Heathens

chapter 1

Author note: Thank you for being patient with me as I write this story. Updates will be once a week as I am determined to update regularly. If I for some reason don't have time to update regularly due to something that gets in the way, I will tell you. Please be patient with any errors as i write this. I try to edit it before I add the chapter but sometimes mistakes slip past me.
                                          -Sunnie

  I approached causcously, having seen the now passed out man destroy an armored car with his bare fists, no doubt killing everybody in it. His strength was supernatural, much like my fire abilities, because no one could possibly pick up and throw a three tonne armored car like that and be normal.

  His thick curly hair was slightly long, a dirty messy mop atop his head almost covering his closed eyelids as he breathed in softly. His face looked slightly drawn, as if he were in pain. His skin was tanned and perspiration beaded up on the beige skin before it rolled away onto the concrete under him. And he was massive. Over six feet tall, surely and probably weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. All muscle.

  I watched him for a second then grabbed his arm and shoulder to shake him, trying to wake him up. He stirred momentarily with a pained moan before become still and quiet again so I cursed under my breath and wrapped my arms under his shoulders and struggled just to pull his body up before I even started dragging him as I walked backwards. I looked up at the abandoned apartment building then back at the man. I needed to get him inside so we would at least be able to hide if we needed to. 

  I wiped my brow and gritted my teeth as I pulled him through the threshold and into the building before I closed the door. I panted as I dragged him a little deeper into the large room to a clean spot on the floor. When I dropped him, I rubbed my sore arms then stretched the achiness from my limbs. 

  I sighed and began to look him over for injuries but he seemed alright besides a few cuts and bruises so I poured some peroxide on the worst of the cuts then left to go to my bed across the room.

  I flopped down and closed my eyes, not meaning to sleep but I was exhausted from running and dragging the heavy man and sleep called out to me like a siren.

  My head is pounding... It feels like a jackhammer. 

  I opened my eyes and stared up at a dusty yellowing ceiling. The room I was in was cast in shadows from the setting sun outside the window. 

  "Where am I?" I asked myself. I still felt like my mind hadn't caught up with my body yet as I sat up.

  Then, when I spotted the woman laying on the bed. She wore a pair of purple shorts and a dark green tank top and still wore a pair of gray sneakers even as her pale eyelids covered her eyes and her blondish red eyelashes brushed her pink cheeks. She laid on her chest but her head was turned to the side and her shoulders rose and fell softly as she breathed. 

  I blinked then I remembered what happened. I escaped. I ran but they chased me and I destroyed the cars that were after me. But I had passed out from using my strength.

  How did I get here? 

  I looked around at the large room we were in. It looked to be a flat and had probably been nice at one point but now, it was worn down. Dirt and pieces of broken furniture littered the decaying floor. I stood up, careful to avoid the weak spots in the floor as I kept my eyes on the girl. I didn't know if she was hostile or not. She could be like me, or she could have powers like me but be on the other side, fighting for Globe Bioengineering. 

  GB was what made me the way I am, a mutant, a freak. They strapped me down and injected me with some sort of brown liquid, saying that it would unlock any dormant mutant jeans I had locked away in my DNA. There was a lot of other scientific mumbo-jumbo that I didn't really understand as well but the fact of the matter is that As soon as I got the chance, I broke out and took out as many of those white coat fuckers as I could. I hope they rot in hell.

  I was pulled from my thoughts by a soft moan from across the room. The girl moved slightly before her breathing picked up. Her once peaceful face pinched as an expression of terror took up residence on her face.

  Curiosity and something else foreign to me urged me to step closer. I didn't want to see that look on her face, it haunted me. I too had seen others wearing the same expression of fear and helplessness, unable to escape their captive nightmare worlds of torture and death. I began to reach forward but her whole body wrenched upwards onto her hands and knees, panting furiously.

  Suddenly her head whipped to me and her wild green eyes caught mine before flames burst in front of me knocking me back a few feet and onto my ass. I quickly recovered and saw the silvery Zippo lighter in her hand just before I scrambled to my feet again. Her eyes seemed glazed as her hair floated around her with the rising heat in the room. 

  She was obviously a mutant like me but her powers seemed much stronger than any I'd seen before. Usually it took a lot of concentration to activate my powers and I would pass out if I over exerted them. This girl was controlling heat and fire while still in a dazed state. It was like second nature to her. 

  Suddenly her eyes brightened and she seemed to calm down as the heat dissipated and she shut the Zippo. She paused for a second as her scared and angry expression changed to a guarded almost bored expression. 

  "I'm sorry you had to witness that." She spoke with a soft, level voice. Her green eyes didn't seem to hold much life but we're intelligent none the less.

  I chose to try to forget the fact that she probably would have killed me had she not snapped out of it. Instead, I nodded, unsure what to do.

  "You escaped the GB." She stated. "Did anybody else escape with you?"

  "No." I answered. My best friend died in our attempt. Shot in the back of the head point blank. I didn't feel like sharing the info though.

  She nodded then sat down on the edge of the bed. "My name is Zoe. I am the leader of a... Special group of people. People with abilities such as yours. We protect and provide for each other and are always on the look out for someone of our kind who is in need of our help."

  Her words sounded a bit mechanical and rehersed but sincerere so I nodded. "And what is the name of this group? Why did you choose to help me?"

  "We are Eden's Children." She stated. "And we chose to help you because you can in return help us. There is safety in numbers. We do not discriminate against who we bring into our sanctuary unless that person is a threat to our well being."

  "How do you know I'm not a threat to you right now?"

  "Because somebody in my group knows your mind. While you were fighting, she dug around a little just to make sure you were safe to bring in." She must have seen me tense because she continued a little rushed, though her face didn't change. "The only thing she could do is sense emotions and such before she gets to know you well."

  I nodded, still not thrilled by the thought of someone going through my head. "So you want me to be part of your little club?"

  She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me either way... But Angela said that you could possibly be a key player in our survival." 

  "So it's a matter of life or death?"

  "It's always a matter of life or death."

  We were both silent as we held each other's gazes. I was the one who broke the silence. "Then I guess I'll join. It's not like I got somewhere to be..." My mind flitted back to a pretty face framed by blond hair before I reigned my thoughts back in. 

  "Then it's settled." She nodded and walked past me towards a door which I assumed would lead outside. I was surprised to see an endless looking corridor, lined on either side by doors. "Follow me, please."