Nowhere Girl | The Darkest Minds Fanfic

Carry that Weight

They separated us in the warehouse, and took Ang and Drew towards a different direction. James and I were shoved out of the warehouse through the other side, and into the cold, hard midnight of winter.

　　On this side of the warehouse, there is a parking lot, where a handful of tents—like the rafts earlier, they are on the brink of falling apart as well—perching left and right. The kids behind us shoved us into a large white tent, which stank of human excreta, and laughed as we struggled to put ourselves upright with our hands tied behind our backs.

　　In this light, it was impossible to see what was inside this tent; James and I could barely see each other's face. In the first glance, it would seem that the tent was empty besides us. Still, I could feel other lives in here; we're not alone, but it was really odd that no one reacted to our arrival.

　　"Jesus! How did you guys get yourselves into this mess?" James hissed the moment he got his head out from under his knees.

　　"I don't know." I sighed. "I'm so sorry."

　　James' voice softened immediately. "Never mind. We just have to deal with it." He said after a grunt.

　　"I'm worry about Ang. I think he is going to deal with it." I said.

　　James clucked his tongue. "Typical." He let out a breath. "We'll just have to find them before the 'initiation', and get the hell out of here." I felt him twisting his body to put his bound hands beside my waist. "Can you untie me?"

　　"In case you didn't notice, my hands are tied, too." I said. The zip tie bit into my wrists so hard that I almost couldn't feel my hands.

　　My hands are tied, but I promise I will do everything I can to help you. The words suddenly popped up in my mind in Stewart's voice, and I almost cried. The Blue on the wall. The voice in my head right now. Why does he come to me in such twisted ways, in such a twisted time? I won't be able to find him, and now I'm stuck here, left under the mercy of this horrible, horrible group of kids.

　　No. Pull yourself together. I won't be able to find him if I got stuck here.

　　"Hold on a second." I remembered something I once read in a book. These boys were stupid enough to use zip ties on us, they should suffer from their own stupidity.

　　I knelt on the ground, stomach pressed against my laps, and separate my wrists as far away from one another as possible behind my back. I slammed the gap there on the end of my spine as hard as I can, and pulled my two arms away from one another diagonally.

　　The zip tie broke in a crack, and my hands came free. James was in awe, but not for long. "Do mine." He shifted to turn his back to me, and I quickly broke his restriction using similar method.

　　"Let's go." James stood up as he soothed his wrists. The zip ties had cut into our skins deep, and I was sure if the lighting was better, I would see stripes of red ribbons on James' wrists.

　　"Wait, James." I said. "There are people here." I turned to look into the darkness of the tent. I still couldn't see anything, but I knew someone were in there. "I think...I think they are sick."

　　"Sheena." James said in a relatively stable voice. "I hate to say this, but whoever here are not my concern. My main goal is to get the four of us out of this shithole."

　　"At least let me—" I was cut off by someone entering the tent. James and I turned around in unison, and saw a girl entering the tent with a few meal bars in her hands.

　　"Are you guys okay?" She seemed shocked at first, but quickly came towards us and asked. In this light, it was hard to tell the color of her eyes or her hair, but the most distinct feature on her wasn't either of those—it was the burnt marks over the entire right side of her face. The fact that she was wearing nothing but a paper-thin T-shirt and a pair of shorts made me feel so sad and so angry at the same time. The boys in front of the blue wall were all wearing the best clothes in this place, staying in the warmest spot, and likely eating the best foods, too, when this girl here had to wear these and eat only meal bars that others likely scrapped. "I'm sorry, but these have to go to the kids. I can't spare any for you..."