Free Ordinary (Exceptional Book 3) by Jess Petosa Page B

though. She was going to do everything in her power to get them out of this. She would die trying if she had to.
    She needed to do it for Stosh and Sabine. For Lilla. For Luke. For Max.
     
     

CHAPTER TEN
    [ ally ]
     
    Night came and the room turned dark fast and they decided to take shifts sleeping. Luke was too weak to do much of anything, and Max and Lilla were unconscious, so Ally, Stosh, and Sabine attempted three hour rotations. Without clocks or watches, they just had to guess. Ally ended up with the second shift and got so caught up in her thoughts, she never woke Sabine up for the last shift.
    She thought about possible escape plans, and then rethought them when she realized getting Luke, Max, and Lilla out of the town would severely disable them. If Lilla and Max even made it that long. She thought about what they would if they reached the southern city. What would they say if they ran into other Ordinarys or Exceptionals? What if they found a city just like the one they came from?
    “Ally?” a voice croaked.
    From where she was sitting, Ally could turn her head and look at Luke. The last time she had checked he was laying on his stomach, but now he had crawled to the side of the cage and was looking at her through the bars. Somehow, he looked better than the day before.
    “I’m going to get us out of here,” Luke said with a clearer voice than before.
    “Luke...” Ally started.
    “No,” he held up a hand. “I’m getting my strength back. That tranquilizer is wearing off. These cuffs are just so heavy.”
    Ally tried to smile. Even if the tranquilizer wore off, Luke was still only as good as Ordinary.
    “Have you tried to take them off?” Ally asked.
    Luke stared at her for a moment. “Yes. If it were easy, we would probably have a guard.”
    “True,” Ally said with a sigh. “What are we going to do Luke?”
    Before he could answer Ally moved on.
    “How’s Lilla?” she asked.
    Luke looked at the dirt and then back up. “I haven’t check in awhile. I’m... I’m afraid of what I might find.”
    Luke’s words slammed into Ally. She had never hear him sound so vulnerable, and it was a far cry from the Luke she had encountered in the city just a few, short weeks ago.
    “Check,” Ally responded. “While the others are still asleep.”
    Luke crawled over to Lilla and leaned over her. Ally gripped the bars of the cage, pressing her forehead against the cool metal. She watched as Luke ducked his head and turned toward her.
    “She’s dead.”
    Ally covered her mouth quickly, silencing a sob. She had barely known Lilla, but the loss still hit her hard. She felt responsible for her since she had been the one to convince her to come with them. She turned and looked at Max, whose chest was still moving up and down. She held on to the hope that since his eyes hadn’t turned violet yet, that there was still a chance he would wake up.
    “They’re going to come for you today,” Luke said.
    “What?” Ally looked over at him.
    “The men in this town. I may not have my abilities or strength, but I still have my hearing. I could hear them talking outside last night. They are going to take you and Sabine and sell you to unmarried men in the town.”
    Ally wanted to punch the metal bars until her knuckles bled. “This isn’t how this is supposed to end. What are they going to do with you and Stosh? What about Max?”
    “I don’t know,” Luke responded. “They didn’t talk about that in the conversation. My guess is we’ll either be forced to work or they’ll kill us. In fact, I am pretty sure I have a good chance of being killed.”
    He laughed dryly.
    Pale light was slowly filtering into the room, signaling dawn Sabine stirred next to Stosh and raised her head.
    “Is it my shift yet?” she said sleepily. She looked around the large building. “Is it already morning? Why didn’t you wake me?”
    Luke shifted back to the ground, turning away from Ally and the others. She turned and