Liam chose the smallest booth, sinking into the cushioned seat and waiting for Dominic, who had ordered at the counter. Dark blue plastic panels on the walls, three tables with equally-blue, plastic stools, and a counter with plastic stools and chrome legs were the generous decorations, the back wall a large mirror, reflecting the chairs and their occupants, the stools and tables, and the counter and the door.
The waitress approached, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, her blue eyes wide with sugar sweetness and a white smile. "Hi, Liam. I'll be right with you. What would you like to drink?" She said, hand on hip.
"I'll have a water. Please." He said, removing the black cross from his neck for her to see. She nodded, turning to the next person in line.
A moment later, Dominic arrived. He was clean-shaven with a buzz cut and pale white skin. He wore a black and purple Batman T-shirt and khaki cargo jeans. He was seated across from the booth and had his attention on the girl at the counter. The waitress put up a pink-nailed hand and said, "I'm sorry, Damian. She's taken a shift, but go ahead and ask."
The woman at Dominic's side scrunched her red lips into a pout. He leaned forward, looking directly at Liam. "Hey. We best hurry if we're gonna talk about what you want to discuss."
"I don't want to talk about anything. I just want to sit quietly and drink some water."
"Well, you'll have to do more than that, Liam. I'll meet you in the truck over at the bistro."
"Let's go, then."
Liam paid for his water and left the restaurant without saying goodbye to anyone, his heart and mind hardened against the world. These people seemed so nice and so together, but he had seen their true nature and he was not interested in joining them. He longed for the quiet calm of the forest. They entered the parked truck, the seat slid forward into the bed, which was full of camping gear. The blue truck was exactly the same make and model as the one in which he and his family lived in. He had not bothered changing the truck over to running on diesel, because that made the planet. It always made the planet look how it was supposed to look and he did not want to make it look how it was supposed to look.
"Do you know where we're going?" Liam asked, looking into the rearview mirror.
"To one of my safe houses in the forest. I want to talk to you about something. It's private."
"Do you know something I don't?"
"Not yet. But I plan on finding out."
Dominic pulled out of the gravel parking lot, dirt flying behind him. Gravel kicked up around the truck and made a cloud of dust as it drove up Highway 34, toward the forest. The truck went up on two wheels, off the pavement and onto a wooded trail that had not yet been widened for passenger cars. Dominic swerved around trees and pine logs as the truck bounced up and back down. Liam put a hand on the dashboard, hoping it would stop moving.
"Take the next left," Liam said after a little bit of time.
Dominic eased off the gas, coming to a stop, bumping two trees, which fell forward and hit the windshield. The two of them stepped out of the truck and walked over to look at the side of it. The headlight had been cracked and the left side mirror knocked clean off.
"Looks like we won't be able to fix this," Dominic said, looking at the fractured plastic. The truck was a total loss. He kicked the side of it and then turned to look at Liam. "I'd suggest getting a new one, but that's going to be a lot of work and a lot of money. You're going to have to build a new one. We could use this one for the extra campsite."
"What do you mean, we?"
"Yeah, I bought the truck this morning—found another one at a used car lot that would be ready for next year. Didn't you see it, though? I took it for a test drive yesterday. And, what we need is a truck anyway. I bought you a new one as well. I'm sure it'll be at the safe house and on its way there with the supplies. You can put your new truck in the forest, if you want. The new campsite is already prepared."
Liam's face sagged. He tried to smile as if he were excited, but he knew that he would have to build it all. This was going to take longer than expected. The raw materials would take a while to gather and maybe even cut or fabricate. He would have to do it alone, or that is what he thought, but Dominic was already standing at the front of his truck.
"Come on, let's get going. I want to get there before six, so we don't run into any trouble. They've set up road blocks for the night, like usual."
"Who's they?"
"Who isn't they? The president and the rest of the military. They don't want you to go patrolling around in the forest, searching for supplies, they are afraid it will make things worse."
"Why would driving around in the forest make things worse?" He said, leaning into the truck and peering into the passenger seat, his hand on the door.
"The radiation." He said, climbing onto the platform and into the bed, digging around in the toolbox until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a paintbrush and a can of blue latex, then walked up to the front of the truck, climbing up onto the driver's seat. He then opened the can of latex and began painting the cracks which lined the windshield of the truck. It would not be perfect, but it would be better than nothing. "The government originally kept the towns safe from this super-powered people, but now they fear for their own families. They fear for their own safety and so they're plotting to take control. They're taking over the forests and the fishing industry and they are going to take the forests away from us." He painted some more. "They have the manpower, so it may not be long before they succeed."
"Maybe. However, they will find it hard to defeat the super powers of any random forest dweller."
"I know that it's not just going to be a random forest dweller. I know that they're coming after you. And I think that's what we need to discuss."
Liam laughed, throwing his head back and his eyes closed, laughing hard and long. "They can't possibly defeat me."
"Liam," Dominic said. "If they want to do this, they will. Look at the others in the forest. They're not just any forest dweller. They are just like you and me. They are a union of people, who for ten years have lived among the trees and thought about getting by in this world with our new abilities. We are stronger, faster and smarter. I told you already that the government has the manpower. They have men who are law enforcement and the military. They are trained to kill. And the super powers are still only able to destroy with their minds. Think about all the potential people pairs out there and what their abilities are. They are stronger, faster and smarter than everyone. Of course they will defeat us and if they do, we'll bring the whole forest down around their heads."
Liam could not believe what he was hearing. But perhaps Dominic was right. Perhaps the government had the manpower and the resources and was powerful enough that they could defeat the super powers.
