Project X

The Way it Began: Blue

    "Insensitive." I told him. He shrugged again,

    "You lived." Kai shook her head and scolded him,

    "You gotta stop being such a dick, Pooh."

    "Can't help it." He told her, as he stuck his tablet back into his bag, "I am what I eat."

    "Ew!" She smacked his arm, "And also, you do not, virgin!"

    "Okay, also virgin!" He shot back,

    "Yeah, by choice!"

    "Guys." I interrupted them, "Calm down, okay? We've got one more off the list, but there's possibly still more of us to find. And, apparently, we aren't as safe from Phil as we thought. So, right now, we just need to focus on getting off the road, finding a safe place to hide out, and staying alive. Can everybody do that?" Kai nodded grumpily, and Irwin mumbled out a 'yes'. They looked like I was their mother and had just told them no dessert because they couldn't stop fighting.

    "Good." I clasped my hands together, "So, any ideas?"

~~~~~

    We argued for a good hour over what we should do. In the end, Irwin ended up looking the wrecked truck over and determining that it would still run. He flipped it back over and fixed up the dents in the roof and remaining door (and by 'fixed' I mean 'punched until it looked kind of passable'), while Kai found the keys, and I used some baling wire I found in the bed to shoddily reattach the door Irwin had so kindly removed. It wouldn't open, and that window was permanently rolled down, but we also wouldn't look suspicious driving around with a missing door. We took turns driving, looking for a safe place to stop and hide out; pretty much only stopping for gas, food, and bathroom breaks. And only at well-known places. With lots of people. And no mushrooms.

    We drove like that for two or three days, until one night. Irwin was in the passenger's seat, looking out the window. Kai was passed out in the middle seat, slumped against his shoulder. From the corner of my eye, it looked like he was chewing the inside of his cheek- something he does when he's anxious- and I was just working up to asking him what was wrong when he suddenly turned to me.

    "Jace."

    "Yeah?"

    "I was wondering..." He paused, seeming to contemplate if he wanted to continue, "That guy. Is he?..." He sighed, "He's not really your dad, is he?"

    "I... I don't know." I replied honestly, "I mean, he says he is. Insists on it, in fact. And, like, I know we obviously can't trust him; but, he seems like the type who would tell the truth as long as it sucked more than a lie. I just... Don't know."

    "I just can't imagine you being related to someone like that." His voice sounded grave, "He's just... Everything about him feels wrong. Inhuman. It's like... Like he knows he's stronger and smarter than us and he's just. Toying with us. Ever since we ran into him a few days ago, I can't stop thinking about it, and how something felt off. Almost like... Like he wasn't serious." He started to chew on his cheek again, "Like, if he really wanted to take you he probably could've done it at any time. And he left before we had the chance to try to fight him, but it didn't feel like he was running away. And, hell, are we really gonna pretend it was a coincidence that the truck he left behind works?" He paused, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache.

    "It just feels calculated." He finally continued, putting his glasses back on, "Like this is a game to him or something. Like he's so pre-assured he's going to win he has to drop advantages in our lap just to keep it interesting for himself. And not even to mention how much of a literal psychopath he has to be in the first place to be experimenting on literal infants just for the possibility of creating magical super-soldiers. It's... It's scary, honestly. And the thought that you might share blood with that guy..."