21

She thanked her partner’s foresight, as she pulled on a clean set of clothes. She sighed as a patch of bloodied hair brushed her neck. If only it had extended to hair care products.

She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was a half-dry mess from her attempts at cleaning it using a cloth and she had a dower tilt to her cheeks she’d never seen on her worst days. She pulled a smile onto her face but its frayed edges worsened her look. She sighed and gave up, She was clean, miserable but clean.

There was something wrong with that. She could so easily, discard what happened, and if she forced a smile and not think it’d be like it never happened. She glanced at Mensha, he cleaned his shoes with a focused look. Perfectly ordinary if she ignored the chunks of meat in place of stone.

She gazed back at her reflection and ignored the faint smell she couldn’t remove. She set a determined frown on her face, it fit. Though she couldn’t tell if she was more the harrowed veteran or just traumatized.

She sighed and stepped away, “What next Summer.“ Mensha said looking up from his shoes.

She held the sigh the tried to escape, “Okay, you said there weren’t enough bodies,” she said turning to him.

“Yes.” He said.

“Then let’s see if we can find where they went!” She clapped her hands and tried to channel some of the energy she lost.

Mensha popped a smile that laughed and she mirrored it. “However, there are almost certainly more than the two we killed,” He said and raised a finger though the smile never left his eyes. “And if people did escape there’s a good chance they followed.”

Her Fingers balled at the reminder and she grabbed her bag, staring at the cleaned bat shoved in it.

Mensha stood, placing his foot on the shoe, to the surprising absence of a squelch. He noted her stare and twirled lazily. She sighed and all the tension she built evaporated.

How much of that was for her she couldn’t tell, and frankly didn’t want to know. Her stare roamed his exposed skin, and she enjoyed his musculature. She blinked.

“Uh, Mensha I couldn’t help but notice, you look, different.” She hoped he didn’t recognize the lilt.

He looked at himself and made a sound of mild sunrise.

“What does huh mean.”

“Remember my ability lets me control my body.” He looked at her, and she nodded, “Well I’ve been playing with it in our spare time and I tried growing muscle,” he flexed his fingers “Though I didn’t expect it to be noticeable.”

She poked his stomach, it was harder than she expected, “How am I just noticing.” She whispered.

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She stepped back and devoured his image. Extra lines popped into notice but the transformation was subtle. A bit more definition in his arms, an extra vein visible along his neck. “At least I’m not blind, but does that mean.” Jerico’s Mutations bloomed to the her minds fore. “How much control do you have.”

He smiled like a kid describing his favorite toy. “Complete, every cell, every muscle, I can feel them, trace the path of an enzyme as it folds an molecule. All I need is to focus” He emphasized, ”and I can change them,”

“Everything,” she whispered, as discomfort covered her.

“Everything,”

“But your not going to,” she smiled anxiously, “right.”

“No, Summer,” his eyes rolled and she slacked, “I may be accountant, but I know poking stuff I don’t understand is good way to die.”

“Oh, Good.” She said and turned away,

“I’ll only start deep changes when I understand what I’m doing.”

She whiled. “Deeper changes,”

He nodded and looked at her with his sparking eyes. “like modifying muscle to make them better rearranging veins so I’m less stabable. There so much I don’t know and im barely touching on whatever it is that lets us do these things”

She sighed and a frown let her face, “Your doing at this on purpose,” she said

Confusion swept his wonder aside. “What precisely.”

Her head found comfort in her cupped hands. “Mensha, we saw someone turn into a tumor yesterday,” she peed up to glare. “And know you tell me, your using magic to change yourself!” incredulity consumer her final words.

He leaned back and tapped his lip. “I can see how that would cause distress, Sorry,”

Her frustration spent, she sagged. “Just, be careful okay. “

He nodded, “I will, and, thank you for worrying.”

She sighed and now she felt guilty for raising her voice.

“Are you worried powers.” He said tilting his head.

“I just glow, Mensha,” she said tired.

“Summer, your brighter than yesterday and warmer” he said evenly.

“Do you think it’ll be a problem,” she rubbed her eyes.

“It might be,” he pressed the back of hiss hand against her forehead. “For instance, it feels like you have a fever, and when your emotions spike your hot to touch.” He stepped back and she pressed a hand to her neck, she felt normal.

“One more problem for the pile.” At least this one might help her. “Okay.” She said and checked her bag, “Now unless you have any more revelations, we should leave.”

She walked the apartment’s door, Mensha’s steps followed her. Her hand froze on the cold handle, Mensha’s hand wrapped over hers.

She found his gaze. She sighed and pushed.

Fetid air poured in.

The sky was different, though it wasn’t much of a sky at all. No more bright patches, only mismatched lights from a million buildings displaced. She stared up as they circled the apartment’s perimeter. Were there any people looking down at her, asking these questions?

She looked down at the amazingly more putrid corpses and hoped they had it better.

They found a few bodies, but none had made it far. She looked around it was strange. This looked like a commercial district, with office buildings of various sizes rising like pillars. All dark save for the occasional building that shone with sterile light. Why only some where lit and why a small apartment was smacked in the middle of high-rises made as much sense as anything else

“Summer,” She jumped hand reaching for the bat in her bat but relaxed as she processed his tone. Her gaze swept over him, then followed his. A dead scaled form greeted her, and nausea welled up inside her, as every hair on her body stood with revulsion. She turned away.

“Well, seems like were not the only ones.” She chuckled .

“There are more.”

She tried looking with her periphery and found the effect more tolerable. Numerous creatures of every make littered the floor in a loose arc surrounding a dead man with a gun.

“He shot them.” She said and looked directly at him, conflicting sentiments surged through her. She jerked away and rubbed her temple.

“He could look at them,” Mensha said.

“Well, we have a lead.”