Stone Soldiers 1: Mythical Read Online Free Page B

know, cape, tights, super-powers.”
    “I don’t do tights. Or capes,” Mark responded. “What do you mean by super-powers ?”
    Kendall couldn’t believe he was going to join this conversation. “Oh, I don’t know- like throwing people twenty feet through the air.”
    “Or being bullet-proof,” Jimmy added.
    “Do you even realize you have a knife sticking out of your back?” Carlos asked.
    Mark twisted his head around and tried to look behind him. Sure enough, Kendall’s knife was still lodged firmly in his back, above his shoulder blade, the point maybe two inches deep. He reached back and was just able to pull the knife free.
    Mark wiped the blade on his pants, cleaning off his blood. He folded the knife and then offered it back to Kendall. “Good throw.”
    Kendall gulped and sheepishly accepted the knife. “Sorry.”
    He shoved the knife into his pants pocket.
    “Don’t worry, we’re jake,” Mark said calmly.
    “Jake? I thought you said your name was Mark?” Josie asked, confused.
    Mark frowned. “Jake. Okay... groovy?”
    Mark eyed the kids carefully, for the first time really taking in their off-road motocross clothes. Their haircuts. Even their pop up tents.
    “So you aren’t a superhero,” Carlos said, disappointedly.
    Mark shook his head from side to side. “I’m still not clear on what a superhero is. Have you seen super-powers before?”
    “Yeah,” Josie said. “All the time. On TV.”
    Mark was shocked. “On TV?” The last show he could remember watching was about cowboys.
    “Seriously, man,” Carlos asked, not ready to give up, “What’s your stage name?”
    Dawn was just starting to break. Mark could see a lot better now. He scrutinized the two kingcab pickups in the camp. They were strangely shaped, with off-road tires. Nothing like the trucks he remembered.
    Josie leaned back a bit, looking at the cut on Mark’s back. She noticed it wasn’t bleeding.
    Mark pointed to the one of the trucks. “What year is that truck?”
    Kendall looked around at his dark blue, dusty, Dodge 4x4 kingcab his dad had bought him. “It’s a 2005.”
    Mark was surprised but kept his face straight. “Did you buy it new?”
    “You’re trying to figure out what year this is,” Jimmy said in surprise.
    Josie stepped behind Mark and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler- one of only a few left. She uncapped it and started pouring water on the wound as the conversation continued.
    “Jimmy, that is ridiculous,” Josie declared.
    Mark sighed. Smart kid, he thought.
    “You got me, kid,” Mark finally said. “So what year is it?”
    Josie almost dropped the water bottle. Carlos and Kendall stepped around Mark, watching Josie pouring water on the cut.
    “Uh, it’s 2013,” Jimmy said. He suddenly didn’t think he was so clever anymore.
    “Really?” Mark was surprised.
    Carlos leaned close to Josie and whispered. “What are you doing?”
    Carlos’ eyes widened as the wound Josie was pouring water over turned gray and began to close itself. Once closed the wound turned back to the same tanned flesh tone as the rest of Mark’s skin.
    Mark turned around to face Josie. She stopped pouring the water, nearly dropping the bottle again.
    Kendall was helping Logan up- he held as much of Logan’s weight as he could while Logan held his left arm in close to his bruised ribs.
    “I need to get to a phone,” Mark said.
    Carlos shrugged and reached into a pocket and pulled out a slim flip phone and offered it to Mark. “Here, use mine.”
    Mark looked at the small device, cocking his left eyebrow.
    “I was thinking more of a payphone,” Mark said, wondering what the thing in Carlos’ hand was.
    Josie pushed Carlos’ hand away. “I don’t think we’d get a signal out here anyway, Mist- Mark.”
    Carlos shrugged and put his phone away.
    “I think you need to get more help than a payphone has to offer,” Josie added.
    “What do you mean?” Mark asked.
    Josie swallowed nervously. “When we