Conquer

Chapter 9:

When we met Will and Katelyn at the trees, I was still very confused.

I must have been passed noon based on the suns position in the sky.

Jed was the only thing running through my mind. He walked in front of me, giving me the chance to observe him. And I did.

He walked through the grass as if proud and afraid at the same time. His broad shoulders remaining still as he walked. I could tell Jed's emotions through his body language.

When watching him, I wondered if someone could tell my emotions. I wondered if my thin body expressed things like his body did.

I was deep in thought when we approached the tree line, Katelyn and Will were chasing Faye around some of the trees. Tag.

I watched as Katelyn caught speed and grabbed Faye, tickling her. Faye's laughter filled the air with a light happiness. I couldn't help but smile for a moment, knowing that even for a moment, all of them had temporarily forgotten the horrors about them.

"Hey, you needed us?" asked Will after a few moments.

Will continued to smile with Katelyn and Faye. It was the first time I had seen him without being so serious, without being so angry. He seemed calm and loose, his white smile shining. His age was unknown, but his happiness made him seem young.

After such a horrible night, I expected today to be just as bad, the lightness seemed to overtake that however.

"Yeah, we need to talk about last night," replied Jed.

That's when the lightness left. The horrific memories of the Mutator blinded my sight from happiness. I seemed to be the only one effected by the mention of the past night. Then again, no one here experienced it like I did.

"All right Faye, we told you that you had until Jordyn and Jed got here. Quit procrastinating, go do your chores," said Will with a smirk.

"But I don't want to! I wanna keep playing!" shouted Faye in return, with the normal stubbornness of a child.

"If you go now, we can have SugarTea with dinner," replied Katelyn.

Faye nearly shouted with joy as she jumped up and left, probably to do her chores.

"SugarTea?" I asked openly for someone to answer.

"Oh, right. SugarTea is just a recipe we came up with. It's warm water, some fruit juice, and for Faye, a lot of sugar," said Katelyn with a roll of her eyes and smile.

"In Faye's defense, it's actually pretty damn good," Will added.

Will and Katelyn exchanged a loose laugh before sitting next to a tree. I knew this was the cue to start talking.

"Oh and you can skip the whole... Mutator part," said Jed, "I told them about... Carol already. I didn't want you to have to explain it. But while you were sleeping, you were twitching and mumbling. What was going on?"

"All right... That makes things a bit better.

Well, while I was out, I had a dream. It was... strange. Dr. Hugo was in it. She mentioned something about 'emotion control,' " I said, I could tell that I had their attention.

I decided quickly that I wasn't going to mention the fact that Jed was in the dream as well.

"I don't necessarily think it was just a dream, however. I think it was more of a... message. I think it was a plan; the Outsiders put the thought into my head.

Dr. Hugo referenced something about the Mutator as well. That that one was called Mutator 124. As if it were a copy or a product. She also, specifically, mentioned, 'They all went for the heart, you went for the brain.' I think that was a clue, or a hint. As far as I know, shooting it in the head did put it down.