The Cursed Pandemic

Love2write

Love2write

Writer of worlds

The Cursed Pandemic​
@jrusso20

“The cursed have always existed among us. More often than not they are the ones considered “champions”, “abnormal heroes”, “blessed by the gods” or simply “lucky”. But it is not luck that causes a child to burn down a building with a thought, or blessings from the gods that allow thieves to steal into buildings while invisible. Neither is a super-strong menace playing vigilante in the streets a hero or the athlete with paranormal speed a true champion.​

These ‘paranormals’, as some like to call them, are nothing more than people cursed with evil supernatural abilities. They threaten the very peace of our world and are already being turned into weapons to be used in our own backyards. In addition, the cursed are bearing children even more cursed than they themselves are! If we allow this pandemic to get out of control we “normal humans” will be overrun and our societies will collapse. The Cursed are not to be worshipped or accepted, they are to be hunted, until every last one is wiped from the face of the Earth for good.”​
~Excerpt from “The Cursed Pandemic”
written by Steve Mayborne, June 12, 1947​

***
It has been 45 years since the now famous book “The Cursed Pandemic” was released. With it came the laws and ordinances against “paranormals” that has destroyed any hope we have of living equally among “normals.” Most of us have spent our lives running or in hiding from bounty hunters, authorities, assassins and everyone else meaning us harm. A few have been the unfortunate subjects of experimentation for the purpose of better weaponry against us.

If you are reading this...know that there is hope. I’ve sent this letter to you because I know you’re one of us paranormals. I’ve seen how you’ve suffered yet have refused to give up. I invite you and your family to join Haven, a society of Paranormals existing just outside the reach of the rest of the world. We have our own city, with shops, entertainment, jobs, schools, researchers and even a justice system.

If you are interested in a life in a better place, come to 2200 Baker’s Field, Illinois at midnight, the first day of the month. My agents will meet you, answer any questions you might have, and bring you home.

*Destroy this flyer upon conclusion of reading it.
~Sincerely Hiro
 
Locke hadn't entirely believed the flyer when he first laid eyes on it. Thought it might've been some sort of trap from the "normal" to try and capture people like him. Still, he wanted to have hope, wanted to believe that there could be a place on Earth for people like him. That's why he was here, standing out in the middle of nowhere Illinois waiting for some nondescript agents to show up. He'd at least expected some kind of house when he showed up at the address, but all there seemed to be around him was open field.

He ran his hands through his short chocolate brown hair, the special gloves he uses to keep his powers from harming him preventing him from feeling the hair's actual texture before looking around at the various people gathered in the field. There were a various assortment of characters present, a mother and her daughter, what looked to be a set of teenage twin boys, but the person who stood out the most to him was a girl who looked to be around his age.

Putting on a charming smile, he approached the girl. "So, you have any idea what we do next now that we're out here? I don't know about you but I didn't come all the way out here just to stare at a cornfield all night."
 
Her name was Amelia. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/167477679873033634/ She had reddish-brown hair tied up in a bun, green eyes and a strange ability to harness solar energy and use it how it suited her. It was nearing midnight and she standing in the feild with everything she could carry that was of importance to her in her travel back-pack. This was a one-way trip for her. If this wasn't real...well, she didn't know what she was going to do. Ame turned her head to look up at the boy who'd approached her. He hadn't even asked her name and was asking already her questions. "How should I know? Got the same flyer you did I'm guessing." She says a rather snarkly and raised an eyebrow at him, looking him over. She noted the strange gloves on his hands and couldn't help wondering what they were for. "What are the gloves for? You contagious?" She takes a step to the side suspiciously.
 
Locke snickered at her comment. A little sparkle coming into his grey eyes. A girl after my own heart I see. "Only disease I got is the one society placed on me, and if you're like the rest of the folks here, you're already infected." He extends a hand to the girl. "The name's Locke. These here gloves are to help protect my hands when I shoot fire from them. Had a bit too many 3rd degree burns for my liking, you know what I mean?"
 
"Fire, huh? Ok. That's cool. I'm Amelia, but I prefer to be called Ame." She shook his hand cautiously as if he might erupt into flames any moment and burn her. "I'm a walking talking solar powered energy machine." She grins cheekily. "I can make legit force shields, among other things."
 
"No kidding? Well I now I know who to hide behind if this turns out to be some sort of elaborate ruse." He'd been a bit too loud there, not noticing that the mother was glaring at him and covering her child's ears. "It's nice to meet you Ame. So, what's your story? Everyone's got a story."
 
"Yeah, everyone's got a story but not everyone wants to tell it." Ame scoffs, a dark expression had come over her face and she rubbed her arm as if it ached. "God, if this is a ruse...I'm seriously going to kill myself." Whether she was being dramatic or serious was hard to tell.
 
Locke, taking the hint, backed off a little bit. "Fair enough, I'm not one to pry into peoples personal lives if they don't wanna talk about it. You know I almost didn't come because I thought it might be a ruse. But I gotta good feeling about this place. Seems like something worth hoping for." He said that last line with a hint of regret in his voice. As if he was ashamed of himself for some reason.
 
A loud shout sounded from the edge of the crowd. "Soldiers! Run!" The cry came to late. Six heavily armored suv's surrounded the small group that had formed. Soldiers stepped out and began tranquilizing everyone they could hit. The once peaceful scene turns into one of violent chaos. Ame stretches out her arms and a bright light shines around her, tranqs richote off the shield and she yells thrusting her arms out towards her front. The two suv's and 7 soldiers in her path are sent tumbling several feet as the light leaves her body in a powerful wave.
 
They came in like a paranormal with super speed. The military, so it was a ruse after all. He stood back to back with Ame, letting her shield his backside. Holding his hands out in front of him, flames flew out from them as if he were holding a flamethrower, igniting the tall grass in front of them. The flames should hopefully disintegrate any tranquilizers and keep that line of soldiers at bay until the flames were extinguished.

He turned to look in Ame's direction when he heard the explosion. He couldn't believe his eyes, two suvs were just gone, obliterated in front of him. It was then that he saw his chance for escape. "Nice work!" He said as he grabbed onto her hand. "Now lets get out of here!" He took off towards the hole she had made in their perimeter, dragging her along to get her moving. All the while spouting flames behind him to make pursuit more difficult for the soldiers.
 
Amelia raced behind him, the pack on her back weighing her down a bit. She couldn't believe this was happening...actually...she could. Damn soldiers. Damn scientists. Damn world. She winces as a tranq flies by her ear and she holds out her free hand behind her, keeping up a shield to prevent getting taken down before they escaped. They fled into the city, taking back alleyways in an attempt to lose their pursuers.

Amelia began lagging, her skin had taken on a darkened tone and she breathing heavily. "Stop...I need...I need to rest." She bent over, hands on her knees. They could still hear sirens close behind. "We need to find someplace to hide..." Before them was a sewer lid and she bent down to try and pry it up. "Help me."
 
Locke raced to her aid, using all the physical strength he had to lift the grate up and toss it to the side. "Ladies first." He said as he helped her onto the ladder leading down to the sewers. Once he was sure she was a safe distance down he began to descend himself, closing the manhole behind him. The sewer was damp and cold, and above all else, it was pitch black after he recovered the manhole. Luckily, his power was the exact opposite.

Holding a flame with his left hand, while descending with his right, he carefully descended down the ladder, finding Ame resting against the wall next to it. "So, you weren't kidding when you said you were solar powered, huh?" He asked while holding the flame a safe distance from her, while also providing suitable warmth. "We can rest here for the night. Tomorrow though, we're gonna have to get you some sun. No offense but you look awful right now." He said, his smirk humorous.
 
Ame gave him a look and dropped her pack. "You'll never pick up a girl saying things like that." She smirks wearily. She bent down, rummaging through her pack and she pulled out a sweater and two blankets. She handed one of the blankets to him and slipped on the sweater, keeping the other for herself. "Try not to set that on fire. Its the only blankets I've got." She wrapped herself in her blanket and lay down, her pack for a pillow. "What are we going to do now? I've got no where else to go..."
 
He switched the flame he'd been using as a light off briefly to sit in a comfortable position against the wall, and adjusted his blanket so that he could keep warm when it was time to sleep. Reigniting the flame high above his head, he gave the girl a look of sympathy. "We'll figure something out. Keep ourselves inconspicuous topside until we find an abandoned place to crash. If it makes you feel any better, I've got nowhere to go either." It was then that his grin returned and he chuckled to himself. "I suppose if all else fails, we could turn the sewer into our own paranormal clubhouse."
 
“Oh hell no.” Ame protests. “I’d rather go back to…” Her voice faded out and she looked away. “I know there’s some gang housing projects not far from here. We could probably sneak into one of the apartments and hole up there for a bit. I’d rather deal with a gang-banger than an anti-paranormal soldier.”
 
Locke looked at her quizzically as she cut herself off, but shrugged to himself. Figured it was part of her story that she didn't want to tell. "Sounds good, at least those thugs don't have armor. We're gonna need food too." He pulled out his wallet, looking at the image of a happier man stare back at him, Moving past his ID he checked the wallet to see how much cash he had on hand. "I've got three 20s on hand. If you're ok with eating dollar menu everyday that should keep us going for a couple weeks."
 
"I can lift some wallets get us some extra cash." Amelia yawns, shifting into the pack. "Night, Torch. See ya tomorrow. If we don't get killed in our sleep."

*******************************
Amelia screamed. A long hard, blood curdling scream. “Shut it down!” Someone yells in the background. Amelia goes limp in the chair she was strapped to, breathing heavily as tears streamed down her face. Wires of various sizes connected to her arms and the back of her neck. People watched coldly from beyond bulletproof glass.
“I’m telling you the calculations are messed up. You can’t harness that much energy from her that quickly. It’ll kill her.” Muffled voices argue beyond the glass.

Someone comes in through a side door and pulls the mouth guard from her mouth, tilting up a bottle of water for her to drink. She drinks greedily, nearly choking from not drinking slowly. Amelia looks up at the woman scientist. She was the only one who actually cared in the slightest if she were in pain or not. But still...she did nothing to free her. “Help me…” Ame begs weakly.

The woman puts the mouthguard back in and walks away and she glances back up at the glass where the arguing scientists seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. “Ok, slower this time.” Ame’s knuckles go white as she grips the armrest of the chair and her teeth grind into plastic mouthguard as she once again feels the painful drain on her energy and life. When would it end?
*********************************

Amelia woke with a start as someone put a hand on her shoulder. She threw out her hand and would've likely thrown the offender across the floor except she could only manage a small burst of light which illuminated the face of Locke. "Damn it, Locke...you scared me." She groans sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"
 
He hadn't slept that night. Never did the first night on the run. When shit hit the fan, and it normally did for Locke, he was always the one on lookout the first night. He'd extinguished the flame he had going so that Ame could sleep, but his eyes never left that manhole. As the hours ticked by he began to notice the girl twitching and moving around in her sleep, he tried not to pay attention to it, figured everyone moves in her sleep. It was when she started squirming and moaning in pain that he got concerned.

He gently tried to shake her awake and was greeted by a light burst that only managed to hurt his eyes. "Ow, easy there sparky, you're gonna hurt somebody. You were writhing in your sleep. Sounded like you were in pain, so I woke you up." He looked up at the sewer grate, a slight batch of pink light emanating from it. "Looks like sunrise out there. Lets get you recharged, got a long day ahead of us." He helped stuff the blankets back in her backpack and lit up the way as he slowly climbed back up the ladder.
 
Ame followed, smiling lightly as the sun hit her skin. She pulled off her sweater to allow for absorbing as much sunlight as possible. She previously pale skin had dark spots all along it, but they began to fade as they walked in the sun. "This way." She says, directing them. These streets were familiar too her and she'd made sure to memorize as much of this portion of the city as possible for easy escape routes. She looked over Locke who had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. "Didn't sleep much either huh?"
 
He shook his head. "Never can the first night. Lotta things have fallen apart on me so I know what to look out for. First night is always the most tense." He gave her a charming smile again. "So, how do you know about these projects? Have one of those, 'rebel without a cause' phases?"
 
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