Alyx Alkaev
The sky had been hidden all day by dark, ominous looking rain clouds, and thunder could be heard nearby. "We're going to have to move on soon," Alyx Alkaev murmured to herself, looking at the sky, as if the clouds were her own personal enemy. The group had been forced to move from the shelter they had previously occupied, which was a fairly large abandoned building, to a remote area in the woods. The building didn't have any power or water, but it was safe from unpleasant weather. When the officers found them they were forced to evacuate. Fortunately they managed to escape with no one getting hurt or arrested. They had set up camp in a clearing, which was close to a small lake. They were surrounded by woods on every side, and Alyx hoped they would be safe for at least a few days. There were benefits to being in the woods; there were animals to hunt, and the officers would have a harder time finding them. However, the tents they had managed to steal wouldn't protect them from a bad storm, and if there were any immediate danger it would be hard to pack up quick. They could end up losing a lot of supplies. Alyx went around almost everyday to make sure everything was organized, so that wouldn't happen.

With the approaching storm Alyx was taking extra care to get all of their important supplies where they would be safest. "Josh!" she called, crossing the clearing to where Josh Cardenas was sitting on a large stone, watching the lake.
"What?" he asked. He was clearly zoned out.
"Have you made sure our medical stuff will be safe if it rains?"
Josh fixed his dark eyes on her. "It's as safe as it's going to be, at least the few supplies we have," he replied, then added, "We can't stay here much longer. It's nice but we're going to run out of important supplies pretty soon."
"I know. Thanks." Alyx went back to checking supplies, which was just a distraction at this point.

Whenever they moved locations, Blake had always found three things to be true:

• 1. Alyx's 'let's check everyone has everything so they don't die' checks always became more like 'I know I've already done this once but we're going to check our supplies again, everyone just check all the supplies please right now or I'll just lightning you all to death!' (okay, so maybe she'd never really threatened to kill any of them, but Blake could imagine it happening one day, maybe).
• 2. Everyone else seemed to get really serious for at least the time that they were finding a new place to run to, and that sucked because Blake's ability to be serious was about as good as his ability to do anything actually useful.
• 3. He always, no matter what, ended up questioning exactly how he'd come to be where he was, standing around a group of people that may as well be strangers, arms flailing as he failed to see what on earth he could actually do to be helpful - turns out being the comedic value wasn't actually a valuable skill a team of survivors wanted, but who knew?

Today's move had been no different, the team moving off into some woods Blake couldn't remember the name of, near a lake that he also couldn't ever remember seeing in his life. Oh well. It was pretty, anyway, although it looked like they were in for a rough night given the weather that was shaping itself into dark clouds above their heads. He didn't cope well with rough nights... Or anything rough really.

Finishing what he was doing (which was honestly a grand total of nothing), the short nineteen year old made his way over to Josh, gaze flickering to the lake to what Josh was doing and back again, finally resting on the long body of water out in front of them. Josh was clearly completely out of it and, watching the lake, Blake could kind of understand why. It was peaceful and quiet, nothing like the officer's raid they'd just come from. It was a nice wind down after the busy morning, and he could feel himself getting lost in the view too. Unfortunately, Blake's attention span was far too short for the silence to last for long.

"Knock knock," he announced from behind, shifting Josh slightly over so he could slip onto the rock next to him, invading the guy's space whether he wanted him there or not, something he had a habit of doing to almost everyone. What he wanted to talk about, he had no idea, he just wanted to her voices mention something other than the plan for the next few days, or just how many tent pegs someone thought we needed per tent to make sure they didn't blow away in the oncoming storm. He just needed nonsense conversation, and he needed it now.

Josh knew that Alyx' insistence on checking supplies nonstop was bordering on obsessive, but it kept her calm so he didn't say anything to her about it. Instead he stayed out of her way and answered any questions she might have. He didn't staying out in the woods. It was calm and quiet most of the time, and he liked staring out over the lake. It helped him clear his head. However, he couldn't deny that these were not ideal living conditions. They needed to be closer to a more reliable food source. They could probably catch some squirrels and fish, but certainly not enough to feed everyone.

Josh's initial reaction to Blake being there was a quick glance, which he quickly shifted back to the lake. He wasn't ready to let go of his couple moments of peace just yet. He finally moved over to give the other boy a bit more room. Before any of the shit that was currently happening had gone down, Josh didn't make the time to talk to other people much, at least not the ones outside his small social group, which consisted of his twin sister, his boyfriend, and Alyx. But the first two were gone and Alyx was busy trying to keep him and the others alive. So he had no reason not to talk to everyone else.

He knew Blake didn't want to talk about anything survival related; making plans, counting supplies, etc. He probably wanted a sense of normalcy, just like everyone else. "Hey," he said, pulling his gaze away from the lake and coming back to reality. "Sorry, I was kind of distracted. The water looks so peaceful. Kind of normal."

In a brightly lit room in the upper city district, a boy sighed longingly. He tried to sit up from his bed but was assaulted by a fit of coughs which left him gasping for breath. The boy sighed once more, his sadness and longing speaking in volumes. The boy was an ability-user, and like many others, he had hidden his powers from the world, not just because he was afraid of the consequences, but because he knew that he would never survive the kind of lifestyle the Renegades were living.

That's what the people in the city called them, Renegades: walking disasters who bring death and destruction everywhere they go. But the boy knew this to be untrue. His ability helped him determine that. The boy's ability allowed him to view the fates of different people, just by willing it. More often than not, his ability just hijacks his body and forces him to watch their lives. Their happiness, their sadness, their moments of agony and despair, bliss and ecstasy, their defeats and their victories. All of were his just as much as they were theirs. The Renegades, above all, were human, perhaps even more so than those who persecute them. And the boy, whose identity revolved in hiding his true self, longed to be just like them.

The boy laid his head back down his bed, the severe fatigue from using his ability had started to kick in, but he ignored it. He had to seek once more those Renegades, seek once more that lake, and bathe in its serenity.

There was silence, complete and utter silence. It was unnerving, normally Jack could hear everything. Even a cat's lights steps didn't escape his ears, his heightened sense of hearing never missed a beat. It was always like this though, the quiet brief moments before a battle. Each side waiting for the first shot to be fired. Even the animals seemed quiet, as if they knew what was about to go down.

Jack found himself on a large battlefield. More of a city really. Massive buildings, large empty streets save for a few overturned cars, it all made him feel very small; despite the probability that he was the largest man there.

On one side were his "allies", a group of raiders. Renegades, mutants, monsters, those were just a few of the names people had called them. Jack didn't care about any of that, it was all the same to him. The only thing that mattered were supplies. He didn't care what he had to do, surviving is what's important. And if that meant killing another man to do it, he was prepared for the consequences. On the other side were "normal" people. Humans born without any sort of ability. They considered themselves to be of a higher standard. Pure, not corrupted like him. Jack didn't care about that though. As far as he was concerned they were just a means to an end. That "end" being supplies.

Suddenly his silence was broken. There was a scraping noise a few meters away from him, across the street. It was his ally Jack knew the sound all too well. He was slowly grinding his heel in the ground, creating friction. That same friction was going to be the conduit to his ability. The faster he scrapped, the hotter it would get. Soon he would send a large fireball at the enemy. Jack had seen it happen before. "It's quite the show," He often remarked. Nearly everything erupts in searing flames. It would create a panic among them, then Jack and his allies would rush in for the kill. It was a simple strategy, one that they used often. However not everything always goes to plan. This was one of that times. There was an ear shattering crack and immediate pain in his left shoulder.

***
Jack awoke in a frenzy and found his right fist embedded deep in a tree. "Another dream," he sighed and pulled his hand out. He rubbed his knuckles casually. He always found it amazing that no matter how hard he hit something, he always came out unscratched. And yet, he touched the circular scar on his shoulder, even he wasn't indestructible. The scar hurt, no doubt the result of the dream. It was in that particular battle that he received it - a bullet. Like his fist in the tree, he had begun that battle with a bullet embedded deep in him. Of course that was a life time ago. He lives a much "cleaner" life now. Now he scavenges for supplies, rather than killing for them.

"Ah fuck." He looked at the hole in the tree. Wood splintering was quite loud a thing, and he was sure that someone in the group would have heard it. It's not that he was a loner, but he didn't like talking to them. It was obvious that some of them, if not most of them, didn't like him. Riddled with ugly scars, he wasn't the nicest thing to look at while talking to.

It was clear that, even after Blake had force himself next to Josh, the kid was still about as out of it as he had been before, and only bothered to throw a quick glance Blake's way before returning his gaze to the deep body of water, thoughts almost seeming lost in the mess of greens and blues. He could understand why. Sure, maybe he'd never really been a massive scenery fan, but life had started to get to the point where he'd realised that even the smallest bit of peace and quiet was good, at least then you could hear yourself think. The only problem was, however, was that he'd also discovered how little he liked the buzzing of his own brain - it was like listening to the static of a broken television. It was borderline suffocating. Eventually, Josh turned to respond to him anyway, gaze pulled back to reality by who knows what, but just in time for Blake to avoid feeling like he distinctly wasn't wanted there, and slink off to annoy someone else instead.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Blake agreed, gaze following Josh up and down before swapping back out to the lake for the umpteenth time, hands pulling restlessly against his sleeves as his heels of his worn bounced against the grey rock they were sat on, making a small, repetitive tapping sound with every knock; sitting still was just something he'd never learned to do.
"Although I never once thought I'd consider lake watching to be a good thing when I was little - I'm, like, ten thousand percent sure that if my mum'd sent me to go observe a pool of water for fun when I was little, I would've whacked her around the head with a toy car," he mused, gaze returning to Josh yet again as he forced his feet to stop tapping, a habit that he was trying (and failing) to kill after people in the group had started complaining. Apparently, it was okay to fidget as long as it didn't make a noise or endanger anyone else, but wiping out the small compulsion was harder than he'd thought. Oh well, he'd figure it out, right?

It was almost as soon as his foot tapping had stopped that he heard the splintering of a tree nearby, and his gaze flipped to look at where the noise had come from, fingers automatically curling around the fabric of his shirt as he tried to figure out what it was. Whoever it'd been, they were close enough for the noise to be heard at camp, and yet he doubted the officers had discovered them here yet (they were good, but they weren't that good), so it must be one of them, surely? He pushed his attention back to Josh and, with a cheeky smile, let the words "I bet you four biscuits that was one of us," slip out of his mouth. It was a stupid thing to say, who the hell cared about biscuits anyway? Still, he'd said it, and now he was grinning like an idiot at Josh whilst there was a slight chance of a threat... The guy really didn't understand a lot about survival.

Alyx was in the middle of counting their food supply for the tenth time when she heard the loud splintering of wood. She was immediately on the defense and ran toward the sound. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to go running toward potential danger on her own, but she figured she could handle whatever it was. She slowed to a halt when she saw Jack standing beside a tree, which had a very large, clearly fresh, hole in it. She felt a bit of relief, but was still on guard.

"What happened?" she asked, looking around to see if there was any imminent threat, or if it had just been an accident. She didn't want to let her guard down in case Jack had been reacting to real danger, but she didn't see anything. She let herself relax a little.

------

Josh shrugged. He was completely different; he had always enjoyed the silence. When he was alone, watching the water, or the trees, or squirrels and birds, he felt like time stopped and he could escape for a while. "If I'd been able to spend my time just watching nature when I was a kid I would've been pretty happy," he said. "I think it's peaceful." Any moment of peace was a relief to him as a child, since there was usually a lot of yelling; first directed at his mom, then later on at him and his twin sister. He found the silence and serenity of doing nothing to be a luxury.

The loud sound caused Josh to jump and turn his head quickly to locate the source. He didn't get up to investigate. He figured if there was a problem he wanted to stay away from it. When it came down to fight or flight, he always chose flight. He didn't see any point in risking your life, and if people thought he was a coward he could live with that. When he didn't hear any other sound to indicate danger he relaxed. It was probably nothing, and someone would have come to warn them if there was a problem.

He glanced at Blake and couldn't help but smile a little bit, almost laugh. Most people wouldn't have reacted the way he did, but he didn't seem to be too alarmed by the sound. Maybe he was just super optimistic. That could be a good trait, or a dangerous one. Either way, his calm was reassuring. "Yeah, it probably was," he laughed. "I guess this lot hasn't mastered the art of stealth just yet."

Jack looked at the girl that had coming running to then noise, and he thought, Well..fuck. Alyx, a small girl compared to his stature, was considered by some to be the group's leaders. He wasn't really well acquainted with her. They've had only had a few conversations before, and those were mostly about his past. She made sure that Jack knew he wasn't going to be doing that kind of stuff anymore. Not while he was a member of her group. He did, however, know that she was a lightning user. A deadly power if used by the right person. The thought brought Jack back to his past, he had fought a lightning user once. Nearly cost him his life. Alyx was different than that person though; certainly not as kill-happy as he was.

Alyx was tense when she got on scene. Her were scanning the forest for potential threats. Jack could tell her mind was racing through every possibility. "What happened?" The question came quickly, he could tell she was anticipating a fight.

"Relax, Boss. Just another bad dream." He tried to give a reassuring smile, but it came out crooked and awkward. He stood and stretched his body, seeming like a tower compared to her. That is, until he was done stretching and his back was hunched over again - eye level now. "Got any ideas for where we're going now?" He asked, trying to change the subject. "I like the wilderness and all, but sleeping in the rain sucks." He semi-joked while looking up at the dark clouds.

Alyx let out a relieved sigh and relaxed. She was still jumpy from the last close call, and though she was ready for a fight, she wasn't eager to have one. She knew the rest of the group didn't want one either, and seeing as no one else came at the sound, she figured they weren't too worried. She was about to ask Jack if he was alright, but decided against it. She doubted anyone was okay right now.

"Okay... Had me worried for a second," she said. She thought for a moment, wishing she had any clue where they should go. She didn't know where they would be safer, but she knew they needed a plan. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "But you're right, we can't spend a lot of time in the woods. Later a couple of us can go look for a safer area. Near a more reliable food source."

Being anywhere near other people, or where other people used to be, was risky. Officers were always on patrol in those areas, but they would starve out in the wilderness. It was an unavoidable risk.