The killers, the victims, and the survivors

Chapter 2

Tito POV

I remember back at the bunker if we were good than we would get certain privileges. It was either a few weeks or years ago (I was in the facility for so long that time blurred together) that I had been first rewarded. The scientists took me to a room that I had never seen before. It was a long rectangular room with white walls like the rest of the facility. The only difference was that the walls were covered with book cases. The book cases were all neatly packed with books. They let me pick one and return to my cell. Every month or what I thought was about a month they let me get a new book. Just recently I had discovered a new book series called the Percy Jackson series. In the most recent book, Trials of Apollo, at the beginning the main character, Apollo, fell and landed in a dumpster in New York City. The same experience just happened to me except that I didn't remember falling, I knew no one here, and strangers will be a lot less likely to help me help me.

I looked around me at my surrounding before I got up so I could see what I was up against. The alley way that I was in seemed deserted. I was in a dumpster that was in a group of about five or so other dumpsters. There was a small black backpack sitting next to me. I grabbed the backpack just incase there was anything useful or valuable inside it. When I opened and looked inside it I sighed in relief. Inside it there was a water bottle, a wallet with 200 dollars, an ID, a driver's listen every, a jacket, a pocket knife, and a ziplock bag with about twenty five energy bars. As I started to put the supplies back in the backpack, my fingers brushed a piece of paper. I took it out and unfolded it. On the piece of paper there was a name, Hudson. Under the name there were two locations. The first was New Orleans, Louisiana and the second was, New York City, New York. I assumed that I was in New York because I was accustomed to the smell, sound and general atmosphere of NYC because I had lived here before I was taken to the compound. Turning my attention back to the piece of paper, I looked over the name again.

The name belonged to another boy from back at the compound. From what I remembered of him, he was one of the more talkative people in the compound when we were all being tested. He would be a hard person to kill considering that his power was the ability to control organic matter but he didn't have a very far range so if I could acquire a gun of some sort, it would be easier to snipe him. If I did get close enough to him to be in his range, then I wouldn't last very long but if I could manage to get my ability under control then I could maybe be able to throw him off long enough to get a shot in or to give myself enough time to come up with a plan.

I shook my head, not wanting to think about my upcoming task. Instead I stood up and brushed myself off. I slung the backpack over my shoulder, the weight of the strap cutting into my shoulder. I jumped over the side of the dumpster and landed on unsteady feet. I walked over to the end of the alley and looked out at the street. There was the usual traffic going by and a few pedestrians walking by on the sidewalk. I figured that I could hail a cab to take me to a train station a little outside of the city. From there I could take a train that would get me closer to where Hudson was. When I was closer to him, I would steal a car or something. I would rather not have to meet him but it worst comes to worst, I would do what I have to do to survive.

I walked out into the sidewalk and joined the steady stream of people. I saw a cab coming towards me so I hailed it. I stopped in front of me so I opened the door and got in.

"Where to?" asked the cab driver, turning around, his eyes staring into me.

"Where's the nearest train station?" I inquired, taking the backpack of my shoulder to rest on my feet.

"There's one about ten minutes outside of the city. It would take us about twenty to twenty five minutes to get to there. It would also cost about thirty dollars." He replied.

I nodded, "Ok, then take me there."

He turned back around and shifted the car into drive. He pulled out into the street and started to drive forward. I turned my attention away from the driver and stared out the window instead. I watched the buildings pass by and the pedestrians walking down the street. It must be nice to go about your life, not worrying about having to kill someone or hurting people wherever you go. I let my mind drift as I watched the scenery go past.

I felt the car stop and focused back on reality. The cab had come to a stop in front of a train station. The parking lot was about half full since it was about three in the afternoon.

"That will be thirty one dollars and fifty two cents," The driver said, turning around to look at me again. I reached into my backpack and pulled out forty dollars and put the money in his outstretched hand. He took the money and gave me back my change. I pocketed the money and opened the door. I stepped out of the car and my backpack back on my shoulder, the strap once again digging into my shoulder. I heard the gravel crunch behind me as the cab pulled out of the parking lot. I walked up to the door of the train station and pushed it open, the metal smooth on my palm.

The interior of the train station was all a dull gray color. There were a few rows a benches and a desk where you could purchase tickets. There were three people behind the desk who all seemed to be typing on their computers. There was a family of four sitting on one of the benches and an older couple sitting a few benches over from them who appeared to be talking about something. Other than that there were a few other people who were sitting by themselves who were either playing on their phones or were sleeping.

I walked up to one of the ladies at the desk who was typing at a computer. I cleared my throat and she looked up at me. She adjusted her glasses on her nose and said, "Yes? What do you want?"

"Um," I gulped as she stared at me and continued, "What is the closest that I can get to New Orleans?"

She pushed a few keys on her keyboard. "There is a train that goes to Atlanta, Georgia. From there you can get a connecting train to New Orleans."

I nodded and asked, "How much does one ticket cost?"

She pushed a few more keys and answered, "One hundred fifty two dollars."

"Okay," I took my wallet out of my bag and handed over the money. She put it in the cash register and took out my change. She handed it over to me and my ticket. "The train leaves at seven pm and you should probably get to where the passengers board the train about fifteen minutes before seven."

"Right, thank you," I replied.

"No problem." She said before returning to her computer. I put the ticket in my pocket and walked over to an empty bench that was backed up against a bench. I sat down and put my bag on my lap. The clock on the wall said that it was almost four in the afternoon so I had about three hours till I had to board the train. I heard my stomach rumble, reminding me of the fact that I didn't remember the last time I had any food. I remembered that there was a bag of energy bars in my backpack so I unzipped it and pulled one out. I took of the wrapper, the thin foil crinkling in my hand. I bit into it, savoring the taste. Back at the compound, all of the food that they gave us was only meant to keep us alive, so naturally, it was all tasteless. By comparison an energy bar with a little bit of flavor seemed like heaven. I finished eating my energy bar and leaned back on the bench. If I was going to leave in three hours and I didn't have anything to do then I should at least get some rest.

A few hours later when the clock read 6:40, I stood up and started to make my way towards the train. There were about twenty more people in the station who had come when I was resting. The family that I had noticed earlier had left and there were two more people behind the counter and the woman from earlier had left. I walked over to the doors and scanned my ticket, the machine beeping in recognition. I shivered from the wind as I walked out onto the platform. I should probably put on a jacket later because it would only get colder.

After a few minutes, the door to the train opened and I boarded it along with the few other passengers that had appeared on the platform after me. I found a seat near the back of the train and sat down, hugging my backpack to my chest. This was going to be a fairly long trip so I decided to sleep some more. The last thing that I saw before I drifted off was people living their normal lives, not a true care in the world, and all I wondered was why me?

So another chapter is done. I haven't yet edited this so I might do that later. I also don't know the next time I will be able to update but I am working on a chapter for one of my other books. Please comment anything mistakes ect. Thank you, Katie.