“What the hell is going on?!” Logan shouted above the clatter of gunfire, pressing himself against the alley wall.
“Well,” Mika said, rolling her eyes and peeking around the corner where they hid. “Those people are shooting at us.” She pulled her head back quickly, barely missing a bullet.
“But why?” This was really not Logan’s day. The first date with his cute new coworker, and somehow they ended up being chased by scary dudes with guns? Wait, why wasn’t he more scared? Is this what shock is like?
“Well,” Mika said again, fidgeting with her pockets. “It’s kind of a long story. Can you hold on?” She pulled a slip of fabric out of her pocket and slipped it over her eyes.
Logan jerked on her arm, keeping her next to him. “What are you doing? You can’t see!”
“It’s fine, trust me! Just stay here. Don’t try to help, or see what’s happening,” she said, calmly, caressing his cheek briefly before darting out around the wall.
Logan had no idea how long he sat there, listening to the bullets, then the screams, and then silence. He hadn’t even realized he’d slid down the wall and was curled up on the ground until Mika came back, kneeling next to him.
“Are you OK?” she asked, taking off the blindfold and blinking down at him.
“What just h-happened?”
She sighed. “I really didn’t want to have to tell you this way. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have to, but this date was going surprisingly well before…” she shrugged, “that.”
“But… what?”
She smiled shyly at him. “I really like you, Logan, but I… I don’t know if…”
“What?”
Mika sighed again. “You know that nuclear reactor that exploded a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah,” he said, shuddering. “It killed a bunch of people, and turned others into weirdos. Wait…” Realization struck. “Are you…”
“We tend to prefer the term Altered,” she said, her expression falling, “but yes. I was near enough the explosion, and had the right DNA markers, apparently, so now I’m… different.”
Logan sat there, speechless. What was he supposed to do with that information?
“It’s fine,” she said, hurriedly, standing up and backing away from him. “I understand. I won’t bother you anymore. I hope this won’t make things weird at work. I really like this job, and if you wouldn’t tell anyone that would be-”
“You thought the date was going well?” This must be shock, because with everything she had just told him, that was what he held on to.
“Well, yeah,” she smiled. “Didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Logan hauled himself up, feeling much more steady than he thought he would. What was going to happen now?
“Do you…” she hesitated, a slight blush crossing her cheeks. It was cute. “Do you still want to get some ice cream?”
“I do.” Logan would still need to process what had just happened, what it meant that she was Altered, but for now, he was with a cute girl who wanted to get ice cream.
Her smile was radiant. Mika held out her hand, and he took it in his.
“What’s your power, anyway?” he asked as she lead him out of the alley, away from where the gunmen had stood just minutes ago. He didn’t look back.
“That’s more of a third date story,” she said, and he decided he could wait.
© The Lightning Tower, 2020