Project Jamboree

Chapter Seven

Ruby managed to use her creepy orange brain powers to get a woman to pull over and drive us the rest of the way since Jude was complaining his legs hurt.

"Please get us some tickets," Ruby said quietly. I could tell she was straining to stay in the woman's head.

As she drove away, I saw a tear on her face. No, it was probably just a side effect of the snow. But I looked at the tickets. One had words written on them, traced over multiple times by a pen. Stay Safe.

The train she booked us on didn't leave for another few hours, and we wouldn't actually need the tickets, so Ruby tore them up. But based on the look on her face, she'd seen the words as well. Perhaps she hadn't had as much control over that woman's mind as she'd thought.

As we found somewhere to hide, Jude muttered, "It's freezing."

I smiled gently and took off my glove, sparking a flame in my hand. Of course, my fire didn't affect me, so my hand was freezing. But the others were warm and happy, and that was what mattered.

As our train door opened, we edged towards it. I saw familiar short blue hair and a recognizable grumpy smirk, "Hello, darlings. Miss me?"

"Hey, Vida," Jude said, realizing what her being here meant a second late.

"Come on," Vida motioned to the train she was stood on, "Let's go."

Before any of us could speak, Jude's eyes glowed yellow and he zapped her and we all ran.

"She's going to kill you for that later," Ruby muttered.

"She loves me too much to kill me," Jude replied.

I rolled my eyes, but came to a complete stop when I saw PSFs hopping off a train. They'd seen us.

"Stop those kids!" One shouted.

"Today's going real great," Ruby muttered, but Jude dragged us to a bus nearby. We climbed on. Before Ruby could get into the mind of the driver, Jude asked him nicely. He nodded and started driving.

Jude ducked beneath a seat. Ruby sat down next to him, but I paced the length of the bus, checking for security cameras or other people hiding. What could I say? Being a kid nowadays makes one rather paranoid.

"There aren't any hidden cameras," the driver told me, "What's your name?"

Jude responded, "I'm Jude."

Ruby reluctantly answered, "Ruby."

I said nothing. "Right, that's Natasha," Jude continued, "She's really quiet. Actually, I hadn't heard her say a word since this morning. She doesn't talk."

"Do you mind not telling an absolute stranger our life stories?" Ruby hissed.

Jude ignored her, "I guess it has something to do with the camp she used to be in. Something they used to do to them there. She won't talk about it."

"Then you missed her entire speech in Alban's office," Ruby added.

It wasn't bad to mention Alban's name. He used to be a government official, a friend of President Grey's. Everyone knew he founded the Children's League and was still in charge. And it wasn't hard to guess that a group of kids carrying guns were from the Children's League.

"So, what color are you?" The driver asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Ruby asked, "Curious about the bounty on our heads?"

The driver shrugged, "Just curious."

"I'm a yellow," Jude offered. The driver looked mildly concerned, but knew Jude wasn't a threat, "Natasha's a red and Ruby's an orange." At this, the driver's face paled.