F0RTUNA

5

The television stopped playing news. Not even an entertainment channel. No sports channels. Nothing. The radio was all static. Well, not all static. Only one channel was working, but it was in a language that I did not understand.

Rebecca and I sat on the couch. I had a couple of bandages on my forehead, one strip was dangling pretty loosely.

New York City has been almost abandoned. A few other mutants were roaming around, causing nuisance and noise.

I got a call from a friend and I found out that Alex was in a coma after the incident. I couldn't express any emotion, I was too upset with everything happening.

I couldn't live here anymore. I don't want to.

I stood up unexpectedly, Rebecca looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Matt?"

I looked at her directly in the eye.

"We are moving out of here."

She seemed a little hesitant at first, but I believe that was what she wanted. Moving out of this place. It's too dangerous.

Criminals are walking free now. We don't belong here. With them.

I swiftly grabbed my phone out of my pocket and contacted Angela. I knew she would also be wanting to flee the area.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Matt here. You thinking about leaving the place?"

Short silence. I could hear a bit of talking in the background, but it was very soft.

"Yeah. I am. With those 3 bunch you saw earlier."

That's right. School. Angela was with 3 other people... 2 dudes, 1 girl.

It has been 4 hours since that happened. The school immediately closed down. Mr. Bell was still missing.

"Where will you be heading to then?"

"East. Way east."

Sounds like a plan.

"I'll meet you outside school in 2 hours? Then we start walking east and find a suitable house.", Angela had already planned this out in advance.

I responded with a definite yes and hung up. I turned towards Rebecca.

"Becca, we're going. Get luggage. We will be out for a while."

Rebecca silently nodded and leapt from the couch and into her room. Mom overheard the conversation and she confronted me from the kitchen.

"Matthew, what's that nonsense you have of leaving the place?"

Nonsense? This isn't nonsense.

"Mom, this is serious. People are dying from these mutants. We need to get out of here now."

She wasn't having any of it.

"What makes you think we should just abandon this perfect home of ours and go somewhere that... we don't even know where!"

I retaliated in anger.

"Would you rather find a safer spot or stay here and have a good chance of being scavenged? Being hunted by mutants with powers that can kill us in one blow? I'm not chancing that!"

I stomped into my room and began searching for clothes. Mom still wasn't convinced.

"New York City is already close to abandoned. Why do we have to leave if there's no one here?"

I screamed from my room.

"Because it isn't entirely abandoned. There are still mutants wandering around! School got exploded because of one of them! My teammate fell into a coma! This is real!"