The 50/50 Vaccine

Chapter 10

It’s been a week since Nolan gained the ability to fly. I don’t see him in group therapy anymore, but he has stopped by the apartment twice to hang out with Lexi and me. He’s a riot to have around, and very impulsive which gives us a good laugh. He’s told us about training and how everything is going for him. He’s been having fun in a hyper dome where he can fly around with other people.

I’m beginning to pay more attention to the multitude of abilities here, trying to figure out what I may end up with and praying it’s nothing dangerous like the flame thrower, or the lava touch, or worse the death touch. I’m a mixture of feelings as I know my six months is slowly creeping up. I’d prefer the healing touch, flying would be okay, or the ability to lift very heavy objects. The people who can read minds, or hear thoughts seem to go a bit insane until they learn to control their ability which is one thing I do not wish upon anyone.

“Earth to Mandy…” Nolan calls with a chuckle.

“She’s been doing this lately. I’m beginning to worry going into trances is her ability.” Lexi commented.

“Sorry, just lost in thought,” I comment, returning to the conversation. “It sounds like you are having so much fun learning to control your ability.”

“I am, I cannot wait to see what you ladies develop,” Nolan replies.

“I’m excited and impatiently waiting,” Lexi adds.

“How are you feeling Mandy?” Nolan inquires.

“Anxious, excited, and a tad nervous,” I admit. “The other day someone got the ability of a death touch. He accidentally drained the life from another person.”

“I heard about that. Talk about feeling ashamed.” Nolan sighed. “Imagine talking to someone and gently touching them only to have them die before your eyes because you touched them…” He shivers at the thought.

“I’d settle for setting something on fire over accidentally killing someone.” Lexi agrees. “Though, can you imagine what Greenway does to people who get the death touch ability?”

“Do we know what they are doing with anyone in there?” I ask. “They are keeping things quiet, but what are they doing with all the survivors who return looking for help and answers?”

“I still think this place needs to stop being so exclusive with the invitations,” Nolan comments. “Give everyone a safe place to be, not just a select few.”

“Too dangerous. What if Greenway sends people here to sabotage us, or the Government to collect data on who is in here and all their abilities only to plan a way to hush everyone up.” Lexi explains. “Believe me, Sasha has been trying to spread the word, but the rest of the family is concerned to the point you would think they believe in conspiracies.”

“I think they could, but make a rigid screen process. Get the mind readers of observe and report.” I suggest.

“That can be easily passed. Reading a mind, all they have to do is focus on the story they want to sell.” Lexi explained. “I’m telling you, Sasha has tried, but the rest of the family has shot it down at every turn. The only way is if someone develops an ability that can not be tricked or sabotaged. Like a foolproof lie detector, which even lie detectors can be cheated with enough thought and preparation.”

“So only a handful of people each batch gets saved and given a sanctuary that helps support our abilities, while hundreds go back to Greenway or worse, scooped up by the government and disappeared.” Nolan sounds so defeated by this idea. I don’t blame him, I’ve thought about this before but figured they had their reasons for keeping everything quiet.

“Would you prefer to continue to learn to control your ability in a happy situation, or would you rather learn to control your ability while preparing for an attack or military action?”

“Fun and carefree. Once I learn to control my flight patterns I’m finished, as I have succeeded in controlling my take-offs. I no longer just shoot off into the air unless I want to, see,” Nolan demonstrates by standing up and doing a little hop, then a jump.

“Impressive,” I note feeling relieved for him.

“Thank you.”

“Who wants ice cream?” Lexi asks, getting to her feet and walking to the kitchen. Both Nolan and I request a bowl. Lexi carefully pulls out the container of ice cream and the bowls. When she opens the drawer to get the ice cream scoop out, she gasps, causing Nolan and me to turn and look at her.

Lexi is frozen in the middle of the kitchen with all the metal implements floating in the air around her. Thankfully nothing is sticking in her, because all the forks, butter knives, and steak knives are pointing directly at her. The drawers are open as they appear to be metal, and the refrigerator slowly squeaks closer to her. Nolan and I leap to our feet, rushing to help her. I grab hold of one of the knives which is pointed straight at her neck, while Nolan grabs another pointing at her heart.

“What?” I grumble as I try to pull the knife out of the air, but it remains stuck as if it was stuck into a board. I look at Nolan and see him straining to pull the knife he grabbed out of the air. He meets my eyes and shakes his head telling me it’s not budging for him either. “Can you call Sasha?” I ask him.

“I don’t have her number,” Nolan answers.

I reach to pull my phone out of my pocket only for it to be stuck in my pocket, almost pulling at my pants as if it’s going to rip through the fabric. “HELP!” I cry out as loud as I can.

“What are you doing?” Lexi asks me.

“I can’t pull my phone out of my pocket, and my guess is none of us can. You are magnetic, and I’m not sure how to shut it off. Hopefully, someone will come to see what’s going on…” I explained.

“I’ll go find someone on,” Nolan announced running out of the apartment at his top speed.

“Or we could do that,” I grumble in annoyance. “I didn’t want us to leave in case something happened.”

“You clearly can’t move anything, and I’m not sure how I stopped things from coming to me.” Lexi reasoned. “I’m not upset that you're trying, but he’ll have better luck than screaming for help and hoping he passes by and gets us help.”

“I’m sorry. I’m scared.” I admit. “I just don’t know what’s going on. You are the second person around me who has developed their abilities.”

“Funny, what if your ability is speeding up the process for other people's abilities.”

“Lexi, that’s not funny at all. It’s downright frightening.”

“Just trying to keep the mood light, you seem very stressed out right now, Mandy.”

“Well, my best friend has a butcher knife pointing at her heart, some steak knives pointed at her throat among several other sharp utensils ready to penetrate her skin.”

“Nolan will get help, and they will know what to do.” Lexi tried to reassure me.

“Just, don’t move…” I sign.

“I’m not planning on it,” Lexi murmured taking a deep calming breath. “It’d be even better if you weren’t stressing out. Staying calm is my mantra at the moment.”

“Yes, I'm sorry. I’m just worried.” I try to take a few deep, calming breaths.

It only took Nolan 15 minutes to get help, but it felt like hours until he returned with Sasha and two other people. They all come rushing through the door and assess the situation. “Lexi, this has happened to others in the past. I know it’s scary but the fact that you’ve managed to stay so calm is a blessing. We need to sedate you for all this to be released from your magnetic field. Then we’ll cover everything else when you come to.”

“Okay. Please, hurry.” Lexi replied anxiously.

Sasha nodded to the people who accompanied her into the apartment. One pulls a syringe from the bag they are carrying. They fill it with some medicine, then they stick it in Lexi’s arm. She goes limp fairly quickly and everything clatters to the floor. Sasha’s two companions caught Lexi and carried her into her bedroom. They returned as Nolan and I were cleaning up the kitchen. “We are going to replace all metal objects in this apartment with non-magnetic things,” Sasha explained.

“What about our cell phones? I couldn’t pull mine out of my pocket when we tried to help her.” I explained.

“We’ll get a landline for this apartment in case she has another incident in the future,” Sasha replied. “She shouldn’t carry her phone until she learns to control everything. She’s not the first person to get this ability, but the process of learning to live with it and control it is long. I have no doubt Lexi can handle it, just I’m glad she has you. You are a good friend to my cousin, and provide her with a support system she hasn’t had for a while. This vaccine takes a toll on more than recipients and the families of the failed trials.”

“I’ve noticed that. It affects the lives of the survivors as well. It sucks, but we pay a bigger price than Greenway advertised.” I sigh. Sasha smiles at me.

“We’ll bring those items I mentioned in a bit. I just need to gather the supplies.” Sasha states as her companions leave the apartment.

“Thanks, Sasha.” Once she leaves, I let out a loud sigh of relief. Lexi is going to be fine, they know all the precautions to take to ensure her safety.

“You still look nervous. Want to share your thoughts?” Nolan commented.

“Lexi made a joke that I’m beginning to worry that she was correct,” I admit. “Both of you have developed your abilities with me around. She suggested that my ability could be to expedite the development of other’s abilities.”

“I can see where she would have got that idea, but I can also why you would be worried. I’m not an expert, but… Are two coincidences factual?” Nolan pointed out.

“I’m still worried.”

“You stress yourself out with all this worrying, Mandy. Put it out of your mind, as the likeliness of that being your ability is slim. If it happens more than 10 times, then it’s fact, but two is not enough.”

“You’re right, it’s just been a long day. I’m more stressed out than I was the day you blasted off.”

“Her’s is more dangerous.”

“I’m not going to argue with you,” I state dropping onto the sofa. I can’t believe everything that has happened, and I’m hoping that Nolan is correct and this is just a coincidence.