Diverse (The Darkest Minds)

Chapter 4

A little while later, as night fell, the three of us set up camp. Turns out, Ronnie had a tent with him that could fit all of us in. He and I agreed to take turns guarding our small camp throughout the night.

The three of us decided not to start a campfire just in case tracers happened to be around and spotted smoke from the road. Instead, we covered up in our sleeping bags as the air turned cold and sat on a couple of logs that were nearby and had a lantern turned on. We ate a few packets of trail mix, jerky, and chocolate bars and drank water.

"So, Ember. Which color are you?" Ronnie asked,  "Obviously, you're not a Gold since many of them wear protective gloves to prevent shocking and frying anything up."

"It's complicated," I replied.

Hilary also warned me about saying anything about my multiple powers to any of the other kids fearing that jealousy would occur.

"You don't have to be afraid to tell me anything. I can take it all," Ronnie assured me.

I sighed trying to figure out where to start, "It'll sound strange to you. I'm not in any of the color categories. I have every power of Red, Orange, Gold, Green, and Blue. I call myself Diverse because of it."

"That's pretty cool," Ronnie smiled, "I've never heard of anyone having more than one power. You'd be powerful enough to destroy a whole army of PSFs."

"I haven't tested that part out yet. My aunt, Hilary warned me to be careful about telling anyone else about my diversity. Otherwise, I'd end up in a lab or dead."

"That'll never happen Ember. You have my word that I won't breathe a single word of your powers to anyone until they've earned our trust."

Ronnie had an expression on his face that confirmed to me that he meant everything he said.

"I think for now, if we meet up with any of the other kids, I'd pass for either a Green or Blue."

Ronnie and Azel both nodded in agreement.

"So Az, what color are you?" Ronnie turned to my brother.

"Green. Em always tells me that I was always a genius long before the virus came around," Azel replied.

"I think it was both Mom and Dad who always said that," I remarked.

"I know. You agreed with them."

Soon, we decided that it was time to try and get some sleep, especially since I would be helping to guard the place. As I got into the tent with Azel, my arm brushed against Ronnie's. Next thing, there was a flash.

I was seeing two boys who looked like they were twins and appeared to be twelve years old. Both had dark chocolate brown hair and the same dark eyes. I had a hunch one of them was Ronnie and the other boy was his brother.

To my horror, one of the boys started convulsing and lit himself on fire. Ronnie had a horrified expression as he watched his brother burn himself to death.

Next, Ronnie looked like he was beginning to have a seizure, and the whole room was engulfed in flames.

In another flash, there was a man who I guessed was Ronnie's father and a woman's scorched dead body who may have been Ronnie's mother. The father picked up a phone and in minutes, two men in hazmat suits dragged Ronnie away as his father looked on with a lack of emotion.

Then, on bus transport, Ronnie had a scared and grieving expression on his face. His mother's death had been an accident but his father didn't think of it either. One of the kids burned the driver causing the bus to fall on its side, killing all the PSFs on board. Ronnie and the others got out and went their separate ways.

I pulled myself back into reality, gasping like I had been underwater for a while without the use of scuba gear.

"Em? Are you alright? What happened?" Ronnie asked with hints of worry.

"I'm not sure. I think it was my Orange side," I replied.

"How 'bout if I take your turn on guard duty?" Azel suggested, "You can always do it another night when we camp somewhere else."

"No. It's okay," I shook my head at my brother as I set up my sleeping bag and got into it, "I think sleep is all I need right now. Lemme know when it's my turn to watch."

Ronnie nodded at me but still had a worried look.

Eventually, some hours later, I woke up as Ronnie entered the tent.

"If it's all too much for you, Az could take your place," he whispered.

"No. I rather let him have his sleep," I replied softly as I got out of my sleeping bag and crawled out of the tent.

I lit up the lantern and walked around the tent as a way to keep myself awake. The cold air seemed to coax me out of my sleepy state.