If someone witnessed these teens for one moment, they would think they were old vagrants.

Stumbling into the darkness, wearing loose, dirty clothes, the four teenagers scurry to be out of sight. Police sirens ring out, making their pace even faster. A tense whisper echo in the dimly lit alley, “We need to get out of here, now!”

“Yeah, we know, dumbass,” a gruff voice responds.

The glares sent his way didn’t appear to faze him.

“This way. We can hide in here for the night,” one of the girls says lowly, already opening the rusted door to what looked like an abandoned shed/barn. It makes a high pitched creaking that makes them all wince.

They hurry inside and shut the noisy door swiftly.

Ness, Subject Tennessee, sighs in relief as the piercing noises become distant. They’ve escaped. For now.

“Penny, can you safely start a fire?” Ness asks Project Pennsylvania.

She responds with a nod, kneeling onto the gravel ground. Swiping away anything flammable, she opens her palm and a flame sparks to life. It grows to be a small fire that she sets on the stone floor. Even though it doesn’t have anything to keep the flame going, it continues to burn. Perks of controlling and manifesting fire. Penny can control how long it lasts.

Tex, Project Texas, and Landen, Project Rhode Island, scavenge the small barn for anything that would be useful. The only things they come up with are a spool of fishing line, a rusty pocketknife, and a couple of small chipped bowls that were probably to feed little kitties back in the day. Oh and lots of strewn hay.

Ness waves her arm, concentrating, creases between her eyebrows becoming pronounced. Coordinated with the movement of her hand, a mini cloud swirls to life above the little bowl and it rains into them.

She is thankful that she’ll always be able to provide fresh water. It’s food that will be an issue.

As they sit around the everlasting fire, sipping from their cups, Landen begins laughing.

He is practically howling with joy. It startles Ness and she wonders if something is wrong with him.

“We fucking did it,” he exclaims, throwing his head back and stares at the old, poorly aged ceiling.

Tex joins him in celebrating. He whoops and jumps. His jumps are a bit more intense than others with his super strength, but he doesn’t take the roof off the building yet.

She has never seen him so happy before. It brings a smile to her face.

Penny holds up her bowl towards Ness as if it were a glass wine glass. Indulging her, she clinks her bowl to hers, making a dull sound considering they were porcelain or glass.

“Here’s to the start of the rest of our lives.”

———

(Hi! Just wanted to say if you’re new here and like these characters, they are also in Forgotten Debris, It, and Possible Escape. Those are the main stories that have Penny, Ness, Tex and Landen in. There are a couple others within that world, but those are the ones most connected to this story. Thanks for reading! Have a nice day/night!)