uneasy and was having trouble walking on the shaking earth. Watching and waiting, Jack looked for the rifeman on top of the house. Unable to find him, he just hoped he hadn't returned to his post as well.

When the earth paused its shaking, he ran. The guard was so immersed in looking around in relief that the ground had stopped shaking he didn’t see him coming.

Jack brought up a compressed energy shield in front of him like he had used to stop the car the night before, he doubled its strength, not knowing how well it will stand up to bullets.

Having the power of the plants for this was going to be invalueable.

The guard was already away from the gate, heading back half way up the path inbetween a pair of trees.

Right where I want him, Jack mused.

As Jack reached the gate he reached out to the trees energy, feeding them energy he had pulled from the plants. With the connection made, he asked them to do something with the energy he was sending out. The tree’s grew out and wrapped around the guard holding him in place. The branches grew like vines, rappedly encasing him in its bows.

The guard paniced, trying to free himself to no avail. So surprised by seeing something that shouldn’t be possible, he was yet to call out for help.

Jack quickly made this impossible, asking for a branch to grow around his mouth. Leaves sprouted from the branch in his mouth to muffle his screems.

Jack smiled as he jumped over the gate, sending a thank you to the tree’s through his connection as he did.

Canceling the connection, Jack realized it had taken a lot more of his power then he had expected to do it but he would just have to pray he still had enough left.

Once over the gate, he scurried up to his captive. Now seeing him up close he realized it was one of the tattooed guys that had threatened them all earlier. He somehow felt better about what he had done.

The captives eyes lit up with recognition as well when Jack rounded in front of him. In all his flailing Que ball had droped the old double barel shotgun on the ground. Reaching down to pick it up, Jack saw a puddle at Que balls feet and was disgusted.

He had soiled himself.

Letting out a slight laugh, Jack snatched up the gun and dove into bushes on the side of the walk way up to the house.

The girls had wanted him to stop here and run, with the path now clear for the others to make it across as well, but Jack and bryan assured them that if they left the rifle not only would they be without a great hunting asset but if the shooter was worth his salt it would be a huge problem after they had made it past.

Slowly stalking up to the house, Jack cursed himself for not going hunting with his friend nick and his dad when they invited him.

His footsteps and breathing would easily alert anyone that came out of the house he was there. Still under cover of the bushes and trees, he knelt and caught his breath. He had a lot more running to do and if he tired himself out now, he would be in serious trouble in a few minutes.

Glancing up at the roof he could barely make out footsteps being carefully made on the red clay tile roof. If he was going to get the rifle he was going to have to risk coming out of cover.

Moving around to the side of the house Jack found that the yard opened up about fifty paces from the side of the house. This is going to be ruff he thought. Strengthening his shield again, he reshaped it into a sphere around himself with an inch of space off the ground to move and allow air in.

This was something he quickly learned in testing the shields before hand, suffocating is a terrible feeling. Being suffocated while your brother pretends the bubble your in is a soccer ball is worse.

Using the energy from the bushes, it had a sparkling tint of green that was barepy visible.

Hadn’t counted on that, he thought. I should have tested these at full strength even if it was a waste of energy.

Just then a shout from above caught his attention. He’d been spotted.

Racing from his hiding spot, he knew the green glow had given him away.

Holding the shotgun in one hand Jack reached up towards the now aiming rifleman on the roof. Creating a second shimmering field, while holding his own was far more taxing then he had imagined.

Just as the second started materializing, the rifleman’s first shot hit his barrier. The impact rocked inside Jack as he felt the energy being pulled from himself to sustain the shield.

This isn’t going to work, not like this.Not if he gets to many shots off.

A second shot hit his shield and the pull came again, this time almost pulling him into unconsciousness.

In a panic Jack reached to the grass at his feet, and knew it wouldn’t be enough to hold the shield. Reaching his sences behind him he found the trees and bushes he had been hiding behind. I’m sorry, he though, as he drained the trees dry.

Something about it still felt unnatural to him draining things that far. The rush of power from the trees quickly replaced any misgivings about what he had done.

Apparently trees held far more power than bushes...

Another shot hit his shield, Jack felt the pull but with the reserves he had pulled from the tree and knew he could now withstand far more shots than the shooter would get off.

Moving forward to have a better look at his shooter, Jack had a clear view of the man with the gun. He recognized this one too, it was the giant body double brute of Mommy's.

Another shot rang off his shield, it was time to finish this. Reaching out with his free hand, Jack pictured in his mind the field he had used to throw the car back at jimmy. A greedn shimmering ball the size of a basketball raced towards mongo on the roof. When it reached the rifle, Jack wrapped it around it and gave it a tug towards himself. Mongo faltered, but gripped the gun in fear for his life.

Jack pulled again and this time mongo slipped, kissing his balance but still holding on. With on last pull, Jack brought the gun hovering six feet out from the house a full two and a half stories from the ground.

Mongo was still clutching the gun in panic for his life, but he was slipping.

Realizing this, Jack hurridly had the shield grab hold of his wrist to keep him from falling. A look of relief flooded mongos face, which was soon replaced with fear then masked with a looking a blinding rage.

Jack had been so focused on Mongo that he hadn’t seen the crowd that now gathered at the corner of the house near the front door, or Jimmy rushing him like a linebacker.

Jimmies eyes blazed red, as he charged. He could see the green glow surrounding Jack but didn’t care, with the force of a two ton dump truck he ran full speed into the shield.

The collision hit jack like a ton of bricks, sending him flying in his fishbowl shield. Jack tumbled like a hamster in ball that had been pushed down the staiirs.

In an attempt to brace himself, he pushed his still free right hand down to the shield. The shield still rolled beneath him, but when the open bottom came around his arm hit the ground at an awkward angle. The resulting crack echoed through the now silent night, his arm was broken, but it had at least stopped his momentum.

The pain was immense but he still managed to hold his concentration enough to keep a shield up around himself. Frantically he looked up to gauge where his attacker was. But those thoughts ceased as he remembered in horror the rifleman he had been holding in the air. The second shield that was controlling the rifle was gone, Mongo had been dropped two stories down.

Jack stood and grabed the shotgun that laid at his feet. With the shotgun in his good hand, he slowly approached the crowd where the man had fallen, trying to get a look to make sure he was ok. Sure the man had been shooting at him, but jack felt bile rising in his throat knowing that he had dropped him from the roof.

Seeing him coming, the crowd of twenty or so fled scared back to the house, like he was a monster coming out of the night.

Only one person remained by mongos side. Jimmy knelt next to Mongo, his aura in Jacks sight was rippling with different emotions. Fear, anger and a profound sadness radiated away from jimmy in waves that only Jack could see. Slowly Jack saw Jimmies resolve hardening in his aura, the red deepened and his aura pulsed with a seething anger that shimmered in a radient brilliance in the green glow of the night.

Jack stoped in his tracks as jimmy stood tall, still blocking his view. Jimmies Aura was now almost crackling with rage.

Jack stared into his crimson wrapped eyes, something about them looked older than the last time he stared him down. Jack couldn’t help himself, “Is he alright? Maybe I can help him!”

With blood boiling in his viens, Jimmy side stepped to unblock Jacks view.

“Help him?” Jimmy quietly started. “You killed him! You killed my cousin!” He screamed.

Jack now finally getting a look at the man, could see the awkward angel in which the body was splayed out on the ground and knew it was the truth.

He’d killed him, the shock of it hit him hard, like something within him shifting.

No breaking, he thought.

The reality of what he had done and what living in this new world meant hot him.

His knees and arms started shaking as it all sunk in. “I’m.. I’m so sorry,” he quietly supplied.

“Sorry? SORRY? O you will be, I’ll make sure of that. You are going to pay dearly for this, not just you, your friends too and that brother of yours. I’m going to make you all pay.” Jimmy's voice wad so calmly it sounded maniacal.

With that said, as if the manner was settled he started towards Jack.

Jack snapped to reality at Jimmy's first forward movement.

Quickly he raised the shotgun in his hand and pointed it at Jimmy.

Struggling in pain, he used his right arm to steady its heavy dipping muzzle. “Don’t move,” Jack shouted, “I’ve had enough of this. You yourself tried to kill me and my friends this morning, your cousin had no problem trying to kill me here tonight, this has all gone way to far.”

The sound of his words echoed off the house.

Stealing a glance, Jack could see people crouded in the windows watching. As if steeling his own resolve he continued, “Why all this needless violence? We all just want to survive and find our families. Why couldn’t we have just worked together? The time for that has passed, obviously. I’m very sorry for the death of your cousin, but if you had not charged me like a rhino he would have been fine. I had just saved him from falling and was about to slowly lower him to the ground. I had no intention of hurting anyone here tonight.”

“Lies!” Jimmy shouted, as the ramifications of what Jack was saying raced through his head.

“No!” Jack shouted back, “Your gate guard is perfectly fine, all I wanted was the weapons to keep you from harming us as we passed by.”

Without warning, jimmy had had enough and rushed at Jack. In a hurry Jack raced to raise the shield he had unconsciously dropped at some point without realizing it.

But it was to late.

Jimmy hit Jacks weak shield like he was trying to punch out a hoarse.

The shield shattered and dissipated and the backlash inside of Jack's mind was imence. He flew five feet back to the base of the trees he had been hiding behind, placing his arms out to break his fall.

The pain in his right arm as he hit the ground was nothing compared to the feeling of his whole nervouse system flaring like it was raging inferno held inside himself.

The whole sensation nearly brought him to unconsciousness again, all he could do was lay on the ground writing in the pain waiting for it to subside.

Jimmy stood over Jack as he lay blinking and squirming on the ground. “O your not getting out of this that easy,” he said.

Jack stared up in horror as jimmy smirked, looking down at him with rage still pouring from his eyes.

He looked like a maniac.

This couldn’t be it, jack thought.

There has to be something I can do. This can't be the way I die.

Closing his eyes, jack concentrated hard. Slowly at first senarios started whipping past his eyes as his mind went into what he was taking to calling overdrive.

Most of the scenarios he wished he had never seen.

His head felt like it was about to explode, using his powers so soon after that backlash was definitly not a good idea.

After what felt like minutes to him, and what was really only meer fraction of a second, he opened his eyes.

Jimmy hadn’t moved, in fact it looked like he was in his own transe, probably thinking of all the horrible things he was going to do to Jack.

That instant was all jack needed, reaching his sences to a tree just beyond those he had already drained, he tapped it.

Immediately he poured it into a new shield, this time around Jimmy. He condensed the energy so tight the light from the shield lit up the yard. This time Jack attached hardened roots, going deep underground to keep him from moving. Carefully, he did something he hadn’t tried or even known possible before.

He linked the shield directly to the tree so he had nothing to do with its power.

Even the quick transfer of power brought back the internal burning like he was being flayed alive.

Rolling and writhing, Jack knew he didn’t have much time. Slowly the pain was subsiding and his eyes came to focus on Jimmy.

Aperently the green glow that now surrounded him had brought him from his thoughts undoubtably of the horrific tourture he wanted to put Jack through.

Jack watched as jimmy released his unbridaled rage unop the shield.

Kicking, swinging and screaming, he drove to break the cage Jack had placed around him.

Jack couldn’t help but to feel pleased with himself even through the pain.

Slowly Jack brought himself to his feet, coddling his surely broken arm. Once more he picked up the shotgun in his good arm and walked toward Jimmies cousin.

The sight up close was more gastly then Jack had imagined. He had obviously used his arms to try and stop the fall but the speed at which he fell was to way too much for them as they had dislocated and twisted in an odd fasion that was only out done by the horrible angel his neck laid in.

The wave of disgust that came over him almost made his sick then and there.

“I’m sorry,” Jack mumbled, “ this never should have happened.”

Absently Jack knew he would never get this picture out of his head but it was too late now. Crouching down, he dropped the shotgun and slung the strap of the rifle over his shoulder.

Grabbing the shotgun and rising, Jack gave one more glance to the mangled mess, made a quick prayer for him and started toward the gate.

Walking the path, he steeled himself not to look back. He had to get back to his friends and get the heck out of there. He had no idea how long the cage would hold.