Day Zero - On the Move

[x-desperado.livejournal.com]

The New Mutants look for shelter after finding no way out of the chaos.



Night was falling, and as they'd discovered the previous night, the city became evern more frightening. With electricity still intermittent, there were no street lights or lighted store fronts or even traffic to break up the darkness, and the air was filled with the sounds of violence - gunfire, screams, explosions, breaking glass -but no sirens to reassure them someone was in charge, that things were being dealt with. They'd had to make several detours already, avoiding blocked off streets and gangs of angry-looking people, and the Snow Valley offices seemed as difficult to reach as the summit of Everest.

The group was huddled together in the shadow of a building, waiting for Yvette and Catseye to come back from scouting ahead. With her dark red skin and ability to scramble up walls, the Albanian girl was difficult to spot, while the catgirl had all the advantages of her feline mutation and upbringing behind her. After what seemed forever in the growing chill, there was the tell-tale flash of blue light from Yvette's eyes and the two returned.

"I do not think we can be going much further tonight," she said in her soft, accented voice. "There are many bad people about, looking for the humans. I do not think they will hurt us, but I do not want to be testing this, yes?"

Angel nodded in the dark. They had decided to forgo the light for now because it could have given them away but she was finding the dark was some place that she really didn't like to be in for long. "Someplace safe," she responded in a whisper. "Even if they do decide not to attack once they see we're mutant, they might when we won't join in on the fun, you know?" She leaned back against the wall and thought about it for a moment.

She had recognized the last set of street signs they had passed, though she hadn't been down this way all that often. But the boys down at the station had made sure she knew where the other stations were located - just in case. "There's a fire station near by," Angel said after a moment, perking up. "I only went there a few times but they'll have beds and equipment - maybe even a few guys still left?" That was almost impossible but, still, it was nice to hope. "But it'll be safe."

"Mmm, firefighters," Inez murmured quietly with a dreamy look on her face. "Talk about bad timing, though. Equipment... you think they'll have something that can help us get out of here?"

"Not to get us out of here -" There was no way they could take a firetruck, even a jeep, out of this mess. "But they'll have equipment. Radios, if the guys at the station didn't grab them all." The thought of radio equipment cheered Angel up a great deal.

"If nothing else, they should have survival kits, right? Like with food and water, in case there's a really big fire and the people need help?" Tat's forehead wrinkled. "Is that even the kind of thing the fire department does? Or is that the Red Cross or whatever?"

Cess couldn't help her grin. "Maybe somewhere more rural, but in a city like this? I doubt they have anything like that." She nudged Inez in the ribs. "And the firefighters are probably long gone, Madame Hotpants."

Meggan couldn’t help her own quick grin at that, in spite of everything. “They should have first aid kits, at least.” Suddenly realizing something possibly bad for them, Meggan added with a note of worry, “Oh, I hope that nobody’s waiting it out in the firehouse, if the firemen are gone. They might react badly with everything going on. Maybe we could check the windows first, when we get closer?”

They were already trying to find their way through everything. They didn’t need it to turn into some sort of blood bath, too, if someone jumpy might be there and had an axe handy. Of course, Meggan knew she was probably being the jumpy one.

Inez slipped on her gloves and cracked her knuckles. "If there's trouble, we can totally handle it, yo." Her voice carried an obvious air of bravado, but inside she was trying to hide the fact that she was completely terrified. "But you're right. First aid kits are a good idea in case we run into folks who need them."

In case we what? she thought to herself. Since when do I think about stuff like that? Inez had to admit, the New Mutants training was starting to sink in, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

Nori rolled her eyes at Inez, although whether it was for the bravado or the good Samaritan act would be hard to tell. Shrugging, she said, "Is plan. Let's going. Soon is all dark..."

"ShockyGirl is right like usual," Catseye agreed. "Things are harder to find when BusyTown gets dark. And things are more dangerous in the dark even though everyone in MutantGirlColony can take care of themselves. And Catseye is hungry," she added pointedly. "Catseye wants to find the firefightinghouse and eat."

"The one near here is a two story building sandwiched between two others, meaning there's a back area but no alleys, yeah?" Angel informed them, cinching her backpack tighter across her shoulders. "We'll get there, make sure the coast is clear and I'll peek in through the windows at the top. If there's no one there, we'll break in and shore it up as best we can, okay?"

Everyone stared for a moment as she blinked. "Well, crap, I almost sounded like I knew what I was doing," she joked as they started to leave their safe spot. Safe. They could be safe soon. Angel held onto that hope as tightly as she could.