chapter 19

As soon as I got out of the shower, my cheek was throbbing. The punch from Trevor didn't hurt at first but the guard made it worse when he put a lot of pressure on it. Now it's like a shooting pain in my face. I throw on the faded white, large shirt and black shorts that I grabbed before going into the shower. I left my hair the way it is. Loose and damp, falling past my shoulders. I opened the door and turned off the lights, about to walk into the room that had the beds and TV until I heard a small snoring in the room. I walk out quietly and see Lydia deep asleep on the large bed that she didn't even take up half of. I look around and notice that the TV is on, flashing different shades of different colors across the room, and Trevor sitting up in the bed. I looked at him and admired every part of him. I admired the way his hair was messy enough to let me see pieces of his eyebrows, how his biceps flexed with small movements, his wide eyes enough to let me see where his dark brown eyes ended, his sharp jaw, his thin nose that complimented his features, his faint abs going up and down with every breath he took. He tore his eyes from the TV and looked at me. Our eyes met for a few seconds before he gave me a small smile. I walked over to the bed and slowly sat down next to him. His eyes followed every movement I made and then found my eyes again as soon as I was in the bed, next to him.

"How do you feel?" He asked, turning the TV off.

I hesitated before answering so I could tell him the truth. "I don't know," I admitted. I really didn't know. The anger was being suppressed again and once the anger was gone, it left a trail of numbness like always. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the backboard of the bed. His Adam's apple bobbing up and down when he swallowed and his jaw clenching and unclenching every few seconds.

"Did you think about going with him?" He said.

"No. I could never leave you and Lydia after everything," I say with a surprised tone. He opened his eyes at my response and looked over at me.

"I wouldn't blame you if you thought about it."

"Well I didn't. You aren't getting rid of me that easily Trevor," I try to hide the tiny bit of anger that was forming outside of my walls.

"I just... It's safer for him without me," I said, calming myself down. Trevor shakes his head when I said my thoughts.

"It's safer for you in Mexico. Not with me. I just wish you would have gone," He said, looking down at me. I felt shock spread through my whole body. I didn't understand why he said that considering that only a few days ago he said he loved me. If you love someone, don't you want them with you? Then my thoughts shifted on me. He does love me... that's why he wants me gone from this. He wants me safe. Even if it's without him.

"You're right. . . it is safer for me in Mexico but," I paused, reaching for his hand and tangling our fingers together.

"I wouldn't trade anything that has happened for anything. I chose to be here with Lydia. With you. And I don't regret that choice."

He looked down at me and I sat up a little as soon as he did. His free hand reached over to cup my cheek and his thumb moved in a relaxing motion across my cheek. He leaned in and I met him halfway, letting our lips touch. It took me a moment to actually kiss him back. He kissed me like he wanted something more and I knew I wanted it too. I untangled my hand from his and put it on his arm, feeling his biceps flex under my hand. His lips drifted from mine and touched my jaw and then my neck and then my collarbone before reaching my lips again. His hand then fell from my cheek and reached my waist. His hand slowly moved under my shirt and up my back while my hands were in his cotton soft hair. His hand was gentle but rough against my soft skin. But I still loved the feeling. He pulled away from my lips, resting his forehead against mine. We were both out of breath when our lips parted. I could feel the smile on his face creeping up, asking for something that I was already thinking about. I brought one of my hands down and placed it on top of his that was resting on my waist under my shirt.

"Lydia is 2 feet away from us," I said, whispering.

"I wish she wasn't," He said, giving a small laugh at the end of his sentence.

I laughed a little with him before closing the distance between us and kissing him lightly for a few seconds.

"We need to get some sleep. Especially you," I said. His hand lifted from my waist, leaving the warm skin exposed to the air, craving more of his heat that was on me just a few seconds ago. I adjusted myself to lay down on the bed and so did Trevor. I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest and my hands on his abs, feeling the warmth he gave off. His arm wrapped around me in a secure grip. The only thing I could hear was our breathing and his heartbeat. It was pounding against my ear and I couldn't help but smile at the rate it was beating. It only beats this fast when we are close together. His breaths were steady and calming, letting my hand rise and fall with his stomach. His heartbeat was the last thing I heard before I closed my eyes, sending me into darkness.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, Trevor's arm was around my waist and there was no distance between us. Somehow, we both ended up on our side. I heard him take a deep breath in and felt his lips kiss my shoulder. I turned over carefully, keeping his arm around my waist and meeting his eyes. My shoulder was sore but surprisingly felt normal considering that the poison slowed down my healing process.

"Morning," Trevor said with a deep raspy voice, trying to shake the sleepiness away.

"Morning," I said, playing with his messy hair. He closed his eyes when my hand touched his cotton soft hair. His hand started to move up and down my waist and my hand drifted down from his hair to his arm, feeling his muscles flex with every movement. His eyes opened as soon as my hand went to his arm and he gave me a mischievous look. He closed the distance between us and kissed me, trying to supress the hunger that was lingering in the kiss. He pulled away and then groaned, letting me go and sitting up on the edge of the bed. I pushed myself up on my knees and went over to Trevor, wrapping my arms around him. He leaned his head back with his eyes closed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"It's too early for this," I said in a low voice trying not to wake Lydia up.

"Go back to sleep. I just like getting up early," He said, keeping his head in the same position and relaxing under my arms.

"I'm already up, no getting me back to bed now," I said. He lifted his head and rubbed a hand on my arm before getting up from the bed, exposing every part of him to the gloomy sunlight shining through the window. I admired every part of him and I couldn't help but look at the small, leather bracelet on his wrist, and let a smile peek through. He put his hands out to me.

"Come on. We have to make it to at least Amarillo today. And it's going to take at least 5 hours," He said with a smile on his face. I took his hands and he pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me and my arms around his neck.

"I wish we were alone," I said.

"You have no idea," He said, giving a small laugh. I placed a small, short kiss on his lips before getting up from the bed and walking around to my duffle bag. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a red sweater, and my converse and quickly changed in the open space while my back was facing Lydia's bed. I heard the bathroom door close and that's when I started to take off my shirt and looked at my shoulder. My shoulder was red on the outside of the wound and a light bruise formed around it. The gun shot was all stitched up and showed no sign of infection. I pressed a finger to it to see how much pain it actually caused and as soon as I touched it, I felt a shooting pain in my shoulder but it didn't spread across my arm. I felt my face cringe in pain. I quickly put my hand down back to my side realizing that I was half naked in a small motel room and put on the red sweater that I pulled out. I grabbed the jeans and slipped them on as quickly as I could and afterwards slipped on my converse and tied them before zipping up my duffle bag and combing my mid-length hair with a hair brush. It took me about 3 minutes to get dressed and that's when I turned around and saw him leaning against the opening near the farthest bed from me.

"Someone's in a rush," Trevor said. I felt blush coming onto my face.

"Not really. Just didn't want to be. . ." I paused before saying the word.

Trevor walked over to me slowly and put both of his hands on my shoulders treating them gently, especially the one that has the gunshot wound.

"You didn't want to be naked in front of me," He finished my thoughts with a small smile. I shook my head. I really wasn't scared of being naked I have always just been insecure. I've never been the prettiest girl in school or even close to it. I don't think I'm ugly but I don't think that I am that attractive either.

"Just. . . a bit insecure that's all," I said, meeting his eyes.

He let out a deep breath and searched my face. He gave a small smile before breaking our silence. He leaned down and whispered one word in my ear.

"Beautiful."

I smiled at him and he placed a soft kiss on my forehead before lifting his heavy hands from my shoulders and walking over to Lydia's bed and waking her up. She kicked Trevor out of the bed while groaning and put a pillow on top of her head. I couldn't hide the small smile creeping up on my face.

"Lydia, you have to get ready. We have to go," Trevor said, couching down to meet Lydia's eye level.

"Amber can you maybe get my idiotic brother away from me before I punch him," Lydia's muffled voice said from under the pillow. Trevor stood up and walked towards me. I kept my arms crossed looking at Lydia laying in the bed. That's when I connected the dots. I walked over to Lydia and crouched down to meet her at eye level while Trevor watched.

"No side-effects Trevor," I said, giving him a glare. He put his hands up in a defensive manner. I looked back at Lydia's figure in the bed and said something only she could hear.

"Lydia?" I took a pause trying to hide my laughter.

"Is this your first period?" I asked. I couldn't hide the small chuckle at the end. She uncovered the pillow from her eyes and gave me a glare.

"Don't make me beat your ass too. And yes," She said. She lowered the pillow over her eyes again and I stood up from the crouching position looking back at Trevor. I walked back around to stand right in front of him.

"We need a moment," I said. He looked at Lydia and then back at me.

"What's wrong with her?" Trevor asked. I couldn't help but rest my hand on my forehead and laugh at the same time. Are boys always this clueless?

"Out," I said pointing at the door. "Don't come back in until I open the door and tell you to."

Trevor just stood in front of me and I physically had to push him out the door in a joking manner. I slammed the door and locked it to keep Trevor outside. I walked over to my duffle bag and grabbed a box of tampons and some tylenol. I walked back around to Lydia and lifted the pillow from her head.

"Go into the bathroom and put one of these in," I said, handing her the box. She sat up and took the box from my hand.

"Once you're done in there, change into some clothes and take 2 of these. They should help with the cramps," I said, placing the tylenol down on the mattress.

"But I...," Lydia paused and looked at the box of tampons.

"On the back," I said. She turned the box around and I could tell that it answered her question.

"Go, we need to get out of here soon."

She gave a faint smile before getting up and grabbing some clothes, the box, and the tylenol and heading into the bathroom. As soon as I heard the bathroom door lock, I opened the door so Trevor could come in. He looked at me when I opened the door and gave a small chuckle. I searched his eyes and already knew what happened. I punched his arm.

"What was that for?" He said, laughing.

"You shouldn't have listened in! Now you get to stay outside in the rain," I said.

I tried to close the door but his hand was stronger than mine. I couldn't help but laugh because it felt like I was a kid again trying to keep monsters out of my room. Eventually I gave up and just let Trevor in. He closed the door behind him and that's when I heard the thunder outside and the shower start up.

"I think we are going to be here for a while. Lydia takes almost an hour and a half in the shower," I said, turning my back towards Trevor. I was walking towards the bed when I felt his hands on my waist pull me towards him.

"Thank you."

"For what?" I said, confused on what he needed to thank me for.

"For taking care of Lydia when I can't. It means a lot and you're the first real friend she has had in awhile," He explained. I put my hands on his arms moving them up and down before giving him a faint smile. As much as I liked Lydia, there was still a part of me that wishes it were Jared in the shower instead of her. A part of me that wishes he was with me here so I know he is safe.

Trevor leaned down to my ear and whispered, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"We have time."

He backed away from my ear and separated our faces by only inches. "Not today. I don't want to go too fast," I said.

He smiled and then nodded.

"I can wait. I will always wait for you," He said, resting his forehead against mine.

"Are you hungry? I still have my sandwich from yesterday and I may be so very kind to share half of it with you," I teased. He laughed at my words and walked with me to the bed. I grabbed the bag from the floor and grabbed one of the sandwiches from yesterday. I opened the package and gave half of the sandwich to Trevor and then grabbed the second piece and took a bite out of it.

I turned on the TV and there was an update on the hunts for Pures.

"People of America. We do this for your safety, for your health, and for future generations to come. In order to find a cure for L-137, we need more participants in the testing. We have decided to raise the reward for any and every L-12 captured. We have decided to raise the bounty by 3 times the original amount. We hope that this will encourage more people to look for possible L-12's and bring them into testing considering the conditions our country is currently in. We are open all hours and we have all police departments available for transfers of L-12's. We have specific lab placements that can hold more of a population. One laboratory is in Dallas, Texas. Another is located in Atlanta, Georgia. And the final location is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. L-12's will most likely be transferred to the major labs but we do have labs in 22 major cities that can hold up about 50 L-12's. Think of the future and your children. Thank you."

"You have got to be kidding me right now," Trevor said as soon as the update was finished. It took me a moment to process the information that just came into my head. They created more labs. Lydia and Trevor are worth $30,000 each and I'm worth $150,000.

"They think we are just walking around money bags," I said, putting my sandwich back into the container and getting up from the bed angrily.

"They can't be serious. I can't just be a ticket out of here. You know what they could do with $150,000! For just a stupid 16 year-old girl?" I said, pacing back and forth. I looked at Trevor and it looked like he was just processing the reward money they were offering for me. All I could think about is how they were looking for me. I was putting both Lydia and Trevor in danger and I would prefer them get to California without me than become an experiment with me. I have to leave them because if they don't they could get captured by Fallen Labs or The WildFires. There is no doubt that The WildFires don't know about the reward they are offering for me or for Trevor and Lydia. The pacing helped me to think of a plan to get away from Trevor and Lydia. I could probably sneak out when we get to Texas or New Mexico if we spend a night there.

"No," Trevor said. He stood up from the bed and stopped me in my tracks with his hands on my shoulders looking down at me.

"I know what you're thinking and we aren't leaving you."

I looked up at him with a pleading look. "It's not safe for you or Lydia with me. Fallen Labs or The WildFires will go looking for me. Considering the reward. It would be safer."

"Amber, we aren't leaving you. We can take care of ourselves and I'm not putting you in danger," Trevor said. I didn't respond. I only looked away from him. I didn't know what to do. It was either leave them and put myself in danger or stay with Trevor and Lydia and put them in more danger than they were already in. And there wasn't a way out.

Trevor put his finger under my chin and guided my head to look at him. He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

"Promise me you won't go."

I closed my eyes and relaxed under his touch. I took a moment to think about what I would do. Trevor was right. He knew what to do and how to take care of himself and so did Lydia. He even knew how The WildFires work so he could easily outsmart them. I couldn't break my promise to Jared.

"Are you sure?" I said.

"We can take care of ourselves. I don't want to put you in danger." I took a moment before responding after that.

"Ok. Ok, I promise." He lifted his forehead from mine and replaced a kiss with it. Before he broke his lips from my forehead, Lydia came out of the bathroom with damp hair and completely dressed. Trevor turned around at the sound of the door opening. He lifted his hands from my shoulder and walked over to Lydia, explaining what just happened on TV.

I walked over to my duffle bag and Lydia's and grabbed them before walking over to the van and throwing them into the back of the van where Lydia usually sits. I walked back inside the room and over to the night stand that had my gun and Trevor's gun inside one of the drawers. I grabbed both guns and walked over to Trevor, handing him his gun and putting mine in my waistband as I have grown accustomed to. I grabbed the sandwich and the bag on the floor before following Trevor outside to the van. I opened the door and put the bag in the back with Lydia. Trevor jumped in and started the car quickly and backed out of the parking lot.

"How long until state lines?" Trevor asked Lydia.

"30 minutes. Then we should be in Oklahoma city in about 2 hours and Amarillo in 4," Lydia said, typing on her laptop looking at the map in front of her and on the van floor marking our route. I turned on the radio as Trevor drove down the road and onto the highway that would lead us to Texas. Dancing Queen by Abba was playing on the radio and I smiled at the fun tune playing in the speakers. I looked out the window and saw the drops of water fade away into the gray clouds. It felt nice to not have rain blurring your window out so you couldn't see what was around you. I looked outside, dismissing all of my past thoughts and for once, my mind was clear. I heard nothing being planned in my head, nothing telling me to run, to hide, that there was danger. It was peaceful and I wasn't going to waste a second of it. I looked outside and soaked up everything I saw pass by me.

* * *

It's been about 3 hours since we left. We managed to stop and get some food and gas. Lydia has been on the laptop this whole entire ride trying to find some type of organization that can take down Fallen Labs. She found a few reports on a group but they were faked by the government trying to say that they can't be tricked or taken down by anyone. I've been silent the whole ride either listening to the radio or enjoying the quiet time in my own head. Trevor hasn't said anything either, but that's usually normal when he is driving. I snapped out of my daze when Lydia shook my shoulder to grab my attention.

"What? I didn't hear you the first time," I said, trying to reassure her I was listening the first time when I really wasn't.

"I said that there is an organization in California. They're called The L-13's. They send kids into Fallen Labs to try and steal data and then fake this huge accident saying that they escape. Then they try to expose the labs with the data the spies collected and upload it but they haven't been successful in that part," She said.

"How do you know if they are real? Maybe it's just a fake report," I said. She stayed silent for a moment before responding.

"We need a payphone. There is a small code on the bottom of this report. I think they created it to make it look normal to others but to give us a way to contact them," She said. I looked over at Trevor and he wasn't looking at Lydia but he was listening. He grabbed a burner cell phone and handed it to Lydia.

"Use that. And put the number on speaker."

She nodded. She typed in the code that she saw and put the phone on speaker, letting us hear the small message.

"L-12's are in danger. Come find us in building 203 Los Angeles, California. Join the fight."

It repeated 2 or 3 times before Lydia closed the cell phone and crushed it, destroying the number before throwing it out on the road.

"How did you get that code?" I asked.

"It was actually smart of them. The page looks like an article but at the bottom there is a real telephone number. I started playing around with the website trying to see if there was a way to hack the article to see if it was real or not. Then when I started there was this access code," She paused.

"When we were tested they gave us a certain number. Trevor's was 2187 and mine was 6298. I tried putting my code in and it took me back to the article but the number was different. It wasn't a number anymore, it was a code that was still usable on a cell phone. They probably have access to a database with all the Pure's in the Labs file and so that's why it gave me the code," She explained. As she went on, it made more sense. How they determined to give the code out, the fake article. The L-13's had to have some hackers in their group. And if they sent in spies, they would probably also have to teach combat and how to handle weapons. It was most likely going to give us the result that we wanted of trying to take down the labs.

Lydia crawled into the back again and set the Laptop down. She marked the location with a dot on the map and crawled into her sleeping position after folding the map up and giving it to Trevor. I looked over at Trevor and tried to read his expression but I couldn't tell if he was worried or suspicious of this group.

"Do you believe it?" He asked before I got the chance to.

"I. . . don't really know. I think that right now, it's our only option," I said. He took a moment before looking at me and the road, alternating between the two.

"We could find something else. A better plan. I just don't know if this is the right choice. Going to the L-13's," He said.

"We can try. This could be our chance to finally take down the Labs and gangs. At least I want to give it a try and I think Lydia does too," I said, reaching over to give him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. He took one hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on top of my hand before giving me a small smile. That's when something shiny came into my peripheral vision. I lowered my hand from his shoulder and looked straight ahead. It was another car. I haven't seen another car driving in about a month and a half so it was unusual for another car to be on the road. I leaned forward to get a better look at the small figure that was hanging outside the window. That's when I heard the faint bangs that came from a few yards in front of us and I felt the car launch into the air, stopping the velocity we were going at and letting us crash, upside down, onto the road.