The X-Project

Pausing for a break, the two friends discuss the situation.



Laurie sat on the veranda of the barracks that held the medical facilities as she watched a group of refugees talking quietly nearby. There'd been a constant low level hum of voices over the past few days, never happy but less then angry, and always, always the undercurrent of fear. She'd been trying to help, using her powers where she could, mostly at night to help people get enough sleep.

It was surprising sometimes how much easier even the worst events were if you could just get a good nights sleep. It just didn't seem enough though, nothing she could do ever seemed enough.

"Yvette," Laurie said, smiling at her friend as she got within talking range. "Taking a break?"

The small spiky girl - noticeably spikier than when she was at the mansion - nodded. "They are making me to be careful with the heat," she explained, sitting beside Laurie. She had her gloves and socks off and her fingers and toes were caked with dirt. "And it is to be getting warm again."

"Did you want me to get you some more water?" Laurie asked, instinctively. She'd lived with Yvette long enough that she was well aware of the other girl's problems with heat.

"Yes, please." Yvette resisted the urge to pant - it helped, but she avoided doing it around people because of how it looked. As Laurie got up to fetch a bottle from the collection in the cooler nearby, she looked out at the camp. Numbers had been increasing steadily and rumours of something happening were starting to filter through. "How are the things going?" she asked, wanting to turn her mind away from where her thoughts were leading.

"I had to watch someone die." Laurie said, a catch in her voice as she handed the bottle to Yvette. She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry, not while they were still here and things needed to be done. It was hard though, especially when talking about it directly, not to simply give in and have a good cry. It had been such a useless, unneccesary death, a thing that would never, or should never have happened if they weren't in a place like this. "It was horrible, Yvette. He wouldn't come to the hospital without his kids, and we couldn't let them in. I had to let him go, even though I knew he was going to die."

Yvette paused in the middle of pulling a glove on to take the bottle. "Oh, Laurie," she said. "I am sorry, that you had to be doing such a thing."

"It's okay." Laurie replied, even though it pointedly wasn't. But though Yvette was her friend, and she cared for her, she also felt reluctant to lean on her in any great fashion. The younger girl had enough of her own issues to deal with without Laurie adding to them.

"It is not okay," Yvette replied quietly, looking up at the older girl. "Dying before the time is never okay and when it is happening, it is making us feel bad, if we are the healthy human person. But it is good, that you are trying to be there for them. I think..." She trailled off, looking over the camp again.

"You're meant to keep a distance." Laurie murmured, following Yvette's gaze, her eyes landing here and there on the refugees they had been helping these past few days. It was never enough though, there always seemed to be more of them, a rising tide of humanity trying to find some safety. "When you're a doctor, you can't treat people if you feel their pain too much. You make mistakes, and miss things because you're so busy trying to comfort them."

"I think it is going to be getting worse. Much worse." Yvette sighed. "And we will all be needing to be strong, then."

"I.." Laurie began, but her head jerked to the side as she heard shouting. "What the hell?"

"It is from the gates," Yvette replied. "Remember how the doctor was saying we might be having to keep people out when we are too full? I think it is the time."

"I think it may be more then that." Laurie replied, as sudden screams could be heard coming from that direction. "I'm going to go see what's going on."