Chapter 4 - Power

Chapter 4 - Power

The next few days were a constant cycle. It was like the first day repeated over and over, without the attackers of course. Ashe and I slowly bonded and became even closer. I slowly opened up and could trust someone again after so long. I had plenty of money to spare from working and my arm had gotten much better as well.

Work slowly became easier but some days were still hard. One customer had destroyed their room to such an extent that we spent three hours cleaning it. Needless to say, the manager was not pleased and gave cruel commands out of rage. Finally, at the end of our shift, we went back to Ashe’s room and relaxed.

“So, today I finally get to take these annoying bandages off.” I explained. “Want to help?”

Ashe smiled at me and ran to grab some scissors. She walked back, plopped down on the couch, and laid my arm on her lap. She began cutting away the bandages, and underneath was a massive scar left from the wound. She slowly rubbed it and a frown formed on her face. She stared at me for a while and then suddenly, her beautiful smile came back.

“Why don’t I cut your hair while I have the scissors out?” she asked while she pushed my hair to the side of my face. “It won’t take long, plus you know you need it.”

I nodded and turned my back to her. I took off my shirt and waited. She began to run her soft hands through my hair and started clipping clumps of hair off of my head. Slowly but surely, I felt the weight lifting from my head. The couch and floor were scattered with my long strands of hair. I could only imagine how different I was going to look. The clipping noises stopped and Ashe sat up and started wiping the hair off of me and the couch onto the floor.

“Alright, Why don’t we go take a look!” she said while giggling.

I followed her into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. The hair that had been covering my forehead and part of my face was gone. Along with being a lot cleaner for work, I looked much younger than I normally did. I looked like a young adult, instead of a refugee for once.

“I don’t mean to brag or anything, but you look a lot cuter now!” she joked.

She kissed me on the cheek and out of nowhere, there was a loud knock at the door. I put my shirt back on and followed her as She rushed to open it. I had gotten used to the past week of leisure and I had finally stopped overreacting when it came to people. Ashe opened the door and it was Jake. He stared at me signaling that the situation was serious.

“Sorry, this is a friend of mine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said to Ashe.

I rushed out and closed the door behind me. Just as the door closed the man took hold of my arm and spun me around holding my face against the wall. I grunted from the slight pain.

“You know, you aren’t as fast as you seemed before. I’m surprised I didn’t kill you last time.” he said as he released my arm. “You look different too. You look weak.”

“I’ve just lowered my guard. I can handle myself.” I replied as I stretched my arm out.

“Make sure you aren’t followed when you come to meet me tomorrow. Anything suspicious and you run in the opposite direction.”

He walked away before I could respond so I made my way to my room. I went to sleep excited what the next day held in store for me.

The next day I went and asked for the day off. I explained it was very important and to help a friend. Ashe was sad and the manager was angry, but I was able to take off work. I left the building and headed to the center of town. A giant map was on display, similar to most towns due to the loss of technology. I looked for the road name and did my best to memorize where to go.

I started making my way out of town, following the memory of the map. There were a few similar areas as the one we were attacked at; however, most of them were empty during the day. The road on the paper was falling apart and was beyond repair. Half of the pavement was missing or covered in potholes. It wasn’t even a part of the town anymore. All of the buildings there had either collapsed or had been torn down. As I walked even further from the town I finally spotted a wooden shack still standing. It was far from the road, but it was the only standing structure for the past mile. I trekked through the mud-covered area outside the shack until I heard a crash and a man grunt from inside.

I sprinted and slammed open the door to see two Machines, one in the corner and one holding Jake down between the splintered wood of what used to be a table. The machine was humanoid in shape but was made of metal but instead of veins, lights coursed through its body.

“Kid!” He shouted, his arms being held against the ground. “You need to take that box on the counter and run!”

Almost immediately as he said those words the robot in the corner turned to look at the box. Reflexively, I spun and grabbed it off of the table. I turned to run out of the building; but yet again, I was too slow. The robot was right on top of me and pushed me to the ground. I felt a sharp prick on my arm and looked down. The box was open and a computer chip had pierced my skin. My arm pulsed heavily and before I knew it the rest of my body was as well. My mind flooded with my memories of what the war had done to my mother and brother, and also of the day my dad had left.

My family and I were hiding in the basement, as the sound of gunfire thundered through the skies. After a few hours, the noises finally stopped and my dad checked upstairs. He waved and we all followed him up. Yet again, our house was left filled with bullet holes. We had patched up the house so many times that we had lost track. My father began hammering wooden planks on the walls and hit his thumb. He screamed in anger, not from pain, but from his hatred towards the war.

“Listen, son. I’ve taught you how to fight and you are a young man now. You can protect the family now. I can’t stand this happening to us anymore.” He said holding my shoulder with his hand. He grabbed his bag and walked to the door. He looked back as he opened it and I rushed up to him. I didn’t get a word out before he walked out and slammed the door behind him. I looked back at my mother and she was crying like she had known what was going on. I expected him to come back, but he never did.

My vision started to return but all I could see was darkness. I struggled and tried to find any type of light when I saw Ashe in the distance. I started running towards her, but she kept getting further away. I was running for what felt like hours and I was out of breath. The light was so small that I was about to give up, but I gave it one last sprint. Just then, I zoomed forwards and caught up to the light. It was almost blinding after being in the darkness for so long. As it faded away, I saw I was holding Jake’s neck against a wall, with him struggling to breathe. Confused, I quickly let him go and stared down at my arms.

A black tattoo covered my left forearm. It was in the shape of computer wiring all branching off a big microchip. Jake began coughing as he gasped for air. I knelt down next to him and apologized over and over.

“I don’t know what happened. One second I passed out and the next I was strangling you. I’m so sorry.” I said with barely any space between my words.

“It’s okay..” he said as he coughed. “It’s normal for what just happened. I’m just glad you came to your senses.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned him.

“We can talk later. For now, you need to listen to me.” He replied as his coughing subsided and he stood up. He signaled for me to lean over and he jumped onto my back. “You need to touch the square part of the tattoo on your arm and take us back to where you're staying. Trust me.”

I looked down at my arm and touched the tattoo. The dark black switched to a vibrant green light and the tattoo spread further up my arm and all throughout my body. I looked around and everything seemed slower than usual. The falling leaves of the autumn trees around me were almost frozen in the air. I shrugged the feeling off and went to start running. However, before I could even react, I had moved to the front gates of the town. I had gone almost a mile in just a few seconds.

“How is this possible?!”

I tried to take it slow and continued to the hotel but still ended up going faster than humanly possible. I flashed past dozens of people barely able to make out their figures. They must have thought they saw a ghost when I went by. I pushed through the doors of the Hotel and got to my room in just under a minute of running. I sat him down and touched the tattoo in the same spot as before. It’s glow vanished as it returned to the ink color on my skin.

“Well, it looks like you got the hang of it.” he chuckled. “All I saw were flashes of light which means you are even faster than I am when you are like that.”

“Wait. That was normal? This power is really that strong?” I questioned Jake. “And why was I strangling you. Does this have some type of side effect?!”

“Just calm down okay. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you need to sit down before you collapse.” he proclaimed.

I sat down and right as I did my muscles in my legs tensed and seared with pain. I curled over held my legs and hoped the pain would subside. While I struggled he explained what exactly happened and all I could do was listen.

“When you fell the chip must have punctured your skin. When that happens the power attempts to take over you. I don’t know exactly how it works. Only that it does. And if your willpower isn’t strong enough, then your mentality fades. Thanks to that you destroyed those robots, but then again you almost killed me. In that state, the power is at a completely different level than even what you just experienced running here. I’ll explain the rest later. For now, you need to rest your legs. You are under the same amount of pain as if you ran that distance without stopping except all at once. Luckily your body will heal faster now as well.” he explained slowly to me.

I laid there as I heard him walk into another room. I wanted to know more, but even listening to him was hard with this much pain all at once. It felt like the pain would last forever. I couldn’t sleep with the pain, and over the next hour, it slowly subsided. Jake came and walked between rooms. I couldn’t tell anything about what he was doing. After resting a bit more I was finally able to sit up and see what he was doing. When I opened my eyes, I saw almost 10 empty plates covered in crumbs and specks of sauce. I looked over to the kitchen and saw him next to my newly emptied fridge.

The pain was still too much to stand, so I let him do as he pleased. He returned to the table with what must have been the last of my food and sat it down in front of me. The plate had enough food on it for several people.

“That power takes up a lot of your stamina as well. You will have to eat this much at least or you will pass out.” he said. “Now. Eat up while I continue explaining.”

I nodded and started to scarf down the food. I grunted occasionally from the pain but otherwise remained silent as I listened carefully to his explanation.

“Originally I was going to warn you about the power and convince you not to use it. Not only did you risk getting taken over, but you now risk even more. If anyone sees that tattoo, more of those robots will come after you. This power is one of the technologies “mandated” by the new militia. They will find you and destroy it. It’s a matter of life and death that you never show that to anyone. The powers themselves are the easy part to learn. Different colors show up when you think of what you need. green for speed, red for strength, and blue for resistance. Black is all of them at once and is what happens if you let it overwhelm you. You need to train your mind and body to make sure that never happens. Practice using the powers but only little at a time and you will slowly gain control of it.” Jake explained.

It was a long explanation and the details were specific, but I absorbed most of it. My legs seemed to be better but I had figured I should rest them after the long day. I told him to come back tomorrow morning and he left. I went to my bedroom and tried on some of the clothes I had purchased over the week while working. I had only one long sleeved shirt. It was made of a very soft, warm, and black cloth. I took off my shirt, sat it on my stand, and laid down on my bed to rest.

Author's Note

Just finished this chapter. Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review and a rate!