Journey in the Aftermath

Chapter 22: Split Plans

This chapter is told by the POV of Steven

Brody takes a seat in the passenger side of Jessica's car. She is in front so he can give her directions and we can all follow her. We make it a few miles before anyone in my car says anything

"Sooo..." Bailey says trying to break the tension

"Soooo... Yeah?" Madeline says not knowing what to talk about

"Ummm... So are you two ever going to get together?" Bailey asks her

"What?!" I say in shock

"What do you mean..?" Madeline asks shyly then glances over at me

"You and Milton?" Bailey says

"Me... And.. Milton..?" Madeline says slowly then busts out laughing

"Wait what? I thought you two were a thing. Was I wrong?" Bailey stammers out embarrassed

"HE likes ME. I don't like him at all" Madeline says, but I have to wonder if that's the truth. I quickly search her mind just to make sure.

I don't need a guy. I am fine by myself. Plus all these guys now have powers and are just either cocky like Levi. Too carefree like Milton. Burdened like Devin. Or just flat out hellbent on revenge like Antonio or Andy. Although... There is...

I lose concentration because of Devin zipping by on his motorcycle waving me down. I roll my window down and look over at him

"Hey, what's up?" I say

"Brody says that there is an all woman compound up here to the right. We are all going to stop a bit away and let Jessica drive the girls up there in your car ok? I want to establish some trust with a bigger group in case we ever need any help. Plus, if they somehow have Olivia with them than I want the girls to be the ones to try to explain everything to them, meanwhile the guys are going to go with Brody to talk to his friend" he says then looks past me to Madeline "And hey, you are going to be the leader on this one ok, because Brody says that they are all about being strong independent women and you best fit those guidelines"

"Ok, that sounds awesome!" Madeline says then turns around and high fives Bailey. I just look at her and smile. She's so cute. Devin speeds up to Jessica's car and says some stuff to them then they both pull off the road into a gas station parking lot. Everybody starts getting out of their car and I get out and open the door for Madeline. She smiles a bit then blushes and hurries past me to get to the rest of the group. I join the circle and Devin steps into the middle

"Ok guys" he begins "Madeline is going to take the girls with her to go talk to the all woman group about Drehk and what happened to our friends. I want you guys on your best behavior. These woman could possibly help us take down Drehk, Volt, and Antonio, so don't be aggressive and start a fight that we might not even win.. Jessica"

"What? I can behave. Bite me... bitch" Jessica says smirking at Devin

"Yeah, yeah. Either way, I will leave it up to Madeline to come up with the plan. While you guys do that, the guys and me will go with my little brother to talk to the guy that might know where Olivia is. And Isabella is coming with me" He says looking over at Jessica for approval. She frowns then looks over at Isabella still in the car then over at me and I nod at her

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever. You better fucking take care of my baby" She says glaring at me then Devin. I can't believe how much she loves that tiger

"You guys also have to be careful. Women that came into Volt's school that were too young or ugly to be his slave were sent here, so we know that even if they weren't friends, they were at least in an alliance with each other" Brody says. I look over at him and see so much of young Devin in him

"Good point, little dude" Devin says and tussles his hair a bit causing him to frown in irritation.

"Hey Devin?" Shert pipes in

"Yeah, man?" He says back

"Can I take Steven and Oliver with me to one of Drehk's peoples bases a few miles down the road? I want to find something that used to belong to Volt that I think could help us quite a bit. He said that he left something back when he used to stay here that helped him 'evolve his powers' whatever he meant by that. I'm thinking that since he has the same powers as you, that you might make some use of it if we can find it." Shert explains. Devin just nods and we all get back into our cars. It was decided that if we were to ever get separated and were in trouble, we would head back to the last place we were all together and find the tallest tree and hide in it. I hop in the back of Shert's truck while Oliver sits in the front. I look at the others driving off their own ways and get a really bad feeling in my stomach. I look up at the sky at all the clouds and begin drifting off to sleep. I hope Madeline takes care. Same for Devin. And even Antonio. I hope one day you can wake up and come to your senses. Like Kelly would have wanted. The last thing I see before falling asleep is one singular dark cloud that looks sort of like a skull. That can't be a good sign