Chapter 8

When I woke up the next morning, the bed was empty. I looked over at the clock on the nightstand separating the 2 beds in the room. It was 6:05 AM. I looked over at Lydia's bed and she was completely knocked out. I looked around the room for Trevor until I heard the bathroom door open. He came out of the bathroom and met my eyes.

His short, messy hair was dripping wet, his mid-tone skin was radiant, and his dark eyes looked at me with the softness that he always has when he looks at me.

"You're up," He said. His voice was soft but sweet, and he was trying to hide a smile forming in it.

I rubbed my eyes before I said anything.

"Yeah, I usually wake up at this time," I said. I unraveled the sheets from my body and got out of the bed. I touched my stomach and it, surprisingly, hurt less than yesterday. Trevor walked around to help me up but I shook my head saying that I could stand on my own.

"Are you sure?" He said.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt as bad as yesterday," I said.

I stood to my feet and gave him a small smile before walking around Lydia's bed and getting the clothes I was planning on wearing today. I bent down to pick up the clothes, showing the marks from a few days ago that the client left on my waist. I felt a hand come up behind me and touch them with feather-light fingers. I stood up straight and covered them with my shirt.

"Do they hurt?" He asked, looking at me with concerned eyes.

"Just a little bit, it's fine," I said. I saw his brows draw together in anger. "What is it?" I asked

His face relaxed and he just gave a small chuckle, "Nothing, it's just the way you handled it," He said

"I'm not only the stubborn one in the litter but I'm also the fighter of the group," I said, giving a little laugh.

I walked past him still laughing, to go to the bathroom and change. I put on the jeans that I had found the night at the Wal-Mart, and a plain white shirt before putting on a red sweater. After that, I grabbed the shoes that I also found in Wal-Mart and put the ankle boots on. I looked in the mirror to figure out what to do with my mid-length, dark brown, wavy hair. I grabbed the hair tie from my wrist and hesitated about putting my hair in the braid I always do.

"It looks nice down," I heard the deep, husky voice say. I turned to look, and he was standing in the middle of the door frame with arms crossed.

"What do you know about hair? Yours is always a mess," I said with a chuckle.

"You have a fair point but all the girls in the warehouse seemed to like it," He said, narrowing his eyes in a teasing way before giving a laugh. I slid the hair tie back onto my wrist, letting my hair stay down. I grabbed the brush that was on the sink and brushed my hair through the natural waves my hair created.

"Fine, you win. For now at least," I said with a jokeful tone, exiting the bathroom. I walked back to my small bag and searched for my gun. I reached in and looked for it but it was gone. I looked at Trevor with a question in my eyes. I narrowed them at him saying 'give me my gun back' with just a single look.

"It's in the car with all of my stuff. But I wanted to talk to you about that," He said, taking a step closer to me. I crossed my arms and met his eyes.

"Ok? What about," I said, feeling a bit anxious.

"After what happened in the warehouse...," He paused for a moment, catching his train of thought before he lost his words, "I would understand if you don't want to have it anymore," He said, with concern in his eyes.

For some reason, I felt angry when the words left his mouth, "I did what I had to do. I still want the gun because if something happens to Lydia or you then I have something to fight back with other than my hands. Don't think I'm going to break into tears if I shoot someone trying to hurt me," I said, coming off a little more angry than I thought. I felt the anger leave my body with every word that escaped my mouth.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" He asked, ignoring my tone completely.

"She's probably better at handling a gun than you, idiot," I heard Lydia say, waking up from her sleep. We both turned to look at her standing a few feet away from Trevor and me.

I walked to the door and opened it, heading to the passenger side of the van, opening the glove box to get my gun. I slid the slide back, checking if it was loaded, then let it snap back into place. I put my arm behind the sweater I was wearing that extended all the way to my thigh and slid my shirt up to place the gun in my waistband. I let the shirt and sweater fall back to their original places on my body and closed the van door. I turned back to the open motel door before hearing a few steps coming in the distance.

Trevor caught me standing next to the van from inside the room. He threw on a navy blue shirt that was loose around his stomach but showed his perfect sized biceps for his age. I turned around to look at the forest that was in front of the motel. Trevor put a hand on my shoulder, pushing himself in front of me in a protective stance. I looked back at Lydia, who was getting her hair ready when she stepped in the door frame.

"Give me your gun and get your stuff," He said, without turning to look at me. I handed him my gun and walked over to Lydia and told her to get her stuff and get into the van. I looked around the room, trying to find Trevor's gun in any place that it could be. I got to the nightstand drawer and found it in there. I checked to see if it was loaded and that's when I heard his safety click off. I turned to look at Trevor, still standing in the same position, only holding the gun so tight that his knuckles were white.

Lydia was already in the van with Trevors, hers, and my things, all in the back with closed doors. I grabbed all the things she left which were only a few snacks and my personal backpack. I shoved the snacks into my backpack and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. I walked over to the van and put my stuff in the passenger seat.

"Trevor, we need to go," I heard Lydia say. He turned to look at me and I gave him a nod, letting him know that we have everything. He walked around to the driver's side and started the car. I walked slowly to where he was standing before and narrowed my eyes to see what was in the forest. I couldn't get a clear image but it was moving, and it had a gun.

"Amber," I heard Trevor say. I walked back to the van, hopping in and closing the door behind me.

"What did you see, you have a better grip on this than I do," He said, putting the car in reverse to exit the parking lot.

"It's a person. They're moving pretty fast and they have a gun," I said.

"Ok. Lydia, switch with Amber and tell me the fastest way to get to Atlanta," He said, in a serious tone. I shot him a look of confusion. He put the van in drive and went straight before explaining.

"You can shoot a moving target with accuracy. The guy is a police officer, trying to round up some kids to get them to labs. He had a cop car a few blocks behind the motel and right now he is about 50 feet behind us," He said. I only gave him a nod before feeling the left side of the car tilt towards the back.

"I got this. You stay in here. I will take Lydia with me into the forest since she's the only one who can memorize the way out if we go too deep. If we don't come back in 5 minutes, come look for us," I said. He gave me a nod signaling to go.

"Lydia, get out. We are going into the forest. Whatever you do, stay behind me," I said looking back at her. She had a serious expression on her face before nodding and opening the back door of the van. I opened the passenger door and hopped out, grabbing the gun from my waistband and turning the safety off.

"5 minutes starts now," He said, getting his gun so he is prepared for whatever comes his way.

I close the van door. I turn to where Lydia is standing and we both take a few steps into the woods. In only a few seconds, we are surrounded by tall, green trees. I try to focus on where the steps are coming from, and follow the general direction I hear them from. I turn my head to make sure Lydia is still behind me and then turn back to make sure I don't fall over anything. I walk forward a few more steps before hearing a branch snap. I narrow my eyes to see what made the noise and see a police officer coming our way.

"Lydia, I want you to go get your brother and tell him to get here as fast as he can," I told her.

She nodded with assertiveness before turning around and heading towards the road that was out of my sight. I turned back around, now in a prepared stance to aim and shoot any target. I walk a few steps farther before hearing the word "Freeze" from the right side of the forest.

"Drop your weapon, and put your hands behind your head," the female voice said.

I turned to look at the dark-skinned woman in a navy blue outfit, with a shiny gold badge on the left side of her chest. She took a step closer, aiming her gun at me and repeated herself.

"Drop the weapon, and put your hands behind your head or I will retaliate with force," she said. I did as she asked. I bent down to drop the weapon on the floor and went straight up, turning around to have my back faced towards her and my hands behind my head. I felt her come closer and heard the holster for her gun click into place. That's when I saw the man come out from in front of me. He was wearing the same uniform but he was pale. He put his gun in his holster before speaking to the woman, who was now putting handcuffs around my wrist.

"Did you shoot the tire on the van?" He asked in a deep voice.

"Couldn't get a clear shot, so I just threw a rock on the road to make them think that the tire popped," She said, with a tone implying that she was happy her idea worked. That's when I managed to get up from the position I was in and kick her right in the stomach. She got distracted talking to the other officer that she didn't tighten the cuffs around my right hand fast enough.

As she stumbled back, I could feel anger coursing through my whole body. I caught her arm and punched her in the face, and she fell to the ground. I turned around to face the male officer again and he was about to shoot me when I heard the other shot ring through the air. It got him straight in the leg, making him fall to the ground. I put my foot on top of his hand, making him let go of the gun. I grabbed it before releasing my foot from his hand. He reached over for his walkie talkie but I aimed at him before he could say anything.

"You report me, I shoot," I said.

He put his hands in the air, showing me that his hands were off the walkie talkie. I heard the female officer moan behind me and I knew that I had to get out of here. I grabbed my gun and the 2 magazines from the officers' guns and put both in my pockets. I grabbed the key to the handcuffs and unhooked the cuff from my left hand. That's when I saw the male officer put his hand on the walkie talkie saying "We have 2 officers down, we are in the for-" He said before I shot him again. This time in the arm.

"Don't make me kill you," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

I heard my name through the forest, but it was too faint for the officers to hear. I stood up and, still pointing the gun at the officer, stepped back onto the path I remember coming from. I turned around as soon as he left my eyesight and lowered my gun. Lydia took my arm and pulled me onto the path that she memorized.

Halfway through, Trevor was standing in our way, having his gun pointed in the general direction the bullet hit the officer.

"Are you ok?" He said looking at me as we came running.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now let's go before their backup comes and takes all 3 of us to a lab," I said, resisting Lydia's pull to say my sentence. Trevor lowered his gun and came running right behind us.

Within 4 minutes of running, the road finally came into my vision. I ran faster and faster until we reached the van. Lydia went to the back, opening the back door in a hurry, and then shutting it. Trevor and I both hopped into the van at the same time, slamming our doors. He turned on the car and started driving in a hurry.

After 2 minutes, we lost sight of the forest and that's when I finally started to breathe again. Then when we slowed down our pace Lydia asked, "What the hell happened back there Amber."

"I could hear one police officer coming but I didn't see the other one. I sent you back because if she called for backup, then you and Trevor could have a chance at getting away," I said, looking at Trevor and then at Lydia.

"Like we were going to leave you. Maybe next time, tell me your real plan. In the meanwhile, we need to figure out how to get out of Georgia the quickest and to California," She said. That caught me by surprise when she said California.

"California, what are we going to do in California? I thought the plan was to go to Atlanta and find somewhere we can lay low?" I asked. I looked at Trevor and his face told me that he already knew what I was going to say about this.

"We have some friends in California that can get us a free place to stay. There's food and running water and we would be completely safe from other gangs and scientists," He said, trying to explain before I went, full-on bitch.

"Don't be mad, we just didn't know how you would take it. We needed a real plan," Lydia said, with an apologetic voice. I stayed silent looking out the window and felt her go to the very back of the van. I heard her music from the earbuds that were in her ear and the uncrumpling of the map she was about to mark for the way we should take to California.

I could feel Trevor's eyes on me when he said "If you want to go back to Atlanta then I will drop you off anywhere you want," He said.

I took a moment to think before actually deciding where I really wanted to go. I needed a place that was safe and if Trevor is really telling the truth then California was the safest place. I looked at him and told him what I was really thinking.

"I want to go to Atlanta but only to find my brother and get him to Texas. After that, You, Lydia, and I can go to California and stay there until we can find someone that can help us take down the labs," I said.

"Ok. But how do we get him to Texas," He asked.

"My house was 30 minutes away from the airport. There are still some flights available because of voluntary pilots. I get him on a plane and we leave. That's my only condition," I said.

He nodded before turning his eyes back to the road. I reached for the volume button, the radio turning it on so we could have some music in silence that was coming soon. Before I did, Lydia found a route that wasn't closed or surrounded by cops.

"Right now, we are in Sparta. If we go North for an hour, we will reach the I-20. After the I-20, it's basically a straight shot to Atlanta and then after that it just depends on which county you used to live in," She said, showing Trevor the way onto the I-20.

"Do you remember what neighborhood you were in?" She asked, with a curious tone.

"Yeah. I live in Collier Heights. It's maybe 30 minutes away from Fulton county-Brown Field," I said looking at the map.

Lydia circled the places that we needed to go and then traced the outline of the route with a red marker. She went back into the back of the van and I turned up the volume on the radio. I was finally going to see my brother after 3 months and just to prove it, Crazy Train started playing on the radio.

* * *

For the past 2 hours that we have been driving, I couldn't help but think about the way Trevor reacted when I asked about his sister. He seemed so mad when I even mentioned her but Lydia said something about her causing more problems a few years ago. I could only think of one question but I didn't know how to ask it without him getting mad. He picked up on my silence and figured that I was thinking about something.

"You ok? You've been quiet for the past few hours," He said, alternating his eyes between me and the road.

"Just thinking," I said, keeping my eyes on my window and watching the world pass by.

"What about?" He asked, pulling into a gas station off the road.

I peeled my eyes from the window and for the first time, forced myself to look at Trevor. I didn't know how he would respond to my question but I knew that it would be anything other than happy. I forced the question quickly out of my mouth before backing out of asking it.

"Why do you hate your sister so much that you can't even manage to say her name?" I asked. I looked at his face and I was right. He wasn't happy. His brows drew together in anger and all traces of sweet, soft Trevor left his body in one second. He looked back at me, furious with my question.

"You have no business asking that. You wouldn't even know half of it because of your perfect family that died at your feet because of a stupid disease or because of you suppressing your side-effects to not know what was going on in that stupid Wal-Mart in Atlanta," He said. He didn't even look back at me. Instead, he got out of the car and slammed the door with full force walking out of my line of sight.

I looked back at Lydia and her face was filled with shock and her mouth was open in surprise of what he just said. I turned back to face the gas station and looked at it for a few minutes before getting out of the van to find Trevor. I walked around to the side I saw him walking to and he was standing, with his back faced towards me and with his hands clenched into fists.

"Trevor?" I said, approaching him slowly. He tensed as soon as I said his name.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," He said. His voice was hard and angry but also apologetic. I put my hand on his shoulder and he relaxed under my touch. He turned to face me and his eyes weren't angry anymore. I took my hand off his shoulder and gave him a faint smile.

"Lisa," He said. He walked over to the wall and sat down, his back against it, and his arms resting on his knees. I walked over to sit next to him, my legs crossed on the ground. I looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"About a year and a half ago, she told the guys where our mom was hiding. They offered her maybe $1000 to tell them where she was. The next day, they came back and told me that my mom was killed the night before. They told me who revealed our mom's location and after that, I never wanted to see her again. She sold our mom out for money. A stupid $1000 to kill the last family member we had," He said, with some anger still in his voice. He didn't look at me at all even though I knew he felt my eyes on him.

"I'm sorry. I just..I shouldn't have asked," I said looking away from him. He stayed silent, but I could feel his eyes on me.

"You were right though," I said. I paused before continuing, "My mom, I couldn't help her but my dad. I could have warned him. I could have gotten us both out before anything happened, I could have," He interrupted me before I could finish.

"No I wasn't. You didn't know and you couldn't have. It wasn't your fault, I was just mad and I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it," He said. I finally managed to look at him and his dark brown eyes searched mine.

I knew I had sadness on my face but I couldn't feel any tears coming. It wasn't like me to cry now. Not after my mom died, I had to be the strong one in the family.

He put his hand on top of mine and I put my head on his shoulder. It was like my head fit perfectly on his shoulder like we were 2 pieces meant to be put together to become one. I could smell the leather and rain so much stronger and it made me sleepy, almost like a drug was put into my body.

"I never want to hurt you Amber. But I just did, and I'm sorry about that. I was just mad. I hate thinking about her, saying her name. She betrayed our family and all for a little cash. I just...I wanted Lydia to go home to someone when we got out. For her to have someone to take care of her but now, we have nobody," He said. His voice was deep and soft.

"I know it's not the same but I'm here. And I won't let anything happen to Lydia...or you," I said. I lifted my head from his shoulder to find his eyes and all he could do was laugh.

"That's my job. You're the puppy, remember," He said, looking at me. I couldn't help but smile. And for the first time, it was a full smile. I bent my head down to hide it from him, even though nothing was wrong with it since I got braces at 12 years-old and had then for almost 2 years. I felt his finger under my chin, guiding my head to look up at him.

"That's the first time I've seen you actually smile," He said, looking at me.

"The last time I smiled was almost a year ago, when she died," I said, looking away from him. The smile faded from my face and I let go of his hand, standing up to head back to the van.

"Come on, we only have a few more hours until we reach Collier Heights. We get my brother to Texas and we head to California. I also don't want Lydia to kill me for taking so long," I said, holding out my hand for him to take. He smiled at me and took my hand, getting up from his sitting position. He entwined our fingers together, and we walked back to the van.

I separated our hands to go to the passenger side of the van while he went to the driver's side. We both got in at the same time. I looked back at Lydia and asked, "How much longer until Collier Heights?"

She smiled at me before responding to my question, "About 30 to 45 minutes."

I looked at Trevor, who was looking at me with a big smile on his face. He took my hand into his, and I tangled our fingers together.

"Let's go get your brother," He said, starting the car and leaving the gas station, going back on the road that is leading me home. That is leading me to Jared.