Sympathy for the Devil {Liam Stewart | The Darkest Minds}

9. Nogitsune

They're still searching for the camp six months later, Liam has hope but even that's waning just a little bit; the East River isn't exactly a small location to search. Mags doesn't say anything, she doesn't have anywhere else to go, whether or not she believes the sanctuary is a real place; she's followed Liam since the day she'd escaped from Caledonia, she doesn't intend to stop now. They find themselves somewhere in Virginia when things start to take a turn; Zu is old enough that if somewhere's been deemed safe, she can go exploring, searching for food; they're trying to give her some independence.

Mags is napping in the back of Betty, while Liam and Chubbs are off exploring, and Zu is looking through the gas station, when there comes a crack of electricity and a quickly following crash from the building itself. Without hesitation, Mags bolted upright glasses on her face at lightning speeds, crashing through Betty's back door with her mouth already aglow, ready to tear down whoever is threatening Zu. The girl herself comes skittering from the building, pulling on her glove and bolting past Mags into Betty, urging the older girl to climb in after her. There's someone in the building that Zu had just left, and though Mags is ready to fight any monsters that Zu would face, out of the building bursts- a girl.

With curly dark hair and a slight frame, she can't be much younger than Mags, and upon seeing her, Mags simmers down almost immediately; she's frightened, something's after the girl too.

"Trust me, Zu." Mags says, because anything that can scare a kid at that age is probably a bigger threat. The girl stops for just a second outside the building, catching sight of Mags, Zu, and Betty, but hurdles towards them as someone calls out from the other side of the gas station.

"Please, you have to help me, I think they're trying to kill me." The girl is close, clinging to the flannel by Mags' elbows, desperation in her eyes.

"It's okay." Mags murmurs, ushering her into the back of Betty, closing the doors behind them. The people outside keep calling for Ruby, probably the girl, and Mags and Zu hide her under a blanket in the back. "Stay quiet."

The boys are close, she can hear them arguing about something outside, Lady Jane, if Mags' hearing was correct, and when Liam opens the door with a sigh, he doesn't even bother to look back at where Mags and Zu look visibly concerned. Ruby's name is called again, and a pair of adults come into view, a woman with a kind face and dark hair, and a man who is too far back to have any real distinguishable features.

"Who are these guys?" Liam asks, looking over his shoulder, frowning, but Chubbs just urges him to leave. Betty screeches away in a panic, with the kids unsure of whether the adults were skip-tracers or perhaps military; the woman's outfit looked like a uniform.

"What happened at the gas station?" Chubbs asked, eyes wide as the turned to face the girls, brow furrowed. "Did they see you, Zu?"

"Yeah, and who's Ruby?" Liam asked, and before Mags could get a word in edge-wise, Ruby herself popped up, eyes wide and panicked.

"I'm Ruby." She told them, voice quiet and more than a little bit nervous. Liam made the car come to a screeching halt and everyone turned to look at her. "Ruby Daly." She elaborated, though no-one really asked. After a beat, Charles threw his hands into the air.

"What do we always tell you, Zu? No strays!" He groaned, and Zu shrugged, but Liam looked instead to Mags, confusion written on his face before his gaze went back to Ruby.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this-" His voice was soft, but no-one but Mags seemed to pay attention from where she had been sitting on a cushion behind his seat. She reached out to take his hand, and he frowned at her, not out of anger or any really negative emotion, he was just trying to decipher the situation.