Remember

Chapter Twenty-One (edited)

 Black sacks were thrown over Jordy, Colette, and Kaden's heads as their captors grabbed them by the shoulders and arms and practically drug them through the thick woods just to the right of the abandoned highway. Colette stumbled over her feet and tripped over exposed roots causing the younger girl who was tasked on dragging her to grunt with the effort of having to haul her weight every time Colette lost balance and started to tumble to her knees.

The older woman, whose name was never mentioned, whispered quietly with Lincoln who was obviously very angry over the fact that he did not get to kill anyone. How great. Not only did they have the Paradisium Federation hunting them down but now they were being kidnapped by sadists. The image of them being strung up and gutted like pigs slithered its way into her mind and made her shiver. Surely, they were not that cruel.

"Why are we even bothering to take these people? They only threaten our existence. We're taking a risk bringing them back to base. What if those government freaks follow us back?" Lincoln hissed at the woman.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to question my authority? You know I get my orders from the girl. Questioning her will only lead you to getting thrown in the dungeon with more than a few broken bones."

Lincoln snorted. "You think I'm afraid of her stupid bodyguard of a brother? He's a joke. He claims he can kill us all, but have you ever seen him do anything more than break a finger and bruise a few ribs. He's all talk. I bet he doesn't have any more control over his powers than the rest of us."

The woman seemed to be getting more enraged by each word Lincoln spoke. "I said don't question me." The woman growled and Lincoln was immediately silenced. Colette almost wondered who would win if they got in a physical fight. Lincoln looked more superior in strength, but the fact that the woman was leader and not him said something about her. "Nobody has full control over their powers, that doesn't make them any less dangerous." Colette had the sneaking suspicion that the woman was talking about her.

The way the woman had talked about Colette's power made Colette even less eager for it to show itself. It sounded dangerous and she could only assume that made it even harder to be able to control. You could enslave the human race with that power of yours. What kind of monstrous power could make people bow to her? It did not make sense how the woman would know what kind of power she had anyways. The woman was probably only trying to scare her and make her back down. If so, it was working. Colette wanted nothing more than to keep whatever was inside her locked up tight.

The thought did not make Colette feel any better about the energy that lay dormant inside herself. In made her skin crawl and her stomach twist just knowing how much of a potential threat she was to the world. She was sick and tired of having people trying to find her or keep an eye on her. She just wanted to be normal. She just wished her life in Paradisium had been real. Everything was so much easier there. Not to mention, she missed her family. They had never lied to her, not intentionally.

There was no telling what the Paradisium Federation might do to her family now that she's escaped from their grasps. Even if they weren't trying to hurt her family, they probably missed her and worried about her. That is, if they even remembered she existed. the Paradisium Federation leaders probably put some sort of memory in her brother and mother's heads to make them think Colette was okay, if they hadn't wiped their minds of her completely. Colette did not want to think of that. To think that her family was going on fine without her while she was stuck going through hell out here trying to save them and everyone else in Paradisium.

After seeing this crumbling world for what it was, she was beginning they were better off in there anyways.

Suddenly, she was jerked to a stop and she could hear unfamiliar voices shouting at each other to open the gates and calling out the names of her captors to welcome them back. It sounded like there was a whole civilization just a few feet in front of her. How had all these people escaped the grasps of the Paradisium Federation? Let alone break the simulations? The three of them hardly even made it out alive.

The hood was ripped off of her head and the light from the sun blinded her momentarily before her eyes finally adjusted on the little town in front of her. It was fully fortified with guards walking on top of wooden stake walls that seemed to surround the entire place. An entire town tucked right beneath the Paradisium Federation's nose. It was amazing. Too bad, these people were only trying to kill them and not offering them a place to stay.

Colette was shoved forwards through the gate, following Kaden and Jordy in front of her. Their expressions of awe matched hers. The town was not much and looked more like a makeshift camp grounds that had been turned into a longer stay than it was ever meant for but it was still something. It looked like how she imagined the first towns to look like. Before people became masters at a certain skill and everyone worked together to build makeshift houses out of basic materials. Houses of plain wood were thrown together with mud patching any open holes. Some looked similar to cement and brick, patchworked from other destroyed buildings. There were small plots everywhere for gardening, though they didn't look to be growing quite enough food for everyone. From what she remembered from school, the plots needed good soil and Colette could only imagine how poisoned this ground was.

Despite the looks of the town, the people around her chatted happily with others and children laughed loudly as they chased each other around in the dirt streets. It was like they had no worry in the world. Colette hadn't realized she had stopped in her tracks to watch the people around her until she was being shoved forward again by Prissy. "Come on, the boss is going to want to talk to y'all before we figure out what to do with you." That was the first time she had heard the younger girl speak. Her light tone of voice set her off from the two military types in front of her. Prissy seemed friendly and kind.

"How long have you been living here? How have you survived without the Paradisium Federation trying to kill you? Did you break free from the simulations?" Colette couldn't help the questions from spilling out of her mouth. She did not understand how these people even existed. Colette had thought her, Jordy, and Kaden were the only people who were even able to escape the Paradisium Federation. It did not seem like an easy task. There was absolutely no way this many people escaped before them with so many children. Let alone, hide from the government for this long. She couldn't even begin to imagine how the children were able to break the simulations, she was hardly able to do it.

Prissy let out a breath of air. Colette barely even caught the words that escaped the barriers of her tight lips. "We were never put under the sims." But before Colette could ask another question Prissy silenced her. "I'm sure Madrea will answer all your questions." If they don't decide to kill you instead. The unspoken words were suffocating.