He seethed. How had he not thought to strike the highways? Even those shortsighted Black Lives Matter activists had known to target the highway. He felt like an imbecile. All that planning undermined by one forgotten target. If only Kai and Sol and Zed could have been trusted to help him. They would have thought of this. He resented them for forcing him to take on the burden of liberation by himself. He turned back to his flames, oranges and yellows and reds feeding on the steely bones of the city in an orgiastic frenzy. The heat of the fires was still tremendous, grazing Apollo’s skin, but it suddenly seemed bland, stale, pedestrian.

A slow-moving shape on Tenth Street caught Apollo’s eye. The shape walked casually, almost leisurely, shoulders flowing forward, legs swinging. Yes, Apollo thought, there are already converts. He stood still, eager to meet this new comrade, already enamored with his clear familiarity.

“Nigga, what the fuck are you still doing here?” Sol belted as she stepped from the shadows and into the firelight.

“What are you doing here?” Apollo parroted back.

“I’m here to get Zed’s car.”

“Why?”

“To get the fuck out of here, obviously!”

“There’s nothing to run from. I’ve been out here for an hour since you cowards left me, and I haven’t heard a single siren.”

Sol inhaled deeply. “Apollo, as I’ve always told you, you’re a fucking idiot. We were supposed to sabotage a satellite system. You attacked a city. Tanks, drones, or whatever they’re sending for you don’t have sirens.”

“I didn’t attack the city. I liberated it.”

“I don’t know what you thought you were doing in the back seat, but this is not liberation. This is you being an asshole.”

“You’re one to judge. You made me kill your parents and your cousin.”

“My parents were at work, and my cousin was at Bible study. I wanted you to hit their houses. Very big difference.”

“Wait, what? But you hate them. You hate everything they stand for.”

“So? Nigga, I also hate Iggy Azalea and Housewives of Atlanta and cheesecake. I haven’t killed anybody over it, though.”

“I don’t need your condescension. Where’s Zed and Kai and Tilly?”

Sol paused. “They’re making some phone calls, trying to fix this fucking mess you made.”

“You snitching assholes! Not only is there nothing to fix, but snitching won’t help you. We all made this mess, not just me. What did you think the logical conclusion of hijacking government satellites was?”

“Honestly, I trusted you. I didn’t think we’d get caught because you wouldn’t let us. And if we did, I was thinking we’d get locked up, get the Pussy Riot treatment, then get released. What the hell did you expect from all of this?”

Apollo opened his mouth to speak before he realized the question was rhetorical.