POWER | the darkest minds

chapter seven

   "You really think I rock these geeky-ass, coke-bottle glasses for show? Plus I'm smart enough to know no one gives a crap about Greens." Chubs elaborates. "So enlighten me, why the hell would the League go through all this trouble for you? What makes you so special?"

   We had pulled off the main road, letting Chubs find out where we were on a map and Liam fix a tire we had messed up in the chase. I sat in the grass, looking over Ruby. Chubs was right, there was something off about her, I could feel it. This girl was not a Green, no matter how much she tried to convince us, but I didn't see her as a threat.

   "Chubs leave her alone." Liam tries, but Chubs persists.

   "No. If we're going to be stuck with her—" Ruby cuts him off with a shake of her head. "You're not going to be stuck with me."

   At this I stand up and brush off my pants. "Well, where the hell do you plan on going? In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of being hunted and I can guarantee that isn't the last time we're going to see those people."

   "I'm going home." She states firmly and begins walking away.

   "Wait, where's home?" I ask, turning to follow her.

   "Salem, Virginia." She doesn't stop as she answers, just continues on her way. I hold out my hand, pulling her to a stop with my telekinesis.

   "Hey!" Ruby struggles, trying to get past, but fails. As she turns back to face the three of us, I let go of my hold on her.

   "What're you gonna do?" Liam raises an eyebrow. "Walk back to the highway and hitchhike? You'll be nabbed by a tracer and back at a camp in time for bed."

   "A tracer?" She sounds just as confused as I did when I heard the word for the first time. I nod, "Like that crazy Lady Jane who nearly smoked our ass back there?" Her face still looks confused.

   "Man, for a Green, she sure takes a while to catch up." Chubs comments, shaking his head slightly.

   "You should come with us." Liam offers, stepping up beside me. "We're going to East River."

   "Don't tell her!" Charles tries to grab Liam, but he shakes him off.

   "Supposedly, it's this huge compound where kids can live together on the outside. There's food, a place to stay, and it's safe." He explains. I watch as she contemplates the offer, only making me more suspicious of this girl. If she were a Green, she could've decided by now if it was safe to go with us or not, not a lot of convincing needed. She was strange, but that didn't mean I wanted to leave her behind.

   "C'mon, Ruby. It's better than people trying to track you down every five minutes." I back up Liam.

   "The Slip Kid's in charge." He tells. I turn to him, not knowing this information yet. "No one knows who he really is. He got the name because he slipped custody four times, and he's supposedly an Orange." I perk up at the information. I'd never met someone that could understand that portion of my powers, I didn't even know if there was anyone else.

   "Nice, Liam." Chubs comments, sarcasm running through the words.

   I roll my eyes at his attitude, turning to face the van when I hear the door open. Zu walks out with a small tray of food we had collected.

   Charles walks over, ready to eat, but Liam and I stay where we are. "Just come with us. If you wanna go home, we're your best chance. Right Liam?"

   "Em's right. Now, let's eat. I'm starving."

•

I sat in the back of the van, listening as Ruby talked with Charles and Liam about what had happened to her before.

"The League's not your friend, okay?" Liam raised his voice, making me flinch slightly. I knew why, though, which made me understand. After him letting me go inside his head, I saw things I wish I could help him forget, but memories are some of the only things we get to keep, it would be wrong to get rid of them.

I looked over at him with a frown. On the outside he seemed fine, like nothing was wrong, but if you looked close enough you could see how exhausted he was. Exhaustion from running, hiding, and just trying to make it through the day.

Even though it had only been a few days, it felt like I knew him for years; his habits, what made him happy, and what made him sad. I guess that's what infiltrating someone's head can do.

"Sooner or later, you're gonna learn that the only ones who can help us, are us."