I was running; running from the D.U.P. They had been hunting me for over a week now. I heard a bang and then a searing pain shot through my calf. I fell face down into a puddle. The troops surrounded me and pointed their rifles at me. I was finished.
It started around a month ago. I had been exhibiting… powers. Everything I touched turned to solid ice. I tried to hide it but it is difficult to cover up when your entire bedroom is made of ice. Of course my family was too afraid to hide me so they sold me out. Within the hour the D.U.P. had my home in Arlington surrounded. I panicked and did something stupid: ran. I jumped out the window to discover falling two stories had no effect on me. I jumped my neighbors' fence and sprinted through yard after yard. I ran until I couldn't anymore. I ended up behind a bank. I sat down on the hot asphalt; I watched cars pass by and numerous people trudge by as they went about their lives. They had something I would never have again, a normal life.
I had no idea what to do. I made a spike of ice rise from the ground then melt again over and over. I slowly drifted to sleep as the spike melted. I was awoken by gunshots. I ran to the street and saw a woman whipping vines at DUP troops. She looked ready to pass out but if she did she was dead. I ran out and raised a wall of ice between us and them. "Follow me, come on!" I yelled. She ran behind me back to the alley.
"Hey thanks. I don't know how much longer I could have fought. My name is Angela." She said between pants.
"I couldn't just let them get you. They're after me too. My name's Jared." She was shorter than me. She was African-American and had raven hair. "We should probably get out of here," I suggested.
"Yeah watch this." She shot a vine out of her wrist and it extended to the roof, "grab on." I did swallowing my pride. We zipped up and were standing on the roof of a 35 story building. I looked down and saw the black and yellow soldiers strafing the streets in search of Angela and me. I realized camping on this roof would have to do until morning. Angela procured something from her drawstring bag, "You might want to see this." I took the crumpled paper from her. It was a wanted poster. They seriously still have these, I thought. It read, Name: Jared Sinskey. Sex: Male. Eyes: Blue. Hair: Light brown. Age: 19.
"That is not a good sign. I probably should stay off the streets for a while," I stated.
"No kidding," she responded, "I try to tear any down if I see them. These things are everywhere. Did you hear what's going on in Seattle?"
"Nah, I haven't"
"Well the DUPer Troopers have the city locked down searching for some conduit."
"Wow, I can't believe how much of a mess the world is now." I laid down on the gravel roof. My eyelids were anvils. I couldn't sleep because of how terrified I was. What would happen to me? I did not want to die because I was different.
I awoke at around 8 to the sight of Angela pacing the roof waiting for me. "You're up. We need to move, now." She wove tens of vines together in the form of a bridge between the two roofs. I wonder if I can do that, I wondered. i focused all of my my energy on making a bridge. Suddenly ice crystals formed at the wall of the building. And then tons more stretched across the gap. I walked across to join her. I felt weakened.
"Woah, I feel like I need to sleep again. What is the matter with me."
"Yeah, powers do that. Also, you have a finite amount of power in you. After extensive use you might only be able to make a snowflake. You need to find some ice or maybe even coldness would do. You need to absorb it back into yourself."
"Wow, so even superpowers come with a battery life, great." Angela told me we were heading to an apartment she had been squatting in. After an hour we reached the building and jumped to the fire escape and then climbed in. It was a small home. It was one room save for the bathroom and bedroom. It smelled of smoke and dust hung in the air. Shafts of light filtered in through the blinds providing the only light in the room. I opened the freezer and I suddenly felt rejuvenated. "Hey, so what are we doing? Are we a team now? Like, what's the plan."
"Well I would like some company so sure," she said smirking," as for the plan, I would love to give the DUP some payback, and now I have some backup. That is if you're in."
"Of course I'm in. I have to warn you though. I have zero experience fighting, powers or otherwise."
"That is fine. You just need practice." I strolled over to the window and looked down at the streets. Everything was the same, cars driving, people walking, everything was the same but it wasn't.