FLUX

Chapter 5: Farmhouse

Jack cut the engine to the motorcycle. They had driven northeast past the desert into another set of mountains, bigger than the last. What used to be a grand forest now looked to be more like large dry tinder plunging up through the terrain. Evidence of great fires scorched the rough bark. Jack pulled up in front of an old white farmhouse next to a river. The wheelhouse peered from behind the farmhouse showing its worn siding, looking as if it would fall over in a gentle breeze. An old waterwheel turned under a constant pull from the strong current in the river. Dark grey clouds hung low in the sky, dimming down their normal tan shade.

"Where are we?" Alex asked after pulling off her helmet. "It's still two hours until sunset."

"It's a storehouse. We can stock up on supplies and stay the night in a bed."

"We just happened upon a storehouse up here?" Alex asked, her eyes searching his face.

"Oh, this is just one of many."

"There's more than just one bed, right?"

Jack grinned back at her from behind the flipped up visor. She slapped him on the back of his shoulder, calling up a grunt of pain.

Alex stepped off the bike and stretched her cramped legs while Jack pulled it around back.

He met her on the rickety old porch and produced a key from under the umbrella can at the door. Alex stared at an umbrella trying to figure out what it was. Jack just shook his head and swung open the door.

The inside of the house was in much better shape than the outside. It had the quaint little farmhouse feel with white cabinets and pictures of farm animals on the walls. The whole place was covered in a thin layer of dust betraying its years of disuse.

Jack went to the woodstove and started stacking logs in it while Alex searched through the kitchen. She found cupboards completely stocked with dried and canned food. After pulling out some choice items, she started making a pasta dish using the working stove, which surprised her. The farmhouse must be pulling energy from the waterwheel.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?" Jack asked as the aroma of the pasta sauce filled the room.

Alex found him irritating, but she ignored his comment. Outside, the ominous clouds puffed up with a dark grey color over the countryside. Tiny water droplets splattered the windows with small chimes that made Alex's ears twitch. She leaned forward over the kitchen sink to look at what was causing the noise.

The water droplets increased in size and frequency. Alex pressed her nose up against the glass. "I think it's coming from the clouds."

"It's called rain, genius. Have you really never been to the surface before?"

A flash of light hit a nearby hill. "Was that electr" A deep rumble drowned out the last word of her sentence. Alex jumped so bad she hit her forehead on the window and dropped her wooden spoon in the sauce. The thunder tore through the house clinking the dishes together and rattling loose wooden planks.

Jack chuckled and walked around the counter. He rested his hand on her trembling shoulder which made her jump again. She spun away and threatened her retrieved wooden spoon at him.

"What was that?" Alex asked accusingly, as if he had been the cause.

"Well, the light is called lightning, and the noise is thunder," he said as if talking to a child. She scowled at him. He pointed out to the hills. "The charges in the clouds separate and then discharge energy. When the lightning strikes, it creates a pressure wave, which we hear as sound."

"That must be an amazing amount of energy. How is it possible with the charge leak?" Another peel of thunder ripped through the house. Alex jumped and clapped her hands to her ears. The wooden spoon stuck out of her hand like an antenna. "And why does it have to be so damn loud?"

Jack let slip a little smile. "Lightening releases a lot of energy in a very quick amount of time, I don't think that electron leak rate is fast enough to dissipate it."

"Like the stove? It's working up on the surface with electricity. I thought that was impossible."

"Same reason. The water wheel is pulling enough energy so that the electrons don't leak enough before they reach the stove. It's losing some energy, but it still has enough to run. Similar to your watch, takes the energy right off your body before it can leak." Jack explained

Another crack of lightning and peel of thunder rocked the room.

Jack smiled softly from under his dark bushy beard. "Don't worry, the storm will pass soon. Besides, I think your dinner is burning."

"You can't burn boiling water," she scolded. Alex waved the wooden spoon at him and gave him a get out of my kitchen look.

He obeyed and went back to poking at the fire.

Alex served up dinner. Jack accepted with a smile. The storm rolled on. Every time the thunder clapped, she jumped a little, but the thunder seemed to be getting farther away.

"So-" Jack said as he finished up the last of his spaghetti, the noodles rolled in his mouth as he spoke. Alex cringed at the sight.

"What?" she asked, and placed her fork neatly on her plate.

"You don't have the file, do you?"

"What do you mean? Of course I do. You saw me take it." The corners of her mouth twitched just a fraction as she spoke.

"You're a terrible liar," he said.

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Why are you hanging out with me then? I doubt it's for the free ride. You didn't come this way since you obviously haven't been on the surface before, so what do you want with me? Are you a spy?" he asked.

"A spy for whom?"

Jack said nothing. He went on chewing his dinner.

"Well in any case, you're wrong. I do have the file, it's just not in paper form anymore. It's up here." She pointed to her temple.

Jack raised one eyebrow in her direction. "You memorized the whole file? When?"

"Before I got on the elevator." Alex got up and deposited her plate in the sink.

Jack's mouth gaped, a noodle threatened to roll out. "You memorized that in less than five minutes."

She shrugged as she settled herself back down on the couch in front of the fire.

"You hybrids can be impressive."

"I really don't like that term," she said, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, princess. Just figured all the high and mighty hybrids liked to be hybrids. Everyone else wishes they were as genetically perfect as you."

"Hybrids are a very diverse bunch. Most of them are just rich assholes."

Jack smiled, he liked the way she crinkled her nose as she used that word. "Well, you don't have to worry about creating mutant spawn or ending up with a genetically fatal disease," Jack said as he cleaned up their dishes and returned them to their places.

"So why's a hyb- an individual such as yourself, hanging out with a Mod like me?"

"Do you know what's in the file?" she asked.

"Just that it contains information that can destroy the man that modified me. It also contains the location of a very interesting piece of equipment. I figure I will pop in and see if I can borrow it from him."

Alex nodded. "Well, let's just say that our goals are similar."

"You want to get this guy too? What'd he do to you?" he asked, leaning forward in his comfy chair.

Alex looked down at the ground to avoid his gaze. "It's personal," she said quietly.

"Fine, don't tell me. Why don't you just give me the file and I'll drop you off where ever you want to go. That way you can be on your merry way and I can get down to business."

"In time. Not yet though. If I give it to you, what's to keep you from killing me so I won't report you to the authorities? See, it's just a big messy thing," she said. Alex untied the blanket from the top of her pack, then curled up in it.

"Oh I wouldn't kill you. I'd just tie you up and drop you off in a safe place."

"You're not helping your case," she said and turned away from him to fall asleep.

Jack stroked his beard thinking about how he was going to deal with this tag-along. He'd find another way to get the information from the file. He had a whole network of people to find it. It was dangerous playing with a hybrid and Jimmy wouldn't like it one damn bit. His stupid brother would've shot her by now, but Jack didn't want to do that. Instead, he'd been pulling out all the tricks that had disgusted Brooke when they dated, but nothing seemed to shake her. He was going to have to try harder to get her to leave. But Alex was intriguing, following a human around, even just trusting a human for that matter. What was her game?