Virus | The Darkest Minds Ψ

Never Heard That Song

Chapter V

"Step on it!" Chubs yelled, spotting Lady Jane at the same time as me. Liam didn't need anymore encouragement and floored it, the car shooting forward and almost giving me whiplash.

Lady Jane followed immediately, and Liam took a sudden sharp turn, and my head smacked against the window. Liam looked at me in desperation and yelled,

"Can you drive?"

"What? Kind of, but —"

"Good. Take the wheel." With that, Liam unbuckled and climbed to the back. With a panic, I lurched across and grabbed the wheel before we could crash — again.

Still gripping tightly to the wheel, I hastily climbed into the drivers seat. Glancing in the rear view mirror, I saw Liam opening the double doors in the back.

"What are you doing? You're gonna die!" Chubs screamed at Liam. Liam smiled at him. He lifted his hands, a tree smacked against Lady Jane's windshield, and she veered off-course.

"Drive, Aspen!"

I jerked the car forward and let out a little shriek at the speed we were going at. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liam gently climb into the passenger seat, although he still looked tense. 

"Darlin'," He said. "Lighten up a little on accelerator."

"You're almost worse at driving than Liam," Chubs said.

I lifted my foot slightly from the gas pedal and glanced sideways at Liam, ignoring Chubs' comment.

"You like risking your life like that a lot?"

"It's become one of his past times," Chubs said helpfully from the back, still gripping onto the handlebar on the ceiling as if his life depended on it. "Don't even try to deny it," he warned at Liam, who had a look of protest on his face.

"So this Lady Jane," I started. "What's her deal?"

"Her name isn't actually Lady Jane," Chubs said from the back. I could tell he was rolling his eyes. "That's just what Liam calls her."

"You have to admit, she's good at what she does."

"Can you not compliment the woman who's trying to drag us back to camp?"

"Camp?" I asked sharply. "You came from a camp?"

I shouldn't have been surprised. I escaped too. But that was under different... circumstances.

Liam shot a look a Chubs that clearly said 'you should not have said that.' I saw Zu in the bag tense and rub her arms. Trying to act casual, Liam shrugged.

"We were all at Caledonia, in Ohio. Zu was there for about two years. I was there for a year or so, and Chubs was there a year and a half."

I saw the distant look in Liam's eyes that I knew so well. It was the same gaze I saw every time I looked into a mirror. It didn't matter how long you were in a camp, it messed you up anyway.

I was tested in Thurmond for five cold, lonely years, with only a bit of relief that came in the form of Clancy and Nico. And then just Nico. Eventually, even he left too. Even if he might not have wanted too, he still left.

But we were all taken from our homes, our families. It all left a mark on us. My parents gave me up but it still hurt to be taken away from the people who raised me, even if it didn't hurt them.

I almost said 'sorry' to them, but that wasn't even a fraction of what to say to a kid who had been in any camp.

"What do you mean 'were'? You escaped?" I asked, rather bluntly.