THE GUARDS ADVANCED into the room, sweeping it high and low with their rifle barrels. But two rifles stayed trained on Lamont and Maddy.
“On your knees! Now!” one of the guards commanded.
Lamont turned to Maddy. For the first time since he’d known her, he saw fear in her eyes. All her bravado was gone, and she looked like exactly what she was—a teenager who was in way over her head. His fault.
“Maddy,” he said softly. “Do exactly what they say.”
She slowly crouched down until her knees touched the carpet. Lamont knelt beside her. As the two lead guards moved forward, one pulled a small device from his belt. He held it up in front of the captives, waving it close to Lamont’s face.
“We’ve got him,” he called out to the rest of the squad. “We’ve got Cranston.”
Now all the guards moved in to surround them. One of the guards wrapped a set of plastic ties around Lamont’s wrists and pulled them tight. So tight that they bit into his flesh. Then two guards grabbed him under the arms and started dragging him toward the doorway. Two other guards kept their rifles on Maddy.
“What about the girl?” asked one, the green dot of his sight on the back of Maddy’s head.
“She’s all yours,” said the guard in charge. “Then dispose of her.”
The two guards dropped their rifles onto the carpet. One grabbed Maddy around her rib cage. The other slid his arms under her knees. Maddy arched her back and twisted furiously.
“Don’t touch me, you goddamn robots!” she shouted.
Maddy thrashed with every fiber of strength in her body, but the men were too much for her. Solid muscle, surrounded by solid armor. They tightened their grip and started carrying her toward the bed.
“Lamont!” Maddy cried out.
Lamont was at the doorway now, pressed between his two handlers. He kicked against the door jamb.
“Stop!” he shouted. “Leave her alone!”
The guards threw Maddy roughly onto the bed and climbed on top of her. One pinned her arms over her head while the other swung his legs over hers.
“Get off me!” screamed Maddy. “I’ll kill you!”
The guards pulled Lamont halfway into the hallway as he struggled against them. He twisted his head to look back.
“Maddy!” he shouted.
“Wait!” said one of the guards, grabbing Lamont roughly by the shoulders and pinning him against the doorframe. “Maybe we should let him watch.”
“Leave her alone!” Lamont shouted into the guard’s visor. “I’m the one you want! Not her! Let her go!”
Maddy felt a gloved hand hook under the waistband of her shorts. She screamed again. No words. Just sounds, muffled by the thick glove over her mouth.
Lamont leaned his head back and screamed too—something wild and primal, from a place so deep inside him he didn’t know it even existed. He strained at the plastic ties. He bent his head and went silent, as if giving in. For a few seconds, it was as if time stood still. He felt warmth in his hands, then heat. The plastic cuffs started to bubble and melt, forming red welts around his wrists.
Maddy rolled her torso furiously from side to side and strained to pull her arms free.
“Hold still, you little bitch!” said the guard straddling her legs. He leaned forward and slapped her hard across the face.
“Don’t fight me!” he yelled.
“Lamont!” Maddy cried out again, or tried to.
The guard had his hand back for another slap when the fireball hit him. It struck with the force of a cannon blast, knocking him off the bed and against the wall. He fell in a heap to the floor. Maddy turned to see Lamont standing with his arms free—his right palm stretched forward, melted plastic dangling from his wrist, a strange haze surrounding his whole body. He looked as stunned as everybody else in the room.
The guards surrounding Lamont were rocked back. As they recovered their footing, their rifle barrels came up. Spinning toward them, Lamont gathered the barrels together like flower stems and pressed them between his palms. The rifles melted into a single drooping wad of metal. He swept his arm across the guards, shielding himself with a curtain of flame. He was surging with a force he barely knew how to control.
Maddy twisted free of the remaining guard, shoving him off onto the floor. The guard quickly rolled toward his rifle, lying just a few yards away on the carpet. Maddy flipped herself off the bed and made a flying leap over the guard’s back. She got to the weapon first, raised it like an axe, and brought the stock down on top of the guard’s helmet—so hard that the rifle snapped in half.
Lamont ran to Maddy as reinforcements poured into the room. With one hand, he pushed her behind him and thrust the other out toward the oncoming guards. A swirl of flame emerged from his open palm and shot across the room like a meteor. The fireball blasted the entire squad back into the hallway, helmets shattered, rifles and equipment flying.
A fresh squad rushed up the staircase. The guards took positions on both sides of the doorway, rifles held tight to their breastplates. On a hand signal, they burst into the room, stepping over prone guards and weapons somehow melted into abstract sculptures.
The fugitives were gone.