Virus | The Darkest Minds Ψ

Dig Up A Memory

Chapter XIV

Panic swirled in my mind when I laid eyes on the all too familiar insignia. My heart hammered in my chest as I watched the man from the Volkswagen open the passenger side door and started attempting to unhook Liam's seat belt.

"No!" I pushed out as my head pounded and my hands shook. I lunged across and nailed the Volkswagen man in the face, off of Liam. My head snapped to the backseat as I heard the sliding door open.

Zu didn't flinch as the rifle was pointed in her face—by the way she was moaning, her eyes scrunched up and her yellow gloves curled over her ears in agony, I don't think she was seeing straight. I certainly flinched though. Ruby couldn't do anything without seeing the man bury a bullet in Zu's head.

I didn't know what to do. Our options were very limited. Liam's eyes flashed open to mine for a second, clear and so blue, but it was only for an instant.

Before I could register what was happening, the driver's door was opened and the White Noise machine was suddenly two inches from my face. It sunk into my brain like an ax. The nerves in my body were screaming as I fell across Liam, my bones lead. The only thing louder than the White Noise, than the radio, than Chubs's screams, was the sound of Liam's heart racing.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers curling around the soft leather of his jacket. Get up! I screamed in my head. Get up, get up, get up, you have to help...

There was a high-pitched wail, a sound that couldn't possibly come from a human. I forced my eyes open. Pickup Truck man had his rifle in one hand and the collar of Zu's shirt in the other, and he was tugging both in the direction of the truck. A scream locked in my throat as Ruby was yanked out of the car by the hair by Volkswagen man. I couldn't see what happened to her, but the next second, the passenger door was wrenched open.

"Stewart—confirm Psi number 42755 spotted—" Volkswagen man pulled out an orange device. It was no bigger than a cell phone, easy enough to maneuver in front of Liam's face. No! My mind screamed. Something about that device was trouble.

The orange device flashed, and a moment later, I heard Volkswagen say, "that's a positive ID on Liam Stewart.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

He leaned over to me next, and I could do nothing but squeeze my eyes shut as he flashed the device above me.

"My God," I heard him say gleefully. "Here we thought you was dead in a ditch, Number 67. Oh yes, I remember you, girl. Hard to forget the scientists favourite experiment." Volkswagen's face hovered over mine, a sickening grin on his face, and my heart lurched because I knew that face. "Positive ID on the Song girl."

It can't be him.

Something hot and sharp cut through the air, billowing out. I heard Craw Lorken, a man I knew too well, cuss, only to be drowned out by the sound of metal screeching against metal, glass exploding so hard, so fast, that tiny drops clattered on the windshield.

And then it was gone. The White Noise cut out sharply as something clattered to the ground. My head was splitting open, not just from the White Noise, but panic was filling the corners.

I'm in the system. Liam is in the system. They know what I look like now, they'll take me back. Liam is in trouble. Oh, my God, they'll take us. I don't want to go back.

That's when the shaking started. I barely registered the fact someone attempted to push me across a seat, or the feeling of soft hands stroking my hair. All I could do was curl in on myself and try to force out vile images that cut into my mind and twisted it, all the pieces swirling around in a whirlpool of memories. And then, the eventual relief of darkness.