POWER | the darkest minds

chapter six

"Hey!" I vaguely hear a voice behind us as I push Zu to run faster to the van. "Hey!"

I look behind me, seeing the same girl trailing and trying to keep up with us as we ran. "Keep running!" I shout at Zu. I didn't feel like having a similar run-in with this girl like I did with Lady Jane, so I turned on my heel, shoved a hand out as my eyes turned blue and used my telekinesis to send the girl flying back a few feet.

I'm quick to turn back around and run to the van, jumping inside as Zu shuts the door behind me and the mystery girl catches up. She bangs her hands against the glass, a scared look plastered on her face. "Please! I have no where else to go, no one to trust! Please!" The girl pleads, pressing her face close to the window.

Zu looks up to me, as if to ask permission to open the door. I couldn't help but wonder where the hell Charles and Liam were, but I pushed the impeding thought from my brain as the girl ran around to the other side of the van.

"Please! I think they're trying to kill me!" I peek out the back window, looking for a sign, but hearing the faint call of a woman who was most likely looking for the girl. I don't hesitate as I look to Zu, giving her a nod of permission to let the her in.

She clambers inside roughly as the door shuts behind her, rushing into the corner to get out of sight. Zu grabs a blanket, shoving it over the girl as I hear Liam and Charles' voices from outside.

Zu places a finger over her mouth as I slide the backpack off my shoulders. I give a small nod, telling her I won't say anything until she wants me to.

Liam and Charles climb into the front seats, buckling up and getting ready to leave.

"Ruby!" A shout echos from outside, making the two freeze. Liam quirks an eyebrow in confusion, looking into the rearview mirror. A man and woman run behind the van, continuously shouting the name.

"Who are these guys?" Liam asks, trying to start the van. It clicks on the third try, the engine firing up and he shifts into drive and pulls us onto the main road. The man and woman were running after us, but were ultimately left behind.

   After a few seconds of silence, Chubs turned to glance at us, "What happened back there, Zu?" She doesn't answer. Liam looks back briefly, "And who's Ruby?"

   "I'm Ruby." The mystery girl admitted, lifting the blanket off of her body and pushing it behind her. Liam and Chubs were quick to turn around and let their confusion be known. Liam slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to squeak and the van to slide to an uneasy stop.

   All eyes were on the girl — Ruby — who had just announced herself. She looked between us all briefly. "Ruby Daly."

   "What'd we always tell you, Zu? No strays!" Chubs scolded.

   "Uh, but you got me." I point to myself. He turns his head to me, "You were different. We almost hit you with the van, but you —" He points to Ruby, "Need to go."

   "Don't worry. I'm leaving." Ruby grabbed her bag and moved to open the door. Only then was when I took notice of the shoes she wore.

   I stand up, holding my hand out to stop her. "Wait, you just came from the camps?"

   "They broke me out, but I'm green, I'm not a threat." She excused, shoving the attire off of her feet and changing into different shoes.

   "Open the freakin' door, Liam. We got cops and tracers on our ass, we don't need to add the League to that list." Chubs raises his voice slightly, gesturing to open the door. "What if they put in a call that there's five kids cruising around in a beat-up, blue minivan?"

   "Oh, that's no way to talk about Betty, man." Liam fires back. I nearly laugh at the fact that they had named a van they would probably have to let go of sooner or later.

   "Excuse me for hurting the feelings of a Nissan van." Chubs holds up his hands, indicating a fake surrender.

   Ruby tugs on the door once more with a sigh, "Please, just let me out. I'm really sorry."

"You're not going to the League." Liam announces, his tone firm and reassuring in a strange way. He turns back forward, quickly changing gears to drive and almost literally stomping on the gas pedal, sending Ruby and I falling backwards.

I land with a thud on my back. I roll over leaning against the back of the front seat. "You could've given a warning, jeez." I groan slightly, the impact of the floor hurting me.

Chubs couldn't hide how distraught he was over the idea of the girl staying with us. "What? Liam!"

"I'm Liam, that's Zu, this is Chubs, and that is Emily." He introduces, turning around to continue driving.

   Ruby raises an eyebrow at the strange nickname, "Chubs?" Chubs glares back at her, "Charles to you."

   "Yeah," Liam begins to comment, "He used to be a bit beefier, Zu can back me up on that one. Right, Zu?" He briefly turns to face her, but she stands, leaning over the front seat and pointing through the windshield. "What's wrong?" Liam follows her finger to find a car speeding down the road in our direction.

   I squint, looking closer to the car, seeing an item I identify as a gun being put out the window. "Get down!" I grab Zu, pulling her to the floor as Liam struggles to keep control of the van after he'd ducked down to dodge the bullet.

   "That's Lady Jane! I told you I saw Lady Jane!" Chubs recognizes and I mentally groan, wishing we didn't run into this woman again.

   "Shit." Liam curses, pressing his foot harder to the pedal and speeding up. I scramble to the back of the van, looking out the window to see that she'd turned around and was catching up to us.

   Lady Jane rammed her car into the back of the van, causing me to trip slightly before regaining my balance. She shoots again at the van, causing Liam to begin swerving back and forth in hope of her missing slightly.

   "You should've just let me kill this lady!" I shout to him, turning my attention back to her. "I might have to take you up on that!" He replies. A truck shows up behind Lady Jane, ramming into her and making her car swerve a little.

   "I'm gonna try to stop her!" I push back my hair, beginning to open the back doors of the van. I balance myself by holding onto the roof with one hand, hoping and praying that I didn't fall.

   Liam shows up beside me, making me confused. "Who's driving?" I ask worriedly.

   "Ruby! Now help me move that tree in front of her car." His eyes light up they familiarly vibrant blue as he holds out his hands. I do the same, my eyes changing to blue and holding out my hands to stabilize the tree. "Drive faster!" I shout at Ruby, she obliges and speeds up. I feel a hand grab the back of my shirt, I turn, seeing Chubs anchoring Liam and I in the van. I give a quick nod of the thanks and turn my attention back to the problem at hand.

With our powers working together, we easily rip the tree from the ground. Dirt and limbs fall from it, along with cracks that grow through the asphalt that help to block the road. Lady Jane swerved to the left, causing her to lose control and drive off the side of the road.

We continue lifting and roughly throw and drop the tree right in front of the truck that had followed. They come to a hassled stop, the frustration that was caused by the fact that they lost us was practically floating through the air.

Chubs pulls Liam and I back inside. I roughly fall back onto something softer than I remembered the floor of the van to be. I look up to be met with Liam's smiling face.

A pink blush clouds my cheeks. "I — Uh, sorry —" My apology is cut off when he pulls me in for a hug. I'm surprised by it at first, but still reciprocate the action.

"We did it." He lets out a breathy laugh, "That — That was awesome, you were awesome." I let go of the hug with a laugh, pushing myself off of the floor and extending a hand to him.

He takes it and I pull him to his feet. Brushing a piece of disheveled hair from my face, I turn my attention to Ruby who's still driving. I walk up beside her seat with Liam.

"Hey, uh, thanks for not killing us back there." I smile a little as Liam pats her on the shoulder, "Nice driving."