The Darkest Minds: Red

Fourteen

The first thing I woke up to was a splitting headache. I groaned, trying to sit up. We were back in the van. Ruby sat on the other side. Zu was sitting next to me, sleeping. She woke up at the noise, and when she saw me, she immediately wrapped her arms gently around me. I chuckled, hugging her back.

"Hey, sweetie," I whispered, and she buried her face deeper into my shirt. "It's okay. I'm alright."

She let go, before grabbing my arm and gently pulling me out of the van. I looked at Ruby, but Zu gave me an assuring smile, indicating that she will be fine. 

We heard Liam and Chubs outside, and I turned my head to the noise. I looked back at Zu, giving her a confused look. She huffed, then led me towards the two. 

They were arguing about something, and very loudly, I might add. I sucked in a breath and covered my ears, groaning softly at the noise. 

Chubs stopped when he saw us, causing Liam to turn around. He widened his eyes when we arrived. He looked at me, concerned.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a headache. What happened?" I asked.

"Lady Jane happened. Blasted us with the white noise. I guess you had a bigger reaction." Liam responded.

I widened my eyes, but Chubs spoke up, "She's gone now. She won't bother us anymore."

"Why? What happened to her?" I questioned.

"Don't worry about that. We're worried about you," Liam dismissed, "You know you scared Zu," He said quietly. "She couldn't stop checking on you to see when you're gonna wake up. We had to tell her to get some rest. Didn't help that Ruby blacked out as well."

I nodded. "Poor kids. How's she doing?"

Chubs shrugged. "She hit her head pretty hard. She'll wake up, though. I'm sure of it." He then looked at the beat-up minivan. "I hate to say it, but I think we need to leave Betty behind."

"What?" I questioned, looking at him, "Why?"

"See, she agrees with me," Liam said, and Chubs rolled his eyes.

"We can't risk it. It's too dangerous with her around," Chubs explained.

"But we made so many memories. And what do you expect us to do, hitchhike?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"It's too dangerous with her around."

"How are we going to travel anywhere without her?" I raised my voice, slowly getting my strength back.

"It's better than them flagging her. They're going to find us. Look, guys, you're getting way too sentimental about this."

"You don't know her, okay?" Liam told him, "So why are we doing it? I don't want to leave her. I don't want to just dump her."

"We're being watched heavily all the time -"

"Hey, I'm just going to go," Ruby interrupted, and we all turned to her. "So, you can stop fighting. And I'm really sorry I lied to you." She looked down before walking away.

"Oh, my goodness," I muttered before calling out, "Ruby."

She stopped and turned around, but she went to the van.

"Ruby," Chubs called out.

"I just forgot my bag, okay?"

"We were talking about Betty, not your Orange ass," Chubs told her.

"And for the record," I said, pointing my finger at Chubs, and then at myself. "We both knew you were an Orange since day zero."

Liam chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Sit down." He told her.

"I just... didn't want you to be afraid of me," She said as she sits, knees drawn up to her chest.

"There's nothing wrong with being Orange. Hell, I'm a Red, but they still accepted me," I told her, and she cracked a small smile. However, she slumped down again.

"But I can't even control it. You control your powers so well. And sometimes I do things - bad things. I see things I shouldn't. I turn people into things they aren't. It's horrible. When I'm in someone's head, it's like quicksand; the more I try to pull free, the more damage I do."

Chubs started to say something, only to stop. He opened his mouth again.

"We want you. We wanted you yesterday, we wanted you today, and we'll want you tomorrow. Sorry, I didn't realize that sooner."

Liam spoke up. "Is that why you acted that way when Lily and I mentioned the Slip Kid? How he might be an Orange?"

She nodded, and I sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking back then. It was... stupid."

"No, it's... fine. I mean, I understood why you did it. I understand why all of you did what you did. It's okay." 

It was silent for a few minutes, until Ruby spoke up again.

"Will it always be this way? Even if we find East River and we get help - there's always going to be a Lady Jane around the corner, isn't there? Will it ever be worth it?"

"Maybe nothing would change," Chubs answered. "But don't you want to be around just in case it does?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment, then nodded. We then fell into a comfortable silence. Liam took his hand into mine, and I rest my head on his shoulder. We all waited for Zu, which Liam told me was scouting a newby campsite. Of course I was a bit concerned, but Chubs told us that she said she will be fine.