The Darkest Minds - "I'm a red,"

2.

"A lot of agents here are ex-military, like Rob," she says, referencing a man who helped with the bus raid.

"Even more of us are civilians who joined because we believed in Alban's mission for truth or to try to gain a little more information on what was happening to our kids or siblings. There are a little more than two-hundred-fifty active agents, with about a hundred or so in HQ, monitoring Ops, training, or working on our tech. We were founded only a few months ago. So we still have room to grow," Cate explains as we walk.

"How many kids are here?" I ask, wondering how many of us are here.

"Fifteen. And you're the only Red," she says and my eyes widen. Where are the others?

"Where are all the reds? In the camps?" I ask, confused.

Cate gets a look on her face. "Most of them, we haven't found any outside. Reds are extremely rare," she tells me.

"We're rare?" Cate nods her head.

The entire place is covered in cement. The only thing interesting about the building is its shape. The entrance leads directly in front of a large, circular centre room that is enclosed by curving glass walls.

The hallway we stand in forms a ring around the room, though I can see at least four different hallways that branch out from its straight lines.

My eyes dart to the right as we walk, watching the figures mulling around the big room. Inside are a handful of mounted TVs, below them round cafeteria tables. There's an assortment of agents playing cards, reading, or eating.

"All the teams here have different functions. The greens are usually here for tech support, some go out on technical ops. Our team, however, is tactical. Our range of abilities will serve us well in HQ and in the field," Cate adds as we pass other agents, the word Red slipping past their lips.

We finally exit the outer ring, ducking down one of the straight hallways. Cate doesn't say anything, even as we pass clusters of agents.

We walk down the long hallway until we come to a door with Cate's name on it. She holds onto the handle. "Ready?" She asks and I nod my head.

It's her bedroom, obviously, with all the little knickknacks she's smuggled in. The room is small, but liveable. A cot sits in the corner, a girl on the cot.

The girl stands, Vida, I'm assuming. She's beautiful, a mix of ethnicities giving her skin an amazing autumn glow. She has high cheekbones and almond eyes, her lips full. Her hair is short and dark brown.

She puts out her hand. "Vida. Nice to meet you. Jia, yeah?" She asks. Vida's voice is punctual and loud. But underneath all the confidence, I can tell she's been hurt before. In a way, I can understand. All broken kids can spot each other.

"Yeah. Jia. Nice to meet you," I respond, giving her hand a firm shake. She gives Cate a hug, they must be close.

After the hug she crosses her arms, assessing me. "So, what's your story?" Vida asks, taking a protective stance in front of Cate.

I sigh. "Oh, you know, dad died, drunk, abusive mom. Cate was my caseworker before the entire thing happened. My mom called me in for the reward and I found her card and called, I didn't know what to do. She rescued me," I explain, looking back over to Cate as she smiles.