Renegade

9. Carter

We found Quinn standing over a broken globe, a piece of paper in her hands. She didn't even turn when we entered, and Rachel had to shake her to gain her attention. "What?"

"I'm adopted," Quinn gasped, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between us and the paper. "My real name is Zoey Elizabeth Knox. What kind of a name is that?"

Rachel took two steps back, her hands flying up to her mouth as tears began to brim her eyes. My body was frozen as I stared at Zoey. Her eyes settled on the papers, our reactions unnoticed.

My sob broke the silence, grabbing Zoey's attention. "What?" she almost snapped.

"Zoey," I breathed, my cheeks stained with tears. Rachel and I moved in sync towards her, wrapping our arms around her and each other. For a moment, I forgot about the camp, the apocalypse, the fake pregnancy- everything faded away. In that moment, only Rachel, Zoey, and I existed. Rachel and I cried, grasping each other's hands, which were behind Zoey. For a moment, everything was perfect.

And then she spoke.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" she ducked, moving out from under our arms and glaring at us. "Can't you see I'm going through something here?"

"Zoey," Rachel choked, "Oh my God, Zoey. I promised you, remember? I promised you and now, here- here we are. Oh my God, Zoey. I- We've missed you." Rachel moved towards her, trying to hug her again. Zoey stepped back.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Reality hit me much harder than I would have thought possible. If Zoey didn't know about her adoption, she didn't know about Rachel and me. While we busted our asses trying to find her, she grew up in a house much too large for a family of three, with a shit load of instruments and money and numerous bathrooms.

"You are," I said, my voice sounding almost harsh. "But of course you wouldn't know it."

"What's going on?" Zoey dropped her adoption papers, her hands flying up to her head. "What's happening?"

"We can't explain everything," Rachel put her hand out as she spoke, trying to step towards Zoey. She responded by taking two steps back, staring at Rachel's hand like it was a weapon prepared to kill her. Rachel's face fell, and I wanted to hurt Zoey for hurting Rachel again. "But we'll explain what we can."

Zoey looked back and forth between Rachel and I, tugging at her hair slightly. "Knox," she finally whispered. "Knox. You're my sisters?"

I nodded, taking a step towards her. "We're your sisters."

--

"I got sick when I was two," Zoey said, staring at the kitchen table. "My parents took care of me. They put me through surgery and treatment-"

Rachel shook her head. "No. You got sick and were stuck with us at the foster home for a few months. Things were getting really bad when they walked into the picture. I didn't want to be separated from you, but I couldn't help you, and they had money, and could pay for your treatment..."

"We busted our asses," I spoke up. "When we finally were adopted we worked every job we could find. We didn't know if you were alive because they changed your name, we thought maybe you were in another country..."

"What would you have done if you had found me?" she half-snorted. "Taken me from the only people I had known to be my family?"

"We're your family!" Rachel's voice was much louder than Zoey and I had anticipated, and we jumped slightly. "We're your family," she repeated, at a normal volume. "Not them."