The Alpha Project

Chapter 5

I sat back in my seat as we drove down the road, watching Ali as she looked out the window. After giving her arm another check, I gave her a pack with clean clothes and snacks that Mother had packed before we left. Ali stayed quiet most of the ride while I searched for a spot we could camp at for the night.

"Who were those people? Back at the lab?" she suddenly asked, her voice soothing and soft.

"The ones that came with me?" I asked.

Ali gave a short nod. "They called you 'dreamer'."

I smiled. "Those were my friends from the city. Dreamer is a nickname they have for me."

"'Friends?'" Ali repeated. "What is that?"

The question surprised me, but I understood why she wouldn't know what a friend was.

"Friends are..." I struggled to find the words. "Someone who you can always count on. Someone who would do anything for and support you if you were struggling."

"Like an ally?" she asked.

"Kind of, except you usually don't talk about the deep stuff to your ally. Friends have a much deeper connection and bond than an ally would."

"Are you my friend?" Ali asked.

I offered her a smile. "We can be friends, yeah."

Ali smiled back. That smile was rare. Maybe this trip would be so bad after all if she's willing to trust me enough to be her friend.

"Let's make a stop real quick," I said, pulling into the dense forest.

I stopped the van and hopped out, running over to Ali's side to assist her, and she took a deep breath.

"The smells," she whispered in awe.

"Your senses, they must be really sharp," I noted.

"Compared to yours, they are," she said, not taking her eyes off the woods.

"How much did they teach you about forests?" I asked.

"Not too much, by the looks of it. They had simulations in the lab, but it was nothing like this."

They walked around a little more until Ali slowed to a stop. "What's that sound?" she asked.

I listened the best I could, but I couldn't hear a sound. "I don't hear anything. What does it sound like?"

"Crashing?"

"Could be a river," I assumed. "Your hearing is wicked."

"Wicked?" Ali asked, very confused at my use of vocabulary.

Right, no expressions.

"It means really cool or good."

"Oh. I was told I could hear things about an 8-mile radius."

That's crazy!

I looked up at the sky. It will be sunset soon. But that wasn't the only thing I saw, dark clouds. That was when the rain started. Ali shrieked as she felt the droplets slowly speed up their descents. This was going to be a hell of a downpour.

In a panic, Ali jogged up to me, clung to my side, and tried to hide from the rain. I tensed but relaxed and covered her head with my hand as best as possible.

"What is that?" she asked?

I softly chuckled. "That's called rain. It's just water. It won't hurt you."

"It is cold," she trembled.

I smirked and rubbed her good arm in support. "Let's just get back into the van. We might have to sleep in there because of the rain. Is this your first sunset?"