On their trek down to the dining room, the dapper were all smiles and grins as they stayed close to one another, hands trailing, subtle nuzzles and quick kisses. The country air really did seem to have an effect on them, a revitalizing one that spurred on their affectionate sides. No wonder movements such as the Romanticists always announced that it was for the greater good to run off into the wilderness in solitude. It purified the soul by allowing the person to reconnect with that part of themselves that has been bogged down with urban living. It re-teaches the human heart to shed off the form of steel and glass it has become and become a living, organic thing once more. In Jorge there were no notions of work or the depressing state that the streets of New York had become to weigh him down…there was only Gemma and a weekend in which they could not only reconnect with each other, but with their human selves.

Upon reaching the bottom landing, his fingers still interlaced with her, Jorge could finally look past all the apple décor. Yes, it was a bit much and ostentatious but there was still some charm to the place. It was enough to keep Jorge from going crazy at least. The inn, though looking like an apple bomb exploded instead, still had a rustic, country side that made it feel extremely comfortable. It was homey and did feel like something completely different from almost anything in the city. From the large antique bookcases, the tables and furniture, even a few of the apple themed decorations all gave off this sense of aged stories that he would love to hear.

Crossing the foyer, the couple entered the dining room and were greeted by such a sight. Situated in the room, surrounded by more apple-themed décor mixed with antique style shelves and cases, there was already a small gathering of people sitting at a couple of tables in the dining room. The tables were small, meant to for couples to enjoy alone conversations together and that is exactly what was going on. There were only two other couples there, the older pair that Jorge had seen when they had first arrived, and another couple, a little younger than him.

Jorge smiled as he leaned over and kissed Gemma gently on the cheek before he led her over to one of the tables. It was a small, wooden, two person table with a candle already lit on it and their linen napkins set out for them. A single sheet of paper situated between their empty plates announced the Turkey Casserole which would be served for dinner and a listing of available ciders and even wines (hopefully not made of apples).

“Well, at least there are some wines available,” he said with a small chuckle as he pulled out Gemma’s chair for her. When she did take her seat, he darted around to his own chair and slipped in, sitting in front of her. “I think maybe tomorrow we should explore the town up the road. I doubt we can subsist on apples and apple-inspired foods alone. But…” he said with a small smile as he reached over and grazed her hand with his. “I’m still glad that we came.”

***

“JOHNNY!!” Al’s voice screamed as he stepped into the orchard, snarling like a mad dog.

Johnny sniffled as he remained leaning against the base of his tree with the heavily laden fruit high above. He still struggled to catch his breath as he watched Al, the leather jacket wearing landscaper who charged into his orchard, quivering with rage. Johnny knew the man didn’t deserve Peggy and as much as he tried to make her see otherwise, she was too entranced by the overly-masculine man. She would never see him for the lowlife that he was, no matter how much Johnny wanted to prove it to her. So instead he watched over the years as she threw her life away for him.

The thought began to make Johnny seethe with anger. He couldn’t let her do that to herself. He could let Al throw away her life.

Stepping out from the shadow of the tree, Johnny whistled loud to grab the searching Al’s attention. As soon as the man heard the high-pitched sound, he shot his head up and turned with a glare over to the blond haired mutant in the flannel shirt and jeans. Johnny’s face hardened as he clenched his fists tight and nodded for Al to make his way over to him.

“I’m right here Al! What do you want?”

“You know what I’m here for!” Al yelled as he leaned down and picked up a large discarded tree branch and brandished it like a club. “I told you to leave her alone, you freak!”

“You don’t deserve her, Al. You treat her like garbage!” Johnny yelled as he remained standing, his voice quivering just a little “I’ve see you with the maids back at the inn. You’re nothing but trash!”

Without another word Al ran straight at Johnny. The fight went underway as Al attempt to club Johnny, but the blond mutant was quick to duck and back away. With no weapon, he had to resort to dodging and weaving until he could get in close enough to punch the man. Over and over they danced around each other, a branch flying through the air, a punch landing hard against flesh. Their grunts and curses echoed in the orchard around as they circle and dove into the fight, trying to best one another. Blood dotted their lips and knuckles were already bruised. It seemed like the fight would end in a stalemate, but before Johnny knew it, he misstepped. Moving back a bit too slow, and at the wrong angle and all he saw coming at the side of his head was a massive branch.

WHHHHACK!

Stars and purple. That was all Johnny saw as he felt the tree branch connect with the side of his face. He tumbled hard backward, his eyes glazed over for a minute as he fell with a gasp against the trunk of his tree. He turned, trying to regain his bearings when, he heard the sound of cracking branches. Looking up, his eyes turned wide as he saw the massive, apple laden branches begin to bend and break.

All he saw then was the massive apple, one of the ones he helped grow fall towards him like a giant, red missile.

Crack!! SNAP[/b]

It was only an apple, but one the size of a tire can easily break a human neck. Johnny tumbled back against his tree, head bent awkwardly as lifeless eyes gazed out over the surrounding area and seeing none of it. Al gasped as he stepped back, his shaking fingers dropping the branch he ha d just used to pummel Johnny. For a minute he stared, watching as blood seeped out of man’s neck and mouth and dripped onto the thick roots of the tree. With the look of a panicked rabbit, Al suddenly ran, leaving the grisly scene behind.

Drip…drip…drip…

Blood fell onto the tree’s roots, seeping into the cracked wood and flowing into its system. In the quiet of the orchard, a single tree began to bloom with fast growing apples. Apples, apples, and more apples began to grow instantly, as if they were being fed on a quick acting fertilizer. And not just red apples grew on this single tree, but reds, yellows, greens, hybrids, all grew on its branches and fell to the earth in a variety of sizes. Some normal, some small, others continued to grow in size comparable to the heights of basketballs, medicine balls, tires and even trashcans. But that was not the strangest incident. Some of these apples…growing actual limbs and clawed fingers and toes…began to move…

>>“Well, at least there are some wines available. I think maybe tomorrow we should explore the town up the road. I doubt we can subsist on apples and apple-inspired foods alone. But… I’m still glad that we came.”

"Hey, what happened to not getting our of bed?" she wanted to know in mock concern "In invoke my rights to be shamelessly lazy."

Dinner was good though, and even though bed seemed like a nice idea now, for a variety of reasons, she had to admit exploring the town did sound good, for a future plan.

"I used to take the kids on trips like this sometimes" she smiled "Of course, it is a bit different with two children" she added with a chuckle "Not really relaxing. You can imagine."

Still, she was fond of those memories. And she was sure thsi one will be another of those weekends she remembered with a smile on her face...

>> "Hey, what happened to not getting our of bed? In invoke my rights to be shamelessly lazy."

Jorge could only laugh at Gemma’s stern protest to have to get out of bed and do anything short of breathing. He didn’t blame her, after all, this was supposed to be their vacation and they should be able to do what they want most right now, and that included sleeping in. Yet, though Jorge was inclined to agree that yes, she should be able to do as she pleased, unless they wanted to survive the entire weekend on a diet of apples and apple-related foods, they were going to HAVE to explore. The whole town couldn’t be infected with all this apple related business, but then again…you never know. They had to at least right. After all, how many times could they snack on complimentary apple chips in their room?

Once his laughing was done, Jorge could only shake his head. “Hey, I’m the first one to agree that we need consent bedrest…” he said with a sly chuckle. “But I’m telling you, if we don’t go out tomorrow and find something that does not include an apple in its recipe, I fully believe that the both of us will actually become apples.”

With a chuckle he picked up a small, plastic apple that had been placed on their table as a part of a centerpiece, and held it up to make the comparison. He rose a brow as he looked between her face and the apple, then back to her fact…and one more to the apple…

“Yeah, as sexy as the thought of you becoming an apple is, I really don’t want to take that back home with me to New York?” he said with a wink.

When their food had finally come, the detective had to admit that it was indeed pretty good. It was tasty and had a nice fresh taste to it and though there was a hint of the apple flavor, it was not over powering. It was over all, quite enjoyable and fulfilling. It was a good thing they came down to have dinner here instead of holing up in their room the entire weekend. Of course he wanted to have his time with her, and they would, but part of being on vacation, meant exploring a little. One good discovering, the food here wasn’t terrible!

>> "I used to take the kids on trips like this sometimes…Of course, it is a bit different with two children…Not really relaxing. You can imagine."

Jorge nodded as he took a sip of wine. With a chuckle he set back down gently on the table. “I can imagine. I’ve met your kids. I can only imagine Valerie as a young girl.” he said with a small laugh and no ill intent meant. “But I’m sure you still had a great time with them.”

So they meal continued in peace and joking matters. Jorge regaled Gemma with stories from work, at least those that were pleasant enough to tell at dinner, and he listened to her stories about certain kids at the mansion. Again he felt that this weekend was justified after everything that she said. They needed time to breath and just joke about both the good and bad times they had had back in the city. But such peace, of course, was not to last. Just as Jorge was in the middle of a funny incident at work…

“So then, Clemens gets all pissed off because stole his favorite pen from his desk and immediately started going around, screaming about how much this sucks and that we don’t know how to respect each others property –“

”YEEEAAAAAAARGH!!”[/i]

Cop instincts jumping in, Jorge looked up and glanced back over to the rest of the room. So far everyone was just as startled and shocked but nobody seemed to have been the origin of the scream. Then, dashing into the room was the young woman that had checked in Jorge and Gemma into the inn, Peggy. She looked exasperated as she breathlessly kept pointing at the window, her voice cracking and stuttering as she backed away with wild, panicked eyes. A man in a leather jacket quickly came and comforted her as he looked with a mixture of surprise and guilt out the window.

Moving to his feet, Jorge quickly moved over to see if they were okay and followed their pointing fingers out the window. A crowd soon gathered behind him as the detective stepped up to the window and looked outside. At first he saw nothing, just the setting sun disappearing behind the fall colored trees and several more apple cutouts that littered the grassy fields near a barn. But…as he stared longer he saw that those apples…were moving. They had diabolical looking arms and legs of tangled bark and vines as they moved closer. At first Jorge really did not know what to say, it seemed like a really bad joke at first. Then a stray cat wandered too close to an advancing, pitbull sized apple. Immediately it ceased the creature up in its tangled grip and…

Jorge had to wince and looked away, unprepared for the amount of blood he saw. The apple dropped the twisted creature and continued towards the house, leading an army of more animated apples of various sizes and colors.

He could only shake his head. “Really? Just one vacation? Too much to ask?” he mumbled to no one in particular as other denizens in the inn began to panic at the sight.

>>“Yeah, as sexy as the thought of you becoming an apple is, I really don’t want to take that back home with me to New York?”

Gemma chuckled, and shook her head. Apples seemed to hold certain powers in this realm, because the conversation seemed to circle back to them whether they wanted it or not. They were just... everywhere.
The food was good though, and the apple-dotted conversation quite pleasant. She laughed at Jorge's stories, and told a few of her own; she felt content and...

>>”YEEEAAAAAAARGH!!”

"You HAVE to be kidding me." Gemma muttered, fighting the urge to bang her head against the table. Seriously?!

Following Jorge to the window, she looked outside.
Yes. Apples did hold a certain power around here.

>>“Really? Just one vacation? Too much to ask?”

"Apparently." she sighed, looking at him, all business "There's gotta be a mutant behind this. You can hold them off, and I can stop the source. Let's go."

The detective could hear the disappointed opinions Gemma spouted the second the sound of the screaming was heard and he had gone to check the window. For a moment he felt so bad. Things like this just seemed to keep happening to them. Whenever they try to so much as have some type of fun, something comes up to completely ruin it. Examples so far include: their second date, where Mittens crashed their dinner and too both him and her hostage, and Halloween night where some mutant somehow managed to make the detective believe he was the lord and god of the oceans! But really, what were the odds that something like this would happen to them again? They even left the state of New York but even that didn’t help. Here they were, still in some type of danger…only this time from murderous produce.

>> "Apparently…There's gotta be a mutant behind this. You can hold them off, and I can stop the source. Let's go."

He felt a little sad at her comment. It was not that he didn’t want to stop the homicidal apples, it was how business-like the woman managed to turn the whole situation over. What did that say about their situation? He was not expecting her to act like the pathetic damsel-in-distress but having her take it so calmly only made him feel worse. Few, if any people, should be able to look at a situation like this with ease.

With a sigh, the detective finally turned away from staring out the window and addressed his girlfriend.

“Sound plan, but we don’t know where the mutant who is causing this is even at, and I’m not having you head out there blindly. You don’t even know if your abilities will have an effect on those things.” he said as he turned to look at all the terrified people in the inn.

Al, the groundskeeper, scoffed though still with terror in his eyes as he looked between Gemma and Jorge. “What, you two some of those freaks too?”

Jorge shot the man a look and shook his head. “Listen, you want to make it out of here, these two ‘freaks’” he said as he pointed to himself and Gemma. “Are your only ways out of here alive, so seriously, don’t piss us off.” He was about to turn away again when he suddenly grabbed Al by the shirt and dragged him close, glaring at him in the eye but speaking in a very hard, low voice. “And you call that woman or any mutant a ‘freak’ again, I’ll rip your lungs out…we have an understanding?”

The man nodded his head furiously as he was roughly let go by Jorge. The detective then turned back to Gemma with a sigh and an “I’m-sorry” expression before he turned to look back out the window.

The march of the Apples was still going on. They were closer now and seemed ready to murder anything that got in their way. Their tasty looking flesh gleamed dully in the moonlight as they pressed closer to the house. Their tangled vine and root feet cut into the top soil as they stormed together, each of them, of various sizes as well, all marched in unison as they seemed unified on one object…the inn. Nothing seemed to distract them.

Finally he started to bark orders. “Everyone, go around the house and close and lock doors and bar them with whatever you find and don’t get close to windows. We can’t let them in here.” he said as he stepped back and noticed that no one had moved. “Go on! Before they get any closer!” he shouted and sent people scattering. Then he finally turned to Peggy, “This place have weapons? Guns of any kind?” he asked as he stepped off to the right with her.

Al shook his head as he watched the older man step aside with Peggy. With a small sigh of relief that the authoritative man was gone, he turned to look at Gemma with a sigh. “He always that much of a hard nose? Sounds like he’s trying to be a cop or something.”

>>“Sound plan, but we don’t know where the mutant who is causing this is even at, and I’m not having you head out there blindly. You don’t even know if your abilities will have an effect on those things.”

"Well, there is only one way to find out." she sighed, watching the apples march.

They have been called freaks; it was going to happen, sooner or later, she just did not expect it to happen so soon. It pissed Jorge off; Gemma made a move to stop him, but he managed to let go on his own. It was not the time for mutant-human debates... because they were apparently under a mutant attack.
Jorge gave orders, and everyone moved at once. Gemma turned to look at Peggy's boyfriend.

>>"He always that much of a hard nose? Sounds like he’s trying to be a cop or something.”

"He is a cop." she sighed, watching as Jorge took control of the situation "Unfortunately, we have seen things weirder than this. We just have to all work together, and everyone's going to be fine." she turned to look out the window again "I just wish I knew who was doing this. It would make things a lot easier..."

>> "He is a cop…Unfortunately, we have seen things weirder than this. We just have to all work together, and everyone's going to be fine…I just wish I knew who was doing this. It would make things a lot easier..."

Al, now even more terrified at the prospect that the mutant he had just offended was also a cop, gulped a bit audibly as he glanced between the imposing woman and the marching, murderous apples outside. He could hear Jorge and his girlfriend Peggy moving behind a counter where a shotgun was up on display. They were scrambling trying to find bullets. He said nothing for a moment and simply listened the sound of his heart beating rapidly inside of his chest. He wanted nothing more than for all of this to be over, and it was the woman’s comment that had finally caused him to confess. If they could get him out of here…

“I’d go to jail…” he muttered as quietly as he could. Nobody could have heard him or realized what he had said. But the prospect of jail did not seem appeasing at all. No…he would keep what he knew secret and he wouldn’t die here.

Creeping backward, Al disappeared into a hall, pretending to close a window tight when he was actually trying to put as much distance between himself and the freaks so that he could make his escape. This would have to result in leaving Peggy behind, but whatever. If wasn’t his fault that the apples were attacking, it was hers. She must’ve led Johnny on or something. None of this would have happened without her…

***

Jorge came back to Gemma and glanced out the window. The apples were standing in unison, facing the inn but not moving in to attack just yet. Instead they only seemed like they were waiting for a reason, for orders or something like that. Whatever it was, the whole scene was creepy to the detective. He loaded the shotgun with the few rounds that he and Peggy could find. It wouldn’t be enough to hold them off for long, he knew that, but hopefully it would at least buy them enough time to figure out who was causing all this.

He sighed as he pressed his forehead against Gemma’s in an apologetic manner before he turned to look at Peggy once more.

“Do you have any idea what is going on? On why those apples are there?”

Flustered, Peggy shook her head vehemently. “N-No! Why should I kn-…” she paused as something slowly began to dawn on her. Shaking her head, she kept uttering the word “no” as she backed away and began to look frantically around, asking for Al.

“Peggy? Peggy listen to me!” Jorge said sternly as he walked over to her and held her shoulders to keep her still. “Peggy, do you have an idea what is going on? You need to tell me now if you want me to help. Tell me…”

“J-Johnny…Johnny…he’s the only one…”

“Only one what?”

After a brief breakdown of sobs and cries, Peggy finally related to everyone who was present about Johnny, the farmhand with the ability to manipulate fruit, particularly apples. The inn used to struggle a lot before Johnny was born, to the point that the original owners had almost decided to sell out to a big hotel chain so they could develop a grand hotel here. But when Johnny was discovered to have the ability to grow apples and fruits of enormous size, the inn had a gimmick. They would boast year round fresh, large apples. It was cheesy but it managed to draw enough attention so long as it was never revealed the source of the magnificent fruit…Johnny himself.

It was then that she went on to explain what had happened that day. The lovelorn Johnny, the letter he tried to present to her, how he had gripped her and she had gone to Al crying about what had happened. She told them how angry Al got because he hated the attention that Johnny gave her. Finally this incident seemed to set him off and that was the last she saw of him until right now…

Jorge shook his head as he checked the shotgun to make sure it was loaded and armed it. “So this place has been using the man for his powers? But…that doesn’t make sense…what happened to Johnny? Why is making the apples attack?”

Peggy shrugged as she rubbed her red eyes. “I-I dunno…you have to ask Al. Al?”

YEEEEEEEAAAAAARGHHHH!!!![/i]

The sudden screamed caused the detective to snap back towards the window. As he ran over to check, he paused at the grisly sight, a curse falling from his lips. Though it was dark, he could see what was going on. Al had apparently tried to make a run for his motorcycle but before he could get there, a number of the smaller mutated apples had managed to overtake him. They flocked him like rats, clawing and scratching their way up his body. Soon the man’s skin was just as red as the skin of each apple.

Tightening his jaw, Jorge was about to curse again when a thought came to mind…how did Al get out there?

“OH MY GAWD!!!”

That was when he turned and spotted a large, golden apple standing on a paired of tangled vines for feet that sprouted up from the stem on top. The shiny, red splattered apple clawed the ground as it stood there, the front of it turning between Jorge and Peggy who had screamed soundlessly and continued to back away from it. That was when the apple suddenly lunged for Peggy. Jorge turned, took aim with the shotgun…and fired…

Gemma could see Jorge was worried. More than worried - he was sorry. He was apparently blaming himself for the ruined vacation. She didn't say anything, they had no time. But she understood, and made a mental note to talk to him. After.

>>“Do you have any idea what is going on? On why those apples are there?”

And finally, the truth. Peggy told them about Johnny, and the apples. So there was a mutant here after all, and he was behind the whole thing. But where was he? And why was he making the apples attack?...

The answer never came. Instead, there was another scream, then some more, and as she looked out the window she could see the guy, Peggy's boyfriend, being dragged down by the apples. She looked away.

>>“OH MY GAWD!!!”

A split second before the shot was fired, Gemma yanked Peggy out of the way; they both collapsed from the momentum, and Gemma held the girl close, trying to calm her down. She trusted Jorge to protect them - she was far away from him to allow him to use water if he needed - she just had to make sure the hysteric girl did not get in the way, or worse, did not try to run after her boyfriend.

>>Kraaaaaaaaa-COOOOM![/b]

The shot echoed loud in the inn as Jorge unloaded a shotgun shell into the golden flesh of a ready or strike, murderous apple. This was not the time to feel silly about what he was doing or the fact that after finally managing to get a vacation away with his girlfriend that of course something had to go wrong here too. It was an unfortunate fact for the man. Apparently whenever he and Gemma tried to have some kind of time together, something weird like this happened. It was almost like the universe had it in for them, but quickly, before that thought could take root, Jorge quelled it. No was not the time to think about a cursed love. They needed to get out of here with their skins intact.

Time had slowed after he had fired the gun and now, he stood there, staring at the lifeless and form of a malicious apple with a huge chunk missing from its form. All along the walls was what looked liked strung up apple core pieces and apple sauce. Apparently it had the regular insides of an apple. The detective sighed as he held the gun loosely then turned to kneel and check on Gemma and Peggy who still cried hysterically against his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“You two okay?” his eyes locked with Gemma’s momentarily, searching her eyes and seeing that she was fine, he just wanted to hear the words.

He still felt bad that this was happening and caused him to question…would this be what their life together would be like? One long string of romantic mishaps and busy lives in which they never got to see one another? The whole prospect made his chest tighten a little as he looked at Gemma closely, following the curves of her face with his eyes, wanting so badly to just reach out, take her hand and leave this place…but he couldn’t. They both still had duties. Even if he were not a cop, it was just in his nature to help and the same could be said for Gemma.

With a nod after seeing that she was okay, Jorge turned and began to head back into the hall. There was only one window still open. The drapes flapped against the evening breeze, bringing in the sickening scent of more apples that were still outside. Though he couldn’t see them, he knew that a load of them would start making their way here. Steeling himself up, Jorge counted down to three before he quickly leaned out and checked the area outside the window. The barrel of his shotgun swung back and forth as he checked, seeing nothing malicious fruit.

He then pulled himself back in, slammed the window shut and proceeded to put the locks on it. Once that was down, he grabbed a table that was in the hall and turned it over so that it could cover the window up pretty securely.

Already he wasn’t likely how things were going. They could hole up here, but how long before those things got in? Would they ever stop? If what Peggy said was true about Johnny…could it be as simple as they were all just trying to grab her? They killed Al, the only competition in the way so what would be left but to just take her?

He made his way back into the dining room and saw that Gemma was still with Peggy who looked too shell shocked to look outside again. That was no good. He needed her coherent and moving so they could find out where Johnny was. If Gemma could get close to him, all these crazed apple monsters would suddenly stop…but where was he? He resolved himself to find out as he stepped over the fallen apple monster and kneeled next to Peggy again.

“Peggy…Peggy I know that you scared. We all are, and we all want this to just end,” he whispered as he looked at her intently in her blank eyes. “But you need to tell me where Johnny is. We have to stop him. So…where is he? Please.”

For a moment there was only silence as he stared at Peggy and she stared back at him. It seemed hopeless. The woman, after all, had just seen her boyfriend both desert her and get killed by a bunch of rampaging apples! But slowly she began to mutter, saying only one word in response…

“O…Orch..ard…”

But that moment of silence would not last for long. Before the detective could fully comprehend what had been said, there was a suddenly clawing up the material of his jeans. Spinning back, he watched in horror as the a small golden apple began to trying and claw its way up his jeans. Thoroughly creeped out, he suddenly seized the apple in his hand and flung it hard across the room, watching it smash against the wall. That was only the beginning of their problems though. From the first apple he had shot, the seeds that had rolled out had begun to hatch into more golden apples, slowly growing in size, their stems tangling backward to make clawed hands and feet.

The detective shook his head as he scrambled back and onto his feet and took aim with the shotgun. Great…their seeds were also fast growing, that means there will army in here within seconds. Without another option, Jorge opened fire again blasting another vicious apple before he started to reload. They couldn’t keep this up forever. They needed a plan and it had to be a good one...

"I'm fine." Gemma looked up at er boyfriend; he seemed thoroughly irritated now. She wondered if it was because of the mutant killing apples, or the fact that they did not get their alone time. Probably both. And more.

And Johnny had to be outside in the freakin' orchard.

"All right" Gemma decided, kicking a small but vicious apple to the ground and stepping on it "We need to go outside, Jorge, and get to Johnny as fast as we can. And we need to make sure these people here are safe."

Turning to Peggy, she put an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Listen to me, sweetie" she talked to her in a calm voice "You need to tell us if there is a place in here where you can all lock yourselves up and be safe while we take care of all this."

>> "All right…We need to go outside, Jorge, and get to Johnny as fast as we can. And we need to make sure these people here are safe."

Jorge nodded as he listened to Gemma start to take control of the inside situation. Things were happening one thing after another and though he knew they needed to get outside and fine whoever this Johnny was, he was most concerned with keeping the people inside the inn safe. It was difficult, especially since they had little to no weapons and whenever those little apple things were destroyed, their seeds sprouted into five or six more of those vicious little monsters that rapidly grew. It was hard to keep up, and they would be losing ammo quicker than they would like. Then again, the same could be said about going outside. Either they were overrun by murderous apples here, or doing something.

He agreed though. They were greatly outnumbered and as much as he did not like the idea of willingly putting Gemma into danger, it was their only way to end this peacefully. If Johnny had just gone plan nuts, he needed to be depowered and quickly. Jorge didn’t believe in unjustly killing someone, that was not his place to pass judgment. Johnny needed to deal with the law, not the barrel of some angry gun.

>> "Listen to me, sweetie…you need to tell us if there is a place in here where you can all lock yourselves up and be safe while we take care of all this."

Peggy looked just as unresponsive as ever, almost as if Gemma Taylor were talking to a corpse instead of an actual living, breathing human being. But instead of prodding the girl for answers, she gently took a deep breath before she answered…

>> “The cellar. There’s a cellar in the kitchen. It doesn’t have any windows and there is a back exit that locks from the inside…”

“Good,” Jorge said with as kindly a nod as he could. It was not that he was unfeeling towards the woman, he understood that she must have been traumatized, but they needed to be in safety if he and Gemma were going to get them out of this. “Peggy, you need to take these people down to the cellar then and lock the door behind you. You don’t open it again until you either hear us, or the authorities. You understand?”

Peggy blankly looked between Gemma and Jorge, her eyes still wet with tear and red from soreness, but meekly she nodded in reply. She looked unable to do the simplest task right now, but if she wanted to survive, she was going to have to. Slowly she stirred, moving away from Gemma’s warm embrace that looked as if it felt so warm and comfortable, and stepped into the open air of the dining room. She glanced back at the other residents who were looking for some kind of safety, took a breath and finally began to direct them towards the kitchen. Once the last of the residents and staff were gone, Jorge heard the door to the cellar close. He turned back to Gemma, armed the shotgun and handed it to her.

“Why is it that our dates always end with you handling a firearm?” he asked in a half-desperate, half-joking, half-serious manner.

>>“Why is it that our dates always end with you handling a firearm?”

Gemma smiled a bit, kissing him on the cheek. "Worry about it later" she said. She really did not think it was Jorge's fault. It never was. He had nothing to do with it, and he was already beating himself up more that he should have.

Taking the shotgun, she did not even pause. Taking three steps back, she made sure he was out of her aura.

"Let's go. I make sure I am far enough from you, and you make sure we get there in one piece."

That was the only plan she had.

>> "Let's go. I make sure I am far enough from you, and you make sure we get there in one piece."

There was little Jorge could do other than smirk.

“Flying by the seat of our pants again, eh?” he said, a sly grin across his lips. “I love this plan.”

Given the situation, Jorge couldn’t be helped than to find at least a little bit of levity in their circumstances. Sadly this was just their luck, for every moment of peace they find together, there was another ten where they were trying to run for their lives. It was just the way of the world, apparently. Pretty bleak but Jorge could not spend too much time dwelling on it. He cared for Gemma too much to let his mind wander. He needed to be focused and keep it together. At least until they could find Johnny and end this further bit of madness.

Standing by the doorway, he cast another look at Gemma. He had to admit that she did look very attractive in the nice dress and brandishing a shotgun. Was nearly every man’s dream. And though he would have a hearty joke about this later, it was still a pretty solemn time. Their nice getaway turned into another fight for their lives.

Well at least he didn’t think he was some Greek God this time. That was always a plus.

Taking a breath, Jorge placed his hand on the door handle and pressed his ear against the wood. He couldn’t hear anything through it which could be both good and bad. On the one hand, it was entirely possible that whatever those creatures were, they had not discovered what a front door was. On the other hand, though, they could be smarter than he was giving them credit for and they could be lying in wait. Either way, it would mean putting both himself and Gemma at risk. He hated the sound of that but it would be their only way to make it out of this place and find that orchard. The last thing Peggy said was that it was behind the barn. He seen it from the dining room window, it was just a matter of making it into those woods beyond it…

With a sigh, he gave Gemma a nod that he was going to open the door. As he did, he reached out and felt that there was water somewhere outside. It was near the direction of the barn. Be it sprinklers or a garden hose, it would be enough for him to work with…he hoped. So with a prayer, Jorge turned the knob and pulled the door open as quickly as he could…

Outside there was nothing. Warily, Jorge reached over to the side and grabbed a heavy, decorated wooden statue of an apple on a pedestal. He was so over the apple theme now that he hoped he could get to bludgeon something with this thing. He hefted it up and over his shoulder as he slowly began to step outside, making sure that he was well out of Gemma’s nullifying range. If his weapon failed him, at least he fall back onto his water manipulating abilities. Might not do much to a piece of fruit, but it could mean the difference between life and death.

Silently he crept out, moved across the patio and down the creaky steps one at a time. It was so eerily quiet that it felt like he was in some horror movie. Stepping across the gravel, Jorge looked back to Gemma to make sure she was following when…

“OOPH!”[/i] Jorge felt all the wind knocked out of him as something the size of a basketball barreled into his gut.

Grunting, the man tumbled to the ground but managed to look up just in time to see another red, manically limbed apple as it ready to shove it’s clawed fingers(?) through his eye. But not wanting the embarrassment of being done in by an apple, Jorge swung his makeshift club hard and broke into the apple’s body, sending it sprawling to the side. Covered in apple juice and mush, Jorge gagged a little as he spit out whatever parts of it had flew into his mouth and sat up. Then…he saw the rest of them. Another gang of mutated apples were coming at them from the barn up ahead, forming a short wall of reds, yellows, greens, and pinks. This was not doing to be easy…

"Oh boy," he mumbled. "I think I inadvertently got their attention...

>>“Flying by the seat of our pants again, eh? I love this plan.”

"Well, that makes one of us." Gemma smirked, checking the gun. Boy was she getting good at handling firearms. Go figure.

They walked out... for a few moments, everything was silent. Eerily silent.
And then Jorge got hit by an apple.
There was really nothing funny about it.

Gemma waited; she was sure he could take care of one apple, and she did not want to waste her shots. She could tell they would be running for their lives soon anyway.

"Get water and run!" she yelled at him as he stood up. There were too many apples to fight all of them; if they could just break through to the barn, they were peachy (no pun intended). Aiming at the closest apples, she waited for Jorge to run first. She couldn't risk getting in the way of his powers.

>> "Get water and run!"

It was an order that he was only too happy to comply with. Moving onto his feet, he watched the coming army of apples and for a moment, had to take in how funny all of this looked. If this had been something that he were watching on television, he would have found himself laughing at the ridiculousness of the entire situation! Mutant apples reigning havoc on a Bed and Breakfast? It was like giant, killer tomatoes rolling through the streets and squishing people! It was just absurd, enough to the point that he would have changed the channel. But this was not a TV show. This was real life. Not the nonsensical ravings of some college student writer…

…

Nah. Jorge thought.

Moving onto his feet, he dashed forward, leaving Gemma behind. All their enemies were before him, so he would cause enough of a distraction to move past. As he ran, he could feel the tug in his stomach, that feeling that told him he was not weaponless, that he had an ally that was nearby. He only had to reach out and ask for its help.

He skid to a stop a good distance away from Gemma, but still not in the middle of the apple horde just yet. He waited and watched them charge, their tangled limbs practically clawing the air, as if mimicking what they were going to do to him the second they were within reach. But as they ran, Jorge closed his eyes. He could feel the water, it was coming from a leaky water hose somewhere off to his right hand side. He couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there and that was all he needed. So with hand outstretched, Jorge pulled the water as quickly as he could.

In rush, a snaking form of water burst from the darkness, swirled in a funnel directly towards him before veering off course and created a thick wall of water. The water spun and churned, splashing droplets all around him but he didn’t flinch at the sensation. Instead the detective stood his ground and watched as more of those murderous apples mindlessly charged at him with no real sense of the danger that was to come. Step after step they clawed at the grassy earth, vine-like fingers poised and ready to rend flesh. Jorge was sure that if the little monsters had mouths they would be screaming a guttural war-cry. But instead, the officer stared at the blank surfaces of red, green and golden flesh. Which, believe it or not, was even more disturbing.

Then…as they were within a few feet of the man, the water bending officer struck out with both hands. The water jumped to respond, surging forward in a thick funnel of water…but struck none of the apple-like creatures. Instead it looked as if he missed them completely…until he swept out with both of his hands. Once more, eager to please its master, the water split and forming to thin, but swiftly moving walls of water that struck with enough force to knock the apples beasts away. The path was clear, but only for a moment.

He turned and shouted quickly over his shoulder.

“Run, Gemma! Now! Head for the barn!” he yelled as he did his best to keep the apples down with water bursts, but he would quickly be running out of ammo soon. The second she ran by, his powers would be gone. He hoped it would be enough time.