Never Underestimate Destiny

Part 34

Liz pushed Max and Zan to the ground as the Skins got closer, and she started yelling at them in their heads. They'd really only been out of it for a few moments, but it had given the enemy the upper hand.

"Snap them out of this," Michael yelled at Liz over his shoulder as they crouched behind the car. "We aren't going to last much longer."

Max and Zan came to at that moment, looking around as more Skins came at them out of the dusk from all directions. They both jumped to their feet.

Michael threw one Skin into two others, knocking them all to the ground in a poof of dust. He turned to see Max and Zan and they were getting up. "What the hell happened to you two? We need some help here. We don't know how many of them are out there." He looked around quickly. "And I think it's too late to make a run for it."

Zan nodded, "I'll try, but I don't have much left," he said. "Bringing down that roof took most of my strength."

Ava intercepted another Skin who was getting too close to them, throwing him backward into the side of the car, breaking his seal.

Isabel spoke up, "Tess can you do that fire again? Like when we were in the school."

She nodded. "I think so, but we have to wait until they get close enough."

Max looked at her. "You think so?" He asked. "You told me you didn't know how you did it."

Tess smiled at him. "Don't worry Max. I'll do anything for you. Anything to help us win."

Max nodded. "Okay," he said softly.

Tess' smile turned to a look of incredulous joy. Finally Max was starting to realize how valuable she was to him.

Michael sent a blast of power at the next Skin and he seemed to shatter in mid-air.

Ava and Isabel took out two more, and Zan attempted to send out his power, but the ripples that left his hand only traveled half the distance and then dissipated.

The Skin smiled, rushing toward them, but Michael's power tore through him, erasing his smile as he burst in a shower of dust.

"How many is that?" Michael called out.

"I don't know," Max said. "A dozen maybe."

"So if we're lucky we've got half of them," Isabel said sarcastically. "Great."

More Skins came forward, but they seemed to know the range of the group's powers and stopped just outside it. Waiting.

One by one the peeling Skins came out of the near darkness, joining the circle that surrounding the group.

Michael shook his head. There were so many Skins, a lot more than the thirty they'd originally thought. Where did they all come from? He'd thought Tess had taken out all of the Skins at the school, but Nicholas had escaped, so maybe others had too.

The Skin army was quickly filling – in the circle around them. There was certainly no way out.

"Shit," Zan growled, watching the Skins gather around them. "This can't be good."

The sun had had finally set and the last dim rays were the only light.

"Be careful," Max warned, "they might try to use the darkness to sneak up on us."

Liz practically held her breath, feeling like something horrible was going to happen any minute, but the Skins were just standing there, like they were waiting for something, or someone.

A few moments passed and the silence was practically unnerving.

Suddenly Nicholas came forward through the line of his soldiers followed by Lonnie and Rath, "You're completely surrounded," Nicholas said happily, motioning above him, "and there's no roof to help you here."