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Chapter 13

"Reina!" Danielle and I yelled, and pulled her in a group hug. Kevin waved and smiled from behind.

"What are you guys doing here?" She pushes us away and scolds us.

"W-We came back to save you?" Danielle says in more of a nervous question.

"The annual search is today." She says strictly before reaching back in to grab the box she was going through before.

"The annual search." Kevin let out a breathe of panic.

"What is the annual search?" I ask.

"Every year they come out and collect the people who have lived out here, awake." He briefly explains.

"Where were you going to go?" I ask Reina.

"I don't know. Anywhere but here. This is the closest to the Schedon." She shuts her door and marches away. We follow behind her.

"You can come back with us. There's this lost civilization and it's so great the-"

"Are you crazy?" She interrupts me. "Those are the nearest targets. Do you really believe they're unknown? Those people are crazy anyway."

"What do you mean? They were so nice."

"Exactly. They reel you in with sweaters and gifts, then they use you as test subjects." She scoffs.

"Weird stuff, weird stuff." Danielle chimes in.

"You got that right." Reina nudges her arm, and for once they're not bickering.

"Well we at least have to warn them. I also left the folder there." Kevin says.

"I agree. We'd be cruel to set them up like that." I add.

"Fine, but after that we head for the wall. By the time they reach there, we make a u-turn towards my house." She reluctantly agrees. "Search double-crossed."

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"Fuck, it's noon already." Reina checks her watch. We all look behind us and see a swarm of blue marching towards us. "Hurry, in and out." Reina orders. Kevin ran down the get the folder while Danielle and I make the announcement.

"Everybody listen!" We both shout and they all quiet down and pause.

"They're coming to do the annual search! We all have to evacuate!" I yell.

"You heard her. Escape route in action!" The man yells over to them.

"Where are we all going?" I ask him as Kevin nears us.

"Oh you certainly can not follow us. You've already lead them here. Apologies, but we must go our separate ways." He rushes off.

"We don't need them anyway. By the looks of it, they're running right into the other Schedon troop." Reina squints her eyes over the view of people running around. "Let's go." She says right when Kevin reaches us.

Reina shoved one of the people out of a jump-started car. We all hopped in as she sped toward the wall. Paranoia begins to cloud my mind. What if we don't make it to the wall?

"What if we get caught before we can make the u-turn?" I realized I questioned aloud.

"The getaway homes. I can find one." He looks through the files. My mind begins to wander to the comfort of my old apartment. I can't help but think of it that way. I don't want to, but I am. I want to be happy here. I really do, but I don't think I can.

After a while we made it to the wall. Reina made an abrupt stop and we ran out only to be cornered by the blue suits. Panic rushed through me as we stood with our arms in the air.

"Plan B. Getaway home." Kevin whispers. Within seconds we run through the gates, following​ behind Kevin. We ran, and ran, and ran, but it all didn't seem fast enough.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder, whipping me back. The flashback of when the man gave me the dose reoccurs in my mind. The same helpless Kevin slowing down, and running my way. Except this time, this time he made it. He pushed the guy away, then helped me up.

"Not this time." He smiled. We started running again. More and more memories flooded my mind and it was hard to focus. The more I let them come to me, the blurrier the passage got, but I wanted to remember. I almost remembered Kevin. The real priority was to run, so I pushed the almost memories to the side.

I was pulled to the side and onto the ground. I saw that we were in an alley way. The only sound were the passing stomps and our panting. Kevin looks through the folder with confusion.

"No, no. This can't be right." He quickly flipped the papers.

"What's wrong?" Danielle worriedly asks.

"There are no more houses." He says quietly.

"They've been all shut down, haven't they?" Reina says knowingly and be nods. "Fuck!" She throws a soda can at the wall. "I didn't want to be the one to bring this up," She breaks the silence. "but what else do we have here?"

"Are you saying we should go back?" Danielle shyly asks. Reina doesn't reply.

"There they are!" A bright flashlight is shined on us. I try to run but someone grabs my arm. The second I turn around Kevin crashes his lips onto mine. That same second everything came back. Our entire friendship. From our first time getting arrested together to when we used to volunteer at the shelter and make a mess with the dog food.

"I remember us being friends! I-I remember wanting to be more than friends." We make eye contact and he smiles.

"I'm tired of running." Reina says. She walks over to us, and we all turn to Danielle.

"I'm tired too." She says and stands next to Reina. The blue suits surround us at gunpoint. We didn't know what was in the guns. Possibly bullets, maybe more doses.

"I want to go back." I was the first to fully admit it. We can be happy there. I can be there with Kev.

"Let's go together." He holds my hand. I hold Reina, and she holds Danielle's.

In union we all say: "We surrender to the coma."