HERO

29 / Puppy Power

Fear

Does a spider know the person screaming or running away or trying to stamp on them is afraid? Do they skitter about, enjoying the reaction they cause, though it might mean their death? Or do they wish their tiny spider voices could be heard by humans, because they're trying to tell us they don't, and can't, hurt us? Or they're just trying to live and, sure, they don't pay the rent, but they also don't use any utilities so the cost to use is negligible. Do they just wish we would let them stay, keeping to the corners and minding their own business?

Fear of a mostly harmless insect can be passed down from your parents. If they hate the creatures, so can the child. It can be irrational, brought on by a form of unconscious social programming. It doesn't make the spider and less frightening knowing that.

Thomas knew fear. He'd been afraid every day for the past two years, but to think that others might be scared of him was hard to believe.

If he wasn't going to follow in the footsteps of every other child, what path could he follow? He was suddenly aimless. Cast adrift.

Yet, the more he thought about it, the less afraid he was. He didn't, really, believe that anyone would fear him, but he could accept the idea of him remaining sane and powerless. A power was something he'd been seeking for so long. It was the way things were.

That didn't make them right.

Why?

Why did he, and would he, stay the way he was? What made him so different? He wasn't sure if the reason mattered or if he should just forget about it. He wasn't naive enough to think he could lead a normal life. If people knew about him, it would probably be worse than it was previously. Originally, he faced abuse because he hadn't come into his powers. Now, he'd face far worse because he was never going to.

Bren had told him that he might mean an end to all of 'this'. That could mean so many different things. An end to their friendship. An end to his life. On a larger scale, to the problems with the world. Or the world itself. If people knew he was going to remain powerless, they would no doubt be worried that he was the start of an epidemic. Powers could be stripped. Babies could be born like him, with their eighth birthday being nothing more than exactly that.

When the Outbreak occurred, many were pleased to gain abilities. Many others were terrified and more than should have believed it was the beginning of the fabled, thanks to movies, comics, books and games, Zombie Apocalypse. Thomas thought this was much worse than that. If everyone had turned into a zombie, they wouldn't be able to help the killing. As it was, given that a good number of deaths were unintentional, intention was definitely behind a vast amount of killings.

Acceptance had come quickly, such that those powers were now seen as a possession. A right. An integral part of the person they dwelled within. Thomas himself knew people who'd lose a limb rather than their ability.

The picture was painting itself in his mind. He saw himself on a hill. Alone. Whereas the scene was reminiscent of the very same zombie games and television shows that the Outbreak had threatened to bring to life, those clambering to mount the hill were not the brain eating undead. They were Jackers and TeeKays and Tappers and Wolves. Thomas, still, was their target. Their brains.

He'd told Bren that he might not be seen as a threat anymore. He could see how wrong he had been. They were both a danger to the decaying society everyone seemed to want to live in.

Yes, there were those who wished for a better life. A stable life. One where powers were not used for personal gain. Some tried to campaign for it. Campaigns of that ilk were short lived. No matter what the cause, there were always opposers. Nowadays, the opposition had more than their voices to fight with.