2.
Raien could barely see inside the room. After feeling the walls, finding they were made of metal, and judging on the dimensions of the room, it was actually a trailer. Like he was goods being transported.
Sitting on the floor Raien explored the humming collar. There had to be a release mechanism. The people that made it would have wanted a way out of their own device if it was ever used against them. Suppressing mutant abilities wasn't the only thing these collars were for. At the touch of a button his captors could run electricity through his body, which would quell any uprising fast. It was relatively smooth, and he soon gave up.
An engine started toward the front of the trailer. He heard male voices outside talking. He could only make out a few words. Cargo. Sanctuary. Scum. That was really all he needed to know. He was going to be transported to one of FoH's little happy camps. He knew something like this had been building up. First, FoH had made commercials about the mutant problem. Then they'd lobbied Politicians to get a few choice laws passed, and a some extra funding for their organization. Their ideas slowly were becoming mainstream. Yes, mutants were dangerous, but so were people. It really didn't take that much energy to go and get a handgun. Hell even a pencil could kill a person, but Mutants were blamed for all crime, murder, and even the weather. They'd become the world's scapegoats, and now, that world wanted to get rid of them.
Soon the truck stopped. He heard doors slamming around the trailer. There was silence for a long time. Then something crackling. Something was burning. Raien could smell the smoke. He wondered what was going on. Suddenly a roar shook the stagnant air around him. It sounded like a lion, but carried with it sorrow and rage. Something slammed into the wall to Raien's left. A man screamed. What the hell is going on here?! Raien thought. He tried to kick open the rear door of the trailer, hoping it was an escape attempt, but it wasn't budging. Another roar, this time of pain. Something big slammed into the trailer now.
His ear pressed to the wall, he could hear heavy breathing. Men shouting. Suddenly electricity shook his body, coming not from his collar but from the wall itself, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.
He tried get his bearings again as the truck door opened, flooding the place with white light, blinding Raien. Something landed heavily on the floor in front of him. "We thought you were getting lonely..." one of the men outside sneered as he slammed the door shut.
Finally, Raien's vision cleared, and he saw a man laying in front of him, laying on his side. He was sobbing as he got back to his feet, and launched himself at the truck door. Crashing into it, he hardly made a dent. He howled with rage as he crashed into it again before being brought to his knees by the electricity in the collar.
The guy was huge. At least seven feet tall. Looking closely at the man's shaking body, he saw fur all over it, with mane-like hair falling over his back. He had hoofed feet, and he was bleeding from a small stump that looked like it had once been a tail, maybe belonging to a scorpion. Raien carefully approached and put his hand on the man's shoulder.
The man didn't react at all. He just stared at his shaking hands, tears making tracks in the hair of his lion-like face. His sorrow thickened the air. Raien could feel it in his own heart, it was so intense. He did his best to cradle the man's shaking form in his arms, trying to comfort him. It was as if someone had reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. Still sobbing the man reached a hand up to hold onto Raien's arm.
"My name's Raien." he whispered.
It was a few moments before he got a response. "Chimera" he said, beginning to sober. He had a very gentle voice, heartbroken as it was now. There was something about the voice that told Raien his gentle nature. A swell of compassion rose in Raien's chest. What could have brought this poor man to roar and howl as he had a few moments earlier? He didn't want to think about it.
"Well, Chimera, we're going to get out of here. They're not going to get away with this." He said, trying to convince Chimera, but also himself. A few moments passed, and Chimera's body began to relax in his arms. His breathing slowed, and the sounds of sleep began to appear. "You sleep. From what I heard out there, you deserve it, my friend." he whispered. For a few moments Raien watched Chimera, the pain melting from his face.
A few hours passed, and Raien carefully laid the huge man on the floor of the truck and began looking for anything to help him escape.
It was very dark in the trailer. It was big enough to be a commercial truck, and Raien didn't count on FoH to be very intelligent. There had to be something he could use. He began feeling the walls for anything. He was hoping for a fire extinguisher or anything he could use as a weapon. He'd almost given up hope when he reached the front of the trailer. He felt a latch. Carefully and silently he eased It open. Smiling to himself, he picked up the push broom that was inside. Silently, he closed the compartment once more.
Now he needed a reason for them to stop. He gently covered Chimera's mouth, and woke him.
"Shh! Its ok. I need your help, big guy." Raien whispered. "I think I've found us a way out of this. Now heres what I need you to do..."
Chimera began to smile.
"...So then the guy comes back to the bartender and says: 'Alright. Wheres the bitch with the bad tooth?'"
Both men were laughing so hard at the joke they nearly swerved into another lane. A few moments passed in silence as both men sobered. "Grimes, you think what we're doing to these freaks is really the right thing to do? I mean yeah, they're scum, but do you really think we should be killing them and using their women like we do?" asked the man in the passenger seat.
"Hell yeah. They're freaks of nature, and they don't have a place on our planet. 'Sides, they're dangerous. One of my friends lost a brother to those bastards. You ain't havin' second thoughts are you?"
"No, no. You're right. Nevermind."
A loud thud came from behind them. Then another, more powerful. The truck started to rock. "Shit. Fucking mutants can't be quiet for more than two minutes. I think its time we taught them their place." Grimes said as he pulled the truck over. The man in the passenger seat nodded, starting to grin.
They got out of the truck, leaving it running. Grimes unlatched the door, then stood back waiting for his partner to open it. He cracked his knuckles and loosened his pistol in its holster. Suddenly the man opening the door flew back grabbing his throat. Grimes barely had time to look down before Raien burst out of the truck wielding a broom handle. He drew his weapon but not before Nightfire had whipped the stick around, hitting him squarely in the temple. Grimes fell to the ground, but when he hit, the gun went off. Breathing heavy, Raien started for the front of the truck, grateful it was still running.
"Chimera, c'mon. Lets get outta here." He said, looking back. Chimera was sitting on the bumper holding his chest. He was bleeding. "Oh no. Are you alright?" he asked realizing what had happened.
"I'll be fine. Lets get out of here." he said, letting Raien help him into the passenger seat. Raien realized that they were still wearing the collars. He returned to the two soldiers, both unconscious. One of them had something that looked like a remote control in his hand. Raien studied it. He'd always been good with technology. Before long, he'd figured out how to release the collars. His own snapped off easily. He did the same for Chimera, who was very grateful, but in some considerable pain.
A slow smile spread to his lips as he realized he could set a perimeter from the device. If they went outside that perimeter, the collars would begin shocking their wearer. He placed one collar around each man's neck, and threw them both into the back of the truck. Luckily, on this particular stretch of highway, there wasn't anyone to see what had just happened. He closed and locked the door before getting in the cab.
The adrenaline from the fight began to fade, and both Raien and Chimera knew that they had to find somewhere to stash the soldiers. They couldn't simply let them go free or they'd tell FoH that their 'cargo' had escaped. If that happened, every FoH in the country would be keeping an eye out for their truck. They found a dirt road leading off into nothingness. There didn't seem to be a whole lot around them. It was kind of a desert, Raien thought, and as they'd come from California, Raien simply figured, based on the time they'd spent inside the truck, that they must have traveled south, which could put them still in California, or they could be in Nevada.
After driving a while on a dirt road, both were comfortable leaving the soldiers there. They stopped the truck, and Raien got out, the collar remote in his hands. He unlocked the door, and just to be on the safe side, he hit the button marked 'Pacify'. Hearing a pair of screams, Raien opened the door.
"This is more than people like you deserve, but I've set the collars to release after seven days. By then we'll be where we need to go, and I personally don't want to be responsible for two deaths." Raien said slowly. "However, I'm not totally averse to the idea... First, you're going to give me your wallets." he paused as a new idea came into his head. "No wait... I want your clothes."
The two men looked terrified and confused. Blue fire suddenly surrounded Raien, and he held up the remote in his hands. "Now." he said in a menacing calm. One man started to comply, but the bigger of the two pulled a knife.
"You're joking right?" Raien chuckled as he pressed the button sending the man to his knees. "Your clothes. Now."
Both men tossed their clothing out of the truck, leaving only their underwear. Raien really had outdone himself this time. In one action, he'd both made sure they had no way to call their friends, and also gotten themselves money to get to where they were going.
"Seven days, gentlemen." he said, throwing in enough food and water to last them if they used it sparingly before slamming the door shut. Quickly, he set the perimeter to 10 feet, which would allow the men inside to move, but not even touch the door. He set a timer of seven days, and programmed the collars to release on the last day. After unhitching the trailer, he and Chimera turned around, and resumed the path that the soldiers had been taking them.
"Raien, that was amazing. I thought for sure they'd planned to kill us. No one's ever done something like this for me. Thank you." Chimera said. The pain in his voice reminded Raien of the wound in Chimera's chest. He pulled off to the side of the highway. Luckily for the two of them, this truck was a sleeper. It had a bunk in the back, along with TV, laptop, and even a cell phone. He found what he was after, the first aid kit, fairly quickly.
"Lets see if we can't clean you up a little, Chimera." Raien said. Looking at him for the first time in daylight, he was truly a thing of beauty. Not necessarily in a human sense, but the golden fur covering his heavily muscled body gleamed in the sunlight, giving him a glow that no normal person could ever hope to have. Thinking more into it, though, Raien decided that they'd better not risk someone seeing him in the passenger seat.
"Actually, Chimera, if you don't mind, could you stay back here? Its not that I don't like looking at your charming face, just that we need to keep a low profile." Raien said, trying not to hurt his friend's feelings.
"I understand." He replied before slowly sitting down on the bunk. It looked like a bench to his massive body.
"Hmmm..." Raien thought. "I've got a better idea. Sorry to do this, but can you stand up a second?"
Shaking his head, but smiling a little, Chimera rose from the bunk. Raien pulled the mattress off, and folded the frame up into the back wall. "Here, put your feet between the seats, and you can lay down. I don't want you moving a whole lot till we can get that wound looked at."
Chimera obliged, and Raien knelt down to look at the red spot on his friend's coat. Moving the hair aside, Raien realized how little he knew about gunshots. He knew that the bullet was still inside, but he didn't want to risk digging it out. He pulled a bottle of hydrogen peroxide out of the first aid kit, and held Chimera's hand.
"This may hurt a bit, but we've got to clean it." Raien poured a healthy amount of the clear liquid onto the wound. It frothed up and Chimera grunted, squeezing Raien's hand. Raien cleaned the wound, and did his best to place a bandage over it, despite Chimera's fur. "Ok, that's about all I can do until we get to a hospital." Raien said.
"Hospital?" Chimera asked, pointing to his face. "They're not going to treat me. The only thing that will get us is recaptured. Who would even want to help us?"
Realizing the truth of Chimera's words, another idea popped into Raien's head.
"You know, not too long after I found out I was a mutant, a man and woman came to see me. My parents were still in shock, they hadn't decided to disown me yet. These two told me a place where I'd fit right in. It started with an X, I think. Xav... Xavier's! That's it. They said it was in a New York suburb." Raien thought for a moment. "Westchester! If anyone would be willing to help us, they might. That is, unless FoH has gotten to them too. I think its worth a shot. What do you think?"
"Never heard of the place. But I think I remember reading on the internet that FoH isn't as popular in the east coast as it is in the west. The farther away we get from them the better." He said.
"Great. Lets get movin' then." Raien said, starting the truck going again.
Chimera still looked very tired, but seemed too preoccupied to sleep. Raien wondered what was on his mind, but based on the way he was earlier, he knew that whatever it was, it was big. FoH had really done something foul to him. Raien turned on the radio, quickly finding a faint station playing light rock. Soon, from the announcer, they learned they were in eastern Nevada. Raien smiled to himself. FoH had gotten them part way to their destination.
"Wow" Chimera said "These guys were saving for something. Theres nearly three hundred dollars between the two wallets." Then he chuckled grimly, which caused him to grunt and wince. "No pictures of girlfriends in their wallets, either..."
"Big surprise there," Raien said smiling. "You feeling ok back there, big guy?"
"I'll make it." Chimera said simply.
After over twelve hours of driving, Raien pulled off onto a side road and parked the truck. "I'm starting to lose it, Chimera. I need a few hours sleep." Chimera started to offer to drive, but Raien interrupted him. "No need. Just make a little room down there if you can."
Chimera moved over a little bit, leaving just enough room for the both of them. Soon, they both fell asleep. Raien woke a few hours later, his arm across Chimera's flat stomach. He pulled it back, but wondered why it hadn't exactly felt wrong. He shrugged it off and went back to sleep.
Raien could barely see inside the room. After feeling the walls, finding they were made of metal, and judging on the dimensions of the room, it was actually a trailer. Like he was goods being transported.
Sitting on the floor Raien explored the humming collar. There had to be a release mechanism. The people that made it would have wanted a way out of their own device if it was ever used against them. Suppressing mutant abilities wasn't the only thing these collars were for. At the touch of a button his captors could run electricity through his body, which would quell any uprising fast. It was relatively smooth, and he soon gave up.
An engine started toward the front of the trailer. He heard male voices outside talking. He could only make out a few words. Cargo. Sanctuary. Scum. That was really all he needed to know. He was going to be transported to one of FoH's little happy camps. He knew something like this had been building up. First, FoH had made commercials about the mutant problem. Then they'd lobbied Politicians to get a few choice laws passed, and a some extra funding for their organization. Their ideas slowly were becoming mainstream. Yes, mutants were dangerous, but so were people. It really didn't take that much energy to go and get a handgun. Hell even a pencil could kill a person, but Mutants were blamed for all crime, murder, and even the weather. They'd become the world's scapegoats, and now, that world wanted to get rid of them.
Soon the truck stopped. He heard doors slamming around the trailer. There was silence for a long time. Then something crackling. Something was burning. Raien could smell the smoke. He wondered what was going on. Suddenly a roar shook the stagnant air around him. It sounded like a lion, but carried with it sorrow and rage. Something slammed into the wall to Raien's left. A man screamed. What the hell is going on here?! Raien thought. He tried to kick open the rear door of the trailer, hoping it was an escape attempt, but it wasn't budging. Another roar, this time of pain. Something big slammed into the trailer now.
His ear pressed to the wall, he could hear heavy breathing. Men shouting. Suddenly electricity shook his body, coming not from his collar but from the wall itself, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.
He tried get his bearings again as the truck door opened, flooding the place with white light, blinding Raien. Something landed heavily on the floor in front of him. "We thought you were getting lonely..." one of the men outside sneered as he slammed the door shut.
Finally, Raien's vision cleared, and he saw a man laying in front of him, laying on his side. He was sobbing as he got back to his feet, and launched himself at the truck door. Crashing into it, he hardly made a dent. He howled with rage as he crashed into it again before being brought to his knees by the electricity in the collar.
The guy was huge. At least seven feet tall. Looking closely at the man's shaking body, he saw fur all over it, with mane-like hair falling over his back. He had hoofed feet, and he was bleeding from a small stump that looked like it had once been a tail, maybe belonging to a scorpion. Raien carefully approached and put his hand on the man's shoulder.
The man didn't react at all. He just stared at his shaking hands, tears making tracks in the hair of his lion-like face. His sorrow thickened the air. Raien could feel it in his own heart, it was so intense. He did his best to cradle the man's shaking form in his arms, trying to comfort him. It was as if someone had reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. Still sobbing the man reached a hand up to hold onto Raien's arm.
"My name's Raien." he whispered.
It was a few moments before he got a response. "Chimera" he said, beginning to sober. He had a very gentle voice, heartbroken as it was now. There was something about the voice that told Raien his gentle nature. A swell of compassion rose in Raien's chest. What could have brought this poor man to roar and howl as he had a few moments earlier? He didn't want to think about it.
"Well, Chimera, we're going to get out of here. They're not going to get away with this." He said, trying to convince Chimera, but also himself. A few moments passed, and Chimera's body began to relax in his arms. His breathing slowed, and the sounds of sleep began to appear. "You sleep. From what I heard out there, you deserve it, my friend." he whispered. For a few moments Raien watched Chimera, the pain melting from his face.
A few hours passed, and Raien carefully laid the huge man on the floor of the truck and began looking for anything to help him escape.
It was very dark in the trailer. It was big enough to be a commercial truck, and Raien didn't count on FoH to be very intelligent. There had to be something he could use. He began feeling the walls for anything. He was hoping for a fire extinguisher or anything he could use as a weapon. He'd almost given up hope when he reached the front of the trailer. He felt a latch. Carefully and silently he eased It open. Smiling to himself, he picked up the push broom that was inside. Silently, he closed the compartment once more.
Now he needed a reason for them to stop. He gently covered Chimera's mouth, and woke him.
"Shh! Its ok. I need your help, big guy." Raien whispered. "I think I've found us a way out of this. Now heres what I need you to do..."
Chimera began to smile.
"...So then the guy comes back to the bartender and says: 'Alright. Wheres the bitch with the bad tooth?'"
Both men were laughing so hard at the joke they nearly swerved into another lane. A few moments passed in silence as both men sobered. "Grimes, you think what we're doing to these freaks is really the right thing to do? I mean yeah, they're scum, but do you really think we should be killing them and using their women like we do?" asked the man in the passenger seat.
"Hell yeah. They're freaks of nature, and they don't have a place on our planet. 'Sides, they're dangerous. One of my friends lost a brother to those bastards. You ain't havin' second thoughts are you?"
"No, no. You're right. Nevermind."
A loud thud came from behind them. Then another, more powerful. The truck started to rock. "Shit. Fucking mutants can't be quiet for more than two minutes. I think its time we taught them their place." Grimes said as he pulled the truck over. The man in the passenger seat nodded, starting to grin.
They got out of the truck, leaving it running. Grimes unlatched the door, then stood back waiting for his partner to open it. He cracked his knuckles and loosened his pistol in its holster. Suddenly the man opening the door flew back grabbing his throat. Grimes barely had time to look down before Raien burst out of the truck wielding a broom handle. He drew his weapon but not before Nightfire had whipped the stick around, hitting him squarely in the temple. Grimes fell to the ground, but when he hit, the gun went off. Breathing heavy, Raien started for the front of the truck, grateful it was still running.
"Chimera, c'mon. Lets get outta here." He said, looking back. Chimera was sitting on the bumper holding his chest. He was bleeding. "Oh no. Are you alright?" he asked realizing what had happened.
"I'll be fine. Lets get out of here." he said, letting Raien help him into the passenger seat. Raien realized that they were still wearing the collars. He returned to the two soldiers, both unconscious. One of them had something that looked like a remote control in his hand. Raien studied it. He'd always been good with technology. Before long, he'd figured out how to release the collars. His own snapped off easily. He did the same for Chimera, who was very grateful, but in some considerable pain.
A slow smile spread to his lips as he realized he could set a perimeter from the device. If they went outside that perimeter, the collars would begin shocking their wearer. He placed one collar around each man's neck, and threw them both into the back of the truck. Luckily, on this particular stretch of highway, there wasn't anyone to see what had just happened. He closed and locked the door before getting in the cab.
The adrenaline from the fight began to fade, and both Raien and Chimera knew that they had to find somewhere to stash the soldiers. They couldn't simply let them go free or they'd tell FoH that their 'cargo' had escaped. If that happened, every FoH in the country would be keeping an eye out for their truck. They found a dirt road leading off into nothingness. There didn't seem to be a whole lot around them. It was kind of a desert, Raien thought, and as they'd come from California, Raien simply figured, based on the time they'd spent inside the truck, that they must have traveled south, which could put them still in California, or they could be in Nevada.
After driving a while on a dirt road, both were comfortable leaving the soldiers there. They stopped the truck, and Raien got out, the collar remote in his hands. He unlocked the door, and just to be on the safe side, he hit the button marked 'Pacify'. Hearing a pair of screams, Raien opened the door.
"This is more than people like you deserve, but I've set the collars to release after seven days. By then we'll be where we need to go, and I personally don't want to be responsible for two deaths." Raien said slowly. "However, I'm not totally averse to the idea... First, you're going to give me your wallets." he paused as a new idea came into his head. "No wait... I want your clothes."
The two men looked terrified and confused. Blue fire suddenly surrounded Raien, and he held up the remote in his hands. "Now." he said in a menacing calm. One man started to comply, but the bigger of the two pulled a knife.
"You're joking right?" Raien chuckled as he pressed the button sending the man to his knees. "Your clothes. Now."
Both men tossed their clothing out of the truck, leaving only their underwear. Raien really had outdone himself this time. In one action, he'd both made sure they had no way to call their friends, and also gotten themselves money to get to where they were going.
"Seven days, gentlemen." he said, throwing in enough food and water to last them if they used it sparingly before slamming the door shut. Quickly, he set the perimeter to 10 feet, which would allow the men inside to move, but not even touch the door. He set a timer of seven days, and programmed the collars to release on the last day. After unhitching the trailer, he and Chimera turned around, and resumed the path that the soldiers had been taking them.
"Raien, that was amazing. I thought for sure they'd planned to kill us. No one's ever done something like this for me. Thank you." Chimera said. The pain in his voice reminded Raien of the wound in Chimera's chest. He pulled off to the side of the highway. Luckily for the two of them, this truck was a sleeper. It had a bunk in the back, along with TV, laptop, and even a cell phone. He found what he was after, the first aid kit, fairly quickly.
"Lets see if we can't clean you up a little, Chimera." Raien said. Looking at him for the first time in daylight, he was truly a thing of beauty. Not necessarily in a human sense, but the golden fur covering his heavily muscled body gleamed in the sunlight, giving him a glow that no normal person could ever hope to have. Thinking more into it, though, Raien decided that they'd better not risk someone seeing him in the passenger seat.
"Actually, Chimera, if you don't mind, could you stay back here? Its not that I don't like looking at your charming face, just that we need to keep a low profile." Raien said, trying not to hurt his friend's feelings.
"I understand." He replied before slowly sitting down on the bunk. It looked like a bench to his massive body.
"Hmmm..." Raien thought. "I've got a better idea. Sorry to do this, but can you stand up a second?"
Shaking his head, but smiling a little, Chimera rose from the bunk. Raien pulled the mattress off, and folded the frame up into the back wall. "Here, put your feet between the seats, and you can lay down. I don't want you moving a whole lot till we can get that wound looked at."
Chimera obliged, and Raien knelt down to look at the red spot on his friend's coat. Moving the hair aside, Raien realized how little he knew about gunshots. He knew that the bullet was still inside, but he didn't want to risk digging it out. He pulled a bottle of hydrogen peroxide out of the first aid kit, and held Chimera's hand.
"This may hurt a bit, but we've got to clean it." Raien poured a healthy amount of the clear liquid onto the wound. It frothed up and Chimera grunted, squeezing Raien's hand. Raien cleaned the wound, and did his best to place a bandage over it, despite Chimera's fur. "Ok, that's about all I can do until we get to a hospital." Raien said.
"Hospital?" Chimera asked, pointing to his face. "They're not going to treat me. The only thing that will get us is recaptured. Who would even want to help us?"
Realizing the truth of Chimera's words, another idea popped into Raien's head.
"You know, not too long after I found out I was a mutant, a man and woman came to see me. My parents were still in shock, they hadn't decided to disown me yet. These two told me a place where I'd fit right in. It started with an X, I think. Xav... Xavier's! That's it. They said it was in a New York suburb." Raien thought for a moment. "Westchester! If anyone would be willing to help us, they might. That is, unless FoH has gotten to them too. I think its worth a shot. What do you think?"
"Never heard of the place. But I think I remember reading on the internet that FoH isn't as popular in the east coast as it is in the west. The farther away we get from them the better." He said.
"Great. Lets get movin' then." Raien said, starting the truck going again.
Chimera still looked very tired, but seemed too preoccupied to sleep. Raien wondered what was on his mind, but based on the way he was earlier, he knew that whatever it was, it was big. FoH had really done something foul to him. Raien turned on the radio, quickly finding a faint station playing light rock. Soon, from the announcer, they learned they were in eastern Nevada. Raien smiled to himself. FoH had gotten them part way to their destination.
"Wow" Chimera said "These guys were saving for something. Theres nearly three hundred dollars between the two wallets." Then he chuckled grimly, which caused him to grunt and wince. "No pictures of girlfriends in their wallets, either..."
"Big surprise there," Raien said smiling. "You feeling ok back there, big guy?"
"I'll make it." Chimera said simply.
After over twelve hours of driving, Raien pulled off onto a side road and parked the truck. "I'm starting to lose it, Chimera. I need a few hours sleep." Chimera started to offer to drive, but Raien interrupted him. "No need. Just make a little room down there if you can."
Chimera moved over a little bit, leaving just enough room for the both of them. Soon, they both fell asleep. Raien woke a few hours later, his arm across Chimera's flat stomach. He pulled it back, but wondered why it hadn't exactly felt wrong. He shrugged it off and went back to sleep.