Jack. “He could.”
“I'm not Superman,” Jack said. But no one replied to that, and he wondered what everyone really thought of him. He still wasn't sure what he thought of himself. He feared the potential he carried inside, and worried that they were untried, untested, and liable to backfireif he used them all too rashly. But perhaps it was merely a question of confidence. Maybe he needed to grow used to bearing such power.
Time would tell. And as he breathed in the strange London air and sensed the changes occurring, he knew that he would be testing more powers very soon.
“Something's different,” he said.
“Spidey senses tingling,” Sparky said.
“What is it, Jack?” Rhali asked. She touched his arm, held his hand. She'd not eaten much—said she was not used to such food, and that in captivity they had sometimes forgotten to feed her for days. But she already seemed stronger.
“Can't you feel it?” he asked them all. Sparky and Jenna walked together, Rhali was with him. Fleeter strolled slightly ahead of them, automatically taking the lead. Breezer and Guy Morris accompanied them, quiet and tense. They never liked travelling in the open like this.
“No,” Breezer said as if stating the obvious.
Jack was not aware that he was using any particular power. Between blinks he searched inside, but he'd touched no star, and there was no taste of Nomad on his tongue. Perhaps using what she had given him was becoming second nature. But that made him wonder just what he was turning into.
“Rhali,” he said. “You sensed it.”
“I still sense movement to the north,” she said. “And moving closer.”
“But whatever's coming towards us is different,” he said. “Not…human.”
“Oh, dandy,” Jenna said.
Jack looked around at the high buildings, absorbed the silence. “The whole city's holding its breath.”
“We need to move,” Breezer said, eyes wide. “And quickly.”
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“The north. That's where the monsters went after Doomsday. Not many people go up there, and some who do don't come back.”
“Monsters?” Jenna asked.
“Evolve caused physical changes in some people,” Breezer said. He nodded at Fleeter. “You know.”
“I only know the stories,” she said. “Wolf men. Bird people. Flesh eaters.”
“Oh, super,” Sparky said.
“And now they're moving into the city,” Rhali said.
“Oh, even more super.”
Rhali breathed deeply, clasping Jack's hand tighter for support. “There's a small group a mile away,” she said. “Moving…too quickly.”
“Right,” Jack said. “The river. A boat. Let's go. Fleeter?”
Did she looked a little afraid? He wasn't sure. Such a look might have been another version of her smug smile, or a trick of the light. But just before she flipped out with a smack! and went to check their route, she locked eyes with Jack, and he saw something dark staring back.
They headed for the river. Jack wondered why no one had mentioned the north before, and the people and things who lived there. But he supposed there had been no need. London was a vastly changed place, and it could be that the north had become as remote as the outside world. When he had a chance, he would ask Fleeter about it.
They moved as silently and quickly as possible. He saw things that days ago would have traumatised him for life, but which now were merely another part of the landscape. Two withered, dried shapes hung side by side from nooses suspended from second storey windows. A pram sat in the middle of the road, a mess of blankets and clothing inside, mother dead on the road with her skeletal fingerscurled around one wheel. A bus had driven into a DVD store, and the silhouettes of its dead passengers were just visible through the dusty windows.
“No one buried them all,” Rhali said. Jack was surprised, and then he remembered that the Choppers had caught her soon after Doomsday. She'd been shut away since then.
“There was no one left
“I'm not Superman,” Jack said. But no one replied to that, and he wondered what everyone really thought of him. He still wasn't sure what he thought of himself. He feared the potential he carried inside, and worried that they were untried, untested, and liable to backfireif he used them all too rashly. But perhaps it was merely a question of confidence. Maybe he needed to grow used to bearing such power.
Time would tell. And as he breathed in the strange London air and sensed the changes occurring, he knew that he would be testing more powers very soon.
“Something's different,” he said.
“Spidey senses tingling,” Sparky said.
“What is it, Jack?” Rhali asked. She touched his arm, held his hand. She'd not eaten much—said she was not used to such food, and that in captivity they had sometimes forgotten to feed her for days. But she already seemed stronger.
“Can't you feel it?” he asked them all. Sparky and Jenna walked together, Rhali was with him. Fleeter strolled slightly ahead of them, automatically taking the lead. Breezer and Guy Morris accompanied them, quiet and tense. They never liked travelling in the open like this.
“No,” Breezer said as if stating the obvious.
Jack was not aware that he was using any particular power. Between blinks he searched inside, but he'd touched no star, and there was no taste of Nomad on his tongue. Perhaps using what she had given him was becoming second nature. But that made him wonder just what he was turning into.
“Rhali,” he said. “You sensed it.”
“I still sense movement to the north,” she said. “And moving closer.”
“But whatever's coming towards us is different,” he said. “Not…human.”
“Oh, dandy,” Jenna said.
Jack looked around at the high buildings, absorbed the silence. “The whole city's holding its breath.”
“We need to move,” Breezer said, eyes wide. “And quickly.”
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“The north. That's where the monsters went after Doomsday. Not many people go up there, and some who do don't come back.”
“Monsters?” Jenna asked.
“Evolve caused physical changes in some people,” Breezer said. He nodded at Fleeter. “You know.”
“I only know the stories,” she said. “Wolf men. Bird people. Flesh eaters.”
“Oh, super,” Sparky said.
“And now they're moving into the city,” Rhali said.
“Oh, even more super.”
Rhali breathed deeply, clasping Jack's hand tighter for support. “There's a small group a mile away,” she said. “Moving…too quickly.”
“Right,” Jack said. “The river. A boat. Let's go. Fleeter?”
Did she looked a little afraid? He wasn't sure. Such a look might have been another version of her smug smile, or a trick of the light. But just before she flipped out with a smack! and went to check their route, she locked eyes with Jack, and he saw something dark staring back.
They headed for the river. Jack wondered why no one had mentioned the north before, and the people and things who lived there. But he supposed there had been no need. London was a vastly changed place, and it could be that the north had become as remote as the outside world. When he had a chance, he would ask Fleeter about it.
They moved as silently and quickly as possible. He saw things that days ago would have traumatised him for life, but which now were merely another part of the landscape. Two withered, dried shapes hung side by side from nooses suspended from second storey windows. A pram sat in the middle of the road, a mess of blankets and clothing inside, mother dead on the road with her skeletal fingerscurled around one wheel. A bus had driven into a DVD store, and the silhouettes of its dead passengers were just visible through the dusty windows.
“No one buried them all,” Rhali said. Jack was surprised, and then he remembered that the Choppers had caught her soon after Doomsday. She'd been shut away since then.
“There was no one left
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