The Unwanted Ones - Book One

Chapter Nine

Once I reach the orphanage it's gotten much darker. I knock once and the door immediately swings open.

"Hey there girl!" Lena exclaims. She has on a large plaid shirt and slim fit jeans. A  duffel bag lays at her feet.

I walk in and she picks up her bag and then throws an arm over my shoulders.

"We'll be leaving kind of soon, we're all in the kitchen getting the last of everything," she tells me as we walk towards the kitchen.

"Hey recruit," Danny says with a laugh. He's sitting on a stool by the counter. Matt is there leaning against a wall, map in hand. He looks and flashes me a smile, and then goes back to reading the map. Gwen is there too, elbows propped on the counter, a bored expression on her face. She looks up at me, but doesn't scowl like she usually does so I guess that's an improvement.

"We'll be heading out soon, we've just gotta get some more things." Matt says to us. I take a seat next to Danny, and Lena stands by Gwen.

"Stuff like what?"I ask, looking around. There are four more bags on the counter, one full of canned goods, another stuffed with what looks like a few sleeping bags.

"Eh, doesn't hurt to be prepared," Matt says with a sheepish shrug. "But I guess we probably are all set."

His aunt Angela comes into the kitchen, her lips set in a serious thin line.

"I still don't like the idea of you all going out like this," she says to us. She sees me and raises an eyebrow. "And you dragged Alexandria into this too?"

"I'm not crazy about her either," Gwen pipes up with a smirk. I roll my eyes and Angela shakes her head.

"You know what I mean. This is dangerous," she tells us, her arms crossed.

"Aunt Ang, we'll be fine," Matt says in an exasperated voice. This seems to be a conversation they've had repeatedly.

"Alright, well come here with that map," she says, waving him over to the counter. He walks over and places it down.

'Alright," she says in a soft voice, "well you know the way, right?" She places her hand on the map, tracing the path with a finger.

"You may run into some trouble along the way. I heard that patrols have increased everywhere since there was a protest in the capital a little while ago." she continues.

"A protest? In the capital?" I echo. This is the first I'm hearing of it.

"Yes, it was about twenty people. All of them gunned down not even twenty minutes into the protest. No survivors," Matt tells me, his voice agitated. His jaw is set in defiance, and I can see how badly he wants to join the resistance, I can see just how much he hates the government.

"But would patrols really be increased here? The capital is so far away," Lena comments, looking at the map.

"Yeah, most likely they would be. You know how extreme they can get in their desire to stomp out any fires," Angela replies. "So be very careful. You're just students looking for work, right?"

"Right," we all say. We're all listening to her intently, even Gwen looks interested.

"So then you're all ready to leave?" she asks.

"Yeah, it seems so," is Matt's reply. He reaches for one of the backpacks on the counter. Gwen takes the one with the sleeping bags and Danny takes the other. But before we leave I have to do something.

"I need to say goodbye to my sister" I say.

"Yeah," Matt says with a smile. "We'll wait."

With a nod I leave the room and go to the nursery where I find her to be sleeping in a crib. I lean over the crib and just look at her for a moment.