chapter 12

I jumped into the van and looked behind me, making sure that Jared and his things were there. I felt the engine come alive and turned back to face the front of the house. I felt the car move backwards, out of the driveway, and then speed forward.

"Go straight for a mile or two and then make a left," Lydia said, holding the map in her hands.

"Are you ready for this?" Trevor asked looking over at me. I looked at him and gave him a faint smile before giving a sigh and saying, "Yeah, I think I am."

I turned on the radio and before I could turn the volume up past a whisper, Jared asked me something.

"What's the song for today, Amber?" He said, giving a sad smile. I looked back at him before giving him the same sad smile.

"Runaway baby by Bruno Mars," I said, turning back to the radio and searching for the song I just said. And of course, it was playing on the station that always had Crazy Train playing at least twice a day. I turned up the volume and for the whole ride, I kept playing the song in my head.

It took only about 30 minutes to reach Fulton-county, brown field airport. I was the first one out of the car, walking to the back to get Jared out. I opened the back door and he jumped out while holding his duffle bag. I heard the driver door slam into the car and saw Trevor come around to the back to get Lydia. They walked behind me and Jared and stopped in front of the car. Trevor leaned against the hood while having an arm around Lydia. I stopped in my tracks when I reached the crosswalk that connected the parking garage and the entrance to the airport. I turned Jared around to look at me so we could say what we needed to say. I adjusted the jacket he was wearing and even though he was an inch or two shorter than me, I still tilted my head down a centimeter or two, letting our dark brown eyes meet.

"You remember what to do right?" I asked.

"Go to gate 32 and someone will be there waiting. They will ride the plane with me until I find Aunt Jenna in DFW airport. Don't worry, I know what to do. I'll be careful," He said.

I gave him a faint smile before forcing him into a tight hug. He returned the embrace with the same force.

"I love you. So so much. To the stars...," I said.

"And to the moon," He said, letting go of me.

"Take care of yourself Amber," He said.

I nodded and then he walked into the airport, without looking back. I turned around and slowly walked towards Trevor and Lydia.

"Lydia, why don't you go in the back. We'll leave in a few minutes," Trevor said.

"Don't go smooching and leave me in the back ok?" She said in a teasing tone. Trevor slapped her in the back of the head.

"Ow! Fine. I'm going. Jeez," she said, muttering under her breath. I laughed at their sibling bickering. Trevor walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"You sure you don't want him to come with us?" He asked.

I gave him a faint smile and put my hand on top of his and nodded.

"It's safer for him. I don't want him around this," I said. He gently pulled me closer to him, resting his chin on the top of my head. I wrapped my arms around him and breathed in his natural smell that I craved so much.

"You ready for a road trip?" He asked, with a bit of a laugh in his voice. I let go of him and he let go of me.

"Let's go to California," I said, smiling at him. We walked back to our sides of the van and Trevor started the car as soon as I got in.

"Lydia, what's the fastest way to California?" I asked, turning around to face her. But she didn't respond to my question. Instead, she crawled to the space in the front of the car and showed us the computer.

"You guys need to watch this report," She said, hitting the spacebar to let the video play.

"We have reason to believe that there are kids out in the world that have faked their death or have escaped our custody. We have asked for law enforcement officers to bring us any child that they see out of our custody. We have created a special device that allows them to test the child if they are L-12's or if they have not been tested yet. These children are to be considered dangerous and armed and if you can, report them immediately. Any person that brings in a child that has been tested will be given $4,000 for every child they bring in. We will set up a website that only these law enforcement officers can access and if anyone would like to volunteer to help in this search, please talk to me or a police officer and we will give you access to the site showing the kids that have escaped, faked their death, or have been on the run since they were tested. Thank you."

I gave a look at Trevor and he returned the same look. I looked back at Lydia and asked, "What other precautions are they taking?"

"It says here on the website that they are putting roadblocks between state lines. We can't pass unless there is someone in the car that isn't a Pure. But they have only set the roadblocks up in the North Eastern part of the U.S, as long as we get out of Georgia by tomorrow or the next day then we should be good to go without getting stopped," She explained.

"How far are we from state lines?" Trevor asked.

"Maybe an hour or two?" she said, not sure.

"What about California?" I asked.

"Well with the announcement they made, they may be closing straight shot roads so we might not be able to take the I-40 but it's the quickest way without spending a day here," She said, looking at the map and then looking at me.

"Ok. We get out of Georgia today, spend the night in a motel in Alabama and then see where that gets us," Trevor said, backing out of the parking lot.

"Lydia, keep us updated on the searches they're doing. Did they say anything about Identification?" I asked.

"They said something about the volunteers having some type of Identification. It looks like a passport but it has Fallen Labs' symbol on there and all of your information. It won't be easy to fake an identification card but I could have it by tomorrow if you guys find me a post office. But it can only be one of you," She said.

I looked at Trevor and he looked at me. "Make one for Trevor. He is the oldest one out of all of us and he can easily pass for a young volunteer," I said, keeping my eyes on him. His face showed me that he wasn't sure about it but I nodded trying to tell him that it would work.

"Ok. Trevor, take the I-20 W and in about an hour or 2 you should be in Tuscaloosa," she said.

"We need food though. We can't risk going to an operating motel, not with this whole mess going on. Lydia? Do you think you can find an abandoned Wal-Mart in Tuscaloosa?" I asked, looking in the rearview mirror. She nodded and went back to facing the computer. I turned back to looking outside the window. I couldn't help but think about what Lydia said. What if I did more abilities? Do I want more abilities? Just the thought of something so powerful in my hands makes me nervous. It was like I was back in the doctor's office getting this experiment injected in me.

I was 6 years old when I got the vaccination. The doctor who injected me was about 50 years old at the time. He smelled like hand sanitizer and his hands were so cold that it sent a shiver through my whole body. He was gentle, trying not to scare me with the blue liquid that was about to be injected into my neck. As soon as the vaccination was in me, my hearing and eyesight went completely haywire. I could hear some snippets of the conversation that happened between my parents and the doctors and my vision went clear and then hazy every few seconds. Like I was losing consciousness.

"Amber? Do you feel anything? Does anything hurt? Does anything seem fuzzy to you?" the doctor asked. I shook my head in response because I knew that he was trying to figure out if I had side-effects or not.

"Usually the vaccination takes a few days to be in complete effect but right now she should feel a little weak, but that just means it's working. I do have to call you and your wife to see if the vaccination made her a Pure or not. If so I have to ask if you are willing to give her to the scientists in Fallen Labs to be a part of Project L-137," The doctor said.

"We understand. But there is no obligation correct?" My dad said, curious if he could keep me hidden.

"No, it is completely voluntary to give your child up, but once she hits 12 years old, she will have to be part of Project L-137. Fallen Labs has made it very clear that it is involuntary as soon as she reaches the age of 12," the doctor said. Fear spiked in me when I heard those words play in my head.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Trevor calling my name.

"Amber? You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking of something Lydia said. Her theory about the extra side-effects. She said something about agility being the 40th percent of my brain. I'm just wondering how to trigger it," I said, looking through the windshield instead of at Trevor.

"Don't you dare think about it," He said, giving a little laugh.

I looked at him and laughed with him, "Think about what? Can you see into my mind now?" I asked, sarcastically.

"I know you way too well Amber. You're thinking about putting yourself in unnecessary danger to find out what side-effects you have," He said in a sarcastic tone before going serious at my next words.

"First of all you don't even know my last name and second of all, it's the only way we can figure out what else I have," I said.

"One, it's Stevenson and two, no. You are not going to put your life in danger just for a dumb theory," He said.

"At least let her try. Maybe she has teleportation powers or something," Lydia said from the back. She was obviously joking but Trevor took it too seriously and sent a glare her way.

"Or not. It's not my life at risk," She said, rolling her eyes.

"Lydia!" He said.

"What am I supposed to say! You don't want to put her life in danger so we can't find out what else she can do but instead you decide to let it go when it can save our lives if we are in danger," She said in a high pitched voice.

He looked back at the road and then me before saying, "Amber, you are not doing anything stupid. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Fine," I said, turning to look back out the window.

"What?! Amber, come on. You can have something that could protect us all," Lydia said coming to the front.

"Your brother has a point. What if I don't have anything other than fast healing? I would just die trying," I said, turning to look at her.

She shot a glance at Trevor but he ignored her and kept his eyes on the road.

"How much longer until we reach that abandoned Wal-Mart?" I asked.

"Turn left here and it will take 5 more minutes," She said.

"Ok," Trevor said. And for those short 5 minutes, the whole car was silent.

* * *

When we got to the Wal-Mart, the sun was already setting. We left Jared at the airport at around 2 PM. It took us about 3 and a half hours to finally reach the Wal-Mart. But something didn't seem right. It felt like something was wrong, like something was out of place. It felt the same it did 3 months ago. I felt the same shiver go down my spine when we parked in the empty parking lot. There was another car closer to the front of the Wal-Mart but I decided to ignore it but I couldn't shake the feeling from my body. I heard Lydia get out of the van and before Trevor could, I grabbed his arm with all the strength in my body and his eyes had worry in them when he turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, leaving the door open but sitting back down in the driver's seat.

"Don't go in. I don't know what it is but every time something is about to happen, I always get the same feeling. It's like a shiver down my back and I can't shake the feeling from my body," I said, tightening my grip on his arm.

"Do you want to stay in the car?" He asked.

I shook my head and said, "It's the same feeling I had the day my dad died. I can't stay here knowing that you and Lydia might die. Take your gun and I will take mine," I said, releasing my grip from his arm.

He looked at me and a thought came into his head. "Do you always have these feelings? And were they always right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Lydia! Come over here for a second," He shouted.

"When did these feelings start?" He asked.

"After I got the vaccination. You don't think that this is my ability, do you?" I asked.

"It's possible. You've been able to sense danger ever since you were little. Like you know if someone was going to die. Everyone has that feeling but maybe yours was heightened. Does it always happen?" He asked. I heard Lydia come over and ask "What?"

I looked at her and explained his theory, "Do you think it's possible that one of the extra side-effects could be me sensing when someone I care about is in danger?"

"I mean it could be. The vaccination could have just heightened that sense that picks up on danger and sends a stronger signal through your body, warning you about something," she explained.

She looked at Trevor and then me. "Oh don't tell me there is someone in there. Please don't. I'm tired and hungry," She said.

Trevor Looked at her and then back at me. He grabbed his gun and mine and handed me my gun.

"Whatever you do, keep the safety off and stay behind me. If you get anymore of these feelings, then take Lydia and run. I will be right behind you," He said, with concerned eyes.

I nodded and got out of the car the same time he did. I came around and met him and Lydia. We walked up to the front door before Trevor turned around and looked at me. I knew I was trembling with fear, considering that the last time I had this feeling it cost my dad's life. I wasn't about to risk Trevor or Lydia's life. Not when I could stop it. I gripped the gun and managed to stop the trembling a bit. But it completely stopped when Trevor let his hand fall behind him and grabbed it, tangling our fingers like we were one.

I tried to focus my hearing on the area we were in and that's when I heard something crash right next to us. It was in the cereal section that was only 5 aisles away from the door. I narrowed my eyes but I couldn't see anything in the dark. The shiver in my body went away as I walked past Trevor and slowly approached the sound that came from the aisle.

I gripped the gun, turning my knuckles white, ignoring Trevor who was whispering my name. I walked deeper and deeper into the aisle until I felt something hard hit me across the cheek. It felt like someone punched me and that's when I saw the teenage boy who was looking at me with a gun in his hand, pointing at my head.