Hopping the Border

[rhett]

[Rhett]
Rhett rubbed the crease of his elbow where the IV had been, smiling. It was a forced smile, a lie- but his eyes were telling the truth. It seemed no matter what he did, a steady stream of tears came running down his face.

Eva was dead- he could feel it in his heart. His chest ached, and his limbs felt splintered. Yes, she was gone and never coming back- because of him.

He stood still in a group of red flowers- she had loved red- and tried to cope with that fact. It had to be a nightmare. Didn't it? Wasn't there mercy somewhere in life?

And he began counting.

1. Eva is gone. I love her with all my heart, but she's gone. I didn't protect her. I'll never hear her laugh again.

2. This is the third loved one I've lost. First Mom, then Isla, and now my Evalee.

3. I am in a concentration camp.

4. My son is alive.

Given that selection, Rhett picked the fourth one to concentrate on. He couldn't do anything about Eva's death now, except get their son back and raise him for her. If she had survived and knew their son was out there, she would never have rested until they recovered him.

The concentration camp was just an obstacle in the way of getting his son back. He'd been running in this direction since he'd woken up, so there had to be some sort of fence or gate or...

a large, oddly-colored, sort of creepy barrier.

"That works."

Without further ado, Rhett ran headfirst at the barrier. Best to start with the basics, you know? Smart plans come later.

There was a sickening crack and Rhett was on the ground with an enormous headache. But if it broke every bone in his body twice, he was getting his son back.

Okay, so running at the wall headfirst may not have beent he plan- and neither was running at the wall shoulder first or feet first. Attempting to climb it proved there was nothing to grip, and that didn't change the seventh time.

Finally, Rhett tried searching with his extrasense for a weakness in the barrier. All he got was an enormous headache- well, a bigger one than he already had. It had to be designed to block any mutant's mental powers.

To anyone else, it appeared that Rhett was simply standing in front of the wall and staring at it really hard while talking to himself, but he was actually trying to get past the mental part of the barrier.

Although the talking to himself part was a little crazy.

[Maku]

A small kid, Maku, sat in a cluster of brightly colored flowers. He holds his right arm with his left, rubbing his bicep up and down as if it was hurting. The sight of other people made him scared, and it was obvious in his eyes. He can barely stand the sight of mutants, including himself. He blinks, and avoid eye contact with anyone. Maku made this place a priority to see, just to help him accept his denial of being here. Maku lies into the flowers, the soft scents and fragrances calm him. Amongst the flowers, he looks fragile, as if a touch of another would cause him to shatter. He looks at the flowers, analyzing them, letting the vibrant colors burn memories into his head. Maku takes little notice to other mutants, and is more focused on the flowers. Their presence, however, instills discomfort.

Just by looking at him, it was obvious he had no control over his mutation. Perhaps more obvious than saying "I'm Hungry" when you're hungry or "That table is brown" when the table is obviously brown. Maku has a look of innocence, and maybe that is what is so attracting of him. He looks easily bothered, and people could just easily say something provocative or rude to feel better for themselves. He is visibly weak, and can be seen as easy prey. Maku doesn't know this. He never knew that is the look he gives off. Maku's own innocence causes the blindness of his appearance.

Maku pulls at flowers and grass, letting the smells mix and blend, giving him memories of his home. He looks happy and peaceful, like he was given a pet to take his pains. Maku has little trouble pretending that he isn't where he think he is. Not to mention he looks like he is in his own world. If one were to talk to him, he wouldn't say a word. But something draws him. A man. Trying to tackle the barrier wall. "Another one trying to escape," He sighed. Maku had only heard of people try and get themselves hurt, or worse, killed. But then again, he was eavesdropping on many conversations.

He tried to bring himself to a stand, and then walked his way over the the determined man, obviously making no impact onto the wall. He muttered softly, as not to startle him. "Are you okay?" Maku looks concerned, wondering if the man has yet to realize it's pratically impossible to escape.

[rhett]

[Rhett]

Usually, when he used his extrasense, Rhett saw flashes of images. But with the barrier staring him in the face, he saw the inside of his eyelids. His headache was intensifying rapidly, and he was starting to feel like he needed to come back to the world. Using his extrasense now was a bit nervewracking because he knew he was vulnerable in a dangerous place.

"Are you okay?" came the question, softly posed. Rhett's mind switched immediately, feeding him flashes: flowers, the barrier, a timid-looking man, empty hands. He came back to reality at top speed, plunging into his reflexes in case he needed to use them.

But the man seemed to be no threat. Rhett smiled at him, hoping he knew a bit more about this place than he did. "I'm great! You wouldn't happen to have the key, would you?"

Rhett watched the man's worried face for a moment before returning his attention to the wall. If only there were some way to employ his reflexes! Maybe if he jumped at the wall and then pushed off and flipped up repeatedly, he could make it to the top... But he was no gymnast!

The last time Rhett had even done a flip was with Ison when he was a kid and they'd gotten stuck in a power plant- and he hadn't done it by pushing off a wall and launching upward! But then- he hadn't had his powers then...

It was worth a shot- for his son. He turned to the man, "Hey pal, I've got an idea. I don't suppose you're a healer or can shift into a giant trampoline, can you?"

He looked back at the wall, fully expecting a reply.

[Maku]

All Maku could do was to blink in confusion at the man. He looked like he was not all together, lost between where he was and where he was going. But collectively not here. Maku filtered the man's words. "I'm Great," he says. After running into a wall, that's not what I'm getting. "You wouldn't happen to have the key, would you?" Key? What Key? I don't think there's a key. Maku just stared at him quizzically, speaking softly to help make the man try to think straight. "You ran into a wall head first. I wouldn't consider myself feeling great after something like that. And the wall doesn't have a key. No one has made it over, through or anything close. I would just stop, if I were you."

Maku pulls a small plastic bag out of his back pocket. He's been scrounging for anything medicinal he could get his hands on. The bag had pill of all colors in them. He lifts it to his face, his hand shuffling through it. He pulls out a pink round pill that resembled a disk. He handed it to the man. "From the looks of it, you have a headache. Here's some asprin.."

As soon as he finished his sentence, the man asks him such an odd question. "Hey pal, I've got an idea. I don't suppose you're a healer or can shift into a giant trampoline, can you?"

Maku just looks at him in a bit of anger. He says rather spitefully, but undertoned because he didn't want to leave the wrong impression, "I don't know what my mutation is.." He just waits for the man to take the pill.

[rhett]

[Rhett]
When the man answered that he didn't know what his mutation was, Rhett finally turned back to him. He was holding out a pill, although Rhett wasn't entirely sure why.

"You don't know your mutation? Well buddy, I sure hope the people in charge do or for all we know you could be human and being in this prison is just a mess of paperwork," he grinned and then added as an afterthought, "You should keep the pills, by the way. My head will be fine and you might need 'em."

Evalee had never really liked pills anyway- they creeped her out. Besides, he didn't have time to waste on medicine; even if the guy was being nice.

Before the man could get a word in, although so far he'd been treating Rhett like he was insane anyways, Rhett blurted, "I'm goin' to try to scale this wall, so you may wanna' step back," he sized up the wall before finishing thoughtfully, "I like you, whoever you are. You're kinda' cool."

He didn't wait for a reply because he didn't want to be told what he was doing was stupid. Here I go, Eva.

And so it began, the wind rushing by so quickly that if the man was talking to him, Rhett wasn't listening. Come to think of it, he hadn't been listening much during the whole encounter.

Rhett ran at the barrier harder than he'd ever run at anything else. He hit it feet first, sort of climbing/running up until he started to fall. At that point, he concentrated all the adrenaline fused into his bloodstream and swung his legs up behind him, pushing off simultaneously with his hands faster than any human could.

The barrier was around thirty feet tall, completely smooth in texture and a color that wasn't a color but that was obviously there. It leaked energy, sort of a field around it that hurt, but felt more poisonous than anything.

But, Rhett soon discovered, about halfway up all that changed. He was in the middle of a flip, his muscles screaming with exhaustion but his mind stuck to the thought of his helpless son, when a venomous, sharp, mentally depressing wave of something hit him and he blacked out.

It was pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced- it pounded his muscles, jolted his nervous system, rattled his skeleton, squeezed his lungs, numbed his mind... it seemed to be an attack on all fronts- an impenatrable wave of barriers.

And when Rhett's body touched it, there was a pulse sent throughout the wall from that point. All he could do was lay spread-eagle on the ground, eyes staring at the wall, mouth open and desperately dragging in one long, slow breath, mind completely blank.

In the next moment, Rhett's eyes focused and his lungs worked- but his body contracted with the pain- both from the fall and from the shockwave.

It wasn't over. As soon as he thought maybe he'd be able to move again someday, there was gunfire. His extrasense picked it up just before it arrived- and his mind the trajectory of the bullet plotted right to his left ankle.

Rhett just barely twitched out of the way; he felt the heat sear his calf. As he lay there, thinking, processing, hurting- he realized something.

This was no ordinary prison. The walls were technologically advanced enough to keep in mutants of nearly every power and they were smart enough to send a warning to the people in charge when someone tried to escape.

He also realized that he could have very easily lost his life and that if he'd done that, he would have failed his son. He needed to do this the smart way.

[Maku]

Maku just shrugged as he put the aspirin back. He murmured under his breath, "What I wouldn't give to just be human..." He just sighed and continued to look at the man peculiarly. What was his deal? Didn't he know that people tried to escape and died from it? Maku couldn't see what could have motivated him so. Getting out was everyone's dream, but you couldn't do it by any normal means. Not even people who could phase through walls could get through it. But obviously, no one informed this guy about the wall.

Maku listened and took a step back as the man had prescribed. He was interested what his plan of attack was. If anything, it had to be inventive. "I like you, whoever you are. You're kinda' cool." Maku blinked. What was that supposed to mean?.. I guess he was okay too. Maku didn't mind him, let alone get himself killed. In fact, he wanted the man to avoid getting hurt at all. Life was precious here, despite everyone being mutants.

His sight followed the man as he charged at the wall and began to scale it. It was unusual as he began to reach a point where gravity was eminent, but then he flipped, and landed haigher wher he was. This continued until a pained expression fell on his face. Maku knew that the wall must have gotten to him. Whatever the man's ability was, he was immediately drained of energy. A gunshot soon followed after the man's pained expression. It was audible and the bullet whizzed through the air. Drops of blood soon scattered into the air. Maku blinked again as the unusual man began to fall. His descent was rapid, and Maku feared that he may have just ended his life. The boy dashed to break the man's fall, outstretching his arms. Of course, the man was relatively heavier than his strength could provide for. Maku fell under his weight, but at the very least suppressed his fall. In his attempt, blood stained Maku's clothes. But the boy didn't care.

Maku was more focused on the man. Blood ran from his leg, the bullet entry wound visible. He shook the man, shouting, "Hey! Hey! Buddy?! Are you okay?! Oh God! Please be alright!.." Maku looked around, trying to see if any others were paying any attention. However, the place was almost deserted. The boy was almost in tear. He didn't know why, but seeing pain worried him. Maku was going to at least try to get the man to the infirmary, if he could. But first, the man would have to respond.