The Gifted
By Aaron K. Redshaw
The Gifted
Aaron K. Redshaw
Copyright © 2013 by Aaron K. Redshaw
All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Dedication: To Christine who has always believed in me, and to David and Andrew for whom I wrote this book.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Things start with a bang
Chapter 2: I awake in a strange place
Chapter 3: Others like me
Chapter 4: Tricksters
Chapter 5: We’ve been drafted
Chapter 6: When things fly at night
Chapter 7: Our mission explained
Chapter 8: I hit a brick wall
Chapter 9: What we discover
Chapter 10: Incognito
Chapter 11: Our first day
Chapter 12: A tempting offer
Chapter 13: Things learned
Chapter 14: Too much at once!
Chapter 15: Our secret weapon
Chapter 16: A way out
Chapter 17: Under the island
Chapter 18: The dragon
Chapter 19: The great battle
Chapter 20: I completely lose control
Chapter 21: The end of the battle
Chapter 22: A bad kind of surprise
Chapter 23: Fire with fire
Chapter 24: Things revealed
Chapter 25: Finding the bomb
Chapter 26: Twelve million
Chapter 27: A desperate plan
Chapter 28: The part I missed
Chapter 29: Back among friends
Chapter 30: Enemy inside
Chapter 31: Saying goodbye
Chapter 32: A new beginning
A note from the author
Acknowledgements
More titles by this author
About the Author
Chapter 1: Things start with a bang
I was reviewing fractions in Mr. Hoang’s class the day my school got bombed. The explosion rattled my teeth and blew papers all over my 5th grade classroom. Mr. Hoang was on the floor with the rest of the students, hiding under his desk.
“What was that?” I said. I was already looking out through the small rectangular window in the top of the door, the only one standing. Immediately I saw what was up. A huge smoking hole had been blown clean through the wall on the other side of the hallway. It was right below where our school Bible verse says, “The LORD protects those of childlike faith-Psalm 116:6.”
“Cool!” I said, but no one was listening. Everyone else in the room was hiding under their desks or on the floor. Out the window, through a haze of dust, three men and one who might have been a woman, stumbling through the hole in the wall. They were wearing helmets and black vests. Each had a weapon, a gun of some sort on their hip. The man in front was taller than the rest. He appeared grim and determined, and it looked like his nose was bent a little to the right. He stepped over the debris and moved toward me.
Seeing me through the glass in the door, he made eye contact and smiled. That’s what I remembered; his smile that didn’t look like it fit there on his face with his broken nose. He came with the others, tromping over pieces of brick and plaster, and then grabbed the doorknob. I could tell he was having trouble with it. It must have been jammed from the explosion. I backed away from the door as he yanked hard and with a loud crack, it flew open. He took one step in the doorway, grabbed something from his back pocket and hit me over the head with it. Hard.
I said, “mmmfffffpphhh,” and hit the floor.
***
I awoke, and almost instantly was in a panic! I was in total darkness and my head hurt terribly. There was a buzzing sound, like electric machinery coming from another room. It was a comforting sound I thought. One that I have always associated with electric heaters or clothes dryers; good to sleep by. But my heart was pounding too fast to sleep.
There was a loud conversation going on outside the room. It sounded like a man and a woman. I stood up and walked toward the voices with my hands stretched out in front of me. When I got to the wall, I felt around with my hands, and listened. Finally I put my ear to what must have been the door. “I don't understand,” said a woman.
Then a man’s voice, “I'm just telling you it is true. He’s one of those special kids, so watch yourself.”
“And how am I to do that?” said the woman.
“You should go in with a determined mind,” he said, “Especially when you come within proximity of the boy. Anything you do should be preplanned so he can’t affect you.”
There was a pause, steps were getting closer. I stumbled away from the door quickly so no one would know I was listening. When I had moved back a few steps, I tripped and fell down. I stayed there as I saw someone with a flashlight enter. I closed my eyes, trying to pretend I was sleeping, which was hard because I was breathing so fast. I tried to take deeper, slower breaths.
“Ah, so you have been awake already I see. This is not where we first laid you.” The woman had some sort of accent I couldn’t place. She kept her distance, “I can feel your pull from over here, but I was sent only to give you this message. You will get food twice today and then tomorrow you will be sent off the mainland. You have a new life waiting for you there.”
She took a couple of steps toward me. Then she was quiet for a few seconds. “But you are bleeding.” I am? I thought. “They should have told a medic. How are you to be turned if you are treated this way?” With another pause, I heard the fading sound of footsteps and the close of a door. She locked a deadbolt from the other side.
I was left on the floor, concrete by the feel of it, in an unknown place and I had no way out. And, evidently, I was bleeding. I’m not much of a crier, but I’ll admit, I cried for a few minutes then. Eventually I got tired of crying, and hearing the humming of the machines; I was lulled to sleep.
***
The next thing I remember is that Abraham Lincoln was selling burritos from a small white cart to blue alien children, when the burrito cart blew up in a cloud of smoke and fire.
I was startled awake. It was no dream! There was a bright light in the room now and a huge gaping hole in the wall. What was it with explosions these days? Cinder blocks were scattered in pieces all over the floor and there was a lot of dust and smoke. A man in camouflage who looked like he should have been a professional wrestler stalked into the room. Upon seeing me he took out a two-way radio, and with a smile said, “Yes, I have him. See you at the base.”
He turned to me, took a couple of steps closer, and said to himself, “Yup, just like they said.” Then to me, “Hi, I'm your ride. We call it a rescue mission. Let's go.”
He reached behind me and put on handcuffs. “We don't want you to go anywhere though.” He smiled, and this smile did not look like it belonged in his straight jawed face either, but it looked more genuine than the last guy. I stood up and he put one thick arm behind me and pushed me out toward the hole in the wall. I stumbled over the debris the best I could.
I heard the noise of yelling and running outside, but I couldn’t see anything because the light was blinding. I closed my eyes and let him lead me out. Once we got past the rubble, he grabbed me like I was a sack of flour and carried me over his shoulder.
His pace quickened, and since my stomach was against his shoulder, I felt sick, but my thoughts of pain were distr
acted when I heard a helicopter ahead of us. I had never seen a helicopter up close and always wanted to. I sure hoped this really was a rescue. I was excited and scared at the same time. He opened the door of the helicopter and put me on a seat. “I'll see you on the other side,” he said and then gave that unnatural looking smile again.
I could feel the helicopter lift off as I saw him run the other way. We lifted up higher and I saw that we had been in some warehouse right in the middle of my town! The voice of a man behind me said, “Hello,” and then I felt a prick on my neck. Everything became dark again.
Chapter 2: I awake in a strange place
When I opened my eyes, I expected to see the inside of a helicopter, but was surprised to find I was lying in bed, staring up at a white ceiling. It was entirely too quiet, except for the ticking of a clock, which, as I turned my head read 8:05. Was that am or pm? The room was well-lit but cold, and there were some other unoccupied beds beside mine.
I have been in a hospital before. When I was eight, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm while playing with my younger brother. A shriveled old man had been walking past the playground and saw me. Immediately he ran over, lifted me in his arms, and carried me twelve blocks to the hospital and checked me in. The man was 86 years old and had chronic back pain. Once the nurses took me away the man acted confused and wondered aloud why he had done it.
As I lie there remembering this, I heard footsteps and someone opened the door. It was a lady with dark skin and a mouth that looked like it was made to smile. “I see you are back with us now,” she smiled, speaking with a soft voice and a thick Indian accent. “Did you know you talk in your sleep? You were saying something about Abraham Lincoln and Mexican food. Anyway, I thought that might mean you were hungry, so I brought you some food. Do you like Mexican?”
“I do, thank you,” I said. “Where am I?”
“All of that you will learn soon, but no need to worry, you are safe,” she said.
“This food isn't going to put me to sleep, is it?” I said.
“No, it won’t. They put you out to keep you safe, and to keep hidden this place. I can feel quite a pull when I come near. Well, that's what they said to expect. I had better leave now before it gets harder. Have a nice meal.” She put a bottle of water next to a tray of food and walked out.
Feel a pull? What did that mean?
I opened up the lid and saw Spanish rice and beans with corn tortillas. I ate my meal and I found myself hungrier than expected. As I ate, I thought about my parents and my brother. I already missed them.
About an hour later that same nurse opened the door just a crack and said, “There is someone here to see you.”
A medium height, stocky man entered. He had a wide face and reminded me of a neighbor I had back home. He might have been Mexican. “Andy,” he said, “I see you are awake and have eaten. Good.” He was clearly born in the U.S. as he had no accent whatever, but spoke with a deep voice like you’d expect from a pro football player. He stepped closer, “Oh yeah, you’ve got it! I wonder if you even know.” It was weird the way people kept talking about me like this. Didn’t he realize I was right in front of him?
“Do you even know what I'm talking about?” he said.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, that's what I thought. The people who got you gave you quite a lump on your head. We checked you out to make sure everything was okay.” I reached up and felt a bandage on my head.
“Do you feel like you can walk yet?”
“I don't know.” I started to sit up. “I haven't tried.”
“Why don't you try it now, but go slowly.”
I got up from the bed and put my feet on the smooth, gray cement floor. I felt the cold on my feet as I slowly stood up. I was a little dizzy at first, but after a few seconds felt better. “Yup,” I said. “I think I can walk.”
“Good, because in twenty minutes you are scheduled for an important meeting. You may want to change out of that hospital gown though if you don’t want the other kids to laugh at you. Your clothes are in the bathroom.” He pointed to a room in the corner near the door. “Oh, and here,” he said as he held out a pair of gray slippers. “It seems your shoes didn’t make the trip.” And then he left.
There was something odd in the way he looked, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
I put on the gray slippers and went into the bathroom to relieve myself. Coming out again I took a look at the room, then walked to the door and found it locked. “That's weird,” I said aloud. With nothing else to do I went over to the window to see where I was. Clearly I was on the second floor. There was grass a story below and a bird that flew from behind the building, across a lawn, over to some trees in the distance. I felt the glass and it was cold even though it was still fall and sunny. Staring outside, thinking about my parents, soon I saw another bird fly over to that same set of trees.
I wondered what was going on at school. I must have missed some school by now. I remembered the hole blown through the wall. That must have made it more interesting for a while. How would they repair it? Would all the students try to ignore this gaping hole right across from Mr. Hoang’s class? I could almost picture the men working and kids walking past a smoking hole the size of a minivan. I wished I was there because it was familiar and safe. Another bird flew by, again from behind the building, over to that same place in that same faraway tree.
I snapped out of it. That was impossible! Each time it looked exactly the same. How could it fly from behind the hospital again and again? I watched for a couple more minutes and saw it again. What was going on here?
At that moment the squat man re-entered the room. “Yeah, I see you like the view. Don't look too carefully though or you might get a shock.”
“I already have,” I said. “Where are we?”
“Well, as Dorothy would say, ‘We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.’”
Chapter 3: Others like me
“If you want to know more, come with me.” He walked out the door and I followed.
He led me down a long, and I mean long, hallway. It stretched beyond my vision and curved to the right. At first the walls were smooth and white like the room I had just left, but then they change into square tiles, still white. I could hear the clip-clap of his polished black shoes which echoed down the hallway. I was actually getting tired and my mind began drifting off when I saw the hallway end in a rock wall ahead of us. How could that be? I thought we were on the second or third floor. I could feel the floor slant downward slightly as if we were plunging into the earth.
He must have guessed at my confusion because he said, “Don't worry. I can see you’re trying to make sense of it. You’ll put it all together soon enough. At least the important parts.”
He took the remaining steps up to the rock and didn’t even slow down, walking right into it. “Probably should close your eyes the first time.”
“Huh?” I said trying to follow him, putting my arms out in front of me to keep from hitting my face on the rock. As I did this, I hit. . .nothing. My hands were inside the rock and I felt nothing.
“Come on,” he said. “You'll get used to it.”
We kept moving forward, but I couldn’t see anything except the rock that seemed to surround me. His voice near said, “The lab monkeys enjoy this show. A waste of time and money if you ask me. Now you should put out your hands here for the wall you can’t see.” I had never put them down. My fingertips collided with a smooth surface.
There were beeping noises like someone was dialing a cell phone and then in the middle of the rock I saw a door slide open. Suddenly in front of me was a spacious room with a few kids and a couple of adults who sat or stood around a long rectangular table. It was some kind of conference room. I stepped inside behind my guide and recognized the man who had carried me on his shoulder. He had a bandage on the side of his head, but it was a small one and when I came in he smiled.
“It’s you!” I said.
“Yes,” said
my rescuer. “I just wanted to see you before I left. I’m glad things worked out for you.”
“Thanks,” I said. Without another word he shook my hand and walked out the door. I guess he had other things to do.
Turning to face the group, I saw a thin, young, black man sitting across the table. When he looked my way, he smiled.
“Doctor Denay, I'll leave him in your hands,” said the man who had walked me there.
“Yes, General Garcia. Thank you,” he said, adjusting his glasses.
The door closed as the general left and I sat down. “Hey, what's your name?” said a boy in a green Hawaiian shirt who shook my hand. Before I could open my mouth a girl about my height with long brown hair said, “What happened to your head? Are you okay?“
I got ready to speak, but then the doctor said, “Yes, well, I dare say you can all feel it, so let’s get to it.”
By this time, I was getting annoyed. “Why does everyone keep talking about me that way?”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Andy,” he said, “you have lived a bit of a privileged life, haven’t you?” He drew out his words slowly as he spoke.
“Huh?” I said. “What do you mean?” I could feel the frustration rising in me.
He continued. “When a stranger approaches you on the street, Andy, do they usually smile at you, or ignore you?”
The question seemed absurd. “Well, they’d smile. Isn’t that what people do? That’s just being polite.”
“Han?” asked the Doctor.
A thin Asian boy with glasses said in a quiet voice, “Yes?”
“How would you answer that?”
Han adjusted his glasses, looking uncomfortable. “Ignore me mostly,” he said, barely above a whisper.
“Guido?” said the doctor. “How would you respond?”
Guido put on a baseball cap, and suddenly I noticed him. How could I have missed him? He had on that loud Hawaiian shirt which looked fitting with his mocha skin, and he was probably a good nine inches shorter than me. “Are you kidding doc?” he said. “This kid’s got all the luck. Me, I get ignored every time.”
“Yes,” said Dr. Denay. “Well, I suppose you are a bit of an exception there. Still, Tracy? What about you?”
“I might get ignored, unless he was a cute boy and I smiled first,” she said while twirling strands of hair around her finger. “I guess it really just depends if I smiled first. But mostly, if I don’t know them or anything, they just ignore me.”