Outliers

Chapter 4: Running

          "I can't," Ariana said. Her eyes were wide with terror. She gasped for air.

          "Yes," Xavier said firmly, "you can."

          "Just...have to calm down," I said, the coughing almost faded.

          She nodded, tears blinking out of her eyes. She managed to take in a deep breath. Granted, she coughed it right back out, but it was the start she needed. Not long after that, she was able to stand.

          We trudged along at as fast a pace as we could, the energy to run sucked right out of us. I opened my eyes wider and breathed a sigh of relief as my eyes landed on a closed-in parking lot, as good of a cover as we could have hoped for.

          "Guys," I nodded towards the lot. "Down here." We scanned for any nearby Takers that would see us. None had made it to the other side of the forest yet. We could get into the lot unseen.

          We crept inside, quietly weaving in between the blue Solar-Cars. The pickup truck we found seemed like nothing short of a miracle. We didn't usually see many vehicles bigger than a basic mini-car in this area. We made our way around the truck to hide behind it. Ariana and I sat against the back wheel, and Xavier leaned against the front.

          There, we took a breather. My whole body hurt, and I was bleeding here and there from the glass stuck in my skin. Some shards had been ripped out as we ran. Those spots bled the most. There were also the burns from stray flames that had leapt onto my skin and eaten holes in my clothes.

          But none of that could compete with the smoke inhalation. It felt like smoke was swimming in my lungs, up and up, pushing out the oxygen I needed. I tried to hold in the coughing fits that tickled with more and more force at my throat. They were inevitable. Ariana was in no better shape, and Xavier would have gotten the worst of the smoke since he'd been at centre of the fire. I had no right to complain.

          The peace of our hiding spot allowed us to begin breathing normally and ease some of the glass shards out of our skin.

          "We'll check in the lot," a lady's voice said only minutes later. "You guys keep looking around the perimeter. Maybe they died in their stupid little fire." She sounded hopeful.

          The door clicked open, its sound resonating throughout the lot. I tensed all over, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. We were sitting ducks. They were going to catch us.

          I'm gonna try something, I thought to my friends. And it's probably really stupid, so I'm sorry. I ignored their mental protests. You won't miss the cue.

          I crept from car to car, out of the Takers' sight. I needed to be close if I had a chance at reaching all of them. I looked over and saw the lady and two men searching in between cars.

          Get ready, I told my friends.

          And then, I screamed in the Taker's minds as loud as I could. They doubled over, clutching their heads. It was working! But with the loud volume I had to transmit, I couldn't focus on much else. Hopefully my friends had taken their cue to run out of the lot. I had to believe they had. I couldn't keep this up much longer, and I still needed to get out.

          I started towards the exit, but I had to run right past the Takers. I dashed past the men,their faces scrunched up in pain. I sprinted past the woman, but her hand snaked around my wrist, jerking me backwards. I stared at her, horrified, my focus broken. She straightened up, as did the others, and I tried everything to twist out of her grasp. It was no use.