Storm

Chapter Sixty-Three

Noah just stared at me, while I stared back in silence. My mouth was clamped shut. Had I said too much?

If he knew the truth would he kick me out?

But how could he not know how cruel the Equator was? How they'd literally tried to turn me into one of those bodies for sale?

I doubted it hadn't happened in the past.

"What are you talking about?" Noah asked again. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I let out a frustrated sigh and finished shoving the medical supplies back into the first aid kit before locking it shut. I didn't know how to word this. "They tried doing it to me."

Noah just shook his head. "Doing what? I'm going to need more explanation than that." He seemed a little pissed off, honestly. I guess that was reasonable given the past half hour.

"They...when I was captured, to punish me...they were planning on putting me into a chip and then getting rid of it so they could use my body," I said slowly, hoping he would understand.

He narrowed his eyes at me. He didn't say anything for a moment. And then...

"Are you out of your mind?" he said, incredulously. "Please tell me you're kidding."

I wasn't kidding.

My expression was confirmation enough for him.

"I don't know where you heard that. I don't know who told you those lies. But that's not how the Equator works. Everyone goes through training at the wall and then is allowed inside. Here, they have bodies because they make them. They make them in factories. I know people who work there. I've seen them myself. I don't know exactly how they can do such work, but obviously this is advanced technology. Sure, it's a little annoying they waited until the end of the world to show it to all of us, but at least we have it. It was the world's fail-safe program that the government had prepared in case something like this happened."

It had sounded a bit too much like he'd barfed out an Encyclopedia entry. I almost didn't have the energy to be angry. He just didn't know the truth. But I could prove it to him. Somehow.

"Look, I know that's what they tell you. That's what they told me, too. But that's why they're after me. I escaped," I replied, calmly.

Noah just continued to shake his head, his face frozen in disbelief. "I can't believe you."

"Excuse me?"

"I said I can't believe you. I honestly thought you were smarter than this."

Okay, now I was getting pissed.

"You thought I was smarter than this?!" I asked, incredulously. If my leg were working, I would have stood up. "I'm not lying to you. Why would I lie about my own personal experience?!"

"Because what you're saying is impossible! You must have misheard them. You must have really misunderstood because that's not what they do." Noah crossed his arms furiously.

I didn't even care that he'd just gotten robbed and beaten up. I was exhausted, slightly tipsy, and one hundred percent done with his crap. "Right, sorry, they have magical body making machines that do all the work, don't they? And yet I'm the misinformed one."

Noah glared me down from across the room. Then, he walked to the wall, grabbed my crutches, and threw them towards my couch.

My breath hitched.

"Get out," he said, simply.

He wouldn't. There was no way...not after everything...

Or would he?

After all...we were on opposite sides of this equation.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I replied, hoping he'd calm down enough to think rationally.

"I said get out. I don't need you here. If you're really a criminal, or whatever you are, I don't want you."

I sat frozen on the couch a moment more, trying to comprehend what was happening. My heart beat wildly. He was joking right? He had to be joking. He knew what would happen if I walked out there. He knew the danger he was putting me in.

But I guess I was rebel scum and he would never associate with me.

I'd genuinely thought Noah was different. But I guess everyone in the Equator was the same.

I got my crutches under me, and nearly stumbled as I hastily moved to the door. I didn't want to be around him anymore. I didn't want to see his face, or hear his harsh words, or hear him tell me I was a terrible human being for standing against the Equator.

Because he obviously could not be reasoned with.

I glared at him one last time, but didn't speak a word. I didn't grab anything; everything I owned was already on me.

I walked out the door without looking over my shoulder.