My good friend, alpha reader, and all around awesome individual Mary & I decided to have a little fun with our challenges. For at least the next few weeks we are going to joint write a story using prompts alone as our guide. So, if you want to see Part 1 of “Escaping Humanity” – click HERE to go to her site and read it!

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Well if everything hadn’t just gotten exponentially complicated. Most missions James had been on went smoothly. Mutants were scattered everywhere now, still being picked off by military that had been kept safe in hidden locations when the worst had hit.

James’ own home had been destroyed, the reservation that had housed not only a large Lenape tribe, but many mutants. His parents, fighting on the front lines had been blown up in front of his own eyes. The loss of them had been almost too much for him and his brothers and sisters to bear. Only the thought of keeping the people they held dear together had made any of them move forward.

Now what was left of the tribe had gathered in Montana. They had started rebuilding a life there. One that had become a sanctuary for many mutants. The Lenape had always accepted those that had developed mutations from the virus, so keeping the easy rapport had made sense.

His Mom’s old friend Warren had returned to the states with his wife Abigail. Since then, they’d been working to find as many mutants as possible to take to safety before the military found them. It was his job, along with his sister Ilana, to gather them up and bring them back.

Now there was this one. Anna. The young woman in front of him was a mutant, her response to his statement had been proof enough.

But dying? That complicated things. While Abigail was an excellent doctor, medicine was hard to come by. They had to rely on the land for most of it. Raiding abandoned hospitals was their next bet.

Maybe this was a case of mistaken identity. None of Anna’s records that they’d found had revealed any doctors at all. “Are you sure?”

Her scoffing laugh was enough of an answer, but she elaborated. “Yes, I’m sure. Or do you think I said it to make you go away?”

“Well that would be stupid. It would make me more determined to get you out of here. Somewhere that you can be cared for.”

“So you’ll take me some place I don’t know so that I can die with an audience? No thanks.”

“No. So that maybe you can get help.” He couldn’t stop the sneer that formed. “Or would you rather stay a spoiled brat and be killed in a far worse way then whatever is killing you?”

“Excuse me?” While moments before she’d been a bit trepidatious, she now showed him a bit of fire under her tired features; a fire that raged even more when she moved toward him. “You don’t know anything. So just go away or I will make you.”
A smile tugged at his lips, but he kept it in check. “I’m not leaving without you. There are people out there that will torture and kill you just for being a mutant. Spirits forbid the military get a hold of you. I can take you somewhere with a doctor and that’s safe.”

“I have absolutely no reason to trust you.”

“No. You don’t. Just…hold on.” He pulled out the ringing cell phone in his pocket and flipped it open. Keeping in mind the woman in front of him, he used Warren’s code name, “Yeah, Cy? What did you need? There’s been a complication. It’s taking too long to get her out of here.”

“A cell phone? There’s no active tower here!” Anna moved toward him, her eyes glued to the device.

James held up his hand to silence her and keep her at a distance, “No. She’s giving me trouble. Not frightened and desperate like most of them. She didn’t know what she was.”

“How could she not know? With the war, I thought everyone knew.” Warren’s voice raised a few decibels with his disbelief. “That’s what the damn war was about!”

“Look, I’m not paid to psychoanalyze the nutcases.”

“You’re not paid.”

“Exactly.” James looked over at Anna, feeling a little lift of satisfaction at her scoff of defiance. “She doesn’t trust me.”

“You got a mug like your Dad’s. I’m not surprised. Put her on the phone for me.”

James quirked a brow, but held out the phone. “Anna. Cyber wants to talk to you.”

She snatched the phone away, “Hello?”

James didn’t let on that he could hear every word. He walked to the window and looked out as Warren started to talk.

“Hello, Anna. Have you figured out my trail yet?”

The lingering silence almost brought a chuckle out of the depths of darkness James always carried these days. Almost.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Anna recovered, but too late for them to not know she was bluffing. “What trail? There’s a strange man in my living room, and one on a cell phone in an area with no towers.”

“Don’t play dumb. It’s beneath your capabilities. Have you figured out how I got this cell phone to work? Have you followed my trail all the way to where I am?” Warren did chuckle into the line, but it was brief and respectably short.

“Not all the way,” she whispered. As if it would mean he wouldn’t hear her. “I’m tied up somewhere around what used to be Chicago. Where are you?”

So Warren had been right. Her mutation was the same as his. Being able to communicate with computers and through the internet using just their brain.

Warren smiled, “Despite the ground destruction in Chicago, many of the lines and towers survived. It’s easy to get signals twisted around there. That’s why I always use it as a hub. Don’t feel bad. For every hack you try, I’ve already got a counterattack in place. You’re not supposed to be able to get past Chicago.”

“How do you know?”

“If you want to know that, you’ll have to come and see for yourself.” Warren wasn’t an idiot, he knew James could hear. Without changing his tone of voice he spoke, “James. What is the complication?”

“You mean besides the ground troops heading this way?” James still didn’t turn around, but he could almost feel daggers being glared into his back. “She says she’s dying. I have no confirmation of the fact.”

“I am.” There was almost a sob in her voice, but then it was gone. “I don’t need a doctor to tell me that.”

“I see. Well, we have an amazing doctor here, Anna. We also have managed to procure a decent amount of equipment and medicine. Please, let us try to help.” Warren sighed, “How close are they, James?”

“Two miles. Give or take.”

“He’s spot on, Anna. He always is. I think it’s best to take your chance with James over those troops.” Warren’s tone was warm, but concerned. “The military will do whatever it takes to rid the earth of mutants. You don’t want to be caught.”

“I’ve passed their sweeps before without incident.” Anna was unsure, her voice lacking any conviction. When James turned around he saw how wide her eyes were. Fear.

“Maybe you would this time. But now you know what you are. It’s much harder to fake when you know the truth.”

James shook his head, “I’m done with the pleasantries, Cyber. We need to get out of here. They know my face and we will have trouble.”
“Okay!” Anna gasped when he advanced toward her. “I’ll go. I need to pack.”

“No time. Give me the phone. We’re leaving now.”

For a moment it looked like she’d be stubborn. Then she handed him his phone with a frown, “And just how are you going to get us out of here without them catching us?”

“Oh, I have my ways. Now let’s move. We have clothes and food at the reservation.”

“Wait. I need one thing.”

It took all his effort to not shout and scream at her to move. Instead he gave a short nod, “You have thirty seconds.”

She was back in fifteen, a large purse that might have been called a small suitcase slung over her shoulder. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Good. I have one rule. Until we get there you do as I say. Remember, your life depends on it.”

“Doesn’t mean much to a dying woman.”

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