Defect

[chapter 21]

Hey everyone! Sorry about the wait (again). I'm already working on Chapter 22, but I don't know how much time I'll have--I had to cut school today just to get this one written. I am hoping, however, to start working on the sequel for NaNoWriMo this year!!! *crosses fingers that I don't drown in homework before then*

Anyways, here's the chapter. I think it's a pretty good one, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COMMENT! I can't get better at writing if no one is telling me what I need to work on. 

Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to vote!

As it turns out, fixing the radio took three days, but I started to get anxious about our time table about five hours in. After one too many near mistakes do to my nervous fluttering, I was sent to wait in the kitchen, where I couldn't ruin our chances of communication.

It was a long three days.

Nonetheless, in the end, he got it--the was a final clang of metal, a shout of joy, and the sound of four teenagers running at full speed out the door were the only clues that the world was one step closer to freedom. It took us another three hours to figure out how to send the actual message, building makeshift tools out of scrap metal from the truck and whatever we could scavenge inside, but in the end, we did it--the faint sound of Aretha's voice crackled on repeat between radio stations, saying, "Reconnect at the Sparrow's nest... Old nesting grounds... Find us..."

Now, it would simply be a matter of waiting.

***

Two days.

That's how long our message went unanswered. I had begun to wonder about what we would do if Maddie didn't pull through, wonder if we were kidding ourselves about even surviving this. We had been incredibly lucky so far--maybe our luck had finally run dry. Who even knew if Maddie had access to a radio? And if she did, what were the odds she'd think to check for messages in a way that the Wrobel had stopped using long before she joined?

The more I thought about it, the more I was certain I hadn't done anything but wasted three days of our valuable time.

It hadn't seemed ridiculous five days ago, when we had two whole weeks to get everything done. But we were verging on a week now, and the countdown wasn't getting any smaller.

"Guys, I think we need to stop waiting," I announced, striding into the living room. Alex and Sofia both sat up, looking startled and confused. Jax was upstairs, entertaining Xander, and Aretha was taking a nap as far as I knew, but that was okay--I could talk to them later.

"Waiting for what? Waiting... for Maddie?" Sofia asked.

"You're joking, right? Don't tell me I did all that work for nothing," Alex said, looking weary at the thought.

"No," I said, smiling softly at him. "Not for nothing. I'm not saying that Maddie won't come through, but just in case... It's time for us to start making a plan B. We can't depend on a cavalry that isn't--"

I was cut off by a knock on the door. We fled to different hiding places, glancing at each other with terrified silence.

"Who is it?" Sofia mouthed. I shrugged helplessly--none of us were in a good position to see the door through the front window. There was no way to know who it was--it could be a lost Non-Evo or an Evo Force Squad ready to empty their machine guns into us.

I heard a faint click as the lock came unclicked, then the creak of a door swinging open. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to slow my breathing and heartrate.

"Hello?" asked a familiar voice. "Anyone here?"

I let out a relieved sigh. "God, Maddie, you nearly gave me a heart attack."