Chapter One
~ Aspen ~
“Are you ready?”
It was an easy question, but one I didn’t know the answer to. Was I ready now? No, not really. Would I ever be? I didn’t know. All I knew was that being honest wasn’t an option. Not being prepared was even less acceptable.
“Yeah, dad.” I let a small sigh slip. “I’m ready.”
He nodded in approval and squared his shoulders. He was shutting off any last glimmering speck of humanity inside himself before walking through those doors. Did I need to do the same? Could I? They were still people, even if they were sick. He was always so cold when talking about them. I thought maybe they could use some gentleness, but my opinions didn’t really matter yet. He was the one singlehandedly running this Initiative, and I was just his daughter.
Dad led the way through the heavy mahogany doors. My eyes widened at the size of the room as I followed closely behind him. Of all my years imagining what could possibly be inside this room, I never pictured it being this spacious. There was a large table, shaped like a U, that took up most of the space. If it were full, it could easily seat at least forty people. Right now, there were about ten. The walls were a creamy white and devoid of any decorations. It all felt very empty.
“Gabriel.” My dad’s right-hand man, Matthew, greeted us both in the entryway.
“Matthew,” He nodded in acknowledgement. “Is everyone present?”
I tuned them both out as they discussed the itinerary for the meeting. It was the first I’d ever been invited to, and to say I was nervous would be a major understatement. I was supposed to fill dad’s shoes one day but had no idea what he really did. I still don’t. But after weeks of practically begging, he agreed to bring me to some of his meetings. I was thrilled at the time, but at this point my insecurities were getting the better of me. In everyone’s eyes, I was nothing but an annoying kid who had too many questions. What they didn’t see is how driven I was or how eager I was to learn the ins and outs of this initiative. I was more than ready to take on some responsibilities, I just needed the opportunity to show them that.
“Aspen.”
I was forced back into the present at the harsh snap of my name.
“Yes?” I was quick to focus all my attention on him. I didn’t want to seem like I wasn’t fully invested in this. I could see the disappointment in his stormy blue eyes at my slip-up and decided it wouldn’t happen again. I needed to up my game.
“We’re ready to begin.”
I nodded in understanding and took the seat he gestured to. I was at the end of one of the straight sides of the table, far away from everyone else. The message was clear. I was not to speak up or be involved in this meeting. I was simply here to listen. The realization made my shoulders slump slightly, but I shouldn’t have expected anything more. I wouldn’t be allowed to help out for a while, and I needed to be grateful that I was given anything at all.
Nothing huge was discussed. At least nothing that I hadn’t already heard. Dad talked about increasing defenses in the holding facility and ways to make collecting easier. They went over numbers and milestones that we’ve hit so far this year. It was all very boring and I didn’t care about any of it. What I wanted to do was help people. I wanted to work directly with the sick and make an impact on their recovery. I never got to see the transformation take place, but that’s what I was most curious about.
I’d brought it up to dad plenty of times. He always had the same excuse. I was too young, too inexperienced, and my time would come. I had to accept it because he was in charge, but I couldn’t wait until I would finally be allowed to help. The meeting wrapped up and I was ordered to return to my chores. Dad called them “duties” to make it sound more official, but I knew I wasn’t getting any more privileges than the next kid. I made my way through the cold and lifeless hallways of dad's office building. The Initiative had gotten so big that they’d built a whole new structure to house its employees, which is pretty cool. He refused to decorate it, even with all my pestering, so it looked more like a prison to me.
My lungs greedily took in the fresh air once I made it outside. I decided a pit stop at home before starting my chores couldn’t hurt. We lived only a short walk from dad's office because he was a man of practicality, so it wouldn’t take long. I soaked up the sights around me as I went. People-watching was hands down one of my favorite pastimes. I glanced at all the wandering strangers and wondered if any of them were secretly sick. My stomach tightened at the thought.
Dad tried to help all the people he could. The government had been enrolling as many as possible into the initiative since before I even knew that this kind of sickness existed. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, they didn’t ask to be born with something so life-altering and huge...nevertheless, it was our duty to help them get rid of it. It was my duty, too, because even if I couldn’t cure myself, I needed to try for others.
I shook my head to clear it of those kinds of thoughts as I approached the house. Briefly glancing into my pocket helped me fish out the keys to my front door, and it was popped open in no time. Rustling echoed from the kitchen as I stopped to slide my shoes off.
“Mom?” I called but got no answer. The noise stopped. “You’re not trying to cook again, are you?”
The smile dropped from my lips the moment I rounded the corner into our spacious kitchen. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart plummeting into my stomach. It wasn’t my mom looking back at me, but someone I once thought I’d never see again. She was standing only a few feet away from me now, her hip resting against my granite covered island. My lips opened and closed a few times as I struggled to find an appropriate greeting. She looked so much like the little girl in my memories, the best friend I’d left behind nearly ten years ago, but so different at the same time.
Her hair had taken on a deeper, more vibrant red color than it had when we were kids. Right now, it was pulled away from her face in a loose knot at the base of her neck. Her eyes had changed, too. They were no longer a light, airy match for the sky, but had somehow grown brighter and more striking. They were hardened, with a fiery passion raging behind them. And they were trained on me. Besides that, she looked every bit the person I’d been forced to say goodbye to all those years ago. Only one coherent thought managed to break through the fog that had taken up my brain.
What the hell could she want?
Chapter Two: ~ Lexa ~ “Mom? You’re not trying to cook again, are you?” I heard a familiar voice call out, as I spun a steak knife in and out of my own fingers. It wasn’t as balanced as one of my throwing knives, but still, it felt comfortable to be spinning. As comfortable as one could be when they were at death’s doorstep. “What the hell do you want?” S exclaimed in surprise and horror, sizing me up. I smiled, slightly. “Good to see you, S. It’s been a long time.” People always told me I was too good at my job. I was too good at being cold. Too good at being friendly. Too good at being whatever it was I needed to be. But no one really understood that this was how we survive. The
Chapter Three~ Aspen ~I stood there, stuck in my spot as I heard the back door slam behind her. I simply couldn’t move as I processed our heated conversation. Where the hell did she even come from? I wish she could see that there was nothing to worry about. If her friend was in our hands, he was on the right track. Soon, he would be cured and could move on with his life. He would be better for it. Still the panicked, desperate look in her eyes had me on edge.If she had come all this way, after so long, just to ask for my help when she knew she wasn’t going to get it, she had to be out of options. I was shocked enough from seeing her after so long, but to hear that she has such a negative impression of my family, of me
Chapter Four ~ Lexa ~ We sat around our little unsteady table, laughing like we did most nights. There was barely enough food to fend off our hunger, and what we could save, we had to; winter was coming. Sooner or later food would become even scarcer. It wasn’t like we had any money to just go to the market, like the people who lived outside our woods. It wasn’t like we could get jobs. Not in this country. We were all wanted. Every single one of us within these woods. We all had escaped prosecution. We all had a kill order on us. But we chose to live our lives unafraid. Me, Jaxon, Grey, and Will had all made the decision a long time ago that we were our people’s first defense. Many of the people we were protecting were grown-ups. But they were scared, so they let kids take over. Grey’s little
Chapter Five ~ Aspen ~ I was completely exhausted, practically falling over where I stood. It had taken way longer to find the shack Will mentioned than I thought it would. At this point, the sun was long gone. And I was in deep trouble. I’d told dad I would return his key card in only a few minutes, and now it had been hours. I didn’t know if he’d be worried, or angry, or both. Either way, I didn’t plan on seeing him any time soon to find out. “What do you mean you know where he is?” The guy to my left, the one who’d rudely pointed a weapon at me upon opening the door, asked with an edge. I rubbed my arm where he’d held it moments before. I didn’t blame them for being hostile. I was actually quite shocked at E’s kindness aft
Chapter Six ~ Lexa ~ “You’re being soft.” Grey growled at me. “I’m being human.” I answered, trying to think of what our plan could be. “Lexa, you won’t let them hurt her, right?” Gracie asked, moving from her hiding spot. “Gracelyn, you aren’t supposed to get up until we say it’s safe.” Grey reprimanded, sounding so fierce the little girl practically dropped back into the hole. “It is safe, Grey.” I told them tiredly. This day had
Chapter Seven ~ Aspen ~ That night, I got the worst sleep of my life. Shortly after E declared her brilliant plan, she went out to check that everything was okay around the site. That left me alone with Grey and, although I was exhausted, I didn’t feel comfortable letting my guard down around him. He was really intense and kind of scary, honestly. She got back soon enough, and I passed out on that dingy couch that had probably come from someone’s trash. Now, I was upright on that same couch, rubbing at the tight muscles in my neck. And, sadly, listening to a shack full of people bickering. “That will never work.” Jax sighed frustratedly, saying the same thing he’d been repeat
Chapter Eight :~ Lexa ~I didn’t slow down. I honestly didn’t know how. If Will had been there, he would have forced us all to slow down. He would have said it didn’t matter if we’re all dead. But the thing was, he was the one who was captured, he was the one who was going to be dead if we didn’t do something and fast. Ironic as it was, I pushed myself to fly even faster through the forest.I had covered those paths a million times. Most of the time without any shoes. I knew my way. But for some reason, I had a bad feeling today. The energy of the forest was off. There was something bad in the air. What it was yet though, I couldn’t tell.“Lexa!” Someone yelled.
Chapter Nine~ Aspen ~I moved through the trees quickly, coughing as smoke snaked its way into my lungs. I tried to cover my mouth as best I could, but it was my eyes that were getting the worst of it. I should’ve known something like this would happen. It’d been two weeks since I stumbled my way into these woods looking for an escape, and life had been anything but kind to us all in that time.I’d known it was coming. I heard dad talking about it when I was listening in on one of his meetings. When I was seen emerging from these trees, their suspicion that the sick lived here was confirmed. From that day on, they were talking about ways to get them out. To check them into our facilities. To put them in cages.I wante