The Strays

Chapter Three

I noticed the uncomfortable silence. "Yes, I did just refer to them in the past tense. Delilah, head of The Elites, executed Miles a few months after the factions formed. It was her way of sending me a message. They hung him from a tree, but the drop wasn't enough to snap his neck. It took ten minutes for him to die. I got there too late, and he died in my arms. If I had been a few minutes earlier, I could have saved him. I wasn't even able to bury him because Enforcers jumped me and I had to run. Sean died in a car crash with my mum and aunt before everything went to shit. We were driving back from the hospital when my aunt had a brain aneurysm caused by the pathogen." I paused briefly to wipe away the tears. "The car crashed on a bridge. I made it out, but the car went over with everyone else inside. Miles was at his friend's house when it happened. I tried to find him after the world ended, but Delilah got there first."

Stitch's face went pale. She didn't know what to say. "I guess that explains a lot, but why would Delilah come after you like that?"

"You know how I said I have a hard time trusting people. She's the reason. She was the pretty girl, the smart one, top of her classes until I came along, and let's just say her psychopathic tendencies meant she didn't appreciate taking second place and made it her mission to destroy my life. It became a fixated obsession, but she was too smart to get caught. Now she holds the power and authority in the city, there's nobody to stop her from coming for me, so when she got too close I had to pack up and run, it was the only way to stop Leo from getting himself killed."

Stitch seemed surprised that I was sharing so much. "Does this mean you trust me?" She asked.

"Leo knows all of this and more. He knows my real name. You saved my life when you could've just as easily killed me. The least I can do is let you know what you dragged yourself into."

"Does Mac know all of this?"

I shook my head. "No, Leo's the only person in the city besides you now."

"Aren't you worried she can hear us?"

"Nope."

"How can you be so sure?"

I took the ring that Linc had slipped into my pocket and opened the compartment hidden beneath its signet. "Short wave signal jammer, all they can hear is static, which means I probably have two minutes to pick that lock before someone comes to check on us."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Mac searched you. I'm sure she would've noticed a set of lock picks, even if she missed the ring."

"She would have, but she wouldn't second guess the under-wiring in my bra." I grinned as I took off my underwear and pulled it apart. Within a few seconds, I had an improvised lock pick I could use on the door, but before I could finish, it swung open, knocking me into the wall.

Stitch quickly helped me to my feet, and I defensively raised my guard as I pushed her behind me.

A familiar face stepped into view. "Calm down, GI Jane. We're friendly." Ty smirked as his brother and Leo followed him into the room.

"Indie relax, we're getting out of here, but you need to show us where to go." Leo sighed. "You know this place back to front. What's our quickest exit?" 

"The front door. Every exit is going to be guarded, but the front is our best bet because it's the furthest from any occupied building, meaning it'll take them longer to gather reinforcements."

"You sure?" Ty asked.

"I've busted out of this place multiple times. The exit with the most guards is in the back. It's doable if you're alone, but in a group like this I estimate about half of us will get away at most. The front door has the best odds, provided everyone is comfortable throwing a punch or two."