Glitch

words either of us had spoken in a while. I nodded.
    I was too exhausted to argue. My limbs were numb from
    overuse. Water was pouring down on my head but I didn’t
    care about toxic rain or cancerous tumors— I would have
    braved anything to just break free from these death- trap
    tunnels. Even if it meant returning to the surface. I climbed
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    up the rungs, looking down every so often to make sure
    Adrien was coming up safely behind me.
    At the top of the ladder, a half- clogged grate was lodged
    securely between us and freedom.
    I pushed to open it, but it didn’t budge. I tried again and
    again, getting more frustrated and exhausted with each at-
    tempt.
    “Move to one side of the ladder and hang on,” Adrien
    called from below. I did and he climbed up beside me, our
    feet barely managing to share the narrow rung space. I made
    the mistake of looking down at the deep abyss below us,
    then quickly forced my eyes back up.
    “Can you get it open?” I asked.
    Adrien’s face was full of concentration as he felt along the
    edges of the grate. He reached around to his back. “Crack-
    ing hell,” he swore. “I dropped my pack. It had the pry bar
    and wrench in it.”
    “What are we going to do?” I tried to keep the panic out
    of my voice. I couldn’t imagine heading back down into the
    watery darkness and trying to fi nd another way out.
    “Zoe, do you think you could use your power to pull the
    grate away or to yank off the bolts?”
    I felt my eyes widen. “I don’t know— I mean . . . I’ve never
    tried anything like that.” I stared at the grate. “I don’t know
    if I’m strong enough.”
    He laughed. I stared at him incredulously. How could he
    laugh at a time like this?
    “Zoe, you just lifted my entire shunting body out of a
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    torrential current! You have power you don’t even know
    about yet.” His voice softened as he rested a hand on my
    shoulder. A fl uttering warmth spread through my stomach.
    “Believe me. I’ve seen it in my visions.”
    His face was close to mine and I studied the smooth, an-
    gular planes of his face, the arrowlike tip to his nose, his dark
    curly hair that was soaked and dripping down his cheeks.
    I gulped hard, my heart racing. I didn’t know if it was the
    adrenaline, the idea of what he was suggesting I could do, or
    that his face was mere inches from mine. I shook my head.
    What was wrong with me? Some near- deactivation experi-
    ences and having my world turned upside down had to have
    made me half delirious.
    “I’ll try,” I whispered, fi nally looking away from his gaze.
    I turned toward the hatch and closed my eyes, trying to con-
    centrate and remember what it felt like when I’d used my
    power to pull Adrien into the tunnel just moments ago. But
    how had I done it? It had always just happened on its own. I
    tried to envision the grate and the bolts. I squeezed my eyes
    shut hard, reaching my hand out toward the grate. Pull.
    I pictured the decrepit grate and each bolt, rust streaming
    over their surfaces.
    Pull. Pull. PULL! I gritted my teeth, sweat dripping down
    the sides of my forehead.
    Come on, MOVE! Please!
    I opened one eye to peek. Nothing.
    “I can’t,” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration. “I
    don’t know how.”
    “I know you can do this.” He looked at me with such an
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    open expression of genuine belief. “Just picture it in your
    mind.”
    I clenched my jaw and stared at the rusted bolts holding
    the grate in place. They were so small. Adrien was right. If I
    could lift a toddler from the path of a speeding train, I should
    be able to do this. Come on, Zoe. I closed my eyes and tried
    again. But as soon as I closed my eyes, all I could see were
    the rats and the terror of all that water. I thought I might
    collapse from exhaustion. This was hopeless.
    “I can’t do it!” I fi nally yelled. I grabbed the grate with
    my fi ngers and yanked on it angrily, shouting in frustration.
    Adrien put a calming hand on my back. “It’s okay. My
    fault. I shouldn’t have pushed.”
    “But how are we going to get out of here?” I was so up-
    set, I felt like hitting something. The grate was looking like
    a good target.
    “Well . . .” Adrien held up the heavy black fl ashlight.
    “Maybe some brute force will work. These bolts are gnangy
    rusted. Turn your head away— I don’t want to hurt you.”
    I ducked and put an arm over my head. The bang of the
    metal fl