JJ Psychic

Chapter 5

Freedom

For the first time in their lives, JJ and Ricky were outside Orion Division.

There were no guards following them.

No scientists waiting around the corner.

No locked doors.

No cameras watching their every movement.

They were free.

But freedom turned out to be harder than they had imagined.

They had escaped with almost nothing.

Neither of them had money.

Neither had a proper place to sleep.

They didn't know which city they were in, and they had no idea how far they were from anywhere familiar.

They had spent years planning how to escape Orion Division.

They had never planned what to do afterward.

Ricky sat beside the road and looked at JJ.

"So..."

JJ looked at him.

"Any ideas?"

JJ shook his head.

Ricky sighed.

"Great."

JJ smiled.

Ricky laughed.

"At least you're enjoying this."

JJ shrugged.

For a few seconds, they simply sat there.

Then Ricky looked toward the road.

"We need food."

JJ nodded.

"And somewhere to sleep."

JJ nodded again.

"And clothes."

JJ looked down at his plain Orion Division clothes.

He frowned.

Ricky laughed.

"Yeah. Those too."

They stood up and continued walking.

---

Their first problem was food.

They hadn't eaten properly since the previous day.

JJ's stomach growled.

Ricky looked at him.

"You hungry?"

JJ nodded.

"Very?"

JJ nodded again.

Ricky looked around.

There were several shops and supermarkets farther down the road.

He stared at them.

"We don't have money."

JJ looked toward the stores.

Then he looked at his hands.

Ricky understood immediately.

"No."

JJ raised an eyebrow.

"No stealing."

JJ pointed toward his stomach.

Ricky shook his head.

"Still no."

JJ stared at him.

Ricky sighed.

"Okay, maybe one time."

JJ smiled.

"Don't look so happy."

---

They waited until evening.

The supermarket was busy enough that nobody would pay much attention to two teenagers walking around.

Ricky entered first.

He kept his mind-reading ability focused on the employees.

"That cashier is distracted."

JJ nodded.

They moved through the aisles.

JJ quietly picked up a few items.

Then, whenever nobody was looking, he teleported them outside.

Ricky would leave through the entrance.

JJ would follow shortly afterward.

They repeated the process carefully.

Bread.

Water.

Fruit.

Canned food.

Nothing expensive.

Nothing that would immediately attract attention.

They knew they couldn't keep doing it forever.

But for the moment, it kept them alive.

When they reached a quiet area behind the supermarket, Ricky looked at the food.

"Well..."

JJ smiled.

Ricky shook his head.

"We're officially criminals."

JJ gave him an unimpressed look.

Ricky laughed.

"Okay, okay. Temporary criminals."

JJ pointed toward the food.

Ricky nodded.

"Let's eat."

---

Their second problem was shelter.

They couldn't sleep outside forever.

They needed somewhere hidden.

While walking through an industrial area, they discovered an abandoned factory.

The building looked like it had been shut down years ago.

The windows were dusty.

The sign outside was damaged.

The main entrance was locked.

But JJ could solve that problem.

He focused on the lock.

It clicked.

The door opened.

Ricky looked at him.

"Useful."

JJ smiled.

They stepped inside.

The factory was enormous.

Most of the machinery had been removed, leaving behind empty rooms, old offices and storage areas.

There was dust everywhere.

But nobody seemed to be using the building.

Ricky looked around.

"I think we found our new home."

JJ nodded.

They chose a small office on the second floor.

It had a broken desk, a few old chairs and a window overlooking the empty parking lot.

It wasn't comfortable.

It wasn't warm.

It wasn't anything like home.

But it was theirs.

For now.

---

The first night was difficult.

JJ lay on the floor using an old jacket as a pillow.

Ricky sat near the window.

Neither of them could sleep.

After a while, Ricky spoke.

"Do you miss it?"

JJ looked at him.

"Orion Division?"

JJ nodded.

Ricky shook his head.

"Not really."

JJ looked surprised.

Ricky smiled.

"I miss some people."

JJ understood.

There had been other children inside Orion Division.

Some had become friends.

Others had simply been people JJ recognized.

But none of them had been able to leave.

Ricky looked outside.

"I wonder what happened to them."

JJ didn't answer.

He wondered too.

After a moment, Ricky turned toward him.

"You know what I want?"

JJ shook his head.

"I want a normal life."

JJ smiled.

Ricky continued.

"I want a house."

JJ nodded.

"A job."

JJ nodded again.

"Food that we don't have to steal."

JJ laughed silently.

Ricky smiled.

"And maybe..."

He paused.

"A dog."

JJ looked at him.

Ricky laughed.

"What?"

JJ shook his head.

"You don't like dogs?"

JJ shrugged.

Ricky pointed at him.

"You definitely don't like dogs."

JJ smiled.

For a moment, the factory didn't feel quite as cold.

---

Over the following weeks, they developed a routine.

During the day, they explored the surrounding area.

At night, they returned to the factory.

They used JJ's abilities carefully.

Ricky would scout places before they entered.

JJ would teleport small necessities when nobody was looking.

They never took more than they needed.

They knew stealing was wrong.

But they also knew they had no other way to survive.

Sometimes they found discarded food behind shops.

Sometimes people left useful objects near trash bins.

Whenever they found something they could use, they kept it.

An old blanket.

A working flashlight.

A small cooking device.

A pair of backpacks.

Little by little, their abandoned office became more comfortable.

It still wasn't home.

But it was beginning to feel like one.

---

One morning, Ricky woke JJ.

"Get up."

JJ opened his eyes.

Ricky was standing beside him.

"What?"

JJ sat up.

Ricky pointed toward the window.

"Someone is coming."

JJ immediately became alert.

"Two men."

JJ stood.

Ricky closed his eyes.

"They're talking about the factory."

JJ looked worried.

Ricky listened carefully.

"They're property inspectors."

JJ relaxed slightly.

Then Ricky frowned.

"Wait."

JJ looked at him.

"They're planning to enter."

JJ immediately pointed toward the door.

Ricky nodded.

"Yeah."

They quickly gathered their belongings.

The two men entered the factory.

JJ and Ricky hid in a storage room.

Ricky listened to their thoughts.

"They're checking whether anyone has been living here."

JJ looked at him.

Ricky whispered:

"We need to stay quiet."

They waited.

Footsteps came closer.

JJ's heart began beating faster.

The door opened.

Nobody was there.

JJ and Ricky had already moved into another room.

Ricky smiled.

"Nice."

JJ nodded.

Eventually, the inspectors left.

They waited another hour before returning to their room.

Ricky sat down.

"That was too close."

JJ nodded.

They both understood something.

The factory wasn't going to remain safe forever.

They needed another plan.

---

A few days later, Ricky found something interesting.

He had been exploring a nearby neighborhood when he discovered a small community center.

There were noticeboards outside.

Jobs.

Apartments.

Local events.

Ricky stared at the advertisements.

Then he saw something that caught his attention.

A bakery.

The owner was looking for temporary workers.

Ricky returned to the factory.

JJ was sitting on the floor practicing his telekinesis.

Ricky held up the advertisement.

JJ looked at it.

Ricky smiled.

"Maybe this is how we start."

JJ looked confused.

Ricky pointed at the paper.

"A job."

JJ's expression changed.

Ricky continued.

"We need money."

JJ nodded.

"Real money."

JJ nodded again.

"Then we can get somewhere better."

JJ smiled.

For the first time since their escape, they had found something that looked like a future.

But there was one problem.

They were seventeen.

They had no identification.

No official records.

No history outside Orion Division.

They technically didn't exist.

Ricky lowered the paper.

"Yeah."

JJ looked at him.

Ricky sighed.

"We've got a problem."

---

That evening, they sat outside the factory.

The sun was setting.

The sky was orange.

JJ looked at the city lights beginning to appear.

Ricky sat beside him.

"You know..."

JJ looked at him.

"We actually made it."

JJ smiled.

"Not completely."

JJ looked confused.

Ricky pointed toward the factory.

"We're living in an abandoned building."

JJ nodded.

"We steal food."

JJ nodded again.

"We have no money."

JJ nodded.

Ricky laughed.

"So technically, we're terrible at being free."

JJ smiled.

Ricky became serious.

"But we're still free."

JJ looked toward the horizon.

He thought about the walls of Orion Division.

The laboratories.

The tests.

The guards.

The years he had lost.

Then he looked at Ricky.

His best friend.

The person who had given him something Orion Division could never take away.

A choice.

JJ reached into his pocket and pulled out the photograph of his family.

He stared at it for a moment.

Then he put it away.

Ricky noticed.

"Someday."

JJ looked at him.

"We'll find out what happened to them."

JJ nodded.

"And someday we'll have that normal life."

JJ smiled.

Ricky stood.

"Come on."

JJ stood too.

"Let's go home."

They walked back toward the abandoned factory.

It wasn't really home.

Not yet.

But it was the first place they had chosen for themselves.

And for now, that was enough.

Neither of them knew that their peaceful escape would soon attract the attention of someone who had been searching for them ever since they left Orion Division.

Someone who was about to offer JJ something he had wanted for most of his life.

His voice.