The Free City

Chapter Thirty-Four : Funerals

When David died, I'd mourned for him, but no one else had. We'd been separated from our families, and we had no one but each other. The school certainly wasn't going to waste resources on a funeral.

But Abarra had been the headmaster of the Academy, and a well-loved Super. It felt like the entire population of Johnson City was grieving for him.

There were public speeches near the academy, made by a mostly-recovered Mr. Sato and a choked-up Hannah. Then a smaller group of people made their way to Mr. Abarra's home. I met his husband. I met his dog. I saw his family photos. And I cried, along with all my classmates and several kids from the younger Academy grades.

After the wake, we moved to the cemetery, and we stood over the new headstone. There were several new graves, now. Thanks to Khan's battle, the gravediggers had been busy.

I quickly moved away from the headstone and the freshly tilled earth. I had been capable of keeping my feelings mostly under wraps during the service and even during the wake. But I couldn't stand to look at that stone. I couldn't.

It's my fault he's dead. It's my fault. Because I was weak. If I had just been faster...

I backed up a little more. No one noticed. Mostly they fawned over Damien, helping him out of his wheelchair so he could put his hand on the stone. He was recovering well, but I knew he was still in pain. His scars were less gruesome than before, but from what I'd overheard, they would be permanent. Emily was with her family, who had been found at long last.

Kole was with his father, and they stood stoically together on either side of Jason, who was finally recovered enough to stand on his own. Sam was avoiding them, but in a forlorn, awkward kind of way, and he never seemed to take his eyes off them.

Mr. Sato was still with Abarra's husband, and I felt totally alone and invisible.

But two people saw me, and they both made it a point to speak to me. The first was not a surprise, but the second one was.

Hannah loomed over me from behind, and I tried to keep my shoulders from stiffening. I didn't want her thinking that I was afraid of her. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were watery and her nose was red. Her hair was messy. She looked like she wasn't sleeping or eating. She looked so human - so familiar in her pain - that I forgot the animosity I had for her. I softened, and turned to face her more fully.

"I'm sor-"

"I think you're aware of my stance on your future here in the Johnson City SuperCorps." When she opened her mouth, she was back to being the bitch I knew.

I snapped my teeth together and swallowed the words I'd been about to say. She kept talking, her eyes fixed on mine.

"The governor appointed Sato as the new Headmaster of the Academy, so I have no say over your enrollment. But I don't intend to allow you into our corps."

My words and my feelings became hard weights in my throat and I swallowed painfully. "I never-"

"Exactly what I said would happen, happened. Your weakness led to the death of a teammate. You were the weak link in that team. Mr. Abarra had to sacrifice himself to save you."

"No one has an infallible ability." I felt my temper snap. She was only saying what I was already thinking, but hearing it come from her of all people grated my nerves and filled me with rage.

"You've got more weaknesses than strengths, Dianna. It's hard to hear, but you know it too. We'd have to build a cell under the ground just for you to sleep without harming us. Any loss of equilibrium, any static or electric interference at all, and you fall apart."