The Facility

The food was carried back to the room, where everyone split up the food, and Cass retrieved the food and water dish for Harley, along with a can of dog food. She put the food in the dish, along with water, but Lyle allowed the kids to feed the dog as well, as they ate.

Once they had all eaten, they cleaned up the room, then took turns taking showers. They might not be able to keep stopping at motels, so it was decided they take advantage of it, while they could.

Once everyone had finished, they packed up their belongings again and began to cautiously take everything out to the van. Everyone was nervous and looked around for any signs of trouble.

The day was starting out overcast and Maggie thought it was going to rain.

They packed everything into the van and Maggie checked out of the room, then they were back on the road.

Cass sat nearest to the side door so she could be close to Harley, who laid net to her. She watched the landscape as they passed, having never been out of Georgia, and saw that they had just left Virginia and entered North Carolina.

It brought back memories of home as they were still trees everywhere, and the sky she could see was blue, although it was getting darker as the clouds rolled in from the east.

As she looked out the windows, she could tell from Rudi’s breathing in the back, that he was asleep, and Gemma was napping beside her. The radio was on a country station and the volume was low, but high enough to mask the conversation between Lyle and Maggie unless she really paid attention.

Cass did not however, not so much so that their conversation was private, but because she thought it was nice that the two of them had found each other. Even though it was because of them and they were both in danger because of it.

The rain started, first as a drizzle, then as a torrent of water as they drove along the highway. Between the drum of the rain and the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers, Cass finally drifted off to sleep.

She dreamt that she was back in the Facility, locked in that room again. Hugo Forrester was watching her try to get out, laughing at her feeble attempts to get at him.

He would push the button that flooded her room with gas, only to wait until she woke up and the cycle would begin again.

She woke up with a gasp, sucking in a lungful of air. Gemma laid a hand on her arm, comforting her with a warm touch.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Rudi said from behind them.

Lyle figured it was about time for a rest stop to stretch and relieve themselves, so he found a fast-food place and pulled into the parking lot.

Everyone but Cassidy made a mad dash for the door through the rain. “Do not worry about me,” she said to the retreating Lyle. “I will take care of Harley and meet you inside. Order for me.”

Lyle paused briefly until she added, “I will – no, we will be fine.”

He continued through the torrent.

Still in the van, Cass patted Harley and asked, “You ready?” He looked at her, tongue lolling to one side. His head cocked sideways, like he was questioning her sanity. She scratched his ears and said, “Trust me, I got this. Come on.”

Concentrating on the drops coming down above her, she stepped out of the van. The water parted around her as she gently pushed the drops slightly sideways, keeping the two of them dry. Well, almost, since the ground was wet and there was nothing she could do about that.

Harley did not waste any time taking care of his business and returned to the van. His paws were wet, so Cass rummaged in the bag of old clothes and grabbed her old scrub top and dried his paws off.

Something small in the collar of the top caught her attention. She felt around it and decided it was not natural or part of the manufacture of the top, so she grabbed Gemma’s top as well.

It also had the small bump in the collar seam. She looked around for something to cut into the seam material with, but could not find anything, so she decided to use her power.

Holding on to the top, she concentrated on the object, lifting it up. It was harder than she thought because she could telekinetically lift more than she could physically hold down, but the material finally gave, and the object shot up into the roof before she could stop it.

Thankfully, she did stop it before it could go through the roof. She pulled it back down into her hand and looked at it. It appeared sort of mushed due to the force applied to it against the roof, but it was still intact.

She did not know for sure, but she suspected that this was how they knew where to find them. Some sort of tracking device had been put in their clothing.

Cass gathered all the facility clothing to throw into the trash, but then she another idea. Picking up the clothing, she told Harley she would be back soon and got out of the van again, once again parting the rain around her.

She closed the door and started walking the parking lot, looking for vehicles with plates from other states. When she found one, she stashed an article of clothing somewhere on it. Thus, hoping to have each go a separate way, confusing Hugo Forrester, and his goons.

Once she had each piece hidden on different vehicles, she went into the restaurant to join the others. Since it took her longer than expected, the food had been ordered and everyone was sitting together in the dining room.

All of them were surprised when she showed up totally dry. “Did it stop raining?” Maggie asked, still wet.

“Uh, no. It is just a little trick I learned,” Cass replied, sitting down with them.

Lyle pushed over a tray of food and she began eating. After eating half of her meal, she paused as she lifted fries to her mouth. “I think I know how they have been able to keep track of us,” she said before eating the fries.

Everyone stopped eating after her statement. “Well?” Rudi asked. “Or do I have to read your mind to find out?”

She stuck her tongue out at him and replied, “Just you try it,” as she caused his fries with catsup on them to bend slightly so they smeared it on this face instead of going in his mouth.

This caused Gemma to begin giggling and Maggie covered up her laugh with a cough. Rudi glared as he wiped the catsup off.

“So?” Lyle prompted.

“Our clothes from the facility had trackers in them… I think. So, I got rid of them,” Cass told them.

Lyle cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

Cass thought he looked like Harley when he did that.

“To confuse them I put our old clothes on a bunch of different cars from out of state. Soon they will probably he headed all over If they do not think we split up, then at least they will not know where we are.”

“Good thinking,” Lyle said.

Cass nodded, then finished her burger. When everyone had finished, Maggie asked, “You think you could keep us dry on the way back to the van?” as they were leaving.

Cass looked at her long brown hair that was still slightly wet, and grinned. “I suppose,” she said feigning disinterest.

They stepped out as a group and Cassidy diverted the still falling rain around them. It was like they were covered by a big, invisible umbrella.

Harley was waiting for them when they arrived at the van, glad they returned. Or Cass at least.

They got in and Maggie drove on, towards what was once Cassidy’s home in Georgia.