“Today is August 25, 2020. Winter is coming soon and this world is going to get a lot more hostile. I can’t promise a safe passage, nor can I bring back your love ones, but I do have a cure. My name is Clarice. I am an Eraser, one who destroys the mutants affected by the Burst and looks for a way to reverse this tragedy. I can offer food, shelter, and survival to any who receive this message. Please, come. Together, we can stop this accident and restore Earth to what it once was. If you wish to survive, come to Yucca Mountain, Nevada, coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -116.629
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -116.287
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.973
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.566.

You can trust me. I need your help if you wish to live a normal life once more. You need to come to survive the winter. Please, I can help.” Claurice let out a large sigh, rubbing her face in her hands. This was wrong. It was so wrong.

“Up. We’ve got the transmission, now. Up,” said a soldier, his voice muffled by his baklava, menacing and harsh as he grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her out of the chair. Her father, Dr. Lier, the creator of the Burst Code, had been Evonix’s puppet and now so was she. Only it was so much worse. She was lying to the last survivors of the world, bringing them to this place like cattle to slaughter. She was like the Siren that sailors would follow into rocks but she couldn’t stop.

The Burst Code had unforeseen consequences. One out of every ten of the survivors, the Burst had changed their DNA and genetic makeup. Instead of turning to the blood thirsty walking dead like others, these members had been enhanced passed normal human abilities. It hadn’t taken Clarice long to notice that she had the ability to not only turn invisible, but that she was also able to extend that power onto other nearby objects. It took her a while to learn to use the power, and even now she wasn’t strong enough to use it for more than a few minutes, but that was long enough to be taken in by Evonix as soon as they had caught wind of it.

She should have been more careful. She shouldn’t have been so careless and verbal about her mutation. Now she was locked up like a dog, like a mutt.

Clarice had been put through extensive tests as the company pushed her until exhaustion. When rumors came of others like her, other stories of mutants and different powers, they had her putting out transmissions every day to draw in people like her. They were going create another strand so they could build a superhuman army and take over the new world and it was all Clarice’s fault. It was all her damn fault that every while new people would show up, hopeful and blessing those that turned around and used them as lab rats.

She was led back to her quarters, an old lab emptied save for a sink and medical cot, and pushed back in before it was locked up. Her malnourished body clumsily collapsed to the hard dirty white-washed tile, her gangly arms suffering most of the impact. Her face scrunched up in a grimace as she grunted against the pain. Still, she picked herself up as she had always done, dusting off the hospital gown they had her in. Clarice knew she only had an hour or so before they would be back for today’s tests and that was not a lot of time, but it would be enough. She scrambled over to the far end of the room, moving her bed away from the wall.

Clarice grabbed her pillow and removed the pillowcase hastily. She was so close to finishing her preparations and then she could make her escape. To where? She didn’t know, but she could finally run away and never have to return or use her powers again. They made her disgusted with herself and she felt like a freak every time she had to use them. Never again would she use them; Clarice would bury them deep down like the dirty secret it was.

Removing the floor panel, Clarice lowered herself into an old air duct and crawled along. Left, Left, Right, Left, straight. She moved along the familiar path as she had done many times before until she reached a small intersection. Packets of military rations, real clothes, medicine, and a gun with a couple of magazines of ammo were stockpiled up. She pulled out her pillowcase and started to fill it up. It wasn’t the ideal pack, but what other choice did she have?

It was tricky enough stealing all the other supplies. It left her drained because she had to use her power to get them and then right after go to testing. Those days were the worst. She wouldn’t be able to move and her body would ache for days putting her escape plan on hold. It had taken her over a year to collect everything, and even then it would be barely enough to last her more than a couple of days.

She had planned on leaving in the night between guard shifts. Silent, no vigilante action movie style escape. Just a clean and simple getaway. But that meant she needed all her strength so she made her way back to her room to sleep until they came for her again.