Free Charged by Casey Harvell

agreement, we leave our bags and weave through the backyards again to the old park. Brie stops in front of the old, now obliterated teeter-totter. “What the heck happened to this thing?” She asks and as I blush, her eyes widen. “Get out.”
    Instructing her and Mason to stand behind me in the trees, I look for my next target. I see the old slide, complete with holes. It looks dangerous, so I guess it’s almost a public service to demolish it…at least that’s what I tell myself as I hold my palms out in front of me again, facing the other.
    Again I push the energy out, visualizing it. I throw the glowing sphere in my hands at the slide, but this time I’m prepared for the aftershock of it, and I duck down to one knee, placing a steadying hand on the ground. The effect is the same as last time.
    “Holy crap!” Brie exclaims. But her eyes are dancing. “Kat, that’s amazing!”
    I smile. “It is kind of cool, isn’t it?”
    “I told you.” Mason says. “I wonder, can you make it less intense, like change the power of it so it’s not quite so potent?”
    I shrug, but give it a try. I try sending a small sphere at a small leftover piece of the slide. It coats the metal in an eerie glow before it dissipates. I play around for a few more minutes, but then a quick glance at my phone tells me that we should be on our way.
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    B ack at Brie’s we grab our bags. We still have a few minutes, and perhaps out of habit, she flicks on the TV while we wait. The screen catches all of our attention:
    “…at this rate, the numbers are staggering. Within just a few days the entire eastern seaboard will be affected, unless we figure out how to stop them.”
    Another reporter’s voice cuts in, “The issue with that, Jim, is that at the rate people are falling to this, all of the scientists with the knowledge to fix them will be overtaken, before they have a chance.”
    The screen changes from the debating reporters to a news studio. “If you are just joining us, we are reporting live, up to the minute coverage of the nanobot invasion. Early this morning, Michael Roberts, the man with the first successfully regenerated limb through nanotechnology, was found in his room, deceased. Upon discovery, police were called on the scene. It didn’t take long for people to notice things changing.
    “In the beginning, four out of six people exposed to Michael’s body began exhibiting symptoms of a fever and a rash. Within thirty minute, the numbers had risen to sixty. Approximately twenty minutes after the onset of symptoms, those affected have lost consciousness. When they awaken, they no longer appear human. Their emotions are gone, their movements calculated. Dr. Julian Ford explains.”
    Dr. Ford appears uncomfortable on the screen, in his own small box in the corner. I assume he is being shot on location in his lab at BioNano. His voice is shaky as he begins. “Thank you.” He clears his throat. “The onset of symptoms is the indicator that these rogue nanobots have infected a body. They appear like that of a virus, because the nanobots are infecting a body as a foreign entity and the body is trying to fight it off.” His voice grows somber. “Upon exposure, there’s no hope of containment and currently, though we are hard at work, we do not have the ability to stop them. They appear to be taking control of those they have infected. At this time, we don’t know what intentions they have, if any. Please, remain indoors if possible, but remember that exposure does not stop with people. These nanobots work on a molecular level. Everything they come in contact with, people, animals, buildings, even water can become a carrier.”
    It’s the noise outside that breaks our trance with the television. Mason moves towards the window. “You guys should see this.”
    Brie and I move to the window. It’s pandemonium outside. The roads are jammed, drivers seem to be laying on their horns. People are running