Chapter 3:Janie

A Chapter by Danny X

I laid down on the former captain’s bed and sighed. It seemed like Jake and Dan were going to fight no matter what I did. They literally refused to admit that they needed to help each other. The only way we were going to be able to avoid the government would be working together. None of us could do it on our own. They knew that. I had told them that. Why weren’t they listening to me? I closed my eyes and decided to go to sleep.

“Janie!” Tyler yelled. “Get out here! Someone’s here!”

“Seriously?” I mumbled. I got out of the bed and went to the door of the barrack. “Why am I needed to deal with someone?” I yelled.

“Janie!” Tyler repeated. I sighed.

“All right Tyler. Who is it?” I worked my way through the base to the airfield, where Tyler was yelling from. It wasn’t that far away; I just couldn’t see it from the door of my barrack. As I rounded the corner, I saw a boy that seemed to be a little younger than Tyler. He was a scared looking. It seemed like he was on the run. “Uh, Tyler,” I started.

“Hi Janie. He won’t talk to me,” Tyler said.

“Okay.” I worked my way closer to the two boys. Neither of them was moving at all. “Hi. I’m Janie. What’s your name?” He didn’t answer. He seemed scared to. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dan and Jake come out of what used to me the mess hall.

“Janie, Tyler, get away from him!” Jake yelled.

“It could be a trap!” Dan yelled. I rolled my eyes.

“Now they agree on something,” Tyler mumbled.

“Why would I be a trap?” The boy asked. Tyler and I looked at him.

“Because we’re hiding here. How did you get here?” I asked.

“I, uh, I ran,” The boy said.

“Where are you from?”

“California.”

“When did you leave California?”

“That depends.”

“On?” Tyler asked.

“On what time it is.” The boy looked at the ground.

“Wait. You ran here in less than a day?” I said.

“Uh, yeah,” The boy said.

“You know, I don’t think he’s a trap,” Tyler said.

“Nope,” I said.

“I think he’s on the run like us,” Tyler said.

“Yep.” I smiled. The boy seemed startled.

“What do you mean like you?” The boy asked.

“Uh, we are a few mutants from this area that had to, uh, skip out on our mutant test today,” Tyler said.

“You and Jake skipped out. Dan and I actually went through the machine,” I said.

“True.”

“You’re mutants too?” The boy asked.

“Yep. I’m Janie. This is Tyler. What’s your name?” I asked.

“Uh, I’m Dylan.”

“Nice to meet you Dylan,” Tyler said.

“So, uh, what type of mutants are you?” Dylan wouldn’t look up.

“Why don’t we wait on the talent show and tell until after we get you some food?” I said. “Then we’ll ask Jake if he can stay with us.” She turned to Tyler.

“My brother and his girlfriend are on the way here. I only need to stay a night and then I’ll leave with them.” He still wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Okay. Then I really don’t see a problem with you staying with us for that night. Come on.” I grabbed his hand a brought him over to Jake and Dan. They were both staring at me like I was crazy.

“Janie,” Jake started.

“Howdy boys. This is Dylan. He needs a place to stay tonight while he waits on his brother and his brother’s girlfriend to get here from California. They’re supposed to be here sometime tomorrow. Is it all right if he stays with us?” I said.

“Janie,” Dan started.

“He’s a mutant, and he needs help. Plus, it’s only for one night,” Tyler said. The other two boys sighed.

“Fine,” Jake said. “I’m Jake. That’s Dan. Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Dylan said.

“Well, you did just run across the country,” I said. Jake and Dan stared at me in silent shock. “Tyler, why don’t you show him where the food is?”

“Sure thing,” Tyler said. He grabbed Dylan’s arm and led him inside the mess hall.

“You can’t go around doing that,” Jake said.

“Why not? Why can’t we help people? This place is huge and we can get food by hunting or growing it. There’s a constant supply of fresh water from the well and the stream that by the tower. Plus, I can set up the tower to keep us invisible, even on radar and satellite signals and pictures,” I said.

“Janie, it’s not safe. He could’ve been a set up. A way to lure you and Tyler into the open,” Dan said.

“So now you two agree on something! Right well, thank you some much for trying to warn me away from the poor kid who accidentally ran across the country. You really did some good there. Now that you’re getting along, why don’t you go carve each other’s grave stone so that when we die out here with only the four of us, there will be a place for you two to stay together.” I glared at the two boys and turned to leave.

“Janie, stop,” Dan said.

“Why? Do I need to help you pick the color?” I snorted.

“Janie, we get it. You want to help people. We understand that,” Jake started.

“You understand that? Did you invent the machine that caused all of this? Did you have to deal with the continual hounding from the government to give up your machine? Were you the one who was naive enough to believe they were just going to look over it and return it? Are you the one the news is going to blame for what happened at schools all over the country today? Are you going to be blamed by parents for the loss of their children? Or by the children for the hundreds of experiments the government is going to run on them? No. You’re not going to understand any of this. I am the reason we have to hide. It’s my fault, and I can’t just sit by hiding in an old arm base. I have to help. If y’all aren’t going to let me, then I’ll find another place where I can set up and try to help those I can.” I turned and stormed into my barrack. I collapsed on the bed and cried.

Dan stared after Janie. He felt sorry for her. She wasn’t just blaming herself. It honestly was her fault. Of course, Jake didn’t want to blame himself or Janie for anything. Jake turned to Dan.

“That was your fault,” Jake growled. Dan didn’t bother to reply. He just walked away from Jake. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you,” Dan said.

“You can’t just walk away from me.” Jake followed Dan.

“I can, and I did.”

“Why? Are you scared?” Jake stopped. Dan stopped and turned around slowly.

“Are you? You have been trying to drive a nail through me since we got here, and I’m getting sick of it. All I have to do to get out of here is change into Janie and fly away or change into that Dylan kid and run away, but I’m not going to. I’m going to stay here because I know for a fact that if I left, I would get caught in a minute. I know that I need others to actually survive with those mutant hunters out there. Why can’t you?”

“I can survive on my own.”

“Not with those portable scanners they made Janie invent. They’d catch you in an instant. Not to mention that your face has been post all over the new along with ours. I can change my face. You can’t.”

“You keep saying that, but you don’t prove that you can change your face.”

“Maybe because I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“I like who I am, whether or not you do.” Dan and Jake were face to face.

“Seriously?” Tyler said. Dan glanced over and saw him and Dylan standing right outside the mess hall with sandwiches in their hands. “Dylan, there are some picnic tables over there. I’ll be there in a second.”

“Go on, Tyler. This has nothing to do with you,” Jake said.

“I’m beginning to think it does. Why can’t you two get along? We are supposed to be in some kind of survival mode here. You two are the oldest people here. You need to be helping us figure of out what to do, not trying to win someone’s affection. By the way, neither of you are going to win it,” Tyler said.

“How do you know?” Dan said.

“Because she told me who she has a crush on and it’s no one here. So stop fighting and try to get along so that we don’t get captured. Also, you may want to consider apologizing to Janie, Jake. She’s crying right now.” Tyler turned to go to Dylan.

“How do you know?” Jake said.

“I can hear her.” Tyler left the two boys staring. Dan looked at the ground.

“He’s right, you know,” Dan said.

“That kid is pretty smart,” Jake said.

“We should both go apologize to Janie.”

“Why both of us? You didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah I did. I argued with you. We may not like each other, but we have to get along. I wasn’t helping things. Anyways, she’ll include me in the attack force because I was standing here.”

“Fair point.” Jake and Dan walked over to Janie’s barrack. Dan knocked on the door.

“Go away!” Janie yelled.

“Janie, we’re here to apologize,” Dan said.

“I don’t care. Go away.”

“Janie, come on. We aren’t going to leave so you may as well just hear us out,” Jake said. There was a loud thud and a few minutes of silence.

“Janie?” Dan said. The door swung open and there was Janie. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet. It was obvious she had been crying. She sniffed a little as she looked at them.

“You have five minutes before I either slam this door in your face or hit you in the face. Talk,” Janie said.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what this put you through. I can’t pretend to. I shouldn’t have talked to you the way I did,” Jake said.

“I’m sorry too. I wasn’t being very nice or helpful in anyway, despite the fact that if it hadn’t been for you three I would probably be in a jail of some kind right now. I know that I didn’t make anything better by trying to compete with Jake,” Dan said.

“Well at least something of benefit came from this,” Janie mumbled. She glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have overreacted. I’m just a little on edge about this whole thing.”

“We can see why,” Jake said. Janie smirked.

“All right boys. I think it’s time we all knew what each other can do so we know how to proceed. Its quarter to eight right now. Get Dylan and Tyler to meet us on the airfield in fifteen minutes. I’m going to the tower to block the government. Have fun.” Janie shot off the ground in a perfect projectile for the tower.

“Okay. I think she’s bipolar,” Jake said.

“I think she’s just trying to distract herself,” Dan said.

“Both are valid ideas.”

“Let’s go get the kids.”

“Yep.” Jake nodded. They had taken to calling Tyler the Kid. Now, they just grouped Dylan in with that.

Tyler could feel Dylan staring at him while he ate. “What?” Tyler said.

“What do you do?” Dylan asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You said that you were all mutants. What kind of mutant are you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does. I used to say that too before I found out what I am.”

“So what are you?” Tyler sighed.

“I’m a speedster. That means I can go really really fast.”

“Cool. What other mutant names do you know?”

“Well, my brothers a technopath, which is someone who is really go with machines. He can build stuff with his mind. His girlfriend Mitch is telekinetic. That means she can move stuff with her mind. My dad was a telepath. He could read people’s minds.”

“Is everyone in your family a mutant?”

“Well, everyone on my dad’s side.”

“That’s cool.”

“It makes family reunions really interesting.”

“I’ll bet.”

“So what do you do?”

“I have more than one special talent.”

“Well, just tell me one.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really told anyone any of them.”

“Hey boys!” Jake yelled. Tyler turned around and saw both Dan and Jake walking toward them. “Janie has an idea. We’re supposed to meet her at the main air field in like ten minutes.”

“What kind of plan is this?” Tyler asked.

“Janie’s the girl from earlier right?” Dylan said.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “And we honestly don’t know what kind of plan this is.”

“Great. You remember the bucket of water from band camp?” Tyler said.

“The one you dumped on Mr. Black?” Jake asked.

“Yep. That was her idea.”

“Oh. So was this machine,” Jake said.

“The machine was her idea?” Dylan said.

“She’s an epic geek,” Tyler said.

“We’ve established,” Dan said.

“Come on. If we keep talking, we’re going to miss whatever the plan is,” Jake said. Jake led the way out toward the air field.

I watch the four boys come on to the air field. This would be a very interesting half hour. I checked the time. It was exactly eight o’clock. “Time to fly,” I said to myself. Then I jumped off the tower and dove towards the ground. I pulled up at the last second and landed on my feet. “Howdy boys.” I smiled.

“Um, hi,” Dan said.

“Hi,” Jake said.

“Sup,” Tyler said.

“Howdy?” Dylan said in disbelief.

“I bet y’all are wondering why I made you come out here, right?” I said. The three boys nodded. “Well, with the exception of Dylan, we’re all going to be here, together for a while. I think we need to know exactly what we’re dealing with. So, for the next half hour we are going to learn about the others’ mutations. Sound fun?”

“By learning about mutations you mean showing off, don’t you?” Tyler said.

“Yep. All of the powers. Dylan you don’t have to, but you can if you want to. I’ll go first.” I jumped into the air and flew towards my barracks. Then I disappeared and flew through the walls. Next I grabbed a knife from one of the other beds. Then I flew out again and reappeared in front of the boys. Then I smiled and changed into the same metal as the knife. “What do you think?” I said.

“Could you list all of what you just did?” Dylan asked.

“Sure. I can phase through walls, disappear, fly, and change into any metal I touch.”

“That is so cool!” Dylan ran around the field in less than a second. “What can you guys do?” He looked at the three boys. Dan sighed and forced a smile.

“I can change my face. I believe I would be called a shapeshifter,” Dan said.

“Why don’t you show us?” I said.

“Yeah, let’s see it,” Jake said. Dan looked at him, then back at Dylan. Dan took a deep breath and started changing. A few minutes later, Dan was Dylan.

“There are two of me!” Dylan said. Dan smiled. Then Dan looked like Dan again.

“I can’t hold it for long though,” Dan said.

“You’ll get there,” I said.

“I’ll go next,” Jake said. He stepped away from everyone took a deep breath. Then He exhaled into the sky. When he did, fire decorated the air above the group.

“No wonder you have some hotheaded days,” Tyler said. Everyone laughed.

“Hey Tyler,” Dan said.

“What?”

“It’s your turn,” Jake said.

“If you want to go,” I added. Tyler seemed a little more on edge about his mutations. Tyler sighed.

“It’s okay. I’ll go,” Tyler said. He backed up and bit his lip. Then he sucked in as much air as he could and yelled, facing away from the group and buildings, including the tower. The ground shook and the trees were blown back. The rest of the group covered their ears. When he finished, the others laughed.

“That was awesome,” Dylan said.

“He’s right. That was pretty cool,” I said.

“Well, that’s not all I can do. I have super intensified senses,” Tyler said.

“Does that mean you heard me earlier?”

“Only a little. I wasn’t trying to.”

“Okay. That’s really cool.”

“Well, uh, there’s something else.”

“What?” Dan said. Tyler bit his lip and walked over to Jake’s truck.

“If you hurt my truck, I will aim at you next time,” Jake said.

“I’ll be careful,” Tyler said. He crawled underneath it. A minute later the truck was off the ground and it was very obvious that Tyler was the one doing it. He set the truck down and crawled out from underneath it.

“That truck weighs like a ton,” Dan said.

“That was actually something I did when I was ten. Only, it was a bigger truck,” Tyler said brushing his hands off on his jeans.

“That is awesome,” I said.

“Well, thank you, I guess.”

“Always humble, Tyler,” Jake said.

“All right boys, no fighting,” I said. “Dylan, have you seen where you’re going to be sleeping tonight?”

“Not yet,” Dylan said.

“We’ll show you,” Dan said. He and Jake turned toward the barrack. Dylan quickly followed. When they were a good ways away, I turned to Tyler.

“You have another power, you know,” I said.

“And what would that be?” Tyler asked.

“You turned two total enemies into friends.”

“Yeah, well, that one I can’t control.”