Kathryn stopped running. She had left Gregory's house, but she hadn't gotten much further. She hadn't had the energy. It seemed like all of her energy had been drained. Taking deep breaths, she tried to fight the tears that were still harboring themselves on her face. She didn't want to go home at all, she couldn't face her family. She wondered if she could ever really face them. Things were spinning out of control, and she felt lost. Now, she had forced all of her petty problems on Gregory, the one person who deserved to be happy. Feeling worthless, she sat down in the grass, beginning to weep. To her surprise, someone sat next to her.

"Hi." The unknown voice said. Immediately, she recognized it. It sounded vaguely similar to Gregory's. It was his brother, Jaime.

"Hey, Jaime. How are you? You're getting bigger every time I see you." She said weakly.

"Must be all the milk I drink." After saying this, he noticed once again how upset she looked. "Gee, what's wrong? You look like you're awful sad."

"It's nothing. Just grownup stuff." She mustered.

"Gee, I never want to be a grown-up. I'm going to be a kid forever."

"Let me guess you were catching bugs and saw me leaving." Kathryn guessed.

"Yep. You know me too well."

"I know Gregory too well. We use to do the same kind of stuff when he was smaller. I hated bugs though, but I overlooked it so he would have a good time."

"That's a nice thing to do. You sure are nice, especially for a girl."

"One day you'll start liking girls, trust me."

"Heck no!" Jaime said in protest. This made Kathryn laugh for the first time during the night.

"We'll see in a couple of years." She answered, tossing a wink at her.

"I just hope that if I ever meet a girl, she's just like you." Jaime said kindly, trying to comfort her. As he left her side, she knew that he was meant for great things. Just like his brother. She looked at Jaime, waving goodbye. Standing up, she decided to go home. But she really wanted to be near her best friend.

-----

Gregory stepped into his bedroom. His parents had fallen asleep on the couch while watching television. Jaime was outside, probably goofing around. Looking at the baseball by his bed, he looked closer at it. It was a baseball given to him by his father, one that was signed by Babe Ruth. There was his usual bed lying in front of him. Just like where he had left it, the book he had read to Jaime was lying there. Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. Reading it by himself he tried to figure out some meaning into his life. He had gone places. To the future. The apocalyptic future.

There was only one option, and part of him knew what it was. He had to go into the future, and somehow prevent the global war. The personal demons still haunted him. He had perhaps lost Gary's friendship-- and Kathryn was a wreck. One thing was for sure, he couldn't do this without her. He hadn't been able to tell her what he had seen. Everything was about to change. On the last page, Gregory read the words to himself. He had to begin this. There was no time to waste. The hope beginning to ignite, he found whatever determination he had and prepared to use it.

-----

Jason was huffing. To be exact, he was totally out of breath. Totally out of energy. This was beyond torture. Alexis had gone past the line. He had been sent on a mission, much to his chagrin. He had to go find the exact television at Best Buy, which was harder than it sounded, because all the televisions looked the same. Then, he had to carry the television all the way upstairs. Sure, he wouldn't normally have to do it, but Alexis volunteered him. Even with the extra help, he could barely move.

"Enjoy your new television!" The worker said, acting like moving the television to the apartment had been easy. Jason gave him the weakest shake of a fist that he had ever given.

"This---has--to be against---some--child labor law." Jason said, barely able to move as he entered the apartment. So he had broken her television and made several inappropriate jokes, why did he deserve this? Carrying a fifty-something inch television was very hard.

"I thought you said you had the physique of a body builder n on the way to Best Buy." Alexis said.

"I do, uh. I just feel a fever coming on or somethin'. But trust me; I can lift hundreds of pounds. In fact, I was thinking of making some exercise videos." He said, crashing on the couch.

"Right." Alexis said.

"What did you get at the grocery store?"

"Oh, just some healthy food." Alexis answered.

"I don't believe that for a second. You have too much junk in that trunk."

"Kidding?" She growled.

"Yep. Like I said, the whole shower incident was a freak accident. Which reminds me: I'm still waiting for a thank-you by the way."

"Shh." She answered, placing something in the microwave. She walked by him, turning on her new television. Opening the cabinet below the television, she pulled out a DVD.

"Ohh. Alexis. I think I know what you just pulled out. One of the.well.you know. One of the movies that has a very intimate look at the human body." He said bluntly.

"You know it."

"Hold on, I have to get prepared for this." Jason said, pretending to reach down and adjust a few things in his pants. After finishing rolling her eyes, she put in the DVD on her new television. In horror, Jason looked at what it was. Then she brought over all of the food. Just as Jason had predicted, she had gotten junk food. They were starting to know each other too well. Like friends.

-----

"I can heal people. Like, that boy, he was unconscious and there was no lifeguard. So, I just tried to help him. Somehow, I felt all of this energy coming from me. I think I saved him. I can't explain it to this day." Jennifer said.

"Just like how I can't explain all these drawings. I went from drawing Superman and all these fictional superheroes to drawing all these people I've ever met. Look at this." Joshua said, handing her a drawing that was in his pocket.

"A stick figure?"

"That's my first drawing that I made. This morning when I woke up, it looked just like this." The stick figure was on what looked like a bed. All around the room, pieces of paper were scattered.

"When did you draw that?" She quizzed.

"A few weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it. If I drew me, and I drew you, it's like we're connected somehow. Maybe I'm drawing all of these people with supernatural abilities. It's the only explanation that makes sense."

"Who are all of these other people?" Jennifer wondered, looking through all of these drawings. She saw several drawings that looked to be of a teenage boy from a long time ago.

"Most of them are Retroman."

"Retroman?"

"It's just a superhero name that I came up with for him. At first, he was practically the only thing I could draw. He might be the most important puzzle piece to all of this. We have to find him." Joshua replied. He had to find some way to locate him.

"How much can you control your power? Maybe you can find out what we're supposed to do from here."

"I can't really control it. I mean, last night it sounds like I drew tons of pictures, but I don't remember doing any of it. I need to practice more."

"I'll help you." Jennifer said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"This all sounds so crazy." He said to himself.

"It does. Now get crackin'. Wait, you know what would be fun?" She said, a grin spreading on her face. Joshua looked up, adjusting his glasses, wondering what she had in store.

-----

Chris put down the phone in a rush of excitement. It was several hours later, but the moment had passed. His phone call to his unknown source had come through, and now on the paper in front of him, he had a list of names of people who were evolved humans. There were nearly forty names, and he was able to find out the locations for all of the alive ones. Natalie awoke from a nap, as Chris sipped some coffee so he could stay awake to ponder his next move.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Chris said happily, showing that the circles under his eyes wouldn't harm his good mood.

"Did it work?" Natalie demanded.

"Yes. Everything worked as planned. I have many, many evolved humans on this piece of paper."

"That's amazing!" She said, hugging him quickly and waiting for him to respond.

"Are you sure your okay with this? If you come with me, you might be put in danger. My source said that both of our lives are in danger already. What happens next could risk our lives greatly."

"Oh, come on, I'm happy to do it. Where are we going next?"

"You never told me that you lived in El Paso, Texas." Chris said, managing to change the subject.

"I didn't think it was important." Natalie answered.

"We'll talk about it later." He said, handing her the list and grabbing a suitcase from a pile of junk. Natalie peered at the list, scanning some of the names: Tony Dow, Alexis Jade, Joshua Miller, Bryan Washington, Elizabeth Stewart, Stephanie Hill, and Natalie Martinez. It made her both feel comforted and uneasy. If some unknown source that Chris had knew was able to conduct this wide range of names that included hers, who else could locate all of these people? Biting her nails, she looked back at Chris.

"Why are you packing?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"The mystery man wants us to go somewhere. To a small town in Florida. Paris. Do you think you can handle it there?"

"Florida? Sun and the beach? Oh yeah, I'm coming with you." She said in excitement.

"That's what I thought."

"Are you sure you can handle it? It's going to cost a lot of money for this trip."

"I didn't save money for years for nothing." Chris said, handing her an empty suitcase. Looking at the list once more, she squirmed and handed it back to Chris. Chris seemed happy. This was his the defining moment of his journey.