A Blood Red Sunset (open)

[Adorjan]

November 16th

There really is nothing' here, nobody at all, James thought to himself as he adjusted the bandanna on his head that kept his hair from falling in his eyes. His old Chevy pickup had broken down a couple hours ago, he knew it had been a mistake to jump off the main road and take a back highway.

The road had traveled through countless turns through plains that stretched on forever. Yellow grass, everywhere in every direction. The wind was picking' up too and there was little wind break. He was walking now, along side the deserted expanse of road. He felt exposed out here, no where to hide if the need occurred, not to mention he left his SVT locked in the truck beneath the seat. He felt naked here, that was certain. He did have his M9 though, and he was grateful for that.

The wind blew scents of nothing and he determined that there mustn't be a soul around for miles. At least he knew what was wrong with his truck, his belt broke. He sighed to himself as he trudged up a long drawn out hill. And as he approached the summit his eyes took in the sunset sky, it truly was a beautiful sight here : Purples, Oranges, Ambers, Reds, and the Glowing ember of the sun itself painted a masterpiece upon the horizon.

The fading sun shone brightly in his eyes and he brought a hand up to to shield his sight as a gust of wind tussled his hair around his ears. In the distance he saw something that raised his hopes. It looked like a town. A very small one at that, but a town all the same.

Adorjan made his way down the far side of the hill, the walking here was no easier or more difficult than it was going up the opposite side. What a flat place, it reminded him strongly of Illinois, though without the endless expanses of corn and beans lining the highways and interstates.

As he approached the town, the sun began dipping beneath the horizon and something struck him as odd about it. There hadn't been a single bit of movement, not a light, not a shadow or anything else of that nature. The town was as empty as the rest of this godforsaken country side.

As he stepped into the town he noticed the buildings had the look of being long since burnt, and what he presumed to be a gas station had black scorch marks lining the doors and windows with the glass having been blown to the inside. What has happened here? It couldn't have been all that long ago he decided looking closer at what he thought was a long since burnt doorway.

No, he spotted an ember laying amongst a ruined hulk of a car sitting in a houses front yard. Whatever had happened here, had to have happened within the last week, and it appeared the entire town had fled. James took another step and turned toward the only house that didn't appear completely desolate. There were no lights on and there was no car in the garage. The building was a small two story, with what looked like the remains of a fan resting in the single upstairs window. He guessed that the entire second floor was one large room.

James walked quickly up the steps and pounded on the front door, but stopped after he realized the chances of one answering if they were home to a knock like that would be slim to non. Not after what had transpired here. Not that he was entirely sure of what exactly it was. He knocked once again, more quietly this time.

There was no answer.

The tall man, leaned over the porch and peered around the corner of the house into a dirty curtain-less window. As he suspected, it appeared there was no one here. And if his guess was correct, there wouldn't be either. James tried the door, locked.

Looking around and seeing no one he kicked the door, once, twice, then once again and the door frame shattered. Sending the door swinging silently inward. James drew his firearm, and stepped cautiously into the house searching it.

Once inside he found the house truly to be empty and made his way into a cellar. Strange to see one here in Oklahoma in a town so small. Once inside he spotted a pantry just off the set of steep stairs that lead to the basement floor.

A couple minutes later he emerged victorious carrying a can of beans shoveling them greedily into his mouth with a plastic spoon he had found. He made his way out to the side of the road and sat in silence eating his beans. the town was truly so small it inly had a single road running through it. He contemplated his options. He didn't exactly know where he even was in Oklahoma, the only thing he did know was that the road was traveling south, which was the way he was supposed to be going.

Doggedly he continued eating his beans. He didn't have much option. He could either wait to be rescued, or walk. Either way, he didn't want to spend too much longer in this ghost town. The place truly was giving him the creeps. Besides, who's to say those responsible for this atrocity wouldn't be back?

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

A crack of lightning split the ever darkening sky and scorched the ground in front of the gas station, the figure of a man could be made out in the dust that had been kicked up from the lightning strike. Joshua quickly stepped out of the plume dust coughing as he brushed off the layer that had attached itself to his clothes "Safe and clean my ass! When i get back i'm going to take a pipe to that idiot's head, and look at my frickin clothes...you can't dry clean this stuff." With a sigh he gave up on saving his jeans and looked at the town arond him and assessed the damage that had been done to it, he had received conflicting reports from every one of his sources and had finally been forced to investigate the cause of this town's destruction. The place was a virtual ghost town and without anyone left to talk to it would be difficult to piece together any information "So they got the description of the town right and it does look like it took some fire damage, but what lead to it getting so out of hand? We got to start somewhere and i guess the gas station is going to be our starting off point...and maybe i should be recording all this. And not talk to myself so much." Joshua pulled his medium sized canvas backpack in front of him and pulled out a small silver/black recorder which looked a lot like a bluetooth headset, slipping that around his ear he then pulled out a large maglite.

The sun had already started to set when he had first arrived and had stretched the shadows that seemed to choke the abandoned town, with light in hand and his eyes looking at everything with a calculating gaze he set out on his search for answers. "The fuel pumps at the gas station don't seem to have taken any damage in the blaze, with the exception of the overhang above them having lost significant structural integrity from what i can see. I'm walking up to the front of the building now and the first thing i've noticed is that the windows are all blown inwards, it suggests to me that whatever caused the fire was on the outside and...sorry...the smell of burnt and rotting food is pretty strong even from 5 feet away." Joshua tucked the flashlight between in legs and reached behind him into his pack and pulled out a surgical mask, with the mask in place he continued up to the building and shined the flashlight past the broken windows. He made his way over to the door and sent it flying in with a blast of his telekinetic powers "So is this place self-serve or am i going to get some help pumping gas? If you're one of those hot cowboy types then i can pump something else of yours...tit for tat? Well not tit really since i'm not a chick but you get the idea, no?" Joshua had always cut away his nervousness with humor and burned buildings where someone may have died was no exception, he only hoped there really wasn't anyone in here with him.

His body winced as he stepped on something crunchy and black that used to be something edible at one point, he could feel something in the gas station bulding with him that wasn't a living presence...more like an imprint. Joshua shone the light around at the various corners of the room making sure his mind was only being paranoid "Get a hold of yourself damnit! You're a MacArthur for crying outloud and shadows do not scare us, it's probably a really powerful memory that's still attached to this place. Or you know someone's last seconds on Earth before they burned to death...great.' He whipped his head to the right at the sound of a step not his own and silently hid behind a rack that still stood upright, he quickly shut hus light off and held his breath. Joshua hadn't considered someone to really still be in town since the information he had suggested everyone got the hell out of Dodge, now he waited to see whether the person was going to give him any trouble. He hated Oklahoma...

[Adorjan]

The sound of the wind whistling through broken glass windows and the sound of old houses popping and creaking were the only sounds that could be heard in the early evening. The sounds we disconcerting but they hardly registered to James. He was far too concerned with fixing his situation to worry himself with lonely noises.

By now the sun had almost completely dipped beneath the horizon its last rays clinging to the sky like fingertips to a ledge in a desperate attempt to keep from falling. Suddenly James Adorjan no longer heard, no longer saw. He was blinded and deaf.

A light, a bright light.. His ears were ringing in his head. What was that? The sound slowly registered to him, thunder, Lightning had struck very close by. As his vision slowly cleared he realized he had dropped what was left of the beans.

"Fuck," He muttered kicking the can across the road. He shook his head and noticed the ground was smoking near the gas station. That was where it struck, not even a hundred feet from where he was sitting. He had never been so close before and was excited.

He quickly forgot about the beans he had spilled and walked across the street to the still smoking pavement. He knelt beside it and touched it quickly bringing his hand away and shaking it violently. Most assuredly not one of the smartest things he had ever done, he was just glad there was no one there to see.

James stood and stretched his back popping it along the length of his spine. It was growing rather dark and he had better be making tracks back to his truck soon. This was a gas station, he doubted it had anything left in it that could help him fix his truck but he decided it warranted a search anyway. Pulling his M9 from his chest holster he flipped on the small flash light and walked into the gas station pointing the light around the room when he came face to face with a younger man.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua could feel the lone bead of sweat that slid across his neck and down his back at the intensity of the moment he found himself in, there had been no one in the building other than himself before he heard what he thought was a step. Now as he waited for whomever it was to show theirself it became more and more frustrating to leave himself vulnerable, it took all his control to not go in guns a blazin' so to speak. Joshua's inner rant with himself was cut short as a small beam of light hit him square in the face making him squint, quickly he stood and took a defensive stance when he registered the man before him. "Aren't you a tall drink of water...i mean who the hell are you? Last time i checked this place was abandoned and slowly becoming a part of the land again, furthermore i'm not looking for a stay at the hospital 'cause someone decided to spook me and give me a heart attack. I swear Levi should add 'make everyone wear bells' on his to do list!" He said the last part under his breath not knowing if the other man heard or not, not that he cared if the guy did since a little bit of telepathy would erase any unwated memories. Joshua finally saw the Beretta in the guy's hand and widened his eyes ever so slightly not wanting to give up what little advantage he might have had "So do you live here or just passing by, if you did i'd like to know if you could answer a few questions. I'm ummm...from the San Fransisco Chronicle...yeah, and i'm doing an exposé on this town to find out just what happened. People want to know...people all the way in San Fransisco.

God no wonder Levi told him he wasn't allowed to go on any under cover assignments for him and all this time he chalked it up to his lover's concern with his life, sure it had left him awwwing at the man's protectiveness but now it made him narrow his eyes slightly. He was so getting nagged at when he got home, "Okay, even i didn't believe that load of bull and i was the one spitting it so why don't we calmly step out of the charred remains of the building that looks ready to collapse and chat. Without the gun pointing at me preferably. You're not here to kidnap me are you?" Joshua hoped that the innocent act held up and the man hadn't seen any display of powers, if he could continue to act like someone who just wandered in then all the better. His jade coloured eyes took in the man fully and noticed the other weapon the guy had, for now he would give control to the other man as he really didnt feel like dodging bullets today. "I'm Joshua by the way, i apologize for not getting that out from the start but this place has me slightly on edge. I keep expecting a bell to toll or the towns people to come after me 'cause i'm alive and they're not...like some sad rip off of a George A Romero movie."

[Adorjan]

James nearly jumped at the discovery of the other man. The man was decidedly feminine, he went on like Claire. The thought made him smirk and he quickly holstered his pistol. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just usin' the gun for its light. I was thinkin' that this town was empty too and there wasn't another soul for miles. I'm kinda happy to see someone else."

The floor creaked under his weight, he could tell he was nearly twice the size of this kid. The way he looked he might have just barely entered his twenties if he wasn't still in his teens. He shot him a friendly smile and motioned with his head for the door. He doubted he was gonna find the fan belt he needed in here anyway.

"Let's get outta this dump, I'm surprised you aren't still deaf and blind from that lightnin'. I just came through the gas station not too long ago and I must have missed you. Didn't see ya standin' back there,"

The kid was acting rather flustered when he found him, he looked guilty of something, but James decided that whatever he was doin' was no concern too him... unless this Joshua character broke into his truck. Then he'll have something to answer for. James thought to himself, but then again he'd be flustered too with a lethal weapon pointed at his face.

Though the situation was decidedly odd, he could have sworn the gas station had been empty when he looked inside the first time. And he didn't remember passing anyone stranded on the road like him when his truck died.

He took a glance at the kid and noticed the way he was dressed, he dressed nicely but he was covered in a sheen of dust. He might of had car trouble coming the opposite way on the highway, he could have been lookin' for something to fix his car as well. He just must have passed the house James had went into on his way to the gas station while James was still inside.

All of James' musings took only a second or two as he stepped out into the waning light of the early evening. Only the slimmest fraction of the sun still peeked over the horizon and the sky around it appeared blood red that faded to orange above it. The bruise like purple night was slowly pressing the sun into submission. Night would fall in fifteen to twenty minutes.

The air was decidedly less musty in the parking lot and he turned to face Joshua. James felt decidedly old comparing how he was dressed to the kid before him. He wore a simple black turtle neck that clung tightly to him and a pair of dark blue loose straight jeans he had picked up off the clearance rack at Walmart. His shoes were a pair of ancient black Circas he'd owned since he was seventeen. Damn he really needed to get new shoes.

James shook his head, clearing it of his musings over clothing. If his sister could have been here and heard his thoughts she would have laughed. But then again, she would have never let him dress this poorly. He remembered when they were kids how she'd treat him like her own fashion doll. Every day before school she'd pick out his clothes for him. The couple times he chose to do it himself she'd made him change. He chuckled inwardly, today would have been no different.

He needed to stop thinking of her before he started growing depressed, it had been too long since he last saw her.

"So... Josh. Did you have car trouble too? My truck is just up the road a couple miles. Fan belt broke. Were you hurt by that lightnin' strike? If you were I can fix you right up."

He smiled and tried to loosen the tension, "My name's James by the way, you can call me Jimmy if you like, some guys on the foot ball team in high school used to call me that." He said offering his hand to the younger man smiling wider at the high school memories.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua took the proffered hand into his own and shook it lightly not really trying to display any sort of macho showmanship, he could feel the rough layers on the man's hand against the smoothness of his own. His Grandfather had always told him he was too dainty for his own good and that a spot of manual labor would do a world of good for the telekinetic, of course that was before the man had tried to kill him for scientific data. "Well, i do declare! You're quite the charmer on top of being very attractive...Jimmy. Now i feel pressured to have you call me by something all nicknamey, so in the spirit of first contact i shall ask you to call me Josh if you wish and after we survive any harrowing experience together then you can call me whatever you like. Wow, that last part sounded a lot better in my head. Letting go of the hand, he calmly walked around the man and stepped out of the gas station building to look at the changing colours as the sun descended beyond the horizon. He could see the warmer hues melting into deeper and darker shades of blue and indigo, it had been quite some time he had seen a sunset in another place and committed the sight to memory "Yeah, i saw the flash from inside the building and almost lost my stomach when the smell of ozone hit me. I was lucky to have gone in just before it hit or else we wouldn't be having this conversation or you know i'd be screaming at you to put me out of my misery...all in all not of the good."

Joshua turned fully around to face James again hoping that he wasn't being rude by not speaking to the man directly, he had never really stayed long enough on a mission to get caught like he just had so this was decidedly something new. His usual missions were contracted killings, assassinations if you will, it was all part of Levi's ever expanding plan to bring this nation under his grip and over the years he had slowly forgot the ease at which he navigated a conversation. "My asshole of an ex-boyfriend thought that if i didnt want to put out i'd rather spend my time in this town, he wanted some privacy since where we live isn't exactly friendly if you know what i mean and hey abandoned town just screams nooky." He was remembering quickly..."

[Adorjan]

James really didn't know much of the gay way of life. He doubted there was a truly gay person in his high school growing up. Just a bunch of young girls playing at it for attention. But that didn't stop him from putting his two cents in.

"Well, I'm thinkin' that if your ex treats you like that sh... I mean he wasn't much of a boyfriend to begin with. I'm not claimin' to know what an..." He paused searching for the word they used in high school, "Alternative couples relationship is like. But I do know that sex isn't what a relationship is about. The last relationship I found myself in she seemed to only want sex. I'm not sayin' I don't miss a companion, I ain't been in a relationship for going on ten years now. Been running too long. Besides, I haven't found the right girl yet."

He smirked, "You know Josh, I'm not sure how you got past me without me seein' ya, but I don't really care. You seem to be decent enough company." He patted the younger man on the shoulder.

"I found a house back there that was locked, it was spared the majority of the looting. Maybe you can find somethin' in there that'll get your car goin' again,"

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua cringed inside as the man patted his shoulder as his face still had a mask of gratitude slipped in place, this situation was continuing to spiral out of his control as the two of them slowly formed some bond of stranded guys in a ghost town. He had made the decision then to allow James to accompany him for awhile longer and keep his recorder going, it would be troublesome to continue his investigation discretely whilst under the constant presence of his new 'friend'. "Did the house have fire damage to it like the rest of this place? I mean it seems odd that a lone house would still contain its contents when everything else was laid to waste or cleaned out, and i don't have a car. It was my ex's and since he decided to ditch me like i said...well i'm kind of going to either hitchhike or hoof it back to where i live." The wind had steadily picked up as dusk had came and gone, the burnt out homes groaned at the strain they were under and gave the night air a sense of urgency. Joshua set his gaze on the house down a bit of the way and surmised that this was the home James spoke of since it was the only one that looked hospitable "That house? I only assume it's the one you mean due to the lack of creepiness, and i know i'm going off the topic of inviting homes...but ten years? There was sex to be had in that canyon between relationships i hope, i know it's not the end all be all of things...but it's sex."

He had started walking towards the open door after taking the information from Jame's mind and wondered just when he lost his rule to never invade another's mind unless necessary for survival, probably in New Orleans 4 years ago when that one telekinetic/telepath power user tried to take him out. Charles, his name had been Charles and the man had wanted to knock him down a peg or two and in the end it had come down to a battle of minds with the victory going to Joshua. His mind sometimes drifted to his would be killer whom was nothing more than a shell of a person now, the damage done to him had left him in a coma he would never wake from "War sucks..." Joshua said aloud to himself mainly for the acts he had done in the name of fighting for people like himself and Levi, if James had heard him it could easily have been attributed to the town that suffered for the times the world found itself in. "Do you have anything to drink Jimmy? I have some energy bars in my pack, but nothing to wash it down with...they're good yet kinda lacking when it comes to fine dining." The house inside was quaint looking and felt as if it had been a happy place to live when there were people to call it home, he half expected to find the bodies of a couple clinging together in fear as their town was razed to the ground and the thought turned his stomach. "Didn't you mention something about a truck breaking down? I mean, if we don't have to look for something to fix my non-existant car then we could focus on your truck...and maybe think of giving me a lift to somewhere with a phone? I can't pay you much for it though...well i could but it would be something you wouldn't take anyways so there's no need for me to even bring it up." He forced himself to blush lightly and glanced down at his shoes giving the pretense that he was still new to the game, it was annoying to say the least but he'd rather play the role of 'virginal' compared to killing the man."

[Adorjan]

James chuckled, "Sex? Ha, I can't recall the last time I saw a women naked. My memory has to suffice. I haven't had the time for a relationship or any of that stuff."

James shook his head, There was something decidedly odd about this man, he seemed to be hiding something. James didn't like that, but who didn't hide something? He just felt it was odd he appeared here when he hadn't heard a single person drive through. And if he had been dropped off, he would have heard a door shut without a doubt especially an angry one. The silence here was deafening. Though he couldn't be too angry, he was hiding something as well.


"Come to think of it though, I have a phone you could use," Reaching into his jeans pocket he pulled out an ancient track phone. He never had a reason to use it so it still had nearly all of its original minutes on it.

He glanced quickly at the screen, He had signal. Two bars, that would be plenty to make a call.

"You can use this to call for a ride or help or whatever. I don't have anyone to call, and not a dime for repairs."

He smiled and handed the phone out to Josh. Looking over the young mans shoulder he gazed at the purpling horizon. Chances are he would stay in the town tonight, he wouldn't walk back to his truck in the dark and cold. Besides in the house he had seen a couch, even a bed with sheets and pillows. Which was decidedly better than his cramped truck cabin with his old black and yellow fleece blanket.

Tonight would be nice he decided. He would be comfortable, and maybe for once get a good nights sleep without the back pain. Sometimes he wished he could fix his own problems with his balm. But no, that would be too nice.

It was nights like these that he really missed Claire, here he was in godforsaken Oklahoma with some guy who popped out of thin air, he felt without a friend in the world. He knew Joshua was just trying to be polite. He hoped that he could find a ride and be on his way. He sincerely hoped he'd be gone before he settled down for sleep. He had really been eying that bed, though he supposed if they ended up rooming the night in the abandoned house the couch would still be better than his truck.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Crap! he thought as the other man handed over a small mobile to him in order to call someone for a ride, his plans hadn't expected for James to put him into a corner and now he had to think quickly. On one hand he could call to Alcatraz and find out if there was anyone else in the area that could pick him up or he could impose himself on the man further by asking is there was a chance they could be roomies for one night "Oh...right, i should call someone and get out of your hair. Thanks by the way, it's not everyday you meet someone nice enough not to kick your ass or being gay and gives you a cell phone to call for help." Joshua sighed internally and dialed Alcatraz, he would have to give out his personal I.D. code in order to get past their security system and speak to an actual person. When the security system picked up his call and prompted for his access code he gave it easily "Hey Grace, it's Joshua and i kinda needed a favor from my favorite Ace in the hole!"

The slight inflection in his voice was easily picked up by Grace, their security system had A.I. capabilities which had been named after the deceased daughter of the man who created 'her' and affirmed that it had correctly been given the right code. Joshua waited ofr someone to pick up and sent a shy smile at James hoping the man wasn't finding this all suspicious, though with a quick sweep of James' mind alerted him to the other man's questions. "Double crap!" He couldn't dwell on the fact that he sucked at covert ops when someone finally picked up "Yeah, i'm still here. No i don't know where the hell i am and yes i know i should have my cell with me, but that's not the point...i need some one to pick me up like yesterday. Yeah i guess i could wait till 5am, ummm yeah i have someone to wait with. Thanks Brian." Joshua ended the call and handed the mobile over to James, if the man had questions he'd do his best to answer them since he probably blew any cover he had with that phone call. Yeah, he really needed to get Levi to train him in covert ops.