โ
Hereโs the thing, people: We have some serious problems. The lights are off. And it seems like thatโs affecting the water flow in part of town. So, no baths or showers, okay? But the situation is that we think Caine is short of food, which means heโs not going to be able to hold out very long at the power plant.โ
โHow long?โ someone yelled.
Sam shook his head. โI donโt know.โ
โWhy canโt you get him to leave?โ
โBecause I canโt, thatโs why,โ Sam snapped, letting some of his anger show. โBecause Iโm not Superman, all right? Look, heโs inside the plant. The walls are thick. He has guns, he has Jack, he has Drake, and he has his own powers. I canโt get him out of there without getting some of our people killed. Anybody want to volunteer for that?"
Silence.
โYeah, I thought so. I canโt get you people to show up and pick melons, let alone throw down with Drake.โ
โThatโs your job,โ Zil said.
โOh, I see,โ Sam said. The resentment heโd held in now came boiling to the surface. โItโs my job to pick the fruit, and collect the trash, and ration the food, and catch Hunter, and stop Caine, and settle every stupid little fight, and make sure kids get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Whatโs your job, Zil? Oh, right: you spray hateful graffiti. Thanks for taking care of that, I donโt know how weโd ever manage without you.โ
โSamโฆ,โ Astrid said, just loud enough for him to hear. A warning.
Too late. He was going to say what needed saying.
โAnd the rest of you. How many of you have done a single, lousy thing in the last two weeks aside from sitting around playing Xbox or watching movies?
โLet me explain something to you people. Iโm not your parents. Iโm a fifteen-year-old kid. Iโm a kid, just like all of you. I donโt happen to have any magic ability to make food suddenly appear. I canโt just snap my fingers and make all your problems go away. Iโm just a kid.โ
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Sam knew he had crossed the line. He had said the fateful words so many had used as an excuse before him. How many hundreds of times had he heard, โIโm just a kid.โ
But now he seemed unable to stop the words from tumbling out. โLook, I have an eighth-grade education. Just because I have powers doesnโt mean Iโm Dumbledore or George Washington or Martin Luther King. Until all this happened I was just a B student. All I wanted to do was surf. I wanted to grow up to be Dru Adler or Kelly Slater, just, you know, a really good surfer.โ
The crowd was dead quiet now. Of course they were quiet, some still-functioning part of his mind thought bitterly, itโs entertaining watching someone melt down in public.
โIโm doing the best I can,โ Sam said.
โI lost people todayโฆIโฆI screwed up. I should have figured out Caine might go after the power plant.โ
Silence.
โIโm doing the best I can.โ
No one said a word.
Sam refused to meet Astridโs eyes. If he saw pity there, he would fall apart completely.
โIโm sorry,โ he said.
โIโm sorry.
โ
โ