Chapter 6

Lydia was so quiet in her sleep, I sometimes thought she was dead. I looked back almost every hour to make sure that she was still breathing. When I did that Trevor always laughed at me and said, "She is just a really deep sleeper, she isn't dead"

"Yeah, you're right I'm just being paranoid," I said, my brows drew together while I was trying to sort all of my thoughts. I felt his eyes drift over to me.

"What's wrong," he asked, switching his look between me and the road. I didn't look at him when I responded, I just folded my hands in my lap and fiddled with my fingers.

"Nothing, just...stuff on my mind," I said

He didn't buy my lie. "Tell me what happened in the warehouse," he said.

I could never get anything passed him. It's like he could read my mind. But that wasn't all that was on my mind.

"The guy...he woke up and I didn't notice the gun he had on the table. He grabbed his gun and tried to wake the other guard up but he kept drifting in and out. Once I heard the safety switch off," I paused to take a breath. I didn't feel tears coming but I could feel anxiety at his words. They will kill everyone you know.

I could feel Trevor put his hand on my shoulder and then I met his eyes. He looked back at the road and I turned my face back down to my hands that were now clenching in and out of fists.

"When he switched the safety off, I shot him in the arm. He doubted that I would actually shoot him and he probably didn't think I could aim but I had some training with my dad. He dropped his gun on the floor and then he picked it up, but before he could aim at me, I shot him in the chest. In an area I knew wouldn't kill him instantly," I said.

With every word I grew angrier to the point that my hands were full fists and my knuckles were white. He looked over to where I was staring and he put a hand over my fists. His soft skin made my hands relax a little.

"You did what you thought you had to do," he said with an assuring tone

"The thing that is bugging me is what he said. He said that Jason and Luke will kill everyone I know and...," I paused for a moment and looked back at Lydia.

He was like me. He had a sibling to protect. Maybe not the nicest sibling but he still loved her.

"Trevor?" I said

He looked over at me for a second and his brows drew together in a curious expression.

"What is it?" he asked

"There is something I never told you. I didn't know if I could trust you because I didn't know if they put you up to something," I said, looking out the window and back at him

"Put me up to what?" he said now with curious eyes

I took a deep breath before explaining to him my theory. I didn't know if he would be mad or understanding.

"I thought that they told you to get close to me. That maybe they wanted some dirt on me. Because there was nothing to hold over my head since I told them I was an only child. They had nobody to threaten," I said. And then he interrupted with a smile.

"You're trying to tell me that you have a brother," he said

I was shocked that he knew. My expression told him everything. I swear I could even feel my jaw drop. His dark brown eyes met mine and he just gave a small chuckle.

"I've known for months, Amber," he said

"But..how?" I managed to get out

He looked back at Lydia and then back at me.

"The little brat has told me everything that she could manage to hear from your conversations with Claire. She likes to gossip and the only interesting thing she found was your little lie. She didn't piece it together until a month ago. And let me guess...his name is Jared?" He said with a smile on his face looking at the road.

I could feel my face lighten up and my hands unclench. Trevor lifted his hand from mine and placed it back on the wheel. My hand felt cold after he lifted his hand. After his hand left mine, my hands fell open in my lap.

"I'm sorry...I should have told you but I just couldn't put him at risk," I said looking at him and then out in front of us.

"It's fine. It's not that big of a deal. I mean I wish you did tell me but I understand considering that I have a little rat of my own," He said, laughing at the name.

I could tell that they don't actually hate each other. All the mean names they call each other are just for teasing purposes. Trevor always laughs when he calls Lydia a brat or a rat. And it just reminds me of Jared.

Jared and I always used to tease each other. I would always call him a mole and he would always call me an anteater. I never understood the logic behind his name for me. I just think it was the first name he could think of and it just stuck to his brain. But no matter the logic, it always made me laugh when we got into an argument and I would just shout mole at him. It was honestly kind of funny seeing him struggle for a name to call me, even though it was stupid. I missed him calling me an anteater.

"How old?" I heard Trevor say in his soft voice.

"He turned 12 yesterday," I responded to him.

He looked at me in shock. Like it just hit him that the real reason I was upset yesterday was that I missed his birthday. I started before he apologized.

"You didn't know. It's fine" I said, breaking my eyes from him and looking outside the window.

After I said that, I turned to look at Lydia rubbing her eyes. I turned back and looked at the road in front of us.

"Where the hell are we?" Lydia asked in her rough morning voice.

Trevor looked in the rearview mirror and responded with "We just left Augusta."

My eyes widened in shock when I heard the name.

"What?" Trevor said with his brows drawn together asking me why I reacted the way I did.

"When they picked me up. I didn't know how long I was out but I was all the way in Atlanta. I lived about 15 minutes from where they picked me up," I said.

Lydia looked at me and for once, she didn't look at me with hate. Instead, it was surprise.

"You lived in Atlanta? That's not far from here, maybe a 4-hour drive but could take almost 7 hours depending on the roads that they closed," Lydia said.

"How long have we been driving?" I asked, trying to figure out the reason for the sun rising since we were supposed to leave at 1 AM.

"Only about an hour or so. Why?" Trevor responded

"Cause the sun is rising and it usually rises at 5 or 6 AM. What time did we leave the warehouse?" I asked

Trevor didn't understand where I was going with this.

"We left at maybe 4 AM. Why do you keep asking?" he said

"4 AM! You said at 1 not 4! What took you so long?" I asked with a confused tone

"Amber, who do you think got those 2 guards drunk? They wouldn't go down so easy so it took me about 2 and a half hours to actually get them passed out. I had Lydia grab all your clothes and hers as well and then I had to steal the guns and pack my stuff. I even had to get some cash for food and gas. That took about 30 minutes," he said

"What happened to the guys. Weren't they supposed to come back at 3 AM?" I asked, suspicious of what changed.

"They got a call from someone in Tennessee. They needed help with rounding up some girls and guys they found in an abandoned house. They sent some of the guys back but they stopped at one of the bars and got drunk so there were only about 5 guys in the warehouse," he said with a reassuring voice.

I turned back to look out the window. That's when I felt my eyelids getting heavier but I had to stay alert.

"Well I don't know about you guys but I still need some sleep so don't be a pest and leave me alone," Lydia said, climbing back into the back of the van. Within seconds I heard Lydia snoring in the back and gave a little chuckle.

I turned back to face Trevor and then put my head in my hands. I rubbed my eyes, hoping to rub the weight my eyelids were carrying, off of them and it worked for a little. My hands started to rub my face until I started rubbing my cheek and a little wince of pain came out of me. Trevor looked over and back at the road.

"How's your cheek?" he asked, taking his hand away from the steering wheel and moving his fingers across my bruise on my left cheek. His fingers were moving across my cheek feather-light and he hesitated before putting a strand of dark brown hair behind my ear. It took me a moment to snap back into reality and answer his question.

"It's bearable. My stomach doesn't hurt as much as before but it hurts to move," I said. I know it was stupid but for some reason, I still touched my stomach to see how stiff my stomach was in order to know how much pain I was actually in. My eyes closed as I pressed my finger against my stomach and I almost made a noise but Trevor pulled my hand just before I did.

"Don't do that. I will check it out once we find a place to stay," he said, grabbing my left hand and placing it in my lap with his hand over mine.

His hand was so warm. And so strong but also soft. He would move them so carefully around people, so light against my skin. I could feel him moving his thumb across the back of my hand and it was so relaxing.

"You should sleep. You look exhausted," he said, looking at me through the corner of his eye

"You should let me drive, it would be a lot easier than making me sleep," I said with a chuckle.

"Yeah because after escaping a gang that could have killed me any moment, I wanna give a 16-year-old girl a car and die in a crash instead. Not a chance," He said, narrowing his eyes at me while laughing.

It was the first time I really saw his smile. His teeth were perfectly straight, and his smile made me smile. He was as radiant as my mother.

"Fine. You win, but if I die in this car I will beat your ass in heaven," I said, resting my head against the seat letting my eyelids drop and sending me into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

I woke up from my little nap. My eyes were struggling to get past my haze of sleep. I rubbed them with my hands and my vision finally cleared. The sun was hidden behind the gray clouds, giving the impression it was going to rain.

I looked in the back of the van to make sure Lydia was still there. And she was still knocked out completely. Then I looked at the driver's seat and it was empty. I looked outside, trying to figure out where I may be. We were on the side of a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere. I looked for my gun and found it in the glove department. I grabbed the gun and opened the door quietly so I wouldn't wake Lydia.

I closed the door as soon as I stepped out and switched off the safety. My eyes were scanning the area trying to figure out which angles I could be attacked from. My head went from side to side and my eye scanned every inch with every step I took. I went to the back of the van and heard a noise. It was on the other side of the van. I pointed the gun to the ground, arms straight and eyes narrow. As soon as I turned the corner of the van, I pointed the gun straight about to pull the trigger when I saw him working on the tire.

"Hey, you're up," Trevor said, completely ignoring the gun in my hand, aimed at his heart

I lowered the gun and turned the safety back on. I tucked the gun in my waistband and covered it with my shirt.

"What the hell Trevor. Next time, give me a warning or wake me up so I don't shoot you," I said with a panicked tone.

He stood up from his crouching position he took to fix the tire and walked towards me with a smile on his face. I crossed my arms over my chest as he walked over.

"I was just fixing a tire, I didn't think that needed an announcement," He said teasingly

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes.

I turned around and narrowed my eyes, looking at the trees that we were surrounded by.

It was always another sense that I had ever since I became a Pure. With my bones becoming stronger and my immune system improved, my sight and hearing were improved. It was a secret I kept from everyone. I just said that I survived the vaccine and I had no side effects but if any scientists or gang members knew what I could do, they would either get more money from offering my services or run more tests until they made me so weak that I couldn't even walk.

"Amber?" Trevor said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I narrowed my eyes to see what the noises I heard in the forest were. I turned back around to face Trevor when all I saw was a gazelle running through the forest.

"What was that all about?" he asked, looking at me like I just summoned a car out of nowhere.

"What was what all about?" I said, playing off as nothing. I usually pretended to be normal. Like I have no side-effects whatsoever. I managed to suppress the side-effects by just ignoring things I hear in the distance. If I hear something, that's when my sight kind of activates, but only if I focus hard enough.

"Did you hear something in the forest?" Trevor asked

"No, I never got any side-effects from early testing. Guess I was one of the lucky ones," I said shrugging. I heard the van door open and saw Lydia pop out.

"What are you two grannies doing?" she asked, with a confused expression on her face.

Trevor sighed behind me. "Lydia can you just get back in the car? I'm about to finish up anyways," he said, walking back to the wheel he was working on.

Lydia hopped back inside the van and closed the back doors. I walked around to the passenger side and hoped in, slamming the door. I looked back at Lydia and she was back in her sleeping position, only this time she had her eyes open and had a look that showed she was thinking about something.

"You know..." she started and sat up to face me. I met her eyes and let her continue, "I found you really annoying when you first came to the warehouse. I don't know what it was but there was just that one thing. Maybe it was because you were so quiet but now" she paused to gather her thoughts, "Now I think I just don't understand why you're keeping secrets from Trevor. And that's the annoying thing I didn't know. You kept so many secrets from him. From every one as a matter a fact," she said

"So you know," I said looking at her. She gave me a nod.

"How did you know? I tried to not use them," I said

"Well here's the thing. I heard your conversation about you shooting the guard. If what you said was true, then you had to have at least sight because a person with good aim couldn't even hit the guy's arm from the point we were standing at and the point he was standing at. It was almost half of the warehouse. And you are in the age range of when they started early testing," she said. This girl sure is damn smart if she could figure that out from one conversation.

"Can I ask you something?" I said

"Sure," Lydia said, letting her face relax from the thoughts she had earlier

"Why do or did you hate me before?" I asked. I figured this would be the best time to ask since she was open with me right now.

"I never hated you. Again, I did find you really annoying but after what Claire had to say, you also sounded pretty cool. But don't take it personally, I'm a bitch to everyone," She said, laughing it off

I laughed with her and gave her a big smile. As soon as I did, Trevor pulled the driver's door open and hopped in. He looked in between me and Lydia and was surprised by what was happening. We were actually getting along.

"So I fix a tire for about a half-hour or maybe more and you two are now all buddy-buddy? How the hell did that happen?" he asked in a jokeful tone. I turn back to face Trevor and feel myself settle down in my seat.

"Why do you need to know every aspect of my life Trevor?" Lydia responded with the same tone as Trevor but with a little more sarcasm

"Fine, Whatever Lydia," he said smiling. He started the engine and put on his seatbelt. I did the same.

"So Lydia, you have any idea where we are going?" Trevor asked.

"If you go straight for about 2 miles then turn left, there should be an abandoned motel on that street," Lydia said with a reassuring tone.

Trevor was the person who was driving since Lydia was only 14 years old. Lydia was the smartest out of all of us so she would be the one to find ways to Atlanta. And me. I honestly don't know what I was. But I was one of the two people in the car that could handle a gun so I guess that would make me a guard.

"Ok you guys ready to go?" Trevor said

We both nodded at him, and he started to drive up the road.

Within 15 minutes, the dirt road turned into a concrete road and was surrounded by gas stations and motels. We found the abandoned motel, which was at the very end of the road. The car stopped and as soon as it did, Lydia jumped out of the car and went to a door to open the lock. I was about to get out when Trevor clicked the lock button on the driver's side and locked me inside the car.

"Are you kidnapping me or do you want to ask something?" I said in a little sarcastic voice with a joking tone

His face was serious when I turned to look at him.

"Ok I'm gonna go with you have a question for me," I said, turning my voice into a serious tone.

His brows drew together and he hesitated for a moment before saying anything.

"Are you not going to explain to me what happened on the road?" he asked

Shit. I forgot to tell him about that.

"I was tested when I was 6 years old. I was one of the first ones and with the first group, you know there were side-effects," I said taking a pause. I tried to make this as simple as possible. "Some kids got one side-effect, some got none and a few got 2 or 3 of them. They usually did more experiments whose senses got heightened so that they could find a cure for the lightning disease and also find medicine for smell or hearing or vision. I told them that I didn't have side-effects and they believed me. So I tried to suppress them as much as I could until back in the warehouse when I shot the guard. It's like it triggered them and I haven't been able to suppress them, so I just thought of it as nothing," I said, explaining why I lied to him. His face went from curiosity and anger to understanding.

"So you have side-effects too?" he asked

Wait. Did he just say too?

"What do you mean by too? Do you also have side-effects?" I asked in curiosity

He looked at Lydia through the windshield and then looked back at me. His dark brown eyes searching mine. I waited for him to explain his choice of words and he hesitated before he told me.

"I was also in the early groups. So was our older sister. Lydia doesn't have any because this whole thing started when she was only 3 years old. Our older sister got all three of the side-effects and I got two of the three but I said I only had one side-effect so they wouldn't test me anymore. We both kept them a secret but I hardly used them until about 3 years ago. That's when they took me in," he said.

Before I could say anything, Lydia stood up and opened the door. She waved us from the car saying that it was ok to come inside the room. I unbuckled my seat belt, grabbed my gun, and jumped out of the car. I shoved my gun into my waistband and slid my shirt over it to hide it from anyone who would pass by.

We entered the room and there were 2 beds and a TV in the center of the room. Lydia ran to the bathroom to test the water and the lights.

"Holy shit, I finally found a faucet that works!" she said, her voice muffled in the bathroom by the door.

Trevor went back to the car to grab our things. I grabbed the remote that was placed under the TV and turned it on. I sat on the edge of the bed closest to the widows and watched the news channel that was already playing as soon as I turned on the TV. There was a scientist giving a speech.

"For the past 10 years, these diseases have grown out of control. We are doing everything in our power to stop project L-137 from spreading even more and causing even more suffering to friends and family. With the L-12's that we have in our labs, we work hard every day to find a cure for this disease. We will not give up until a cure has been presented to us. We ask for more time to continue our research and discovery. We also assure you that all of our L-12's are being taken care of. They are in good hands and we treat them with care. If you have any L-12's at home or see and L-12's on the street, report them immediately to the nearest police station. Once that is done, you will wait a few hours for authorized personnel to pick them up at your home and bring them into testing. Thank you"

"Bull shit isn't it," I heard Lydia say. I turned my head towards her and she was standing right next to me. I never even noticed she left the bathroom.

"How do people still have so much hope after 10 years of lightning disease. It has killed so many people and they just hope that giving up their kids will be enough. And yet, they still haven't found anything. I just don't get it," I said to Lydia, turning my head back to the TV.

"People will do anything to stop their loved ones from suffering. There's not much people can do except let scientists handle it since they have no idea what goes on inside those labs," Trevor said. I turned my head to where he was leaning against the door frame. His biceps were flexed as he had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at the TV and then back at me.

"Yeah but after 10 years of nothing, don't you think people would want their kids back? Their families back together?" Lydia counter-argued.

When Lydia said back together, something switched in Trevor. All remains of softness and understanding were gone in his face. All he had on his face was anger.

"I know one thing. It's that I don't want our family back together and I never will, not after what happened," He said. He shoved himself off the door frame and closed the door when he walked outside.

I turned to look at Lydia and her face was like her brothers. Only anger in her face. She looked down to meet my curious eyes. She put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a faint smile before walking to the other bed and laying down about to take a nap.

I turned the TV off and stood up about to walk outside to meet Trevor and talk to him. But the only thing that was in my head was

What the hell happened to his family?