Mutation

Chapter 5: The Mutant Colony

Hazel

We were now driving on an endless dirt road through the cold country of Canada. There was no sign of life around here, which was good in this case. But it reminded me of that day that the bomb exploded, and how the school was deserted. This place was deserted, but this time, it was necessary. We're going into hiding in an underground society called the Mutant Colony. 537 (plus 2) mutants are living there.

I discovered we were just a few miles outside of Toronto, heading towards a forest. Apparently, that was where the entrance of the Mutant Colony was. I expected to see some people in the small towns and cities, but no one was there. Every place we went were ghost towns. Maybe that's why Dr. Baker chose to stay in Canada.

"Why is this place like this?" I asked, staring at the barren landscape. The once beautiful country of Canada I saw in books and on TV was more like a war zone now.

"Well, the laws in Canada are more strict than in the United States because of the mutants. Every U.S. citizen tries to escape and come here, since this place is safer. Due to the intense security, people choose to stay in hiding," Dr. Baker explained. It made sense.

"Word on the street is that there's several other mutant colonies in hiding near us," Sergeant Hammond replied, smirking. Dr. Baker rolled her eyes, denying that his statement was true. Wow, they were almost like me and Leo.

The van entered a small trail in the forest. The ugly green color of the van wasn't all bad, because it was the perfect camo green to disguise us in the forest. We ended up parking behind a huge, bushy tree, which concealed the van perfectly. Finally, we could get out of that van and stretch our stiff legs. We started walking for about a few miles.

"We're almost there, guys. Remember that this will be your new home for a while. Hopefully not too long." Sergeant Hammond took a device out of his coat pocket and started dialing buttons. He then spoke into the device, "We're here. The coast is clear to open the door."

After a few seconds, the ground shook and a large, steel door started sliding open within the earth. The leaves and shrubs that camouflaged the door blew away, letting us get inside. I gulped, preparing myself for a new change. I'm going to be living underground, in hiding, and staying with 537 other mutated people. I read Leo's mind, which was the first time I ever read someone's mind, and discovered that he was scared too. The feeling of using telepathy left my head feeling fuzzy afterwards.

Anyways, the door completely opens, and two people emerge from the underground shelter. One man was obviously a mutant, since he had ginger fur all over his face like a cat. The other person was a woman, who looked completely normal. I read her mind and discovered she could bend her body like rubber. They were strange, but they didn't bother me. Their friendly smiles suggested they were kind people.

"Hazel, Leo, welcome to the Mutant Colony. This is just Rita and Douglas. They used to be military soldiers, but since the outbreak, mutants can't be in the military. So they came here to be our security specialists," Dr. Baker explained. She lead the way and guided us down a long stairwell, lit by torches. The door above us automatically shut, trapping us in hiding for who knows how long.

We continued down the longest stairwell I've ever walked on, until we came to another steel door. There was a control panel on the wall, which looked extremely high-tech. Rita and Douglas both stepped up to the panel, and a laser scanned both of their pupils. It looked painful.

Sergeant Hammond motioned for us to step up to where the panel was, and the laser scanned Leo's pupil. The light revealed that there was a hidden orange mark on his pupil. That must be a sign that you're a mutant. Of course, Leo had to be a drama queen and act like he was blinded. I thought he was stupid until I scanned my eye. It really does blind you for about 10 seconds.