Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (33 page)

Tom
paused
seeing
this.
McKay
saw
that
Tom
was
processing
what
he
was
seeing,
with
a
reluctant
and
hesitant
expression
upon
his
face he
assured
him,
“It's
okay
Tom,
I'm
a
healer…”

Never
knowing
what
McKay’s
ability
was,
this
made
sense
to
Tom
after
what
he
had
just
seen,
so
he
leaned
over
and
extended
his
hand
to
help
his
comrade
up.

While
doing
did
this
he
called
his
mind
back
to
his
childhood
and
when
his
mother
got
hurt
she
would
heal
relatively
quickly,
but
the
greater
the
injuries
the
longer
it
would
take
for
them
to
heal.
It
may
have
only
been
a
matter
of
minutes,
but
she
would
still
heal.
Given
the
extent
of
the
beating
that
McKay
had
just
taken,
Tom
got
a
little
suspicious
and
considered
his
surroundings.
Looking
over
McKay’s
body
where
it
lay,
he
realised
something
was
missing
and
with
trepidation
questioned,
“Where
is
the
blood,
McKay?”

There was a pause
as
McKay
looked
up
at
him
from
the
ground.
Tom
leant
down,
taking
McKay
by
the
hand
and
began
to
help
him
to
his
feet
before
challenging
him.
“Where
is
the
blood,
even
healers
bleed
the
same,
they
just
heal
faster…”
As
Tom
raised
McKay
up
from
the
ground,
noise
crackled
from
the
radio
he
had
taken
from
Lee
earlier.

There
was
no
voice
on
the
other
end
of
the
radio
waiting
for
someone
to
check
in;
this
time
Tom
just
heard
radio
interference.
Looking
down
to
where
the
noise
was
coming
from
he
realised
that
the
radio
placed
on
his
hip
was
touching
against
McKay.
Bringing
his
eyes
to
meet
McKay’s
with
sudden,
wounded
clarity.
“It’s
you.”
Gasping,
“They
tracked
you.
That’s
how
they
found
us
so
quickly…”

McKay’s
demeanour
then
turned
as
an
evil
glare
came
over
his
face.
Before
Tom
had
time
to
act
upon
what
he
saw,
McKay
had
stuck
his
two
fists
into
the
gut
of
Tom
and
sent
him
hurtling
back
from
where
he
stood.
Tom
fell
to
the
ground
and
endured
a
cataclysmic
pain
he
had
never
experienced
before. It
seared
through
his
body
like
a
dull
blunt
electrocution.
Tom
struggled
to
get
to
his
feet
on
the
wet
ground;
falling
again
and
the
ground
seemed
to
move
under
him.
He struggled to
get
up
to
one
knee
and
looked
over
to
where
McKay
was
standing.
He saw
him
lift
the
corpse
of
the
man
Tom
had
just
killed,
to
remove
the
blood
soaked
mask
from
off
his
face
and
place
it
on
his
own.
Tom
in
disbelief,
gasping
for
air, spluttered,
“It’s
you.”
Struggling
to
find
another
a
breath
to
deliver
the
words,
“You’re
Proj…”

Before
Tom
could
finish
his
words
McKay
looked
at
him
and
sneered,
“Yes,
I
am
Project
K.
It
shouldn’t
have
been
such
a
big
leap
for
you
to
work
out…”
McKay
reached
into
his
pocket
and
removed
a
small
GPS
device;
this
is
what
caused
the
interference
on
Tom’s
radio.
“They
don’t
need
to
track
me,
I
don’t
need
backup,
but
I
suppose
they
just
want
to
protect
their
investment…”
Breaking
the
device
, he
proclaimed,
“Alone
at
last…”

Now
with
the
mask
both
hiding
and
showing
his
true
identity,
McKay
walked
over
to
Tom,
grabbed
him
and
lifted
him
up
off
the
ground.
With
everything
he
still
had
inside
him
, Tom
drew
back
his
fist
and
threw
it
harder
than
he
had
ever
before
at
McKay
and
connected
with
his
jaw.
He
waited
for McKay
to
fall
to
the
ground
or
at
least
loosen
his
grip,
but
he
did
not.
For
the
punch
that
Tom
had
thrown
was
the
punch
of
a
child
and
had
no
effect
on
McKay
other
than
to
cause
his
anger
to
grow
to
boiling
point.

McKay
hit
Tom
and
sent
him
falling
towards
the
ground.
“You
clearly
don’t
get
it,
your
powers
count
for
nothing
with
me,
but
I
do
like
how
yours
feel.
It
must
be
immense
to
have
this
kind
of
power
in
you
the
whole
time…”

Tom
sneered up at him defiantly;

“I know exactly what your power is, you
absorb
powers
from
those
you
touch,
that's
how
you
can
easily
defeat
anyone
around…”