fire starter | l.s [1]

two

From where we were crouching, I couldn't see anything. I could hear a bag unzipping and then some rummaging. I took this time to glance over at the little girl that I had just encountered. She was crouched down low, trying to peer through the cracks of the shelves. Now that I was a lot closer to her, see looked so familiar. Which was odd, considering I haven't made friends with many people in the past four years of my life, especially young girls.

The dark-haired child looked up at me and beckoned me to follow her lead. I nodded quickly and stood up from the crouching position, my back still hunching over. We walked all the way to the back of the aisle, close enough to the door but there was still a big gap. The girl started to pull off her glove and ran towards the door, sending waves of electricity. The sparks danced around the room as she ran out the door, me following.

We ran towards a blue van with black writing all over it. When she reached the door, she flung it open and jumped in. I swiftly jumped in after her and slammed the door shut behind me. A few seconds later a dark-skinned girl appeared at the window, banging on it.

"Please let me in!" The girl pleaded, she looked behind her and started banging harder. "Please, I think they're trying to kill me!"

My green eyes fall on the little girl, waiting to see her response. After a moment's hesitation, she flung the door of the van back open and the teenager slid into the van, quickly shutting it behind her. We stared at each other for a moment before the small Asian child grabbed a blanket and threw it towards the girl that had just joined us. She covered herself and climbed to the back of the van.

"Aren't you going to give me one?" I asked, slightly confused.

The girl simply shook her head and smiled slightly. For a small child, she sure doesn't say a lot. Or anything. A moment later, two boys hoped into the front of the van, not bothering to look behind them. It would give them quite a shock to look back and see a random girl just chilling in the back of the van. Why wouldn't they look back to check on the other girl or something?

I didn't think I had the energy in me to introduce myself. All I wanted to do right now was fall back onto one of the pillows and fall into a deep sleep. A dreamless one, preferably.

"RUBY! RUBY!" We heard screams call from behind the van.

Ruby must be the girl in the gas station and the girl currently hiding under a blanket. The two boys looked back for a moment. For a split second, the didn't notice I was there. Until I met the blonde guys' eyes. Now, he looked familiar too. So familiar, I swear I've seen him before. Wait a second, that has to be-

"Amelia?" He spoke, his piercing blue eyes widen.

"Liam? Chubs? Oh my god! Zu!" Everything seemed to come rushing back to me as soon as I locked eyes with Liam.

"God, is that really you?" Chubs chuckled slightly.

"In the flesh and blood," I wink, smiling.

Man, it's been so long since I've seen these guys. We were all in the same camp but I lost them when Liam broke all those kids out. I felt bad for not recognizing Zu but I tried to block most of that out of my memory as it always brought me into a major depression. That whole point in my life was just depressing and I never wanted to think about it again.

"RUBY!" A deeper voice called out.

"Who are these guys?" Liam questions, raising a brow.

"Yeah and whose Ruby?" Chubs continued.

"I'm Ruby," the girl under the blanket emerged and the two boys let out a small scream.

"Zu, how many people do you want to pick up today, eh? What did we tell you, no strays!" Chubs warned, he glanced at Ruby but quickly turned back around to the front.

"I'll handle this," Liam says, running his hand through his hair.

I had always remembered Liam as the selfless leader. He was such a good person, honestly. I didn't realise how much I actually missed Liam. Chubs and Zu too, of course.

"It's fine, I'm leaving," Ruby informs, gathering her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Hold on," Liam says, "Did you come from a camp?"

"Yeah, they broke me out," Ruby started, I watched Chubs facial expression turn to pure anger, "I'm a green though. Not a threat."

"Wait you mean the league?" I ask quickly, worry flushing my brain.

I escaped the league a few months ago and if they were to see me now, I'd be dead. Gone. I tried to stay calm so I gripped a nearby blanket but the panic was starting to become hard to control.

"Open the freaking door, Liam! We already have the cops and tracers on our ass, we don't need to add this to the list!" Chubs exclaimed, his arms flailing about as he spoke.

"Guys, we're wasting time!" I stated, making both of the boys look at me.

Liam turned around in the front seat and started the car. I'm assuming that the guys had had some bad experiences with the league as well because they seemed to be in a real big hurry. Liam droved quickly onto the freeway.

"I'm Liam, that's Zu and this is Chubs. If you haven't already guessed, Ruby," said Liam, as we raced down the freeway.

I looked down at my hands that were holding on to the blanket, my knuckles were going white. Damn anxiety. I couldn't be caught by the league. I can't go back. They're not as good as they seem. They tried to make me a killer. I'm not a killer. And I don't ever want to be one again.

Zu crawled away from the wall of the van and tapped Liam's shoulder quickly. He hummed in response and she pointed out onto the road. My grip gets tighter. I can see another car hurdling towards us.

"Shit, Lady Jane," Liam mutters under his breath. I'd only heard stories about Lady Jane, I've never actually seen her in the flesh. Liam turns back looking at Ruby, "Can you drive?"

"What?" She responds.

Chubs yells out Liam's name and he turns back. I watch as Lady Jane brings her gun out of her window and points it towards us. Swiftly, Liam swerves the car in a different direction, missing the bullet, barely.

"Let me get out, I don't want anybody to get hurt," Ruby says softly, going to grab her bag again.

I take a look out of the window of the van to see the League following us close behind. I watch them hit into Lady Jane's car, causing her to drop her gun.

"The league is here too, they made Lady Jane drop her gun!" I said, my voice still quite shaky from my nerves.

"Shit, okay. Ruby, can you drive?" Liam asks again.

"No, of course not!" Ruby scoffs as if it's the dumbest question she's ever head.

"Well, you're going to have to. Chubs can barely see ten feet ahead of him," Liam says, looking back and urging Ruby to come up and join him.

Ruby picks herself up from the floor and Chubs explains his annoyance. I couldn't quite focus on his words though, I was trying to prevent a panic attack.

"Here, it's just like a bike okay," he explains, moving slightly from his spot.

Liam reaches up to grab Ruby so he could pull her into the seat but she flinches and tells him not to touch her. I raise my eyebrow at that, something is very off about this girl. Why would the league go to so much trouble for a green anyway?

Liam doesn't seem very bothered by that and quickly hops from his seat. Ruby slid into his spot quickly and put her hands on the wheel. Chubs got up from his spot as well, following Liam to the back of the van. He flung open the doors and Chubs held onto his waist.

"Come on Lia, I need your help too," Liam looked at me for a moment before returning his attention back to the street.

I smiled at that. I hadn't heard the nickname Lia in a long time. Only Liam called me that. The smile quickly faded though, as I realised I was going to have to use my powers on people, again.