The second I’m out of the chair, I’m gone. I check to make sure Jamie is following and see he’s right behind me. We might actually be able to do this.

Jamie has gotten so much stronger and faster over the past few months. He can even keep up with me!

We’re out the door in seconds and I see a truck in the back that we could hop on.

But then there’s gunshots and nothing matters other than making sure Jamie is ok. That’s when I see the blood, “Jamie!” I run towards him and he falls into my arms. I pick him up and start running towards the now moving trucks, guns still firing. All that matters is making sure he’s safe. “Hey, hey. You’re going to be ok. We just have to get out of here.”

The trucks are getting further and further away and I push myself harder. I need to get him out of here.

I grab onto the back of a truck and swing the door open. There are about six kids sitting along the walls, excited to be going “home.”

“Hey! What are you doing?!” One of the boys shouts. He tries to push us back out of the truck, but I fight my way in.

“Please, he needs help.”

The boy sparks lightning between his fingers, “Just get out of here, find help somewhere else!”

“Dude! You’re not supposed to show regulars your powers!” Another boy yells. I guess he doesn’t know we came from the ship as well.

“Please, he was shot. There’s no one else around. Please.” I know there are tears streaming down my face, but I make no move to wipe them away.

One of the girls stands up and says, “Put him on the seats. I can help.” She starts to take his clothes off and rolls him onto his stomach. Blood is flowing out of his shoulder, going down his back and neck.

“Will he be ok?”

“I think so. We have to get the bullet out and then I can heal him. We…” she pauses as if contemplating what she’s about to say, “we all have special powers. I can heal him.” I make no move to tell her I already know about their powers.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“He will be in a lot of pain while I heal him, but it will only take a couple hours.”

“Thank you.”

She moves toward him and rips part of his shirt, sticking it in his mouth. “So he doesn’t bite his tongue,” she explains. “My name’s Martha, what about you?”

“Thomas, and this is Jamie.”

“What were you guys doing out in the middle of the desert?” The boy with the lightning asks.

“Um…” Before I can answer him, Jamie starts to scream and the shirt falls out of his mouth.

“Thomas!”

“I’m right here, Jamie!” I kneel down by his head and kiss his forehead. “You’re going to be alright.” I grab his hand in mine and put the shirt back in his mouth. He starts to scream again and tears are streaming down his face. “You’re going to be alright,” I whisper more to myself then to him.

Once the bullet’s out, Martha tells us she is going to start healing the wound. I grip Jamie’s hand harder once he starts to scream again.

But, of course, there are more complications. “Holy shit! His skin is boiling.” Martha yanks her hands off of his body, stopping the healing. “What’s going on?!”

I reach to pull the shirt out of his mouth, allowing him to talk. “Jamie, calm down.” I feel his skin growing even hotter. “Jamie, I need you to calm down.”

“I-I can’t. It h-hurts.”

“I know, I know, but we don’t want to set our new friends on fire, do we?”

“N-no.”

“Wait, what?!” The boy with lightning screams, yet again.

I turn around and stare him dead in the eyes, “Jamie has fire powers.”

“That…that makes a lot of sense. You guys weren’t out in the middle of the desert, you escaped from the ship.” Martha says as she takes a step away from us.

Jamie’s breathing becomes labored. “No, please. I just need someone to heal him.”

“Thomas, I can’t hold it in anymore.”

“It’s ok, let it out.”

He grabs my hands and his flames consume us and soon they dissipate.

“How are you not getting burned?” Another boy asked.

“I will explain everything after he is healed.”

“Ok, fine, but we want the whole story.”

Martha gets back to work, healing Jamie. This… is all my fault. Jamie getting hurt, the failed escape.

“All done,” Martha says, sighing.

“Are you ok?” I ask Jamie, worry lacing my voice.

“Yeah, a little sore, but other than that, I feel fine.” He says with a groan, sitting up from the seats. “I guess my shirt’s too nasty to put back on.”

“Here.” One of the girls grabs a shirt from a bag and hands it to Jamie.

“Thanks.”

The boy with lightning powers steps forward and puts out his hand hesitantly, “The name’s David.”

“Thomas.” I say, shaking his hand.

“Jamie.” He says, shaking his hand as well.

“I’ve got lightning powers and this is my guard, Jacob.”

He nods his head to us, but makes no move closer to us.

“And I’m Martha, healing powers, obviously. That’s my guard Shirley.” She says, pointing to the girl who gave Jamie the shirt.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” Jamie says, never failing to be polite.

The lone boy sitting in the corner faintly says, “Taylor.”

David comes closer and whispers, “He’s a guard, but his partner didn’t graduate and he’s really upset.”

“Oh, no, that’s awful.” Jamie gets up to walk over to the boy. They seem to be having their own private conversation, so we leave them alone.

“So, you got any powers?” Jacob asks.

“Nope, I’m Jamie’s guard and… his amplifier.” I say hesitantly. Can we trust them?

“Amplifier?! That’s so rare, I’ve never actually met a pair!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jamie decides to come back and sit in my lap and kisses my cheek.

“Are you ok?” I whisper.

“I’m fine, you can’t get rid of me that easy!” He says with a giggle.

“So,” David says, his tone getting serious, “start explaining.

I look at Jamie, “We can trust them.” He says.

And we tell them everything.