chapter 17

The next time we stopped was maybe 3 hours after we left the house to get gas and food. Lydia was still snoring in the back when Trevor pulled up to the pump.

"I'll get the gas, you go and get some water and snacks. And if you can, some bandages. We need to change the bandage on your shoulder," He whispered, trying not to wake Lydia up. He pulled a 20 dollar bill out of his pocket and put it in my hand.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," I said, giving him a small smile before hopping out of the van. I looked both ways before walking up to the gas station and opening the glass door.

"Hello ma'am," The cashier said to me in a sweet tone.

"Hello," I said, trying to return the sweetness. I walked past the aisles that had keychains, candy, and chips. I walked over to the fridges and grabbed 3 water bottles that all cost at least $1. Then I walked over to the sandwiches and fruits and picked up some pineapple, a turkey sandwich, and two ham and cheese sandwiches. It was the best we were going to get for a while but at least it was food. I wandered around the store to find the bandages and I finally managed to find some. I grabbed the bandages and some tylenol because my shoulder was starting to hurt a lot more than usual. I walked over to the cashier and set everything in front of him.

"This is a lot of stuff for just 2 people. You want a bag darlin'?" He asked, scanning everything.

"Yes please," I said in an innocent voice. He bagged the supplies and handed it to me and I gave him the 20 dollar bill. I looked up to see the TV and the news had a report on the area.

"Fallen Labs and police have managed to get roadblocks all the way to Texas. In the past week, they have managed to get 100 children back to Fallen Labs for more testing to find a cure for L-137. Roadblocks are currently active and will have armed officers at the checkpoint. Please have your paperwork ready if you are near a roadblock. Otherwise, you will be searched and if any Pures are found in the vehicle, then they will be taken from your custody and will go into Fallen Labs testing. Volunteers are allowed to use lethal force considering the advantages some of the Pures have acquired from previous vaccines. Thank you," The police chief on the TV said.

"It's a shame isn't it. These kids can't live normal lives because of a disease that either steals their family or forces them to be an experiment," The cashier said, looking away from the TV and back at me.

"It really does suck. Losing someone or yourself," I said, grabbing the bag and turning around to leave the gas station.

"Stay safe darlin' and don't get caught," He said, giving me a wink as soon as I turned to look at him.

"Thanks."

I turned back around and walked over to the van. Trevor was already inside, waiting for me. I opened the door and hopped in, closing the door behind me.

"Did you get everything?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah but we have a bit of a problem."

"What happened?"

"There was a report inside and it said that they added roadblocks all the way to Texas. And they also gave volunteers permission to use lethal force if needed. It's not safe, we need to get out quick," I said in a panicked voice.

Trevor started the car as soon as the words left my mouth and we were already out of the gas station within seconds. I reached into the bag to find the tylenol that I bought and grabbed a water bottle. I grabbed 2 pills and popped them into my mouth, making them go down with a sip of water.

"Is your shoulder hurting?" Trevor asked looking over at me.

"Yeah just a little though." Which was a lie considering that the pain was written all over my face.

"But we can't worry about that right now. We need to figure out how to get past the roadblock without it looking like we just faked the files," I said, putting the water bottle cap back on.

"We have some zip ties from when Lisa tried to take you and Lydia, I could tie you up," Trevor said.

"That won't work. Anyone with enhanced intelligence would think of that so they need to out smart them," I said. I kept trying to think how we can make it easier for us. They are going to be looking for kids that are bruised, hurt because of the information they leaked a few days ago. People are scared of what we can do so of course, they will be looking for at least a scratch on us considering that the police gave volunteers permission for lethal force. And with the bounties on us, the trackers won't care if we are hurt. Fallen labs will give them the money, hurt or healthy.

"I might have a solution."

"Spit it out," Trevor said.

"Pull over," I said. Trevor did as I asked and as soon as we were off the road, I jumped out of the car and he followed my movement. He met me on the other side of the van.

"Punch me," I said.

"What?" He asked in a confused voice.

"The trackers are going to use force because they get our bounties whether we are hurt or healthy. If we want to make it believable, they are going to look for at least a bruise or scratch considering that the guards at the roadblocks are scared of us and what they don't understand, they fear."

"Amber, it's smart logic but I am not going to punch you."

"It's either that or you hit Lydia," I said, crossing my arms.

He crossed his arms in silence.

"Trevor. This is how we are going to get past the roadblock. We need something to show them that you're actually a tracker. It's either this or we get caught and become part of Fallen Labs experiments," I explained.

He looked at me. And the expression in my eyes, I was begging him to do it so we keep each other safe. So we don't have to face the one thing we are running from.

"Please."

He closed his eyes and took a moment to think about it. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again before saying "Ok."

I closed my eyes, waiting for his fist to collide with my cheek. I could feel the air go over my body, smell the rain that was coming, and I was preparing myself for the pain that was about to come across my body. I felt the soft skin touch my face for only a millisecond before feeling it collide with my cheek with full force. After I fell to the ground, I could feel the stinging that was normal from a punch. I knew by the force he had in his body, that it would be a bruise.

Trevor stood there, wide eyed, trying to process what his muscles had just worked together to accomplish. He rushed over to me to help me up.

"Shit, are you ok? Was that too hard?"

"No, it was fine," I said, taking his hand.

I gave him a faint smile before feeling the sting that came when I tried to move the muscle.

"You better be right about this or else I'm going to hate myself for that," He said, opening the van door for me.

"I better be right so we don't become guinea pigs for Fallen Labs," I said, laughing while getting in the van.

He closed the door and then walked around to the driver's side and jumped in. He started the car and the engine roared to life and we started forward.

"Ok. We have about 10 minutes until we get to the roadblock. Put the zip tie on Lydia but try not to wake her. She's been exhausted the past few days," Trevor said, handing me the zip ties. I took them from his hand and crawled into the back of the dark van. Now I know how Lydia slept back here. It was dark and peaceful for a nap.

I sat in front of her, pulling a zip tie from my hand and carefully lifting up her hands to place them together. I wrapped the zip tie around her hands and then tightened it to comfortable length. Then I moved to her feet and did the same thing. And she was still sound asleep. I crawled back to the empty seat in the front and sat down when I reached the front. I grabbed another zip tie and wrapped it around my hands and tightened it as tight as possible, to the point where it was digging into my skin.

"Can you hand me the files?" Trevor asked, keeping his eyes on the roadblock that was only minutes away. I grabbed the file from the glove department and handed it to him, closing the glove department when I got the papers out.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Ok. Act calm. You're just a tracker with 2 pures waiting to get your bounty," I said, trying to reassure him. He drove up to the figures that were dressed in all black, had machine guns strapped on them, and the Fallen Labs logo was embedded in the chest of the uniform. Trevor rolled down both windows when the soldiers came to his window and mine.

"Papers please," The soldier on Trevor's side asked. He didn't even look at him when he handed the papers with all of his information. The soldier walked away to the other soldier that was in front of us, sharing the documents with him. The soldier at my window wouldn't stop staring at me.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing," The heavy southern accent said. I looked at the man and he was at least 27. His dark brown hair was like mine but his blue eyes were a dark blue instead of a light blue. I didn't respond to him, I just shot him a small glance out of the corner of my eye.

"Hasn't anyone taught you to respond when someone is talking to you. At least look at them," He said, gripping his gun. He reached in the car and grabbed my face in his one, strong hand, making me look at his dark blue eyes.

"Not when they are murderers," I said in an angry tone. He noticed the cheek that was starting to form a bruise. He touched my cheek with anger and I made a small noise of pain.

"It's nothing personal. You kids just give me a lot of money," He said, inching closer to me and digging his fingers into my cheek.

"Sounds a little selfish to me. Maybe you should give yourself to the experiment, we don't need people like you here," I said through gritted teeth. He let go of my face as soon as the previous soldier returned to Trevor's window. I turned to look at his hands and they were gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.

"State the bounties you are collecting with the two girls you have," The soldier said in an even tone. I could feel the other soldiers eyes on me waiting for Trevor's answer.

"$10,000 for the one in the back and $50,000 for the one next to me," Trevor said. I looked back at the soldier and he was looking at me like I was his ticket away from this hell.

"Proceed." The soldier at Trevor's window said. Both of the men stepped back from the car and the gate opened, letting the van through. I turned around to see how far we were from the roadblock and I could tell that Trevor was speeding a bit considering the distance. After waiting 5 more minutes, I turned around again and there was nothing in sight. I grabbed the sharpest thing I could find and cut the zip tie off of my hands. I let out a sigh of relief when I got it off.

"God, that hurt," I said, rubbing the redness from my wrists.

"Not as much as that jackass digging his finger into your bruise," He said.

"It wasn't that bad."

"I'm sure it wasn't, Amber," He said sarcastically.

"Trevor, I'm fine. What's going on with you?"

He took a moment before answering.

"This whole situation. I hate this whole thing. The labs are taking us one by one and killing us with their stupid experiments to find one person that can create a better generation like we are some kind of flaw in the system. It's been 10 years Amber! And you're telling me that people who study this for a living have thousands of possible candidates and still haven't found a single thing on this but instead have found a poison that can kill us! And now it's forcing us to separate our families, friends, and now they tell people that they can use lethal force and treat us like crap so we can pay their rent? I'm tired of the running, of them taking us for money," He said in an angry tone. I couldn't help but stare at him. It shocked me how much he was holding in. I didn't know what to say except stare at his pain that was all over his face. His sad, dark brown eyes found mine and he looked at me for a moment before turning back to the road.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad at you. I just... I want to live in a place where I don't have to hit my girlfriend, or whatever this is between us, in order to pass from state to state," He said. My heart raced when he said the word 'girlfriend'. I looked at him before turning back to the road.

"I know you're tired. I'm tired too. I want my brother to be here with me but with the government controlling stuff online now, it will take a while to find someone or an organization that is trying to expose what the labs are really doing," I said in a calm voice. I looked back at him and then after a moment of admiring his dark brown eyes and chestnut hair, I turned back to my window and we stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.