• Journey
    Part one

    Sam sucked in huge lungfuls of air, but it felt he couldn't get enough. After running non-stop for three hours this was understandable. He and his younger brother had finally found a small cave and ducked inside. He’d never been so glad for a hole in the ground.

    The light from the setting sun shone on Sam's black hair, it fell just to the tops of his ears in a shaggy cut that told of a dull knife being used instead of scissors. It had become necessary to cut his hair to be less noticeable to the people they were running from. But it didn't help much, not with his eyes standing out the way they did. They were intense blue, icy when mad and deeper and warmer when happy and relaxed; although they hadn't been the latter for a very long time.

    As Sam caught his breath his stretched out his long legs and cracked his back. He bumped his head on the ceiling of the cave; it was not suited to someone his height of six feet even. He curled back up, wrapping his arms around his legs and he noted the holes in the knees of his jeans were getting bigger. It would only be a matter of time before they became shorts. Sam didn’t relish the thought as the weather would soon be too cold for that. With that thought he was glad for the warm, fleece lined denim jacket he'd stolen a while back, it was the only soft thing he had now.... Even his once soft red cotton T-shirt was rough with dirt and age, the red now more of a dingy rust color.

    It all would have been too much if not for the boy in the cave with him. Sam could not have gone on like this without his brother.

    James collapsed next to his brother and ran one black-gloved hand through his dark blond hair. Like his brother, he was bedraggled and shaggy; his jeans had once been dark, but wear had made them almost gray, with the knees and seat worn thin. They were in better condition than Sam's, at least. The cuffs of his gloves were tucked under the sleeves of his dark gray hoodie; no skin showed. His sneakers were probably in the worst condition: holey, with the soles flapping. With a sigh, he removed one glove.

    He glanced over at Sam with eyes of washed-out blue, "Hey, look out," he warned before pressing his bare hand to the wall of the cave farthest away from his brother. Instantly, frost began to form on the stone as the thermal energy rushed into James' body. He could feel it flow through him, saturating his bloodstream. As he recharged, his eye color grew brighter. If Sam looked closely, he could see what appeared to be tiny sparks. He pulled his hand away before the cold spread all across the cave rock and pulled his glove back on.

    Sam watched James enviously, he was glad that he could recharge like that, but he wished it was that simple for him. He had to eat but unfortunately they hadn't had any food with them for some time. The last place they'd found some was two days behind them. His stomach had ceased growling, there was no point.

    "Feeling better?" Sam asked, he'd finally caught his breath and smiled at his little brother. He ran a finger through the frost on the wall, leaving a trail of partially melted ice.

    James nodded, his eyes still alight. It would take them an hour or so to return to something that might pass as normal. "Yeah. What are we going to do now? That last patrol nearly caught us."

    Sam was quiet for a few minutes. He tugged at the sleeves of his jacket and sighed.

    "Honestly James, I'm not sure. I keep thinking that if we can just get to Everlough we'll be okay. They take in people like us...Or so I've heard." Sam had heard nothing but good things about this city, they took care of the gifted people who came to them, and they were almost invisible to the outside army. When they first had to run, Sam had known this was the place they needed to go. All he knew was that it was somewhere in the mountains of Colorado. That was quite a ways from where they’d lived before in Virginia.

    James shrugged, playing with the fingertips of his gloves, arranging them so they were perfectly situated. "Yeah…. I'd feel better about that if we'd ever met anyone who'd actually been to Everlough. I can't shake this feeling that we're chasing shadows."

    As they spoke, James could feel himself absorb the sound energy through his exposed face. He took in every kind of energy, which was why he wore gloves. If he ever lost control, this way all he would leach was heat from air and cloth. It was nearly impossible to restrain his powers when he came in contact with life, which had chemical energy, kinetic energy, thermal energy, electrical energy and so on.

    "I know what you mean. But where else can we go?" Sam asked watching James play with his glove.

    "Man, I wish I could do what you do... It'd beat this starving to death thing I've got going on." As he spoke he picked up a rock with his power and made it float across the cave. Slowly, he was still trying to gain full control of this power. Last time he'd lost control he'd thrown a police officer over a building.

    Thus the reason they were running. Gifted people were not welcome in this world. Not since the government had issued the order to capture and or kill any abnormal humans found. As they were supposed to be a threat.

    Sometimes Sam thought they might be right. He himself could move things with his mind alone. James could absorb energy through touch alone. Either of those gifts was deadly if control was lost. Sam knew that from experience.

    James shrugged. "My eyes'll be back to normal in a few hours. There should be a town nearby, I’ll go and get us something.” It was too dangerous for Sam to be seen by very many people. Because of his eyes he was very easily spotted.

    James and Sam were on what equaled "America's Most Wanted" lists. They were classified as dangerous, with violent, offensive powers. Naturally, the government couldn't track down every single gifted. There were hundreds. But they would be more concerned with, say, a pyrokinetic than with someone who could change into a rock at will.

    But since James had never been on any news reports, he could sneak into towns and get food for them. It had become as natural to him as going for a ride on his bike used to.

    James’ voice distracted Sam and the rock flew across the cave and hit the wall next to James' head.

    "Ahh! Sorry James. It got away from me." He cringed and smiled apologetically. He was glad he’d learned to aim quickly. Otherwise James would’ve had a black eye.

    James just rolled his eyes and laughed. "Watch yourself, or you'll find yourself with zero-degree socks in the morning," he joked. Sam chuckled too, though he didn’t play with anymore rocks. Idle or not, a threat from James was a scary thing. One minute you’re a warm, living, breathing person, and the next you’d be a gruesome Popsicle.

    As the sun went down the temperature went with it. Before long Sam was shivering and trying to keep warm by rubbing his hands over the various parts of his body. This had little affect though. It was bad enough when he'd eaten something, but with no food he had no fuel to keep warm.

    He started to move over next to James, knowing the risk, but too cold to care. A little extra warmth was better than freezing to death. Besides, James was always careful.

    As though to prove his point James stiffened when he felt his brother's touch. He pulled his hood closer around his face and made sure his sleeves were pulled well over his gloves before he relaxed and leaned into Sam.

    Truth be told, he was just about as cold as Sam was. He had to make an effort not to affect the temperature of the air in the cave; it was cold enough. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Hey, Sam- do we have any wood?"

    "I think so, maybe outside the cave. I saw some sticks and stuff on the way in." He disappeared out into the night for a few moments and came back with an armload of dry sticks.
    "Think this will do?" He dumped the sticks in front of James and sat back down next to him.

    "Yeah..." said James, removing his gloves, "Stand back, I'm experimenting here."

    A glowing nexus of energy formed around his fingers. He placed his bare hands on the twigs and concentrated, imagining the atoms of the wood gaining energy... moving.... speeding up.... The wood grew hot, and suddenly burst into flame. James sat back, tired looking and with his eyes several shades lighter, but triumphant. "There!"

    "That's great! Good job." Sam put his hands out to warm them and smiled at his brother. He noticed then James' eyes and the way he sagged a little.
    "Are you okay though?" He put a hand on James' shoulder. That was about the limit to their physical contact now; it was hard to be able to touch your own brother for fear of getting killed.

    James nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine, just a bit... drained." James had let himself run completely out once. That had not been fun, he’d gone into a coma-like state for several hours while his body recharged. It was not something he wanted to experience again.

    Sam nodded and settled in beside his brother.
    "Why don't you get some rest? I'll keep first watch." Sam had suggested standing watch two weeks before when they had woken up to soldiers poking around their hiding place. They had barely escaped and he didn't want them to ever get so close to getting caught again.

    James hesitated, but then relented. He really was very tired.
    "Yeah, okay," he muttered. Laying down a few feet from the fire, he fell asleep, curled up in a cozy ball. Keeping as much skin covered at once while he slept was a skill he’d learned well.

    Sam watched he fire burn for a while, picking up a leftover stick and moving things around every so often. And in the same way he would go out into the night to gather more sticks.
    But about three hours into his watch he settled down and watched James sleep. He looked so peaceful laying there. It was the only time he ever looked child-like any more. They had both grown up fast these past couple of months.
    And why? Because Sam couldn't keep his temper in check and had sent someone flying. It was all his fault and he knew it. He'd dragged his brother out of hiding and now they were both in danger of losing their lives.

    Sam often wondered if James blamed him and just kept quiet, or if he actually didn't blame him at all.

    He did a few other things and even practiced with his power a little. Sam was careful not to get any fire airborne.

    After a few more hours he could hardly keep his eyes open and guessed it was about time to wake James up.