𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐃𝐄! ˡ ˢᵗᵉʷᵃʳᵗ *slow updates*

001. 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞

I remember everything. About the day it happened. I was home sick. I had an allergic reaction the day before and was still feeling the effects. I remember the newscaster. Reporting the news of a nationwide virus, affecting only what seemed like the children. She was a blonde woman in a white pantsuit- her hair tucked away into a bun, her lips painted red.

I was on the couch, watching. My mother had tucked me away in my favorite fuzzy blanket. She was making me soup in the kitchen when the blaring alarm went off on the television. She dropped the knife on the cutting board, rushing into the room. She held me close and wouldn't let me out of her sight, until that night.

Until they killed my mother.

They, being the trackers. They busted into our house. It was 2:11 a.m. They were on the prowl for children. They wanted us dead. This was after the change. When I was suddenly able to control electricity at my fingertips. This was because of Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration, IAAN for short. Over 98% of the nation's children were dead. The remaining 2%, were left with powers. The ones who survived were sent off to camps. The government didn't care about the ones who died. They were scared of us, the ones who lived. And that's why they wanted me so bad. My mother refused to give me up.

We were all each other had.

Rather than send me off, she gave me a pair of yellow dish gloves to contain my powers until I was strong enough to contain them myself.

Almost like a break-even, as soon as I was able to contain my powers, the trackers broke in. My mother already knew what was happening. She kissed me on the forehead, told me how much she loved me, and shoved me in the closet.

There were three gunshots. The only person standing after the shootout was one of the trackers. A broad, tall, dark man with leather gloves and a face mask settled right under his eyes. Flaming grey eyes- eyes of a killer. He snatched me right out of the closet- zip tied my wrists and threw me over his shoulder like a ragdoll.

I beat and kicked, screaming as loud as I could. It didn't matter, though. My mother lay dead, a bloodied bullet hole right between her gorgeous green eyes. Her hand gripped a gun- her soft, soothing hand that was brushing my hair only hours before. "Mommy!" I screamed. I screamed, and screamed, and screamed. I screamed until the man got tired enough to throw me on the ground and shove a rag into my mouth. I sobbed the entire way to his van.

I tried to kill him in his sleep. I managed to push my still zip tied hands into his thick neck and brew up an electric blast straight into his neck. This only angered him. A slap to the face sent me reeling into the back of the van. His wedding ring left an inch long cut into my bottom lip. "Should've tried for the heart, kid," he spit. I tasted blood the entire way to the camp. To Caledonia.

It was long, tedious hours of work, and long, sleepless nights. I hated it. I spoke to no one- I forgot what my own voice sounded like, working like a machine until it was time for bed. That's when I would lay there, sleepless, staring at the ceiling until exhaustion took over. Until that night.

The gate didn't just break- it exploded. One moment, the fence buzzed quietly with electrified currents. The next, a high-pitched whine cut the silence, followed by a roar of sparking metal. I was frozen- there was no way they did it. It was impossible.

But it wasn't.

A sea of kids flooded the yard, pushing and shoving another to get to the opening. I was frozen. Do I run? Surely, they'd catch me. And if I did escape, surely, they'd find me. Maybe not tomorrow, but later, right?

"C'mon!" A girl yelled in my ear, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along as she ran. We dove into the stampede, being pushed and pulled. The mass of green, blue and yellow was pure chaos. My hands clenched and relaxed as energy crackled through my veins. I was anxious- too many people, and not enough time. The girl who grabbed me was pushed onto the ground. Her scream rang in my ears for days after.