Hacker

Chapter Five

"Wait-- so... You're actually the leader of THE Alliance? And--" I turned to Noah. "YOU. You were a member of THE Alliance? This whole time?"

Noah nodded. "Believe it, babe. I'm the Alliance's youngest member, at only 16 years old. Keith is a member of the Alliance, too, he likes to give me hard time about being underage. It's all good fun, though, Keith and I are really close."

"And Timothy is really the leader?" I asked.

Timothy nodded. "I became the leader two years ago, when our past leader..." Timothy hesitated like it was hard to say. "passed away."

Noah looked solemn. "Our past leader, Anna... It was John Taylor."

"Wait- hold up... WHAT?!" I said. "If John was secretly leading an Alliance against the government... I would know."

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's true." Noah said.

"Anna, think. Has John ever spent hours away and he never said why?" Timothy asked. "Anna, why do you think John trained you the way he did? He wanted you to become a member of the team. When you were ready. Unfortunately... He won't be able to see that day. You can still join, though. John trained you well, you would be a good member to our team."

"Um, I think not." I shook my head. "I just met you guys. I was crazy just to follow Noah here. I am NOT joining your little Anti-Government group. I mean, don't get me wrong. I hate the government. But I would like to stay out of this mess and preferably stay alive." I sighed. "So, that's a no. I don't even know if you guys are telling the truth about John! And how do you even know my name? You all are a bunch of crazy stalkerish creeps!"

"Whoa, babe, that's a bit harsh." Noah flirted. "The only crazy I am is crazy hot."

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes.

Timothy turned to me. "We ARE telling the truth, Anna, but I can understand if you don't want to join. It's getting late, though, and I shouldn't be letting you out into the world on your own at this hour. Just spend the night here, and in the morning you can go if you wish. And, as for the name thing, well, John told us about you. He had a picture of you that he kept here, although you look so different now you're hardly recognizable as the little girl in the picture. We had been looking for you for a while. Noah was the one who found you."

"I... see." I said, not knowing what else to say. "Can I just sleep? I'm tired."

Timothy nodded. "Noah, please show her to Marissa's room. Marissa will be gone until tomorrow morning so Anna can sleep there."

Noah nodded and turned to me. "Come with me, babe." He led me through a door which led to a hallway with doors. "This is where we live. It's safer to stay at the bunk than anywhere else." He pointed to the last door on the right. There was a sticky note on it where someone had written "Marissa Lawson" in neat handwriting, with a doodle of a heart and a flower. "This is Marissa's room. That's where you'll be sleeping."

"Okay." I walked into the room and shut the door behind me. No more Noah.

Then the door swung open and Noah came through. Just my luck.

"Don't shut me out, sweetheart, our relationship won't be healthy if you're not open to talking about your problems with me." Noah said.

"You know, it would be nice if you would just shut up for once." I sighed.

"Kiss me and I might." He said, smirking.

"Any other options?" I asked.

"Nope." Noah said grinning. "Kiss me or suffer the talking."