The Darkest Minds: Red

Four

"Guys, come on," I groaned, and the two got into the van.

"Ruby! Ruby!"

"What the heck?" I exclaimed, turning my head to see what's going on. I widened my eyes and turned to Liam.

"They're preparing to shoot! Liam, start the van!" 

"LEE!" Chubs added as Liam struggled to start the engine.

"I know, I know!" The engine revved, and the squeal of the tires is heard, followed by a gunshot.

We drove for ten minutes, trying to process what had happened. Liam turned to Zu and me.

"Did something happen in the gas station?" He asked.

"More skip tracers?" Chubs groaned, and I turned towards him.

"Skip tracers? Are you serious?" I panicked.

"Yeah, you realize what would happen if we'd been caught? And they were shooting at us! With a gun! Do you know what happens when you get shot? The bullets -"

"Chubs! Not the time!" I interrupted, trying to steady my breathing.

"Exactly. Settle down. We're fine, alright? That was closer than I would have liked, but still. We'll try to make better mistakes, right, guys?" Liam attempted to calm everyone, and Chubs let out a groan.

"I'm sorry. Did it sound like they were looking for someone?" Liam asked in a calmer voice.

"No, it sounded like they were shooting at us!" Chubs exclaimed.

"No, no way. If they were, they have terrible aim, and we probably will be goners way sooner," I stated.

While everyone was arguing, Ruby looped the straps of her backpack over her shoulders and kicked the sheets off. Taking a deep breath, she propped herself up.

Liam looked at the rearview window and announced, "I can't see out the back window when you-" He cut himself off as he looked again.

The van skidded to a stopped, and I let out a surprised yelp. Chubs let out a strangled noise as Zu glanced over her shoulder at Ruby with an unreadable expression.

After what felt like forever, the van completely stopped on its track. Liam and Chubs looked back at the girl, both of them wearing an expression of surprise or anger. Ruby bolted to the side door in an attempt to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Zu!" Liam cried, looking at her. She merely folded her hands in her lap, rubber gloves squeaking, and blinked innocently. 

Liam then looked at me, and I raised my hands in surrender, "I tried. I really did,"

Chubs spoke up, "We all agreed - no strays. That's why we didn't take the kittens!"

Liam focused his attention back on Chubs, slumping down in his seat, "Oh, for the love of... What are we going to do with a box of abandoned kittens?"

"Maybe if that black heart of yours hadn't been willing to leave them to starve, we could have found them new, loving homes," I spoke up, glaring at him.

Liam looked at me in amazement, "You're never going to let that go, aren't you?"

"They were innocent, defenseless little animals and you left them outside someone's mailbox!" 

"A mailbox!" Chubs choked out.

"Guys," Liam groaned, "Seriously."

"Excuse me!" Ruby interrupted, slamming her palm against the window. "Can you please unlock the door?"

Liam turned around to look at her. He raised a brow. "Are you the one they were looking for? Ruth?"

"Ruby," I corrected.

"Right, Ruby," Liam asked.

"Just unlock the door, please! I make a mistake. This was a mistake! You have to let me go before they catch up!" She cried, yanking on the handle.

"Before who catches up? Skip tracers?" I responded, eyeing her green uniform and mud-stained shoes. I widened my eyes, "Wait, did you just come from the camp?"

She nodded and replied, "The Children's League broke me out,"

"And you ran away from them?" Liam responded, looking at Zu and me. We nodded our heads.

"What does that have to do with anything? You heard her- unlock the stupid door! We already have PSFs and skip tracers after us; we don't need to add the League to the list! They probably think we took her, and if they put the call that freaks are roaming around in a black minivan..." Chubs interrupted.

"No time! We need to leave!" I told them.

"He's right," Ruby said. "I'm sorry, please. I don't want any more trouble for you."

"You want to go back to them?" Liam said, facing her. "Listen, it's none of my business, Green, but you have the right to know that whatever lies they fed you probably aren't true. They aren't our angel network. They have their own agenda, and if they plucked you out of camp, it means they have a plan for you."

We all looked at him in shock. There's no way Liam would know all of that on the top of his head.

Ruby shook her head, "You think I don't know that?"

"Okay, then why are you in a hurry to get back?" He asked calmly.

"No, but I can't - I didn't mean to drag you into this-"

"Do you want to go back to them?" I interrupted.

Chubs looked at the two of us, but our attention was on Ruby. She sighed.

"No," She replied, "I don't."

Liam focused his attention back on the minivan. He shifted it out of park, and the vehicle moved forward.