Free Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel by Matt Carter Page B

both of which were long and winding. I hoped that as the competition went on that they’d figure out how to speed this along. I mean, we’d starve out here if we had to wait like this every day, wouldn’t we?
    It had only been a few hours and I already heard people fighting in the food line. There was some shoving, some accusations about getting seconds when some people hadn’t had firsts. Someone defensively saying they were getting food for a friend.
    This was a problem that was going to get worse before it got any better if nobody took control of the situation.
    With all the commotion, the forest went silent with the sound of screams, followed by a loud gurgling and someone laughing loudly. Everyone ran out of the water line to see what was going on. I cut to the front, grabbing a couple canteens before seeing what had happened.
    Everyone stood in a circle around Carnivore, as blood ran down his cheeks and neck. Another boy lay dead in front of him, with a large pool of blood spreading on the ground. His dead eyes stared out blankly into the night.
    Iron Bear.
    Carnivore had ripped out his throat.
    Suddenly, Carnivore’s body went rigid. He let out a high, yipping scream, grabbing at his chest and falling to the ground in a violent seizure.
    Blackjack’s voice echoed across loudspeakers on the island, “We told you kids, no killin’. This time, y’all got a warning. Next time, we set the Creepers to kill. Now somebody bury that poor SOB before he stinks up the place and get on with your party. You’ll want this free time while you still got it.”
    Carnivore stopped seizing and crawled away, grumbling.
    Nobody wanted to touch Iron Bear, but because I’d spent the most time with him, everybody expected me to do something. Sighing, I focused, dragging his body across the ground while still keeping my distance so I wouldn’t have to smell him, or look at all the blood.
    Or the guy I thought might’ve been a friend.
    Odigjod simply hissed a low, “Oh no.” when I brought the body back by our fire.
    The crystal boy took the water from me gratefully, but sadly. “If he hadn’t been getting me food… it’s my fault.”
    “Yeah, it is,” I said. Firewall chucked a small piece of metal at the back of my head, shooting me a harsh glare.
    Weakly, the boy stood up, transforming one of his arms into a crystalline monstrosity. “I will bury him.”
    “Odigjod will help,” Odigjod said.
    “We all will,” Showstopper said, standing to join us. Even Firewall set down her work long enough to suit up and join them. Great, now I’ll look like a dick if I don’t help.
    Between the five of us and our powers, it didn’t take long to bury him. Showstopper even made a simple cross out of a couple sticks and stuck it in the ground.
    “Think he’d have liked that?” he asked.
    “I think he’d have liked being alive more,” I said.
    “But… never mind,” Showstopper said, turning to Odigjod. “Did he go to hell?”
    Odigjod shrugged. “Not my department. Odigjod will looking him up when visiting home next. Maybe put in an good word, if I can, if he’s there.”
    “What do we put on the marker? Iron Bear or… what was his real name?” Showstopper asked. Nobody knew. Firewall probably did, but she wasn’t saying.
    “Seriously?” Showstopper asked. “None of you even took a second to ask his name?”
    “Did you?” I asked.
    He grumbled. “That’s not the poin—”
    “Supposed to use our codenames,” Odigjod said.
    “You don’t,” Showstopper said.
    “Don’t have one, yet,” Odigjod said.
    “His name was Sacha,” a voice said from behind us.
    It was Ghost Girl.
    Her eyes glowed vaguely gold behind her mask. “Sacha Sakalauskas. He wasn’t evil, he just worked the black market so he could provide for his sister. She’s been ill for a long time. He hoped he’d make the team so he could provide a better life for her, maybe smuggle her into France. Even though she wouldn’t remember him, he