The Facility

As they passed through the door, cold air hit them. They were now outside. Somewhere.

It was dark out and Cassidy looked up and saw they were in the mountains. She could see stars in the sky above the mountain tops.

There was five feet of clear space between the building and a ten-foot-tall chain link fence topped with sharp razor wire.

“I’ve got this,” Gemma said.

“No,” Cass said stopping her. “Fuse the lock in the gate closed instead. Melt it solid.”

“But we’ll be stuck inside,” Gemma complained.

“No, we won’t; just do it.”

Gemma did not argue further, instead she moved to the gate and grabbed the gate pole and the fence pole. They quickly glowed red and Gemma squeezed the red-hot metal together, mashing it like clay until it was a solid lump. It was not coming apart now.

“There,” she said stepping back from it. “Now we’re all stuck here.”

“No, we aren’t, but they will be,” Cass said lifting both Rudi and Gemma up and over the fence.

They all head loud clicks, like switches being thrown, and bright lights started turning on around the building.

“Run,” Cass said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Both kids outside hesitated not wanting to leave Cass but turned to run as shouts came from inside the building behind Cass.

Cassidy raised herself over the barrier, looking around to see if she could figure out where they were, but only saw mountains and trees surrounding the area.

Men came out of the door under her, not seeing her until she dropped to the other side of the fence. She turned briefly before flicking all the lights she could see upwards, then sprinting off after her friends.

“Come back here,” yelled the imposing figure Cass had caught a glance of through the fence before fleeing. Hugo Forrester was clearly pissed. More so when he learned that the gate was nothing more than fused slag and was not going to open without being cut open.

Cass followed the direction that Rudi and Gemma went and found them waiting just inside the tree line.

“Where to?” Gemma asked when Cassidy reached them.

Cass scanned the area, then pointed.

Rudi looked at her in disbelief. “Um, there’s a mountain that way. Or did you not notice?”

“We’re on a mountain already, but that’s the point. They expect us to head down, not up. It will give us some time.”

Rudi looked at Gemma, who just shrugged. He gave in. “Lead the way.”

Cass took off, winding a path through the trees and around the building they had just escaped from and began to climb upwards. The forest was dry and their rush through the darkness was filled with the sounds of snapped twigs and crushed leaves.

It was dark although the moon was out, as the tree canopy blocked most of the light. Holes and tree roots tripped them up as they ran and their soft slipper like shoes did not do much to protect their feet.

“I have to stop,” begged Gemma.

They stopped and Gemma leaned over with her hands on her thighs, breathing hard.

“We should rest,” Rudi said panting nearly as hard as Gemma.

“Stay here,” Cass told them, “I’ll be right back.” She slowly made her way, paying more attention to her surroundings now. Not far away, part of the hill had fallen away, leaving a little vertical wall with a slab of rock jutting out at the top. It made a little cover from above.

Cass slowly made her way back to her friends and led them back to the little shelter. The wind had picked up, blowing the chilled mountain air around them.

“We’re going to freeze,” Rudi complained, shivering.

“Would you rather go back?” Cass asked.

Before Rudi could respond, Gemma said, “I could start a fire.”

“No,” Cass said shaking her head. “They’d see a fire. Let me think…” She looked around seeing dirt, sticks and rocks. Something came to her. Something she had read in one of her adventure books she was always reading.

“Gemma, can you heat rocks?”

“I guess so,” Gemma replied. “I don’t see why not,” she added after thinking it over for a few seconds.

Cass gathered some good-sized rocks and laid them out in a semi-circle around their little shelter. “Now heat them up. Not too hot. Most rocks contain moisture and if you get them too hot, they could shatter, and we might be hurt by the pieces. It would be like little explosions,” Cass warned.

Gemma went to the first rock, putting a hand on it and it slowly began to glow.

“That’s good for now,” Cass said when she felt the heat from it.

Gemma moved around to each rock, heating them up until they radiated enough heat to warm the trio. When Gemma finished, she sat back against the granite wall next to Cassidy and Rudi.

They all sat in silence, listening to the sounds of nature, trying to see if anyone else was out there. The silence was finally broken when Rudi asked, “So what now?”

Both he and Gemma looked at Cassidy.

“I… I do not know. Not knowing where we are makes it hard to really plan. We made it this far, we just keep going,” Cass told them. “Right now, just get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”

Rudi looked like he was going to object but Cass shook her head knowing he was tired as well.

“When I get sleepy, I’ll wake you,” Cass told him.

Gemma closed her eyes right away, but Rudi looked at her skeptically. Silently Cass told him, “I’ll be okay, you rest.”

Rudi closed his eyes reluctantly and laid his head against the wall. Soon, both kids were sleeping soundly, exhausted.

Cass was still sweaty from their run, so she used the hem of her top to gather enough moisture to clean the blood off her face. She had over done it, but she had no choice. It was that or stay a captive.

Cass followed suit shortly after, as she laid her head back, closing her eyes as well. Her last thoughts before she fell asleep were that hopefully they would not be found.

Cassidy’s eyes flew open when she heard a branch snap somewhere off in the distance. Her eyes began to adjust to the pale dawn light as she searched for whatever had made the sound. Not seeing anything, she nudged Gemma who was still fast asleep.

Gemma and Rudi’s heads were together, like they were sharing a secret, and when Cass nudged her, her head shot up dropping Rudi’s head, startling them both awake.

“Shh,” Cass hissed. “Something is out there.” Not wanting to move too much, she jutted her chin the direction of the noise. The three sat and listened, not hearing anything but the sounds of nature around them.

Finally, Rudi said, “We should get going.” They slowly rose, stretching the kinks out of their stiff muscles.

“Which way now?” Gemma asked.

“Let us keep following the ridge for a while. We might be far enough away, but why risk it?” Cass told them.

Gemma sighed but said nothing. Cass took her hand and said, “Let us go. Not too fast, but not too slow.”

Leading the way, Cass pulled Gemma and Rudi followed. She went away from the direction they had come from and the noise she had heard.

Being net to the stone wall was hard on their feet as the scree was sharp and seemed to cut right through their poor excuse for shoes. Cass bit the side of her cheek to keep from yelling out when she stepped on a pointed rock

They were still headed up, but Cass moved them away from the walls and rocks. The sun had risen and was starting to show more on the ground as the trees were thinning.

“We must be near the frost line,” Gemma told them quietly. “The higher up we go now, the less trees there will be.”

Rudi was walking next to her and looked over at her. She noticed his look and quickly looked down. “What?” she asked. Not waiting for a response, she added, “I lived in Montana.”

“Well then, I guess it’s time to start our way down. Even with your ability I do not think we want to get stuck up here in the snow,” Cass told them.

As they walked, they came across a small stream. “Do you think it’s safe to drink?” Rudi asked.

Cass shrugged, but Gemma replied, “We’re far enough up that it should be okay, but I’m too thirsty to really care.” Bending down she dipped her hand in and drank from it. Rudi followed suit and with a shrug, Cass did as well.

The water was good, but cold. Her thirst now sated, Gemma complained, “I’m hungry.”

“So am I,” Rudi said, “but I didn’t bring any food.”

“We’ll keep looking as we go,” Cass said starting off down the hill again. The trees began to thicken again, and the light came through the canopy here and there, dotting the ground with little random geometric shapes of light.

Cass skirted the trees, looked at the bases on what she thought was the shady sides, until she found something and stopped.

“What is it?” Gemma asked alarmed. Cass pointed down. Rudi made a gagging noise.

“Ugh. I hate mushrooms,” he said.

“Its food isn’t it?” Cass replied bending down.

“Wait,” Gemma said. “I’m starving but they could be poisonous.”

“How can we tell?” Cass asked.

Gemma shrugged. “I dunno. But I do know that if they are, we could get really sick, and this isn’t the place to get sick.”

“Fine, we’ll keep looking. Mushrooms aren’t my favorite either.”

They continued to head down the mountain slowly, taking their time and trying to be quiet. After a few hours, a bush caught Cass’s eye.

It looked familiar but she did not believe it, so she said nothing until she walked up to it.

“I’ll be darn. Lunch is served, you guys,” she said pointing to the dark red berries on the bush.

“Raspberries,” Gemma exclaimed, reaching to grab some. The other two did the same and soon the bush was empty and the three were full.

They sat for a while resting and discussed what to do when they got to some sort of civilization.

“I need to use the bathroom,” Gemma said looking around.

“Don’t go far,” Cass told the girl.

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Rudi added.

Gemma looked at him suspiciously. Rudi just shook his head and mumbled, “Girls.”

“Come on,” Cass said standing. Gemma followed Cass a short wat to a thick tree. Neither girl was big but doing this outdoors was not usual for Gemma, Cass thought.

Living in swamp land, Cass was not too out of her element. When nature called, you did what you need to, although with a certain amount of discretion and caution.

Cass looked at Gemma then said, “I’ll stay on this side. You go around and no one will see anything.”

Gemma hesitated. “Um, what am I supposed to use to… you know,” she said glancing down.

Cass looked down at the ground and poked through the leaves on the ground. Picking up a couple of good-sized ones, she wiped them on her grungy clothes, then held them out to Gemma.

The girl just stared at Cass wide-eyed. “It’s this, start using what little clothing we have, or nothing. There are no toilet paper rolls lying around and I’ve never heard of a TP tree,” Cass said matter-of-factly. “Go easy and you’ll be fine. I am next and will be doing the same. I’ve done it before where I live when I’ve had to.” She smiled and added, “Just remember to grab enough before had when you need to poop. You do not want to run out, it is not pretty. Picture yourself done, pants down, butt dirty trying not to fall while squatting to pick up leaves.”

Gemma went around the tree, not happy. She went to the bathroom, then returned and traded places with Cassidy.

Cass had just started when she heard Rudi.

I heard something, he said into her mind.

Although it was inside her head, she nearly jumped, then nearly fell where she squatted, all the while stifling a yelp. Well it is going to wait another thirty seconds, she replied mentally.

Finishing, she came around the tree and could tell that Rudi had silently told Gemma the same thing he told her. “See anything?” she quickly asked Gemma, who only shook her head.

“Let’s go,” Cass said when they got back to Rudi. He was already standing, waiting. Cass lead them downward quickly but quietly to not draw any attention to them. They had walked about a mile before coming to a steam – possibly the same stream as the only they found higher up – and stopped to drink.

All three had just finished drinking their fill when a loud crack came from the direction they had just come from. They all spun around expecting to see armored men with guns, but what they saw was almost as bad, if not worse.

A lumbering, large brown bear was heading straight for them. Spotting them, he begun chuffing and grunting.

“Hot or cold?” Gemma asked raising her hands.

Rudi cursed under his breath and answered Gemma. “Neither. You’d be bead long before you could do enough real damage to it.”

Cass looked around and saw a broken branch not far away. Concentrating on it, it began to float, and she flung it at the bear, hitting him on the snout.

The bear blinked, shook its head, then roared as it reared back, standing on its hind legs.

Panic took the kids as the bear now towered over them, massive paws that ended in two-inch-long curved claws out in front. It was obvious that the bear was not happy.

Cass knew enough about predators in general to know that running would not do any good. Two of the three might get away, but the third would not be so lucky.

The bear was sure to have more endurance than any of them at this point due to fatigue, and the lack of sleep and food. And Cass was pretty sure that it would be able to smell and track the other two if it were still hungry after it finished its first meal.

Looking down at the stream, she found what she was looking for. She flinched as Rudi yelled at the closing bear, who roared back in challenge.

Concentrating, Cass lifted four good size rocks from in and around the stream into the air. She did not really want to hurt the bear, as it was just being a bear, but she would if she had to.

Using more force than she really needed for just flinging the rocks, Cass launched the rocks at the bear’s middle, where they impacted with muted thumps.

The bear lurched forward, falling muzzle first into the forest floor with a grunt. For a minute, Cass thought she had killed the bear, but it slowly got up onto all fours, giving the kids an angry gaze before letting out another, weaker, roar of frustration.

Shuffling around, the bear gingerly waddled away back the way it had come from.

Cass let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding and said, “That was close.”

“I think it was following us,” Rudi said.

“Why?” Gemma asked

“To eat us,” he replied.

“I doubt that,” Cass told them. “It was probably just curious at first, then it might have gotten angry that we ate its berries. Anyway, we should get going just in case he decides to come back. We need to find shelter before it gets dark.”

They set out again, once again heading down the mountain and away from where they were held. Once the light began to fade around them, Cass said they should try to find somewhere to spend the night.

The terrain was not flat by any means, and they had not seen anything like the shelter they had the night before. Not finding anything, Cass called the search quits after finding a small clearing with some smaller rocks and a tiny view of the sky through the tree canopy.

After clearing the ground of anything that could catch fire in a circle large enough for the three of them to fit into, they collected rocks and placed them around the cleared circle and then sat, exhausted and hungry.

As the last of the light faded away, Gemma went around to the rocks and heated them up to provide warmth for them during the night.

They talked quietly for a while, then Cass told Rudi and Gemma to get some sleep. She would stay up and keep watch for anyone – or anything – that might try to sneak up on them.

“Wake me in a few hours,” Rudi told her. “You need sleep too.”

Cass wanted to tell him she was okay, but she knew she was tired and agreed. Gemma and Rudi fell into exhausted sleep and Cass sat and starred out into the dark forest/

At first it seemed eerily silent to her, but as time went on, she began to hear the forest around her come alive. Suddenly she was homesick, missing the swamp she grew up in.

Although the sounds were different, she quickly grew accustomed to the animals and insects that were abundant. As the night progressed, Cass felt her eyelids grow heavy and decided to wake Rudi up before she fell asleep.

After making sure Rudi was up, she wasted no time falling asleep. Waking up later with a start, Cass laid there without moving, trying to figure out what woke her this time. As far as she could tell, nothing was amiss. Forest noises continued and had not gone silent with the approach of some kind of predator – the two or four-legged kind.

She slowly opened her eyes to look around and saw Rudi laying not too far away, breathing softly in his sleep. Raising on an elbow, Cass looked around and caught glimpse of Gemma sitting not far away.

Quietly, so to not wake Rudi, she got up and went over to Gemma, taking a seat next to her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Gemma asked. Cass shook her head. “Me either, so I told Rudi I would take the watch.”

They sat in silence for a while, then Gemma said, “It is kind of peaceful out here. It reminds me of home.”

Since Gemma did not talk too much, Cass was careful, but took advantage of it. “Me too. I grew up in a swampy area of Georgia. There is less water here, and less plant life, but it is similar. What about you?”

Gemma continued to stare out into the forest but answered Cass. “Not a lot of water and less trees, at least the part where I lived, but the same feel overall. Montana has it all: open plains, mountains filled with trees and of course cities, but I lived in an area that didn’t have much of anything.” Although it was different, Cassidy could relate.

Just as Cass thought Gemma might have quit talking, she continued. “I was an orphan. No one could ever tell me what had happened to my parents – that or they just never wanted to. I grew up in a group home, then moved around to different foster homes. It was not that I was bad you see; it was that I could not control my power. I would accidently freeze things or set them on fire. It got to the point that everyone thought I was a pyromaniac.

“At first, I was moved from place to place, then when things got worse, I was moved to places where other difficult kids were placed. As you can guess, that did not go so well. My powers acted up when I was put under stress, so by simply defending myself, people were hurt.

“Then some people came and took me away. They injected me with something and when I woke up, I was in the room you got me out of.”

“How long were you there?” Cass asked.

“I’m not sure. It was a few months at least. It wasn’t always nice, but at least it wasn’t as bad as some of the places I’ve been put into.”

Cass waited just long enough to know Gemma was finished and then said, “I’m sorry.”

Gemma finally turned and looked at her. “For what?”

“For how you were treated. It was not right. None of it. Those people from the lab came to my house and wanted my mom to give me up, but she would not. She told me to run and I did, so they killed her. There were people waiting inside that caught me, so she died for nothing.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Gemma said.

“Yeah, me too. My mom would have liked you. Rudi too. You guys could have stayed with us.”

Gemma was silent for a while, then said, “Go get some sleep, I’m not tired. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

Cass was still tired, so she did not argue. She went back by Rudi and laid down, falling back asleep.