Free Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon by Joshua Bonilla

of the woods with a bunch of crates. He told me to get inside and that I would be safe. I was so scared. I screamed until my voice was raw when he left. About an hour later , I heard a loud rumbling noise , and the crate started to mov e and lift into the air. I don' t remember much after that. I was taken out and given to foster parents ; they were actually scientists , but they treated me like I was their own. They are my family. ”
    “ So you could use your abilities when you were that young? ” Peter asked.
    “ That was the first time I used them. It was by mistake ; I didn' t know what I was doing , ” Mary replied. “ I didn' t do it again until I was eleven. ”
    “ I am sorry , ” I said. “ I didn' t mean to ask such a personal question. ”
    “ I am like Mary , ” Abigail ignored me. “ My family back home is not related to me. I showed up when I was almost ten . My dad realized that I was different. When I was playing out in the yard , I picked up a rock half the my size and threw it across the road. The town representative was passing by and saw what I had done.
    “ A few days later , my dad and I returned home from trading food. The door was opened , but no one was home. The wall console showed that Guards and the town representative had entered and left with my mom and three sisters. My dad flagged down a patrol car and knocked the Guard out when he got out. My dad put me in the back seat and drove off.
    “ The car was tracked , so within an hour we were being followed. He swerved into the woods and drove a few hundred feet before we ran into a tree. He got out and threw me into the bushes. He told me to be quiet , no matter what. He told me , when everyone was gone , to go back to the road and keep walking towards the largest mountain until I came to a small house on the side of the road. He said I would be safe there.
    “ Then the Guards came. He told them he gave up. Then Aaric Dealbeorht showed up. He explained that assaulting a Guard and stealing a car was punishable by death. Aaric took out his gun and pointed it at my dad. He said he admired how my dad was not scared to die and that he would let my dad kill himself. He gave my dad the gun. My dad was about to raise the gun to fire at Aaric , but Aaric had already grabbed my dad’s head. My dad gritted his teeth and screamed. Aaric backed up and told my dad to shoot himself. My dad raised the gun to his head. Before he pulled the trigger , he said , ‘I love you . ’ I closed my eyes.
    “ They took my dad’s body away , and I sat there the rest of the night, crying. In the morning , I went to the road , where I followed it to a small house with an older couple. I told them who I was and that my dad was dead. A few days later , they took m e out into a field and placed me in a box , and I was brought to the W est. ”
    I felt bad for bringing up the topic. Things started to make sense about Abigail's actions. She was independent because she had no real family. She got mad when I said they wouldn't take my family because I was infected. It was because her family was taken away because of her. It must be tough for her to trust anybody.
    We walked in silence after that until we reached a steep slope in the mountain.
    “ The cabin is between those breaks in the mountain , ” Mary pointed.
    She led us to an overgrown path that zigzagged towards the crevice.
    “ A couple lives up there. They maintain the radio tower that the E as t uses for communication. T wo of their children were taken about ten years ago if I remember correctly. The husband was out at the tower , and , when he returned , two of his children were missing. His wife told him that Guards had taken them. Apparently , they were spotted at school with bloody noses. They told the wife that the only reason that all of them were not being taken away was that they were needed at the tower. They threatened the couple , telling them, if they tried to do anything stupid , they would