Defect

[chapter 20]

Okay, so this is long overdue. But I did work really hard to type this up for you guys and get it out there, so please please please vote and comment! I have a few announcements at the end of this chapter, so please read them--they're important!

The room fell silent.

"That's a really big thing to say, Aretha," Sofia said quietly. "Assuming you're right--which I'm not--who do you think it was?"

"I don't know. No one in this room, that's for sure."

An unspoken wave of agreement swept through the room.

"But as for everyone else... I was there for all of an hour. I don't know most of the people, and even if I did, nearly everyone had a motive--if there was someone there who was more interested in self-preservation than the cause, they might have turned themselves in in exchange for a smaller workload or some sort of privilege."

"Why would anyone join a rebellion if they were only interested in self-preservation? If that was their motivation, the logical thing to would've been to report it and hope you get some sort of reward," Sofia asked. All eyes fell on her uneasily, and she shifted, uncomfortable and defensive. "What? It's not like I would! I'm just pointing out the flaw in that logic!"

"Well, you didn't exactly jump at the chance to join when we found out," Alex admitted.

The growing silence was toxic, and it was less than a minute later that I jumped in. "Look, if it was Sofia, we would've been long dead. She's had dozens of opportunities to expose our location these past few weeks, and she hasn't, which means it's not her. It's not any of us."

No one looked completely convinced, but no one argued either.

"Violet is right," Jax said, making me blink in surprise. Even after having rekindled our friendship, it still caught me a little off guard to hear her back me up. "Besides, suspecting each other won't get us anywhere but dead. Right now, we need to focus on working together. After we've taken care of the Evos, then we care be paranoid."

"Okay," Alex said, nodding. "What do you suggest we do?"

Jax's eyes widened. "Who, me? Why do I have to come up with our plan?"

"Well, you're the one who just took charge," Sofia said, still sounding understandably bitter about people turning on her. "Shouldn't you know what to do next?"

"I... Aretha grew up in Rebellion!" was her hasty excuse.

"But Violet has been in it the longest!"

"So what?"

"So you should have all the answers!"

Before long, we were all arguing, pointing fingers at one another and giggling as our explanations got stranger and stranger. It felt odd--surreal, really--to be sitting on the floor, laughing. It was as if nothing had changed, except that... Well, really, everything had.

"Okay, I think I have an actual plan, guys," Sofia said, interrupting our chuckles. We waited as she caught her breath, then looked at her expectantly. "I think we should find a way to contact Maddie."

"How come?" I asked curiously. Maybe this was terrible, but I hadn't thought much about our ex-roommate much these past few weeks. I was too busy worrying about my own life and the lives of my best friends to be worrying about someone I'd only really known for a week or two.

"Well, we've been racking our brains trying to figure out a way to herd all the Evos in one place, right? Why not call in some backup? I know we like to pretend we know what we're doing--and we've done some pretty good work, I'll admit--but we could really use some experience with something this big. It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

I looked around at my small cohort of friends, trying to weigh the pros and cons of trying to find our scattered reinforcements. And even if this was the best course of action, there was no guarantee that I could even find anyone else. Everyone had run in different directions--for all we knew, we were the only survivors.

"I think you should," said a small voice from the stairwell. I jumped, and Sofia let out a small squeak as we all whipped around, seeing Xander crouched at the top. He was peeking around the corner, his big eyes quivering.

"What are you doing?" Jax said, scrambling to her feet. "You know you're supposed to stay in your room while we discuss things!"

"I just got lonely," he mumbled, on the verge of tears. Jax stepped forwards, worry coating her features.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I blinked, surprised by the care in her voice. I mean, the kid was cute, but I hadn't realized they'd gotten so close--she was acting like his mom.

Big, fat tears started sliding down his wobbling cheeks. He tried to put his chin up, to be strong, but his unfocused eyes gave away his pain--not to mention the hiccuping sobs racking his body.

"I just want my sister back."

"We all want her back," Jax said. The small boy scurried down the stairs, throwing himself into her open, waiting arms. Jax's eyes slid over to us, a clear, hard message written in them: We need to contact them. We need Maddie back.

It was nice to be on the same page again.

***

"I think I have an idea," Aretha said a little over an hour later. We were sitting at the kitchen table, holding cracked mugs of hot water--the last of the cocoa mix had gone to Xander twenty minutes ago.

"Please, share," Jax said, looking exhausted.

"This is a long shot, but there were old ways our parents would communicate--hidden radio waves, catchphrases to drop in certain places, that sort of thing."

"It's worth a try," Alex said, shrugging. "But where are we going to get a radio?"

"Isn't there one in the truck?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it's almost completely decimated--it'd take a miracle to get that thing working again."

"Good thing you can make miracles happen, then," I said, smiling at him. He looked around the table, seeing only expectant faces. Alex's head hit the wood with a defeated THUNK.

"Have I mentioned that I hate you all?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"Come on, sweetie, you can do it," I said, moving over to his side of the table and pulling him up. "I've seen you do some pretty amazing things. Fixing a radio will be a piece of cake for you."  

***

Alrighty! I can't wait to hear what you guys think of what's going on here, and what they should/shouldn't be doing. 

Now, onto announcements!

First of all, the good news: I'm getting dorkishly excited about Defect's sequel. I already started building the next main character, and I really think the idea is coming together in my head--finally. I think this is gonna turn out well, guys. 

Second of all, my desperate plea: I would love a shiny new cover to go along with my shiny new idea. Only problem: I'm not so great at making covers. I can, if nobody's interested, but if any of you Defect fans would like to give it a whirl, I'd love to have someone make one. Please PM me if you're interested--I'm happy to help you in any way I can. I can explain some of the idea behind the next plot/set of characters, if you need that for cover inspiration. 

At any rate, that's about what I've got for now. Wish me luck with the thousand tons of homework I have to push through now...

Stay strong, my fellow Wattpadians. I hope to hear from you all about what you think I should focus on while editing Defect... That's right, nearly time for me to start on that tiny project. There's nothing but joy in the air (not).

Until later!

--Earthstone