The Darkest Minds: Red

Twelve

We all sat around in a circle in the middle of the mall. Tents surround us as we saw a lamp in the center of the circle.

"Last week we scored five pallets of fresh produce off a delivery truck," one of the kids told us.

"What do you do with all of it?" Chubs asked. "I mean, it's only four of you guys."

"We do the work that needs to be done," the redhead told him, "We're the arms and legs of a greater cause,"

"Wait," Liam leaned forward, "do you know him?"

"Who? The Slip Kid? Nah, nobody really knows the Slip Kid."

"We're trying to find his camp," I said.

"East River?"

"So it's real?" Liam asked, not believing what he heard.

"Sure."

"Well, where is it?" I asked, annoyed with the basic answers. It seemed that Chubs was getting tired, too, because he huffed.

"Come on, dude. You have got to be kidding. Come on!"

"They call it a secret for a reason, pal," another person spoke with a smirk.

Okay, these kids are getting onto my last nerves. I glared at the redhead, staring deep. He scooted back, much to the confusion of his friends.

Ruby looked around as an idea popped into her head. She looked at the redhead sitting next to her. "Do you think that we've survived this by following the rules? Look, we're not dead weight." Her eyes glowed orange as she gently touched his hand. "We're powerful. And we're useful. The Slip Kid would be lucky to have us."

"E.D.O.," The kid said in his trance. I looked at Ruby as she questioned the kid, watching as her pupils turn orange. I smirked to myself.

"Wait, what?" The brunette widened his eyes, "Dude, not cool!"

"What's E.D.O.?" Ruby asked as the kid phased out.

"That's all you get. E.D.O."

********

In the tent, Ruby quietly read to Zu to get her to sleep, "All the world will be your enemy. Prince with a thousand enemies. And when they catch you, they will kill you, but first, they must catch you. Digger, listener, runner. Prince with a swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed." She looked over at Zu and noticed she was still awake.

"Go to sleep," she whispered.

Zu listened as she got herself comfortable and closed her eyes.

As she was getting up, Ruby looked at me and Liam on the floor. We were sleeping soundly, Liam wrapping his arm protectively around me.

Ruby saw that his hand was extended and slowly reached for it. However, she stopped herself and pulled away.

"Hey, Chubs," Ruby said as she walked towards him. He sighed.

"It's Charles,"

"Charles," she corrected, "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering her, Chubs held out a notebook for her to see. Someone has to keep watch.

She turned to see the other four kids talking silently amongst themselves. She turned back, and Chubs motioned her to follow.

********

"I was afraid they might steal Betty," Chubs whispered, as he and Ruby walked around the mall, him grabbing a flashlight. "Nice work getting that clue, by the way. How did you do that?"

"I just asked." Ruby shrugged her shoulder, acting as if it wasn't a big deal.

"It was bad enough he had to come back here," Chubs mumbled, "God..."

"Liam? That's where he and his friend were captured, right?"

Chubs nodded. "He's never told me the whole story, but I think what happened was that he and Felipe were traveling and ran into a tribe of Blues. Instead of recruiting them like Lee hoped, the tribe beat the hell out of them and stole everything they had - food, packs, family pictures, you name it. They came here for a few days to regroup, but they were in such bad shape that they couldn't get away when the skip tracers finally showed up. Lee thinks that the tribe probably called them in, that they got a cut of the reward."

Ruby didn't know what to say. She looked down to the floor.

"I trust Liam," She slowly said. "He's such a good person, but he's so easy for others to read- and they don't have the best intentions.

"Exactly," Chubs said. "He's so busy looking inside people to find the good that he misses the knife they're holding in their hand. I think we both know he's far from perfect, no matter how hard he tries. He's never been a big thinker, that one. Always rush, rush, rushing to do whatever his gut tells him to do, and then drowning in his own self-pity and guilt when things blow up in his face."

"Maybe that's why Lily's so protective of him. Trying to make him feel better, you know? She knows he did the right thing for all of us." Ruby replied.

Chubs chuckled, "Yeah. She sure has a way to calm him down."

********

I woke up when I heard a faint yell from Chubs and Ruby. Apparently, Liam and Zu heard it too, because their eyes shot open and they sat up. I groaned, before standing up and stretching. The three of us looked at each other in confusion, before heading towards the noise.

We ran into Chubs and Ruby, and the two of them turned, surprised. Before anyone could process, they flung their arms around us.

"Whoa, hi," I stated. "What's going on?"

They led us towards a radio and the three of us looked at it, confused. Chubs turned it on, and the radio clicked. Then a voice spoke up, "If you can hear this, you're one of us. If you're one of us, come find us. Lake Prince, Virginia."

The three of us widened our eyes. Before we knew it, we were flung into another hug, but this time, we were all excited. Suddenly, I stopped, analyzing the message.

"Darlin', what's wrong?" Liam whispered, noticing my reaction and looping his arm around me. I shook my head.

"I don't know, but for some reason, I have a feeling this isn't what it seems, " I admitted.