Snippet #2724231

Dante had never seen stars before and, as he sat out in the middle of the desert, he looked up with eyes full of wonder. He took a deep breath of the sandy desert air that surrounded him and gripped on to the handles of the backpack he had been given. Dante had always known that there was life outside of Area 53, but he had only been told of the chaos and havoc wreaked by war, of dirt-filled air as guns blasted off, and of the rivers of created by the blood of fallen enemies. He had never imagined the outside world to be so... still.

But despite this lack of knowledge, Dante had not hesitated when he was approached with the opportunity to escape. Every muscle in had him told him to run away, that it was only a test to see if it was loyal. But his brain reminded him of the pain he had already endured-- he could live through any more punishment if it turned out to be a test, but he would not be able to live with the knowledge that he could've given up his only opportunity to leave that wretched place.

His lips were already parched, but he had been warned to use the resources wisely. The closest town was several miles away. Lowering his eyes from the sky, the little white lights imprinted in his sight, Dante looked back towards where he had exited from. It was a door, already partially covered by the blown sand. The woman said she would come back with the other superhuman and send them on their way. He felt his palms sweating. It had been a while-- or at least it had felt like a really long time.

The other two finally emerged a few minutes later and Dante, who had been sitting down, sprung up into a stand, grains of sand sliding down his clothes.

"This is the map, just keep heading west and you’ll find the place marked on the map. The address is on the back, don’t let anyone get a hold of this," the scientist said, her eyes flashing back towards the close she had left ajar. "You’ll have a three-day window before they notice you’re gone."

Dante looked into the lady’s dark eyes. So this was really happening. She had never worked with him before so he wondered what had prompted her to help him. After a brief moment, the scientist nodded her head, "Good luck. Please send help once you find them."

With that, the scientist turned around and went back into the whole. Dante gulped and looked around, into the nothingness before turning back to the other superhuman. Like with the scientist, Dante did not really know her. But they had been left to the mercy of each other. He gave her a brief smile and added, "Dante," before he motioned for them to go and started walking towards where the scientist had pointed.




They had been walking for almost two hours. Dante had not said much since then and, every so often, he looked back over his shoulder. He couldn’t get it out of his mind that perhaps this would all end up being a trap. But he was here, breathing the hot air and watching the endless horizon.

The two had begun to see the first lights of civilization around fifteen minutes ago. Dante had been a little hesitant. Surely they couldn’t be in enemy territory, or else the scientist would have warned them, right? As they came up close enough, the red neon sign became readable. Diner.

Dante had never heard of this particular word but, as they came closer, he saw chairs and tables. And what seemed like people eating. It’s probably like a restaurant, he thought and looked over at Elena. "I guess we should go in? Maybe someone can tell us how to get to our destination."

The dinner was almost empty, the open sign outside flickering off and on. Natalia looked down at her watch. 1:32. She had been assigned night shifts ever since she started her vocal classes outside of the town and the new schedule was killing her. Leaning against the counter, she watched the few souls that were eating pancakes and sausages so late at night— or so early in the day, depending on how you saw it. A few were town faces but most of the people who stopped by this late were travelers or truckers stopping in a small town in the middle of nowhere to rest.

"Order for table ten," she heard from the back counter. With a soft sigh, Natalia pulled herself up and went to get the food, bringing the coffee along. Her black boots tapped against the wooden floor, matching her all-black outfit. She was a dark wave walking towards the booth on the other side of the dinner. Her eyes flickered outside, where a few lights lit the almost-empty parking lot and dirt ground beyond.

Her makeup was still intact, somehow, but close enough it was easy to see the exhaustion in her dark eyes.

Putting down the food on the white table, Natalia smiled as she had learned to do. "Need anything else, darling?" she said. "The coffee s fresh."

Half an hour more, she reminded herself, that being the only reassuring thought passing through her mind.