Fortuitous Fate

Suddenly there was shuffling coming from the outside. “They had to come down this way,” uttered a voice on the other side, “I want every lock checked!” The sounds of locks being broken and doors lifting erupted in the tiny space. “What do we do,” whispered Ajay. “Follow me,” she gazed as the roof had an odd escape panel possibly placed in by Muresh himself, “I bet none of the other storage units have it; let’s go!” She opened the hatch and gave Ajay a boost up as he slowly climbed out. Just as she was about to follow, the men outside found the already open lock. “Sir, they’re in here,” the agent yelled, “this one’s open!” “We’re coming in, you’re under arrest!” As the men raised the front door with guns charged and ready to stun, the storage had already been emptied as the escape latch shut simultaneously. They never saw them escape the unit. “Where are they?” asked one of the men. While they scoured around, searching the tiny spot, out came the head of every Evolve operation, Detective Reese. A thin man with big cheeks and short black hair, he took a few steps in and glanced around, the head of suits looked north of their surroundings. “Sir I believe they went out that way,” said one of the agents with him. “Corner them,” Reese informed the group, “every agent in the vicinity; find them and bring them in. They’ve found something, I can feel it. They haven’t got far!” Meanwhile, Ximena and Ajay were escaping for dear life as they took off from the rooftops of the storage units. Eventually, the nearby EIF agents heard the fast tracking footsteps and started to shoot. Not real bullets of course because killing was never the order. They merely needed to tranquilize the girl before she could use her gifts to escape, or worse. “Sir we’ve found them,” called in one of the men. “Now what,” Ajay asked as they made it back to the entrance full of security and EIF cars. “Over the gate,” N’jeri yelled. They hopped it as she focused and waved her hand, causing a car to go airborne and smash into another. Nearby agents took cover while others were rattled off impact. Two tranq’s were fired and suddenly stopped by her telekinesis. These were the gifts of her Evolved abilities. Years of tests and training in Muresh’s lab had given her the power no other human being could possess, along with nine others. She wasn’t one of the lab escapee’s but a survivor after his disappearance, nonetheless. She was offered to stay in his home the year prior with his wife and son near the end of the lab's tenure. Now she’s the young boy's guardian since the old man vanished and wife passed away. These were their weekly trials. Search for clues while being tracked by EIF, a secret organization whose only job is to track down the “Evolved” and bring them in to further their search for Muresh. The two of them were public enemy number one seeing as they couldn’t get off EIF’s radar to save their lives. They’d be spotted, followed, tracked and chased relentlessly. Today however, was not the day to get caught. They had zero interest in it. “We got to make it past that block off,” she shouted in mid sprint. Her arm waved laterally for a second time and the trash dumpster went flying towards the vehicles blocking off the streets up ahead. As the cars were forced backwards, she threw sewer covers towards the armed men, spinning a few of them to the ground. The remaining two charged at her as she pushed Ajay out of harm's way and took to using physical force. Fighting was a minor skill of hers and she successfully took out both men before they went on. As the chase ensued for a few more blocks, they’d reach where LAII had been built to appear as a city off the ground, like Utopia Sky but nowhere near as high. It remained surface level but clearly it was now hovering. This was the new redesign of LAII. Highways and all other passages into LA would become rising bridges upon entry, escaping the outskirt slums and beach fronts while the entrances of the city’s second level were accompanied by sky train stations. This was their target. They headed for the nearest one as fast as possible while the agents behind them realized their escape plan. “Don’t let them reach that station,” Reese phoned out. “We can’t suspend operations without Weiss approval!” These weren’t police. They were a secret group of men operating for the President who promptly requested discrete tactics to finish jobs. If it will endanger civilians or halt everyday life, it’s not worth the fight. So far, the Evolved haven’t been reported with harmful cases so why provoke one to that point. Usually catching N’jeri in a secluded area was how they operated. Tonight, she and Ajay just so happened to be in the middle of a busy area, so EIF hands are tied; if they get on that train, it’s over. The Tranq darts and Tasers continued to fire. While she used her gift to stop most of them, others happened to miss. She was more surprised at how many actually didn’t make contact at that moment. N’jeri had them both take cover once or twice, then used whatever light post, stop sign, or trash can nearby as a flying weapon. When they seemed to be just two blocks away, but now on an open passage, the EIF circled them, stopping progression. “Give it up Ximena,” Reese demanded as he exited the car in front of them. It appeared they’d be caught again. This time with nowhere to run, fully surrounded by a few EIF agent cars and at least a dozen weapons directed at them, signaling a losing battle. They’ve done this enough times to understand what comes next, but the stubborn girl didn’t care. She wasn’t being placed into one of those cars again. Nor would she let Ajay go either. Angry and fatigued, she replied, “That’s not my name.” Quickly, she lifted a fire hydrant and let the water burst into the blocked off roads. Entering the halted street was a transporter truck minding its business until the Evolved child got a hold of it with her telekinesis. With the guns aimed for them, silent orders not to move, she used everything in her to spin the truck out of control and watch it crash into the EIF blockade, while using the raining water as cover to escape. The area erupted with sounds of cars crashing, some exploding, building glass being broken as sidewalks were ruined. By the time Detective Reese or anyone else regained a visual of them, N’jeri and Ajay were on the train that had just left. “I think we lost them sir,” one of the newer agents mentioned. “Yeah, no shit,” Reese answered sarcastically. While the news and emergency vehicles approached the crash scene, N’jeri watched from out the window of a sky train heading east.