Stronger Together

Chapter 12: The Start of Something

After wincing through the treatment, I thanked the woman before going to get a shower and new clothes on.
-✨-

I wrapped myself with a towel and walked to the front of the tent where I saw a pair of clothes on a wooden chair. I rose my eyebrows, wondering who put them there. I stepped towards the clothes and saw a note on top. I grabbed it from the pair of clothes. I read it:

Y/N,
I thought that you would like to wear these with your red jacket.
- Aris

Aww, that was sweet, I thought when I finished. I put the note down on the chair when I grabbed the clothes.

After I pulled my jacket over my shoulders, I walked to a mirror next to the chair and scanned the outfit. I had a dark gray sweater with four snap buttons in the middle and light blue jeans on. Then, I put my knife holder and headed out to get something to eat.

Once I did that, I scanned the area and saw Harriet, Aris, and Sonya sitting near a bonfire. A girl who looks no older than thirteen was sitting next to Sonya. Her head popped up a bit when she saw me.

"Y/N!" The girl exclaimed excitedly as she got up and ran to me.

I was startled by her hug. I was confused by a random stranger who just came up to me and hugged me. Then, I saw Sonya coming up to us, giggling. She stopped at a point where was not too far from us.

"You don't recognize her, do you?" She told me, still laughing at my confusion.

I pulled back from the girl and looked at her. She has blue eyes and short red hair which goes to her shoulders. Those was Millie's features.

"Millie?" I asked when I heard a soft giggle from her. Then I returned the hug.

"Surprise!" The redhead said as we pulled away.

Millie and Sonya led me to the others. They returned to their seats while I took one next to Aris.

"But, how? We watched you die," I asked, still confused.

"Well, a group of WICKED soldiers swiped the place after you guys left. One of them noticed that I was still breathing, but just barely. He called the others over. They put an oxygen mask around my face and carried me out of there. Once we got to a facility, they put me immediately in surgery. Or that was what happened the guard told me," Millie explained.

"Wow, that's quite a miracle. Did you get someone to take care of you before The Right Arm got you out?" I questioned.

"Yes. That guard who was the first to rescue me. But, he was shifted to another facility, a little bit before Harriet and Sonya arrived," she recalled.

"What-,"I started.

"Wait, what do you mean by they arrived?" Aris said to her.

Harriet, Sonya, and I shared a look.

"Doesn't matter," Harriet intercepted, trying to dismiss the fact.

"Yes, it does. You lied to me," he told us.

There was a small silence.

"So, you lied to me."

"We're sorry we did, but it was for your own protection," Sonya replied.

Aris stood up and left to let out some steam. I couldn't blame him. He just found out that he had been lied to for a long time. While he was gone, I decided to rerouted this to the topic.

"So now, that's solved. What's the guard's name?"

"Don't know," the girl mentioned, "he didn't tell me his name."

"I'm sorry for getting you in trouble," she added.

Guilt showed in her eyes.

"It's not your fault. We should have been truthful to him," Sonya told her, reassuring her.

"Yeah. We are the ones to blame, not you" Harriet agreed.

Once Aris came back to the bonfire, the two girls and I apologized. He forgave us but told us that he wouldn't be lied to again. I said it'll depends on the situation and he might not want the truth. The group laughed at my response. Not too long after talking, someone called out to us.

"Hey Aris!"

"Hey Y/N!"

Two familiar voice ranged out: Frypan and Minho.

We turned to see them and the rest of their group sitting on a big rock which was on a cliff.

"Hey guys!" Aris yelled back, raising his hand to return the favor as I just rolled my eyes playfully and giggled.

He pulled his hand down after when I noticed that Harriet was eyeing me.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing. I was wondering if you liked being the only girl besides the other one."

"Yes, I liked it, but I miss being with you girls too, you know," I answered.

"Yeah. She kissed one of them," Aris said to the others.

"I was saving his life. Saving, Aris."

"You kissed a guy?!" Millie asked.

"Saving his life," I replied through my teeth.

"It was still mouth to mouth CPR. That counts as kissing," Aris stated.

"No, it doesn't."

I decided to ignore the rest from them. A sound in the distance caught my attention. I heard it more and more.

"Do you hear that?" I asked the group as I stopped the teasing.

Then, a explosion erupted, catching our attention. I look up and saw a helicopter in the sky. Suddenly, I watched my feet carried my weight. The group ran different directions but Sonya and Millie were with me. We kept running as I watched guards hopping down. We made it to the shower area when we got followed by guards.

There was some time before they could surround so I turned to the girls.

"Listen carefully," I spoke as I grabbed my knife holder and gave it to the blonde, "I want you to run when I distract them. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Sonya, protect yourself and Millie with the knife I gave you."

Then, I saw the guards coming into the room, holding guns at us.

"Put your hands up" one of them shouted, "Put them up!"

We followed the instructions we had been given.

I put down one of my fingers and wiggled it. 

Then, I tried to get my power to activate, but it wouldn't come out. Suddenly, I remembered that I can't control it. How could I forget?

"Sonya," I whispered.

The blonde girl looked at me.

"I kinda forgot that I don't have any control of my power," I said quietly to her.

"Are you serious?" She questioned me out loud.

Before I knew it, we were convulsing on the ground as a painful sensation grew in our veins. I screamed out in pain. I saw a red substance raising into the air out of the corner of my eyes. While convulsing, I tried to pry the silver thing off of me. It took a couple times because of the pain but I pried it off. Once I did, it took a few seconds for me to stop convulsing. After I stopped, I stood up. A throbbing rushed to my head. I ignored it as I took the silver things off Sonya and Millie.

Once they got up, we ran out of the tent but we halted, seeing another group of guards standing there

"Shit," I whispered to myself.