Chapter Two: Escape Attempt
When I woke up, it was dark, and I was aware of being jolted around somewhat. The next thing I noticed was that I was still wearing my sun-glasses, which was a good thing. Without them I was effectively blind, as I was forced to keep my eyes permanently closed to avoid light. As my eyes began to adjust to the dim illumination, I looked around. The other three mutants from school were with me, sitting in a half-circle, conversing in low tones.
"Hey," I said. "Where are we?"
"Oh, you're awake," Jacqueline said. "I can't tell where we are. A vehicle of some kind."
We were jolted once more as the vehicle turned a corner.
"What powers do you have?" Chris asked me.
"Huh? Why?"
"I don't know where they're taking us, but we have to get out of here. We have to escape. To do that we have to use our powers. What kind of mutation do you have?"
"My eyes."
"Ah, that explains the shades. What can you do with your eyes? Shoot laser beams at people?"
"Ahem – no. I can see over long distances."
"How long a distance?"
"I don't know. I once focused on an astronaut's footprint on the surface of the moon."
Jacqueline and Chloe raised their eyebrows and looked suitably impressed, but Chris merely said, "Is that all?"
"I can see through walls, sometimes," I said.
"You mean X-ray vision?"
"Something like that."
It was a gift that I'd discovered only fairly recently. If I sat down and stared at a wall, then concentrated – really concentrated – I could force my eyes to focus on a point beyond the wall, and I'd be able to see through it. I'd only managed to get it working on one or two occasions; I suspected it was a power that would develop and grow more potent as I got older.
"Do we have a plan for escape?" Chloe asked hopefully.
Chris shrugged, "Sort of. Jacqueline and I were talking while you two were still asleep, and we think we've got a plan."
"Let's hear it," I said.
"OK, here goes," said Jacqueline. "I don't know if I told you earlier, but I'm a telepath. I'm also telekinetic, which means I can move objects using my thoughts. Our plan was that I could use my power to stop this vehicle or whatever it is we're in, then we could make a break for it."
"Unfortunately, we've no idea where we are," said Chris. "We don't know if running is a good idea. We could be miles from any town or city."
Jacqueline looked as if she had just had an idea, "Neil, can you use your X-ray vision to look through the side of the vehicle and find out where we are?"
"I can try…you'll need to be absolutely silent, though. It takes real concentration."
They nodded, and fell silent. I sat up straight to get into a more comfortable position, and concentrated my thoughts on using my power. Staring at the side of the vehicle directly in front of me, I made my eyes focus on a point just beyond it. The trickiest part was stopping my eyes from instinctively zooming back to focus on the wall. After several tries, I met with success. The dark vehicle interior faded away to be replaced by the world outside.
"All right, it's working," I said. "You can talk now; I don't need to use much concentration any more. The hard part is forcing my eyes to look through the wall. Once I'm through, it's just like looking out of a window."
"What can you see? Where are we?"
"Well, we're not in Edinburgh any more. There's no sign of any cities or habitations. We're way out in the country. All I can see is trees and hills, oh, and there's a river way off in the distance."
"Can you see where we're going?"
"No. I'm looking through the side of the vehicle, not the front."
"So if we were to break out of here, how would you rate our chances of survival?"
I shrugged, "Hard to say. If we can find food and shelter, we should do all right."
"Where do we find food out here?" Chris asked. "I don't think we'll find a Pizza Hut out in the wilds."
"I think it's probably worth the risk," Jacqueline decided. "Chloe, you haven't told us what powers you have."
The younger girl looked up nervously and said, "Um – I can talk to animals and understand what they say. I can also control them a little bit. But I don't see how that will help us get out of this van."
Re-focusing my eyes on the inside of the vehicle, I looked over to where Chris was sitting in front of a pair of doors; obviously the back doors of the van.
"I assume those doors are locked?" I asked.
"No, they're unlocked, we're just sitting here forming an escape plan for the fun of it," he said sarcastically. "Of course they're locked. But it's not a problem."
"Why?"
"You'll see."
"Jacqueline, can't you use your power to unlock the door?"
She shook her head, "Not if I've already used it to stop the van. Since I'm still young, I only have a limited amount of power I can use at any one time. I'd need to wait for it to recover."
"I told you, don't worry about the doors," Chris said impatiently. "They're not an issue. You'll see why when I show you my power."
"You're not going to tell us what it is, then?"
He grinned, "No. It's way more fun if I show you."
"Fine. Are we going to try our plan?"
Jacqueline nodded, "Let's do it. I'll begin now. Chris, get ready."
"I am ready."
She ignored him, and closed her eyes to use her telekinetic powers. From the front of the vehicle came a small explosion, we felt it veering from side to side on the road, then finally breaking to a halt. Then came the sound of two doors slamming. The two men had obviously got out of the van to see what had happened.
"What did you do?" Chloe asked.
"Knocked a few parts of its engine out of alignment," Jacqueline grinned, the first smile I'd ever seen on her face. "I don't know much about cars, but I know it'll take them a while to fix. OK, Chris, go."
Chris turned round so that his feet were pointing towards the doors. There was a tiny gap between the two closed doors, through which our light and air was obviously coming. As I watched, Chris wedged his foot in the gap, took a deep breath, and called upon his gift.
The first thing I noticed was that the shape of his foot was changing, almost melting. It was as if he was dissolving in some sort of chemical. Soon both of his feet had vanished into a pool of viscous liquid, and his ankles were beginning to follow.
"Chris? Are you all right?" Chloe gasped. "What's going on?"
"This is my power, stupid," Chris retorted. "I can change my body from solid to liquid and back again. Now shut up, I have to concentrate hard to do this right."
I watched as his legs, knees, waist and chest disappeared into the rapidly growing puddle of fluid. His arms followed, and soon only his head remained. He flashed us a grin, took another deep breath, then his head liquefied to join the rest of him.
"Is he all right?" Chloe hissed.
"I don't know," Jacqueline answered. "I've never seen him do this before. I assume – I hope he knows what he's doing."
By this time the puddle of liquid that was Chris had begun to trickle out of the gap between the doors. We watched as he flowed through the small opening, until all of him had poured out on to the road outside. A minute or two later, we heard the lock turning, and the van doors were thrown open to reveal Chris, back in solid form, giving us that irascible grin once more. Screwing up our eyes against the sudden rush of light, the three of us climbed out of the van to join him on the road. The 'road' was more of a dirt track, flanked on both sides by a tightly packed forest of pine trees. Up ahead it turned a corner and we couldn't see where it lead.
"What – " Chloe began, before Chris put a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up!" he hissed. "Those two guys are only a few feet away looking at the engine! They'll hear you!"
"We've got to get off the road," Jacqueline said. "Neil, which way?"
"I dunno, where are we heading?"
"Wherever you think looks best."
I looked around for a moment, but I couldn't see anything past the trees. I frowned, "Let's just head for high ground. If we can get up high enough, I can have a good look at the surrounding land, and hopefully spot a town or something we can head for."
"Let's do it," said Jacqueline.
Crouching low, she hurried from the van into the cover of the forest at the side of the road. Chris and Chloe followed her, and I came after them. We wound our way through the trees for a few moments until we were confident that we couldn't be seen from the road, then remained still to keep an eye on the two men.
"That's the two guys who grabbed us at school," I said.
Jacqueline nodded, "I've been trying to read their minds to find out what they want with us, but I'm not having much success. All they know is we're to be delivered to a place called 'Site Alpha'."
"Huh? I thought they were taking us to be registered as mutants," Chloe said.
"Who cares?" Chris sighed. "Mutant-haters are all the same, they're all scum. They just want to have us locked away somewhere."
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"It's because they're afraid of us," Jacqueline said. "They don't trust us to use our powers responsibly. I mean, I'm a telepath. I could use my power to read somebody's mind and find out all sorts of personal information. I could do a lot of damage with my telekinesis. And although I've never tried it, I believe I'm also capable of controlling other people's minds and making them do things."
"Awesome," Chris grinned.
"As for Chris, he could use his power to sneak in and out of almost anywhere," she continued. "He could rob a bank, act as a spy, even commit murder, and no security system could stop him."
"That is true. I speak from experience," Chris said, his grin growing even larger. "Apart from committing murder, of course."
"Neil, with your vision, nothing would be secure. If you can focus on things from thousands of miles away, and look through solid objects, then – "
"All right, we get the picture," said Chris. "People hate us because they're jealous of our powers, and they think we'll misuse them. Does that give them the right to lock us away? Did they lock Einstein away because he was a genius? That's just as dangerous in its own way."
"Can we concentrate on getting to safety first, before debating the mutant issue?" I asked. "We need to get to high ground. I'm not sure which way to head…"
"Wait, I've got an idea," Jacqueline said. "There must be plenty of wildlife out here. Chloe, can you use your power to talk to an animal and ask it which way we should go?"
"I can try," she said, not sounding confident. "It depends on the kind of animal."
"How?"
"Well, dogs are best. Their minds are simple enough that communication is easy. Cats are slightly harder because their brains are slightly more developed. Birds are difficult because they aren't mammals. Fish and insects are almost impossible for me, until I develop my power further."
"What are we likely to find out here?" I asked, looking around me for any animals that might be nearby.
Chloe shrugged, "Birds and insects, but like I said, they're too difficult for me. Maybe a fox. A wolf would be nice. They're very similar to dogs."
"Can't you summon them in some way with your power?" Chris asked.
"If I can, I haven't learned how to do it yet. We'll just have to explore and see what we can find."
"All right, that's our plan," Jacqueline said. "When those guys finish fixing the engine, they'll realise we're gone, so we'd better make ourselves scarce before that happens."
The four of us turned away from the road, taking one glance at the men working to repair the van's engine, and ventured further into the trees.
"Keep your eyes open for any animals," Chloe said. "Preferably a mammal."
"There was a wasp buzzing around my head a minute ago, but it flew off," said Chris. "Sorry, I didn't manage to get its phone number."
She ignored his attempt at a joke, and continued to lead the way into the forest. I was looking around as I walked, trying to spot anything that might be of any help to us, when Chloe put a hand on my arm and whispered, "Stop."
"Why?"
"There's a fox just up ahead. All of you, please stay still and don't make any noise. I'm going to try and talk to it. I've never really tried it with a wild animal before. It might not work."
I crouched down to avoid being seen by the fox, and watched as Chloe slowly inched her way forward, stopping every few moments to allow the animal to get used to her presence. The fox had spotted her, and was eyeing her cautiously. I could see that its muscles were tensed and it was ready to dart away at the first sign of danger.
"Hello," said Chloe to the fox. "Do you understand me?"
"Why the hell is she speaking to it in English?" Chris muttered.
Jacqueline shot him a furious glance and put a finger to her lips. He made a face at her but fell silent and watched Chloe.
"Don't be afraid," she was saying to the animal. "I'm not going to hurt you. I need your help."
The fox slowly trotted forward and sniffed her outstretched hand cautiously. Then it looked up at her, licked its lips, and sat on its hind legs, waiting for her to continue.
"Do you know this area well?"
The fox replied with a bark.
"Good. We need to get to high ground. Can you tell us how to reach the nearest hill?"
The fox responded with a series of barks and growls, then licked its lips once more.
"All right. Thank you."
The animal turned and disappeared into the undergrowth. Chloe straightened once more and turned to face us, "It worked. We have to head that way."
She pointed in a direction that was roughly at a right angle to the route we were presently following.
"How far do we have to go?" Jacqueline asked.
"I don't know," Chloe admitted. "Foxes obviously can't use our number system, so it couldn't give me a distance. I think the journey would take about a day or two from here, if you were a fox."
"Which we're not," Chris responded instantly. "Did you learn any other not-particularly-useful facts?"
"Why don't you try talking to it, if you're so clever?" Chloe retorted angrily. "Why don't you make yourself useful instead of criticising others?"
"Make myself useful?" Chris laughed. "We'd still be stuck in that van if it wasn't for me! A fat lot of good your talking to animals would have done then!"
"Oh, leave me alone," said Chloe, turning away, visibly upset.
"All right, if you're quite finished tearing each other to shreds," said Jacqueline pointedly. "Our only option seems to be to follow the information Chloe's given us. We don't know how long it will take but two days seems like a reasonable estimate for now. It's getting dark so we'll walk a short distance tonight then try and set up a camp somewhere."
"It's cold, too," said Chloe, shivering – she wasn't wearing a jacket, only a T-shirt.
"Here," I said, taking off my jacket and handing it to her. "I don't need it right now."
I was wearing a sweater as well as a T-shirt underneath so I was warm enough without it. Chloe gave me a grateful smile, and put on the jacket. It was a little big for her, and her hands barely poked out of the sleeves, but at least it kept her warm.
"All right, let's go," said Jacqueline.
We walked on, following the path that we hoped would lead to the hill. Once we got there, if we could climb high enough, I'd be able to see everything for miles around. With any luck, we weren't too far away from a large town or city.
As darkness fell, we continued walking through the forest. None of us spoke, even Chris seemed to have exhausted his never-ending supply of wisecracks. Each of us saved his or her breath for walking, and another hour past as the sun sank down below the horizon. Jacqueline led the way, seemingly tireless, stepping over rocks and other obstacles with enviable grace. Chris was less fortunate, and cursed and swore every time he lost his footing in the darkness. Glancing behind me, I saw Chloe stumbling along in exhaustion, forcing herself to keep following the rest of us. As we continued, I noticed the youngest member of our group was lagging further and further behind.
"Wait!" she called eventually. "I can't go any further! I'm too tired."
Chris stopped, and turned, "Why don't you just ask the next fox we see to carry you on his back?"
She was too tired to respond. Jacqueline realised that Chloe couldn't go on any longer, and called a halt, "OK, let's try to find somewhere sheltered where we can camp tonight. Chris, you go and look for some firewood."
"Oh yeah?" he demanded. "And how are we going to start this fire?"
"I'm telekinetic, did you forget?"
"Oh, of course. I must be tired too. I'll get some wood."
After a few minutes, we discovered the perfect place to spend the night. A small recess underneath an overhanging embankment; it would be sheltered from the wind and rain, and there was enough room for all of us. Chris brought back some branches and leaves, and dropped them in a pile in the middle of the hollow.
"I hope those were dead branches," Chloe said accusingly. "We've got no right to go around tearing branches from living trees."
"They were lying on the ground, if that's what you mean. Now then, telekinetic, let's see some fire. I'm freezing."
Jacqueline stared at the pile of wood for a few seconds, then without warning it burst into flame. The fire was far enough into our hollow that there was no danger of it spreading and starting a forest fire, so we sat in a circle around it and rested our tired bones after a good three hours' walking. Eventually Chris broke the silence.
"You know," he said. "I just realised. If I don't come home from school tonight, nobody will care. My dad took off years ago, and my mum will too doped up on drugs and cigarettes to even notice."
"That's terrible," Chloe said sympathetically. "I know my parents will be worried sick."
"Do they know you're a mutant?"
"Oh, yes. They figured it out before I did, in fact. It was them who told me."
"What about you, Neil?"
I looked over at him, "My parents died when I was a baby. I don't remember anything about them. I live with my grandparents."
"And they don't mind you being a mutant?"
"They've never done or said anything to suggest a problem."
"Jacqueline, how about you?"
Jacqueline frowned, and for the first time looked upset, as if she wasn't in control of her emotions. It was as if a window into her inner self had suddenly opened. Her voice shook, "My parents disowned me and moved back to France when they found out about my mutation. I've been living with a foster family since I was 7."
"How awful," Chloe said. "I never realised how lucky I was, that my parents still loved me."
Just as quickly as it had opened, the door to Jacqueline's inner feelings was closed shut and she became her cold, rational self once more, "Everybody get some sleep. We've got another day's walking ahead of us tomorrow."
I lay down a yard or so away from the fire, and gathered together a pile of leaves to use a make-shift pillow. I saw Chloe lying down close to me, and she said, "Do you want your coat back now?"
"Not if you need it. I'm OK without it."
She smiled, "Thanks."
Pulling my jacket over her as a blanket, she shut her eyes and tried to go to sleep. From the other side of the fire, I heard Chris already snoring. Yawning, I hoped he wasn't one of those people who could fall asleep in an instant then keep everybody else awake by snoring loudly all night. Closing my eyes, I took off my sun-glasses and laid my head down to rest. Sleep came surprisingly quickly, and I drifted off while wondering dreamily what the next day would hold.
