The Fortress

Chapter 8 - If Virion was alive

ALMOST AN HOUR of silence before Henry muttered.

"We are almost there." The chirping of evening birds and the rustling of dried leaves filled the serene environment.

"Can you hear the lake?" Henry asked turning to face her as she had been lingering behind him all through their journey.

"Yes, I can," Zoe replied with a smile. Henry's roughly toned voice had intruded her thoughts.

"It's over there," Henry pointed at the flowing river ahead of them, less than fifty foot away. As they got to the riverbank, Henry stretched out his hands towards Zoe and she placed her palm in his. He mockingly offered her a seat on a large granite rock situated at the riverbank. He sat on the rusty ground beside her and placed his head on her thighs.

"What do you think about the river?" Henry asked as he lifted his head from her thighs and put a stone he had picked beside him in her right hand. She tossed the stone into the air and it landed into the river with a splash.

"Beautiful. That's all I can think of. I know you probably see it in some other way," Zoe said and stole a quick glance at him.

"No. I don't have anything else to say. It's beautiful just as you've said but I need you to imagine what we can find beneath the river. Something metallic, something of great value," Henry said standing to his feet, looking at the river with keen interest.

"Beneath this river?" Zoe also stood to her feet, looking at Henry's face before flitting her gaze to the river.

"Yes Zoe." Henry returned his gaze to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I need you to draw out every metal beneath this river."

"But I can't see it and how sure are you that there are metals under the river?" She tilted her head backwards in doubt and confusion.

Henry slowly walked to her back and placed his hands on her shoulder from behind and whispered.

"You can do it. You don't need to see it, you just need your mind to be connected."

She sighed and closed her eyes before stretching her hands towards the river. After few seconds of outstretched hands and nothing happened, she dropped her hands in defeat and huffed.

"I can't do it."

"You can, if you believe and focus. Just believe and focus, you can," Henry encouraged her.

She stretched her hands towards the river and closed her eyes. She felt her ears picking clanking sounds, she opened her eyes and realized dozens of cans and tins floating in the air above the river. She smiled as she turned to look at Henry who had an expression of impression written all over his face. She motioned her hands as if she was beckoning at someone and the dozens of tins floated above the river and landed on the riverbank.

She chuckled, "I did it!"

"Yes, you did, nice work. But, there's something else," Henry squatted as he picked one of the tins that had landed on the riverbank.

"I need you to try again and aim for something bigger."

"Okay," She shrugged and moved closer to the river and prepared her mind for something bigger. She felt her hands trembling as she tried as much as she could to pull the object out of the river. Henry was right about something valuable being in the river. She channelled her mind to focus on totally pulling out the object and lifted her already outstretched hands a little higher.

"You can do it Zoe," She heard Henry's voice followed by a splash of water. She opened her eyes and saw a large sword floating above the river just the way the tins did.

"You did it!" Henry yelled and clapped at the same time. He grinned at her immediately she turned to look at him.

"Did you know the sword was there?" She asked.

"Yes, I dumped it there years ago," Henry replied without paying much attention to her as he inspected the sword.

"Let's move," He added as he strapped the sheathed sword to his back.

After few minutes into their journey back to the ship, Zoe broke the silence.

"What's the sword for?" She asked.

"You will find out soon," Henry replied increasing his pace, she struggled to keep up.

"Why did you dump it there years ago? Is it for this purpose?" She knew it was always difficult to get Henry into revealing his plans ahead of time but she wasn't giving up. Henry always had a plan for everything as far as she knew. He was very logical and every step he took, every words he said were very much calculated and reasoned before he took and said it respectively. Sometimes, she doubts if he loved her the way he claimed or he was just making calculated moves to achieve something through her.

Henry stopped abruptly.

"It was never for this purpose in a way but in another way, it was meant to happen for this purpose." He resumed walking after his statement.

"Okay," Zoe felt if she push too hard he might get angry even though she had never seen him angry all their years together. She heaved a sigh realizing that she feared him more than she loved him.

Ian and Evan returned to the ship and found Michael in it. He was leaning on the kitchen counter eating cheese crisp.

"So you found your way back here already?" Evan squeaked with his eyes widened.

"Yes, I figured it's the best option, no one would think I'd return straight to the ship except Henry." Michael grinned amidst munching.

"Pass me a beer Mike, I really need that compensation. It was hard finding our way back to the ship," Ian said as he sat on the chair adjacent to the large screened monitor.

"Here," Michael tossed a beer at him. "Where's Zoe and Henry?" He asked looking from Evan's face to Ian's face.

"We don't know, they probably went to have a little fun in the woods," Ian cracked as he opened his beer with his teeth.

"A little fun? I thought he took her for training?"

"You don't know anything kid," Ian replied grumpily.

"Ghost mode," Henry yelled as soon as he had Zoe landed in the ship.

"Thought y'all had ran off," Michael joked.

"Ian please, get off the chair. Why did you drink here? You shouldn't eat or drink around the computer," Zoe shrilled at Ian who had his legs stretched out and crossed on the computer's table.

"Oh, sorry miss. I usually don't have manners."

"Disgusting!" Zoe adjusted the chair and took her rightful place as the lady behind the computer.

"I need everyone to listen," Henry said and his attention swept across the room.

"I know everyone one of you recently discovered your abilities but I had discovered mine since I could tell my left from my right. I understand how it feels. Some of you think lurking in the shadows is the best option for you as a result of your abilities probably you feel because of your abilities, you won't be accepted in the society. But, let me let you know that your abilities are gifts and we are going to use it to change that." He looked from one face to another and they were all fixated on him. He continued. "We are gods with these abilities, we shouldn't keep ourselves as secrets, we are meant to rule the world. Definitely, we won't be accepted, that's why I brought us all here so we can bring back someone who can help us and not just us, but every extraordinary lurking in the shadows of fear." He paused.

"Who'll that be?" Evan asked enthusiastically.

"Virion. That's his name."

"Virion? sounds like virus." Evan grunted.

"His real name is Vincent Bradley, my father," Henry replied Evan almost immediately he made his statement.

"Well, where is he?" Ian asked.

"Dead. He has been dead for years but we can bring him back if we work together and if we get all that's needed."

"Wait, wait. You mean all of this," Ian gestured as if he was drawing a circle with his hands.

"All of us are just put together so we can help you bring back your dead father?"

"That's not it, he is not just my father, he is our savior as far as the extraordinaries are concerned. People are starting to feel threatened by the presence of individuals with gifts like ours and as I speak, decisions are being made to hunt anyone with abilities. Why did you think we are relocated to a forest. A lot is going to happen and..."

"And what makes you feel resurrecting your father—if that's possible anyways will stop all of this from happening or he will save us from all of this like he is Jesus?"

"Ian, a lot of things will change if he is brought back to life. Some things would never had happened if he was alive. Trust me, he was a very powerful man."

"Very powerful but he couldn't save himself." Ian grumpily replied.

"Ian, you couldn't save your family, his presence will change that." Henry said calmly.

Ian's eyes widened and his brows knitted together then his face dropped. He paused, looked at everyone then headed to his room trying to hold back the tears welling in his eyes.

"I guess everyone is with me on this?" Henry asked peering at the face of everyone.

"Well, I don't have a choice," Evan replied. "But, how do you bring someone that's dead back to life?"

"You'll find out soon, when we are complete as a team. I need everyone to know we are going to be more than a team if we want this to work, we need to be a family, looking out for each other." They all nodded in agreement to Henry's speech.

Zoe and Michael had been quiet all these while because they already knew what Henry was up to. Michael knew it sounded cringe and impossible that's one of the reasons he refused to tell Ian the other night he had asked.

"Open up Ian." Ian finally stood to get the door after several minutes of constant knocking from Henry.

"It's your ship anyways," He said as he opened the door and walked back to his bed.

"Listen, I never meant to trigger any bad memories or emotions. I saw everything the first time we met in the campervan. It was horrible."

"Yeah, I know," Ian said, his face still fallen.

"I want you to know that we'd definitely get you your family back if we can bring Virion back to life."

"And how am I supposed to be sure if that?" Ian sniffed.

"I'm telling you, things wouldn't be this way if Virion was alive, some things wouldn't have happened. He is a man of vision, he saw all of this happening before anyone did and was going to empower extraordinaries but he was killed."

"Tell me, what really happened?" Ian asked grumpily.

"You will get to know when it's time. Are you in with me? I need you to trust me. No one here has a family, we are each other's family."

"Okay, I'm in."

"Henry, Ian, you need to come see this," Evan blurted as he barged into the room.

"Apparently, there's a blog writing all over the net that addresses being an extraordinary and Ian seems to be main focus," Zoe announced to them as they assembled before her.

"Take a look," she said, pointing her hands towards the monitor and punching the keyboard.

"So many mean comments," Evan said as he peered into the monitor.

"We are definitely not loved."

"Ian, we need the woman behind this writing. Without her our mission might be impossible. She's already desperately trying to reach for you, you'd be used as a bait to get her so we don't waste anymore time." Henry smirked.