Even though it was daylight outside, in the trees, it felt like dusk. The temperature had dropped, thanks to the lack of sunlight seeping through the branches, and the same lack of light gave it the appearance of the edge of night. Thomas felt as if he were creeping through a graveyard. The trees were the tombstones and, between their roots, zombiefied hands would push forth in preparation of the following undead corpse.

Thomas shivered. It was an image he didn't need, yet the image was unshakeable. He moved closer to Bren, ignoring her questioning look.

When they emerged from the cover of the mini forest, Bren took his hand.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked, though he didn't mind the contact. It made him feel less of a liability.

"Making it look like we're a couple and we've just been exploring. People will just look through us rather than at us."

Thomas was, again, pleased and surprised by the way she thought. He would never be able to see things that way. The way they should be seen if you were to survive.

"Don't sell yourself short, Thomas," Bren said. "You're not as useless as you think or been made to think."

"What do you mean," he asked.

"You, believing you can't be as good as me. I'm not all that. Give yourself a break."

"But I didn't say that."

Bren stopped dead and Thomas only just stopped before walking right into her.

"What?"

"I didn't say that. I didn't say anything."

"You must have."

"No, I really didn't. Did you read my thoughts?"

"I... I don't know. I didn't mean to."

"What are you?" Thomas asked incredulously.

"I... I don't know. I don't like it."

"What you mean? I'd be excited!"

Bren shook, not just her head, but her entire body. A shudder ran through her and Thomas couldn't tell if it was of self revulsion or the eagerness he was feeling at the prospect of what she was becoming. If she gained powers at the rate she was, there would have been no stopping her. She would have been able to put a stop to the murder for entertainment that was the Spot. She could find a way to help those that lost their mind before finding their powers. Seeing her direction was as it was, Bren could, maybe, force Womack to change things. He could cause another Outbreak to ensure children were born with powers, instead of having to wait to gain them.

Waiting was the worst. Waiting meant every day was filled with uncertainty. You woke up each morning and waited for either rebirth or... or madness.

Didn't she see that? The good she could do?

"I'm scared," she said.

"Scared of what?"

"Of what?" She Squeezed his hand and brought it up in front of her face. "I could crush your fingers with no effort at all. I could see into your head and no what you had for breakfast or what scares you the most. Not the things you tell everyone. The things you don't."

Thomas tried to pull his hand from her grip, but Bren wasn't letting go. She wasn't hurting him, not yet, but she was refusing to release him.

"OK!" he said, trying to keep his voice calm and failing. "I get it! Let me go!"

She didn't, and her face told him why.

"Thomas. I don't know what's happening to me! I don't know where this will end. These powers. It isn't right. We're not meant to get so many! What if our bodies can't take them all? What if they – we - aren't built for it? Shit, we're not meant to even have one, let alone however many I'm going to end up with!"

"I get it, Bren," Thomas said. "I really do."

"Then don't ask stupid questions."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. You've got to understand, I don't have them. Not loads, like you and not one like... everyone."

"I do understand. I'm not sure I understand why it's so important to you."

"Even after everything I've said?"

"Yeah."

"I just want to be normal."

"Thomas, that's the thing."

"What is?"

"There's no such thing."

"Of course there is. Everyone who has a power is normal."

"No, really, there isn't. Powers don't matter. I should know, I seem to have a ton of them."

She let his hand down, but didn't release it, needing the contact more than ever.

"They really don't, Thomas. A power, for most people, is a reason to forget about who they are. That's a cycle that doesn't stop spiralling."

"I like the way you talk. Like your 'world on fire'."

"That wasn't mine. I borrowed it."

"I know, but still."

"You changed the subject."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Thomas had to wait and think to know what to say. In his head, he knew the reason, but it was all pictures, not words. Still, she deserved something.

"I know you're probably right," he said. "I do, but I've been desperate for this for two years. And I've paid for not having it for all that time too."

"Which I'm sorry about. You can't avoid it, though."

"I'm not trying to."

"You're doing everything you can to get what you can't have!"

"What? Can't have? Why can't I? It's going to come eventually, I just want it before I go crazy."

"Thomas, no. That's not it. My cousin went the longest, then it all ended horribly."

"I know but, not so what cos that sounds bad, but, like...?"

"Thomas, you're ten!"

"I know! We've been over that."

"If you haven't got your power yet, what makes you think you ever will?"

"Bec... Because I've got to! Because everyone does."

"And everyone goes mad within a year of their eighth birthday if they haven't got it. Except you. And everyone gets only one power, except me."

"I... You..."

Thomas couldn't argue. He finally did get it. He could practically hear the clicking sounds in his head, as the cogs his father had always said would seize up one day if he didn't start using them, turned into place.

What if he was never going to get his power? What if he was never going to go insane? What if this was how he was always going to be? How could he live like that? His entire life being the brunt of everyone's hatred and fear. It was unbearable and the weight of it was suddenly pressing down upon his shoulders.

Bren took his other his hand and held it tightly but tenderly.

"Thomas," she said. "I'm scared of what this thing in me is going to do. How far it's going to go and if I can survive it. But you know what?"

"What?"

Thomas's voice was only slightly above a whisper. He'd gone from fear about the next few months to fear for his life. Everything he had believed and hoped had been turned upside down with just a few words from a girl he barely knew. He didn't have to wonder if she was telling the truth or was correct in her assumptions. He knew she was. It all made too much sense.

In a way it was calming. It meant he didn't have to worry about losing his mind. He wasn't going to become a danger to himself and everyone around him. It also, though, meant he would never be anything more than what he was. He would just be a boy, then maybe age, if he lasted long enough, would make him a man. But that was all. He'd always planned for more. He was going to get his power and make a difference. It was only a matter of time.

But time had run out. Or it was never going to. Time was just a buzz around his head he would never be able to swat.

Bren was speaking, but he hadn't heard her.

"Sorry? I didn't catch that."

"I said I'm scared of me. They'll be scared of you."

"But why? Why would anyone even care about me? They might leave me alone when they realise I'm not a threat anymore."

"You're wrong. They'll be scared because you're the biggest threat of all."

"Me? But why?"

"Because you couldmean an end to all of this."