Lysandra - A Mutant in the X-Men Universe

Chapter 2

An engine rattled. Sputtered out. Footsteps. Keys clanged. A bell jingled.

More footsteps. They scraped to a stop. Right in front of me.

I woke up to the sun shining in my eyes and a man standing before me.

I gasped and jumped off the bench, grabbing my backpack.

The man–older middle-aged, gray peppered black hair, sharp features–just laughed. Not harshly, I thought, but kindly. He threw something at me.

I caught it.

Glanced down.

A sandwich. Huh.

"Thought you might need that," the man said.

"Uh, thanks," I mumbled, my stance still rigid and ready to run. My stomach grumbled for the sandwich, but it would seem needy to immediately eat it.

"The name's Greyson Johns, but you can call me Grey."

I took a second to respond. Should I give him my name? Surely one wouldn't hurt. "Lyre."

"Nice to meet you, Lyre. So you're passin' through?"

Of course I'm passing through! What else would I be doing?

I just nodded.

"Where're you headed?"

Please, with the intrusive questions. I don't have the answers.

"The town near here," I answered casually. But stiffly. It's best not to be too friendly.

I hadn't a clue if there even was a town.

Grey squinted.

"Oh, Worther," he nodded. "Nice place. A bit too busy for my taste, but they've got a wonderful little noodle shack. You should try it when you get there."

Grey took a step toward me.

Involuntarily, I took a step back, lengthening the distance between us.

Grey looked surprised, then an understanding came into his eyes. "Oh, no, I'm just comin' past you to get the gas pumps ready." A pressed smile.

I looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry," it came out barely a whisper. "Bad habit."

"One you should probably keep, travelin' alone, you know." Grey walked past me, giving me a wide berth, taking a less direct route to the pumps.

That was kind of embarrassing.

"If you need anything, go on inside, I'll be there in a few," Grey called to me.

I actually did need a few things.

The bell dinged as I opened the door.

What did I need most?

Depending on how far Worther actually was from here, I might not need much food. But one could easily get lost on those winding roads, dissecting and connecting with one another over and over. So a map is what I needed secondly.

I took out my burner phone and found it waterlogged.

Paper it is then.

I located some maps near the entrance.

The gas station wasn't bad. Although it looked a tad bit old from the outside, it was neat and fully stocked inside. The tiled floors were worn but swept clean. Popcorn ceiling.

I wondered if they had fruit. It'd been weeks since I tasted something fresh. All I'd eaten recently was cheap packaged food that I could grab quickly and avoid suspicion. All those preservatives tasted kinda stale after a while.