To Be A Runner

Chapter 46: Every Second

I lay on my sleeping bag, eyes open and staring up at the ceiling, which is more odd than usual, since it's not the middle of the night but in fact only three o'clock in the afternoon.

Willis, Penelope, and Milo should just now be getting out of school.

A half of a smile appears on my lips. This is the first normal thought I've had in a week.

One week, seven days, 168 hours, 10080 minutes, 604800 seconds. That's how long it's been since our run in with Van Ark.

I remember Sam's reaction when we came back the next day. At first he was furious that we turned off our radio, then he was even more furious when we told him about Ephraim being a traitor and how we were nearly taken captive at Jeffro, and finally he was confused when we told him Pro. Van Ark was still alive.

Janine was surprised as well, but interested, especially when Maxine told her about what we saw in those labs. She was even more interested when we told her about New Canton, and how they helped us. Sam was more interested in the fact that I had a doppelgänger, stating that since she's from New Canton, she must be the evil twin.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. She actually seemed... quite nice-good, besides getting blamed for a death she had no control over.

I remember learning more about Chrysalis and Archie when we all stayed the night at that old house Ephraim took us to to give us a pair of guns. They didn't want to tell us much about New Canton, of course, just as we didn't tell them about our plans for Abel, but we did talk about Van Ark, and how he was apparently still alive.

They told us about Keeley, and how it was blown up soon after I left. I, of course, knew this, but Sarah and the doctor did not, and there was no way I could have told them since I only knew this through a dream. So now that they were told this, they could tell Janine. And we did. Archie also told us that Keeley is where she saw Van Ark for the first time in three years.

But neither of them told us about Steve Reeves Hospital, and I can only guess it's because Van Ark was planning on invading New Canton. They never did give us any reason as to why they were at Jeffro, but I think Chrys knew that I knew something.

We still are unsure why Van Ark was so hostile toward us, especially since he invited us here. With what Chrys heard-and what I heard through her ears-it was possibly to kill her, but why? To scare Paula into working harder?

I've come to terms with the fact that the dream I had before the actual events was like a prophecy, but I refuse to think about it too much. That's something that can be thought about later, unlike this thing going on with the professor.

But I did learn that Chrysalis isn't my long lost twin, since she is nearly a year older than me, and since neither of us were adopted the whole clone theory Sam spouted out when we returned home was trashed as well.

Even with Van Ark being a creepy weirdo with mysteries so long and detailed it could make my head spin, we can't focus on him right now, not with New Canton still planning on raiding us. That's what Janine said anyway, and she isn't wrong, since we have no idea where Pro. Van Ark might have hidden away besides well, north of the Jeffro Complex, or what's left of it.

And New Canton still plans on attacking us, even with what we've discovered. That's what Nadia was telling Chrys over the coms after she saved Maxine, Sarah, and me. Of course, I couldn't tell Janine or Sam that. Instead I made up a lie, saying that while everyone was asleep in that old house, I heard Chrysalis speaking to New Canton over a coms link, asking if they still planned to attack after learning what they've learned today. The answer was yes, because New Canton would need all the supplies they could get if Van Ark plans on getting rid of their settlement, which he did have plans on doing before they blew up one of his bases.