"Alright, this is getting ridiculous," Abe muttered irritably through the thick beard. He kicked the moped in annoyance, hardly feeling it through the uncomfortable, military standard boots. "Who puts gas stations over two hundred and fifty miles apart? Who?"

A bit huffily, he grabbed his bag off the bike and kicked it again for good measure. No gas and only a map of Ohio. The guy said it was for Michigan and he didn't check it. And now, somewhere near southern Michigan with a map of Ohio, he was lost. And it was getting dark and cold. His body temperatures were irregular due to mixed genetics and he had to be kept at a fairly neutral level. And in the middle of October near the eastern coast, it was not going to be that easy.

Abe started down the road, eyeing the barely visible sky. About four hours till sunset he figured with the mid-fall crickets and cicadas singing out incessantly. Tall, ancient trees towered gloomily over the road, spreading their branches like an interlacing and crowding tunnel. The sides were carpeted in pine needles and a few early turning leaves. Already shivering in the shade of the trees, Abe hugged his arms about his torso, praying for a town and a bathtub.

He'd been gone for three days now and he was running low on money. There was maybe enough for one more night in a motel or a quick hitch hiking trip. He wasn't sure what to do at this point except get to a warm lake and hibernate the winter. It was stupid sounding to a normal person but it was practical in his case. He would freeze to death and quickly without shelter. Going back was out of the question as was going to the government. He had no idea what either would do. They had planted a bomb in Roger's chest due to the fear of not being able to control him. What would they do to him?

Abe felt that his breathing was growing labored as the clean water grew low and it worried him. He could survive without it for a while but not for longer than a few hours. All streams were dried up from the long, harsh summer and he didn't trust the ponds that lurked near the road. He was better off inhaling gasoline.

The stubborn refusal to feel stupid for his decision made him pick up his pace. He refused to feel bad for stealing the moped from John or the meager thirty from Manning. He was sick of feeling bad about everything. It was awful right now but he had to keep up the hope that things would get better.

After about another half hour he came upon a road sign bearing a quaint town name five miles up the road. Brethren, population 480. Shifting his pack on his shoulder, Abe sighed once again. With a small town, bad things generally happen.

Luckily, once he got there he found a motel. Unluckily, for Abe, it was too expensive. To make it worse, it was the last one for the next three towns according to the manager. And to top it off, the town of Brethren was having an annual harvest festival in the main road. Huge milling crowds of residents and nearby neighbors were crowding the street. Stands of fruit and vegetables lined the bustling streets, along with displays of arts and crafts. Abe walked behind the carts, away from the lights which filtered between people and carts. He knew he was being stared at purely for his overdressed, shabby state but it made him terribly nervous as more and more of them paid attention to his frantic walk.

Slowing down, he meandered his way to the end of the festival, keeping his head down and sticking to the store fronts. By the time he had reached it, his water was freezing cold and dirty. He needed to find somewhere to clean it and warm up. He desperately wished he was more warm-blooded or had a parka. The road ended in a three way intersection, one indicating the next town, Copemish. The other went up a lighted residential street that ended in a cul-de-sac. Opposite from town was naught but tilled farmland, banked by dark forest.

"Okay, so…become a frozen fish fillet or hide overnight?" he muttered in a half joke. Within minutes, Abe found a house along the cul-de-sac with an unlocked side door to the garage. All lights were off in the house so he guessed the owners were at the festival. His heart thundered painfully in his chest as he opened the door. No alarm and the garage was somewhat warmer than outside.

Once inside he shifted the mask off and let it hang about his neck. Peering about he found the dark space murky to say in the least but he didn't dare turn on the light. Carefully, he moved about a single Sudan parked in the garage, feeling heat from the engine seeping into his amphibious skin. As he passed the front door of the car, his pack slid to his elbow. Without thinking of the action, he hefted it back up. The buckle on the front snagged the door handle, yanking it up.

Abe Sapien's been spooked more than a million times in his life but he still had that urge to freeze in his spot when startled. So unfortunately, when the car began honking and flashing its headlights in warning he was still in place, creeping about with a fake beard about his neck.

It felt like slow motion. First the alarm beeped off. Then the garage lights flicked on and the door to the house swung open, revealing the dark expanse of the hallway. Out of the darkness, he spotted someone wielding a bat; a very painful looking metal bat. After seeing that he decided it would be a good idea to escape. At first he considered the side door but it meant getting to close to the home owner.

The person made not a sound of alarm as he ducked behind the car, crouching down and pulling up the fake beard. His heart hurt from how startled and panicked he was which surprised him. He'd been attacked and nearly mutilated over a thousand times but he had never felt so clueless as to what he should do with an innocent civilian discovering him. A bit frantically he took as deep of breaths as he could through the chilly water and forced himself to read the thoughts about him. Carefully he sorted out the person's brain waves, finding her, he realized, over by the side door locking it shut. That shocked him. Who on earth locked themselves in with a stranger who broke into their home?

Abe listened to the soft steps, realizing she was barefoot as she carefully went to the end of the car. She set down the bat, leaning it against the wall. Despite the heavy, inconvenient boots, he stayed in his crouch and backed about the front of the car as she walked from the other side. Abe's fishy heart leapt in up into his throat when his back collided with a large freezer, cornering him.

Before he could get away, the woman walked about the car, peering intently at him. He quickly brought his long legs up to his chest and tucked his face into his knees. The hat tilted a bit but he prayed it would cover his skin. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her and with him being what he was, it would be very bad thing to happen. She knelt down a few feet away, slow and cautious, in front of him. Abe tensed, his muscles bunching to prepare for escape.

Slowly but surely he felt a gentle hand lift his hat, revealing the bare skin of his skull and its green, mottled patterns. He heard her set the hat in her lap, breath hitching in curious bewilderment. Suddenly, he felt the insanely soft, trembling touches of her fingertips, brushing his skin. He could practically taste her trepidation, fear and curiosity that emanated from her mind. But no malice or anger came from her.

Timidly, Abe looked up, his large eyes gazing up from the safety of his arms. The woman withdrew her hand, her own eyes a bit wide. They were a pretty shade of chocolate brown, stained with shoots of spring green, he noticed dumbly. Her large, bee-stung lips moved in words that he couldn't hear and she frowned her thoughtful brows. His head felt too light and his chest began constricting as he breathed. After a brief moment of confusion, Abe realized what was happening. The water had finally gotten too dirty to breath; he was suffocating!

Shakily, Abe reached out, indicating his regulator as his vision blurred, melding the colors and shapes into a crazy collage. The world spun dizzily and he found himself crumbling forward to lay on his back, gazing up at the blinding garage light. The very ground seemed to be as a boat rocking and turning unsteadily. The woman's head loomed over him, blocking out most of the light, turning her dark hair into a halo. She was in a panic, he could see that much, trying to talk to him, to wake him up. Abe bemusedly looked at her hair, wondering what it felt like and why he hadn't realized he was fainting earlier.

Then the world turned black.