With a groan, Pierce awoke from her deep sleep, then looked around at the forms of the other hybrids. Madigan was sleeping as far away from everyone else as possible. Elliot's eyes were drooping and he was struggling to stay awake. Grey, on the other hand, was bright-eyed and alert. "How long was I out?" Pierce whispered in a hoarse voice, using all her self-control not to flinch from the pain speaking sparked in her abdomen.
"She's awake." Grey prodded Elliot. "Now will you please get some sleep?" Elliot smiled tiredly at Pierce, then slumped over and fell asleep instantly. "Don't talk," Grey said when Pierce opened her mouth to ask her question a second time. "You've been sleeping for a few hours, so it's around noon," he informed her. Pierce watched as he pulled out a first aid kit. "We found this along with food, water, and some other supplies," he said, pulling out a clean piece of cloth. Gingerly he lifted the bottom of her tank top, revealing bandages speckled with blood.
He began unwrapping them, and Pierce angled her head, assessing the severity of her wound. "It's not too bad," Grey said, noticing her efforts. "I was able to remove the bullet easily enough. But maybe we should take you to a hospital. There could be internal damage."
"No." Pierce rejected the idea. "That's out of the question." Grey nodded like he'd been expecting the answer.
"Be careful with your right arm. I removed the bullet and stitched up the wound, but it could easily be reopened."
"So you have some medical experience as well?" Pierce frowned. "You didn't mention that when I asked about your skill set."
"It seemed insignificant." Grey shrugged. "I don't know much. Just some of the basics."
"Give yourself more credit," Pierce scoffed. "Thanks for patching me up." Her gratitude went beyond him healing her wounds. She was grateful he had found her back in the compound. Pierce looked out one of the windows from where she sat. The night had given way the purple of dusk. "Hey, Knox?" she said.
"Boss! You're awake! What can I do for ya?"
"Where are we?" she asked.
"At the moment we're flying across a desert in Cali. Death Valley, to be exact. A fitting location for Project Starfall, don't you think?" He laughed. "I'm taking us over to Fresno on Grey's command. Hope you don't mind."
"No, that's fine," Pierce replied dismissively. "Grey, I'm going to sleep again. Wake me up when we arrive.
It seemed longer than thirty minutes before Knox landed in an abandoned, overgrown field on the outskirts of the city. Pierce let the others file out first, then walked after them. She had a hard time believing that they had escaped. That they—she—was free.
Pierce stepped out of the helicopter and the midday sun's warm glow touched her pale skin. She inhaled deeply, picking up all of the wonderful and frightening smells that came from things untouched by humans. There were also the scents of things ruined by humans, but Pierce ignored those. She bent down and ran a hand through the tangle of overgrown grass and weeds. A dandelion stood out like a star among the green, and Pierce brushed a finger across its spiky yellow petals.
"We made it." Grey's soft voice broke her trance. Pierce looked intently into his eyes, trying to get a glimpse of any malice residing in them. They were dark as ever, nearly black, but they didn't contain the evil she'd expected.
Pierce shook off the thought. She wasn't going to trust Grey. She wasn't going to trust anyone, because trust was how people got hurt. "Yeah, we did," she agreed, looking around at the ragged group. "Grey and I are going to get supplies," she announced. "The rest of you have more obvious abnormalities, so you'll have to stay here until we get back."
"What? But I look pretty normal," Knox complained.
"You have gills," Pierce said pointedly. When he opened his mouth to argue more, Pierce quickly added, "You're in charge until I get back."
"Aye, Aye, Cap'n." He grinned, turning to look at Madigan and Elliot. "Okay. Now that I'm in charge there are going to be some serious changes around here."
Pierce sighed and gestured for Grey to follow, then remembered he was wearing a jumpsuit. "Wait, you can't be seen like that." She frowned. "I'll have to go alone."
"Don't worry," Grey said. "Remember when I told you there were supplies on the helicopter? Well, there were also clothes. Darius must've put them there."
"Any weapons?" she asked.
"Some guns and a few knives," he answered.
"Good. Bring me one of each."
Pierce waited outside the helicopter until Grey emerged wearing jeans and a t-shirt, then the two of them began walking. He handed her a pistol, which she concealed in her trench coat, and a knife, which she tucked into one of her boots. "Any idea where we can get some cash?" Pierce asked, hoping he had a better option than pick-pocketing. Pick-pocketing was easy enough, but Pierce wanted to avoid drawing any attention, even if it was as small as the report of a stolen wallet.
"I happen to have some money stored away." Grey smiled. "The money has been in my family for a long time, and they went to extreme measures to protect it from our many relatives, so it will definitely be there. Also, since everyone in my immediate family is .... dead, no one will miss it." At the mention of his family Grey frowned, then quickly covered it with a smile.
"How much money are we talking about?" Pierce asked, ignoring the bit about his family. At the moment there wasn't time to discuss something so personal, nor did Pierce want to. Grey smiled at her question, but didn't offer an answer.
From where Knox had landed the plane, they had around a three-mile trek to the nearest shopping district. As she walked, Pierce carefully adjusted her trench coat to keep her wings from showing. Her side hurt, but the pain was bearable.
"Are you sure you should come along?" Grey asked. "I mean, you got shot. Twice."
"I'll be fine." Pierce shrugged. "Hybrids heal fast."
"It's probably best that I go alone, anyway," he added. "You stand out as easily as any of the others, you know?" When she didn't dignify his comment with a response, Grey went on. "You have yellow eyes, not to mention the white hair. And you're wearing a trench coat over camouflage pants...."
Pierce slowed and took a stride toward Grey, forcing him to move a step back. "I hope you understand that just because you saved me doesn't mean you're going to call the shots from now on," she leveled. "I'm still the one in charge and I won't sit around while there are important things to be done."
For the first time since they'd met, Grey became angry. It wasn't the loud, fist-clenched, red-faced kind of anger. It was the quieter type of anger that could be shown only by the slight narrowing of eyebrows, and intensity of the eyes themselves. The more controlled type of anger that delivered messages better than the louder kind. "Why do you want to lead?" Grey asked. "Do you really care about them? Because to me it seems like you just need to be in control."
Pierce felt her anger rising up, even though what he'd said was partially true. She did need to be in control. Because she didn't trust anyone else to do the job. "The woman who oversaw my experiment could've stopped the other scientists from making a mistake, but she didn't. She left my friends' lives in the hands of people besides her own, and that's why they are dead. I watched the guards drag away their lifeless bodies." Pierce started walking again, keeping her gaze pointed straight ahead. "I won't let you or the other hybrids make a mistake I might have prevented."
"You can't place everyone's lives on your own shoulders." Grey's voice lost some of its venom. "We're all in this together. Let us help you."
"No," Pierce said in barely more than a whisper. She picked up her pace, hoping to leave Grey behind, but he kept stride with her. She walked faster still, then was stopped by a strong grip on her shoulder. She turned around, golden eyes meeting brown.
"I think I understand now," Grey murmured. "You don't really care about them. You're only trying to make amends to people who are long gone."
"You're wrong." Pierce shook her head. But is he really? The small voice inside her asked. Would you be hurt if they died? Or would you only feel a sense of failure? She pictured Madigan's temper, Knox's shark-toothed grin, and Elliot's determination to prove himself. She knew Grey was wrong. She did care for them. She cared for the new hybrids because they were so much like her—lost in a new and frightening world—but she didn't trust them. Not yet, anyway. Possibly never.
"Pierce?" A worried voice broke into her thoughts. Grey was watching her, looking guilty and ashamed. "I'm sorry. I took it too far and what I said wasn't fair. I've seen you interact with the other hybrids, and I know very well how much you care for them. I'm just frustrated that you won't allow me to help you. Us, to help you."
"How many times do I have to say that I don't need your help?" she snarled, then moved on. "Let's find what we came for and get back to the others." She ignored him when he tried to apologize again. She was mad, but even after his hurtful words, Pierce couldn't help but care for him as well. What is wrong with me? she wondered. When did I become such a softy?
It took them less than a half-hour to make it to the shopping district and locate the closest bank. While Grey withdrew some of his family's money, Pierce stood outside and waited. She had to admit he'd been right when he'd said she stood out. Passersby kept watching her with poorly concealed suspicion. Pierce ignored them, staring down at the pavement so they wouldn't notice her peculiar yellow irises. She remembered her earlier conversation with Elliot about why their features had been changed. She was beginning to wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that they stood out in a crowd. Maybe the scientists had planned ahead in case of an escape. Or I could just be overthinking it.
"Got it." Grey startled her from her thoughts.
"How much?" she asked, first making sure no one else was close by.
"Two thousand," he answered. "I would've liked to pull out a few thousand more, but didn't want to risk them making a report."
"Two thousand is plenty." Pierce grinned. "Ready for a shopping spree? I saw a Target several blocks back." She still hadn't forgiven him for his earlier words, but the money momentarily made her forget to act coldly toward him.
"Sounds good to me." Grey nodded, following as she led the way. At one point a group of women they passed turned to stare, and it took all of Pierce's efforts not to glare back at them.
"They'll have security cameras," Pierce pointed out when they reached the Target. "Once we get what we came for let's not waste any time getting out of this city. I know the members of Project Starfall well. They are more than capable of finding us from a single piece of footage shot in a store." He nodded in response, trailing after her through the sliding glass doors.
The first thing they did was head to the clothing section where they found hats to cover up Madigan and Elliot's ears. "Here," Grey said, tossing her a grey scarf. "To cover up your old burn scars."
"Thanks," Pierce muttered. She found a pair of tight black pants to replace her camouflage ones, then they left the clothing section to look for the rest of what they needed.
They decided to skip food for the time being since they had to carry whatever they bought three miles back to the helicopter, and headed over to eyewear. Pierce had originally been planning to buy sunglasses for those in their group with oddly-colored eyes, but in the end decided colored contacts would be the best way to go. "Maybe we should get some for everyone, weird eye color or not," she suggested, turning to Grey. "We should make ourselves as unrecognizable as we can."
"Okay," he agreed. They also ended up buying several pairs of sunglasses as a backup, and headed to the hair section where Pierce picked out a wide range of dyes. Afterwards they gathered several other necessities such as toiletries and medical supplies, then headed to checkout, trying to act at ease even with the weird glances the cashier kept giving them. "Running from the law?" the guy had the nerve to ask.
"Nope. Just a couple of cosplayers," Grey offered a quick excuse. The guy raised an eyebrow at them, but rang up their stuff anyway. They paid, grabbed their many bags, and hurried from the store.
"I'll feel a lot better once we get far away from here," Pierce said after they were a few blocks from the Target. "Preferably somewhere desolate."
"I think we should find a tropical island somewhere," Grey suggested. "We could live out our days eating fruit and drinking from coconuts."
"And Knox would have plenty of space to swim around and hopefully not bother us too much." Pierce grinned. It was odd how she could imagine the five of them, who had been perfect strangers a week ago, having some sort of future together. Nothing like a prison break to bring people together, she mused.
Grey was silent for a long time, seemingly deep in thought. "Hey, Pierce?" he finally said, coming across as a little unsure. Pierce found it strange hearing him talk without his usual confidence.
"Yeah?" she asked with a hint of intrigue.
"I really am sorry about earlier. I hope you'll forgive me someday."
Pierce couldn't help but laugh, and he stared at her with a startled expression. "Sorry. I'm not used to apologies," she explained. "And sure, I'll forgive you. I guess there's no point in holding grudges against people who are truly sorry." Grey did seem sincere, and it made Pierce doubt even more whether or not he was a bad person.
"Thanks. I don't want you to be angry with me," Grey said softly. Pierce didn't think his comment had anything to do with what happened when people made her mad.