Evolved [Book 2 of the Life Hearts Trilogy]

Arguments - Blue

I was tired and grumpy the next morning. I rolled out of bed, trying to make sense of what the Listener had told me.

They know. Be ready.

Who knew what? Be ready for what?

We met in the kitchen to eat and discuss plans for the day.

"We need to do what the Listener says," Pearl said, looking at me. Apparently I was a godlike being's mouthpiece now.

"All they said last night was four words that don't even make sense," I grumbled.

"Who even is the Listener?" Etho said.

Scar remained silent.

Scott, Pearl, and I exchanged glances.

"If you want to be allies, you need to trust me," Etho said.

"And me!" Scar said, a little too late to be unsuspicious of.

"We... I swore not to tell," Pearl said.

Etho's eyebrows furrowed. "Then how do they know?" He asked, pointing at Scott and me.

"Well- they- they..." Pearl stammered.

"Exactly! If you guys want to be allies with someone, you can't keep secrets from them!" He stormed out of the room.

"Okay, he's grumpy, what next?" I said.

"You're not any better today," Scott said.

"That's because you won't let us out! You may like living in a stuffy, dark bunker, but some of us don't! You don't seem to realize that!" I didn't mean to lash out, but I had to be angry at someone.

"Blue," Pearl said.

"And you're just supporting everything he says!" I said to her, standing up. "I'm done with all your talk about the Listener. We're alone, okay? Nobody's going to magically help us, so why are you even hoping?"

Pearl looked like someone had just slapped her in the face.

Scott stood up as well. "You think I like this? I'm trying to keep all of us safe. I'm trying to keep you from getting killed by the murderers who are still out there, by the way!"

"You want to keep us safe?" I said, my voice rising to a yell. "Let us take care of ourselves for a change!"

"If you want to go to the surface, then go!" Scott roared. "I'm doing my best with what I have, and you should too, but if you want more, then get out, and have fun getting killed! But when you turn red, kindly don't kill us, because we were only trying to help!"

I stood up straighter. "Fine," I said, changing my voice to a deadly calm tone. "I'll leave at noon."

As I went into my room to pack, I heard Pearl shriek behind me, "What did you DO?" But I had already tuned them out before I heard Scott's reply.

I shoved the few things I had brought from the Scottage into my backpack. I brought the Nether star. If I wasn't going to stay, then neither was the star.

By noon I was out without so much as a goodbye. By evening I was back at the Scottage. I demolished the bridge between the two towers and lived in mine. I would be plenty safe there.

I also searched the Scottage for any valuables that we had left behind. There were quite a lot, since we had gone in such a hurry, so I took them back to my tower and stored them in a secret chest. I put the Nether star in a different, more hidden chest, as well.

My old bed had never felt so comfortable after the hard beds of the bunker.

I had only banded together with the Scottage Alliance to have protection when I was still figuring out weapons and armor.