Ordinary (Exceptional Book 3) by Jess Petosa Page B

prisoners. If you’ll have a seat, we’ll get started.” The General motioned to the chair he had previously occupied.
    Marnie sat down slowly, directly between the two other men. A mini port sat on the table in front of her, nothing else.
    “I don’t know how to use one of these,” she said quickly.
    The General furrowed his brows. “You’re kidding, right?”
    Marnie glared at him. “They don’t exactly supply them in the Sectors. Perhaps a pencil and paper?”
    The General turned to a soldier standing guard at the door.
    “Get the Exceptional a paper and pencil.”
    Marnie cleared her dry throat. “Oh, and some water, too… Sir.”
    The General nodded to the soldier. Once Marnie had her requested supplies to record the prisoners’ thoughts, and a giant glass of water, the General stepped into the interrogation room. Minutes later the first prisoner arrived.
    He was an older man, much older than Marnie was used to seeing. He had long white hair and a thick beard, and his skin was dark and leathery from time spent outdoors. His appearance reminded Ally of some of the older Exceptionals outside of the City, except this man was Ordinary.
    The man sat down in the lone chair in the room, and the General leaned against the desk.
    “What’s your name?” The General asked.
    And so began a long afternoon of question after question and prisoner after prisoner. The first two had committed smaller crimes, ones that made it seem silly for the General to use Marnie for questioning. Then she realized that he was testing her abilities, and whether or not she would tell the truth.
    The remaining four prisoners were all Rebels from outside Zone D, captured and brought in by soldiers. Their minds were filled with horrible thoughts and plans for murder and destruction in Zone D. She was having trouble writing their thoughts down and had to request that the General pause a few times.
    She wished that Evan were there to talk through it all with her. It might have made her slightly more comfortable. Maybe.
    The interrogation of the six prisoners lasted until well after dinner. Before the last two prisoners a soldier had delivered her some dinner, which Marnie had scarfed down. After the General had dismissed her, she was escorted back to the large, steel door she had entered through.
    She sighed with relief when she saw that Evan stood on the other side. He offered her a small smile and turned to lead her back to her room.
    “So, how was it?” he asked once the door behind them had closed.
    “Long. Frustrating. Almost unbelievable,” she responded. She knew she could come up with more descriptive words if she tried.
    “I’m guessing they had your listen in on Rebel interrogations? Those are the ones the General takes most seriously.”
    She nodded. “I’ve only heard a story here or there about the Rebels. I had no idea that they caused so much trouble or that they had such bad plans for Zone D.”
    “They are getting worse,” Evan told her. “They are getting bolder and finding new ways to be destructive. They’ve been breaking into Zone D and a few of the southern Sectors these past few months. I can tell the General is thinking about taking a bigger action against them.”
    “From what I heard in their minds, I think that is a good idea.”
    They stepped onto the elevator and Marnie braced herself against the wall as it started to move.
    “Do you think the General can stop the Rebels?” she asked.
    Evan looked over at her. “I think he can. It will just be a matter of whether or not it’s too late when he finally decides to try.”
     
     

     
     

CHAPTER TWELVE
    [ ally ]
     
    It had been a week since Ally moved in with Big Sal and he had been nothing short of kind to her. The first night she had paced endlessly in front of the fireplace, worrying about Sabine. Big Sal had watched her from the couch, listening to her ramble on and on. Finally, he grabbed her arm and spoke the only words that could calm