Twenty-One: Separation

We watched the lava spew out of the mine's entrance and as said entry crumble due to the how liquid invading its every crevices. The end of the world was prevented. Let us just hope that there were still people and other living beings who survived—if not, then what even was the meaning of reheating the Earth? 'So you graced us with your presence, oh mighty a-hole." Sarcasm was very much evident in Elliot's voice. 'What brought you here? Oh, I know! You're here to take us back to the labs, are you?" He pulled me closer to his side as if to protect me. 'I just helped you." Came Nathan's response. I just noticed that he was wearing something like a body suit, a black matte one that hugged every contour his body had but his feet were bare. How come it didn't melt like the leather trench coat? 'Should we be bowing our heads and thanking you?" Elliot was thorny. The lava started to pool in the mine's making it look like some volcano ready to erupt. 'We should get out of here, the lava is rising." That and that I was starting to feel cold again. If I dive in the molten pool below me would it ease this uncomfortable feeling? I could give it a try seeing that the melted rocks provided me with such good feeling from before. I took a step back, ready to jump when Elliot's hand grabbed mine. 'Nope, my friend, as much as I would love to see you on the bliss, I have no clothes to give you anymore." 'What are you doing?" Asked the other man beside us. 'None of your damnity." I mumbled and started to retreat, pulling my friend with me. But we couldn't just shake the jerk off. He followed behind. We continued to venture away from the mine, nonetheless. The cold was starting to seep in my muscles and bones that the uncomfortableness started to become painful. What was happening to me? I still could hear Nathan's footsteps close behind so I turned and stalked towards him. 'What do you want?" He stared down at me. 'I just want to go where you're going." 'For what reason, to betray us again? You know what, stop this backstabbing thing. Take out your knife and try to stab us in the front. If you can." I was suddenly irritable for some reason and I was cold as fuck. 'You don't look so good." I stared at his dark red eyes. 'Don't pretend that you care. And stop tailing us." I turned and walked with shaky legs towards Elliot who hadn't moved. 'Elliot, I think I'm about to freeze to my death." As a matter of fact I could feel my energy waning with every step we took. 'I didn't turn on you." The bastard just wouldn't leave us alone. 'What if I told you I was being controlled?" 'Yeah, and I am a wizard that pulled the sun and oblivionized my enemies that time." I shouted back. 'Go back to where you came from and stop bothering us. Better yet, get on with trying to abduct us so we could fight you and end this." What even was this? Endless pursuit of imprisoning a meta-human and reproducing others like her? For what, world dominance? We just wanted a normal life after waking up from something the hurt and lies that was done to us, for Pete's sake! 'It's not like that." Okay, let's just get this over with. Loud cracks began to echo from somewhere as I once again stalk to where he was. On the way I caught glimpse of my nails in their bluish state. 'Okay, fine. Let's say that you didn't betray us at all and you were not in your right state of mind." I was speaking rapidly maybe it was due to my trembling lips that were slowly losing their feel. 'Fine. We forgive you, there's no more bad blood between us. This settles it, now let's go our separate ways and go about our own lives like nothing happened." When he didn't answer in the two-seconds I'd given him, I left him there and went back to Elliot. 'We have to find shelter." I told my friend. 'Okay, you're looking a bit cold." No shit. ●●●●● Fifteen minutes later we found a cave high enough to not get flooded by any melted ice or bodies of water and Elliot was sporting a sour face while throwing woods—dried though alchemy—to the fire. He was probably mimicking mine because Nathan, that twerp who grew up twice his height and possibly lost some of his brain in the process, followed us and there he was sitting in front of the fire he had just made like there was no person who didn't want him there. 'I had a chip in my head just like the ones Elliot took out of you at that convenience store." He said out of nowhere. 'We don't want any campfire stories. Thank you." Elliot mumbled, poking the fire. The echoes of cracks and hisses coming for probably melting ice could be heard from where we were. The trembling of the ground had ceased but there was still the occasional shakes. 'I have known it even after it was implanted because they told me that." He continued as if he heard nothing. 'What I didn't know was what it could do. I blinded by that idea that my genetic abnormality would be cured by these people if I just do all the things they told me to." The sounds from the chaos outside and the crackles of the fire were the only sounds accompanying his story-telling. I sat in front of the fire hugging myself while Elliot, beside me kept throwing pieces of wood in it. Nathan was across us. The cold I was feeling settled down a bit and I felt a tad warmer. 'The first time I noticed that my control over my body was taken from me was when we first met. I was told that I would finally undergo an operation to alter my DNA make-up and I was put to sleep. When I woke up, I was standing beside a bed and when I was told to get on it, my body just complied. It was like I was watching myself through a window while somebody else was making my body move. 'And thank you for choosing to take me with you that time, I couldn't be more grateful. I noticed the taking over again when we were driving through Colorado, I blacked out for a second and when I came to consciousness, I was in that window again. I couldn't do anything but watch as Elliot was pulled out of the car and stomped on, I couldn't even yell at Thirty-Five to just run and leave us when she came around to check on Elliot. 'There was this voice but not a voice at the same time that was commanding my body to whatever it pleased." 'That's a Neurologic Pathway Override, it basically intercepts the signals sent to your brain and reprogram it into a new one." Elliot interrupted. 'Thirty-Five was put to deep sleep under the conditioning while they worked on proliferating my DNA. Those long years of enduring pain was worth it, I grew strong—thanks to your organs," Dark-red eyes that seemed onyx in the limited light bore on mine. I stared back and didn't avert my gaze until he did. Nathan eyed the cackling fire once more. 'I trained and mastered my abilities while Thirty-Five remained asleep. They attempted to reproduce me—or Thirty-Five's DNA—but created those unsightly looking things instead. You were off the grid Elliot, nobody knew were you were, but I had hoped that one day you'll come and get us once again." I saw Elliot tilt his head a little from my peripheral. 'You did not create those beings?" He asked. 'I thought you took over the labs because you killed them all." 'No, Rhonda made them. As for the killing, yes I did it." 'Who's Rhonda?" Elliot and I said at the same time. 'He created you," Nathan pointed at me, 'and you." Pointed at my friend. 'And me. He built everything, from the laboratories to its creations. I didn't know why there was no records of him in the database just by word of mouths but we met eventually. 'The world's temperatures began to drop when I started to hunt Rhonda, killing anyone who stood between me and him. It took a while but I did and I killed him too. I never knew that he had already created an army of those things." 'And then you woke up and triggered their systems awake. That was why they went rogue." 'So, it was my fault that those big things are roaming around?" It was still noisy outside. 'No that's not what I was implying, and it's already taken care of." 'As great as this chatting has gone," I stood up. 'We really need to separate ways, Elliot and I agreed to start our lives as normal people if the temperature rise pushes through. And who know if the chip in you gets activated again." I pulled Elliot up and we started walking out of the cave. 'I already took it out." I heard his voice and when I looked back, I saw him still sitting by the fire. I gave him a stretch of my lips, I wouldn't call it a smile. 'Good for you." That was the last conversation we had and as the days went by, slowly but surely it stopped snowing, the thick, gray clouds dissipated little by little and the rays of the sun finally showed up. The Earth was awake and it was the start of our new lives. No more running. No more hiding. No more laboratory rooms. No more pain from being opened up. No more dreaming of the virtual life I wish I had, because I was finally going to live it.