The desert stretched from the sea in the west to the sheer mountain range in the east. It was almost completely inhospitable to life out here and only the animal life and plants that could survive on minimal water seemed to make any headway.
Yet a small group of people have made their home out here. Living in an abandoned facility of unknown construction or purpose, they had a simple existence.
Eric, Greta and Malcolm had all lived here for many years. The younger crowd had only been here a small while.
Terri, especially, was new. She was still trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened to her and while she didnt trust anyone who lived at this facility, she understood that this was the safest place that she, or any of their kind, could have to live. A small oasis in the world of death and danger that awaited anyone even accused of being a Descendant.
Terri wandered the halls of the facility. Many of them were still locked off. Malcolm and Eric didnt want anyone going any further than needed. They didnt have the resources to open up more of the facility. She ended up at a locked door and saw a camera above her swivel to keep her in frame. She flipped the camera off and walked back down towards the dorms.
The twins, the two newest arrivals to the facility were in their room. The boy, Ike, was treating his sisters wounds. She had come close to dying, and probably would have if Terri hadnt stepped in. she watched, arms crossed over her chest, as the siblings quietly talked and helped each other. It was the girl, Micah who noticed her first.
“Terri,” she said, jumping to her feet and running out to the doorway.
“Micah,” Ike said, disappointedly holding an unravelling bandage as her sister threw her arms around the taller redhead. He sighed and dropped the bandage, standing to join the two girls.
“Thank you so much,” Micah said. “I dont know what we would have done if you hadnt shown up.”
“Died, probably,” Terri said. Her arms were still crossed against her and she didnt return the hug. In fact, she looked utterly miserable to be included in one. “Ok thats enough,” she pushed the younger girl away and straightened out her clothes.
Ike leaned on the dresser as he rolled up the bandage. “Why did you come here?” he asked.
“I was wandering, I just happened to come past your room. I dont know why I stopped.”
“No,” Ike said, he looked up from the bandage and into her eyes. “Why did you come here, to this place. You clearly dont want to be here, you dont like Eric and the others. You arent a prisoner and you can look after yourself out there. Why do you stay?”
Terri looked at the young man and the slight shadow of a smile played at the edges of her mouth. “I have nowhere else to be,” she replied. “Nothing in particular to do. When you two get back on your feet, will you stay?”
The twins looked at each other. “We havent talked about it,” Ike said. Terri could tell he was avoiding something. “But Eric and Malcolm said they will help us to,” he stopped talking.
“They said they could teach us how to use what we can do properly,” Micah finished for him.
“I hope so,” Terri said. “I saw the two of you out there, and you definitely need help.”
“What does that mean?” Micah said, pulling her arm away, making Ike drop the bandage again.
“You two are twins. Thats rare enough, but Descendant twins? Theres something about that that I, and the others, think should be focused on.”
“Why?” Ike said.
“Because what if you were meant to be a single person with a single powerset? You should be trained to work together.”
Greta always seemed to look sad to Micah. The older woman was more than capable of making her way around the facility herself, despite the wheelchair she was confined to, and was always happy while she dealt with the younger of the people that lived here. But on her own, whenever she was away from Eric and Malcolm, her eyes always seemed to have a dullness to them.
Micah watched from a respectful distance as Greta rolled down a soft slope to what had been made the communal room, the living room. Inside, Terri was napping on the sofa, her coveralls tied around her waist as normal and her black tank top pulled taut against her.
She watched as Greta pulled up to the redhead and give her a strange look before reversing and heading to the other side of the room. As she spun her chair, she saw Micah and beckoned her down to join her.
“Hi,” Micah said as she sat opposite the other woman at the table.
“How are you feeling?” Greta asked, her slight accent tweaking some of the words.
“Im getting there,” she said, tapping the bandage that Ike had tied around her arm. “Everyone has made sure Ike and I are comfortable and safe.”
“That is good,” Greta nodded. “But how are you feeling? Not everything has to be about your brother.”
“I know,” Micah said. “But he is all I have left now.”
“You have us,” Greta said, spreading her arms wide. “Even the other girl,” she nodded towards Terri.
Micah shook her head gently. “It isnt the same,” she said. “I appreciate everyone here and the ability to stay as long as we need,” she added hurriedly in case the older woman took offense. “But Ike and I, we’ve been together since we were born. I know him better than I know anyone. I need him around because I dont know what Id do if he wasnt.”
Greta tilted her head slightly, considering the younger womans words. “I had a brother once, not a twin, he was older than me. Five or six years. He went to war, he left our family behind. I remember seeing him board the bus. His face staring out of the back window as it drove away. I will never forgive him for leaving us.”
“Im sorry,” Micah said, her eyes looking down. “My dad fought too. He came home though.”
“No no,” Greta said, tucking the blanket that was wrapped around her legs back in. “I am sorry, it isnt your fault my brother never came home. Nor, I think, is it your fathers. I would be the same as you, I think. Dedicated to him if I had the chance. Like you are to your brother. Perhaps I am a jealous old woman.”
“No, I understand,” Micah said. “I get defensive when people try to split us. I dont want to think about him being apart from me.”
Greta nodded. “Where is he now?”
“He went with Eric and Malcolm into the desert,” she said.
“He is safe then,” Greta replied. “They wont let anything happen to him.”
“I know,” Micah said.
Two towering pillars of rock were famous landmarks for people of this place. They were layered with weathered sandstone of various colours and stood about 100 meters apart. Right now the three men stood between them.
Ike was slightly offset from the other two, watching as they showed him how they managed the abilities being a Descendant gave them.
Malcolm effortlessly floated about a foot off the ground, explaining how he could feel the pressure of the air around him and how it felt like he was able to manipulate it to help him fly.
“It isnt like I am just flying,” he said. “I use what is around me to make me fly.”
“I dont feel anything like that,” Ike said. “Like, I dont think that there is anything like your air pressure for me.”
Malcolm nodded and returned to the ground lightly. “It is definitely different for everyone. But hearing from a wider range of people should help you gain a way for you to find your own center of control.”
“I dont think he is wrong,” Eric said, stepping towards Ike. “But I think he takes a philosophical approach to this where a more practical answer is easier for men like us to grasp. I can feel it inside me. Its a part of me and whatever is a part of me is mine to use as I will. Watch.”
Eric turned to face away from the other two and pulled his hand in closer to his body. Within the grasp of his fingers, a small orange light appeared and grew to the size of a baseball. He pulled his arm back in a throwing motion and tossed the orange light as hard as he could. It soared through the sky, a tail of light connecting it to Erics hand. Like every ball ever thrown, it curved towards the ground and where it connected was a giant explosion, much larger than you would have expected from a ball of that size. As the explosion reached its peak, the tail of light that had connected it to Erics hand faded away.
“I did that,” he said. “Everything about it was me. I didnt use air currents or energy from outside of my body. When I was younger, it did take me a long time to realise what I was feeling, and I think that would be the same for you too. Take your time, focus on whats inside you and let it tell you how to use it.”
Ike nodded, still unsure, but willing to try, and sat in the sand. The older men followed suit, slightly apart from each other. Neither noticed any difference in Ike, aside from his breathing slowing and his face relaxing.
Ike tried to remember what it was like when he had reached out to stop his father from hurting Micah. He tried to remember how he felt as he saw Micah thrown aside like a ragdoll by the bald man. How he felt when he thought that Micah was dead.
He felt the anger and the hate bubble in him. He didnt want those feelings. He knew what he wanted came after them but he couldnt stop it. He felt the bile rising in his throat and it burned green. A realisation snapped in his head too late and he opened his eyes in shock. He looked at his outstretched hand, not remembering having raised it. He looked over at the other two men and Erics wide eyed shock. Then he looked at Malcolm and the blood that was pouring out of him.
“Malcolm!” Greta shouted, her body going rigid.
“What is it?” Micah asked.
“Something happened, I cant tell. Just something bad.”
“I felt it,” Terri said. She had got up from her sofa and was looking out the window into the desert. “We all did.”
“What was it?”
“I dont know. The speedy kid is already heading out. I have a bad feeling about this,” she said, her eyes locked on Micah.