X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Blood in the Mud 13.5

Anna stared at the top of the steering wheel in her car as if the worn, age-old leather would provide her answers to a question she didn't know how to ask. The garage was cold, and inside Banana was even colder. Sitting in her car only managed to fog the windows, but did little to insulate even the slimmest amount of heat.

She could turn the car over and turn on the heater, sure. The only problem then was that she'd be using gas, and when she needed to get more from the mansion, Ororo would ask why she needed more gas if they were all obeying the lockdown that had been set in place.

Never in a million years did Anna think she'd actually miss the days Xavier was around. Back then, the days were longer and warmer, and she'd been recently freed from an uncertain future with the Brotherhood. All she had to worry about was getting to know her new roommates and school. The powers were a thing to figure out, too, but at least then it was just limited to absorbing abilities, and she didn't run the risk of hulking out if she got too frustrated. In the past couple of weeks alone, she'd already ruined her math binder and pocket on her backpack when both times she was just trying to put something inside them.

She watched the world exist beyond her windshield and through the open door to the garage. Everything was so still, like a picture waiting to be taken. The only thing that disturbed the image was the occasional gust of wind dislodging snow on the nearby naked branches. Eventually, a red cardinal appeared and bounced unapologetically across the untouched landscape. She watched it peck a few times at the snow till it got frustrated and shook the white off its beak. It fluttered its feathers a few times before finally taking off. She stared at the spot where the bird had disturbed the snow before her hand found the keys in her pocket.

"Fuck this," She said and stuck the keys in the igntion. After a couple of twists, the engine turned over, and the heaters blasted her with lukewarm air. She popped the parking brake and eased into the icy world beyond. Banana crawled over the slush and snow well enough till she eventually got to the gate. The gate that would normally open when a car got near... and now wasn't.

Anna checked her wrist and saw her watch was blinking red when it came into proximity of the gate. To this, she parked the car, got out, and pulled at the gate from within till she heard a loud pop. After the gate swung open with ease and she drove Banana through with little issue.

The road beyond the mansion had gotten plowed once, maybe twice, since the snow and slush had settled in. Even then, it was only by well-meaning farmers and homesteaders with plows attached to trucks or tractors. The road was anything but a smooth ride, and the portion of the road not well trodden by tires felt like rock climbing. Once Anna got into another zip code, the road cleared up a little more, and she was able to pick up speed.

She wasn't sure where she was headed. The town was back the other way, and this direction was nothing but dead fields and forest. There was no music playing over her radio or from her phone. Only the sound of her tires rolling over pavement and the rush of air bounced around Banana's hollow cabin.

Thoughts weren't running through her head, nor were feelings. Her body and mind had become merely something to react to her environment with. Her vision dulled, and she couldn't find the beat in her chest if she were looking for it. The roads twisted and turned through valleys and hills, and she followed along with them like a dance. It eventually got dark enough that she had the use her headlights, and Banana's dull yellow bulbs illuminated the area ahead just well enough to see by.

Her eyelids leaded, though she didn't feel tired, nor did she feel particularly awake. Like the rest of her body, she felt simply like she was floating in the space around her, and like she was only attached to this point in time by a fragile string. Her body was relaxed, and her mind was without a thought or a care.