I run the length of the room ducking a plank as it swept toward me. I jump a hurdle and careen toward the end of the hall, spinning to the right to avoid another plank, a dark shape appears ahead and I duck, but I’m too late, red oozes from my chest.
“Damn it.” I whisper.
A voice over the speakers comes clear and loud.
“Nice try Olivia, you almost made it.” The voice continues “That’s enough for today alright?”
“Yea” I concede wanting another go.
I move away from the test chamber and into the dressing room. Blue lockers surround the yellow room; I shed the black skin tight suit. I hold it in my hands looking at the red paint splotch, shoot.
I change into my normal clothes, a common red tee and jeans. A knock at the door brings me back to reality, I move to answer it.
“Hello?” I ask.
“It’s Doc may I come in?”
I wait for a few seconds, “Sure”
He enters holding the electronic clipboard and smiling, wearing his usual lab coat and, the extremely large eye glasses. I hold a hand to my mouth to stop the giggles bubbling up. Half of his is standing on end while the other is slicked down.
“What?” He asks, recognizing my laughter
“Your hair” I say choked with laughter.
“Ah, I made the mistake of shaking Terrance’s hand.”
I smile an image of the electrified teenager coming to mind.
“How is he doing?”
“Much better after the, uh, mishap.”
“That’s good.”
We sit in silence avoiding the impending subject, he finally breaks the silence.
“Olivia,” he stops thinking. “Where is he?” He asks, his voice stern.
I sigh and turn away, “I, don’t, know.” I space each word showing my irritation.
He gives me a pained expression.
“Olivia, I know you know where he is, can’t you just tell us?”
I freeze him with a look.
“Don’t you think if I knew, I would tell you?” I reply my voice dripping acid “I don’t know he left a couple days ago and hasn’t come back since.”
“Ok, ok we are just worried about him that’s all, going off like that without warning.”
“Don’t you think I’m worried about him?”
“I know how you must feel, but.”
“Do you Doc? Do you really?” I interrupt
He takes a little bit to answer looking hurt by my words
“…No I guess I don’t. Never had someone I love leave me.”
Silence persists again.
“Just tell us if you hear anything from him.”
“Sure.” I finish, giving him a fake apologetic smile.
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him leaving a block of guilt in my stomach.
  “Man, I hate lying.”
I stand up and move to the mess hall hoping for bacon.

The mess hall is nearly empty, breakfast was over and most everyone had already left. I went up to the counter and retrieved a tray that was left for me a stand-up card with my name on it. Taking the tray I wander around the tiled blue and white seating area, trying to find a seat to myself, knowing full well that Terrance was watching me from the other side of the cafeteria. I find a seat near the west door opposite the kitchen area. Terrance picks his way over to me and plops himself down across from me his mousy brown hair dipping into his sky blue eyes, he gives me one of his famous fourteen year old smiles.
“Hiya” He starts.
“Good morning.” I reply around my bacon.
“So, how was training?”
“I got to 60 feet today, new record for me.”
“Nice!” He replies ecstatic “Man, I’ve only got to 40!”
He flashes another smile, I return it.
“So, uh, you all right?”
“What do you mean?” I ask feeling my brow furrow.
“Uh, I mean about Jake”
I squint at him and stop chewing, suspicious.
“Who wants to know?”
“Just me.” He looks hurt, as if I didn’t trust him. I sigh giving in.
“I’m alright, just worried.”
He gives me a sympathizing look, and silence takes control.
“Well”, he starts. “Just ask if you need me.”
He leaves, I get the suspicion that he was here for information but changed his mind.
I stuff a strip of bacon in my mouth and hurriedly finish my breakfast I had round two of training to do.
The sky outside is bluer than normal, an echo of my loneliness. The land still shows signs of the fallout but in a few more years all of it will be coated with vegetation. I move through the sea of yellow wheat enjoying the afternoon heat and cloudless sky. The fields of Wyoming are so pretty in the summer. I can hear Doc’s crunching footsteps behind me. I stop so does he.
“Here is fine right?” I ask turning around to face him.
We had moved a fair distance from the large cluster of lab buildings. He looks up from the clipboard and smiles.
“This should be great,” he replies. “Go ahead whenever you are ready.”
I turn back to the open field and take a deep breath trying to settle my nerves and my pulse. A wind begins to blow, I throw out a hand in its direction and it stops. I can hear Doc’s stylus stop on the screen. In and out and move my hand around in a circle the wheat bends against a sudden gale that followed my hand. Squeezing my hand into a fist the wind stops as sudden as it started.
“Alright take it up to level two”
I smile; he created the level system to determine the strength of the powers we used, level two is below average. I feel the excursion of energy creating a thrill up and down my spine, the use of my powers taking my thoughts away, the thoughts of Jake. My eyes snap open and I thrust my hand out blasting the wheat in front of me flat to the earth, creating a long wide strip of flattened wheat.
“Remarkable!” is all he says at first then “level three, please.”
I smile again enjoying myself. I put my hand out at my left and right and bring them together, like a wind up cymbal monkey. The air obeys creating a fan shape indentation in the field.
He just smiles and shakes his head.
“Olivia, that’s… that’s,”
“Remarkable?” I offer.
He smiles again “yes, all right, that’s enough for today.”
He packs up the clip board and begins to leave, but I’m not done I’ve wanted to try something. I raise my hands above my head and slowly bring them in front of me focusing on a point in the distance. I’m tired from the demonstration, but I continue. I force the air to spin, slowly at first but then faster, faster I smile watching the twister take shape. I hear the professor gasp behind me, I can feel the effort draining me but it’s too fun to stop. I spin the air faster, making it bigger, taller, wider an insane cyclone of howling stratosphere.
“Olivia…” Doc starts worriedly
I ignore him and keep going; the wind is reaching even us now, howling in my ears.
“Olivia! Stop!” he yells over the sound, panic in his voice.
I can feel my vision fading the energy and excitement draining me. But I don’t stop, the draining changes to a hideous pain in my skull and I drop to my knees, my energy spent, the tornado dissipating. I can feel his hand on my arm, blood drips onto the ground in front of me, my nose. The world starts spinning and my vision goes black.

An alarm blares in my ears and I roll over in my sleep. A scream adds to the alarm and I bolt upright in my bed, still in my night clothes, I burst into the hallway searching for the source of the scream. A different noise sounds instead, guns. Terrified I run down the hall way toward the noise. There impossible is the dark muscular form of Jake. My heart leaps in my chest and my throat closes tight tears blurring my vision. It takes a little bit for me to realize he is saying something, almost from nowhere Terrance bolts from behind him toward me and down my hallway. I look into his purple eyes; he gives a smile then blows me a kiss. He looks back down his hallway and sinks into his shadow, his power. I can hear gun shots and a few grunts from around the corner he appears again, coated in blood holding a gun in both hands. I scream terrified for him. He runs to me.
“It’s ok, it’s not mine” he replies in his gravelly voice.
I throw myself into his muscular arms and he wraps them around me
“We can play catch-up later, we have to get everyone out the P.A.E is here.” He says hurriedly.
“How did they find us?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. They are on their way.” He says hope in his eyes.
“Who?”
Another screech ruptures the continuous wail of the alarm followed by a series of gun shots. Jake looks to me his hand on my arm.
“You have to go.”
I look into his eyes my own purple ones reflecting in his.
“What about you?”
He gives a pained expression.
“Don’t worry about me, Olive you have to go.”
“I finally get you back and you’re just going to leave me again?”
He looks at me for a couple seconds.
“Your right, I might need you. Quick this way.” He says pointing down my hallway.
He takes off, I’m right on his heels. We rush through corridors and lab areas past chemicals. I have no idea where we are headed until he stops ahead. Right in front of Doc’s office, the door is slightly ajar he goes in. He comes out his face pale as a sheet and shakes his head, I know what he means and tears jump to my eyes. He touches my arm and we are off again, through hallways and across a court yard. Jake hurdles around a corner and is slammed to the ground with the butt of a rifle. I gasp unable to move as a man in heavy armor shoots him once, twice, three times in the head he drops to the ground and sinks into his shadow, now a pool of black and dark red. He’s gone again, I finally get him back and already he is gone again, I remember all the time we spent together. I look to his killer and I feel something snap inside me. I can feel the air around me going nuts my anger rising. I’m losing control, my emotions are taking control. The world begins to fade in and out; the solider is blasted against the wall behind him his neck twisted at an impossible angle. I know in my mind that I did it but I no longer have control. The world heaves wildly and my feet leave the ground. I experience the oddest feeling, I can feel everything that is happening but can’t control anything. I’m a captive in my own mind almost like in a dream. I feel myself move down another hallway blasting a group of soldiers against another wall they collapse. I feel myself flying through the hallways heading toward something, blasting and hurling soldiers around out of my way. I reach the mess hall, again soldiers everywhere, they notice me too late and a new tornado hurls itself through the opposite wall whisking them away. I hurl the tornado away worry rocks my mind, I want control again, I could hurt someone at this rate, someone I love, someone I trust. I have to take control; I have fight back against this pain, against this anguish. It’s hard, the fighting but I can feel the emotions strength waning and slowly it stops and I collapse onto the ground. The darkness rushing to meet me in a sweet embrace.  


“Jesus! Your telling me she did all of that!”
“Yes, I’ve seen her do something like it before; she loses control and goes nuts.”
“But she tore over half of the place to shreds! We are lucky none of the other experiments were hurt!”
  “She still has her memory she is just no longer in control. She wouldn’t hurt anyone she knew.”
“Still.”
My head aches but I can hear everything they are saying. I can hear the distant sound of engines. The second voice sounds familiar, Allen.
“She’ll be fine, right?” the first man asks
“She will be right as rain in a couple of hours, always was. Who attacked us?”
“A group called the P.A.E; they are a government division bent on the destruction of the experiments, and the labs.”
“But why?”
The man gives a snort
“They are scared of change and think that we all should stop the progression of this kind of experimentation, it’s because of the fallout. They are afraid that it will happen again if this kind of stuff continues.”
“But isn’t the labs part of the government too?”
“Yes, they both are.”
“Then, why?”
“Look the government is split on the formation of the P.A.E; they took too long so the group formed itself. You guys are lucky Jake came to us when he did, otherwise I think a lot more people would have died.”
I moan at the sound of Jake’s name and try to move but I’m strapped down, restrained.
“It’s ok Olivia, he’s alive, most of them are, we are taking everyone to safety just hold on, we are almost there.”
The bandage around his head makes him look funny but I don’t mind. Somehow he’s alive, and that’s all I care about. Together, his arms around me, we watch the dying sunlight sink behind an open expanse of water.