Silenced- Part One

Silenced Part 2

Chapter Two

Strong girl leads me into a room with a big, round conference table. All the other structures float to the periphery. The only thing I can really see is the table and Sadie. She turns from where she's seated and jumps up.

I breathe a little easier. She's still human and she's running toward me. I hold out my arms, and she skids to a halt. I shift my weight between both legs and open my arms wider.

"Shorty?"

As she backs away she pinches her nose and her face screws up like she smells shit. I sniff the air and almost wretch.

She does smell shit. My cheeks puff out because now that she smells me, I smell me too. And, real talk, I smell worse than a pile of troll vomit.

"Um, you can stay over there." She returns to the chair she was just seated in. "You smell like ass."

"Watch your mouth," I say, walking over to sit a considerate three chairs away from her. This bitch is comfortable. They still have leather at the end of the world.

"So," I say, leaning across the table to get a better look at her. "You okay? Hurt? Hungry?"

Her chin juts out. "I'm fine. They wouldn't have caught me if I didn't go back for..." She shakes her head, fanning out the massive pile of dark curls on top of her head. "Anyway. I'm doing better than you." She leans over the table and mirrors me. Her lips press into a thin line. "I can't believe you let them catch you."

"I missed you too, kid."

"Or that you agreed to help these asshats." She leans farther across the table and pinches my arm.

"Ow!" I rub the spot as she jerks back out of my reach with a smug grin. "I said watch your mouth. You sound like a dirty douche. And try some manners on, jackass."

She shoves out her lower lip, and her face wrinkles until her eyes disappear in a mess of creases.

"What have I told you about making this face?" I trace a circle in the air in front of her. "Shit ain't cute."

She swats at my hand, and I jerk away with a grin. All I get for my charm is another glare.

"Please don't tell me you're doing this for me." She glares at me with double-dare-you eyes.

I square my shoulders and hit her with my stern face. Eyes narrowed with quiet warning. "Don't worry about all that. How are they treating you?"

She shakes her head. "You're an idiot."

Her mother was better with stern face. I sigh. "You used to be so adorable."

She slaps her hand down on the table and sits up straight. "Are you helping them because of that stupid promise you made to my mom?" She raises her eyebrow, giving me her full on know-it-all pose.

My stomach knots like one of those big ass pretzels we used to eat from the mall. I sit up straighter, gulp down my remorse. By the time I have a speech ready, she's running at the mouth again.

"God, Pike! Get over it! You can't help them get this cure! They did this shit! And you haven't been out there. It's crap. Floods, darkness, women eating their own fucking babies!" Fear shrink-wraps her eyes. "And you're helping the people responsible."

My throat tightens. Something that tastes like bile tickles the back of my throat. I let her get away with using the f word. Once kids see women eating babies, the innocence is gone.

"They were going to turn you into a monster. And... I promised your mom I'd..." I try straightening up. "And I'm not just helping them. I'm helping you. I'm only helping you."