John was looking for any traces as to what happened here. I was staying with Clarice trying to comfort her.
"I found whatever traces I could. Looks like they died defending some of the foster kids that were living there." John said entering the living room.
"My portals brought everyone here. This is all my fault." Clarice said.
"No, it's not your fault. Sentinel Services pulled the trigger. You cared about them." John said.
"Sentinel Services takes everything you care about and they destroy it. It's what they do. They even turn those you love against you. They're the monsters. Not us." I said rubbing circles on Clarice's back.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You know what I said earlier about this not being my fight? I don't know if it was before, but it sure as hell is now." Clarice said determined to bring Sentinel Services down.
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Shatter, John and I were walking through headquarters trying to get all the plans together to move some of the refugees to Gainesville.
"We're going to need to talk to the folks in Gainesville, make sure they're ready for more refugees." John said to Shatter.
"I'm on it." Shatter said walking away. After Shatter left us to contact Gainesville, Reed approached us. "Hey, John, can I have a word? We need to go see my father in Chattanooga. I know it's a risk, but he is our only connection to Trask." He said hoping John would agree.
"Maybe we can finally figure out what they did to Pulse." I said feeling a sense of hope for the first time in a while.
"You think he'll know something?" John asked looking at me.
"Maybe, maybe not. We don't have much choice." Reed said.
"The station in Perry just fell. We're going to pick up survivors now. You prep a car, some supplies. We'll leave as soon as I get back." John promised. John and I left Reed to go upstairs to meet Marcos and Lorna."Clarice is getting the cars ready." Marcos said as he handed John a bag of supplies.
"Clarice?" John asked confused.
"Lorna's not coming, man." Marcos said.
"Is something wrong?" John asked concerned.
"Everything's fine." Marcos said.
"Marcos, a problem between you two affects everyone. You're both leaders at this station." John said concerned with the whole station.
"She's just not coming, okay?" Marcos said defensively.
"All right." John said putting his hands up in surrender.
"Hey, do you want me to hang back with Lorna? To get the full story." I asked John. John looked conflicted.
"I don't know. It's up to you. We might need your help distributing supplies and helping anyone that's injured." John said.
"Alright. I'll talk to Lorna when we get back. She's probably just tired." I said grabbing a bag of supplies and heading to the car.
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We drove for a while and finally ended up in Perry at a mutant-friendly church. One of our contacts that still works with us, thankfully.
"Grateful you came so quick. Sentinel Services is even coming after us now. So much for sanctuary." The father of the church said.
"Yeah I don't believe there are any sanctuaries anymore." I said.
"You must have faith." Father said and I rolled my eyes. Faith can only do so much.
"How many refugees are there?" Marcos asked.
"A dozen fled here when the station in Perry got hit. Plus a few strays." Father answered as he began trying to move the dumpster from in front of a shed.
"Let's load them up." John said.
"I just have to hide them in here during services." Father explained still trying to move the heavy dumpster.
"I got you, Padre." John said placing one hand on the dumpster and moving it with ease. Father had a look of wonder on his face as he watched John move the dumpster like it was nothing. He unlocked the shed and began ushering people out.
"It's all right. These are friends. They'll get you to safety." Father explained to the scared refugees. Everyone exited the shed quickly as Marcos directed them.
"Toss your stuff in the back, grab a seat, quick as you can. We'll brief you on everything once we get where we're going." Marcos explained.
"Hey, cutie. What's your name?" I asked a little girl who couldn't have been more than six.
"Evelyn." She said shyly.
"Evelyn, that's a pretty name. I'm Dylan. We're gonna take you somewhere safe, but everyone needs a buddy so I'm gonna give you Mr. Sprinkles to keep you safe until we get there, okay? Can you keep him safe for me?" I asked handing her a slightly used teddy bear.
"Yes." She answered as she grabbed the teddy bear from me.
"Thanks, Evelyn. If you're ever scared, squeeze him real tight and he will protect you." I said giving her peace of mind.
I didn't expect what came next. Evelyn hugged me and said, "Thank you, Dylan. I'll take extra special good care of Mr. Sprinkles." She then walked towards one of the cars as I smiled and watched her go. I was cut off by John's booming voice.
"Excuse me. Ma'am? What's your name? Hey." John said. Then the woman kicked John into the dumpster.
"Everybody, get down!" Marcos screamed readying his hands for a fight. Everything was happening too quickly for me to process. People were being thrown around like rag dolls and then I felt myself flying into the shed.
"Can you get me above her?" I heard John ask Clarice.
"Go!" Clarice said opening a portal above the woman as Marcos trapped her with his powers.
"Stay down." He said to everyone else. John jumped on the woman and restrained her. She eventually passed out. I attempted to get up, but realized that I had a giant gash on my head. John quickly came to check on me.
"Dylan, are you ok?" He asked looking for any sign of damage. His eyes eventually landed on my forehead. "That doesn't look good." He said.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch." I said attempting to walk to the car, but then I got dizzy.
"Woah, ok, why don't I help you." He said putting my arm around his shoulder while he guided me to the car.
"Thanks, I'll get it checked out when we get back." I said sitting down in the car.
"You better." John replied. I gave him a salute as if to say aye-aye captain. He chuckled and headed towards the drivers seat to get back home.
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We were all back home discussing what to do with this woman. Sonya patched me up and said that I don't have any signs of a concussion, so that's good.
"So she was sent as a spy?" Dreamer asked looking at the cage the fast woman was in.
"Something between a spy and a suicide bomber. She had a beacon in her bag she could've activated when we brought her in. It would've sent Sentinel Services right to our front door. She had weapons, too." Marcos said.
"Yeah, it sounds like the station in Perry was hit by another one of these, uh, things." Lorna said trying to piece everything together.
"If Sentinel Services is planting these things out there, we may need to stop taking in refugees." Sage said scared.
"You don't turn your back on desperate people because one of them might be dangerous. Reed We should get on the road. Try and figure out whatever we can from your dad - before it's too late." John said gesturing to Reed.
"Yeah." Reed replied getting up from his seated position.
"Hey, I'm coming with you guys." I said attempting to go pack.
"No, you're not. You got hit pretty hard today." John said.
"I'm not missing out on information about Gus because of a scratch." I said stubbornly.
"Fine. Be ready to go." He said about to walk out of the room.
"Hey, what about Little Miss Vicious?" Lorna asked.
"We got to get what we can out of her. See if you can figure out who she is. Do you think you can handle this?" John asked looking between Marcos and Lorna.
"Yeah." Marcos said unsurely.
"We'll be fine." Lorna said more confidently. With that John and I left to go see Reed's father.
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Reed, John and I walked into a shop to see Otto, Reed's father.
"Reed." Otto said surprised.
"Hello." Reed replied unsure of what to say.
"I never thought I'd see you again." Otto said.
"That's why I'm here. We need to talk." Reed said.
Otto flipped the open sign to closed and turned around and said, "You should have called. I would have told you not to waste your time. Who are these people?"
"My name's John Proudstar, Thunderbird." John answered.
"Ah, Thunderbird. Very heroic." Otto mocked.
"I'm Dylan Harper, Cascade." I said.
"Cascade. Water abilities? Impressive." Otto said.
"Actually, I can manipulate water, air, fire and earth. I'm elemental." I said.
"Not one, but four abilities. Sentinel Services would love to get their hands on you." Otto said.
"They keep trying." I said.
"They're with the Mutant Underground. They've been helping my family." Reed said cutting off our conversation.
"Is that so? The men from Sentinel Services came by. They seemed to think they were a terrorist organization." Otto said.
"We're not terrorists, sir." John defended.
"No, no.Of course not. Freedom fighters, I'm sure." Otto said scoffing.
"We're not here to have a political debate.Did you hear what happened?" Reed asked trying to get this conversation over with.
"At the school? Yes. They told me about it when they interrogated me." Otto said.
"What'd you tell them?" John asked.
"That I never met my grandchildren and haven't spoken to my son in years. In other words, the truth." Otto said.
"We need to talk to you about your work at Trask." Reed said getting to the point.
"My work at Trask was classified." Otto said stubbornly.
"I'm your son." Reed said.
"Son or not, it's a crime to reveal classified intelligence. It's also a crime to harbor a fugitive. I assume they covered this in law school." Otto said insultingly.
"My kids are being hunted by Sentinel Services." Reed said.
"This has nothing to do with me.- I have nothing to say." Otto said defensively.
"You said for years that Trask was just a defense contractor." Reed said accusingly.
"Trask no longer exists. I don't have any" Otto said, but was cut off by Reed.
"It opened up again! And they are doing anti-mutant research. Now, you worked there for 30 years. And it just turns out that your grandchildren happen to be mutants. Do you expect me to believe that that's a coincidence?" Reed asked skeptically.
"They're experimenting on mutants. My own best friend, her boyfriend, was turned, somehow. He's working for Sentinel Services." John said pointing at me.
"Dad I need you." Reed said desperately.
"Come. Upstairs." Otto said to Reed.
"It's all right. Go." John said.
"Yeah. We can handle things down here." I said as I watched Reed follow his father upstairs.
"Do you think he knows anything?" John asked once we were alone.
"About Gus? Probably not, but he knows something about Trask and maybe that will lead us to a cure for Gus." I said looking out the window. I had a bad feeling about this place.
"You're probably right." John said.
"Oh no. We got company." I said looking out the window seeing cars pulling up quickly.
"Reed! There's cars outside. I think it's Sentinel Services." John said leading me into the room Otto and Reed were talking in. We all went to the window to see Gus getting out of a Sentinel Services car. Someone injected him with something and then he started using his abilities. I felt nauseous because my powers were being drained.
"John, what is that?" I asked referring to the liquid in the syringe. He shrugged.
"The mutant down there, that's my friend, the one they turned. He can suppress powers." John said.
"Is there another way out of here?" Reed asked his father.
"Only the stairs." Otto answered.
"No, we can't fight our way out, not with Pulse down there. They can cut me down same as you." John said with pain written on his face.
"I'll go down." Otto said.
"You can't." Reed said.
"I have to. Maybe I can do something. I told you, our family is different. I'm sorry, Reed. For everything. Tell your mother, will you? Take care of Lauren and Andy. Protect them, son. Protect the world from them." Otto said before heading downstairs. All we could do is wait by the stairs until we knew if Otto was successful.
"We have to go down there." Reed whispered after a few minutes.
"We can't. It's suicide. Reed, we have people depending on us. The station. Your kids." John whispered back. The building began to shake.
"What's happening?" I asked confused. Then I got a major headache. I heard some gun shots and then heard an explosion. Everything then went dark. I woke up disoriented with my ears ringing. I saw Reed on the floor next to me and John leading against a chair trying to focus his hearing. We got up and saw Sentinel Services leaving.
"Come on!" John said ushering Reed and I down the stairs. The store was completely destroyed and Otto's body was untouched on the floor. I followed John outside.
"Gus?" John said flipping over a body. It was Gus and he didn't look too good.
"Oh my God. Gus? Hey, baby. It's gonna be ok. We're gonna get you some help." I said trying to assess his injuries.
"Sorry." Gus choked out.
"I am, too, brother." John said.
"No, you don't have to say that. You're gonna be ok. We're gonna get you some help and then you can come back to me." I said in complete denial.
"I'm gonna make them pay for what they did to you." John said not doing anything but hold his hand.
"John, get help. We have to help him. Do something." I said screaming at him. Gus started to reach for something on his chain around his neck and John helped him. It was a diamond ring intended for me. Tears were flowing down my face as John handed it to me and Gus grabbed my hand. His breath started to slow and he was gone. John closed his eyes.
"No. No. Gus. Baby. Come on." I said punching his chest.
"Dylan. He's gone." John said trying to get me to stop.
"No. He's not dead. I just got him back. We need to call an ambulance. John get someone here now. I don't care if we get caught by Sentinel Services just get him help." I said. John immediately took me into his arms to get me to stop and I began sobbing uncontrollably. In that moment I knew he was gone and it felt like a dagger going into my heart repeatedly. John held me until Reed came out of the store.
"We should go." He said distantly.
"Dylan, we have to go." John said.
"No, I can't leave him. Not again." I said shaking my head with Gus's hand still in my own.
"We'll find a nice place and bury them. Give them a funeral." John said rubbing my arms. I didn't answer, but it put me at ease.
It was dark by the time we buried Otto and Gus. I was numb. I couldn't feel anything. I didn't have any tears left. All I had was anger.