[OLD PREVIEW] The Zodiac Operation (#4)

Four

Ash paced back and forth in front of the chopper while he waited for the others. How long would it take the authorities to figure out Tyler was an Altered—or, well, Super? What term was the government using anyway? He thought he'd seen "Supers" on the news...

A boy approached Ash. The eight-year-old Felix Rivera. Ash stopped pacing. The kid had been giving him weird looks for the past month, but had apparently been unable to work up the courage to talk to him. Until now.

"Can I help you?" Ash asked, trying to keep his voice pleasant rather than impatient.

Felix hesitated. His hands fidgeted. "Did—did you know my mom?"

Ash shrugged. "Kind of. She was usually at the labs. I only saw her about once a month."

"Okay. Thanks." Felix ran off.

Ash shook his head. He felt bad for the kid, but he had no idea how to help him. He really didn't know Rosa that well. Certainly not well enough to know whether she was any better than Claudia or John.

Ash went back to pacing. Claudia. Claudia, who had tried to kill his sister, who had taken eleven years of his life, was dead.

He hadn't technically killed her, had he? He'd thrown her into the ocean, but she was on the verge of death anyway. And if he hadn't stopped her, she would have killed him. And Ivy.

Summer, Claire, Spencer, and the German shepherd—Ace—finally approached. Ash held back an annoyed "finally" and followed them into the chopper.

"You painted over your logo," Ash noted. It wasn't a great paint job. If you looked closely, you could see the difference in the blacks.

"We had to," Spencer said. "I mean, choppers still draw a lot of attention now, but there's no reason to make ourselves obvious."

"We have to fly a little slower now, too," Summer added.

As it turned out, "a little slower" equated to flying so painfully slow Ash wanted to scream.

If we show up and she's gone, so help me...

"Almost there," Spencer announced from the cockpit. "Well, we're almost to where we'll have to park. It'll be a bit of walking after that."

Ash sighed.

"What's the plan for when we get to the hospital?" Summer asked.

"They're not expecting us," Ash said. "Shouldn't be a challenge."

"Yeah. but it might be better to be subtle," Spencer said. "Not let anyone know it was us, you know."

"I'm sure most people know our faces by now," Ash said.

"I think I could get us in and out without running into anyone," Claire said. "I could sense anyone nearby and lead us away from them."

"That should work great," Spencer said.

Ash resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wouldn't have anything against Spencer—the guy was likeable, and funny, he had to admit—but Ash couldn't shake the feeling he was going out of his way to disagree with Ash. Or at the very least, ignore him.

Ash also had to admit that Claire's idea worked surprisingly well. She had enough control over her abilities to guide them through the hospital without any confrontation. On top of that, she sensed Tyler's mind and led them straight to her.

Spencer reached the door first. It swung open, and Ash drew in a sharp breath.

His sister was unconscious in a hospital bed, an IV hooked up to her arm. Ash pushed past the others and rushed to her side.