“Alright. I got this. I can totally do this.” My hands spread wide apart I stood on a trash can. The little park that we were in was for the most part empty except for us which is exactly the way we wanted it to be. I knew Alice was around here somewhere watching me. Probably judging the shit out of me.
Well, jokes on her, I was the one fucking floating at least six feet off the ground! I could see my bow and quiver on the opposite side of the park. I wondered if I could pull it to hand from here. I felt both my hands wobbling as I pulled on the trash can for balance. It had been three weeks since we found this place and we hunkered down. Eating, hunting, hiding, practicing and surviving. This was the fruits of my labors.
With magnetism pulling from both hands, I could levitate the trash can and myself off the ground. When I first tried, it was barely an inch but it was a something. After a week, I got six inches. Two weeks two feet and now a whopping six feet. I was fucking rad.
Taking a hard breath, I spun in a slow circle both legs wobbling back and forth. The trash cans were flimsy sheets and not solid at all but my powers made it seem like there were blocks military grade metal. Yet moving my hands too fast would jerk off my balance entirely. I concentered hard and tried to move my arms slowly. I remained floating in the air without any random tilting or falling.
“Alright. Let’s go forward?” I asked of my powers and I jerked forward. I flew almost into the wall of an apartment and shoved both my hands forward. I jerked backwards and almost stumbled off the lid. I raised my foot off the trash can and it all went to hell.
I fell off the trash can and fell flat on the grass. Groaning I felt my eyes cross and the stars I saw were painful reminders that I wasn’t great at this. Staring at the cloud less orange sky. It was midday now. I heard the echo of clapping and frowned. Sitting up I could see Alice standing there, mask blowing in the wind.
She started to move her hands slowly and I watched her fingers move, “Ha. Ha. Ha.”
I had been teaching her ASL over the past few weeks. She had picked up the basics fast. Was really good at reading. Not so fast as speaking yet. Not sure if she was a faster learner or if I was a good teacher. You know what both. We were both great. Now I regretted it.
“Yeah yeah laugh it up,” I said shaking my head slowly. The way her eyes closed and her shoulders lifted I knew that smile. “Yeah yeah I know. I’m still learning with this shit.”
Reaching out with both hands the trash can flew to my palm and my arms jerked slightly. Grunting I stood and my back ached slightly but I was up. Alice watched me as I did this and dropped them to the ground again. “You gotten better at your practice?”
Her hands started moving again. Carefully and specific. No flair or je ne sais quoi. She’d get her rhythm once she signed more. Like if a robot was speaking, “I keep up. With mine lessons. You slack. On teaching.”
“Whatever. I’ll teach you more once I finish my lessons alrig-“
I was alone. Either she left or she was invisible. Puffing out my cheeks I glared. She could be a pain in the ass. Sighing hard I spread both my arms out and stepped on the trash can. Resting both arms, I wiggled them to loosen up then spread my fingers. “Alright. Let’s do this Jenny.”
Throwing up my arms I shot upward. A familiar jump in height from the past few weeks but balance was the focus this time. I had that as long as I didn’t move. I raised and moved my hands to get better with the balancing act. I thought of solid blocks under my feet, a platform instead of the flimsy metal that was really there.
“Keep your eyes forward Jenny. Learned that day 1.”
Taking another deep breath, I concentrated to free up my hands again. I gave a little test of flicking my fingers and wagging my elbows but I hovered just fine. A few hitches here and there but I was still six feet up.
I glanced to the left and I almost immediately turned. Eyes wide I jerked my arm forward and I stopped. Pausing frozen in the air I cleared my mind. No directions. No sudden movements. Just floating.
And I did. Points for me.
Alright so the last time I thought a direction and I did it. So, by this logic, if I think kinda right. Slowly I rotated to the right and I couldn’t help but laugh. Alright so this was way simpler than I gave it credit for. I thought this shit was gonna be complex.
I held both my hands in front of me and nodded. “Go.” I floated forward at a decent clip. It felt like I was walking except in the air. Holy shit I was actually doing this. I was actually doing this! There was a slight breeze on my face and I felt my hair float free. For the first time in a long time I didn’t feel weighed down by this world. And then I was going too fast and almost crashing into a wall.
“Right! Turn right.” I swerved hard, my balance destroyed and now I had to make sure I wasn’t going to tumble to the ground. Waving a hand and jerking my arm I steadied but lost a few feet of altitude. I was barely a foot off the ground but I was floating with ease now.
My heart was beating a mile a minute and I felt like I was sweating. Looking around slowly I turned and let myself hit the ground. The first controlled landing I’ve had since I started. Glancing at my trash can I knew this wasn’t going to cut it long term. At all. But things were clicking into place. Ideas to try and plans to go with.
Raising them off the ground with my powers I held my hands out and started to close them. The trash can trembled then began to crumple. Wrenching metal echoed in my head as I crushed it into a palm sized ball of metal. I tossed both of it into the air, catching it as I started walking.
I needed to find a new flying machine. There was a dumpster around the corner, where we caught the deer a few weeks ago. Maybe I could take off the side and use that. It definitely had metal in it.
I tossed the ball into the air as I passed the apartments when it was swiped out of the air. I blinked trying to follow it but then it was gone. What the actual hell? I heard a soft whistle to my left and turned to face it.
Empty.
I knew what this was. This wasn’t the first time this has happened and it wouldn’t be the last. “Alice!”
I threw my arm out and latched onto the ball. I yanked my arm back and it flew into sight back into my palm. It floated over my palm and then settled in it. “Alice get out here.”
She laughed, a high note giggle that I had heard more and more over the past few weeks. Shaking my head slowly I kept going down the alley. I hit a two-way intersection and continued almost at the street. Taking the right would put me on the street.
I could see the dumpster coming up and reached with my hand. It wobbled under my influence and I spread my fingers slightly. Feeling the edges with it I pulled at the front face of it. Latching on with claws of one of the universal forces of the world I slowly but surely yanked it back. It lurched from the side of the dumpster and skidded across the ground.
My shoulders ached as I stood upright, then pulled on it with my powers. It scraped across the ground loudly. It was at least six feet long. Way too long for me to wield and move around comfortable. Walking up to it I crouched and pressed my palm then fingers against the metal.
It hummed at the contact and I smiled as if it were a pet. Taking a breath, I pressed down hard and my ears protested as the screeching started. It screamed at me as I tore the damn thing in half. Right down the middle of screeching metal and I felt like I was drilling holes in my ears.
Shutting my eyes and I had to start over a few times because of the damn sound. Finally, I finished and my ears ached painfully. Sitting with my head between my legs I had the shards of the dumpster resting in front of me. I heard the dumpster piece skid slightly on the ground and figured it was Alice again. Groaning to myself I didn’t raise my head yet.
“Leave it be Alice. I’m gonna work with it soon.”
It continued to move, skidding louder and it didn’t help my ears. Glaring at the ground I jerked my head up to yell at Alice. She loved doing this type of shit. Instead of Alice though it was a super mutant. Glistening red flesh, pink soaked bone exoskeleton, and hunched over broken figure.
My eyes were wide, mouth agape, and heart frozen. It was just like in the dorm room except this one was ignoring me. Either it didn’t hear me before or it was more interested in the part of the dumpster. It couldn’t have been more than five or six feet away from me. Its face was down to the ground as it messed with the dumpster with one arm.
What the fuck do I do?
Do I try to stand? Sit still? Shout at it? What could I do to get away from this thing without it trying to kill me. Not a lot of options. Time to figure it out Jenny. It continued to fuck with the dumpster piece and I had an idea. Resting my hand against my knee I flexed my fingers slowly.
Glancing at the other dumpster half, the one that I tore away and left behind. I moved it across the ground slowly, scratching and scraping. The mutant jerked and turned toward the dumpster. I let it go immediately and it shivered before going still. I didn’t breathe in the silence.
For the first time, I saw it’s eyes. They were red. Normally these things had black eyes but this one were bright red. I moved it again with my powers.
The mutant turned to stare at this moving sheet of metal that was somehow moving on its own. It made a grunting sound and jerked toward it. It left my immediate area and I jerked it away. Breathing the barest amount of what I needed to. I kept it moving further and further away. I kept doing it but the thing stopped dicking around. It leaped at it and bit down on it hard, shaking it back and forth like a shark with a seal.
My eyes wide I watched it try to tear it apart before whipping its head back and throwing it at a wall. My wall. The wall that I was hiding beside. For the first time, I think it noticed me. My heart started beating harder and my hands were shaking. If I let this thing get close, would it try to kill me? Did it even really know I was here?
It snarled slightly and hissed taking a step toward me. Alright I’m pretty sure it did know I was here. I was still sitting. Standing quickly would startle the damn thing. Holding my breath, I stood slowly. It reacted but not severely. It was twitching and jerking as it observed me. They really were like animals. My legs trembled as I got to full standing position.
It was still looking a little unsteady. Ready to jump at the slightest provocation. Alright. Big distraction time. Get its attention away from me. Both my hands were pressed flat against the ground but my powers were exploring. Searching. I latched onto both pieces of dumpster and pulled them up.
With the one behind the mutant I skidded it across the ground and flung it into the wall. The clanging crash echoed around the alley making the thing jump and almost roar at the sudden sound. It crouched as if expecting it to strike out and attack.
That was my cue. I dragged the other toward me, it scrapping over the ground, and stepped onto it. The thing turned toward me but I pushed off the ground. Levitating at least nine feet off the ground again I was surprised at how good this felt. Light but sturdy, my magnetism coursed through it and I felt the power in my arms. It even hummed like a soft purring sound.
A roar from the super mutant and I was focusing. “Up!” I said and suddenly I was ascending way above the ground. Quicker than I imagined I was cresting over the top of the apartment. I flew forward and then sank down, scraping over the top of the apartment.
My legs were shaking. My arms were shaking. Hell my vision was shaking with the threat of tears that didn’t have a place. I laughed pressing my hand to my chest. Holy shit that was not what I had planned. But I did that shit. I escaped a super mutant and even flew my new surfboard thing.
Throwing my arms above my head I laughed, quietly, and walked around in a circle. Silent celebration was the best kind of celebration when a super mutant was down there. I could hear it swinging around and making noise and covered my mouth to lower the laughter.
Walking back to the edge of it I could see the thing swinging around. It thrust its head upward then turned and thrashed around again.
“What’s your issue dude?” I mumbled.
And then I watched a trash can get lifted, like it was levitated and get thrown at the mutant. It bounced off it’s hide and it whipped around rushing in that direction. It passed my apartment and snarled more.
“Okay. So either someone has telekinesis, plausible, or that was Alice.”
Reaching out to the dumpster board I stepped on it, lifted up and started flying. How did this thing see her? She’s supposed to be invisible.
Floating down to street level I surfed across the ground and against the wall. I could see the damn thing in front of me wreaking all kinds of havoc. I couldn’t see Alice and I was afraid to try and use my powers to try and sense her while flying.
Getting lower to the ground I floated and watched as the mutant stumbled across a dumpster but it jumped back to its feet almost immediately. I ascended and sped forward gliding over the wall. I overtook the thing and spun around. I really wished that I had my fucking bow with me.
Grinding against the wall and making noise I shoved myself ahead further and then angled down. I slammed into the ground bouncing a few times and leaped off the board. Stumbling to a halt I picked up the board and held it in front of me. The super mutant slammed into me and I was sent flying.
The world turned upside down and all sorts of in between as I hit the wall and then landed in a dumpster groaning. My landing was softer than I thought. I opened my eyes and stared at a very startled looking family of squirrels. I smiled at them and pushed myself out of the dumpster trailing foliage.
Groaning, my body aching and screaming protest at me, I kept going toward the growling and snarling noises. I felt for the board and after a few minutes of searching I pulled it close. Limping onto it I levitated wobbling roughly. Grunting and gripping the edge I nodded forward and started flying again.
I saw the super mutant looking around growling under its breath. As I came closer I frowned raising my eyebrow confused. And then I saw her. She was on the ground panting with blood going down her forehead. Alice was on the ground, pointing the machete at the creature. But it wasn’t looking at her. It was looking at everywhere but her. Why didn’t it attack her?
Actually, that didn’t matter too much. What did matter was saving my friend. Floating down I landed and made sure I got her attention. Holding my finger to my mouth she started to make motions with her hand but she couldn’t make words with a machete in hand. So she looked at me pleasing with her gaze. So, I signed to her with shaking fingers, “I’m going to save you. Just stay there.”
She rolled her eyes sharply at that last part and I smirked. Looking around and feeling around with my powers I was actually lacking in metal. I finally found an old rusted wheel rim. Slinging it upward I threw it against the walls back and forth of the alley. The mutant reacted looking toward it.
Smirking I whipped around and threw all the way into the street. The mutant lurched after it and started running. I watched it for a second before jumping onto the dumpster board and floating to ground level.
Once I was on the ground I ran over to Alice and realized I’d been holding my breath the entire time. “Holy shit. Are you alright?”
Alice shook her head, her hands shaking as she dropped the machete. She glanced at it and then at me. “I don’t know why it could see you. But that’s why you have friends right?”
She nodded slowly and then pointed at my board. “You fly now?”
“Yeah. I learned how to fly. I think. It’s been a lot of not thinking and just doing. Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug. Sorry. Talking too much.”
She nodded and put a hand on my shoulder. She squeezed it lightly and gave me a look. I had to glance away because my cheeks were burning and I really didn’t want her to see that. She pointed down the alleyway and I nodded. Neither of us wanted that damn thing to stumble into us again.
“Come on. I’ll give you a lift.”
She faced me and signed simply, “No.”
I lowered the board and laughed signing as I spoke. “Come on. It’s totally fine. Trust me.”
She tilted her head starting to sign but went very still and my face fell. Something was wrong. I began to turn behind me when she grabbed me. One hand going around my mouth and the other arm around my waist. Shoving me against the wall she turned us both invisible.
The only way I knew was because I couldn’t see myself. Looking down I was seeing the ground where my chest and feet should have been. I couldn’t see myself at all. But I could feel Alice in front of me and her hand on my mouth.
I panicked. My breathing sped up and I knew my heart was beating rapidly. This didn’t make any sense. I was there but I wasn’t there. Was I even standing on the ground now? How the hell did any of this shit work.
“It’s empty! Must of been some rats fighting with each other.”
I watched as soldiers walked through the alley. Soldiers was the wrong word for them. The roving bands of people with guns around here. I didn’t recognize the green patches on their jackets but it was probably a symbol for one of them.
“Spread out anyway! Find them. If he gets away Duncan’s gonna put our heads on a stick!”
Three men came down our alley and were grunting angrily back and forth to each other. They kicked my board away as well as some of the fallen boxes. They looked tired but well fed people. No gauntness or even thin. Food, guns, clothing. They had it all holed up in some building in the city. They had to.
I could hear Alice in my ears, quick and breathy. She wasn’t as calm as I thought about all of this. She was calmer when facing the super mutant. I wondered if she got too stressed, would her powers suddenly drop out entirely?
Guessing at where my hand was in relation to the rest of my body, I touched my hip, then I touched my stomach upward and found her hand. It was still across my mouth and I squeezed it, lowering it slowly. She stiffened slightly but her breathing did get back under control. She took another shuddering breath and nodded slowly.
I smiled but that fell away as I stared at the soldiers passing in front of us. No more than a few feet away. He turned around slowly the barrel of the gun passing in front of us and then over. Seeing that metal barrel pointed at my face I couldn’t breathe.
Shuddering against Alice I tried to take a step back but we couldn’t go further back. He didn’t stay though. He turned when someone shouted for him.
“Hey! There’s a park looking place out here. Apartments too!”
“Break into em then. Maybe there’s stuff we can bring back with us.”
They walked away and we waited until their boot echoes faded away. Alice didn’t turn us visible again until a bare second later and I glanced back toward her my eyes wide. “Our stuffs still back there.”
She nodded and held up four fingers. “That’s how many of them you saw?” She nodded.
I frowned folding my arms tightly. “Think we can take them?”
She looked down for a second, seemingly like she was thinking. Raising her head, she nodded quickly and pointed to my dumpster sheet on the ground. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “You trust me to fly now?”
She gave a slight turn of the head and flashed me the bird. That was a sign that I knew easily. Stepping on it she stepped behind me and I held my hand out for her.
She took it and I let the magnetism do its thing. We floated off the ground then flew above the apartments. It was a little bit more difficult with Alice there but I was learning on the fly.
As we flew we turned and landed along the edge. Walking forward quickly we crouched to stare down below as they kicked open a door. I could feel my bow in the park hidden behind some bushes. We’d have to figure out how to get back in without dealing with them first.
“So what’s our plan?” I asked but she was still, kneeling against the edge of the building watching. I went to stand beside her when an explosion rocked the ground. The shockwave from it slammed into me and I watched as Alice slipped over the ledge. We were at least three or four stories up. She wasn’t going to take that fall.
My eyes went wide as I reached for her and my powers flared to life. They latched onto her bracelet and it jerked her hand up and into my palm. Her weight hit me in one go and I almost stumbled over the ledge. Letting out a soft cry I held her tightly as she dangled.
Gripping her hand and squeezing it tightly I yanked with my power at the same time as all my strength. She flew a few feet up and then landed on top of me as we stumbled backwards.
Groaning softly, I opened my eyes and smiled at her. She looked down at me and let out a breath. She pressed her forehead against mine and I could feel her breathing. Her hand squeezed my own and I swear my cheeks got warmer than I thought they could.
She got off me and helped me to stand and we looked again. We could both see smoke billowing into the sky in the distance. It was thick, dark plumes clogging the sky. The guys with guns below had all but except for one. That one we could deal with.
I glanced at Alice I spoke and signed, “You first and I’ll finish him off.” She nodded in response.
We both got on top of the board and then shot off the ground. Alice grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it. I glanced back at her confused when suddenly we were invisible. That was my warning. My eyes went wide and it took everything in me to keep us in the air. Spinning the board around slowly we descended and landed in the grass softly. She dashed forward and I came back into visibility.
Staring at my hands like they were remarkable things I didn’t even glance up at them. I saw the guard going toward the alleyway. I could feel Alice going straight toward him. I had to do my part.
Watching where I stepped I moved through the grass quickly so I could get to my bow. Seeing that it was free from obstruction I pulled it to my hands. It felt good to have it on me again. Running my fingers along the limbs of the bow I pulled an arrow out of the quiver.
Lining the arrow up quickly I watched as she struck. She had hit him in the back of the head. He recoiled and then turned and swung wide. She didn’t duck fast enough and it hit her hard enough to knock her down. His hands went to his gun almost immediately.
Not on my watch.
My heart skipped a beat as I pulled the arrow back. The magnetic fields pulled at my arrow before I fired it. I watched it spin and then swerve slightly, correcting toward my target. I’d never seen it do that before. It pierced through the guy’s head and he stumbled backwards and fell on his back.
I jumped to my feet and ran toward Alice. Sliding across the ground I kneeled over her and froze. My eyes couldn’t process what I was seeing. There were so many scars. Deep faded red lines resting under her eyes and across cheeks. Crisscrossed like a brand from a net. The skin from the right side of her jaw going across her lips and nose were ridged and raised something like burns. Her throat had even more burns and was so bright red I wondered if there were recent.
What happened to her? Who or what did this to her and when? She’d been hiding this for so long. Since I’ve met her. Was this the reason she didn’t talk? Could she even talk? Were there more scars like this on her? There were so many questions racing through my mind as I tried to process it.
Alice was groggy as she tried to get her bearings together. She touched her face and realized that it was gone. I’d never seen panic like the panic I saw in her eyes. Pain and raw fear. She turned around immediately and covered her face as she searched for the bandana. She couldn’t find it and the noises that she made, something like a whimper, hurt my heart. I reached out toward her and let my hand rest on her shoulder.
She flinched away still searching for the it. “Alice.” I said softly and heard how my voice hitched at her name. She heard it too but I cleared my throat and shook my head.
My arms went around her waist and I held her tightly. I didn’t let go as I pressed my face against her upper back and neck. I didn’t know what else to do but this. Alice didn’t react at first but then suddenly she started shaking under my grasp. I didn’t let her go as I held on tighter and I felt her hands find mine.
I don’t know how long I held her but long enough for the shaking to stop. She pulled away from me slowly and I didn’t know what to even say. But I did know what I could do. After a few moments of searching I was able to find her bandana. It was torn but we could make do with it.
She turned around but her head was down. I held it to her staring straight down. “You don’t have to wear it around me Alice. You’re my friend. That doesn’t change.”
She nodded as she wrapped it around her face. Raising her head, she looked at me with an intensity that made me squirm. But as I stared into her eyes I saw the pain still there and the hooded expression of remembering something painful.
I reached out and took her hands in mine squeezing them. “You feel that? Neither of us is alone now alright?”
She looked at me, looked at me directly and just hugged me. Her arms around my shoulders and nodded against my head. She let go and turned around pointing toward the smoke.
“You’re just as curious as I am aren’t you?”
She signed steadily, “Yes. I might know it.”
I called the dumpster board over. It was beat to hell and I’d be shocked if it got us there in one piece. Before getting on board we went back into the apartment that had been our home for a little while. I walked outside slinging my nag over my shoulder as she secured her own. We got on top of the dumpster board and then started flying. Hopefully, whoever cause that explosion, was on our side.
The Harlequin Library 