The cold wind chill kissed my cheeks, leaving behind a stinging sensation. The sun was beginning to set and it brought with it a cold front that threatened storms. We were both entirely exhausted from the long day, and carrying the groceries on top of the backpacks was only making our progress slower and more painful. We stopped for a moment to rest our arms from the weight of the water and food bags, and checked the map as best as we could. It was illuminated only by what moonlight made it through the clouds. It seemed like we were nearing the edge of the lake, which would somewhat explain the drop in temperature.

We had to steer clear of the roads, opting for a rougher route through the woods. If we were spotted on the road it would no doubt raise suspicions and we couldn’t risk the police being called. We kept just close enough to be able to see the road in the distance, and follow its curve. A half-mile later we could hear water running, and see light coming over the edge of the hill. We’d finally made it! As we came to the top of the hill we saw that the light was coming from a cabin, and we could see people in it. We crouched down and silently observed what glimpse of them we could catch from the windows.

There was a boy that looked older than us, covered in tattoos, grinning wildly and laughing with someone. He stood in front of the window and made a ‘come here’ motion with his hand. Water flew at him and he raised his hand, freezing the water before it could reach him. He brought his hand up, and the ice followed, forming into neat cubes. He placed the ice back into the glass someone held out for him, all without ever touching anything. He was like us.

“We have to talk to him,” I whispered to Alex in amazement. What incredible luck to find someone else like us outside of the quarantine zone.

“He’s careless,” Alex grumbled, “If we’d been with the military we could confirm he was an oddity and kill him before he even knew we were here. He’ll get us killed.”

“Or he could help us,” I pleaded. “We can show him how to be more careful, but we need more people if we stand a chance at investigating that lab.”

Alex sighed and mumbled his reluctant agreement. We would approach the cabin cautiously, and see if they were friendly. I stayed a few feet behind him as we approached the door to the cabin, we heard two voices inside, the boy, and a girl, laughing and carrying on. Alex took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

“Not the police, don’t worry,” Alex called out as he took a few steps back to let them see us through the peephole.

The talking inside stopped, and we heard someone approach the door. After a few pain-staking moments the door creaked open just enough to reveal the boy’s eye. He glanced at both of us, and at the bags we were carrying.

“Who are you and why are you here? Make it good,” He ordered in a firm, deep voice.

“Alex, and this is Angel,” Alex replied while gesturing to me. “We’re like you, and we’re here for probably the same reason you are. We saw through the window. You can trust us.” Alex replied calmly.

The boy glanced between us for a moment then asked for a second to decide, and closed the door. We heard the two talking behind the door, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying about us. I looked at Alex and started to say something about finding a different cabin, but before I could Alex’s eyes went wide.

“Angel, they're doing something. Something is at my throat.” He whispered and felt for his neck, searching for something.

Panic ran through me. I wouldn’t let Alex get hurt because I made a bad call. I threw the bags down and ripped off the backpack. My wings flew out, and I scanned the area carefully for whatever was threatening him, ready to attack. The door to the cabin flew back open, revealing the boy in full. He was taller than Alex, tattoo covered, long black hair with piercing blue eyes. He looked intimidating. A girl stood behind him, her eyes were wide and her cheeks drained of color. She looked older than us too, but she was shorter than me, and the boy towered over her. She had striking green eyes, and light brown hair cut into a short pixie cut. She had as many tattoos as he did, maybe more.

“Stop,” the boy ordered, “Put them away. It was just a test.” A smirk came over his face as he admired my wings, and he let out a whistle. “Those are some damn scary wings you have though, someone’s feisty,” he laughed.

I blushed and put the wings behind me, unwilling to fold them up until I was sure the danger had passed. Alex took a breath and grabbed his neck. Whatever he’d been trying to warn me about seemed to be gone. From behind Alex a figure materialized. There was a girl, probably around Jake’s age. She was the spitting image of the other girl, standing behind the tower of a man in the doorway. She had the same green eyes, the same light brown hair, though hers was worn long and it had a curl to it. She held a knife in her hand, and a blank look on her face. She must’ve been outside the whole time, or slipped around back while they were talking behind the closed door. She’d been completely invisible just a second before, and she’d made the knife invisible as well. It was a truly terrifying ability.

“I get it,” Alex said to the boy after glancing at the girl that appeared behind him. “Clever, threaten me to make sure we have powers like I said we did.”

The boy nodded, seeming pleased with the results of the ruse. He gestured for us to come inside. I folded my wings up and grabbed the things I’d dropped. We set down the bags in the kitchen, and joined them in the front room. There were too large couches across from each other. The boy sat at one end of a couch, with the older girl next to him, and the younger girl on the other side of the couch. Alex took a seat on the couch across from the boy, and I sat in the middle, across from the older girl. I felt the need to stay close to Alex.

“Let’s all introduce ourselves, and our abilities, then we can get to that little trick we played,” The boy said, smiling. “I’m Lucas, twenty-two, I can turn water to ice, and control it, using it as a shield, weapon, or tool. But you saw that when you were creeping around outside,” he laughed and winked at us.

The older girl next to him leaned forward, her eyes darted around nervously. She looked shy, and she spoke timidly, “I’m June, I’m twenty-one, I’m Lucas’s girlfriend.” Lucas put his arm around her and squeezed, and she seemed embarrassed at the display of affection. She cleared her throat and continued, “I can control plants. Trees, flowers, roots, anything like that. I have to touch the ground the roots are in, or the plant itself, and I can make it grow, or wither.” She grabbed a small flower pot sitting on the coffee table, and touched the dirt. From the small sapling grew a flower in an instant. Then it wilted and died, falling flat. She put the pot down and leaned back, pulling her feet up under her.

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The younger girl sat up straighter to take her turn. “Isabelle, I’m sixteen, I can turn myself, my clothes, and any small inanimate objects I'm holding invisible. It can last for a few hours at most,” she was blunt and to the point. She gave away no emotion but she didn’t look mean, just uninterested in the formalities.

Alex leaned forward and cleared his throat, “I’m Alex, I’m eighteen, I can secrete a thick fog in a wide area. Good for stealth, but probably not as good as being invisible,” he chuckled, and emitted a small cloud of fog to demonstrate like June had done. Isabelle showed no reaction to the joke, but Lucas laughed. Alex patted my knee and I leaned forward for my turn.

“I’m Angel, I’ll be eighteen in- actually next week,” I said, frowning at the realization. I briefly thought about how I’d expected a new car for my birthday, and how distant the hopes seemed now. I re-focused myself and continued, “You already saw but I have sharp metal wings. I can fly, or use them as a weapon.” As the words escaped my mouth the memory of the violent deaths I’d caused earlier that day played through my mind. I felt the flesh tearing and the warm blood coat the wings again as if it was still happening. I put my hand over my mouth and gagged violently, silently willing the contents of my stomach to stay put. Alex put a hand on my back and rubbed gently over my scars, trying to comfort me.

“Okay so clearly some trauma there but we can get to that in time, also the irony of your name is hilarious” Lucas said. The vicious edge in his voice was gone. He was trying to be kind for my sake, and the joke didn’t bother me as much now that the comparison was so easy. He was likely just trying to lighten the mood. After everyone was introduced with proof of their abilities Lucas took us through some background before what happened when we knocked on the cabin door. The group had arrived the night before. They weren’t under suspicion like we were, and their powers were much easier to hide.

They lived right outside the edge of the quarantine zone so when the military trucks showed up to assemble walls they drove out in a rush shortly after the news broke. Though they weren’t technically in the quarantine’s border they knew surveillance would be heavy in the area, and figured they’d eventually test them too since Isabelle went to school inside the quarantine zone. They hadn’t had any encounters like we did, they just figured out their powers by accident and upon observing the news, they filled in the blanks about the cover story. They knew they’d be more likely to get caught if they stuck around so they left.

We told them how my wings manifested at prom, and Alex’s fog at graduation. Both occasions came with only a small warning that something was off, and after that we both more or less knew how to control the powers. They listened intently and told us about their experiences. Lucas had found out about his ice control in the shower, he laughed about how cold and shocking it was, but was thankful no one had seen it. This was shortly before the mall incident if the timeline was accurate. Two weeks later, around the time my powers came out, June and Lucas were in their backyard laying under a tree when she started to feel bad. Upon gripping the tree for support she caused it to grow. Thankfully no one had noticed. They lived alone in a small neighborhood on the edge of quarantine and the houses were spread out more than most in the area.

The two of them started watching the news the way we had, and realized that something was off upon seeing one of their friends get arrested for a ‘robbery’ knowing full well that the friend wasn’t the type to do so. They tried to bail the friend out of jail only to find out that there was no record of the boy’s arrest or holding. They speculated that the friend was framed for some reason. Upon rewatching the news footage of the robbery’s aftermath they caught a glimpse of a wall that was far too damaged to have been anything normal, but definitely wasn’t caused by a car since the rest of the wall was intact. They speculated that the friend was like them, and had caused it with some type of super strength. From that point forward they lost all trust in the government or media.

June went to her parents house and asked them if anything odd had happened lately without elaborating, and saw that her sister had reacted strangely. She questioned Isabelle privately and got her to admit to the invisibility. This was just a couple days ago. She had Isabelle stay with her and Lucas for a few days under the guise of a sleepover so she could keep an eye on her and discuss theories. Isabelle had an extremely high IQ, and they wanted her help to figure things out. During this sleepover is when they noticed the military trucks, saw the breaking news, and left. Lucas and June had the foresight to ask for vacation time from work, so they had two weeks before they would be noticed, and Isabelle had the excuse of touring college campuses with the couple on their ‘vacation’. All this combined meant they were in much less danger, and they had kept their phones for the time being.

“On to when you showed up,” Lucas said, “we heard you coming, and we were already on high alert so someone walking to the lake instead of driving was likely to be either soldiers that followed us here, or runaways. Isabelle had the idea to test you, and eliminate you before you saw her if you were soldiers.”

Isabelle shrugged her shoulders and I shared a worrying glance with Alex. I had been reckless to suggest knocking. Isabelle told us she crept up to us before we even approached the cabin. She heard us talking about what to do. She had instructed Lucas to show off his powers in the window to see what we’d say about it, then they just needed to prove we also had powers by provoking Alex with the invisible knife. The whole thing was an elaborate test, and we walked right into it.

After we finished the long talk it became apparent that everyone was tired. My arms and legs hurt from the brutal day of hiking, and it was nearing midnight. We’d been up for nearly twenty-four hours. Yawns passed around the room, and finally Lucas stood up.

Lucas yawned loudly, “I think it’s time to call it a night. We can talk more about theories and anything we’ve seen or figured out tomorrow. The cabin is a three bed two bath. Master bed and bath on this side for June and I, small bedroom for Isa, and you two can have the other bedroom that has a king bed.”

Alex agreed to the arrangement before I could talk. Lucas said the cabin belonged to a trusted friend. He kept the power and water on year round in case anyone wanted to use it. This put our minds more at ease. We heated up a few bags of ramen from our grocery trip to appease our angry stomachs, took turns showering, and went to the bedroom with our backpacks. I changed into the only set of pajamas I managed to stuff in the bag, and lingered at my side of the bed while Alex climbed in, eager for sleep.

“It doesn’t have to be weird,” Alex said quietly, “I just want you to stay near me in case anything goes wrong, okay? It’s a new situation and we need to be careful." He placed the holster with the gun on the nightstand and laid down, patting the spot next to him. I crawled in, my need for sleep outweighing my embarrassment.

“Angel, are you okay after today?” he whispered.

The question hit like a rock, and the scene replayed in my mind yet again with the same excruciating detail. I mumbled no and started to cry. I finally let the emotions come pouring out of me that I’d tried to bottle up all day. I’d killed three people in a horrific manner. I was so far from okay. I was starting to spiral, and I reached out to Alex for comfort. He wrapped me in a hug and rubbed my back as I cried it out. We fell asleep like that. I dreamed about Alex. About happier times. My mind filled itself with the sweet dreams as it tried desperately to bury the memories of the awful day.

When I woke up I was still in Alex’s arms. I opened my eyes to find him already awake and looking down at me. “Good morning sleepyhead,” he whispered softly and smiled. He released his arms and stretched them above his head. He’d waited for me to wake up, and I was thankful for it. I’d have panicked if I woke up alone and didn’t know where I was, and I suspected he knew that.

“Good morning Alex,” I whispered back and returned his smile. It felt good to put the awful day behind us. I knew more tough days were coming, but I couldn’t help but feel the worst was behind us.