I would have protested she didn’t have to help out, but instead, I just joined her, doing my share of it, and putting away the stuff on the rack.

Ashley’s obsidian mug, still on the drying rack from a week ago.

“What are you up to today?” I asked.

“I don’t know, what are you doing?”

“Everything,” I said. “Catching up, Byron, seeing where we fit into things with the whole…”

I indicated the television screen where the weather update had dropped away and the tail end of a news segment showed. There were cars on the road bumper to bumper, red taillights and white snow. The scene changed to people moving down the sidewalk, all carrying things.

“I know some of the rest of the team is helping, and Chicken, Deca, and Syn are helping too, in their own ways.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Can I come with you? I wanted to see Byron too.”

I thought about it for a second, then nodded.

“Costume or no costume?” she asked.

It was a good question.

“No costume for today. While we work on bouncing back. If we wear something costumey we’ll feel compelled to do something costumey.”

“Good plan,” she said.

I looked back at the television, where they showed rows and rows of fresh new tents. Then protests, riots, and anti-parahumans gathered together in something that looked like it was going from protest to riot.

Calling for a ride and getting through all of that?

“Want to fly there?” I asked.

⊙

Mass evacuation. The ice was cracking, we’d been given a deadline suggesting disaster would strike within a week or two. All it would take was a precipitating act, the ice would crack, and, well, we’d seen the data lifted from Teacher’s computer.

With full knowledge that it was winter and we were putting lives at risk, our side was working with local government to force people to vacate. Some resisted, and some of that resistance was gathered at the front of the Warden HQ. A line of police was all that was keeping them from storming the place. One of them was being disarmed of something they’d lit on fire, with police taking advantage of the fact that people had backed away from the protester to gang up on him three against one.

I landed on the roof, easing Kenzie down so she could stand beside me, and then adjusted the heavy bag full of her tinker stuff and my supplies.

“So angry,” Kenzie said, peering over the ledge.

I wore a medical mask, out of consideration for the people around us and the people we were bound to run into. I didn’t want to get any heroes sick. It made talking annoying, with the way it rubbed against my nose. “They’re losing their homes. Just like we’re probably going to have to say goodbye to the apartment.”