*Blake pictured above*
The man was standing. Straight up, like nothing ever hit him. Of course he had fallen, I had heard him connect with the car. But he wasn't supposed to be alive now, he shouldn't have gotten back up that quickly let alone at all.
Flea was ready to send another blast of air in his direction, I could see it in her eyes. She wasn't connecting the dots. I, on the other hand, had just finished stringing them all together.
"Flea stop!" I called, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady myself as I stood, never once taking my eyes of the stranger who's face I still couldn't see.
I felt Flea's confused gaze land on me but I also felt the tension in the air subside so I knew she was listening.
"Your cursed?" I asked him. Knowing that this man was like us, that he had felt our same suffering, made me feel braver, like I could confront him easier knowing that he understands all of us cursed kids.
He tilted his head and pursed his lips, considering what I had said.
"Elaborate?" He asked.
"Cursed," Flea piped up. "You have special talents, odd, inexplicable powers, your a freak?"
"Well I much rather like referring to myself as a superhero, like spider man or the Incredible Hulk, as opposed to a freak." He said casually. Nerd, I thought, despite myself.
I heard shuffling behind me as Flea got up to her feet.
I studied the stranger the best I could from this distance and he let me. Finally he spoke, "Now that you've had your fun electrocuting me, would you care to hop in the back seat?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and I realized that he was younger than I had presumed. I saw the silhouette of his arm gesture to the car door on his left side.
"Why? And who is that?" I asked, in perhaps a little more aggravated tone than I meant to use. The boy still kept his eyes on me.
"Hey, now." He held up his hands defensively and spoke calmly, and I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "That is my partner, Alice. She's umm what did you call it? Cursed? she's just like you two and me. And as for why you need to get in the car, preferably sometime in the near future, is because we would like to keep you girlies away from the Zone." Alice was leaning up against the front of the car and gave a little wave of her hand when her name was mentioned.
I turned to Flea but when I looked to where she'd been standing, she wasn't there. I turned forward again. She had somehow snuck out in front of me without me noticing. Now she was standing right next to the boy, hand on the door handle, looking over her shoulder right at me.
"Better risk this than going back to that place. Besides, we don't have anywhere else to go." She said.
I looked back and forth between Alice, the mystery boy, and Flea who was already climbing into the back seat. I hesitated a moment. What was she thinking? Getting into a car with strangers whom we'd only just met a couple minuets ago and were very close to killing was not a good plan.
"Idiot." I mumbled to myself. I jogged up to the car after Flea. The boy and Alice had already gotten back in their respected side's of the car.
Flea had buckled herself in so I did the same but neither Alice nor the boy buckled their's.
The boy started the car and just like that we were rolling on down the road.
This was so alien to me. I hadn't been inside any sort of vehicle in years, let alone see other people besides the kids at the zone.
"So, what should I call you?" Said the boy, he didn't look back at us when he talked, he kept his eyes on the road the whole time, guding the car down the narrow, straight road. I still and hadn't seen his face.
I stopped Flea from answering with a stern look that shut her right up.
"That depends." I said coldly. I opened my mouth to finish he phrase but the boy finished it first.
"On who's asking, doesn't it?" The boy cut in, amused.
Alice responded by smacking him on the shoulder. Hard.
"Be nice! For goodness sakes, we want them to like us not hate our guts!" Alice had somewhat of a southern lilt when she spoke, it was sweet and soft like syrup.
"Ok, jeez!" He said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to rub his shoulder.
"I'm Blake. Blake Heron. And you both are..." He waited for us to chime in but Flea was the only who spoke. I was still unnerved by the recent change of scenery and abrupt turn of events.
"I'm Flea, and this is Roach." Blake tried to suppress a chuckle but it snuck its way out. Again, Alice slapped him on the shoulder.
"It's not nice to laugh at people's names, they didn't get to choose them!" Blake mumbled a hardly audible apology before returning his attention back to us but Flea spoke again before he could say whatever it was he was about to.
"But these aren't our birth names, It's what they called us back at the zone. The monitors chose them." The car was silent again before Blake broke it.
"So what are your real names then. You know, the ones I can call you two without making it sound like I'm verbally bullying you?" I watched Flea as she pointed to herself.
"Well umm, I'm actually Taylor Sullivan. And Roach is actually..." Her voice trailed off. I had never told anyone my real name, we weren't allowed to. In fact, this was the first time I'd heard Flea's real name. Hmm. Taylor. What a beautiful name...
"I'll stick with Roach, thanks." I muttered. Flea sulked back in the seat, obviously disappointed she had shared her true identity and I had kept mine a secret.
"Whatever suites your fancy, I guess." Said Blake. The car drifted into that same uncomfortable silence.
I was still on edge with this whole situation. Alice and Blake were laid back and easy going enough that I knew they could not have been monitors trying to drag us back to the zone. That and we were driving further away from the zone as opposed to towards it.
"Where are we going?" I asked. Blake let Alice answer this time.
"Well, we are currently headed to a gas station because our tank is dangerously close to empty. But, in the long run, we are trying to get you two into Omaha by tomorrow afternoon or so. That's where Order's base is." Her answer cleared up hardly any of my confusion.
"Who's Order? Where are we now?" I asked. Blake sighed like he was about ready to recite a speech he'd already given dozens of times.
"We work for this group called Order that consists of people like us, the people with the variations. We gather them from all over the world from who knows where and then after we teach you all the tools of the trade for how to strengthen and use your powers, we fight the bad guys. You know, like your basic hostage situations, bank robbers, plane hijackings, etcetera, etcetera." My brain was trying desperately to sort through the information. Flea, I suppose I should start calling her Taylor now, was quicker to accept these facts than I was.
"How did you find us? How come you don't go and break out all the other kids at the zone? What do you mean by variations? Isn't it dangerous, what you guys do?" Taylor was bursting with questions but Blake cut her off before she could finish, looking at her through the rear view mirror.
"Hey, slow down there speed racer!" He chuckled before continuing.
"You can thank Alice for finding you. Her variation is the ability to see places that she isn't physically at. Like she can spy on wherever she wants to without actually being there. She was watching the zone for a while and she noticed that you two girls were a little more free willed that the others. So last week, we hightailed it over here and she watched you up until your great escape and now, well now we're here. Your other questions we will answer when we reach Omaha." Blake glanced at me in the mirror again. I noticed that his eyes were a startling blue, similar to Flea's only they were somewhat darker, a deeper, oceanic blue. I looked away from the mirror, realizing I'd been staring.
"Why should we trust you?" I asked him, becoming more and more aware of how little control we had over our current predicament.
"What do you care what answer I give to that? You can't trust us, but you already knew that. We have no proof to show you that we won't try and hurt you. You just have to go with your gut which is hopefully telling you to stick with the handsome guy in the front seat and the chic next to him." Blake said with a meaningless chuckle added in a vain attempt to lighten up the mood. He turned the car to the left as the road curved for the first time.
Again there was no noise. I looked over at Taylor and saw that she was staring out the window, focused on the trees as they began to disappear, the forest growing thinner and thinner as we drove further and further. Her fingers were tapping a repetitive beat on her leg.
Then I began to analyze the two teens in front of me.
There was a light on in the car, right in between the two seats on the ceiling so that I could see them better. Alice had soft honey blonde hair that fell in easy waves down her back. She wore a tan cow hide jacket, and black pants that were perhaps a size too small for her.
Blake had a different style. His black hair was spiked straight up as though he'd just woken up and had no time to wrangle it. He wore a grey speckled sweater and blue jeans that were faded and ripped in odd places.
"Pull in here." Alice said pointing off to the side where a run down little gas station sat all alone with a couple flickering yellow lights the only way to tell it was still open.
Blake turned the wheel and guided the car into the first gas pump spot.
Our car was the only one here, which was to be expected considering the late hour.
Alice swung open the door and walked around the other side of the car to begin filling up the gas tank. Blake stayed in the car but he turned around to face us. It was the first time I had gotten a good look at his face instead of just a sliver of his eyes in the mirror or the outline of it in the dark.
"Well. Since we're going to be spending quite a lot of time together from now on we should probably start to get to know each other a little better. Got any hobbies?" He looked at Taylor first, already learning that she was more willing to share information that I was. But I proved him wrong when I replied first.
"I don't know if you remember but we were in a camp for the last three years, we don't really have any hobbies." The harshness in my voice startled even me. Blake held up his hands defensively.
"That's right, my bad, my bad. What about your name, princess, why don't you tell me what it is now that you know who we are?" A mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of his lips and I caught myself staring a little too long.
I shook my head to refocus my attention.
"I'm still not telling you. But don't call me princess." I said, crossing my arms.
"Ok, how about Doll Face then?" Blake said with a smirk.
Just then Alice burst in to the passenger side door, this time buckling herself in.
She gave Blake a wild look, one that conveyed not fear but excitement and thrill.
"Drive!" She shouted at him, Blake obeyed. He too did up his seat belt, pressing down on the gas slightly too hard and sending the car lurching forward.
"You girls buckled in?" She asked not even bothering to look and check for herself.
"Yeah we're good. What's the rush?" Taylor said, fastening her seatbelt. I hadn't bothered to take mine off.
"The monitor search crews just left the zone. We need to move." Alice said. But it was the way she said it that bothered me. She wasn't scared. She said it like there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. She said it like it was a normal, everyday statement, that had no significant meaning.
"Well. Ok then." I said. It was strange. I didn't know how to react. Blake and Alice weren't giving me any hint to worry so it was almost like they were convincing me that I shouldn't freak out.
When I looked over my shoulder, there weren't any approaching cars.
"There's no one following us." Taylor was squinting through the window too. Trying to see something through the coating of dried mud that covered most of the glass.
"No. Not yet. But they're just behind the trees. We won't be able to see them yet." Alice said. That's right, her curse, she could see the monitors before us, like she had sensed them coming.
"So your not worried they'll catch up?" I asked, slowly coming to terms with the fact that monitors, monitors, were following us.
"Nope. Not at all. We'll stay ahead of them until we get to Omaha and we're practically invisible once we reach The Order's base." Alice said, kicking her feet up on the dash board and leaning back in her chair.
"You should get some sleep. Your probably exhausted and it's a long ride to Omaha from Montana." Alice yawned.
Montana. So that's where we are. It's a long way from my old home in Colby Kansas. I spared one last glance at Taylor. I wondered what she thought about the fact that we had lived in Montana for the last three years and we'd never known it until now.
I settled back in my chair and looked out the window. The trees were gone now, it was just open road and hilly landscape on either side of us. I didn't want to sleep. I still hadn't decided whether or not Alice and Blake were trustworthy people. But at the same time I did want to sleep. I was incredibly tired and, I mean, if they wanted to hurt me or Taylor they would've done so already, right? So I drifted in and out of sleep until I finally closed my eyes for how long, I don't know, but when I woke, the sun was already high in the sky.
I rubbed my eyes and I almost couldn't remember where I was for a moment, or what was happening to me. When I did become fully awake, I heard singing. Blake had turned the radio on and was flipping through stations until he eventually settled on a station playing We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by the Animals. He began wailing in an off key tone along with Phil Ryan. I recognized the song instantly. It'd been a while since I'd heard music, but I never would forget the sound of The Animals. They were Charlotte's favorite band and she had forced me to listen to every one of their songs ever since I was little.
Beside me Taylor was awake and she was quietly chatting with Alice about something that I wasn't particularly interested in.
"How much longer?" I asked whoever would answer. It turns out that was what Alice and Taylor were talking about.
"Alice just told me we should be coming into Omaha in about thirty minutes. We've been driving for 12 and a half hours. You slept almost the whole way, we were wondering if you'd ever wake up." I rubbed my eyes again and sat up straighter. I couldn't believe I'd missed 12 and a half hours of my first day of freedom sleeping it away.
"You can't sing." I told Blake, stating a fact I'm sure Alice and Taylor already knew.
Blake gave a slight chuckle and glanced in the rearview mirror to look me in the eyes.
"Well I'm not exactly American Idol material but what are you gonna do, am I right?"
We sat in silence for the remainder of the drive. There was nothing I could busy myself with in the thirty minute time frame that it took to get to Omaha so I stared out the window. There wasn't much to see except for the occasional water tower, small clutters of old houses, and caved in barns. Every time we passed a house I wondered what the people were like that lived there. I wondered if they knew how good they had it. But then I would think about maybe they have a child in the zone. There were only about 100 kids in the zone so it was unlikely. But still, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd seen their nephews and nieces or brothers and sisters or sons and daughters.
Yet still I envied them. How is it that they get the pleasure of living out a normal life while the rest of us kids have to be forced to become soldiers thanks to these stupid, merciless curses. What did we do to deserve that? And now Taylor and I will never have a normal life, we'll never stop running from our curses, from our past.
"Get down." Blake calls from the front seat in a whisper. Its almost coming to an end, this long drive, for something to go wrong now would be like fate saying "whoops sorry, it's a shame. You almost made it."
But as it turns out, we were approaching Omaha. I could tell because just before I lowered my head from the window, I caught a glimpse of the "welcome to Omaha" sign.
I steal a glimpse at Taylor, who has her head pressed against her knees and her back arched in an uncomfortable angle. Alice and Blake keep their heads up, like they aren't harboring two cursed kids in the backseat.
I keep my gaze on the floor, concentrating on my heartbeat as it races beneath my white uniform shirt.
Five minuets tick by, each one feeling slower than the last but I don't dare move.
"Ok, you can get up." Alice says. I raise my head and look out the window again and I'm shocked to find utter darkness. I twist my neck so I can look between Alice and Blake through the front windshield. A wall is lit up by the front headlights of the car and I quickly come to the realization that we have pulled into some kind of one car garage.
Blake takes the keys out of the ignition and unbuckles his seat belt. Alice also releases hers, as does Taylor. Blake swings open his door and climbs out of the car. I can see him stretch his legs and arms while making some irritating yawning noises. Alice climbs out too but me and Taylor stay where we're at.
Alice and Blake start having a conversation at the front of the car.
Taylor gives me a look before returning her gaze to Alice and Blake.
"You know." She says, I can tell she's trying to choose her words carefully.
"You should give them a chance. I really do think they're trying to help us. You should let them." I shake my head slowly. Does she really not get it? They might say they want the best for us but it's not true. They want what's best for themselves and we just happen to be a helpful asset to get them there.
"You heard what they want us to do. They work for Order, which if I heard right, means they just want to use us for the same things that the government wanted to use us for. To stop the bad guys. Isn't that the same thing as working in the military? Just under a different title." Taylor gives an aggravated sigh. She still doesn't believe me.
"I think you just need to listen more to their side of things. From what they said, it sounds like they're giving us a chance to learn how to use our curses." I put my hand on the door and pushed open.
"Ok Flea." I said, accidentally using her old nickname to address her.
"We'll stay with them until things start to shift into a bad lights. Then we'll hit the road again." I climb out of the car and walk to the front of it to meet up with Alice and Blake. Blake turns to face me, his deep blue eyes startling me with the intensity of his gaze.
"Ok, we pulled into the housing quarters first so you guys can get settled then we'll give you a tour of the place." He claps his hands and rubs them together as her turns to look at the wall. He knocks twice on it and a door that I hadn't realized was there, swings open. We a greeted by a girl who couldn't be older than nine.
"Hey, Bethany. What's shakin' bacon?" Blake asks, ruffling the girls blonde hair. It's the same color as Alice's.
Bethany lets out a girlish giggle before she turns to greet us. I feel my breath catch in my throat when she looks at me. I hadn't expected to see eyes like the ones she has. Her eyes are white. There's no pupil, there's no iris, no veins, nothing. Just a clouded white space underneath her eyelids. I think for a second that she must be blind but that can't be since she's holding out her hand right at me for me to shake.
I reach out slowly and she takes my hand and gives it a firm squeeze before letting go.
"I'm Bethany." She says in southern accent similar to the way Alice speaks, a smile as wide as the ocean is deep appearing on her face.
"Roach." I return the smile, but only half way. Blake seems to notice my discomfort.
"Bethany is Alice's baby sister. She's powered too only her ability sacrificed her eyesight. See, Bethany has sense, it's like, well it's like... Why don't you explain it." He says to Bethany, giving up whatever it is he was trying to get across.
The little girl looks at both Taylor and I.
"Well, I can't see you with my eyes, but I can see you with my thoughts. It's like this invisible hand is reaching out and brushing you so I know where you stand, what actions you are doing but without actually seeing you do them." Alice nods along with every word as her sister continues to explain her curse. Almost like she's proud of what little Bethany can do.
"But I can sense you through walls too. Through any solid objects up to 100 feet away, Blake helped me test it ages ago. That's why I guard the door. I can tell who's about to come in without actually having to risk a peek at them. You know, I case someone trying to find us."
We leave Bethany where she is and advance further into the hall.
It's wide and has doors on either side. I don't count how many there are total but I do notice that they stop us at the fifth one on the right side.
"Welcome to your new home." Alice says before unlocking the door and flinging it open. She tosses the keys at me and I catch them.
"All yours. It's not much but it's better than the zone. So we'll let you get organized, there's some clothes on your beds for you to change into and a bathroom right through that door. If the clothes don't fit we'll find you some others, I kind of had to eyeball it when I was keeping track of you."
"We'll be back in ten." Blake adds and with that, they leave.
The room has two twin beds, each with a folded set of clothes on top. There's one desk on the left side and a desk lamp that lights up the room with a faint yellow glow. However, there's no windows which bothers me a little more than it should. The place is paradise compared to bunker 3.
I walk over to the bed that's closer to the back wall and claim it as my own. Taylor takes the one closest to the door. We change into the clothes given to us. The outfits are clearly made up of whatever they could find in a hurry. The ripped jeans they gave me are clearly men's and at least a full size to big. The sweater they donated to me fits fine but I try to ignore the fact that it's a George W. Bush for president promotional sweater from 2004.
Taylor has it a little better, the sweat pants she got may be bright red but at least they fit. Her pink long sleeve shirt has a faded number 66 on the front and I'm not sure what it means.
I get into the bathroom first. It's small and you can hardly reach your arms out without hitting a wall. They did, however, manage to fit a shower, a toilet, and a sink in the tiny space.
I look at myself I the mirror not at all surprised by what I see but still not happy about it. My apple green eyes stare back at me with dark circles underneath. My brown hair is a tangled rats nest on top of my head and the dirt has mixed with a little bit of blood from a cut on my cheek and its dried itself on my face. I scrub it off with my hands and the water from the rusted faucet. I scrape off the dirt until the freckles on my nose and cheeks show themselves again.
Taylor knocks on the door just as I am trying to sort through my hair with my fingers.
"Roach? You almost done in there?" I yank my falling pants back up again before opening up the door for her.
"Yeah go ahead." Just as Taylor switches places with me and I'm back in the room again, there is a slight knocking at the door.
I walk over to it and peer through the peep hole to find Bethany standing there.
I unlock and open the door to let her in but she just stands there and watched me with her white eyes.
"Hello? Bethany?" I ask. She shakes her head and blinks a couple of times as if to shake herself out of some sort of trance.
"Yeah, sorry, ok. I just wanted to tell you that Blake and Alice are waiting for you in the control center. I'll take you there now if your ready." She said, smiling with all the innocence of a puppy, a dimple digging its way into her left cheek.
"Taylor!" I yelled.
"Yep?" Came the reply from the bathroom.
"You ready?" She came out of the bathroom, patting her face dry with a towel.
"Pretty much." I slipped on the pair of winter boots that were left beside my bed and went to join Bethany in the hallway with Taylor fallowing after.
"So is there anything you can tell me about Order. At this point any information you have could help clear up things a little." Bethany gave me a halfhearted smile as we kept walking down to the end of the hall.
"Unfortunately I hardly know anything about it. Alice refuses to tell me anything. I know about as much as you." We reached the end where another door was. Bethany inserted a little silver key that was dangling by a chain around her neck into the lock on the door.
The control center was big. Not quite the size of the storage room back at the zone but it came close. The floor was made of some black marble that sparkled and shimmered under the white lights. Around the walls there were desks that had people sitting at them, typing away on laptops. The floor drops down into some sort of mini sunk in circle that you can reach by going down about five or six stairs. In that circle at the center of the place, there are more desks and more people typing and shuffling papers and filling the room with chatter as they have multiple people in the room on very intense phone calls.
"Come on!" Bethany said, slightly annoyed and I realized that Taylor and I had been stalled at the door trying to take in the whole scene. I hurried after her, down that little flight of stairs where Blake and Alice were conversing with some lady in a grey suit.
"Alice!" Bethany hollered, tugging on her sisters jacket, ignoring the fact that they were in some deep discussion with the suit clad lady.
"What is it Beth?" She growled but she didn't wait for an answer because when she saw us the grim expression on her face lit up.
"Oh hey guys." Blake said without much enthusiasm. He gave a little wave of his fingers as a hello though I could still tell he was stressed from the conversation that had just come to an abrupt end.
"Oh! Ms. Daniels, this is Taylor and Roach. We found them after their escape from the zone. Girls, this is Ms. Daniels, head of all Order operations." Alice introduced us and waited until we'd all shaken hands.
"Hmm." Mused Ms. Daniels, running a thumb along her jaw. "What an unusual name, Roach. Given to you at the zone I assume. I want you to know that you have friends here and there is no reason to keep secrets from friends, now is there." I didn't like this Ms. Daniels and I'd only known her for less than a minute.
"I'm not keeping secrets, I'm protecting my privacy." I mumbled, grinding my teeth. Ms. Daniels' eyes went wide as she stared at me, nodding her head ever so slightly.
"I see. Well, when you no longer feel the need to protect your privacy, I'd love to know what I should begin calling you." She gave me one last unreadable glance before nodding a goodbye to Blake and Alice and striding off.
"That was stupid." Blake bites his lip and gives me a stern look.
"Get used to it because I tend to do stupid things a lot." I cross my arms and peer over at Alice.
"What is that lady's problem, anyway?" I asked her, flicking my eyes over to where Ms. Daniels form was disappearing down a hallway. Alice shrugs and exchanges a look with Blake.
"She's really not so bad, just she's been a bit bitter since her son, Ethan died."
"That was like, 13 years ago! She shouldn't be making us feel like crap when she just needs to get over it and move on." Blake argued.
"He had Leukemia, you insensitive jerk. I think she deserves a few years to blow off some steam." Blake huffed and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like, "More like a few decades to make our lives a living Hell." I rolled my eyes and scoffed. I didn't want to hear these two bicker anymore, it was time I figured out exactly what I was in for.
"So, are we gonna get a suitable explanation of everything now, or does one really not exist." I'm trying to be as sour as I can, trying to make them realize everything Taylor and I have gone through. It doesn't work, she just laughs it off.
"Right ok, so ask away with whatever questions you have." She says, squeezing Bethany's shoulder as she wraps her arm around her.
I didn't ask any questions. I just listened to all of the answers they gave to Taylor who seemed to have a never ending supply of confusions. From what I heard, I have learned that Order is funded through donations from everyday, normal people who are unhappy with the police and the job that their doing. So, Order swoops in to save the day whenever there's an issue than the government goes about solving the wrong way or doesn't address at all.
Also, it's not just kids who are cursed, adults get it too. I'd always assumed that adults were just immune to it since we never saw any at the zone. But from what they explained, it turns out that adults are usually tracked down and killed instead of being taken to the zone like the kids under 18 are. The reason why is because the adults would be more likely to revolt than kids and the introductory training program would not have as much of an effect on them.
One of the most shocking things I was told is what caused the curses. It is not some wild, bloodthirsty demon that has its mind set on ruining your life however it can, it's a variation.
"What is a variation?" Taylor had asked when we got on the subject. Alice jumped in to explain
"Well it's like these little tiny dots on your DNA strands that determine things like hair color, eye color, whether you'll be tall or short, or have freckles or not. Only, when the little dots find a spot to settle that's unusual and not supposed to happen, it gives you your abilities. No ones variation is the same because nobody's dots settle in the same place. They alter your genetic makeup before your even born. It's just, the powers caused by the variations show up at different ages because your brain hasn't yet learned how to access it. It knows it's there, it just doesn't know how to use it."
Alice took a moment for a brief brake, she'd managed to give the whole speech without taking a breath.
"Ok so how long have the variations existed?" I asked, catching on a little better now and speaking up for the first time to show that I got it.
"Well, we can't really say." Blake replied, crossing his arms.
"There's been some evidence of them in Greek and Roman myths dating around like 1600 B.C. but we can't tell whether its based on the variations or if its actual myth. The only reason why Order was founded so recently was because there's been a spike in the amount of variation cases. That's also why there's a zone too. The government wants to keep them a secret, they don't want the country to freak out when they discover there's real life superheroes and super villains living among them." Ok, that made sense. I understood for the most part what was happening, why the worlds gone insane, but it's hard to wrap my mind around all of this new information.
"I'm starved." Taylor says suddenly. I glance over at her and see that her face has gone completely white. I guess she's taking the new facts a little harder than I am.
"We have ham sandwich in the cafeteria." Bethany says in a warm voice.
So we fallow Bethany as she leads us across the control center.
Taylor speeds up her pace to go talk with Alice while Blake hangs back a little until he falls into pace with me.
He clears his throat before speaking, but I don't look at him.
"So, I just felt somewhat obligated to say that umm- well- I'm glad your here, you and your friend. No one should have to go through what you two had to. What they do at the zone, it's just not human. I'm really sorry it happened to anyone at all." He was trying to choose his words carefully but me, I didn't bother thinking about what I had said until I'd already said it.
"Look, we don't need your sympathy. We don't need your either. Don't try to make it sound like you actually care about us because your not fooling anybody." I said coldly, my words visibly stinging him from the way his face looked so hurt in the corner of my eye.
"I'm not saying you need my sympathy. You and Taylor are brave enough to escape the zone, your strong enough to not be as damaged as the other kids who went through the introductory training. You don't need my sympathy, you need my help. You girls could really help give Order the push it needs to really make some noticeable progress."
"Sounds like you need my help more than I need yours." I say, keeping my eyes forward, not wanting to look him the eye for some reason even I didn't know.
"Well, yeah, we need to help each other. You need to learn from us how to control your variation and once you do you need to join Order."
"In your dreams." I said, picking up my pace to join Bethany, Taylor, and Alice in the cafeteria.
If I had come to understand one thing through this entire adventure, even though it sill is just beginning, is that there is no longer such a thing as trust. Me and Taylor, we have to stick together, we can't let these other people penetrate the little blanket of protection we've wrapped around ourselves. I don't want to risk her life or mine because I accidentally let someone slide in too far where they could jam a knife in our backs.
This is not a safe place, there are too many risks. I only stay because I can't convince Taylor to leave. Not yet. But if something happens, anything remotely sketchy or suspicious, we bolt. Even if I have to drag her out by her hair, we get out and we run. I'm not sure where we'd go but it'd be somewhere, far, far away from this place and the monsters that hide behind the pretty faces that beg us to stay.
HEY GUYS! SO I REALIZE THAT THIS CHAPTER WAS NOT EXACTLY THE MOST EXCITING ONE IT WAS MAINLY JUST TO HELP YOU GET A BETTER IDEA OF ORDER AND WHAT NOT. ALSO I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT I AM GOING TO BE WRITING ANOTHER STORY ALONG WITH STATIC WHICH I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT. BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT IT MAY TAKE LONGER FOR CHAPTERS IN STATIC TO BE RELEASED. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THAT AS WELL AS YOU OPINIONS ON THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER. THANKS FOR READING!!