Gen13: Chill Out
by Ben Church bchurch@su.edu
Gen13 belongs to Image comics.
Caitlin was the first one up, as usual, followed by Sarah.
Caitlin looked out into the backyard where Sarah was indulging in
her daily morning swim. Quietly, she sipped her coffee and read
the paper. Around her she heard the rest of the household awaking.
"Good morning Caitlin." said her father as he returned from
his morning exercises on the beach.
"Morning dad." Caitlin heard the sound of grumbling coming in
her direction. "Morning Grunge."
"Grumble." Grunge was never a morning person, especially on
Mondays. "Need coffee."
"Right here." she handed him the pot.
"Thanks." After drinking some coffee, he felt better.
"Whoever invented Mondays should be drug out into the street and
shot."
"Ah," said Sarah from the back door. "But if there were no
Mondays then Tuesdays would be the hell day."
"I don't want Mondays gone." Grunge said. "I just want
revenge."
"Morning everybody." Roxy said, entering with Bobby close
behind.
"Anybody save us some coffee?" Bobby asked.
The van screeched to a halt in the parking lot of the
university. The passenger side door opened and a relieved Caitlin
emerged glad to be alive. On the other side of the van, Grunge got
out laughing.
"Grunge that is the last time I let you drive!" she said.
"Hey!" Grunge said with feigned innocence. "We were late
weren't we?"
"Oh just forget it."
"Just be grateful we are in one piece Caitlin." Sarah said.
"Think of it as a stress exercise Kat." Bobby said.
Caitlin did not answer. Her attention was riveted on two boys
she had not seen before. One was tall, wearing a T-shirt that said
"I AM NOT HERE. I AM A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION." On the
back it said in small writing "if you can read this, you have a
really vivid imagination".
The other boy was shorter, bald and smoking. He had on a
shirt that said "Life isn't short, it's just that you're dead for a
really long time."
"The tall one is quite attractive." she thought. "So why is
everyone avoiding him like the plague?" Sure enough, where the two
passed, a large berth was given them.
"Hey, earth to Kat!" Roxy said. Then she saw what Caitlin was
looking at. "Ooh, I like your taste."
"Who are those guys?" Grunge asked. "I've never seen them
before."
"Well considering that this is only our second day here,"
Bobby said. "That's not surprising."
That day, at lunch, Caitlin scanned the quad, looking for
someone.
"Now remember," Tiffany said. "When she comes over here, just
ignore her."
"Right." Bethany agreed. "We'll show her what it means to run
out on the Kappas."
"Shh," said Tiffany. "Here she comes." Caitlin approached
them purposefully and quickly. And without even noticing them,
passed them by on her way somewhere else.
"Well how do you like that?!" Tiffany almost shouted. "She
just ignored us! She can't do that!"
John sat eating alone, as usual. Mitch had gone off to bum a
cigarette off one of the Deltas.
"Excuse me," an unfamiliar voice said softly. "May I sit
here?"
John looked up at who had spoken. She was without doubt the
most beautiful girl he had seen. "Of course." he said.
"Thanks." she sat and extended her hand. "My name's Caitlin."
"I'm," John looked at her hand, hesitating for a moment. It
had been a long time since anyone had wanted to even be near him
except Mitch. And he had an ulterior motive. Finally, hoping she
hadn't noticed his hesitation, he took her hand and shook it
firmly. "I'm John."
"And I'm Mitch." Mitch said, returning from his cig run. He
plopped himself down beside John. He lit up a cigarette and began
to puff.
Sarah had been coming over to join them, but stopped short at
the sight of the cigarette. "You really shouldn't smoke." she
reproached Mitch.
To her consternation, Mitch began to laugh. "Oh, you're
right, I might get cancer!"
"You shouldn't make light of Cancer." Sarah said, annoyed that
anyone could laugh at the possibility of getting the disease.
"Don't lecture me babe." Mitch said. "Have ever had cancer?"
"No." Sarah admitted. "Have you?"
Mitch's laughter died and he smiled patiently. "You're new
here aren't you?"
"Oh my God," Caitlin stammered. "You mean you-"
"Of course," Mitch said. "You think I shaved my head for
looks?"
"I'm sorry," Sarah said. "I didn't know."
"Ah don't worry about it." Mitch said. "If it bothers you
I'll put it out." He patted the seat next to him. "Care to sit
down?"
"No thank you." Sarah said, misunderstanding his intentions.
"I don't swing that way."
"So?" Mitch said smiling. "Neither do I."
Caitlin started, and looked from Mitch to John.
"Just friends." John said. "However much Mitch might wish
other wise. I personally like girls."
"Hey Kat!" Roxy called from a distance away. She ran to the
table and gave John an appreciative look. "Kat can I talk to you
in private for a moment?"
"Uh, sure Roxy." Caitlin gave John a I'll be right back look
and walked off with Roxy.
"Here it comes." John thought sadly.
"So what's up Roxy?" Caitlin asked.
"It's about your boyfriend." Roxy said.
"What about John? And he's not my boyfriend."
"Well whatever. You haven't heard already have you?"
"Heard what?"
"John has Aids."
Caitlin stood for a moment, stunned. "Are you sure?" she
asked.
"Oh yeah. It's common knowledge. I'm surprised you hadn't
heard yet."
"Oh my God." Caitlin whispered, in slight shock.
John watched sadly as the conversation between Caitlin and
Roxy wound down. "Well," he said. "There's another friendship
down the tubes."
"Why?" Sarah asked. "What are they talking about?"
"Most likely, they're talking about my...condition."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, almost afraid of the answer.
So many sudden revelations in a space of time less than a half
hour, it boggled the mind.
"I'm H.I.V. positive." John said simply.
Sarah gasped and unconsciously drew back from him a bit, and
immediately regretted it. "Oh, God I'm sorry. I just-"
"You never really know how you'll react to news like that."
John said.
"That's John's ever so eloquent way of saying that your
apology is unnecessary." Mitch said.
John's eyes narrowed. "Mitch if you don't get your hand off
my leg right now, you won't have to wait for the tumor to kill
you."
Quickly changing the subject, Sarah turned to Mitch. "So,
what kind of cancer do you have?" Then she winced at the cavalier
insensitive tone of voice she had used.
"Well, it's not lung cancer if that's what you're wondering."
Mitch replied, unperturbed. "It's leukemia. I started smoking
soon after I found out."
At that moment Caitlin returned from her talk with Roxy. She
sat down at the table where she had been sitting and gazed
thoughtfully at John. "How did it happen?" she asked.
John sat silently for a moment, surprised that she'd come
back. "That's a rather long story." he said. Then his watch began
to beep. "And unfortunately I don't have time to tell it right
now."
As he got up to leave, Caitlin caught his wrist. "Will you
have time to tell it after your classes?" she asked smiling.
John smiled, once again surprised. "You know, I think I
will."
Caitlin waited for John after her last class where they had
agreed to meet.
"Try not to get anyone killed Grunge." she cautioned before
she let him into the drivers seat.
"Hey," Grunge said defensively. "It's me."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Caitlin grinned.
Despite Grunge's reckless driving habits, no one had gotten hurt
yet. There hadn't even been any property damage.
"See ya later Cat!" Roxy called.
"Try not to catch anything." Grunge said good naturedly. When
he saw Caitlin and Roxy and Sarah glaring at him, he had the grace
to look sheepish. "Don't hurt me."
Caitlin studiously ignored the sound of squealing rubber as
the van drove away.
"Your insurance premiums must be murder." John said behind
her.
"Oh!" Caitlin started.
"I'm sorry," John smiled. "Didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay." Caitlin said. "You ready?"
"To go? Yes. To tell you? I'm working up to it."
How much should he tell? Would she believe the truth? That
the government had infected him with HIV to test a cure? That the
cure had given him superhuman powers but left the virus in him?
That the same had been done to Mitch?
As they walked, Caitlin watched John's face as he struggled
with indecision. What horrible thing could he be concealing? That
he'd had sex with a girl and gotten Aids? How many ways to get it
were there? Sex and blood transference, that was it. So what?
Though she had to admit, she didn't really care to hear about
his sex life.
After a block however, the choice was taken out of John's
hands.
"Thought you could hide from us John Boy?" a voice, filtered
through an electronic air filter asked. Five armed men in cyber
gear leaped from concealment and surrounded the two.
"Friends of yours?" Caitlin asked.
"Not exactly." he answered. "What took you so long?" he asked
the leader. "I've been free for almost two years and you just now
find me? Gonna have to sack your entire intelligence staff."
"Shut up fu--." the Leader said. "You've got two choices.
You can either be captured, or sanctioned."
"Caitlin," John said. "When I tell you, run."
"What about you?"
"Forget about it. I'm as good as dead anyway. Aids
remember?" Without another word he whirled and shot his hand out
at the man behind them. A blast of cold froze his gun. "Run!"
Cat stared in shock at what John had just done. He was
GenActive!
"I don't think so." she said and ripped the gun from another's
hand, and bent it.
"Woah." John said impressed. Then the barrel of a gun was
pressed to his head.
"I guess we'll just have to bring both of you in." the leader
said. "Now, bi---, unless you think you can reach your boyfriend
here before I cap him, surrender."
"Aw Chill man," Mitch said, dropping from a portal that had
just appeared in the air above them. "Why couldn't you wait for
me?"
"Out you have got the best timing." The gun vanished from the
leader's hand, and a second later, the men vanished.
"That has to be the shortest fight I've ever been in." Cat
said. "Who were those guys?"
"Those were the reason I have Aids and Mitch here has cancer."
John said. "And why we both have super powers." He quickly
explained what had happened to them.
"So," Mitch said. "Can I drop you anywhere?"
Cat watched the portal disappear behind her. Chill and Out.
John and Mitch. She'd have to talk to Lynch about them. In the
meantime, she'd just made two new friends at school.
The End