To Be A Leader

Chapter 25: Pulled

I step out of the shower, having throughly scrubbed myself to rid any of the toxins that might have clinged onto me during my time stampeding through that canal. Exhaustion clings to my body, my mind screaming for sleep, but I know I can't get rest just yet.

Jody, Sam and Nicole are busy setting the living room to have a short meeting about how we can contact Pit Viper and how we can buy out both our and Selma's contracts. Amelia is back in New Canton. We tried to get her to stay until morning, but she kept saying she wanted to get back to her memory foam mattress and goose feather pillows. When Sam and I asked if she could please just stay one night, she replied by saying that she would not stay but the two of us could definitely come back to New Canton with her, and her bed had room for both of us. This, of course, made me go off and let out a stream of curses, which only made Amelia chuckle before saying her goodbyes.

Because she is no longer in Abel and we still need to have this meeting, Sam is busy seeting up equipment to talk to her. Since this meeting is going to be somewhat large, with a lot of our runners in it, the coms shack was a no go and why we chose to have this meeting in Janine's farmhouse.

Although I really do wish the meeting had been pushed until morning. I mean, it is morning, technically, but I doubt many of the runners are going to be happy to be woken up at this hour. Maxine's currently doing that now. It's hard to be mean to her since she is a Abel's primary doctor and therefore not someone you want to sass at, unless you're me.

I head into the changing area and slip on some semi-clean clothes before stepping out and tossing my sweat drenched, blood-stained clothes in one of the hampers. Seeing the blood sends another stab of guilt through me for letting Peter shield me, and I clench my jaw in anger at Sam for telling Peter he needed to shield me. Maxine I understand, but me...

I know we want to keep my immortality a secret, but I don't want to make someone else feel unecessary pain to do so. I was willing to tell them if it meant not putting Peter through that alone. That wasn't fair, and I plan on telling Sam so.

I head out of the showers and towards Janine's farmhouse, and I wonder how she would feel about us using this equipment in her house. I suppose it doesn't matter. She's gone, and we've heard nothing from her and we probably never will. A part of me thinks she's never coming back, possibly because of her own choice, possibly because she can't. I mean, we've gotten along fine without her. She isn't really needed in order for Abel to survive, but we still think about her.

She's been gone for over ten months now. It's weird to think about that.

When I reach the farmhouse, I head to the living room. A lot of runners are already there-Summer, Peter, Paula, Tom, even Milo. None of them say anything as I enter, but all their eyes fall on me. I quickly take a seat on the floor. My cheeks heat up at being one of the last ones to show up even though I am Head of Runners, but I keep quiet and nervously run my hand through my damp, tangled hair.

"Okay," Sam says, "equipment's all set up. Can you hear me, Amelia?"

"I can, but I'm wondering why this couldn't wait until morning. While you Abel lot don't seem to care much for your looks, I do need my beauty sleep."

"We're not happy about bein' awake right now either," Jody says, rubbing her eyes and placing her hands on her hips. "But if we want to buy out those contracts, we have to make a plan, and we need to make it before Pit Viper reaches Selma. As I recall, you were the one who convinced her to go to Sigrid, and you promised we'd come for her as soon as we could."

She sighs heavily. "Yes, yes, my memory of that terrible fungus infested mission is very clear."

Sam sits down beside me, taking my hand into his. I let him, even though I don't look at him. "So what should we do?"