The Cursed Pandemic

She looked up at him. "Yeah...just...not quite ready to relax yet." Ame looks around her suspiciously. She was looking for exits, vehicles, possible traps. "Just because they are paranormals too, doesn't' mean they're safe."
 
He could understand where she was coming from, after so much time on his own, it's hard to trust people you haven't been through hell with. "Well just know, if you want to leave, I'll be right behind you. Can't let you have all the fun by yourself now can I?" He asked with a cheeky grin on his face.
 
"Shut up." She gives him a playful shove, relaxing slightly.

*********************************************
The room Ame was given was nice, though she had to share with someone else. At least she had her own bed. After settling in she went to the window, peering out into the night. The pool had lights in it and it was steaming like a massive hot tub. She put on a pair of shorts and a loose shirt and trotted down to the pool, sinking into the warm water with a sigh. She almost closed her eyes when movement below her feet startled her. She drew her feet up close to her and looked around.

Someone or something was staring at her below the surface of the water. She nearly leapt out but the person peeked their head above the water. "Hi. You're the new kid, aren't you." The girl says, swimming a little closer. The way she moved was like a mermaid and Ame could indeed see the tail behind her. "You...your..."
"Yes...I'm a mermaid." The girl giggles. "Ariel. Who are you?"
"Ame."
Ariel ducked beneath the water then came back up to the surface. "Sorry, I can only breath outside the water for a few minutes at a time. Nice to meet you Ame. Is that your boyfriend?" She points to Locke as he approaches the pool. Ariel flushes and ducks under the water again.
"They even have mermaids here." Ame says to Locke as he comes up behind her. "What's next? Vampires?"
 
Locke had changed into a pair of cargo shorts and a tank top. He'd even decided to take off his gloves, looking at his hands, slightly discolored in patches and heavily scarred from numerous burns over the years, he decided to take a jog down to the pool. He took off the sandals he'd put on as he dipped his feet in the warm water. Listening to Ame, he chuckled a bit. "Careful, they'll show up if you keep taunting fate like that.

He sighed as he felt the water flow through his toes. Noticing Ariel wave at him from under the water, he waved back. Turning his head over to Ame he asked. "So, have you met your roommate yet? Apparently Texas decided he wanted me bunking with him. I expect to wake up on the ceiling at least once in the early days here."
 
Ame smiled genuinely followed by a smirking laugh. "Maybe I should a put a camera in your room. I'd love to see that. And yeah, I met my roomie. She legit looks like the hulk...only...not green. I'm pretty sure her bed is curved. Don't want to be angering that one."
 
Locke let out an impressed whistle as Ame described her roommate. "At least you've got your shield, but I imagine she could drain the energy required to keep it up real quick." Just then Ariel reappeared from the water.

"Hi there, I'm Locke. Tell me, how did such a small fish like you wind up in a small pond like this?"
 
Ariel flushed slightly. "I was in an aquarium museum. Tex found me, rescued me. Carried me, water and all- all the way here. He nearly killed himself doing it, but he did. What about you two? You dating?" She asks mischievously.
"No." Amelia replies adamantly. "We were part of the group trying to get to haven. Got ambushed."
"Oh yeah. Heard about that. Real sad. Some people think Haven isn't real...I hope it is." Ariel dropped back under the water and came up. "What about before that?"
Ame's expression got that hard cold look again and she got out of the water. "I'm uh, getting tired. I'm going to head to bed. Good night." She hurries off.
"Oh...must be bad." Ariel says sadly.
 
Locke watched her go sadness in his eyes. He looked over to the mermaid. "Yeah, don't think its a story we'll be hearing about anytime soon." He wanted to go after Ame, but thinking logically, what would he be able to say? They'd only known each other about 24 hours. They may have survived that ambush together, but they didn't know all that much about each other.

Shaking his mind from these depressing thoughts he returned to his conversation with Ariel. "That was pretty awesome of Texas to do for you though." He found himself gaining a lot of respect for the man and the lengths he would go too, to help other para's. "And if that hint of red I saw was any indication, I'd say you've got a little bit of a crush on your savior!" He teased, a silly grin on his face.
 
Ariel ducked under the water again, doing several spins before returning to the surface. "He swims with me sometimes." She looks to the side longingly. His ability lets him make a bubble of air under the water...but...its like that old saying, a bird and a fish may love one another but where would they live." She sighs longingly, but then swims up to Locke. "And you? Where'd you come from?"
 
Locke scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Me? Ah, I'm no one special, grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, most of my life, raised in a Mormon household while not really caring about the religion. Life was pretty normal, until the day I found out I can shoot fire out of my hands. Parents sent me to an experimental lab for paranormals, probably one of the few in the country that doesn't see us as monsters. They hooked me up with special gloves that keep me from burning my hands when I use my power now."

He paused a bit, remembering the good times, but then his face turned sour. "After they sent me home, my parents kicked me out into the world, 'couldn't deal with a cursed child' they said. Spent the last 3 years hitchhiking across the country. Had a few... let's just call them bad experiences along the way. Killed a bear and almost died in the process, ran into Ame after my latest mistaken safe place. Texas found us the next day, well technically this morning and well here I am."
 
Ariel ducks under the water again and resurfaces a moment later. "Well, I'm glad you're here now, Locke. This place has only been open a few months, but its the first place I know of to remain secret even this long. We're lucky." She puts a hand on Locke's hand. "Ame is lucky to have someone like you. Maybe one day she'll trust you enough to let you in." Ariel giggled like a school girl and flopped back into the water. This time, she didn't resurface.
 
He blushed slightly as Ariel dived back under for the final time. He thought briefly about her words before taking his feet out and heading back up to his room. He found Texas there getting ready for bed. "Hey, don't gotta say anything, just listen. Ariel told me what you did for her, and the risk you took to get her here. You keep doing stuff like that, you've got my loyalty, no questions asked." He didn't wait for an answer, he just hopped into his bed and finally got a good nights rest.

He awoke the next day to a beautiful sunrise and the smell of bacon being cooked. He quickly freshened up, put on a clean pair of jeans and headed downstairs. Currently seated around the fire were Flint, Texas, Ame, and the girl who he could only assume was her roommate. She did indeed look like the hulk, and of all things, the first thought that ran through Locke's mind was, I wanna see her and Flint arm wrestle. He smirked as he joined the others, grabbing a seat right next to Ame. "Morning everyone, so what're we having?"
 
Ame looked up. "Morning, Torch. We got bacon, eggs and toast. Yum." She'd turned the items into a sandwich and was munching happily on them. "Yo, Torchy!" Texas gave him a high-five. "Torchy this is Shannon. Shannon, Torchy." He pointed to the hulk. Shannon nodded at him. "She doesn't talk much, but she's a hell of a person to have watch your back when you need it."
 
"Nice to meet you Shannon." He sat down and took a plate full of food from Flint. "Eat as much as you like kids. I can make food all day, literally!" His boisterous laugh was almost infectious as Locke found himself wanting to laugh along with the old timer. A thought entered his mind as he looked behind him at the pool. "So... quick question. When and how does Ariel eat? You know since she's stuck underwater and all?"
 
"She's kinda like a fish." Texas says with a mouth full of food. "She's happy with fish, seaweed and other meats. Sometimes we try and cook the meat for her but she seems to get more nutrients out of it raw. Its a tough para, and lonely. I feel for her."
"She still seems pretty cheerful though." Ame notes.
"Yeah...I don't know how she keeps her spirits up, but she does. And we make sure someone swims and talks with her everyday. I usually go in the mornings after breakfast if I'm not rescuing someone."
"How do you know if someone needs rescuing?" Amelia takes another bite of her sandwich.
"Mini. She'll get a feeling, or have a dream then we just follow her to wherever her ability takes her. That's how we knew about the raid...you two were the only ones to escape it seems."
 
Locke looked down and ate his food silently for a while after that. He thought back to that poor mother and daughter, those twins. He didn't even know their names and yet he felt sorrow for them. He'd spaced out so bad that he didn't even notice that Claire, Mini and a bunch of the other kids had showed up for breakfast. He gave Claire a wave, not wanting to say hi with a mouth full of food.

"Tex, dear, XO seems to be running low on fuel. We'll need to do a pickup soon to keep him running." Claire was the one who spoke, it was only then that he realized that she had some oil stains on her clothes, which seemed to be those of a mechanic. For such a sweet lady, it seemed there was more to her then meets the eye. It was then that Locke was reminded of a burning question he'd wanted to ask. "Ok, so the robot... how did you manage to get your hands on that thing?!"
 
"Came with the girl." Texas grins as Mini pops up on his lap. He hands her some toast.
"Mini has been able to find Paranormal's since she was three. Her father unfortunately, was a scientist...one of the bad ones...under contract to the Anti-Para Task Force. When he found out what she could do, they used her to find Para's." Texas undid Mini's braid and re-did it as she ate. "To protect her when she was in the field, her father reprogrammed XO to protect her by any means necessary. Two years ago she found me. After I took out her guards, I asked her she wanted to be free and she said yes, so...here we are." Texas grins. "Now, 'ur just hearing all the stories about me, but assure you there are plenty of other heroes around this place with their own stories to tell."
 
"What can I say Mr. Hero-man? You look like the leader of this rag tag band of Para's, I just like to know what kinda man I'm working for." He reclined in his seat, a smirk on his face as he finished off his breakfast. Smiling he looked up at the sky and just took in the fact that he felt relaxed for the first time in years. It was a wonderful feeling.

He'd let the conversation between the others continue for a little while, taking in bits and pieces of info where he could. Then he sat forward in his seat. "So, what do you need me and Sparky here to do? Keeping this old place up and running cant be easy work."
 
"No. Its not. Our biggest challenge right now are supplies that cost money. Electricity, we have friends in the power plant taking care of that...water, comes through the pipes via electricity. Food, we can grow vegitables quickly thanks to Flint but we have to buy proteins and other specialty items. We also need money for medical supplies, toiletries, clothes, blankets, basic necessity supplies, you dig? Problem is, where do you get money when no one hires Para's?"

Texas leans back in his seat. "There's a website...lets people who are rich and desperate hire para's to do jobs for them. Not usually legal, but we never take the jobs that are actually going to seriously hurt people. We do things more along the lines of thefts, body guarding, accessing difficult to reach places, rescues, that sort of thing. Aside from that there are odd jobs like cutting trees for wood, repairs, cooking, cleaning...but most of those jobs already have someone assigned to them. So, in answer to your question...you two can be part of our job hunters. Find a good job on the website...get it done...get paid..and come back without being followed. Or, find your own way of earning money that isn't going to hurt people. At least...not hurt the innocent people." He shrugs.
 
"Sounds fair enough to me." He looked over to Ame, who had stayed quiet for most of the conversation. He wanted to get her up and moving again. "Shall we get started Sparky?"
 
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