As she pulled up to her new home, she saw a small crowd a couple blocks from the entrance to Terminal City, or TC as it had started to be called by almost anyone who knew about the place. A flag flapped in the distance on top of one of their buildings, the transgenics staking their claim on that section of town.
A few months ago, there had been a hostage situation; it was all over every news channel. The result was constant police and National Guard presence at the area the transgenics had claimed. For a while, police cars were the only barrier between the ordinary people and the not so ordinary. Now, though, the authorities had backed off a little. Only two cop cars were by the newly built fence.
Their home had been on the market for quite a while as a rental before the transgenics became exposed, but after, the owner decided sell; he didn't want to have anything to do with that place anymore. It helped in getting a cheap price for the home.
When she went up there the first time, she filled out ten applications for jobs that were in a few miles of her home. So far she had four interviews lined up, one at a grocery store, two at a restaurant, and one delivery service. She was hoping to hear back from the clothing store next to the majority of day cares that she wanted to get Jeremy into, but so far, they hadn't contacted her.
Pulling into the driveway, she slowed to a stop and climbed out of the car. Her keys were clenched tightly in her hand; she wondered, not for the first time, if the house was a good idea. Yes, it fit her needs, but would it be more dangerous around there or safer?
On the one hand, there were a whole bunch enhanced people right up the street who didn't seem all that bad—she didn't listen to the biased news anchors or the government when they said transgenics were dangerous. What would they say about aliens if they knew about them, that they were trying to kill or probe people to figure out how they ticked?
However, there was also the fact that a lot of people, violent people whom hated anything different from them and attacked at random, weren't too far away. If someone acted weird, would they assume they were a transgenic and chase them, beat them, maybe even kill them? But that was happening all over the city, not just that neighborhood.
Walking over to Jeremy's side, she opened the door and unbuckled him leaving the suitcases in the trunk for now. She'd go back out and get them once she got inside and had Jeremy situated.
"Big, Mama." He stared up at the house in awe.
She looked up with him. "Yea, it is kind of big." It's a two-story home with a basement but a small yard in comparison to the other yards around the block. The previous owner didn't even bother to clean out the basement before he sold it to her. Guess what she would be doing over the next few weekends.
From what she gathered the owner tossed all the previous tenants things down there when they moved out. Maybe there would be some things in there she could salvage and make it like new again.
Liz climbed the front stairs with Jeremy on her hip making it to the front door. Her parents insisted she changed the door locks before moving in. It took a few days to find a locksmith that would dare come out there and another couple days for them to fit her into their schedule. The locksmith had come the week she showed up the second time.
The guy who came was good-looking, very good-looking. She had been expecting an overweight guy with pants that didn't fit properly and a gut that stuck far out and over his pants. That wasn't what she got though, oh no, instead she got a hot guy with jet black hair and deep brown eyes and an ass that she could bounce a quarter off of.
She flirted with him the whole time he was changing the locks and adding in another one for extra protection. A job that normally would have taken two to three hours took six, that night he asked her out on a date. She figured why not; she'd be leaving the day after next, so why not have some fun while there.
They had dinner, and then he took her back to an apartment he was renting. She got out a lot of sexual frustration that night. Before she first had sex, she would have said that she'd never sleep with a guy on the first date or even the second date. But there were some guys that a good roll in the sack was all that was needed. Since she didn't bring guy's home to meet Jeremy and didn't date that often, she had to get her itches scratched somehow.
After that night, she hadn't seen him again, and she was fine with that. He was good in bed, but neither wanted a relationship; he gave her his phone number though, but she never called it. She's sure it's somewhere in the house though…or she might have left it in her pocket and washed it accidentally. Either way, she didn't have it anymore.
Inside, the house was clean, the graffiti had been removed, and the windows had been cleaned. Alien magic and Windex definitely came in handy when it came to getting rid of paint and grime. When she first walked in, she could barely see the walls they were so covered with symbols, words, and pictures all in various colors. And don't even get her started on the cobwebs, dirt, and slime, so gross; she didn't want to dwell on what it might have been.
In the living room, some of the furniture was already up and in the general area that she wanted it, and Jeremy's playpen was up too. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she placed him into the playpen. "Now I'll be right back, baby. Mommy's gonna go get our stuff." She stroked a loving hand down his baby fine blonde hair.
Liz set a couple toys from his carry bag in with him so he wouldn't be bored. Leaving the house, she closed the door behind her and went down to her car. She popped the trunk and took out the suitcases before going to the back seat and grabbing the stroller and anything else she wanted to bring into the house.
Locking the car she slowly trudged up the steps and back into the house. Before she shut the door behind her, she heard a loud engine and turned to see what was making the noise; it was a lime green motorcycle. It sped down the street and toward the crowd of angry civilians.
The rider, who wore a helmet, didn't stop or even appear to slow down. Instead they kept going, raced up a ramp and flew over the guarded fence. For the first time since she arrived the crowd was silent. Probably didn't see that too often, did they?
Liz remembered while on the road, when Maria and Michael were having an argument, she rode with Michael on his bike. She enjoyed it a little bit, but to be honest, she hated it most of the time. Nothing but the clothes on your back, and skin between the rider and the pavement didn't exactly calm her nerves.
With the show over and the crowd voicing their hate once again, she set the suitcases and things down in the entryway and shut the door. Checking her watch, she picked Jamie back up from his playpen and took him to the kitchen where she had his formula stocked up. She'd make them lunch, and then she'd clean more of the house up. No point in waiting till tomorrow.
TBC