The Awakening

Chapter Two

"You all get one question," the gunman states as he takes the wheel, and we start to roll out of view of the school. I can hear sirens in the distance, and I can only hope they will find us before it is too late.
"Okay," Jane starts, "why did you only take five of us?"
"That's all they needed. Five teenage girls. Other criteria were needed, but you met all the most valuable standards." Jane's reaction remains solum, and she nods.
"What were the criteria that we need to meet?" Asks Kate, looking a bit more intrigued.
"Braviary, leadership, someone we can control, plus your looks, well at least decently looking." He snickers to himself, and I roll my eyes. None of us are ugly, but if he was going off looks he could have tried a little more.
"Why-" Kate tries, but the gunman puts his finger up.
"Only one," is all he says.
"Are you going to kill us because I would like to know before we get to wherever we are going, so I can mentally prepare." Emma's voice is full of fear, but you can still hear the sarcasm that she uses so well. I haven't even begun to think about what might happen to us because I was too caught up in the gunman, and what was going on at the moment. This brings on a new fear. What I Emma's right, and we are just going to end up dead? I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my head in my hands. Perhaps it was better when I didn't think about what was going on.
"No, not us." The gunman says, and I catch the corners of his mouth turn up in the mirror. I start to feel numb. I have no idea how to process anymore. My emotions which were overloading just minutes ago seem to have disappeared. I stare into the darkness from which my fingers close off the world, leaving me with only the soft beat of my heart, and the voices around me.
"Where are you taking us?" Sophie finally demands, after several minutes of silence. The gunman takes a huffed breath before he speaks.
"We are going North to a secret facility where you will be kept. More will be explained when you get there." My heart doesn't race faster, or jump, it only remains a slow pace as I focus on my breathing and my thoughts. I only get one question, and if all will be explained, I might as well ask the thing that has been gnawing at the back of my brain for the entirety of our trip.
"Who are you?" I ask, my voice calm, and steady. I raise my head out from the darkness of my hands and look towards the gunman.
"We are a special group o-" I stop him, this is not what I meant.
"No, who are you?" I ask, looking at the gunman more directly. He glances up in the mirror, and his eyes tell me that this question has caught him by surprise.
"Um, well, I am..." he stutters, focusing his eyes back on the road. "I am one of you. Taken from everything I love, forced to go to the northern facility. Probably for the same reason, they need you, I suppose." A small amount of pity fills my heart before it returns to a dull grey area filling my body. He was- no is, one of us. He was taken, just like we were. Is this what will happen to us? Will we be forced to take children from their homes? Their families, and friends? No, I refuse. I make myself a silent promise that no matter what I will never take a child away. I close my eyes, and make a cross over my heart, sealing my promise inside it.
"Well, my names Ella, and this is Emma, Jane, Sophie, and Kate." I motion to each one of the girls as I say their names. "Pleasure to meet you," I finish in a sarcastic tone. A small smile crosses the gunman's face but vanishes within a second. This smile didn't send shivers down my spine or make my blood run cold, instead, it gave me a bit of warmth in my freezing heart. It was a real genuine smile, that made me feel a split second of safety, but just like his smile, it was gone too soon.
"I'm sure we will get very familiar with each other. The names Frost," he responds, using a sarcastic tone of his own. I guess for a man with icy blue eyes, and white hair the name fits. Even his skin is a pale white. I hear Jane give a slight laugh, but Frost doesn't seem to hear it. I wonder if that is his real name or one he was given by the people who took him. I am tempted to talk with the girls, but by the looks, on their faces, nobody seems to be in the mood. Their eyes look cloudy, their brains full of thoughts of their own. Their usual smiles have been replaced with frowned mouth corners and long faces. We sit in silence, listening to the tires roll across the pavement below us.
I look out the tinted window to see nothing but bare land. I'm guessing we will be driving for a while.
"I hope it doesn't take much longer to get there because I'm already starting to think about food," Jane tells us. It manages to pull a small smile from my tired body. We must have been driving for at least two hours by now, and I am starting to feel the effects of hunger. The sun is starting to set, which means that school is out, and our parents will be learning we are gone. I can almost feel their tears, and sadness enters my dull heart. I let it stay until I am too close to crying, and bury my sadness, and let the images of my horrified family exit from my mind.
"Tell me about it," I answer, and the other girls nod in agreement.
"Hey Frosty, if you aren't planning on killing us, a little food would be nice," Jane growls.
"It's Frost, and we will be stopping in ten minutes so chill out," he responds, rolling his eyes at her.
"Was that supposed the be a pun?" Kate asks him, eyebrows raised. Frost gives another genuine smile, and we laugh a little. Even a forced laugh is better than being petrified by fear. Eventually, the van comes to a stop at a small gas station. There are no other buildings around it, but inside there are bathrooms and snacks. The men escort us inside, taking one of our arms, and holding it tightly. I don't know why they think this is necessary because we are in the middle of nowhere, and even if we tried to run they could shoot us dead in a second. At least they let us into the bathrooms alone. I wash my hands and enter the store part of the building. The back was is lined with fridges, which are full of drinks, while the center of the room is filled with shelves that hold a large array of chips, pretzels, chocolates, and other goodies. Frost hands everyone a plastic bag and says we may take what we like, but we only get one bag each. I turn to my friends, an idea coming into my mind.
"Okay, Kate you fill your bag up with drinks, make sure you grab water too, not only fun stuff. Jane, you get candy bars and meat sticks. Sophie, you get some napkins, games, chapstick, really anything that might be useful or keep us from getting bored. Emma, fill yours up with chips, and I'll put trail mix, and nuts in mine. You all got that?"
"Let's do this," Kate tells us, and everyone breaks off to find what I told them. I fill my bag with all sorts of trail mixes, peanuts, cashews, and almonds. My bag fills quickly, and within minutes we are all at the door, our bags full, and before I can say anything to the girls we are being escorted back to the van. I put my back against the wall, and start picking through all of our bags. I take some lemon-lime soda, a bag of all dressed chips, some cashews, and a meat stick. We all snack quietly on our munchies, enjoying every bite. Emma is already on her second pack of mini Twizzlers, and she offers me one but I turn it down.
"I'm glad you said no, just wanted to be nice," she says, which makes me laugh. It is the first real laugh I have had since math class. I didn't realize how hungry I was before I started eating. We dig out a travel sized version of Pictionary that Sophie found, and play a few rounds. This is the first time that we have felt the tiniest bit of happiness since the fourth period when we were heading to the assembly that changed our lives. We start to get sleepy after about an hour, so we put the game away, and find a comfortable spot in our crowded seats to rest. Curling up into a small ball, and resting my head on Emma 's legs, her hand moves slowly, first finding, then stroking my hair like she always does when I put myself in this position. She doesn't like to be touched, but she will make the occasional exception for me. This motion is calming, and I feel myself drifting off to sleep.