Lonely

Chapter 37, Hanger

Liam and Nicco groaned in unison. “Don’t we normally get more than like, one day before we have to convert another soul?” Nicco complained. Liam shook his head. “You gobshite, it isn’t planned.” Liam said. They began to argue again. ‘Shut up.” I hissed as I peered over the bushes at the low security prison we were in front of. Boomer nudged my arm. “I hate to break it to you, but if you want to go to jail that badly, there are things called laws, in which you can break.” He joked. I ignored him as I tried to map out a plan. We were on the edges of the city, and this particular prison was small, meant only to hold people until they could be transferred to another one. It wouldn’t be too hard to get to the holding cells…

“Okay, Liam, Nicco, I have something for you to do.” They both looked at me excitedly. “You get to be a distraction.” I saw the ideas growing in their heads already. “Nothing harmful, or extremely crazy. I need you to get the fences down.” I said nodding to Liam. He smiled wider, and before I could do anything he was gone. Nicco shook his head. “I hope you’re happy, because you just gave him enough power to run a city for a week.” Nicco said, shaking his head. I didn’t quite understand, nor did I wish to, so I let it go. I turned to Boomer. “You get to bend the bars.”I said. He nodded seriously, just as Liam rushed back to where were.

His hair was even spikier than before, and he was breathing hard, his eyes brighter than ever a huge grin on his face. I heard Nicco curse under his breath behind me. Even five feet away from Liam, I could feel the electric energy coming from him. “Fences down?” I asked. He nodded quickly and started pacing back and forth. No one came in or out of the prison for a while, so I figured we were good to go. I motioned for them to follow me as we darted across the grass behind the jail and slipped quickly over the fence. Then it was just a matter of going around to the front and walking through the door.

Inside, it was as if they had made it so people like us could maneuver around. There was a door, locked of course, that had a sign that told us that the cells were down that way. A guy in a cops uniform sat behind the desk. He was looking expectantly at us. I nodded at Liam and Nicco, who quickly started fighting. For a moment, I was terrified that they weren’t acting, but sure enough, Liam winked at me just as the cop got up. Liam twisted Nicco into an awkward position so he was blocked form the cops view, and Nicco subtly shot flame form his hand, setting a nearby chair on fire. This distracted the cop long enough for boomer to snap the lock and for us to run down the hall to the cells. We hid around the corner as more cops started running down the hall.

“How’re we gonna convince him we’re good guys?’ Boomer asked. I shrugged. “Hopefully he’s reasonable, ‘cause I have a bad feeling Liam and Nicco could get carried away rather quickly.” I said. Boomer grinned just as the last cop ran past. I looked around the corner. The hall was empty. We darted down and the slowed at a walk as e got to where the cells were. Most of them were empty, but not all. Two had grubby old men who were passed out, one had a women who looked pissed, one had a younger guy who was twiddling his thumbs, and one had a girl who was wringing her hands. “Ooh, bet that’s a bad hang over.” Boomer said, nodding to the girl who honestly didn’t look well. I got worried, thinking maybe he wasn’t here. Finally, we came to the last cell, and pressed against the bars was a teenage guy my age. He was wearing a black hoodie over massive red ear phones, with dark sunglasses. His jeans had a ripped knee, and his shoes weren’t looking so good either. I could see curly brown hair peeking out from under his hoodie.

“Don’t just stand there you morons, get me out!” he hissed. With no time to be surprised, Boomer grabbed the bars and simply twisted them, snapping them like twigs. The kid who I hoped to be Dodger, stepped out and grinned at us. “Nice. I like you’re style.” He said. Boomer flashed him a grin as I bolted back down the hall. I could hear Liam and Nicco still making a lot of trouble. In their hurry, the cops had left the door open. We all slipped through to find the lobby in ruins. Two chairs were smoking, one still slightly on fire, the desk was tipped over, and there were several cops on both Liam and Nicco in pig pile form. They smiled at me as we came out.

“Hi. It got a little out of control.” Liam said. Nicco smiled again. I rolled my eyes and gestured for them to move it. Liam sent a shock strong enough o get them all off, but not enough to really hurt them, and popped up, racing out the door. Nicco did much the same, but with heat, and followed his brother, Boomer, Dodger and I right on his heels. We quickly went over the fence and back to the woods, running for a really long time.

Finally, we stopped, breathing hard. Finally, Liam and Nicco bumped there knuckles together and smiled at me. “Well, you told us to stall them and by golly, we stalled them. I shook my head, but I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face for the first time since I left Sadie. Boomer rubbed his hands, and I noticed for the first time they were all cut up from ripping the bars apart. Liam and Nicco were leaning over his hands, murmuring to each other while Boomer rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, guy, it’s fine.”  He said, pulling his hands away. “You’re gonna have some awesome scars form that one!” Nicco exclaimed. Suddenly, we all remembered that we had a new member. “You must be Dodger.” Boomer said, holding his hand out, then remembering the state it was in and pulling it back. I couldn’t quite tell how Dodger was reacting to us now, because his eyes were hidden behind the massive sunglasses, but he looked tense.

“Aw, hell, now we got a parolee to keep track of.” Liam joked. Dodger grinned at him, but still didn’t say anything. “Okay, well, in case you’re the least bit curious why we just broke you out of jail, it’s because Arianna sent us. I swear, we’re on the good side. We all have the same issue with the monster sort of things that attacked you.” Dodger shook his head and smiled. “I know, dude. I heard you guys before.” He said. “How could you possibly hear us?’ Boomer asked. Dodger tapped the head phones. “I don’t wear these because I think it looks cool. Although, the ladies do dig the look.” He said.

“Ah, well, welcome to our merry little and of misfits and low downs.” Nicco said, spreading his arms. I leaned against a tree. This could take a while. “That’s Boomer, and he’s got like, killer strength, and this is my brother,”

“Older brother.” Liam broke in. Nicco ignored him and continued his grand introduction. “My twin brother, Liam, who has lame yet, shall we say shocking abilities, I’m Nicco, the best of all, and I can toast you a marshmallow in thirty seconds. That young man lurking about in the shadows over there is out fearless leader, Hanger, who has come to retrieve us. Enjoy.” Nicco curtseyed and stepped back. “Er, nice to meet you. Call me Dodge of you wish. Dodger sounds like something out of Oliver Twist.” We all looked blankly at him, and he shook his head sadly. “People these days.”