It was about midnight when Chilla wondered into the park looking for a place to camp out for the night. Chilla had taken the man’s advice in coming to New York, though now here she was unsure of what to do. She had changed her clothing for the trip from the Grand Canyon to here and it had taken a week to fly here.

Exhausted from her trip Chilla was only interested in finding a place to stay. After trying the local shelter, and getting thrown out, Chilla had wondered into the park. Ignoring the strange looks she was getting from her fellow park dwellers, Chilla settled down on a park bench after kicking some random guy off that looked like he had never seen a bar of soap in his life. Truthfully it hadn’t been hard to do. After making sure the area was clear of all the creepy men that had been there Chilla drifted off to sleep using her backpack for a pillow.

OCC: theultimatexmen.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=newyorkcity&action=display&thread=1198227623&page=1

After awhile of walking around still nothing. This place was so well hidden Jason found Shrapnel again but no Lab. The two walked and walked till they were in the middle of Central park. Jason's legs were killing him he had to sit down. Finding a unused bench two of them sat down. Flipping his hood over his head he wraped his arms in his pockets to keep warm. It was a cool night outside there where bums all over the place. Some laying in boxes some on benches and it looked like a little run away girl sitting on a bench using her backpack as a pillow. The old vibes came back to Jason a young beautiful girl sitting across from him looking easy for the picking but his eyes were heavy and he needed a rest. And with that he was out, out like a light.

As soon as they had heard about the breakout, Melissa and several more of Hunter's employees had started tracking the escapees, with the hope of finding them before the Stalkers did. Satelites were very helpful. The camps themselves were in a dead zone. No satelite was allowed to look at that god forsaken place, but once two people, one of them naked, had appeared outside of the dead zone, headed toward civilization, they had their target.

The Stalkers, or whoever was controlling them, apparently did not use the same method of tracking using satelites. They were following the bracelets' signals instead. They attacked a building the two fugitives had already left, sans bracelets. That made their recovery job a little easier, although they did have jammers ready, in case the bracelets hadn't been removed already. Too bad, they actually could have used one of the bracelets, to analyze how it worked. No use crying over spilt milk.

Their targets were now in the park. An interesting choice of places to go, perhaps not one that the Stalkers would expect. She arrived with her station wagon, the other members of the team remained in their various jeeps, monitering the surrounding area.

Melissa entered the park. There they were, one lying on a bench, the other still awake. And was that another person lying in the next bench over? Surely that was against the parks' rules.

She made her way quickly over to the two mutants. There was no time to waste, so she didn't bother talking around the subject even with an unknown variable sleeping on the next bench over. Hopefully she would just stay asleep.

"You two, if you want to get to a safe place, come with me now. My employer is offering a safe shelter for mutants, and you two look like you could use a shelter." There, it was said. They would have to act quickly, before Stalkers arrived. She motioned them urgently towards her not-so-lovely station wagon. But then, they didn't have bracelets any more, so they would have a harder time tracking these two.

Just to double check, she added, "You both got rid of the bracelets, right?" If they hadn't, they had even less time to spare, but she had the jamming devices ready.

Chilla awoke with a start, swearing someone was watching her. She sat up a looked around her. There were the hobo's that had been there earlier and sitting on the bench next to her were two new men. They were talking to a women who looked like she was in a hurry. As Chilla turned to watch them her very cat like eyes caught the light. The women was probably asking for directions... Chilla yawned, flashing a set of feline teeth.

But then one phrase caught Chilla's attention

"safe shelter for mutants"

At these words Chilla jumped up, sending the sun glasses that she had been wearing before she went to sleep flying. They landed a few feet away from the trio. Chilla hurried to get them. When she knelt to pick them up her eyes met with the woman's.

Jason felt a nudge in his side. What was going on now. This has to be one of the most eventful nights of his life. To his surprise there was someone standing there talking about about a place for mutants. "Ha, thats a laugh. Some place safe for mutants. Until each and every mutant stands up for them selves and makes these humans know what its really like to leave in fear their will never be a safe place." He said trying to keep noisy people out of the conversation. He had saw that something that was said had sparked the interest of the girl setting across from them.

Jason put his hands on his knees and pushed him self up off the bench. He looked at the girl running his tongue over his lips. Then quickly shaking thoughts out his head he turned back towards the group. "Yeah and besides how do we know your not just some human trying to bring us back to the camp?" balling his fist Jason stood back ready for any thing that was to come next.

So, she had set out to find two mutants and had found three instead; the girl's cat eyes caught her attention as she picked up her fallen sunglasses. Melissa had no way of proving that she was a mutant though, since she wasn't one, and she had no intention of lying about it either.

"I'm a human, but I'm here to help. We aren't all bad, you know. I'm working for the resistance against the mutant registration law. If you want to fight against the law, 'stand up' against it if you will, if you want a safe place to stay, or if you just want a place to hide for tonight, you can come with me. I can explain more in the car, but we really should be leaving before the Stalkers find us. For now, the jeeps will act as decoys and the rest of us will go to my apartment for the night. No one will suspect my beautiful car of anything suspicious. You can all hear more, then sleep on it and decide how you want to procede in the morning."

"As for proof that I'm not trying to bring you back to the camps, they would not have sent a human to capture two mutants when they could send a Stalker."

"What your kidding me right? Where suppose to believe that your here to help? After what i been through the past few weeks I don't know about trusting any humans." Jason said scratching the back of his head. He looked over to Shrapnel then back to this human then back over to the girl that was sitting on the bench. Blood started flowing through his body like it did in the past. There was nothing good about Jason nothing good at all. Jason looked over at shrapnel something was different about him, something Jason couldn't put his finger on yet. So many things started going through his mind. How did this woman know they were in the park. What was that girl listening in on there conversation for.

"Alright i guess. I guess i can hear you out see what it is you got to say. And a shower im sure wouldn't hurt anything." He said brushing some of the dirt off his hands. Jason just took a deep breath in and released. Balled his fist and walked over to the girl sitting on the bench. "Is it something you wanna say or do? Cause right now I aint trusting to many people. And your giving me NO reason at all to be trusting you..

Chilla had heard enough of the conversation to want to talk to this woman. The two men she was talking to seemed somewhat hostile... but maybe they had their reasons. Chilla had overheard something about a camp that they were in. In fact Chilla had heard a great deal about these camps on her way to New York. They did not seem like they were a place where she wanted to end up. Nervously, she aproched the woman.

Excuse me. I couldn't help but over hearing that you have a safe place for mutants. Chilla said softly.

Would you take me with you?

Melissa smiled at the Cat-eyed girl. "Of course you can come." She caught the young Asian boy's glance around the area. "We should get moving. The faster we get out of here the safer we will be. I don't know how long we have before Stalkers show up."

She led the way to her car, a beat up looking station wagon with wood sides. No one would give it a second glance, and that was the way Melissa preferred it. The car looked like a piece of junk, so no one would ever think to break into it, but the rough exterior did not show that the engine was modified to be quite capable in a high speed chase. She opened the driver's side door with the key and unlocked the other doors.

"Whoever is coming, hop in. We can't waste any more time here."

"You both got rid of those bracelets, right?" she asked with a pointed look at Shrapnel. "If not, I have a jamming device that will block the signal. All it needs is to be attached to the bracelet and it will interfere with any signal the bracelet sends out."

Once everyone had made up their minds whether or not they were coming with to the apartment, she put the key in the ignition and started up the engine. Then she shared with them the explanation she had promised.

"As you know, I am here as a representative of the resistance. The resistance is a group of mutants, and some humans as well, who are working to liberate the mutant concentration camps and revoke the Mutant Registration Law. We have a secret base outside of the city, where I can take you tomorrow, if you wish to come. It is a safe and secure hiding place, and is the site of the planning and training for the forthcoming raid to liberate the mutant camps. The resistance also has members who are working from the legal angle to revoke the law, but since that will take to long for those mutants in the camps, we are preparing to free them as soon as possibly." She had almost said 'as soon as humanly possible' but had caught herself before saying it. That phrase didn't really fit.

"We also have access to some satellite surveillance, but nothing right near the camps. That's how we found you. We heard about the breakout and managed to find two figures headed away from the general area of the camps on foot. It seems like whoever is running the camps doesn't have quite the same access that we do, or at least they haven't though about it yet.."

"That is the basic explanation of the resistance, but I'm sure you must have questions."

They were about half way to her apartment building. The black jeeps had all driven away as suspiciously as possible in different directions, to draw attention away from the station wagon making its way away from Central Park. Melissa would breathe a sigh of relief as soon as she got home.

Jason followed behind the group as they made there way to the car. With every step and every breath Jason was looking anyway but forward. There isn't a lot in this world that worried him but tonight he was extreamly on the edge. The group finally came to a stop the guards went in there Jeep's and the rest got into the station wagon. Who was this suppose to hide anything it stood out like a sore thumb the car looked as if it was just drove off a destruction derby course but still everybody was piling in. Jason opened up the car door which could have been mistaken for a piece of plywood and sat down. "Ya know I stayed in card board boxes that were better then this." he said trying to lighten his own mood. If maybe he didn't feel so unsafe and a little more cheerful just maybe he would get through this night with out doing something stupid.

After every few turns one more jeep would turn off course. Jason kept his head on a swivel. Looking out every window waiting to see one of those flying robots the young lady said something about a safe place again. Come one he thought there is no safe place for mutants thats why mutants should have it be the other way around. But one other thing un settled him the fact that there were humans. With every event that happened tonight he was having more and more unkind thoughts about the human race. But in the end for now this was gonna have to work... "I'm in."

Chilla sat quietly in her seat of the car. Though the woman had said she would answer her questions, now seemed like a really bad time. The other three occupants of the car all sat either brooding or nervously looking out the windows of the car. But one question couldn't wait...

Why is everyone so tense? And why do the humans hate us?

Ok... two questions...

“Ya know I stayed in cardboard boxes that were better than this."

Melissa glared at him through the rear view mirror. She almost wished that a few Stalkers would show up so she could show him what her little cardboard box was capable of.

After listening to her explanation of the resistance, he responded, “I’m in.” That made one at least. The other two were quiet.

Finally after a few moments of silence, the cat-eyed girl asked, “Why is everyone so tense? And why do the humans hate us?”

Oh boy, this one must have been living under a rock for the past few weeks. She glanced at the other two passengers. At least it is better than living in those awful camps the past few weeks.

“Dear, you must not have been reading the papers the past few weeks. Congress passed a Mutant Registration Law that made it so all mutants were required to submit to blood tests and wearing shock bracelets that zapped them any time they used their powers outside of their homes. Most mutants refused to be registered and there were a number of raids on known mutant hiding places. Any mutants who resisted registration or who had so-called-dangerous mutations were taken to mutant concentration camps. These two,” she gestured to the male occupants of the car, “just managed to escape from the camps. I’m sure they could tell you what happens there.”

“And that, dear, is why everyone is so tense. I cannot answer your second question. I personally have nothing against mutants and think that those that do are close minded idiots.”

They were pulling into the garage of her apartment building now. She parked in her designated spot, and started leading the way up the stairs to her second floor apartment as she continued talking.

“Well, this is home-sweet-home. I hope you find it nicer than a cardboard box,” she said, teasing the African-American boy as she pulled a key out of her pocket and opened the door to number 221. She pushed open the door and took her shoes off before entering. Her apartment was not spotless, by any means, but that didn’t mean that she had to track mud into it.

“I’ve only got one bed, but it should be big enough for two, if you boys are okay sharing.” She raised her eyebrow questioningly at them as she said it. “And you dear,” she addressed the cat-eyed girl, “will find that the couch is very comfortable. I have a sleeping bag and lots of camping experience, so the floor will be fine with me. You all look like you need the comfy spots more than I. I hope you will find yourselves more comfortable here than on park benches.”

She found pillows, blankets, and towels for each of them, and then showed them where the bathroom (and shower) was.

“If you’re hungry, I have frozen pizzas or you can help yourselves to any of the other food or drinks in the refrigerator.” Her mother would be proud, she never let guests go away hungry. “I’m sure they haven’t been feeding you well in the camps, is there anything in particular you’re hungry for?”

"Also, perhaps we should introduce ourselves. We didn't get a chance to do it properly in the park, what with the threat of Stalkers raining down on our heads. I'm Melissa Rivers."

Jason stepped out the shower. Water dripping down his arms and to the floor. This right here was one of the best feelings he has ever experienced. Its been so long since he had a shower that he could enjoy and not have to worry about someone hitting him in the back of the head or catching him off guard just to get a free shot. Jason ran the towel over his body drying off then looked up at the Medicen cabinet. Checking to make sure the door was locked he went back to search for some pain pills of any kind but nothing just over the counter stuff that wasn't gonna do him any help.

Jason walked out and looked around the room. One was drinking water as if it was the first time in years which was a little over board more first time in months he got to drink fresh water. One was still looking puzzled as if she was sheltered all her life and if she was why would she leave that sheltered life for nothing but heart ache and pain. Then last was the human, grabbing pillows and such out of the linen closet and handing them out to people. Jason walked over to the window and looked out. It puzzled him how everybody seemed to have calmed down since they got to the apartment. How could they feel safe. This was just apartment in the middle of everything. There's people that hunt mutants that would find this place with no problem. Jason couldn't take his eyes out the window. Then after only a few minutes he took him self back to another window and just started pacing from window to window keep watch for anything that looked out of the ordinary.

Jason turned around "I don't know how much i can trust you cause right now there aint not one human that I can think of that would have a reason for helping a human but i have no other choice right now. If you say you can take me someplace safe at least till i get back on my feet i guess i have no other choice. But so help me god if you pull anything funny and I end up back at the camp you better hope they kill me."

Chilla looked at Melissa, and stated, “I’ve been living in a cave in the Grand Canon for the last couple years. I haven’t seen a cushion in fifteen years. You can have the couch.” Then Chilla looked to the paranoid man wandering from window to window. “What’s your problem? ‘Cause you’ve been watching me ever since we got here.” She pointed to the other man. “And who are you? And what can you guys do?”

(Will add details later- maybe. After this, you guys are set to join posts in the resistance.)

She tucks away Virote's name for future reference.

Reassure Gore that nothing will happen to him while he's asleep.

Make Chilla sleep on the couch.

We all go to sleep, we wake up in the morning, have cheerios for breakfast (or cinnamon pop tarts if you prefer), then those who want to come with to the resistance come with Melissa. She finds rooms for you in the Labs, then you're off to interact with others.