A/N: There was actually a *big* clue about who the mysterious figure was in the last chapter. Plus, I have concept sketches of both Daisy and Robyn if anybody is interested. Just say so, and I'll email them to curious parties.
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Third Fragment ~ 'Hope'
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She was safe with him. She knew that instinctively. Whenever they travelled, she clung close to him, clinging tight to an arm that he wasn't using.
They were slow, now. Slower than he really liked. They had to keep moving. Go from one place to another. Beg, steal or loot supplies, and then move on. Because they could both pass, but never for long enough to settle anywhere.
The last town they hit had a baby shop, and even though he didn't like it, she insisted on raiding it. They needed stuff. She was getting big, now, and that meant that the baby would be coming, soon.
Now the back of the jeep was full of things. A pram that turned into a stroller. A cot that folded up. A baby seat for the car. Bottles and formula, just in case, and all the diapers and little clothes they could grab. Most of it was packed under their tent - a palace stolen from a camping store.
He was seriously considering swapping the jeep for a Winnebago - and fitting it with truck tyres. It'd be easier. It'd hold more supplies. And he could arm it like a tank.
She grunted in pain again. It'd been going on like this for days. Ten minutes, and her big belly felt like it was going to implode. Then peace for another ten minutes.
"It's all right, Kitty-Kat," he soothed. "I'm gonna find someplace clean for you. It's gonna be okay. Just hang on."
"Still ten minutes," she said. "I think. The book said we don't gotta worry until they're five minutes apart."
Lance gave her the clock to wind. "Here. Make sure."
It gave her something to do. She set the clock to midday on the latest contraction and started winding.
They weren't exactly in love; but they were the last two of their kind on Earth. They had to do it. For the future.
Lance stopped at a bunch of buildings and started running, looking through them all for someplace clean. Someplace safe.
Like such a place even truly existed anymore.
*******************
Kurt grunted as Pietro zipped up and loaded him up with yet more stuff. Peeping around the armload, he found that he couldn't actually see anything edible in what he was being given.
"Hey, you *are* getting food, aren't you?"
{ZIP} "Uh-huh," Pietro waved a bag of moth-eaten chips at him. "Whatever I can find. I'm up to the fourth floor now."
"How many floors *are* there?"
"About twenty, give or take," he shrugged. "I'm gonna hafta stop raiding soon to clear up the bodies."
Kurt winced. "Are there many?"
"Enough." Pietro's face was blank, but his eyes spoke volumes. The bag of chips were tossed unceremoniously into Kurt's arms, and he was gone again, reappearing a moment later before the dust of his departure had even settled. "That's it for now. I'd better take this little lot back."
The two boys transferred the mass of belongings and foodstuffs, and Kurt snatched at a piece of fabric that went fluttering to the floor.
"What's this?" He held it up to the moonlight, studying the contours and realising it was a small child's dress, replete with frilly collar and cuffs. Pietro grabbed at it without seeming to move, secreting the material where it wouldn't fall off.
"What's it look like?"
"But why on earth did you take *that*?"
"For Robyn, of course. Little tyke's in serious need of some new threads."
Kurt squinted, a tiny smile playing about the edges of his lips. "Careful, Pietro, you're going soft."
The blonde only grunted, tensed his legs and started running. He was halfway down the street before Kurt turned around. The elf sighed to himself and prepared to wait until his newfound companion returned.
Gradually, the sounds of footsteps ceased as Pietro moved out of earshot, and Kurt slunk into the lee of the building where he was hidden from view, crouching down to conserve energy as he kept watch.
*******************
Kitty groaned, clutching at his hand. "Lance! Lance, it's coming!"
Lance glanced around them fearfully. Not now, they weren't ready. He held her up as best he could, but she kept doubling over in pain and having to stop.
"Come on, Pretty-Kitty," he soothed, rubbing her back. "Just a few more feet, and we'll be at the door."
Tears streamed down Kitty's face. "I can't! I can't do it, Lance! It hurts too much to..... aaauuurghhh," she bent forward again, hugging her swollen belly.
"Well we can't stay out here," Lance replied shortly, then instantly felt bad about being so brusque. She couldn't help it if she was in pain, but an open street in the middle of the day was no place to rest. This place wasn't especially huge, from what he could tell, but mutant haters had been known to hang around smaller. And he'd be damned if he were about to let any of those scum find them so unprotected.
Unconsciously, his hand strayed to the handgun at his belt. Kitty often complained about his having stolen it, especially back at the beginning. Back in Illinois. That was when there had still been hope of finding other survivors, before they began this long trek into the wilderness in an attempt to find others of their kind. There had been none, but they'd found other, less welcoming folk. So he'd kept the gun.
Kitty screeched again in agony, and Lance snapped from his thoughts to haul her to her feet. He was rough, but terror cancelled out any excess feelings of remorse. He stank of stale sweat and fear, while she smelled strongly of bodily juices usually confined to hospitals and birthing pools. Both were tense as they staggered through the permanently open sliding doors of the abandoned doctor's surgery.
Kitty slumped down onto the waiting couch, too spent to go further. Lance looked around nervously, before finally deciding to shut the glass doors. He'd found another exit in back, and felt better about not advertising their presence with her wails leaking of the building out so much.
"Lance!" Kitty cried, groping blindly for his hand. "Lance! Where are you?"
He was at her side in an instant, holding her palm and stroking her damp forelock. Her dark glasses had slipped, revealing the sightless white orbs ringed in angry red scars beneath, and he gently pushed them back into place, all the while shushing her as best he could.
"Shhhhh, Kitty-Kat, it's OK. It's OK, I'm here."
"I'm frightened, Lance," she whimpered pathetically. "It hurts so mu... hu... huuuuuuucchhh!" Another contraction. She screwed up her face, biting her lip to hold in the scream until blood flowed.
Lance glanced about them, and with his free hand patted her bulbous midriff. "S'gonna be OK, Kitty. I promise. S'gonna be OK."
She sniffed, craning her neck towards the sound of his voice. Lance dutifully leaned his head towards her, and rested his cheek on the crown of her skull.
"It's OK, Kitty. I'll see you right, I promise. I'll see you right."
*******************
Kurt's head jerked up at the sound of the first anguished scream. A few seconds later, Pietro skidded up. "What is it?"
"I hear something. Shhhh..."
Another distant cry, this time loud enough for Pietro to hear. "Whoa. What *is* that?"
"Someone's hurting. Quiet again."
There was a moment of calm, then a loud scream tore the silence. "This way!" Kurt took off, darting between too buildings, avoiding a couple of bodies strewn in alleys as he went.
"What about mutant hunters?" Pietro had no trouble keeping up with him, even though he was running on all fours.
"I recognise that yelling," Kurt panted, pushing himself to the limits of his speed and darting around a corner. "That's a birth-cry."
"What?! How do you know?!"
A sob rent the air, and now they were getting close enough to hear a response to it. A male voice, yelling something indiscernible.
Kurt came to a halt in front of a former doctor's office, and glanced wryly at Pietro before starting his work on opening the glass door. "I grew up in a small town. Close-knit. How else would I know?"
With a grunt, he pulled the hastily sealed doors open.
*******************
Between Kitty's screams and his own bellowed responses, Lance was able to make out some kind of noise outside the doors. "Kitty," he said, a little loudly to be heard over her laboured[1] breathing, "I'll be right back. I... I think there's someone outside."
She nodded as best she could before tensing up and screaming once again. Lance bolted for the door.
The first thing he saw was... some kind of demon?!
No, no. It had to be a mutant. Who else would look like that?
In some distant part of his mind, Lance wondered how such an obvious mutant had survived...
*******************
Kurt saw the dishevelled boy come skidding up to within a few feet of the door, saw the panicked, then relieved look on his face, and motioned he was no enemy by raising his palms.
"Relax," he said, pushing the door open as he spoke, "We're here to help."
Back to panicked. "It's my girl, she-"
"Ja, I figured. I'm experienced with this sort of thing. Would you like my help?"
"Oh, man, that would be - "
"OK, she's back here, right?" Kurt walked past him briskly, and called up all his reserves of strength for what was to come.
Pietro, meanwhile, was utterly confused about what to do. Thinking quickly, as he always did, he shut the doors behind him, then set about soundproofing the building and setting up defences at super-speed. _There. That oughta do it._
Now what to do?
He walked with some trepidation, and with very little of his usual speed, into the room that held all the others. _Oof. This is not gonna be pretty._
*******************
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"It's all right, Kitty. I'm here." Lance grabbed her hand, gesturing for help.
"You're name's Kitty?" said a voice. "I'm Kurt. This is Pietro."
"Hi," said another.
"He runs, I teleport. What do you do?"
"She goes through things, I make earthquakes," said Lance.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"OK. OK. Breathe, Kätzchen. Breathe, like this. 'Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho.' You try."
"Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho. Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho."
"See? Childbirth is fun, ja? You're laughing already."
"'M gonna frikkin' kill ya..." she muttered. "Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
{Zwip. Zwip} "Found some rubber gloves, some sterilising solution and a buncha towels."
"Sehr gut. I'll get her pants off and set things up. You scrub."
"*ME*?"
"You're the only one who can fit into the gloves, and I have no time to shave. The kid's engaged and the water's broken. *Move*!" Kurt smiled. "It's okay. I've done this dozens of times."
"Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho..." Kitty whimpered. Movement, and hands touching her skin. Lance tightened his grip.
"Okay, I'm ready," said Pietro. "What do I do?"
"Get ready to catch," said Kurt.
"Eeeeyyeeeeeeeuuuwwww..." muttered Pietro. "This is *sick*..."
"Feel up there and see if she's fully dilated," said Kurt. "Or how far through the baby is."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
"Nyeurgh..." Pietro did as he was told. "Okay. Um. I think the baby's head is jammed."
Kurt slathered his fuzzy arm in the sterilising solution to verify. "Ja. It's stuck."
Lance, sounding alarmed. "Whazzat mean?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
"Either the baby dies, Kätzchen dies, or they both die."
"Fuck that," said Lance. "Kitty? Kitty-Kat? Can you phase just you? I know you haven't done it since
you tested positive, but it's okay, now. You gotta."
Kitty frowned, concentrating.
"Whoah!" said Kurt. He was suddenly holding both baby and placenta.
"Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah," Kitty panted, returning to normal. "That was like, *way* easier."
Pietro returned with forceps, a bowl of water, and yet more towels. Together, he and Kurt washed the little girl.
Lance hugged her. "You did good, sweetie. You did good. It's a little girl. Pretty like you."
"You said there weren't any others," she panted. "You said we were alone."
"I never saw these people before. Kitty-Kat, I didn't know."
"We hide a lot," said Kurt. "When you look like me, you have to." He handed a mewling bundle into Kitty's arms. "Here, Mama. Meet your little baby."
Kitty proudly accepted, for the moment ignoring his strange words. Look like him? Later. "Hello?"
The baby blinked. Then she sneezed. Then she started smacking her lips.
"Best give her a drink, ja?" said Kurt. "Does she have a name?"
"Hope," breathed Kitty. "Hope Pryde." She undid her shirt and rearranged baby and breast. She winced. "*Ow*!"
Kurt smiled. "Good reflexes. She's a fighter."
"Lance Alvers," said Lance, offering his hand.
Kurt took it. "Kurt Wagner."
Pietro declined shaking hands, since he still wore the gunky gloves he'd fetched. Instead, he settled for a quick wave to the newcomers, before zipping into the back to dispose of said gloves.
Kitty smiled to herself, listening to her new baby's suckling noises and feeling around until she could stroke her hair. It was damp with afterbirth, but soft, like wet peach fuzz. She'd have to ask Lance later what colour it was. She could feel Hope's skull pulsing slightly, and immediately retracted her hand to steady her tiny shoulder instead. The little girl broke contact with the milk for a moment, rubbing her nose, and then mewled when she couldn't find the teat again.
"Shhhhh," Kitty soothed, guiding her back into place.
The two remaining mutants looked on, smiling. The sight of mother and newborn is one that has warmed hearts for many millennia, and they were going through the same satisfaction of bringing a life into the world as doctors and nurses used to before everything went wrong.
"Are you two married?" Kurt asked after a while.
Lance shook his head. "We used to live in the same town. We were the only two mutants in our school, so we were kinda left on our own a lot of the time. Nobody wanted to consort with 'muties'." There was a hint of bitterness to his tone, and Kurt nodded, able to identify.
"So, you ran away together to get away from all the hatred."
Lance looked up at him, surprised. "How did you - "
"Obvious, when you think about it. Two mutants travelling together, alone in a place they don't come from." He waved his hand outside where the jeep was in plain view. They hadn't had time to move it since Kitty went into labour, and it was as much of an indication that they weren't from around here as a flashing neon sign.
Lance bobbed his head, sighing. "We thought we were the only two left... after the virus. We just kept searching for others, but in every town we either found nobody, or humans who wanted nothing more than to shoot us. Then Kitty got pregnant, but we had to keep going. There was nowhere to take us in, no place to go. Until we found you guys. This place must be better than most if there are two of you living here."
"Don't kid yourself," Kurt replied darkly. "This place is no picnic, and definitely no safe haven for mutants. Pietro and I have only survived this long because we have means of getting away from mutant hunters if the need arises."
Lance's face fell. "So... it's back on the road for us, then." He heaved a dejected breath, and let it go through his nose. "Shoulda known."
Kurt shook his head. "It's probably better if you stay around here for a while, until your Kätzchen and Hope are stronger. I'll help you hide your stuff," he jerked a thumb out of the glass doors at the jeep, "And Pietro'll stay here to watch over them for a while."
Lance bit his lip, glancing around nervously. "I dunno... I don't like leaving Kitty alone if I can help it. Her eyes, you see," here, he dropped his voice to a low whisper, as if not wanting the new mother to hear him. "When we were back in Connecticut, not long before we left, we ran into a group of thugs coming home from school one day. They were idiots, always raggin' on us for being mutants. Usually it didn't go much further than that, but that day they went too far. One of 'em had some kinda chemical he'd stolen from the chem lab. I dunno what it was, exactly. He threw it into Kitty's eyes. Blinded her."
"Is that why you left?" Kurt's voice was also low, and his golden eyes darted to the pony-tailed girl's sunglasses.
"It was one reason, along with a load of others. We just couldn't stand it anymore. All the snide comments, the jabs, the insults in the street. Nobody stuck up for us, not even our own families. Mine threw me out as soon as they found out I was a 'freak'. That attack just hammered home to us that we had no future in that place. After school, who'd give a 'stinking mutie' a job? So we high-tailed it outta there one night together and just kept going ever since. Even when the virus came. We just kept going. Never stopped for long if we could help it. But today, well..." He waved his arm at the suckling baby.
"All the more reason why you should hide your things," Kurt advised. "You're vulnerable like this. No point in making it easier for the hunters."
As if on cue, Pietro zipped back into the room, freshly scrubbed and smelling of carbolic soap. "What's the haps, chaps?" he asked.
Lance gave the white-haired boy a dubious look. There was something a little *too* cheerful about him. His grin was just that little bit *too* wide, and a spark of madness danced in his blue eyes.
"Pietro," Kurt stepped forward. "I'm going to take Herr... Alvers was it?"
Lance nodded.
"Herr Alvers out to hide his vehicle. You stay here and take care of Kätzchen and baby Hope."
"Huh? What am I supposed to do with 'em?"
Kurt turned back from where he was already heading for the sliding doors. "Clean them up a bit. Afterbirth and bad blood attracts dogs, and barking attracts hunters."
Pietro watched them go, and then regarded his unsavoury task. "Oh *great*. And I just got clean, too."
*******************
This particular town in the middle of Podunk, Nowhere was dead. Logan could smell it. Nothing lived here, and nothing had lived here for a long time. Two, maybe three years. Even the dogs and the scavengers had left.
And yet, there was singing.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." Daisy was skipping. Actively skipping through the dead streets. "H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P! Q, R, S, T, U, V... W, X, Y and Z! Now I know my A, B, C! Won't you come and sing with me?"
The irony made him grin. So far, Daisy had played in a park, trying each of the swings, the teeter-totter and the roundabout before 'just five more minutes' on the jungle-gym before Logan finally announced that enough was enough and they had to look for things they could use.
Daisy found a shopping trolley and wanted a ride in it.
The stores in the place were looted - Logan didn't expect any less - but there were enough gleanings to keep them both healthy until they found another town to go through. And plenty of trade-items like batteries, candles, cooking pots and bug repellents.
Then Logan realised that Daisy had wandered off. Alarmed, he abandoned his loot and followed her scent. Kid could be damn quiet when she wanted to be.
"T, H, E," Daisy was saying, spelling letters like a pro, "G, O, D, D, E, S, S... L, O, V, E, S... Y, O, U."
He found her standing near a gardening display that had been completely cleaned out.
"The Goddess loves you," he read. "What in hell?"
Daisy was staring at him as if he'd done magic. "How'd'ja do that?"
"Remember how I told ya letters started words?"
"Yeah?"
"They make words, too." He pointed out the 'th' in 'the'. "Those two together make a 'th' sound."
"Th," repeated Daisy. "The. Them. They. There. Thursday?"
"Yup. Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes, it's soft. You're pickin' it up quick, kid."
Daisy had a stab at it. "The God-dess lov-es you."
"Loves. That 'e' is silent."
"How can you tell?"
"Practice." Logan smirked. "Which is why I picked up a buncha books for you on my way through. Ready to get packed?"
"Can we have lunch?"
"Yeah. I'll rustle us up something," Logan grinned, "And you read to me while I do it."
"But I'm awful slow."
"Only way you're gonna get better is by doin', kiddo."
*******************
The jeep was loud. Too loud. Years of driving through the dust had caused the engine to develop the equivalent of a smoker's cough, and it hacked obstreperously as they turned the corner.
Lance shot a look at his unorthodox companion. The blue mutant - Kurt - was perched bird-like on the passenger seat, knees up to his chin and golden eyes round. The tail, which disconcerted Lance more than he let on, whipped about nervously, trailing through the grime on the floor and flicking up discarded sweet wrappers and other various packaging from past meals he and Kitty-Kat had managed to scrounge.
"Turn here," came the sudden command, accompanied by a thrusting finger out of the window. Obediently, Lance dropped a screeching gear and yanked the wheel around to the right. "Stop!"
The vehicle chugged to itself, stationary, as Kurt hopped out. He didn't bother with a door, instead using the open window as an exit and landing with a faint 'floomph' in the dirt. He pattered forward, checking the ostensibly solid wall they'd come to rest in front of.
Lance leaned out. "Hey, why're we stopping here? S'a dead end."
Kurt shushed him, and felt along the brickwork. The older boy watched in amazement as one of the bricks abruptly moved, and a large square shifted in the centre of the entire wall. Filth skittered off as the ancient garage door tilted and opened. It had been hidden by layers of dirt and solidified dust, but now clankingly slid open to allow them entrance.
Kurt beckoned hurriedly, and Lance did as he was bade, shoving the jeep into gear and edging into the secret alcove until he was sure the door wouldn't slam shut on his rear. Then he cut the engine and climbed out.
"How the heck did you know about this place?"
Kurt looked around him, at the rows upon rows of gadgets and various mechanical bits and bobs strewn haphazardly across the floor. One or two he recognised as experiments that had never taken off; although there were other's he didn't know and wondered what they'd been intended for.
"This place hasn't changed," he murmured sadly. "It used to belong to a friend of mine, back before the virus came. There was an... incident, whereby I liberated him from a prison he'd been trapped in for twenty years. I was running from a mob and accidentally fell into his lab. Turned on a machine that set him free. Except," he spread his hands wide, encapsulating the outside world into the gesture, "All he had to come back to was this mess. The virus took him out when it was initially used. One of the first."
Lance laid a hand on the elf's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry man. I didn't realise."
Kurt shrugged, wondering if the elder teen would be so willing to offer comfort that way if there wasn't a trenchcoat covering his fur. He'd often found that even other mutants balked at his having fur. At least, they had when they were still around, anyway.
"We'd better move," he advised, slipping from Lance's grasp and out of the door. "Take what you need for now. We can come back for more when you and your Kätzchen have somewhere safer to stay than that doctor's surgery."
Lance moved to the back of the jeep and retrieved a cardboard box. Evidently, they'd planned ahead for if this happened. Kurt nodded, glad of the forethought. Though it was now night-proper, he didn't like being in the open for long. Too risky. The hunters hadn't been spotted for several weeks now, which was always a bad sign. They'd be getting itchy, and he didn't want to be in their path when they decided to scratch.
The two boys left the garage, and Kurt found the dusty control panel that could've passed for a brick beneath the grime encrusted on it. With the press of a button, the door crunched back into place.
A small tear gathered at the corner of one pale eye. "Thank you, Forge, mein Freund," he whispered, before turning tail leading his new companion away.
*******************
"What's it like?"
"You're scared at first. You think you're never going to cope. You'll never do anything again. And then you - y'know - find something. Something you can do and it's like - pow! Epiphany."
"I think I'm glad I didn't go insane," said Kitty. "At least I had someone to talk to."
"Talking to dead people's not so bad," said Pietro. "They don't argue much. And if you know 'em enough, you can make up a decent other half to the conversation. Used t' have a few regular ghosts, once. But they went away. Always meeting new people, me. Always having something to do." Pietro busied himself with something. Kitty could her him tapping. Maybe he was drumming his fingers. "What about you? What's blindness like?"
"Red," said Kitty. "All I can see is red. Whatever they put in my eyes, I think it sorta melted them. Or filled them with blood. Whatever. It's just all one colour, and nothing else. I have to feel for things, listen for them, or smell them, now. Once? I didn't know anything from anything. I had to rely on Lance's word." Kitty smiled. "I used to be such a chatterbox. Talking about the least little thing... 'M tired..."
"Hope's asleep," said Pietro. "I got a little crib thing for her. Clean sheets an' all..."
"No. Thanks. I... um."
"Don't wanna trust the baby to a madman? Hey, I can deal with that. Good instincts. If I were a new Mom, I wouldn't trust me with her, either. She's your little precious. The best thing that ever happened to you." More tapping. "Damnit. I'm jealous. Fuzzy gets a kid. You get a kid. Why can't *I* ever have any fun?"
"Fuzzy?" said Kitty. "What do you mean?"
"German boy. He's covered in blue fur. You couldn't tell?"
"I *was* pre-occupied, you know."
An abrupt laugh. "Yeah. I can guess."
*******************
"What's it like?"
"The fur, the living here, or the tail?"
"All of the above." Lance shrugged.
Kurt grinned. "The fur's handy in winter. A bit of a bitch in summer. I have to brush so I don't leave fur anywhere. Keeping clean is an obsession - which is why I picked us a house with water."
"Us? You and Pietro?"
"No, I only found him yesterday. Robyn and I." Kurt braked. "Robyn! Ach! Stay here, I won't be a minute." He galloped away into the gloom, only to return with twice the number of footfalls. "Lance, this is Robyn LeFleur. I found her - and named her, actually. Robyn, this is Lance. I found him, too. But I didn't name him...uh..." He trailed off, then returned to his feet and began leading them. "Gekommen sie, we need to hurry."
"Why?" asked Lance.
"Full moon. The hunters like full moons."
"What's it like?" said Robyn to Lance. "Having skin like that?"
Lance could only shrug. "I dunno. It's normal."
*******************
A different figure tramped along the road, pushing a barrow. Unlike any other trader, this humble merchant bore something more precious - plants.
Living plants.
There were lights, too, in the wagon, and generators rigged to get power out of human energy. Everything a person could need to grow green things.
Green things, and the love of the Goddess.
The figure was, at a distance, of indeterminate gender. But if one were to move closer to the softly-singing merchant, one would have realised he was a man. A man in a plain khaftan, sandals, and a reed hat. He wore a pendant with a symbol on it. The symbol of the Goddess.
An X contained in a circle.
He was a man on a mission. Go forth, She had said unto them, and spread the seeds of peace. The seeds of hope and co-operation. And when all were working towards one common goal, she would make the skies weep, and the sun come out again, and all the green, growing things she nurtured would flourish and a new age would dawn.
But there was no-one on this road. There hadn't been for miles.
He didn't mind. It gave him more time to sing Her praises.
Or sing any song that came to mind, really.
He liked singing. And pushing the barrow, thus generating light for the plants.
The seeds of hope and faith.
*******************
To Be Continued...
*******************
[1] Literally!
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*******************
Third Fragment ~ 'Hope'
*******************
She was safe with him. She knew that instinctively. Whenever they travelled, she clung close to him, clinging tight to an arm that he wasn't using.
They were slow, now. Slower than he really liked. They had to keep moving. Go from one place to another. Beg, steal or loot supplies, and then move on. Because they could both pass, but never for long enough to settle anywhere.
The last town they hit had a baby shop, and even though he didn't like it, she insisted on raiding it. They needed stuff. She was getting big, now, and that meant that the baby would be coming, soon.
Now the back of the jeep was full of things. A pram that turned into a stroller. A cot that folded up. A baby seat for the car. Bottles and formula, just in case, and all the diapers and little clothes they could grab. Most of it was packed under their tent - a palace stolen from a camping store.
He was seriously considering swapping the jeep for a Winnebago - and fitting it with truck tyres. It'd be easier. It'd hold more supplies. And he could arm it like a tank.
She grunted in pain again. It'd been going on like this for days. Ten minutes, and her big belly felt like it was going to implode. Then peace for another ten minutes.
"It's all right, Kitty-Kat," he soothed. "I'm gonna find someplace clean for you. It's gonna be okay. Just hang on."
"Still ten minutes," she said. "I think. The book said we don't gotta worry until they're five minutes apart."
Lance gave her the clock to wind. "Here. Make sure."
It gave her something to do. She set the clock to midday on the latest contraction and started winding.
They weren't exactly in love; but they were the last two of their kind on Earth. They had to do it. For the future.
Lance stopped at a bunch of buildings and started running, looking through them all for someplace clean. Someplace safe.
Like such a place even truly existed anymore.
*******************
Kurt grunted as Pietro zipped up and loaded him up with yet more stuff. Peeping around the armload, he found that he couldn't actually see anything edible in what he was being given.
"Hey, you *are* getting food, aren't you?"
{ZIP} "Uh-huh," Pietro waved a bag of moth-eaten chips at him. "Whatever I can find. I'm up to the fourth floor now."
"How many floors *are* there?"
"About twenty, give or take," he shrugged. "I'm gonna hafta stop raiding soon to clear up the bodies."
Kurt winced. "Are there many?"
"Enough." Pietro's face was blank, but his eyes spoke volumes. The bag of chips were tossed unceremoniously into Kurt's arms, and he was gone again, reappearing a moment later before the dust of his departure had even settled. "That's it for now. I'd better take this little lot back."
The two boys transferred the mass of belongings and foodstuffs, and Kurt snatched at a piece of fabric that went fluttering to the floor.
"What's this?" He held it up to the moonlight, studying the contours and realising it was a small child's dress, replete with frilly collar and cuffs. Pietro grabbed at it without seeming to move, secreting the material where it wouldn't fall off.
"What's it look like?"
"But why on earth did you take *that*?"
"For Robyn, of course. Little tyke's in serious need of some new threads."
Kurt squinted, a tiny smile playing about the edges of his lips. "Careful, Pietro, you're going soft."
The blonde only grunted, tensed his legs and started running. He was halfway down the street before Kurt turned around. The elf sighed to himself and prepared to wait until his newfound companion returned.
Gradually, the sounds of footsteps ceased as Pietro moved out of earshot, and Kurt slunk into the lee of the building where he was hidden from view, crouching down to conserve energy as he kept watch.
*******************
Kitty groaned, clutching at his hand. "Lance! Lance, it's coming!"
Lance glanced around them fearfully. Not now, they weren't ready. He held her up as best he could, but she kept doubling over in pain and having to stop.
"Come on, Pretty-Kitty," he soothed, rubbing her back. "Just a few more feet, and we'll be at the door."
Tears streamed down Kitty's face. "I can't! I can't do it, Lance! It hurts too much to..... aaauuurghhh," she bent forward again, hugging her swollen belly.
"Well we can't stay out here," Lance replied shortly, then instantly felt bad about being so brusque. She couldn't help it if she was in pain, but an open street in the middle of the day was no place to rest. This place wasn't especially huge, from what he could tell, but mutant haters had been known to hang around smaller. And he'd be damned if he were about to let any of those scum find them so unprotected.
Unconsciously, his hand strayed to the handgun at his belt. Kitty often complained about his having stolen it, especially back at the beginning. Back in Illinois. That was when there had still been hope of finding other survivors, before they began this long trek into the wilderness in an attempt to find others of their kind. There had been none, but they'd found other, less welcoming folk. So he'd kept the gun.
Kitty screeched again in agony, and Lance snapped from his thoughts to haul her to her feet. He was rough, but terror cancelled out any excess feelings of remorse. He stank of stale sweat and fear, while she smelled strongly of bodily juices usually confined to hospitals and birthing pools. Both were tense as they staggered through the permanently open sliding doors of the abandoned doctor's surgery.
Kitty slumped down onto the waiting couch, too spent to go further. Lance looked around nervously, before finally deciding to shut the glass doors. He'd found another exit in back, and felt better about not advertising their presence with her wails leaking of the building out so much.
"Lance!" Kitty cried, groping blindly for his hand. "Lance! Where are you?"
He was at her side in an instant, holding her palm and stroking her damp forelock. Her dark glasses had slipped, revealing the sightless white orbs ringed in angry red scars beneath, and he gently pushed them back into place, all the while shushing her as best he could.
"Shhhhh, Kitty-Kat, it's OK. It's OK, I'm here."
"I'm frightened, Lance," she whimpered pathetically. "It hurts so mu... hu... huuuuuuucchhh!" Another contraction. She screwed up her face, biting her lip to hold in the scream until blood flowed.
Lance glanced about them, and with his free hand patted her bulbous midriff. "S'gonna be OK, Kitty. I promise. S'gonna be OK."
She sniffed, craning her neck towards the sound of his voice. Lance dutifully leaned his head towards her, and rested his cheek on the crown of her skull.
"It's OK, Kitty. I'll see you right, I promise. I'll see you right."
*******************
Kurt's head jerked up at the sound of the first anguished scream. A few seconds later, Pietro skidded up. "What is it?"
"I hear something. Shhhh..."
Another distant cry, this time loud enough for Pietro to hear. "Whoa. What *is* that?"
"Someone's hurting. Quiet again."
There was a moment of calm, then a loud scream tore the silence. "This way!" Kurt took off, darting between too buildings, avoiding a couple of bodies strewn in alleys as he went.
"What about mutant hunters?" Pietro had no trouble keeping up with him, even though he was running on all fours.
"I recognise that yelling," Kurt panted, pushing himself to the limits of his speed and darting around a corner. "That's a birth-cry."
"What?! How do you know?!"
A sob rent the air, and now they were getting close enough to hear a response to it. A male voice, yelling something indiscernible.
Kurt came to a halt in front of a former doctor's office, and glanced wryly at Pietro before starting his work on opening the glass door. "I grew up in a small town. Close-knit. How else would I know?"
With a grunt, he pulled the hastily sealed doors open.
*******************
Between Kitty's screams and his own bellowed responses, Lance was able to make out some kind of noise outside the doors. "Kitty," he said, a little loudly to be heard over her laboured[1] breathing, "I'll be right back. I... I think there's someone outside."
She nodded as best she could before tensing up and screaming once again. Lance bolted for the door.
The first thing he saw was... some kind of demon?!
No, no. It had to be a mutant. Who else would look like that?
In some distant part of his mind, Lance wondered how such an obvious mutant had survived...
*******************
Kurt saw the dishevelled boy come skidding up to within a few feet of the door, saw the panicked, then relieved look on his face, and motioned he was no enemy by raising his palms.
"Relax," he said, pushing the door open as he spoke, "We're here to help."
Back to panicked. "It's my girl, she-"
"Ja, I figured. I'm experienced with this sort of thing. Would you like my help?"
"Oh, man, that would be - "
"OK, she's back here, right?" Kurt walked past him briskly, and called up all his reserves of strength for what was to come.
Pietro, meanwhile, was utterly confused about what to do. Thinking quickly, as he always did, he shut the doors behind him, then set about soundproofing the building and setting up defences at super-speed. _There. That oughta do it._
Now what to do?
He walked with some trepidation, and with very little of his usual speed, into the room that held all the others. _Oof. This is not gonna be pretty._
*******************
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"It's all right, Kitty. I'm here." Lance grabbed her hand, gesturing for help.
"You're name's Kitty?" said a voice. "I'm Kurt. This is Pietro."
"Hi," said another.
"He runs, I teleport. What do you do?"
"She goes through things, I make earthquakes," said Lance.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"OK. OK. Breathe, Kätzchen. Breathe, like this. 'Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho.' You try."
"Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho. Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho."
"See? Childbirth is fun, ja? You're laughing already."
"'M gonna frikkin' kill ya..." she muttered. "Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
{Zwip. Zwip} "Found some rubber gloves, some sterilising solution and a buncha towels."
"Sehr gut. I'll get her pants off and set things up. You scrub."
"*ME*?"
"You're the only one who can fit into the gloves, and I have no time to shave. The kid's engaged and the water's broken. *Move*!" Kurt smiled. "It's okay. I've done this dozens of times."
"Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho..." Kitty whimpered. Movement, and hands touching her skin. Lance tightened his grip.
"Okay, I'm ready," said Pietro. "What do I do?"
"Get ready to catch," said Kurt.
"Eeeeyyeeeeeeeuuuwwww..." muttered Pietro. "This is *sick*..."
"Feel up there and see if she's fully dilated," said Kurt. "Or how far through the baby is."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
"Nyeurgh..." Pietro did as he was told. "Okay. Um. I think the baby's head is jammed."
Kurt slathered his fuzzy arm in the sterilising solution to verify. "Ja. It's stuck."
Lance, sounding alarmed. "Whazzat mean?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
"Either the baby dies, Kätzchen dies, or they both die."
"Fuck that," said Lance. "Kitty? Kitty-Kat? Can you phase just you? I know you haven't done it since
you tested positive, but it's okay, now. You gotta."
Kitty frowned, concentrating.
"Whoah!" said Kurt. He was suddenly holding both baby and placenta.
"Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah," Kitty panted, returning to normal. "That was like, *way* easier."
Pietro returned with forceps, a bowl of water, and yet more towels. Together, he and Kurt washed the little girl.
Lance hugged her. "You did good, sweetie. You did good. It's a little girl. Pretty like you."
"You said there weren't any others," she panted. "You said we were alone."
"I never saw these people before. Kitty-Kat, I didn't know."
"We hide a lot," said Kurt. "When you look like me, you have to." He handed a mewling bundle into Kitty's arms. "Here, Mama. Meet your little baby."
Kitty proudly accepted, for the moment ignoring his strange words. Look like him? Later. "Hello?"
The baby blinked. Then she sneezed. Then she started smacking her lips.
"Best give her a drink, ja?" said Kurt. "Does she have a name?"
"Hope," breathed Kitty. "Hope Pryde." She undid her shirt and rearranged baby and breast. She winced. "*Ow*!"
Kurt smiled. "Good reflexes. She's a fighter."
"Lance Alvers," said Lance, offering his hand.
Kurt took it. "Kurt Wagner."
Pietro declined shaking hands, since he still wore the gunky gloves he'd fetched. Instead, he settled for a quick wave to the newcomers, before zipping into the back to dispose of said gloves.
Kitty smiled to herself, listening to her new baby's suckling noises and feeling around until she could stroke her hair. It was damp with afterbirth, but soft, like wet peach fuzz. She'd have to ask Lance later what colour it was. She could feel Hope's skull pulsing slightly, and immediately retracted her hand to steady her tiny shoulder instead. The little girl broke contact with the milk for a moment, rubbing her nose, and then mewled when she couldn't find the teat again.
"Shhhhh," Kitty soothed, guiding her back into place.
The two remaining mutants looked on, smiling. The sight of mother and newborn is one that has warmed hearts for many millennia, and they were going through the same satisfaction of bringing a life into the world as doctors and nurses used to before everything went wrong.
"Are you two married?" Kurt asked after a while.
Lance shook his head. "We used to live in the same town. We were the only two mutants in our school, so we were kinda left on our own a lot of the time. Nobody wanted to consort with 'muties'." There was a hint of bitterness to his tone, and Kurt nodded, able to identify.
"So, you ran away together to get away from all the hatred."
Lance looked up at him, surprised. "How did you - "
"Obvious, when you think about it. Two mutants travelling together, alone in a place they don't come from." He waved his hand outside where the jeep was in plain view. They hadn't had time to move it since Kitty went into labour, and it was as much of an indication that they weren't from around here as a flashing neon sign.
Lance bobbed his head, sighing. "We thought we were the only two left... after the virus. We just kept searching for others, but in every town we either found nobody, or humans who wanted nothing more than to shoot us. Then Kitty got pregnant, but we had to keep going. There was nowhere to take us in, no place to go. Until we found you guys. This place must be better than most if there are two of you living here."
"Don't kid yourself," Kurt replied darkly. "This place is no picnic, and definitely no safe haven for mutants. Pietro and I have only survived this long because we have means of getting away from mutant hunters if the need arises."
Lance's face fell. "So... it's back on the road for us, then." He heaved a dejected breath, and let it go through his nose. "Shoulda known."
Kurt shook his head. "It's probably better if you stay around here for a while, until your Kätzchen and Hope are stronger. I'll help you hide your stuff," he jerked a thumb out of the glass doors at the jeep, "And Pietro'll stay here to watch over them for a while."
Lance bit his lip, glancing around nervously. "I dunno... I don't like leaving Kitty alone if I can help it. Her eyes, you see," here, he dropped his voice to a low whisper, as if not wanting the new mother to hear him. "When we were back in Connecticut, not long before we left, we ran into a group of thugs coming home from school one day. They were idiots, always raggin' on us for being mutants. Usually it didn't go much further than that, but that day they went too far. One of 'em had some kinda chemical he'd stolen from the chem lab. I dunno what it was, exactly. He threw it into Kitty's eyes. Blinded her."
"Is that why you left?" Kurt's voice was also low, and his golden eyes darted to the pony-tailed girl's sunglasses.
"It was one reason, along with a load of others. We just couldn't stand it anymore. All the snide comments, the jabs, the insults in the street. Nobody stuck up for us, not even our own families. Mine threw me out as soon as they found out I was a 'freak'. That attack just hammered home to us that we had no future in that place. After school, who'd give a 'stinking mutie' a job? So we high-tailed it outta there one night together and just kept going ever since. Even when the virus came. We just kept going. Never stopped for long if we could help it. But today, well..." He waved his arm at the suckling baby.
"All the more reason why you should hide your things," Kurt advised. "You're vulnerable like this. No point in making it easier for the hunters."
As if on cue, Pietro zipped back into the room, freshly scrubbed and smelling of carbolic soap. "What's the haps, chaps?" he asked.
Lance gave the white-haired boy a dubious look. There was something a little *too* cheerful about him. His grin was just that little bit *too* wide, and a spark of madness danced in his blue eyes.
"Pietro," Kurt stepped forward. "I'm going to take Herr... Alvers was it?"
Lance nodded.
"Herr Alvers out to hide his vehicle. You stay here and take care of Kätzchen and baby Hope."
"Huh? What am I supposed to do with 'em?"
Kurt turned back from where he was already heading for the sliding doors. "Clean them up a bit. Afterbirth and bad blood attracts dogs, and barking attracts hunters."
Pietro watched them go, and then regarded his unsavoury task. "Oh *great*. And I just got clean, too."
*******************
This particular town in the middle of Podunk, Nowhere was dead. Logan could smell it. Nothing lived here, and nothing had lived here for a long time. Two, maybe three years. Even the dogs and the scavengers had left.
And yet, there was singing.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." Daisy was skipping. Actively skipping through the dead streets. "H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P! Q, R, S, T, U, V... W, X, Y and Z! Now I know my A, B, C! Won't you come and sing with me?"
The irony made him grin. So far, Daisy had played in a park, trying each of the swings, the teeter-totter and the roundabout before 'just five more minutes' on the jungle-gym before Logan finally announced that enough was enough and they had to look for things they could use.
Daisy found a shopping trolley and wanted a ride in it.
The stores in the place were looted - Logan didn't expect any less - but there were enough gleanings to keep them both healthy until they found another town to go through. And plenty of trade-items like batteries, candles, cooking pots and bug repellents.
Then Logan realised that Daisy had wandered off. Alarmed, he abandoned his loot and followed her scent. Kid could be damn quiet when she wanted to be.
"T, H, E," Daisy was saying, spelling letters like a pro, "G, O, D, D, E, S, S... L, O, V, E, S... Y, O, U."
He found her standing near a gardening display that had been completely cleaned out.
"The Goddess loves you," he read. "What in hell?"
Daisy was staring at him as if he'd done magic. "How'd'ja do that?"
"Remember how I told ya letters started words?"
"Yeah?"
"They make words, too." He pointed out the 'th' in 'the'. "Those two together make a 'th' sound."
"Th," repeated Daisy. "The. Them. They. There. Thursday?"
"Yup. Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes, it's soft. You're pickin' it up quick, kid."
Daisy had a stab at it. "The God-dess lov-es you."
"Loves. That 'e' is silent."
"How can you tell?"
"Practice." Logan smirked. "Which is why I picked up a buncha books for you on my way through. Ready to get packed?"
"Can we have lunch?"
"Yeah. I'll rustle us up something," Logan grinned, "And you read to me while I do it."
"But I'm awful slow."
"Only way you're gonna get better is by doin', kiddo."
*******************
The jeep was loud. Too loud. Years of driving through the dust had caused the engine to develop the equivalent of a smoker's cough, and it hacked obstreperously as they turned the corner.
Lance shot a look at his unorthodox companion. The blue mutant - Kurt - was perched bird-like on the passenger seat, knees up to his chin and golden eyes round. The tail, which disconcerted Lance more than he let on, whipped about nervously, trailing through the grime on the floor and flicking up discarded sweet wrappers and other various packaging from past meals he and Kitty-Kat had managed to scrounge.
"Turn here," came the sudden command, accompanied by a thrusting finger out of the window. Obediently, Lance dropped a screeching gear and yanked the wheel around to the right. "Stop!"
The vehicle chugged to itself, stationary, as Kurt hopped out. He didn't bother with a door, instead using the open window as an exit and landing with a faint 'floomph' in the dirt. He pattered forward, checking the ostensibly solid wall they'd come to rest in front of.
Lance leaned out. "Hey, why're we stopping here? S'a dead end."
Kurt shushed him, and felt along the brickwork. The older boy watched in amazement as one of the bricks abruptly moved, and a large square shifted in the centre of the entire wall. Filth skittered off as the ancient garage door tilted and opened. It had been hidden by layers of dirt and solidified dust, but now clankingly slid open to allow them entrance.
Kurt beckoned hurriedly, and Lance did as he was bade, shoving the jeep into gear and edging into the secret alcove until he was sure the door wouldn't slam shut on his rear. Then he cut the engine and climbed out.
"How the heck did you know about this place?"
Kurt looked around him, at the rows upon rows of gadgets and various mechanical bits and bobs strewn haphazardly across the floor. One or two he recognised as experiments that had never taken off; although there were other's he didn't know and wondered what they'd been intended for.
"This place hasn't changed," he murmured sadly. "It used to belong to a friend of mine, back before the virus came. There was an... incident, whereby I liberated him from a prison he'd been trapped in for twenty years. I was running from a mob and accidentally fell into his lab. Turned on a machine that set him free. Except," he spread his hands wide, encapsulating the outside world into the gesture, "All he had to come back to was this mess. The virus took him out when it was initially used. One of the first."
Lance laid a hand on the elf's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry man. I didn't realise."
Kurt shrugged, wondering if the elder teen would be so willing to offer comfort that way if there wasn't a trenchcoat covering his fur. He'd often found that even other mutants balked at his having fur. At least, they had when they were still around, anyway.
"We'd better move," he advised, slipping from Lance's grasp and out of the door. "Take what you need for now. We can come back for more when you and your Kätzchen have somewhere safer to stay than that doctor's surgery."
Lance moved to the back of the jeep and retrieved a cardboard box. Evidently, they'd planned ahead for if this happened. Kurt nodded, glad of the forethought. Though it was now night-proper, he didn't like being in the open for long. Too risky. The hunters hadn't been spotted for several weeks now, which was always a bad sign. They'd be getting itchy, and he didn't want to be in their path when they decided to scratch.
The two boys left the garage, and Kurt found the dusty control panel that could've passed for a brick beneath the grime encrusted on it. With the press of a button, the door crunched back into place.
A small tear gathered at the corner of one pale eye. "Thank you, Forge, mein Freund," he whispered, before turning tail leading his new companion away.
*******************
"What's it like?"
"You're scared at first. You think you're never going to cope. You'll never do anything again. And then you - y'know - find something. Something you can do and it's like - pow! Epiphany."
"I think I'm glad I didn't go insane," said Kitty. "At least I had someone to talk to."
"Talking to dead people's not so bad," said Pietro. "They don't argue much. And if you know 'em enough, you can make up a decent other half to the conversation. Used t' have a few regular ghosts, once. But they went away. Always meeting new people, me. Always having something to do." Pietro busied himself with something. Kitty could her him tapping. Maybe he was drumming his fingers. "What about you? What's blindness like?"
"Red," said Kitty. "All I can see is red. Whatever they put in my eyes, I think it sorta melted them. Or filled them with blood. Whatever. It's just all one colour, and nothing else. I have to feel for things, listen for them, or smell them, now. Once? I didn't know anything from anything. I had to rely on Lance's word." Kitty smiled. "I used to be such a chatterbox. Talking about the least little thing... 'M tired..."
"Hope's asleep," said Pietro. "I got a little crib thing for her. Clean sheets an' all..."
"No. Thanks. I... um."
"Don't wanna trust the baby to a madman? Hey, I can deal with that. Good instincts. If I were a new Mom, I wouldn't trust me with her, either. She's your little precious. The best thing that ever happened to you." More tapping. "Damnit. I'm jealous. Fuzzy gets a kid. You get a kid. Why can't *I* ever have any fun?"
"Fuzzy?" said Kitty. "What do you mean?"
"German boy. He's covered in blue fur. You couldn't tell?"
"I *was* pre-occupied, you know."
An abrupt laugh. "Yeah. I can guess."
*******************
"What's it like?"
"The fur, the living here, or the tail?"
"All of the above." Lance shrugged.
Kurt grinned. "The fur's handy in winter. A bit of a bitch in summer. I have to brush so I don't leave fur anywhere. Keeping clean is an obsession - which is why I picked us a house with water."
"Us? You and Pietro?"
"No, I only found him yesterday. Robyn and I." Kurt braked. "Robyn! Ach! Stay here, I won't be a minute." He galloped away into the gloom, only to return with twice the number of footfalls. "Lance, this is Robyn LeFleur. I found her - and named her, actually. Robyn, this is Lance. I found him, too. But I didn't name him...uh..." He trailed off, then returned to his feet and began leading them. "Gekommen sie, we need to hurry."
"Why?" asked Lance.
"Full moon. The hunters like full moons."
"What's it like?" said Robyn to Lance. "Having skin like that?"
Lance could only shrug. "I dunno. It's normal."
*******************
A different figure tramped along the road, pushing a barrow. Unlike any other trader, this humble merchant bore something more precious - plants.
Living plants.
There were lights, too, in the wagon, and generators rigged to get power out of human energy. Everything a person could need to grow green things.
Green things, and the love of the Goddess.
The figure was, at a distance, of indeterminate gender. But if one were to move closer to the softly-singing merchant, one would have realised he was a man. A man in a plain khaftan, sandals, and a reed hat. He wore a pendant with a symbol on it. The symbol of the Goddess.
An X contained in a circle.
He was a man on a mission. Go forth, She had said unto them, and spread the seeds of peace. The seeds of hope and co-operation. And when all were working towards one common goal, she would make the skies weep, and the sun come out again, and all the green, growing things she nurtured would flourish and a new age would dawn.
But there was no-one on this road. There hadn't been for miles.
He didn't mind. It gave him more time to sing Her praises.
Or sing any song that came to mind, really.
He liked singing. And pushing the barrow, thus generating light for the plants.
The seeds of hope and faith.
*******************
To Be Continued...
*******************
[1] Literally!
*******************