Fire Meets Gasoline : Wildfire

Chapter Eleven : Cloud Nine

     JOHN MCHALE. When we reached the Gateway to Alaska, we stayed inside the train cargo until it was night again. I helped Mike get off the train and took a look around the area if there was anyone around, luckily for us the city appeared to be entirely asleep. That worked perfectly for us because we had the feeling we could freely wander around and no one would ask a thing. Mike took the chance to take a map of the city in one of those magazine stands, and as he opened, I was quick enough to notice the industrial district wasn't so far from us, we pointed the direction on the map and followed our instincts. To be honest, I wasn't sure Hera would just be waiting for us at the cargo ports, but Mike and I had this instinct that just showed us the way without explaining much, plus we were escapees, so we didn't have much time to brainstorm.

"So..." Mike began "Are we going to talk about your powers?"

"My powers?" I asked him while knowing clearly what he meant.

"Oh c'mon John!" He laughed "There was no way that storm just missed us and our car!"

I kept walking and looking at the street lamps that would hover above us, and the fireflies flying like bees in contact with their honey hive. I felt the cold hitting my skin, and my toes getting frozen as we walked along the snowy cement. I wasn't sure when I decided to let myself believe I had some sort of unnatural force inside me, but I knew it started way before we were even at that police station. When Lin questioned if I had anything special, when I heard Mike have the conversation about his own powers, it all led to me thinking about myself. It was frightening, having something so strange and different that makes you feel like a complete outsider, but as I looked around the people that knew me, it felt like every difference was worth it, I was already at the final stage of believing in my potential and confidence, one extra small detail would just be another step for me to take.

"I don't know how to do it. I don't know how it happened or why, but it's just here" I came forward to Mike.

"Trust me I've been there. So, is it like, 'weather power'?" He asked.

"That's a horrible name but yeah I think so!" I told him and we laughed as we walked on the silent sidewalk.

"Listen-when we get to Hera. I don't know what will happen but. Let's be really careful!" Mike then finally said.

"Do you think she will at least hear what we have to say?" I grilled.

"She better! It's going to be the last thing we do before we go to prison. Hopefully everything goes fine".

"So do I" I responded and saw ourselves going under a bridge.

We spent about forty to fifty minutes walking towards the pinpoint we had on our map, we saw many roads closed due to the snow, trucks going by with a bunch of fallen branches and even full trunks. We looked at some buildings from afar and hoped we would reach some place that could provide us at least a bit of warmth. I pressed my jacket as much as I could to feel the fur upon my other shirt. Mike stayed focused yet through his breathing I could tell he was ready to fall on the road like an ice block, it was dreadful, but walking with Mike made it a bit better.

It was still dark when we reached Harbor Island, the place where we had assumed Hera was being hidden at. Mike and I passed through one of the gates easily with Mike's powers, and this time he wasn't so guilty for using them. I became attentive at every corner of the enormous area, every street lamp, every cargo that stayed in the ground, and every truck that was parked in the middle of the zone. Mike stayed with his hands ready to move things as he pleased and I clenched my fists to the chance of having to fight people we didn't know we would have to fight.