I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up laying on one of the seats in the van. I vaguely recognized the song that was playing on the radio- it was something from the 80’s I think. Something my dad would have listened to.
I sat up slowly as past events came rushing back to me. The little girl from before is sitting next to me, and noticed that I’m awake. She reached forward and tapped the boy in the passenger seat beside Liam on the shoulder. He turned to look at me. “Lee, she’s awake,” he said before turning back around and looking out the window.
Liam glanced at me through the rearview mirror with a sad smile. “Hey, Cara. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been a hell of a lot better.” I looked around the van as a sinking feeling entered my chest. “Did you-um,” I stopped, knowing that if I continued I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from crying. I took a deep breath before continuing. “Did you get rid of her body already?” A tear leaves my eye and the little girl beside me reaches forward and brushes it away.
“Sorry, I’m trying not to cry I swear,”
I can see Liam shake his head through the rearview mirror. “You don’t need to do that, Cara. She was obviously important to you, and you’re allowed to be sad that she’s gone.”
The boy in the passenger seat cut in. “But we did have to leave her body. The longer we waited, the more likely she would be to reveal our trail. Sorry. We would have waited until you woke up, but you were out cold.”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “It's okay. I get it,” I whispered, fearful that speaking any louder would have me bursting into tears again.
The little girl next to me moved closer again and wrapped her arms around me. After a moment, I returned the hug, resting my chin on top of her head with a sigh. “Thanks kid,” I sniffled. I held onto her for a few more seconds before letting her return to her own seat.
I wiped my eyes one last time before changing the subject.
“So. I think some introductions are in order, don’t you think?” I waited awkwardly for a minute before clearing my throat, a little disappointed I would have to answer my own question.
“Okay, well I’m Carter, but you can call me Car or Cara if you want.” when no one followed my introduction with their own, I glared at Liam until he cleared his throat and introduced himself.
“Right, yeah. I’m Liam, but you all knew that already I think.”
The other boy nods, as if confirming that Liams answer was acceptable. “My name is Charles, but I’m Chubs to my friends, so I guess you can call me Chubs.”
I looked towards the small girl expectantly. “Oh, that’s Zu. She doesn’t like to talk that much, so that's all we know right now.”
I nodded hesitantly, a little confused by that, but not really in the mood to question it.
“So what’s the plan? Where are we headed?”
“We haven’t really figured that part out yet.” Liam replied.
I nodded. “So just surviving for now?”
“Yeah. Just surviving.”
Word count: 555
Bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one is pretty long, so it ends up evening out I think. Hope you enjoyed!
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Purple | Cole Stewart -VERSION DISCONTINUED
FanfictionCarter O'Daniel is a part of the 2% of children ages 8-13 to survive IAAN, a strange disease that causes these children to develop abilities. But Carter is Different. She's more. The stakes are high as more and more children look to her for safety...
