Virus | The Darkest Minds Ψ

Introductions

Chapter IX

"What are your names?" She asked as I handed her a towel. Zu climbed up from where she had been digging in the back and produced a paint splattered sheet.

"It's alright; you can talk to me..." The girl said.

"Be quiet," I hissed, already regretting the decision. Zu put a finger to her lips, going for the more polite approach. She tossed the sheet over the girl's head, and then we both climbed back into our respective seats.

Just in time too; the boys had come back. I heard their voices talking outside the car and I wondered once again if it was the best idea to help this girl.

"—I swear to God it was her, Liam!" Chubs tense voice cut through. He rolled open the back door and sat down next to Zu. "And look, I told you they'd beat us back. Suzume, Aspen, did you guys run into trouble?"

The drivers door opened and Liam's worried blue eyes and ashy blonde hair came into view. He let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank God," he said in relief. His Southern accent was always stronger when he was worried, I noticed. "Come on, come on, come on, get in. I don't know what's going on but I don't want to stay long enough to find out. The skip-tracers were bad enough—"

"Why won't you just admit that it was her?" Chubs snapped. I looked at Liam in surprise.

"What do you mean, 'her'?" I asked.

"Because we ditched her days ago, that's why—"

Liam cut his sentence off when a female voice yelled,

"Ruby! Ruby!"

My eyes flashed and I stared at Zu.

"What in the world?" Chubs said, staring out of the window at the shine of a gun. "Is that what I think it is?"

A gunshot rang through the night; Liam and I locked eyes, terror reflecting in both of them. Another rang out, narrowly missing the car.

"Stop!" The woman screamed. "Don't shoot—!"

"LEE!"

"I know, I know!" The engine sputtered to life, and the squeal of the tires wasn't far behind. "Zu, Aspen, seatbelts!"

"Why aren't you telling Chubs that?" I argued, strapping the belt over my neck.

"Because Chubs is literally a grandpa living in a seventeen year olds body, he doesn't need me to tell him it!"

"What, and I do?"

"Idiots, this isn't the time for argument!"

"Right, right," Liam said. "Girls, did something happen back at the gas station?" The urgency was in his voice. Not panic; at least, not yet. Chubs was... a slightly different story.

"Oh, my God, more skip-tracers? What, were they having a freaking convention? You realize what would have happened if we'd been caught, right?" Chubs railed. I couldn't help but agree. I mentally smacked myself. How foolish could I get? This girl had led adults to us, the main danger for kids now, whether her intention was deliberate or not. "And they were shooting at us! Shooting! With a gun!"