Chapter Two

I stopped the truck after two hours of driving at full speed. I had lost the army vehicles that followed us an hour ago but I wanted to be as safe as possible so I kept driving. I parked the truck inside a secluded warehouse. Honestly, I had stopped looking at road signs minutes after I drove away from the school. I destroyed the GPS, so I had no clue where we were.

But that was the least of our problems. Humans have just broken the treaty. Meaning war would erupt and Reins would be on the run; hiding for our lives.

I could hear the others crying inside the truck. The two adults with them did their best to comfort them. But we all knew it was useless. No words would be able to comfort us; especially those kids inside since they would likely never see their family again. It would be too dangerous to come looking for them.

All we could do was pray for each other.

It was the first time I've ever been thankful that I was an orphan. With no family, I would not carry the burden of thinking I abandoned them. At least, I had the comfort that my family would not experience the war.

"Katra," a sweet voice brought me back to reality. "Katra dear, we can't stay here,"

I looked beside me ad saw my Chemistry teacher, Coleen, looking at me with sad eyes. It took all my breath to see her that way since she was the loveliest person I know. To see that sadness replaced the twinkle in her eyes reminded me how dire our situation was.

I nodded at her and she took a step back as I jumped down from the truck. She put a hand on my back and led me to the side of the warehouse where old chairs were thrown aside. I took in the group who from then on, would be my family. The youngest of us was a ten-year-old boy. He was the only child amongst us.

The rest was ranging from thirteen to seventeen, according to the badge of their uniforms. And I was one of the oldest. There were 13 of us in total; such a pitiful number of survivors from the school with the highest rate of Reins. There were six men among us and seven women, and no dry eyes.

Except for mine.

They all looked lost like they were just waiting to be awoke n from a bad dream. But it wasn't a dream. The humans have rallied against us. They had started a war.

"We can't stay here," Coleen repeated.

"But where would we go!?" one girl cried.

"I want to go home!" another wailed.

"It's not safe to go back," Dr. Carly replied firmly like she was not only convincing the kids but herself as well of the position we were in.

The young girls cried once more as silence filled our group. There was nothing to be done. What happened has happened and none of us could change that. But we can't just stay here and wait for the army to find us. They would surely kill us at sight.

"Rest," I said and all eyes darted to me. "There's nothing to be done right now. We need our rest,"

They mumbled their agreements and I told them to sleep inside the truck. And that I would stay up as night watch. None have disagreed. We were all tired and lost to do anything but rest. Like a zombie, they made their way towards the truck—dragging their feet.

Coleen had offered to stay up with me but I told her otherwise. She wanted to disagree but I told her the kids needed her more than I do. With everything that had happened, they needed a parental figure which obviously, wasn't me. Nodding, Coleen climbed up the truck and sang them a lullaby.

I ran up the warehouse's rooftop because above I could see if the army was near us. I welcomed the fresh air as I sat near the edge of the building with my feet dangling. Many things have happened so fast that I wasn't able to comprehend it all. But as silence filled my ears and my adrenaline vanishing, my mind was filled with all the things I have witnessed and experienced. And the feeling I kept on hiding was unleashed and my tears streamed down my face as my heart constricted in pain.

The fear in my kid's eyes as we made our way out the school, the screams of the people who needed help, the scream of fright from my kids, and the blood that tainted the floor red kept on rewinding in my mind/ I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop the tears from spilling. I couldn't stop my heart from feeling like I've also died.

And worst of all, I couldn't erase it all from my mind.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

I had no idea I had fallen asleep. But it was already dawn when I had opened my eyes. I couldn't believe that I had cried myself to sleep for the first time after my parents' death. Yawning, I stood up from the hard floor and my body felt stiff. So, I stretched my arms at each side then I turned around. My eyes grew in shock as I saw three army vehicles closing in on our location. With my body stiff and all, I ran down to the truck.

I hit the side of the truck twice before jumping up to the driver's seat. I quickly started it and in no time, I was maneuvering it out of the warehouse. Suddenly, the hard fabric, which was separating me and the others, was ripped. It opened a window-like hole between me and them.

"What's happening?" Dr. Carly asked.

"They're here!" I shouted as I looked at the side mirror and saw that they were on our tail. "Hold tight!"

Then I made a sharp turn that lifted the left side of the truck up in the air. I pressed on the gas and the tires touched the road once more. I sneered at myself when I saw that I hadn't lost them. I would have escaped if I was running but it wasn't like I could just leave them behind.

"For Pete's sake!" I shouted at the people behind me. "We're all Reins here. Somebody, please tell me you have any ability that would help us right now!"

"But the Treaty!" one protested but I called him off.

"There's no more Treaty! If you have the ability to shake them off our tail, do it!"

Steven, a classmate of mine in Math, stood up. He and I interacted little but there's no way I'd forget the man who almost beat me at the last exam.

He faced the army vehicle and rubbed his hands together. I looked at the rearview mirror to see what he was doing. And when he opened his hands up, a blinding light appeared. He directed it to the vehicle behind us. The first car crashed and blocked the road, making it inaccessible.

They cheered when there were no more cars following us and I let go of the breath I hadn't known I was holding. I felt stiff and sore from the continuous exercise. Plus, I was hungry. Though, it wasn't like we could just walk into a store to buy something with everything that was going on.

"I'm hungry," the ten-year-old boy groaned.

If I remembered well, we passed by a small town five miles ago. I hadn't liked the idea forming in my mind. But we're humans, too. We needed to eat. So, with that thought in mind, I climbed up the truck bed.

"Gimme a bag," I said. "I'm sure there's one here,"

Natasha, a sweet fourteen-year-old girl handed me one. I took it and smiled at her. I knew Natasha the moment she entered the school. She was a sweet girl and I would always find her in the library where I spent my time so we became friends.

"What are you planning?" Coleen asked.

"There's a town five miles down. I'm sure they have food there,"