Lost in Thought

Chapter 11

With dinner finished and a night of rest the only thing that lay ahead, there wasn't much for us to do around the house. Ron retired to his room early, deciding he needed to work out the kinks in his training regimen for me. I wasn't sure how to feel about that, but decided that it ultimately wasn't good news. Training was probably going to get a little harder than anticipated.

Xavier decided the time before bed would best be served working out. One would think that fighting a war against genocidal monsters would be exercise enough, but I guess not when you're the size of Xavier. He's already strong enough to blow most living things over with a sigh; I briefly shudder at the thought of him adding to his already much augmented strength.

I almost didn't catch Michelle leaving until she was out the door. "I'm going for a walk," she shouted to no one in particular as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, wait up," I shout, seizing the opportunity and running out the door after her. She stopped briefly, turned to look at me, and sighed heavily.

"If you must," she grumbled. "But keep up."

Inside, I was beaming. Since this whole adventure had started, I hadn't managed to have a single moment alone with Michelle. This would be my chance to crack that façade of hers and finally get to know her. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that she was just putting up a front and secretly didn't hate me. I really hoped that was the case.

As I jogged up next to her, I heard the very last thing I wanted to hear: the jingling of Hulk's collar. Sure enough, he came sprinting out of the house, leapt down the stairs and trotted up next to me.

"You were going on a walk and had no plans to take me?" Hulk asked, incredulously. "You know how I feel about walks, Peter."

I mumble a half apology, holding back the urge to tell him that he'd ruined by big plans to get to know Michelle on a deeper level. I toyed with the idea of picking up a stick, throwing it off into the distance and sweeping her away in a hurry to give us some alone time. But that seemed like a mean thing to do to my buddy, so this is how it was going to be.

We walk in silence for a short while, only the sound of Hulk's collar jingling filling the air. He was having a grand old time wandering around, sniffing every last thing that came into his field of vision. I don't think he actually enjoyed the walk so much as he did the exploration. I was curious to know how the things he smelled affected him and swayed his course.

Each time I tried to think of something to say, I would stop myself as my mouth opened, determining that whatever was about to come out wasn't the right thing to say. That or it sounded stupid enough that I wouldn't fault her for rolling her eyes at me.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"So, I know you talked about your life before all this a little bit the other night," I said, "but how did you come to meet Ron? I mean, you kind of vaguely talked about it, but what happened?"

Michelle looked at me sideways for a moment, as if she were sizing me up. After a moment, she shifted her gaze, focusing on the road ahead, remaining silent. I figured she was having none of it and wouldn't even bother speaking to me when she finally answered.

"My boyfriend and I," she started, kicking pebbles as she walked, "we had been on our own for a while after the Dreadnoughts started ripping everything apart. We'd drifted from place to place, finally settling in a town called Gundrum. It had only been a few days, but we finally felt like maybe we'd have a place to start to rebuild things."

"The Dreadnoughts didn't take long to show up. Marsun didn't bother with Gundrum, but he didn't really need to. Dessel and Sion were more than enough muscle. They tore that town to pieces bit by bit. It was almost like they were savoring all of the death and despair around them. Taking it all in, really enjoying every moment. We had hidden in a shelter near the downtown area when they arrived. He and I tried to help people get out and succeeded for a short while until those two monsters brought the building down at the foundation. We ran, fast as our feet could carry us, as the building fell around us."

"The ceiling started to crumble and cave in," her voice drifted, cracking for a moment. "We both ran so fast," she said, composing herself," but it didn't seem like either of us were going to make it. Huge slabs of concrete were falling all around us. I was sure we were going to die there."

"He saw it before I did, the ceiling starting to completely collapse. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, he shoved me hard in the back. I remember lurching, falling forward and rolling onto the floor having no idea what had happened. When I turned my head to look at him, the reality had hit me: he pushed me out of the way of the collapsing ceiling. He made sure I got out, but I couldn't help him. I couldn't keep him from being buried there. I didn't have much time to digest what happened, but I knew he was gone. So I ran. I ran for hours, my sides aching so bad I thought they might explode. I just ran as far as I could from that place."

"From that point on, I was just angry," she continued, her gaze aimlessly shifting from place to place as she talked. "I floated around, did what I could to survived. I turned to theft a lot in those days. One day, I pick-pocketed this guy. It was Ron. He must have known right away that I did it because he followed me around for a while before finally confronting me. He didn't yell at me, didn't threaten me. He didn't even ask for his money back. Ron only wanted to know why I was doing what I was and offered me a helping hand. He did so much for me that day, so much for me since. I would follow that man into hell if he asked me to. Ron helped save me from the nothingness my life had become in the wake of the Dreadnoughts. He gave my anger purpose and direction. I will fight for him, for this cause until my last breath."

We walked along in silence for a moment when I put my hand on her shoulder in an act of condolence. It sat there a moment, soaking in the warmth of her skin as she momentarily accepted my kindness. Suddenly, she yanked her shoulder out from underneath my hand, shot me a glare that could have bored a hole through the center of the planet and turned to face the other way.

"We should head back now," she mumbled, picking up her pace.

Trotting back towards us, tongue hanging from his mouth and collar clanging, Hulk looked happy as a clam.

"We goin' home now?" Hulk asked tiredly.

I nodded and began to walk, Michelle already a good bit ahead of me in the distance.

"So," Hulk asked, "what'd I miss?"