“Alright Creed. It’s fine.”
“Wait, that’s it?”
“Well, let’s just say I’m confident that we can come to some kind of agreement.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Say, your friend Genesis. Does she know all about your little secret?”
“Leave her out of this.”
“I’m just simply wondering what she thinks about it all?”
“I’m warning you Colonel, keep her out of all of this.”
Just then the door to the hangar slammed open and Col. Mitchell appeared from the other side, holding firmly onto Genesis’ arm.
“You have a visitor.”
“Creed.” Genesis shouted. She was ignorantly smiling before quickly catching on to the more flagrant tone that was quickly starting to unfold. Creed’s disheveled look was enough evidence to let her know that things were not normal.
“Genesis. No.”
As soon as Genesis figured out there was a more nefarious plot unraveling there in the hangar, Col. Mitchell had already picked up his gun once more and swiftly wrapped his arm around Genesis’ throat.
“Creed?” She yelled.
“It’s alright, just don’t move.”
“What’s going on?”
Both Col. Posey and Mitchell were now peering towards him a little more ominously. They were both probably assuming they were finally going to get what they wanted. Col. Posey already began imagining the medal they would award him for single handedly winning the war. Within no time they’d be gearing him up and shipping him out to the east coast. It would only be a matter of minutes once they successfully unleashed Creed’s powers onto the battlefield.
“Alright Creed, now can we see some flying please?” Posey requested.
Creed’s eyes began to furl. He kept his eyes glued on Col. Mitchell holding on to Genesis with his gun pointed at her. Creed’s breathing picked up as he began clenching his fists.
“Creed?”
Without hesitation, Creed violently sprung out his arm out towards Col. Mitchell. The AR-15’s muzzle immediately bent upwards, rendering the gun useless. Before Mitchell could realize what had just happened, Creed was already flying across the hangar before grabbing onto the defenseless Colonel. In response, Mitchell let go of his grip on Genesis while Creed began squeezing his neck. Just then the colonel noticed his weight being pushed towards the back wall. Creed stared into the colonel’s hopeless eyes right before slamming his entire body into the wall. He stood there for a moment watching to make sure the colonel wasn’t getting back up before corralling Genesis in his arms.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Okay, well hold on.”
Creed then wrapped his arm around Genesis’ waist before flying upwards into the large hangar. He gazed down towards Col. Posey who was surprisingly still standing in the exact same spot.
“Want to see more Colonel?” Creed shouted.
Col. Posey looked up at Creed floating near the roof of the hangar with an unimpressed expression. Creed effortlessly flung his arms toward the old truck parked in the corner. With that one quick motion of his arm, the truck was heaved violently against the main hangar door. The truck crashed through the door, startling everyone who was mingling outside.
“You have your answer Colonel; do we understand each other?”
The colonel just stood there unfazed as he continued peering towards up at the teenager.
“I’ll see you later Creed.” Col. Posey shouted.
Creed shook his head before turning and flying out through the hangar door with Genesis at his side. As the victorious teenagers disappeared into the night sky, Col. Posey turned around towards Col. Mitchell who was still lying on the floor.
“Get up you idiot and go find them.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Later that night the colonel’s luck was about to change. He had spent most of the night sending out military detachments to try and find the boy before he got too far from the airport. By the time he got a knock on the door, Col. Posey was going over some of the files in his office. Sgt. Ruiz entered the office and informed the colonel that Creed’s parents were starting to ask about their son.
“Jesus Christ. Um, tell them he’s just finishing up in the medical bay.”
“Yes sir.” Ruiz saluted before disappearing and leaving the colonel with his thoughts. Minutes later his phone rang.
“For fuck’s sake.” The colonel picked it up and barked at the receiver in a furious tone.
“This had better be good.”
Suddenly Capt. Romano’s voice breached the colonel’s anxiety as she was calling to report Creed’s blood test results back to him.
“I have to speak to you Colonel, alone.”
“Come on by.” Col. Posey instructed.
A few minutes later, Capt. Romano rushed into the colonel’s office and slapped a file down on his desk. She immediately sat down on the chair across from the colonel’s, peering over at him conspicuously.
“Well that was fast Captain.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who is this kid?”
The colonel finally picked up the file off his desk and started skimming through the results that Rey had compiled. “Well, what does this all say? I’m having trouble reading this.”
“Sir, I’ve been in this field since I was twenty-five, and I’ve never seen results like this. This kid has vivid mutated cells throughout his entire body.”
“Well, what exactly does that mean?”
“Well, usually we only see mutated cells like this in sick patients, cancer patients or people with cystic fibrosis, stuff of that nature. Creed is quite healthy however. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“That is interesting.”
“So now do you want to tell me who this kid is?”
The colonel gazed over at Rey. He placed the results back in the folder and placed it on his desk. “The kid can fly Captain.”
“Excuse me?”
“Fly. The kid can fly, among other things.”
“I’m sorry, is this some kind of joke Colonel?”
“I can assure you that this is not a joke. We found out about him through an outside source, and let’s just say that we are quite fond of this kid’s gifts.”
Rey sat there in disbelief while a group of minced thoughts ran through her mind. She couldn’t quite slow them down fast enough to gather herself. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“It’s pretty remarkable, isn’t it?”
“Can I see him? I’d like to run a few more tests if that’s okay with you?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible right now. The kid flew the coup, literally.”
“What? When?”
“A few hours ago.”
“How? I mean, where did he go?”
“Don’t worry about that Captain, we’ll find him.”
Rey looked eerily suspicious at the colonel’s confident response. “Is there anything else Captain?”
“I guess not.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know when he shows back up. That is all.”
“Yes sir.” Capt. Romano stood up from her chair and saluted the colonel before turning and excusing herself from his office.
“Hey Romano?”
Rey promptly poked her head back in through the doorway.
“Sir?”
“Say, do we have any personnel here that might have the same blood type as Creed? Anyone who could receive his blood?”
“He’s a universal donor Colonel, anyone could receive it.”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
“Is that all sir?”
“Yeah, have a good night Captain.”
Capt. Romano stood there holding the door open, peering over at the colonel with a very curious expression. What was the colonel planning? She thought to herself. Regardless of her inquisitive feelings, she was a
soldier first, who had her orders.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ever since Kuruk returned home from Sky Harbor, he was spending most of his time lounging around the house, drinking beers and watching the television with his Dad. Paquala was watching the local news for hours to get more up to date information about the war. Kuruk would not dare touch the channels unless his Dad passed out from getting drunk. He happened to be watching some Kung-Fu special on the television when Creed and Genesis returned. Kuruk was grabbing another beer when he suddenly heard a sound outside. He quickly glanced over by the window facing the front yard. He briefly spotted Genesis and Creed rushing towards the front door. He raced over and opened it just as his sister and Creed were about to turn the knob.
“What are you guys doing here? I said I was coming back.”
“We need to talk to you.” Genesis replied.
“Alright, quiet though, Dad’s passed out on the couch.”
The three teenagers made their way inside and quietly crept to the backyard. Once Kuruk had quietly shut the sliding glass door, he sat down next to his sister on the patio lawn chair. He quickly noticed the panic in Genesis’ eyes.
“So, what’s going on? You guys okay?”
“They’re after us.” Genesis confessed.
“Who’s after you?”
“The Army?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Somebody must have shown them a video of me flying near the school on Friday.”
“What the hell? Somebody had a video of all that? Wait…that actually makes sense though.”
“Yeah, then this Colonel Posey sat me down, explained how they wanted me to use my abilities or whatever and help them with the war.”
“Holy shit. What did you tell them?”
“I told them no, of course.”
“Oh.”
Kuruk’s enthusiasm was not what Creed was expecting from him. He sounded more disappointed that Creed had turned the Army down rather than concerned over their imperialistic motives.
“Well, then they grabbed your sister to force me, I guess. Some other colonel held your sister at gun point. I mean it was fucking crazy.”
“Holy shit.” The excitement in Kuruk’s face was now starting to dim after hearing about someone holding a gun to his sister’s head. He took a long sip of his beer, trying to wrap his head around the entire ordeal. “So how did you guys get out of there?”
“I just knocked the colonel down, grabbed your sister and we bolted.”
“Damn. I know this is going to sound horrible man, but I seriously wish I could’ve been there to see that.” Kuruk sat back in his chair, totally flabbergasted. He took another sip of his beer and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Well, I’m glad you guys are okay?”
“So, now what are we going to do? They’re going to come looking for us.”
“Why don’t you guys go hide out at Kushala’s place?”
“What?”
“Grandma Kushala, she’d take you guys in. They’d never find you over there.”
Kushala was Genesis and Kuruk’s paternal grandmother. She was living over at the Fort McDowell reservation, about twenty minutes north of Mesa.
“I don’t know, gosh, we haven’t seen her in a few years though.”
“So. Even more reason to go.”
“I have to text my dad, let him know what’s going on.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that man.” Kuruk immediately grabbed Creed’s phone as soon as he pulled it out of his pocket. He stood up from his chair and then smashed it across the patio pavement.
“What the hell bro?”
“Don’t you watch movies?”
“Movies?”
“Yeah man, that’s exactly how they find you.”
“Well how am I going to tell my parents now?”
“I’ll tell them, I’ll go back tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Well tell them we’re okay, but you can’t say anything about where we’re going.”
“Alright, I won’t.”
“You have to promise. No one can know.”
“Okay Gen, I promise.”
Just then Paquala approached the sliding door of the backyard. He peered out at the three of them, before eventually opening the door and walking out there. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, nothing. Genesis and Creed were just going to go visit Kushala.”
“What? Right now?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“You taking them in your truck?”
“Yeah.”
Paquala turned to head back inside the house. He was obviously still struggling to wake up. It was as if his curiosity brought him outside but before long, he suddenly realized he wasn’t fit to be having any type of conversation at the moment.
“Why don’t I just fly? It will take too long if we drive.” Creed announced.
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Creed instantly regretted it. Kuruk dropped his head in embarrassment.
“You and my sister man, you keep doing that.”
Creed sighed as Paquala immediately turned around. He didn’t seem to be struggling to wake up as much anymore. Until he opened his mouth, they were still holding out hope that Paquala might decide he’s too tired to excerpt that type of energy for the next conversation they were about to have.
“Fly? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You can’t fly up to Fort McDowell.”
“Nothing. Just forget it Dad.”
“I heard fly. Kuruk. What does he mean?”
“Yes okay, you heard fly.”
“What the hell is going on around here?”
Kuruk turned towards Creed. “Might as well take off right now, show him. We’ll be here all day explaining it to him otherwise. Doesn’t matter anyway, right? Cat’s out of the bag, the Army knows now. It won’t be long until their blasting it everywhere anyway.”
“What the hell are you guys talking about? The Army knows what?” Paquala stood there with an even more confused look upon his face. His eyebrows were furrowed as if at any minute he was going to get pissed off if no one started explaining. Creed just stood up and reached out his arm to Genesis. She quickly followed his lead and wrapped her arm around his while Creed wrapped his other arm around her waist. Within seconds they lifted off the ground.
“What in the name -?” Paquala watched in horror as Creed flew off out of sight with his daughter wrapped around his waist. He looked over at Kuruk who was snidely smirking the entire time, still peering up in the sky. “Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not smiling.”
“So, you already knew about all this, didn’t you?”
Kuruk turned and patted his father on the arm before walking back inside the house.
“Son of a bitch.” Paquala muttered.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As Creed and Genesis approached the Fort McDowell reservation it was starting to get dark. The two of them decided to land about a mile down the road and walk the rest of the way on foot, so nobody would get the possibility of spotting them. They approached the reservation by approximately eight o’clock that evening. A few of the residents that were lounging outside on their patios watched as they walked by.
“Do you remember where your grandma lives?” Creed asked.
“Yeah, I think back over this way.” Genesis began walking east through the reservation. Creed gazed around at the houses as they passed each one. Some of the houses had old huts set up in front of their homes. Unlike Teepees, the Yavapai built huts that served as the family’s shelter in the early days. A little boy ran past Creed with a smeared and beaten down soccer ball cupped in his arms. It dawned on Creed, that ever since he and Genesis had known each other, they had never visited Fort McDowell before now. It was a strange new atmosphere for him. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of overwhelming excitability. About five minutes down the road, Genesis finally stopped in front of
a house that looked a little more run down than the others. Creed sensed that Genesis’ grandmother’s house was one of the first ones built on the reservation. The light outside was pathetic and dim, making it impossible to see anything out front. Genesis casually walked up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, Kushala opened the door and jumped back once she saw her granddaughter at the door. “Genesis?”
“Hey Grandma.”
“Oh, my goodness sweet girl, come inside.”
As the two of them entered the house, Creed looked around at the layout while Genesis’ grandmother wrapped her arms tightly around her granddaughter. The house was small but fruitful with little knickknacks and First Nation artwork all over. Creed noticed a huge bookshelf over in the corner of the living room, completely stacked with endless books. In the middle of the living room was a coffee table that looked like it was made from wood and rope, beautifully glistening from the natural matted finish. Kushala herself had a commanding presence, a slightly robust woman. She didn’t dawn the typical grandparents look with the white hair like Creed’s grandparents had, instead it was as black as the night sky. Kushala’s face however was deeply weathered and she spoke almost as fluently as Genesis’ father.
“So, who is this?” Kushala reached out her hand towards Creed.
“This is Creed, he’s my – beh – he’s my friend.”
“Ahh, Okay. Nice to meet you Creed.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Well come sit down on the couch, you guys look exhausted.”
Genesis and Creed walked over towards the couch and sat down while Kushala sat in the arm chair right next to them.
“So, how are you? How old are you now?”
“I’m sixteen now, doing good.”
Genesis’ grandmother froze in shock. “You’re really already sixteen?”
“Yeah.”
“Geez time flies by huh?”
“I guess it’s been a while. How is everybody out here?”
“Oh, everyone here’s just fine honey.”
“Really? Even after all the bombing?”
“Oh no honey, I don’t think they care about this dust of land out here.” Kushala boastfully reassured.
“It’s just so crazy right now.”
Goodbye Sky Harbor Page 10
