Adam let himself drop to the ground, breathing hard. His hands burned from pulling and an angry red line ran across each palm. He shook his hands and looked at Hector, then over his shoulder at Samantha and Natalie.

  "Anyone feel stronger? No? Me either."

  Adam flopped to his back, staring up at the sky and half-hoping the ground would rise up and swallowed him.

  "Alright, sit up," Natalie commanded.

  Adam complied, leaning forward as she prodded at the wound. A pencil sized hole ran through his shirt and into the meat of his shoulder.

  "Another battle scar. Let's just hope it didn't lay eggs," she said, before dousing the wound in rubbing alcohol.

  Adam gritted his teeth but let her work, doing his best not to think about mosquito-porcupine hybrids laying eggs in his shoulder.

  "Is that possible?" Hector asked, sounded more curious than worried. "Because if it's growing another one, we might have to just put him down now."

  Adam gave him the finger. Hector made an obscene motion, laughing as he helped Adam him to his feet.

  "This is getting easier." Samantha knelt beside the still-pulsing organ, prodding it with a stick. The tongue twitched as she pierced the sac, a mess of connected fleshy bulbs spilling out.

  "What's getting easier?" Natalie asked, wiping her hands after slapping a bandage onto Adam's shoulder.

  Samantha stood and raised her hand over the mess of alien tissue. "The fighting. And the killing." A thin jet of flame poured out of her palm, but she wobbled almost immediately, the fire barely touching the gooey mess before winking out. "Nope, not yet."

  Natalie stepped in and steadied her. "You did almost die, Sam. I don't think you could have gotten much closer without actually doing it."

  "True."

  "How did you stop those quills?" Hector asked, glancing up at the sun, and absently touching the bone pendant.

  "It's hard to explain. It's all just energy. Like making fire. I just concentrate it more densely where I need it." She waved her hand and the air shimmered briefly, like heat distortion. "The bad part is... it takes a lot out of me. Who'd have thought? Magic is hard."

  "Tell me about it." Hector held out his hand, palm down and the organ pile lit up, as if caught in the beam of a magnifying glass. Tiny tendrils of steam rose from the gore as the bulbs shriveled into unrecognizable shapes. After several moments, the remains looked like the world's most unappetizing beef jerky.

  "If anyone makes a comment about raisins, I might throw up," Natalie said, wrinkling her nose and stepping back. "I hate raisins."

  Adam rolled his shoulder. It felt more or less normal. He reached out and willed the bat into his hand. It slid across the gravel and landed neatly in his palm. After a moment of consideration, he threw it hard, the weapon sailing in a wide arc. Just as it began to fall, he pulled it back to his hand with some effort.

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  "Do you want to keep playing Jedi, or can we move on?" Natalie's tone was light, but her eyes scanned the road and the nearby fields.

  "What if I said both?" Adam slid the bat into a strap on his backpack, walking around the creature's corpse.

  "I hate Star Trek," Samantha said, falling into step behind him.

  Adam wasn't sure how long they walked, slowly skirting the city while the sun traced a path across the sky. The last hour had been filled with Samantha and Hector debating the merits of Star Wars versus Star Trek. Even Natalie joined in, but Adam kept his focus on the road, lost in thought.

  He pulled out his phone, checking the location pin he had set what felt like a lifetime ago. If his map-reading skills were correct, they only had a few more miles to go before they reached Stephen's. The phone's clock read late in the afternoon and the unseasonable warmth was beginning to fade, with the first hints of an evening chill creeping into the air.

  "If something takes you apart and puts you back together exactly the same way, down to the smallest detail, you're the same person!" Samantha said, rolling her eyes and wringing her hands at Hector.

  Hector chucked a rock down the road. "No, that just makes you a copy. Once you're taken apart, you stop being you even if you're put back together!"

  "It's just the Ship of Theseus," Samantha said. "Our whole bodies are replaced every few years, and we're still the same people. By that logic, we'd be entirely new people in a couple of years."

  "Aren't we?" Hector replied mildly.

  Natalie trailed a little behind, looking like she was ready to strangle them both.

  Adam realized he'd missed an entire conversation, his head lost in the clouds. "I think we need to decide if we're camping for the night, or pushing through to Stephen's. How're you holding up, Sam?"

  Samantha made a so-so motion and offered a tight smile. "Starting to feel sore, but pretty good for being shot less than three days ago."

  Natalie straightened Samantha's cap, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I think we should push on, if you think you're up for it."

  "I'm good with that if you think we can make it. But Adam?" Hector quickened his pace to catch up. "Can I have the hammer back?"

  "Oh, shit. Sorry, Hector. Sure." Adam pulled his pack off and retrieved the hammer, tossing it over. "I completely forgot I had that."

  "Me too. It hit me when we were fighting whatever-the-hell that thing was." Hector jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I was thinking... do you feel tired?"

  Adam thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I mean, we've been walking all day, so I'm definitely not fresh. But not tired tired, you know? Why, what's on your mind?"

  "How many hours of real sleep did you get last night before we had to run for our lives? Three, maybe four?" Hector asked, tucking the hammer into his belt and scratching at the beginnings of a beard.

  "I'm not sure." Adam knew he didn't feel rested, but he didn't feel exhausted either. "We didn't get much, did we? Are you going with this where I think you're going?"

  Hector blinked. "Maybe? I'm saying I think The Salesman was right. We're changing. We should be tired. You got backhanded by that thing and went flying, and nothing broke. I saw how hard it hit you. Shouldn't your ribs be at least cracked or something?"

  Adam touched his side thoughtfully. "I'm a little sore, but yeah. You might be right. We should be dragging ass."

  "I'm not sure I like it." Hector slipped his hands into his jacket pockets. "Something about it feels... not wrong but..."

  "Unnatural," Adam offered.

  "Yeah," Hector nodded, taking his hands out of his pockets again. He rubbed his palms together, adjusted the pendant beneath his shirt, then put his hands back in his pockets. Adam couldn't remember seeing the man fidget like this before. "My son loved comics. He always talked about how much he wanted super powers. But this... I'm not sure it feels right. It feels like it's changing what makes us-"

  "Human." Adam finished the thought and let the moment drag on, trying to decide how he felt about the changes he was undergoing. "I don't mean to pry, but that's twice you've mentioned your son in the past tense. Do you want to talk about it?"

  Adam felt Hector draw into himself, the question leading into a chilly moment of silence. "No. Maybe at some point, but no. Not right now." Hector pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, offering one to Adam, but he shook his head.

  "Thanks though," Adam said examining the man out of the corner of his eye as Hector took a deep drag. He stepped to the side and let out a cloud of acrid smoke. "I didn't know you smoked."

  "I don't," Hector said, and kept walking.