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Day Thirty-Seven - Jet

I wasn't able to find Seth or get in touch with him at all yesterday. I don't have any idea where he could be. Or why he's gone radio silent on me. It's making me nervous. What if something happened to him? Could the Compound have found out that we're up to something and gotten to him? Wouldn't they come for me first?

I shake my head, steer my car around the corner towards the street he lives on. His car is parked in front of his house. I resist the urge to drive mine straight into his. Where the hell has he been this entire time?

The words are leaving my mouth before I'm even in the house. "Seth, you complete asshole. You're gone for practically an entire week without even telling me anything and you finally come back and you still don't contact me? I swear, if you aren't seriously injured already, you're about to be."

The door clicks shut behind me and Seth's mom stares at me with a shocked expression on her face. "Jet. Nice of you to drop by."

"Mrs. Yardley."

"Seth is out back with his father."

"Right. It's nice to see you. I'm just gonna go—"

"Okay. If you need anything, let me know."

I give her a jerky nod and shuffle through the house, shoulders hunched up to my ears. Seth is outside with his dad, the two of them standing on the edge of the patio staring off at something. Neither of them notice me come up. I clear my throat. Seth looks my way.

"Jet, I was just leaving to come find you."

"Oh yeah? What a coincidence this is then."

Mr. Yardley pats Seth on the shoulder, then does the same to me before going back inside.

"Okay, where the hell have you been? Also, your mom just heard me threatening to maim you, so that was cool."

He laughs through his nose, a short exhalation. "I've been working. Sorry for not contacting you, but it slipped my mind. I meant to, really."

I try not to bristle at his lame excuse for an apology. "Tell me you have some good news for me after being gone for so long."

"A little." He gives me his version of a smile, that tiny almost imperceptible uptick of the corners of his mouth. "I've expanded our group's network. There are even people from the surrounding area who are on board with what we're doing here. Did you know this Compound houses kids from everywhere in a hundred mile radius?"

"I didn't know that. How many more people are we talking about?"

"A lot. I think we'll be able to get things done with this many people helping out."

I let that fact sink in for a moment. Seth actually saying we'll be able to do something is a rare occurrence. "I'm feeling less violent towards you. Keep talking."

"Tasha got in touch with me early this morning. She's bringing more vials later. Looks like your girlfriend really did something in there."

"Ah, so you were reading my texts then." I can't help but be impressed with how quickly Elyse was able to get Tasha back on board with the plans. Just in time too, it seems.

"I said I meant to get back to you. Gathering people and planning all this stuff is time consuming, you know."

"I know. This is good news though. The more vials we have, the more we'll be able to know about the drugs, right?"

"Right. And the preliminary results are almost done. With this next batch of vials, we'll be able to know even more. Things are moving in our favor right now."

I grin. Hook my arm around Seth's neck and drag him closer to me. He complains while I rub the short hairs on his head, but he laughs too. I release him. The words I want to say don't come out, but there must be enough of them written on my face because he just nods and gives me another one of his small smiles.

"Okay, I'm on a mini vacation from work," I tell him. "So where do you need me and what else can I do to help?"