Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 91: Crystal

I woke up and screamed at the sight of Mac's face hovering over me. I scrambled away in panic but she just sat back and laughed.

"What the- not funny." I muttered, flashing her an angry look. She grinned at me.

"I was about to wake you up. I didn't mean to scare you." she gave me a sly look.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, crawling out into the sunlight from a abandoned building we had crashed in last night. "So...what's next?" I asked. She thought for a minute.

"Well, our search hasn't been very successful so far." she pointed out, leaning against the brick wall of the building. I grunted. "It's just a dead end." she whispered.

"Were would she have gone?" I asked.

"Anywhere, who the heck knows? Well, besides her of course. We checked everywhere. And it's not like she'd have gone home, that's crazy with the whole problem with my dad kicking out her mom." she said and I nodded.  "I'm starved, I need food." she said. I looked around and spotted an empty Wawa. We broke a window and found some old food. It wasn't great but it wasn't that bad. I found Mac and Cheese and dug into that. I hadn't eaten anything so luxurious in weeks. Months. I closed my eyes and pictured I was home, the snow falling outside, my dogs curled up in their sheds and I was eating my mom's mac and cheese. But then I opened my eyes, and here I was. In a deserted Wawa with Mac giving me a weird look.

"What are you doing?" she asked. I looked over at her.

"Picturing home." I explained. She nodded and smiled sadly.

"Home." she mumbled to herself. "Home! I have nowhere to go after this." she said. "After we stop the virus and blow up the generator, I'll have no one to live with." she said, voice breaking.

"What about your dad?" I asked. Mac shook her head.

"I can't, Wilt would never forgive me. I have to stick with her, go were she goes." Mac said. "But I don't even know her mom! I-I"

"Relax, girl. You'll find somewhere to go. It'll all be okay." I said reassuring her. She still had a frown but brightened up when she found a Wawa hoagie. Suddenly, a movement outside caught my eyes. Was that? Yes it was. A car, driving slowly down the road. I squinted out, confused. Who would drive a car now? The sound was sure to rouse up any infected and then they'd be doomed. But then the car stopped in front of the Wawa and a figure got out. I gasped and pushed Mac backwards.

"Hide." I hissed. She stumbled back and we crouched down behind a wall of chips which I was tempted to grab one.

"I can see you." The voice said. I jumped and pressed myself closer to Mac. "Come out, Crystal." he said.

"I'm here, too!" Mac snapped. Dr. Shep rolled his eyes and pulled out gun, pointed it at my head and telling me to move. Oh joy. This again.

I tried to catch Mac's eye, Dr. Shep wasn't interested in her but he might be soon. So in my eyes I pleaded for her to run. To go, go run. We'll be fine, she needs to find Wilt. So run, Mac. Run. She shook her head, receiving the message and rejecting it. She sent a silent message back: not without you. I frowned but didn't say a word. I realized there would be no changing her mind.

"So, how's life?" I asked Dr. Shep, trying to give Mac time to do whatever plan she's making now. He grunted and pressed the gun to my head.

"Same as always." He said. I swallowed.

"That's...good..." My voice trailed off. "So where are you taking me "now?" I asked. He stopped moving me, which was good, and I saw Mac thinking things through, debating how to rescue me. Dr. Shep didn't reply. I looked into Dr. Shep's eyes and found something I never thought I would. Sadness. Pain. Guilt. I cleared my throat, obviously going to use it against him. "Still feeling guilty about killing you own son?" I asked. Dr. Shep's face paled and his nostrils flared.

"I didn't kill my son, you four did." He hissed. I shook my head.

            "It wasn't our bullet that ended is life, it was yours." I shot back. "Who pulled the trigger, you?" I shouted.

            "I-I-I didn't." he stammered.

            "Who shot him? It wasn't me! It wasn't Wilt! It was you. You shot Cryptic, you killed your son!" Tears filled his eyes and I noticed Mac, she heaved a metal pole from the shelf and raise it over her head. Then she brought it down on Dr. Shep's head. But before it touched one hair on his head, he raised his hand and caught it, throwing it away from him. Mac feel to the ground after Dr. Shep brought the butt of his gun down on her head. She groaned and couldn't rise.

            "Mac!" I screamed, scrambling forward. Dr. Shep turned, gun pointed at me.

            "Don't move." He hissed. I blinked at him and saw Mac, struggling to get to her feet, then she coughed and I saw blood. I winced.

            "Take her away." He said. Instantly, guards appeared and started to drag Mac away, blood following. I covered my mouth.

            "Don't you touch her! Don't you do anything to her!" I screamed. Dr. Shep shoved me back and grabbed my neck. I jerked my head back in surprise. I put a hand to my neck and felt a bruise starting to form from his tight grip. He waved his hand and a guard picked me up and shoved me into the back of his taxi car. I screamed and kicked but landed on...someone? Then the door was slammed shut. I turned around.

            "Cashmere!" I cried. Her face was pale as she watched Mac, being taken away, being locked into the back of a gray van. Panic burst through me.

            "We'll get her back." I reassured her. Aqua nodded.

            "Hi, Crystal." She said, stitches on her shoulder.

            "What happened?" I asked. Cashmere shook her head, saying now wasn't the time.

            Aqua moved her head a bit and I caught sight of her. Wilt. Anger rolled over me.

"Where were you?" I snapped. Wilt turned around and stared at me, eyes rimmed red, dripping nose. She's been crying.

"Oh, you know. Just killing my dad, finding my mom and watching her be murdered." She said. I opened my mouth to say something but suddenly, the front door open and Dr. Shep got in the drivers seat. He started up the car and started to drive.

            "Where's Mac?" Cashmere demanded. Dr. Shep didn't even glance back.

        "Who?" he asked.

       "The girl you just his with your gun." I snapped at him. He rolled his eyes.

  "She's being sent to my lab, don't worry, we'll make good use of her." Cashmere yelled something terrible at him and I agreed.

            "Don't worry, our powers are returning, I can feel it." Wilt whispered. I looked down at my palm and saw my sign starting to glow, ever so faintly. I grinned. Yes, we could do this after all.

            "Why is that?" I whispered back. Cashmere quietly explained that when we were separated our powers didn't work but when we were together, they worked again. It made sense. It was stupid, but it made sense. There was a glass window separating Dr. Shep and us so we quietly tried to form a plan, but nothing came to us. Our powers were still returning, and it was taking along time. By the time they starting to work, it may be too late. I looked down at my lap and noticed my Mac and cheese was still in my hand. And an idea struck me. I didn't like it, sacrificing my mac and cheese like that, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. I slid open the glass separating us and took the lid off of the noodles. Then I dumped it down the back of his neck. He screamed and the car swerved out of control. He slammed on the breaks and I yelled, "Go, go, go!" I opened the door open and we scrambled out into safety. I couldn't help but smile.

Oh yeah, I thought, never doubt the power of Wawa mac and cheese.