They gathered in the kitchen, a second pot of coffee brewing on the counter.

  "We're going to run out of bottled water soon,” Natalie said, finishing her bottle off before crushing it.

  Hector scratched absently at his hand. "She's right."

  Natalie flung the crushed bottle at him. "Stop scratching it."

  Hector gave his hand one final defiant scratch before pulling his hands apart. "Yes, doctor."

  Natalie rolled her eyes, waving him off. "The water from the tap is probably still fine, but we're getting to the point it's becoming risky."

  "What did you want to talk about, Adam?” Samantha asked. She had a pen cap floating six inches above the counter top, slowly spinning as she stared at it in intense concentration.

  "I don't know what's more unnerving. That." Hector nodded toward the pen cap. "Or the idea it's not even the strangest thing we see on a regular basis."

  "Well..." Adam cleared his throat, not quite sure where to begin. "We all need to take a page out of Samantha's book. We need to be practicing. We need utilize these abilities to help keep us alive, not avoid them."

  "You think we've been avoiding them?" Natalie asked, her eyebrows climbing toward her forehead. "I'd say we've been using them quite a bit."

  "It's not a critique. I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong." Adam frowned, searching for the right words. "I'm part of the problem too. Last night, I didn't use mine until it was the last option and it seems to keep happening. I either use them out of reflex or desperation, but we can’t keep doing that."

  "You're saying we're all just reacting," Hector said. "I think you're onto something. With the Shadow I wasn't planning to do what I did. It just felt right and I did it. I'm not sure I could even do it again if I had to."

  Natalie's expression softened and she nodded. "That's true. If anyone of you were hurt, I don’t know if I could repeat what I did with Sam. I'm not even sure I've done anything since then."

  "You have." Samantha let the pen cap drop to the counter with a tiny clatter. "Last night."

  Natalie looked genuinely confused. "How do you mean?"

  "Did you feel tired at all last night?" Adam asked, picking up on Samantha's train of thought.

  Natalie paused for a moment and then shook her head. "No. Not even a little."

  "The rest of us did. It wasn't as bad as it would have been before, but I could barely move," Samantha said.

  "So, what? You're saying I'm immune?" Natalie laughed. "Should I just grab a gallon of bleach and start chugging? Just to test it?"

  It was Samantha's turn to roll her eyes. "I don't think that would have killed you before. The entire time we've been together I can't remember you ever even having a cold. You're the healthiest person I've ever met, and I couldn't even get you to eat vegetables.

  "It all ties back in," Adam said. "If I'm right, your ability to heal is working on reflex inside your body. I've been powering entire buildings without even knowing it. I can't even begin to imagine what Samantha and Hector are doing on instinct."

  Hector leaned forward, his fingertips lightly drumming on the countertop. "So, what do you think we should do?"

  "I keep thinking about what The Salesman said. We're going to have to start practicing." Adam paused, waiting for a reaction. When none came, he added, "I think we need to start picking fights instead of waiting for them to come to us."

  "Are you suggesting we start... training?" Samantha asked, her expression unreadable.

  "Yeah, I guess I am," Adam said. "Just... no training montages. I'm trying to keep my apocalypse clear of 80's movie tropes.” Adam's comment was met with blank stares, and he felt his cheeks start to redden yet again.

  "Was that a joke?" Hector asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "I'm not sure," Natalie said.

  Samantha gave Adam a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "At least you tried."

  "I hate all of you," Adam said, dropping his chin into his hand and frowning.

  "What do we do about Jessica?" Hector glanced over his shoulder at the patio door. "She's just staring at the hole."

  "She's traumatized. I think that's pretty clear," Natalie said, following Hector's gaze. "I have no idea what all she went through, but from what little she said last night it was pretty bad."

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  "Did he...?" Adam kept his voice low, feeling awful for even beginning to ask the question.

  "I don't think so." Natalie shook her head. "But, I think he was working up to it. She's covered in bruises, and I don't believe they let her out of the basement to bathe or take care of herself. I'm not even sure they fed her."

  Adam momentarily regretted letting Marcus go free. He didn't think anyone who could sit by while someone was abused right below their feet should be walking around.

  What’s done is done, though.

  "They probably thought it was a waste of resources." Hector shook a half full bottle of water. "It likely didn't make sense to them to feed her for the few days she would be down there. You won't starve to death in a week."

  "Have you seen many people go a week without food?" Natalie asked, giving him a skeptical look.

  "Have you?" Hector returned the expression until Natalie looked away.

  "Even prisoners sentenced to death are fed until their execution." Samantha clenched and unclenched her fingers, her jaw tightening. "It's just cruel."

  "It was. But there's nothing we can do about it now," Adam said. "We need to decide if we want to take her with us, or if there's somewhere we can take her. And that's all dependent on if she even wants to leave."

  Natalie turned toward the wide bloodstain on the carpet. "She can't stay here. It's not safe for anyone to be alone, especially given everything that's happened here."

  "As much as I agree with you, we can't make her come with us." Adam poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and added a healthy amount of creamer. "At the end of the day, it's just not up to us."

  "You’re right. It's not," Jessica said, standing in the doorway, coffee cup in hand. "But you're right. I can't stay here. If I did Natalie might as well leave me a gun and a bullet. It's... It's too much. I know we just met, and I don't know you, but you were Stephen's friend and you got me out of that basement. That's enough for me."

  Adam recovered from Jessica's shock appearance quickly, nodding. "You're welcome to come with us. I can't promise you'll be safe, but we do what we can. I need to ask about last night, though. How much do you really remember?"

  She met his eyes slowly, the hollow expression on her face made all of the hair on Adam's neck stand on end. "I remember all of it. I didn't at first, but I do now."

  "Do you want to tell us what happened?" Samantha asked.

  Jessica sighed, seeming to deflate. "No, but I will. I ripped him apart. I don't know how exactly. I just remember seeing him on top of you. And I wanted him dead. I wanted him dead so badly for what he did to me... what he did to Stephen… what he did…” She placed her hand on her stomach and paused for a moment, appearing to gather her thoughts.

  Adam took her cup and refilled it. "Take your time."

  She nodded and took a sip, grimacing. Adam wasn't sure if it was from the flavor or the memory. "I bit him. I can still taste the blood in my mouth. And then I started grabbing, and pieces started coming away. I don't know how, but when I stopped he was barely alive. It was like he was made of paper."

  "I don't want to interrupt you, but I might have an idea,” Samantha said, speaking up. "If you're comfortable, may I see your hand?"

  Jessica hesitated before reaching out, palm up. Samantha took her hand and examined it, an awkward expression spreading across Jessica's face. Samantha turned her hand over and ran a finger over the tip of Jessica's fingernail, jerking her hand away as if she'd been stung. A bright red line of blood welled up from Samantha's fingertip, slowly leaking down her finger toward her palm.

  "That's what I thought," Samantha said with a wince, sucking on her finger for a moment.

  "I don't understand." Adam looked around and was met with equally confused expressions from Natalie and Hector. "What are we missing?"

  "I think it takes some sort of trauma for our abilities to manifest." She glanced from her finger to Jessica and then the rest of the group. "You were struck by lightning. I thought the thing in our house was going to rip me apart."

  Her expression softened as her eyes met Natalie's, and she reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly. "And then I was shot. Was it the same for you, Hector?"

  Hector nodded, still scarce on the details about what had happened before they had met per usual.

  "That's my working idea, anyway." Samantha shrugged. "There's no way to test it, unfortunately."

  "Other than subject people to horribly traumatic moments," Hector added.

  Samantha raised her eyebrows at Hector and he quickly found somewhere else to look. "Other than that," she said.

  Jessica stared at her hands as if she didn't recognize them. "I don't know what to think. Are you saying I have powers like the rest of you?"

  "Do you know many people that could do what you did?" Natalie winced as Samantha prodded her ribs with her elbow. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I mean, would you have been able to do that before we all heard The Voice?"

  "I understood. And no. I don’t think so." Jessica ran her fingernail across the counter experimentally, a thin curl spiraling off from the tip of her finger. She shook her head, made a fist, then relaxed her fingers, looking at her palm. "Why don't they cut me?"

  "Hector, can I borrow your knife?" Samantha asked, holding out her hand. Hector handed her the knife.

  "May I see your hand again?"

  Jessica reached out, eyes resting warily on the knife. Samantha ran the tip of the blade across the side of her hand. "Never cut your palm. It takes forever to heal. I hate when they do that in movies, it's ridiculous." She pressed harder, but the tip of the knife slid across Jessica’s skin without sinking in.

  "So... am I invincible or something?" Jessica took her hand back, running her finger across the knife's path.

  "It's hard to say. Maybe you're just a lot more durable?" Samantha gestured to Jessica's neck. "From the bruises, though, I'd just say you're only a bit more durable."

  Jessica raised her hand up to cover her neck, a look of embarrassment crossing her features. "I'd say that makes sense, but it'd be a lie. None of this does and I keep waiting to wake up."

  Adam waited until the moment settled before he broke the silence. "That brings us to the second thing. I'm heading out tomorrow. I think we all need a day to rest, but after that, I'm going downtown."

  "Why would you do that?" Jessica asked.

  "It would take a while to explain, but there's something in the city that’s causing a lot of this." Adam made a twirling motion with his finger. "And if we can stop it, then there's a good chance we can survive."

  "At least for five more minutes." Samantha said cheerfully.

  Natalie groaned. "Oh god. Don't tell me Hector is rubbing off on you."

  Samantha and Hector shared a conspiratorial look but stayed silent.

  "Anyway. That's the plan. Storm the castle, kill the princess, and try and unfuck the world." Adam grinned. "Should be easy."

  "Is the princess in this metaphor whatever creature is holding the tunnel open?" Natalie asked.

  Adam nodded. "You got it."

  "I was going to say you need to work on your jokes..." Natalie grinned. "But that's pretty good. Alright. Let's kill the princess."