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CASSANDRA BLINKED a few times as she stared at her friend. She could have sworn that she'd heard Teresa wrongly—there was absolutely no way that the stranger in front of them was related in any way to that blonde monster.
"Hi, I'm Aislin," the girl introduced herself, "and we should go before someone notices us."
"What the hell is going on?" Cassandra hissed to Teresa. "I thought Clark's daughter died."
"That's what I like people to think," Aislin said. "Especially my mother."
"We'll explain everything as we go, okay?" Teresa looked at them pleadingly. "We really shouldn't be standing out in the open like this. There are cameras everywhere."
"I think that's actually a good idea," Brenda voiced.
"Come on, you don't seriously need me to point out how ridiculous this sounds?" Minho gestured. "No way in hell am I going anywhere with anyone who's related to that slinthead back in WICKED."
Aislin shushed him. "Don't you know that saying their name out loud summons them? Come on, let's go. We're wasting time arguing here."
"Wait," Thomas said. "At least tell us where you're bringing us to."
"Where else?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm bringing you to Hans."
"I said we'll explain everything as we go," Teresa repeated with a hint of frustration in her voice. "She's on our side, believe me. You guys need to stop being so suspicious about every single thing."
"Can you blame us?" Minho retorted.
"For once I agree with Teresa," Thomas muttered. "We can't try to outguess WICKED anymore. Sometimes they do things just to make me do the opposite of what they think I think they think I want to do."
Everyone turned to look at him with brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"
He sighed. "I mean fine, we'll go with her."
Minho rolled his eyes. "Fine."
"Okay, but I expect a full and thorough explanation," Cassandra said, turning pointedly to the girl.
"Naturally," Aislin responded with an upbeat tone. "It's a little too long of a journey to spend in awkward and tense silence anyway."
"I actually kind of like her," Helenus commented but they ignored him.
"Too bad that it's not a long explanation," Teresa said as they started to walk down the mall strip, following the overhanging signs that led to an exit. "Aislin came to me before I was sent into the Scorch. She said that she was going to break out of the facility and that she'd meet me in Denver. I thought she was crazy but when we were brought back in again, she sent me a message over the Netblock."
