Consuming Fire

Chapter 38

All at once, they were being attacked.

Joshua leapt from the log and stared through the smoke of the blazing fire at the men in black suits he remembered from the night he was taken. It was a long time ago, but he still recalled the terror that charged through him, the cold of the ice as it tried to protect him and the bite of the taser that sent him into unconsciousness.

Baby Hunter's screams tore through him.

They emerged from around the lake, sprinting at them, shooting electric bullets from their guns. The others with them looked exactly like the people he remembered from ICE, only ragged, psychotic-looking, edgy and angry as if they wanted blood to be shed.

The children huddled together around the fire, screaming "what do we do?!" and "let's get out of here!" and "to the garage!" but they were surrounded. The Agents and the mutants were coming from everywhere.

Joshua found Hunter's eyes. It was too late for them to run. By now there would be Agents at the front of the house, ready to catch them. They were outnumbered and unprepared.

"Stand and fight," said Joshua.

"Ow!" They all looked at Marcus, who clenched his right bicep. He'd been hit by one of the bullets. Immediately the group gathered into a circle, facing the mutants and the Agents, Imogen protecting them from the bullets with a shield. From the looks of shock on the young one's faces, they didn't expect them to be real. When Marcus pulled his hand away, his arm was sparking.

"They're electric bullets!" he shouted. "You can't get hit, it'll knock you out!"

The electric bullets zapped against Imogen's force field as the others gazed through the shimmering wall in horror.

Joshua's attention was diverted to the cabin through the trees, and at once he felt afraid.

Ravenadium is in there. If the Agents search the house, they'll surely find it. Dr. Wolfe will get his hands on it. Escape, said the Iceman. Grab the briefcase and run. For the sake of them all.

Time slowed and Joshua waited.

"What do we do?" screamed Chantal.

"On my count," he said, "Imogen, you need to blast your shield at the Agents. It'll stun them."

The Agents were close, still firing. It seemed like there were two mutants to each Agent, with the mutants closing in first. In fifteen seconds, they'd be on top of them.

"I can do it," said Imogen as she concentrated.

"Marcus, attack the left side with your energy. Use the fire. Hunter, attack the right. Benji, take out the back mutants. Mosi, try and shake the ground and rock them off balance. The rest of you need to run back to the cabin."

They nodded, no time to argue. Joshua summoned the ice, ready for a fight, itching to release some of the tension that had been building inside him over the past week.

"On three. One."

The blue bullets peppered the shield and it was like bright fireworks all around them.

"Two."

Imogen started to scream from the effort.

Get ready, Iceman.

"Three!"

The shield blasted from them, the force so great it not only knocked the Agents backwards, it pushed the tide into the lake and a wave rose up, roaring, ready to fall down on all of them. Joshua became distracted by it and threw up his hands, directing a blast of ice toward the wave and freezing it just before it fell on top of them. He looked back and saw Hunter pull the blaze of the fire out of the enclosed circle, lift it above their heads like a giant serpent and throw it at several Agents sprinting at them. They screamed and dove for the lake. Marcus did as he asked and drove electric currents at the Agents, his bolts passing through Hunter's fire and exploding. Several of them were blown back and did not get up.

It was mayhem, beautiful mayhem, and for a moment Joshua was caught in wonder at the fight around him. He'd never seen anything more amazing. The night he and Hunter battled in the warehouse was poetic and meaningful, but this was unorganized and yet synchronized at the same time.

He could hear the zing of the bullets as they shot past him. Imogen was trying to block too many shields at once as the Agents targeted her. She lost focus for a second and was hit in the leg. The one that shot her came at her body with his gun raised, ready to end her. Joshua sprinted at the Agent and threw himself on his back. They smashed against the ground, grappling for a weapon. Joshua wrapped his arm around the Agent's neck in a headlock and twisted until he heard the crack. The Agent didn't have time to fight.

When he threw the body to the ground and crawled to Imogen's body, he saw that she was still alive, just badly wounded and unconscious. He was baffled that the bullets could do so much damage. Dr. Wolfe doesn't want to take us back to ICE. He just wants us dead. 

With this new revelation, Joshua forced himself to focus. A large male mutant was charging at him from the trees, arms outstretched. He let out a warrior cry, and then two more arms peeled from his sides. Joshua froze for only a second before reminding himself that they weren't human anymore. In a flash, he had formed a stake of ice and launched it through the man's heart.

Something awakened in Joshua. An unsettling feeling that came from his core. It was slippery and cold and it was the essence of the Iceman that he hadn't felt since the warehouse.

No. Stay in control.

A bullet whizzed straight past his ear and nearly hit him. He turned to see the culprit – an Agent – ready to fire at his head. He didn't have time to defend himself. But suddenly, another Agent shouted "Stop! Don't kill him!" and the Agent lowered his gun.

Joshua blanked. An Agent was telling him not to go for the kill shot? Why?

The Agent who saved him raised his weapon and pointed it at Joshua's lower body. Then it made sense. It was okay for the others to die, but Joshua knew where Ravenadium was. Dr. Wolfe wanted him alive.

Smiling, Joshua created a shield of ice as bullets were fired at his legs. When the Agent ran out of ammo and went to drop his magazine, Joshua threw the shield like a Frisbee. The Agent was too slow to react and the thin sheet of ice sliced his head clean off.

Joshua saw Will scoop up Imogen's unconscious body and duck through the trees, but as he did, a mutant dove from out of nowhere and stabbed a knife into Will's leg. He and Imogen went rolling on the ground.

"WILL!" Hunter screamed.

"Hunter, duck!"

She dropped and Joshua bent his arm back and launched an icicle into the chest of the mutant who stabbed Will. He collapsed with a thud.

"Enough, enough!" someone shouted from the back.

Suddenly, Joshua felt the ice squirm inside him. He looked down at his hands and tried to freeze them, but it wouldn't work. He could no longer use his powers.

What's happening to me?

"Mikayla," Hunter growled.

Their group re-formed. Marcus, Mosi, Benji, Hunter and Ryo were still by the campfire. Chantal had taken Will, Fearne and Imogen inside. They faced the group of five Agents and a dozen mutants, staggered on the shore and in the tree line.

From the back, two people emerged. One was a girl of Hunter's age with a small body and a vicious demeanor, the other a tall boy with black hair and demonic eyes, slimy-looking and evil.

"Jet," said Marcus through his teeth.

"Hello brother!" Jet proclaimed, throwing up his hands. "Miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" Hunter growled. "Is Dr. Wolfe sending you to do his dirty work now?"

"That's right," he replied proudly. "Though I believe you already know why we're here Hunter."

"To take us back?"

"Not quite. You have something very valuable."

Joshua thought of Ravenadium. Hunter turned and met his eyes.

"I won't let you take any of us back to ICE," she said. "Not this time."

"Oh Hunter. The only thing I'll be taking back to ICE," he smiled sadistically, "is your dead body."