Purple | Cole Stewart -VERSION DISCONTINUED

Chapter Twenty One: Sleaze-Ball

This chapter somehow ended up being almost 3 times longer than normal, so I hope you enjoy it!

I woke up just in time to get a perfect view of Roanoke, Virginia's former Walmart in all of its glory.
In true Stewart fashion, Liam insisted on going in alone to check it out, leaving us no time to protest by jumping out of the van as soon as it stopped.
"Oh, like hell. Ruby, go with him," I said.
Not that she needed much convincing. "Honk the horn three times for trouble," she said before slamming the door shut.
"What are the chances that things are about to go horribly wrong in there?" I asked Chubs.
He shrugged. "With our luck? Pretty likely."
I sighed. "Yeah, that seems about right. Figure we should get a little closer?"
"Yeah, probably. Lee's pretty shit at defending himself, and the Green is a Green, so..."
I decided not to comment on his decision not to refer to Ruby by her name, and helped Zu out of the van. "C'mon, kid- let's go make sure our friends aren't going to get themselves killed." Zu just nodded, holding onto my hand with her gloved one.
As it turns out, Ruby and Liam most definitely did need our help. Liam was shouting, and the two of them were sliding across the ground.
"Jesus christ! Chubs-"I cut myself off as I watched the lights of the checkout lanes all switch on, one by one, accompanied by a low hum as the conveyor belts sputtered to life.
The lights only got brighter, and I heard people shouting from somewhere farther into the store. "Turn her off!"
It was only then that I realized Zu was the one causing the power to go haywire. "Zu, let go!" Liam shouted.
I turned to pull her away from the wall, but Chubs was quicker, pulling the glove off of Zu's other hand and pulling it over his own, all but ripping her away from the metal.
The lights went out, and Liam took the opportunity to knock Zu and Chubs to the ground- I was too far away from them for him to reach me, so I ducked to the ground on my own, making eye contact with Ruby, who was still lying on the ground where Liam had left her.
The emergency lights came back on after a minute, and I was finally able to see who our attackers had been. There were four of them, each dressed in black, each pointing a gun at us. But that wasn't what shocked me about them. What shocked me was that, upon further inspection, I could tell that they were kids- just like us.
•••
When they came closer, I was able to see that they were all boys, and they were all stick thin, like they hadn't had a good meal in weeks- which I suppose was probably true.
"Christ on a cracker," the one closest to us murmured. He had red hair, and his face was coated in dirt and grime. "I told you we should have checked the van first."
Liam's head popped up out of the wreckage. "What the hell are you fools trying to pull?" he snarled. I heard another sound as well- Zu's crying. I whirled around and headed in its direction.
Zu and Chubs sat on the ground behind a pile of bargain DVDs. Zu's palm faced the ceiling as Chubs squinted at it, probably looking her over for injuries. "She's all right," he said as Ruby came to stand beside me. "No burns."
I sighed in relief as Liam joined the four of us, completing our odd little group. "You okay?" he asked Ruby.
"Fine. Pissed. You?"
"Fine. Pissed." he replied.
"Yeah, that sums up my feelings pretty well, I think," I muttered as we walked back towards the boys who had ambushed us.
"Look, man, I'm sorry," said the tallest of the boys- he could have been the leader, but I wasn't sure.
"Sorry? Do you really think sorry is gonna cut it?" I growled before Liam cut me off.
"Do you always do crap like this?" he asked. "Attacking folks without even checking if they're armed- if they're like you?"
The boy I had identified as the leader was the one to reply. "You could have been Skip Tracers."
"And you could have waited to start shooting until after you confirmed that!" I shot back.
"It was your Yellow that did all of this," the leader said as he gestured to the shelves around us. "The girl needs a leash."
I lunged forward at that, only to be held back by someone- maybe Chubs, maybe Liam, I didn't really care. "She's not a fucking animal you asswipe!" I yelled.
Liam took a slightly calmer approach- slightly. "Watch your mouth," he snapped. "She wouldn't have panicked if you hadn't pulled guns on us."
"We wouldn't have had to use them if you'd paid attention to our warning back there and left."
"Because you gave us so much time to get away-" Liam snapped.
"Look, we could go back and forth forever and it won't solve a damn thing," Ruby interrupted. "We were hoping to spend the night here, but if you've claimed it or whatever, then we'll go. That's the only reason we came- for shelter."
"For shelter." the leader repeated.
"You mess up your ears from shooting at so many kids? You heard her." I snarled, shoving the arms holding me back away from me.
"No, but my ears are still bleeding from your Yellow's meltdown. Maybe you should say it again, baby, for good measure."
Liam had to hold out his arm to stop Ruby from having a go at the boy. "We just want to stay here a night. We're not looking for any trouble." He said flatly.
"Looks like you already found it."
•••
The leader's name was Greg, and he hailed from Mechanicsville, Virginia. The ginger who refused to introduce himself was called Collins by the others, and the blonde brothers were Kyle and Kevin. The only thing the group had in common- aside from the aisles they resided in- was their camp in New York, one lovingly referred to as "Satan's Ass Crack".
Once the excitement had died down a bit- and after a warning from Liam to stay quiet- they told us an incredibly dramatic- and highly improbable- tale of their escape from PSF custody over a shared meal of fruit snacks, stale pringles, and twinkies.
"Let me get this straight," Chubs said, obviously in disbelief. "You were being moved from one camp to another?"
Greg leaned back against one of the freezer doors behind him. "They weren't taking us to another camp. They packed up as many guys as they could and said we were being brought to a testing facility in Maryland."
"Only guys?" Chubs asked.
"We didn't have girls there." god, what a sleaze-ball. Could he sound any more disappointed by that fact? "Otherwise I'm sure they would have been loaded up, too."
"I'm surprised they even told you that much," Ruby said- I silently thanked her for it. I wasn't sure how much longer I could restrain myself if we stayed on the subject. "Do you think that's actually where they were bringing you?"
"No," Collins cut in. "It was pretty clear that they had orders to get rid of us."
"And a storm flooded the road, flipping the bus and allowing you to escape?"
I was having trouble believing that part of the story as well. I didn't know much about how Ruby had escaped Thurmond, but I knew for sure that the rest of us didn't get that lucky. How was it fair that they were able to escape with just a quick stroke of luck, while we had to plan for months?
"We've been holed up ever since. It took something like six months to get word to my dad that I was out and safe, and another three to get some kind of response from him."
Chubs leaned forward, like that bit of information had piqued his interest- which I suppose it probably had. "How, exactly, did you get in touch with them? The Internet?"
"Nah, man," Greg said. "After that terrorist business, you can't even search for recipes online without the PSFs snooping and breaking down your door. All they need is one whiff of trouble."
"What terrorists?" Ruby interrupted.
"The League," Chubs said. "Don't you remember- ah." Right, Ruby had been in a camp up until a few days ago, why would she know anything about things that happened a few years ago? "Three years ago, the League hacked into the government's Psi databases and tried posting information about the camps online for everyone to see. Other groups took that as their cue to hack into banks, the stock exchange, the State Department..."
"So they cracked down on it?"
"Right. Most of the social networking sites are gone, and all of the e-mail services are required to monitor the emails being sent on their servers." Chubs then turned to look at the blond boys- one was staring at me, the other at Ruby. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.
"How then?"
"Easy," Greg said, winking at Ruby. "We used what was left. I put an ad in my hometown paper with a message only my brother would get."
"And who paid for this ad?" Chubs questioned. "The editors didn't just let you put that in there for free, did they?"
"No, the Slip Kid paid. He set everything up for me."
I'll admit, that particular bit of information did... pique my interest. Not because I needed to get in touch with my family- we had stopped being a family the second they let me get on that school bus to be taken to my doom. But for Liam? And Chubs? They had parents that loved them, that wanted them back- and if the Slip Kid could make that happen, then he sure as hell had my attention.
"You've actually been in contact with the Slip Kid?" Ruby asked. That's right, the Slip Kid was rumored to be an Orange- just like Ruby. no wonder she wanted to meet him so badly- he was the only chance she had at understanding her abilities.
"Oh, yes. He's like... a god," Collins said breathlessly. Okay, that might be a bit much, but whatever, I guess. "He gathered all of us together. Kids from all over New England and the South. Every color. Older kids, younger ones, too. They say that the PSFs stay away from his court in the woods because they're afraid of him. That he set his camp on fire and killed all the PSFs sent to bring him back."
"Who is he?" Ruby asked.
The four of them just grinned at each other. It was a truly unnerving sight, with the angle of the lights, and the fact that they probably hadn't brushed their teeth in months.
"What else? How was he able to send money for the ad? What's East River like? Where is it?" Chubs pressed.
"They have a sweet setup at East River," Collins said. "But if you want to get to East River, you have to find it yourself."
I rolled my eyes. Like the four of them had found it on their own- they had, like, two total brain cells.
"Sounds that way," Liam said finally. "Are there a lot of kids there?"
They had to think about that question for a second. "More than a hundred, but not, like, in the thousands." Greg said. "Why?"
Liam just shook his head. "Just wondering. Most were never in camps, I take it?"
"Some." Greg shrugged. "And some found it after dodging skip tracer or PSF custody."
"And the Slip Kid- he doesn't have..." Liam seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say. "He doesn't have plans for them, does he? What's his endgame?"
I had never thought about that before, and apparently neither had any of the boys. "No endgame. Just livin', I guess."
It made sense to me that Liam had thought about it, though. He wanted to get each and every kid out of their camp, and he wanted to know if the Slip Kid wanted that too.
"What about directions?" Ruby asked.
"Well, now." Greg's hand landed on Ruby's foot. My jaw clenched. The two brothers had finally stopped looking at Ruby and I, and were looking at each other with identical expressions.
"I'm sure they'd be happy to have you," Greg said, sliding his hand up to stroke Ruby's ankle. My left hand twitched.
Oh, god.
That was the first sign that I was losing control, and if I didn't get a grip right now, very bad things could start to happen.
"It's a really great location near the coast, but there just aren't a whole lot of girls. They could use something so... nice to look at. " his fingers traced a line up her calf. I wanted to break them.
It would be so easy, too.
"You should go. It's safer than getting caught by one of the tribes. There's a group of Blue kids that hangs out around Norfolk- they're nasty. Steal the clothes right off your back. There was a tribe of Yellows around here for a while, but a kid we were in camp with claims they were all taken in by PSFs."
A hand closed around my wrist. Chubs.
I took a sharp breath and shook my head. A simple touch was all it took to snap me out of my Red-anger induced daze.
Greg's hand drifted up to Ruby's knee and stopped there for just a moment before Chubs reached over to peel it off. Ruby had closed her eyes for a second, and now Gregs eyes were glassy.
She had used her abilities, I realized.
I tried to glance to the sides semi-discreetly to see if anyone else had noticed anything off about the interaction. They didn't.
"What was that kids name again? The Yellow who worked with us in the kitchen? Fred? Frank?"
Felipe.
"Felipe Marco? Was that his name?" I interrupted. "Short, black hair?"
I didn't want to hope, but I couldn't stop myself. After all, we were in this exact building with Felipe a little over a year ago.
"You know him?"
Oh my god.
Liam nodded. "We traveled together for a while."
"Must have been before he got his ass caught here," Greg said. "He was the one who told us about this place. Said he was here with some friends- That you two?"
"Yeah," Liam knelt, wedging himself between Greg and Ruby. "They brought us to separate camps."
Greg shrugged. "He was on one of the earlier busses they were taking to Maryland. Who knows?"
"God dammit," I muttered to myself.
"I miss that kid. He was smart. Knew how to use his powers- better than your pet, at least. Might as well send her back for all the good she's going to do for you." Greg nodded to Zu, who was facing away from the rest of us working through the pages of multiplication problems Liam and I had written out for her.
That was about as much as I was going to let them get away with, and apparently Ruby was thinking the same thing.
"You have two seconds to tell me you're joking," Ruby said as I lunged forward. "Or I punch you in the face." she continued as Liam wrapped his arms around my waist to hold me back.
"Do it," Chubs hissed.
Greg held up his hands in surrender. "All I'm saying is that there's something off about her. He's not like the others, is she?" He leaned closer. "Is she retarded? Did they do testing on her?"
Any calm I had managed to collect in the last few seconds went back out the window, and I struggled against Liam.
"She's mute, not deaf," He said smoothly, still not letting go of me. "And I promise you, she's probably smarter than the eight of us put together."
"I'm not so sure about that," Chubs began. "I'm-"
Liam silenced him with a look and brought his mouth closer to my ear. "Please take Ruby and Zu for a little walk- I can handle this Cara, you're just making it harder."
I let out a huff before nodding. I understood why it would be better if we weren't around, but that didn't change the fact that I wanted to murder Greg.
Ruby seemed to have heard Liams words, and walked over to Zu to get her attention while I gave the four boys one last glaring look.
"Don't go too far," Liam called.
"Don't go too far," the other boys echoed, then burst out laughing.
"I know what you mean, Ruby replied.
I just turned around and flipped them off with both hands while mouthing fuck you. We couldn't all be diplomats.

Word count: 2831

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