fire starter | l.s [1]

one

There was another gun shot. This one louder and much closer, the bullet only landing a few feet in front of me. I cursed under my breath, diving behind a tree, trying to catch my breath. The tracer was persistent, I'll give him that. We've been running around the damn forest for at least ten minutes.

I was so damn tired as well. I've barely had any sleep since Caroline was taken away, five days ago. Sleeping seemed like that last thing I wanted to do, nowhere was safe. Also, my water supply ran out yesterday which means I'm starting to dehydrate. Being unconscious was not going to help my situation. However, I'd do anything for some rest right now. Running around is tiring, especially when there's a gun pointing at me. Sure, I'm a gold and could take this guy out in a hot second but I sometimes have no control over them and end up killing the person. Something I never want to do again. I swore to myself that I'd never use my powers on a person after what happened. 

"You can't hide forever," the deep voice called out.

The voice was so close, I was going to get caught. Slowly, I raised my hand in front of my face. I watched as I let a few electric currents dance around my fingertips. Of course, I said I wouldn't use my powers on another person again but, I would rather die than be taken back to one of those damn camps.

I waited for a second until the man was in sight. I quickly twisted my hand, sending streaks of electricity hurdling towards the tracer that was once chasing after me. He let out a loud groan and fell to the ground. The old man struggled for a few seconds before falling completely silent. I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding.

The man lay on the ground, his body slightly twisted. I tugged at my bottom lip with my teeth, trying to hold back a sob. I really hadn't meant to kill him, just slow him down. Slowly, I got on my knees and knelt beside him. For all I knew, he could have been a good guy trying to get some good money.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, brushing a few strands of my red hair away from my face.

There really wasn't much that could be done now. The guy's dead at my own doing and I was going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. I sighed and leaned against the tree that I had originally hidden behind. This was the moment that I felt truly alone since Caroline had been taken.

Dwelling on the fact that I killed the guy wasn't going to fix anything, so I collected my thoughts and picked myself up from the ground. Just as I stood up, I felt my stomach rumble. It was a reminder I hadn't eaten in three days. At this rate, I'm going to die of starvation and dehydration. I prayed for there to be a nearby store or lake. Just anything that would stop me from feeling like death.

To make matters worse, the sun was scorching down on me. Complaining wasn't going to fix the weather so I'm just going to have to suck it up and get on with it. I sighed, pulling the straps on my bag so that it would be tighter. The damn thing almost flew off my back while I was running.

After other hours walk, I was almost going to give up. The plan was to sit down near a tree and let God do his thing and take me to Heaven. Or hell. It's up to him. Just as I was ready to accept my death, I saw hope. A gas station. It looked deserted and I prayed that it had some sort of food and water left. With no hesitation, I ran towards it. Relief rushed over me as I realised I might have a chance of surviving a little longer.

I arrived at the station, still full of hope. My fingers wrapped around the cool metal of the door and I pulled it open. The store smelt musty like it hadn't been in use in a while. A part of me knew that most of this stuff would be outdated. The other part of me wanted to throw that part off a bridge.

I set my back down on the counter of the store and I unzipped it. There was plenty of room for stuff like food, water and perhaps some hygiene products. With a small smile on my face, I started to scavenge around the place. Much to my luck, I found three unopened water bottles. I happily tossed them into my bag. However, my luck was running out as the only decent food I could find was a small packet of Doritos and a few chocolate bars, nothing too filling. Sighing, I shoved the food into my bag as it was better than nothing at all.

Just as I was about to search for some toothpaste, the back door of the store flung open. My heart racing, I jumped over the counter and hid behind it, hugging my bag to my chest. There were sounds of cans being kicked over and footsteps. They came close to me and I could practically hear my heartbeat in my ears.

My curiosity got the best of me and I peered over the top, only to see a small Asian girl with long black hair. I stared at her, maybe for a bit too long because she noticed me and took off one of the yellow gloves she was wearing. The girl raised her hand to touch the wall beside her but I quickly stopped her.

"Hey, hey. It's okay I'm a gold too," I explained, flashing her the golden colour of my eyes.

Her mouth fell agape and she put her hand back at her side, slipping the glove back on. I breathed out slowly, putting my bag back on my back. I slid over the counter again, causing the girl to take a step back.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Are you alone?" I ask, leaning against the counter.

The girl stared at me for a few seconds before shaking her head. A small glisten of happiness ran through my veins. Maybe this was my chance at having another group, another home.

"Can I come with you? What's your name?" I ask softly, trying not to scare the poor child.

Before she could do anything though, the front doors swung open. I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind one of the aisles.