The Purity Project

Chapter 9

Jada rushed down the hallway, ignoring the security cameras. Behind her was Tyler and the two strangers. She realized that she still didn't know their names.

"Hey, you two. What are your names?" Jada called over her shoulder.

"Seriously? You're asking us for our names now?" the girl said between deep breaths.

"Well, would you rather me call you boy and girl?" Jada replied.

"I'm Lorenzo, she's Halona," the boy responded quickly.

Jada nodded, happy that at least one of them was cooperative. "I'm Jada. He's Tyler."

"Great, now that we're all best friends, can we focus on not going to jail?" Tyler said, sounding annoyed.

"Wait, let's go out this window. It'll buy us time," Halona said, opening the two-story window.

"Good thinking. Lorenzo, go first," Tyler said, keeping his eyes on the hallways.

Jada watched as Lorenzo disappeared out of the window. She looked at Halona, who gestured toward the window, signaling that Jada should go first. Jada grabbed onto the pipe and slowly slid down. She heard shouting in the distance and loosened her grip slightly. She started to slide down faster and her hands couldn't keep up. She suppressed a scream as she fell toward the ground. She closed her eyes and felt herself crash into something, someone grunting by her ear. She opened her eyes and saw Lorenzo, who had caught her.

"Are you okay?" Lorenzo asked her, as he set her down onto the ground.

"Yeah, I think so. Nice catch." Jada smiled and looked up at the window. She watched Halona slide down, closely followed by Tyler.

"My car's this way." Tyler ran across the parking lot, and they followed him.

"Shotgun!" Lorenzo called out of nowhere.

"Are you serious?" Halona snapped.

Jada couldn't help but laugh. Halona glared at her harshly. Suddenly, Jada heard shouts, and they sounded closer than they did before. She turned her head and saw a group of security guards chasing after them. "Get in the car!" Jada shouted. She and Halona collapsed into the backseat.

"Drive!" Lorenzo shouted.

"That's what I was planning on doing, idiot!" Tyler shouted as he sped across the parking lot.

"The gate! Watch out for the ga-" Jada didn't get to finish her sentence. Tyler drove straight through the gate, the impact throwing Jada and Halona forward.

"My house is that way!" Halona said as Tyler sped through the city.

"We're not going home," Tyler said through gritted teeth.

"What? You can't keep us from going home. We have families!" Lorenzo said to Tyler, trying to grab the steering wheel.

"Stop you idiot before we crash! We can't stay here. They saw our faces, and they'll be showing up to our homes any minute now. If we stay here, we'll die!" Tyler replied, swatting Lorenzo's hand.

"So what? What are we going to do then?" Lorenzo asked quietly.

"We're going to save Braden, and your brother," Halona replied, fiddling with her fingers.

"Halona, we can't just go to the capitol and rescue them. We're going against the president for god's sake!" Lorenzo reasoned.

"Enough! We're going to rescue them, no matter the cost. If you don't want to come along, then feel free to get out of the car!" Jada shouted. She was shaking with anger. She was done being a sweet little girl. Lorenzo looked back at her and sighed.

"Fine. If I'm going to die, I want to be remembered for something good," Lorenzo said, crossing his arms.

"Good. We're going to go to Madison. My uncle lives there, so we can gather the information we need without being recognized," Tyler said.

"Madison? You mean the city that's overrun with government-loving citizens? That's a bright idea," Lorenzo said sarcastically.

"Which is why it's the perfect cover," Tyler replied firmly, giving Lorenzo a look that signaled that the conversation was over.

Jada closed her eyes, wanting to sleep away all her troubles, but her mind wouldn't let her rest. She looked over at Halona, who was sitting up right, her eyes alert. Jada could tell that she was faking her tough look. Jada did the same thing when people asked her about her brother or her father. Halona had obviously been through some sort of trauma. Jada peeked at Lorenzo, who had his head turned toward the window. He seemed like a friendly person, unlike Tyler, who always had an angry look on his face. Jada thought about her mother. What would she think, when she heard that her daughter was a criminal? She was already stressed out enough with Malcolm being "missing". Would Marolo punish her for Jada's actions? Jada sighed, wishing that she could go back to having a normal family, living a normal life.

"So, does anyone want to introduce ourselves, or are we just going to treat each other like strangers for the rest of the ride?" Lorenzo's voice broke the silence.

Jada smiled, happy to take her mind off her problems. "I'm Jada Stone. I'm fourteen, and I go to Oakwood High School. I play volleyball, and I hope to become the captain of the team some day," she said, realizing how unlikely her dream was now.

"Malcolm told me that you're pretty smart. You've got straight A's." Tyler added, looking at Jada through the rear-view mirror.

"Really? Impressive." Lorenzo smiled at Jada. "I'll go next. I'm Lorenzo Castro. I'm fifteen and go to Westview High School. I have six siblings. I play soccer, basketball, and I compete in track. Who's next?"

Halona sighed. "I guess me. I'm Halona Murray. I'm fifteen and also go to Westview. I'm an artist, and I don't have any siblings. At least that I know of. I'm adopted." She said the last word as if it were something vile.

"Tyler? Your turn." Lorenzo nudged Tyler with his elbow.

"Fine. I'm Tyler Park. I'm sixteen and I go to Lakeside High School. I have a little brother named Ron, and my parents are stupid. I don't do any sports, unless you consider street fights a sport." Tyler chuckled darkly.

"That was... interesting." Lorenzo glanced at Jada, who shrugged.

"You never told me you had a brother," Jada said. She wondered if the two of them got along. Tyler didn't seem like the big brother type.

"You never asked," Tyler replied firmly. Jada decided it was smart not to question him any more.

"Well, I'm going to go to sleep. You guys should too," Lorenzo said, turning to face Jada and Halona.

"Finally! I thought you'd never shut up," Halona replied as she leaned against the window.

Jada laughed and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she had drifted off into a deep sleep.