Zodiac Pack

Chapter 15

Vik

I was in the loading bay putting on another coat. They found Lachlan. He was out in the middle of the Arctic, in a cave seemingly. And with nothing but a shirt and jeans.

If I don't get to him soon he might catch hypothermia.

"Vikram, your snowmobile is ready. It looks like the current snow storm is calm at the moment, so you should be able to get to his location no problem," one of the garage hands told me. "The GPS has the coordinates entered into it already. You should be good to go."

I hopped on to the near by snowmobile. I looked at the controls, mind blank. "Uh, how exactly do you turn this on?" I asked, looking back at the garage hand.

"You've never driven one before?" He asked back.

"Never really had the need for one, so no." I replied. Not everyone lives in Antarctica, dude.

"Well  here's a basic run down: press this button to start the engine, this lever to go forward, this lever to reverse, and this button to kill the engine." He pointed to each control respectively.

"Okay easy enough." I nodded as my brain stored the knowledge away for safe keeping.

"I think I'm all set then." I gave him an affirmative. He nodded in acknowledgment and pulled a small remote from one of the many pockets on his jumpsuit. He pressed one of the buttons and the large garage door began to slide up, opening.

I started up the engine to the snowmobile and pushed the lever for gas. The vehicle jerked forward and then began running smoothly.

The GPS read that the cave Lachlan was in was about twenty minutes away. I pulled down the ski mask that was on top of my head, as it looked like this would not be a short ride.

Mitch

After Lachlan's departure, Jerome and I just went back to his room to hang out. And to discuss the mission too, I guess.

"So how do you feel about the mission thing?" Jerome asked once we had settled.

"I honestly don't care." I responded apathetically. "I came. Got help. I don't see why I can't do something in return for the people who helped me."

"That's a good point." Jerome nodded. "I have nothing better to do, so why not partake in a mission? Sounds kinda cool anyway."

'What would they say back at Walmart? Me, a cashier, going on secret missions. They probably wouldn't believe it if Mr.Bantrous told them himself.' His thought makes me chuckle.

"So you were a cashier?" I asked, snickering.

"I thought I felt you poking around in my head. It's very invasive, by the way. I feel violated!" He gasped in exaggerated tone.

"But, yea, I was a cashier. It paid well... enough to pay my parent's rent, anyway." He paused for a moment. "That sounds really pathetic when I say it out loud, doesn't it?" He laughs.

"Hey, a job is better than no job, I'd say." I assure him.

"Can you control when you hear people's thoughts, or are they just constantly whispering to you no matter what?" He asks off topic. It takes me a second to come up with a reply.

"It takes some amount of concentration. I have to know my own thoughts and feelings before I can hear and feel someone else's. So I sorta need to have some kind of inner-peace type deal, you know?" I try explaining how it feels every time I enter some one's head.

How suddenly a whole new feeling comes over me, as if I share their feelings. Not only can I hear their thoughts, but their feelings, too? How annoying. I can literally be some one else, mindset-wise. How I hadn't realized this before now is beyond me.

"How do your senses work? Can you tone them down or...?" I ask, sitting down on Jerome's bed. It was oddly comfortable, more so than my own bed.

"They're always just kinda doing their own thing," He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. "I've gotten used to it though, so it rarely bothers me anymore."

"That's nice," I say, now lying down on the soft cloud of bed. "I'm gonna take a nap then. So be quiet." I snuggle down into the blankets.

"What, why in here? You have your own bed!" I hear Jerome distantly as I drift off.

☆☆☆

Mitch likes naps for his growing teenage body sorry for being lazy  😖