Burned Out [Completed]

Jin 2: The Sequel No One Wanted

Before we left, we looked around the large house in search of anything that could help us. Martin uncovered a baseball bat in the garage.

"What," he demanded defensively when I laughed at him. "It's not like I have some magic powers that I can use to protect myself! I need to be prepared."

"Sure, Martin. You wielding a big stick sure is intimidating," I shot him a sly smile and waltzed away, ignoring the insults he spewed in my wake.

After a little rummaging, I found two metal poles the length of my forearm. I couldn't imagine what they had been used for, but I had a good idea about how I could put them to use. I pictured myself heating them up and fighting in close combat with them. That would be pretty badass.

I slipped each of them into the belt loops at my sides. They were a tight fit, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about them falling out. I felt like some weird warrior with their weight hanging near my fingertips.

Assana had found a purse-like bag hanging in the closet of the master bedroom upstairs and filled it with as many water bottles that would fit from the mini fridge in the safe room. She had taken a rubber band from her wrist, where she had several lining her forearm, and tied her frizzy hair back.

Wynn didn't partake in the looting of the house, he just followed Assana around like a silent shadow. Soon we were all piling out the door with Assana and Wynn leading the way back to Winston College. After a few minutes of walking, I turned to Martin.

"What did you say to Assana back there?" I questioned, speaking in low tones to make sure the other two wouldn't hear. "It really seemed to calm her down."

"Ah, it was nothing, really," Mart stammered. "Just that her being on a team with Wynn wouldn't be the best idea because you're still relatively new at this whole thing. That and Wynn wasn't going to be happy on the recon team. He's like you. You don't like to sit around when you're mad, you need somewhere to direct your anger. Assana and I are much calmer, so it made sense for us to be in charge of getting Professor Rayner out quickly."

"You know, sometimes I forget that you're actually smart," I said.

"Well I am older, which automatically makes me wiser," he nudged me with his shoulder.

"Yeah, don't push it, Smelt," I grinned, shoving him back.

"Hey, Martin," Assana called over her shoulder, "come walk by me. I want to go over the route we're taking so you know what to do."

"Sure thing." Martin quickened his pace until he was alongside her and Wynn dropped back to walk by my side.

"They'll be going through the east entrance," Wynn mumbled. "We should enter the north gate, then lead everyone who comes after us as far west as possible."

"Sounds good to me. What kind of trouble should we expect?" I inquired.

"They've got at least thirty security guards. Usually there are only ten of them patrolling the campus at one time, but I think it's safe to say the Council has decided to beef up the defense. We already met two on the road, though, so I can't say for sure if all of them will be there.

"Next to them, there's also Jin and Nick. I'm not sure what kind of abilities Nick has, but something has always been off with him," Wynn frowned. "He's just a kid, but even the Council steps carefully around him, like he's a dog that might bite."

"I know the feeling," I grimaced, thinking back to Nick chasing me through the barn. "And Jin? What are our odds against him? That rock-dog of his is going to be hard to handle."

"Out of the four of us, he's the most skilled fighter," Wynn admitted. "Assana comes in second, but we can't count on her. Our biggest weapon will be you."