Seret

Chapter 8

Sitting felt good, it felt like the best thing in the world at that moment. It wasn't until today that Seret realized just how unfit she was. She had only sprinted a few miles and her legs felt like jelly. After she and Aiden had covered some extra distance between themselves and the building, he insisted that she rest a while and gather their bearings. Did she honestly look that worn out? Seret felt like denying the opportunity, she hated being seen as weak and feeble, but every part of herself told her to just give in. They stop at a nearby picnic area. In the distance, fire truck sirens echoed. There were a few wooden tables with a thick layer of dust settled on them, a classic but unkempt swing set and the entire area was spread with dying grass. It was all hazily lit by a towering and flickering street light. The bench that Seret sat on wasn't the comfiest but she would have had to make do. She finally acknowledged her throbbing hands. There were multiple tiny shards of glass piercing out of her palms as grisly blood seeped through. The cuts seemed small and harmless, but in their multitude it was pure agony. 'You'd better take those out right away.' Said Aiden as he handed Seret a mini first aid kit. She gladly took it and began plucking out the tiny glass bits. When she was done, she used some antiseptic which stung like crazy and then gently wrapped her hands in soft cotton bandages. While she was busy, Aiden said he needed to get one more thing before they left and so he disappeared all this time. Her hands were feeling much better now so she packed away the first aid kit back into the backpack which Aiden had left behind. In it she came across many more "apocalypse survival" items. There was a notebook with a pencil jutting out of it, some rope fixed with carabiners, ammunition for the gun and strangely, 3 pairs of sunglasses. Seret spoke to herself, 'Whoever this guy is, he is seriously prepared.' That notebook looked very tempting to be read, it was strange that he'd bring along something like that but she just zipped up the bag and left it as it was. She wondered about how true the truth could possibly be. Was she really from the future or was this actually just a set up? How could it be a set up though? Her life was put on the line twice today already, would someone actually go to those lengths just for a trick? She felt extremely lucky that Aiden had been there to save her at least. But this just begs an even bigger question, can she trust Aiden? The thoughts rumbling around in her head was just too much to bear. All she wanted was some clear explanation and a one way ticket home. She thought that maybe Emily would know the truth. If she she went back to find Emily she could get everything she wants, but what if Emily is also with the Hoatzinites? Emily was the one who told her about the fire which eventually led her to gunpoint. Oh yeah, Aiden had mentioned that earlier. That reckless group of conspiracy theorists are nicknamed the Hoatzinites. Seret had no idea what that word even meant but it certainly seemed to fit their character perfectly. After waiting a whole 20 minutes, Aiden still hadn't returned. Great, thought Seret, follow the mysterious guy and end up stranded. She slammed her right fist against the table but that was a mistake. Her hand began to sting with excruciating pain. She tried to ignore it a first but then it became unbearable. It felt like every single cut on her hand was set on fire but at the same time it was being flash frozen as if burning ice crystals were forming. She gripped tightly to her right hand with her left, trying to stop it. Soon, she lost all her balance and had dropped to the ground, howling in anguish and squirming on the ground. Before long, she spotted Aiden walking into the entrance of the picnic area, with a hopeful spring in his walk and his arms stacked with food that could last days.
'Help me!' Seret croaked at him with desperation in her voice. He quickly caught sight of her and immediately stopped day dreaming about his food. He dropped everything and ran to Seret.
'What happened?' He asked.
'It-it,' she took a deep breath, 'It's killing me!'
Aiden helped her back onto the bench and began to delicately unwrap the bandage. Seret tried her best not to flinch, as mentioned before, she didn't want to seem like a weakling. They both gasped in shock when Aiden had fully taken off the bandage. Her cuts were healing. Not as in slowly like where a scar will develop, they were instantly sealing themselves closed. They both watched for another minute as her hand then looked completely normal again, not a scratch or scar in sight.
'Amazing.' Said Aiden, bewildered.
'Ouch!' Seret exclaimed when her other hand also began to experience the same blazing pain as before. She unwrapped it herself this time and watched as all her cuts healed instantly.
'Wha- how is this possible? Did you do something to me?' She asked Aiden.
'I'm afraid not. This must be all you?' He said.
'But it's not possible to heal up like that so fast, is it?'
'For someone ordinary, no. But like I told you before, we're different, you are different.'
'I still don't follow.'
'You must have heard from my recording that I have a gift. So do you.'
'Gift? Like superpowers?'
'Not exactly. More like enhanced human abilities. For example, mine is Enhanced Intelligence. You may have noticed,'
'Yeah, I did. You're sort of ahead in figuring out stuff.' Seret interrupted. She felt like her ego had been bruised ever since meeting Aiden. Emily always told her that she was smart and witty, everyone did in fact. And she sure did believe it. That is until she met Aiden who was a step ahead of her in everything, even though she'd only known him for just more than an hour.
'Uh, well, yeah I guess.' He blushed. 'But it's kinda a lame gift. Yours is much better.' He smiled.
'Wait a second, you know what mines is too?'
'From what I've seen, yes.'
'Well, what is it then? I've always wanted superpowers!' Seret's eye's lit up.
'Energy. There's a slight chance I'm wrong, but it's most likely so. You can basically use energy around you and focus it where you need it so that you'll become stronger. Quite powerful I suppose.'
'Wow, um, that sounds really cool.' She tried to contain her excitement. She didn't want to sound like a hyperactive little kid who just got some candy.
Seret wondered, 'Are the others like us? Like me and you, do they also have "enhanced abilities" or whatever?'
'Yeah actually, they should.' Then Seret asked something that changed the lightheartedness of the conversation dark.
'Hold up, how is it that only you know about this all? How do I know I can trust someone like you. You seem to be way too much in the light.'
'Hmm. I don't know how to explain it, but I just know these things.'
'And that's supposed to make me trust you. How do I know that you're not working with the Hoatzinites? Give me some proof.' She asked. She figured it was best to just ask him straight.
'I don't have any proof.' He held his head down. 'But I do trust you.'
Seret looked at him confused.
'Why? I'm a complete stranger to you as well.'
'I'm going to be honest with you, up until today, the hopeful thoughts of finding the others and going home never crossed my mind. I'm not actually some sort of brave hero who's good in combat, I've always just been a scaredy cat. That was until today when I came across you asking about the fire, I had a bad feeling about it so I watched you and then you were brave enough to face one of the Hoatzinites. I can't really explain it because I don't know myself, but I'm certain that we are from the future, I'm certain that we have these gifts and now thanks to you, I'm certain that we may have a chance to get back.' He said to her very desperately.

'It's not enough to make me believe or trust you but,' she looked into his violet eyes and thought about how sad they had once looked before she gave him hope, 'I can try. And if you dare betray me, I'll beat you to a pulp.' She tried to sound confident. She was willing to really give him a chance this time.
His face lit up with those words once more. 'Great, I promise I won't let you down! Let's get started looking for the others then shall we?'
'Okay. It's weird. This kind of feels like the start of one of those sci-fi movies.'
'Sci-fi?' Asked Aiden oddly.
'Science fiction. You got to be kidding me right?'
'Never heard of it. I lived on the streets for most of my life. You learn alot of skills, not really that many trends.'
'Oh. Sorry to hear that. Well, say that everything does work out well, they've got to have cinema's in the future, I promise you'll get to see a sci-fi movie.'
'Hehe, sure.' He then pulled out the notebook from the backpack. It was a simple, cheap one and had been written in it very much. There were extra pages bulging out along with the pencil. Aiden grinned mischieviously at Seret, 'Ready to see the reason why we almost got killed today?'