Ava stood there staring at the empty doorway, feeling stupid. She had thought her speech would at least get some kind of reaction out of him. Maybe make him realize he was being an idiot. Instead he had just walked away like she wasn't even worth arguing with.
"Well shit," she muttered.
"Is he really gone?" asked the blonde girl.
"Looks like it," she said, still staring at the door.
Jax managed to get Diana to sit up. She was groggy and kept blinking like she was trying to figure out where she was.
"What happened?" she asked, touching the side of her head where a bruise was forming.
"We got our asses kicked," Jax said. "Then some guy showed up and saved us. Then he left."
"Some guy?"
"Yeah, I don't know who he was. Skinny kid, looked like he could bench press a car."
Ava walked over to them. "His name is Nox. He goes to our school."
"Never heard of him," Diana said.
"Most people haven't. He's one of those kids who just blends into the background." She looked back at the door one more time. "Apparently not anymore though."
There were four other students still alive in the gym. The blonde girl, two guys who looked like they were on the basketball team, and another girl who was maybe a sophomore. They all looked terrified and lost.
"So what do we do now?" one of the basketball players asked.
Ava looked around the gym at all the dead monsters and dead students. The place was a complete disaster. Blood everywhere, broken equipment, holes in the walls.
"We can't stay here," she said. "More of those things might show up."
"Where can we go though?" the blonde girl asked. "Those monsters are everywhere."
"I don't know yet. But we need to find somewhere safe and figure out what's happening to us."
Diana was testing her telekinesis by making a basketball float in the air. It was wobbly and she looked like she was concentrating really hard, but it was working.
"I can still do it," she said. "The mind thing. It's not as strong as before but it's there."
"Good," Ava said. "We're going to need every advantage we can get."
Jax tried to stand up and almost fell over. His face was pale and he was shaking.
"Take it easy," Ava said, helping him stay upright. "You look like hell."
"I feel like hell too. That power really took it out of me."
"What was that anyway? Where did it come from?"
"Some voice in my head offered me a deal. Power in exchange for serving someone's interests." He rubbed his forehead. "I was desperate so I said yes."
"And now?"
"Now the voice is gone and I feel like I got hit by a truck." He looked at his hands. "I'm still stronger than I used to be, but nothing like what I was a few minutes ago."
"Think it'll come back?"
"I have no idea."
Ava thought about Nox and his system messages. He had mentioned something about stats and levels, like this was all some kind of video game. Maybe that was what was happening to all of them. Maybe they were all getting powers but in different ways.
"We should get out of here," she said. "Find somewhere we can rest and figure out our next move."
"What about him?" the blonde girl asked, pointing at the door Nox had walked through. "Should we try to find him?"
"No," Ava said quickly. "Trust me, we're better off without him."
Even as she said it though, she couldn't help thinking about how easily he had killed that huge monster. How he had just punched its head clean off like it was nothing. Having that kind of power on their side would have been useful.
But he had made his choice and she had made hers. She wasn't going to abandon people who needed help just because it was easier to be selfish.
"Come on," she said to the group. "Let's see if we can find a way out of this place."
As they started gathering up what supplies they could find, Ava couldn't shake the feeling that they were making a mistake. Not staying to help these people, but letting Nox walk away. Something told her they were going to need him before this was all over.
But it was too late now. He was gone and they were on their own.
Nox moved fast through the wrecked hallways, his boots crunching on fallen plaster and broken glass. Ava's voice was still ringing in his ears, annoyingly loud even though she was long out of sight.
"Fucking jerk... complete and total asshole..."
He scoffed internally. Yeah, maybe he was. So what? When had anyone ever given a damn about him?
"These people are going to die and you just don't give a damn because what, some kids were mean to you?"
He gritted his teeth. "Some kids were mean to me?" she had said. She had no idea. Years. Years of it. Every single day. Mark's smirking face flashed in his mind, then Ms. Joy's condescending smile as she let it all happen.
He remembered the orange juice soaking his shirt, the laughter. No one stepped in then. No one cared then.
So why should he care now? Why should he be the one to stick his neck out?
He rounded a corner, a piece of the ceiling hanging precariously above him. He sidestepped it without a second thought.
"You think you're so much better than everyone else now that you have powers, but you're not. You're still the same pathetic loser you always were, just stronger."
Pathetic loser. That stung. He wasn't a loser anymore. He had power. He could kill those dog things with his bare hands. He wasn't weak.
"At least before you were harmless. Now you're just dangerous and useless."
Useless? He was clearing this dungeon, wasn't he? That was the mission. That was useful. Dangerous? Maybe. But he'd rather be dangerous than a punching bag.
He kept moving, his pace somewhere between a fast walk and a jog. He wasn't running from anything, he told himself. He just wanted to put distance between himself and… that. The gym. Her voice.
"I think you're scared," she had yelled.
Scared? Of what? He had faced down monsters. He had jumped out of a two-story window. He wasn't scared. He was just… done. Done with people. Done with their expectations.
"What happens when you run into something you can't handle by yourself? What happens when you need help and there's nobody left who gives a shit about you?"
He paused for a split second. That one… that one was a little harder to shake off. He had always been alone. He was used to it. But this new world, these monsters… what if she was right? What if he did need help at some point? Who would he turn to?
The thought was irritating. He didn't want to need anyone.
He kicked a loose chunk of concrete out of his path. It skittered across the floor and bounced off a dented locker.
Why should he care about any of them? They were all part of the same shitty system that had chewed him up and spit him out. Mark, his bullies, the students who watched and snickered, the teachers who did nothing or, worse, joined in. Like Ms. Joy.
"You all watched," he had told them back in the classroom. "Some of you laughed. Ms. Joy, you joined in."
His own words came back to him. He remembered their terrified faces. It had felt good, that fear.
Ava's words again: "Being strong doesn't mean anything if you don't use it to help people."
Bullshit. Strength meant he wasn't a victim anymore. Strength meant survival. That was what it meant to him.
He was being selfish, she basically said. And maybe he was. But after everything he had gone through, didn't he have the right to be? No one had ever helped him. Why should he be the one to suddenly start playing hero? Fuck them all. Whether his choice was wrong or right, that was his business… right?
He slowed his pace, then stopped in the middle of a debris-strewn corridor.
The word "right?" echoed in his mind. He hated that tiny note of uncertainty.
"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. Her stupid speech was really messing with his head. He didn't like feeling conflicted. He liked things simple. Kill monsters, get stronger, survive. That was simple. Her words made it… not simple.
He looked down one end of the hallway, then the other. He had been heading generally towards the school's main entrance, vaguely thinking of clearing out more monsters.
Now…
He changed direction.
He started walking back the way he'd come earlier, but took a different turn, heading towards the stairs that led to the upper floors. Towards his old classroom.
He didn't know why, exactly. Maybe he just needed a place to think without her voice in his head. Or maybe he was a little curious about what happened to the 'idiots' he'd left behind.
Not because he cared, of course. Just… curious.