Pulse

her arm out and squeezing her hand into a fist, feeling the lingering pain of the needle shoot up and down her skin. “And I know what it’s for.”
    “What’s it for?” Glory asked, though she knew the answer.
    “It’s for killing. The hammer is for killing.”
    The thought of being able to take as many blows as Clara Quinn could dish out was intoxicating.
    They both grew quiet after that, listening to the buzzing sound of the tattoo being applied.
    An hour later, Faith’s arm was bandaged up and she was walking. The Six Flags wasn’t very far, and seeing all the roller coaster tracks saddened her. Water sloshed at her feet until she came to the ride she wanted to find. It was called Apocalypse, an old wooden relic that had once thrilled teenagers on sunbaked California weekends. Now it was falling apart. One entire section had collapsed, but the highest point of the ride remained intact. She flew up and sat down on the iron track, letting her legs dangle free in the air over the edge.
    The thought crossed her mind to simply throw away the letter. What good would it do to dredge up more feelings she didn’t want to deal with? She was healing, she was getting stronger. Going backward never struck her as a useful endeavor. But in the end she couldn’t do it. She was honor bound to at least read whatever her parents had left behind, no matter how much it might hurt. And so she tore open the envelope, stuffing it into her back pocket and unfolding the paper. She read fast so it would be over quickly.
     
Faith,
     
Do you know why we called you that? It was because we believed, against all odds, that you’d be okay. You were our happy accident. We would not have chosen to bring a baby into the world we lived in. But once you arrived, we loved everything about you. We wanted nothing more than to keep you safe and make you happy.
This was not to be, and for that we’re very sorry. We knew what we were, and we knew what was coming; and we kept these things from you for as long as we could. Maybe we shouldn’t have, but we did. It’s something we’ll have to live with.
By now you know most of what we would have told you if we’d been brave enough to say the words. But in case you don’t know everything, know this:
There is a great evil in the world. It comes to destroy. We aren’t strong enough to stop it. But in time you will be. Find love, for love in a broken world will comfort you. Hold on to hope; it will sustain you. Have faith, for in the end it will save you. Remember these things, always.
     
With all our love,
Mom and Dad
     
    Faith folded up the letter and found it a little bit surprising that she wasn’t crying. She’d already cried so much for so many things, there weren’t any tears left. She looked out over the ocean and thought of her parents and Liz. She thought of the broken world she’d been born into and all the mysteries she didn’t understand.
    And then she let the letter go, watching it bend and flutter on the wind as it was carried out to sea on the power of her own thoughts.
    The past was gone, and a new strength welled up inside her. The future would be a fight.
    “Bring it on,” Faith Daniels said.
    And then she flew home.

Postscript
The Prison
    “This isn’t going exactly as planned.”
    Andre had known there would be risks, but he couldn’t have imagined his own daughter disobeying him the way she had. He’d let himself believe she was ready when she was not.
    “I’ll handle Clara,” Gretchen said. “You just make sure Wade is ready when we need him.”
    “I hate having to regroup. It goes against my better judgment.”
    Gretchen wasn’t so sure. “They weren’t ready. It would have been a disaster if we’d set things in motion now. Her choice helped us see that.”
    Andre had to admit that Gretchen was right. Still, he’d never liked hiding out, and there had been far too much of it lately. What he really wanted was to knock down a few buildings, to really wreak some havoc. Inflicting damage on the Western State was high on his priority list. He wanted the world the way it had been before the States, and he understood that this goal would require a certain level of force.
    Gretchen touched his hand, looking at the gray coming in around his temples. She understood his motives and the complicated past they shared.
    “Patience is a virtue,” Gretchen said. “It won’t be long now.”
    Wade and Clara came through a doorway on the far end of the