Chapter Seventeen

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"If one day speed kills me, do
not cry, because I was smiling."
—Paul Walker

CONTROL,CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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CONTROL,
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN








HALF AN HOUR went by. No one moved, but Thomas stopped crying. Ruby had also stopped vomiting. She wasn't sure if it was because she was starting to feel better or because she was out of things to puke. It was most likely the latter. Her stomach was empty, that was all.

Ruby crawled over to Thomas and patted his hand. Then she rested her head in his lap. Thomas absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair. It was as if they had done this a million times before. "Just rest until we can leave", he said quietly. Ruby nodded. It wasn't long before she had drifted off to sleep.

"Momma, can I learn to fight?"

"What for, Ruby?"

"So I can defend myself! Jensen can teach me!"

"Just don't get hurt. You're barely thirteen and you're insanely valuable to me."

While Ruby was out she had all sorts of wild memories. She saw herself training with guards. Saw herself get her ass kicked several times over. So many other things flashed before her eyes. It was hard to make sense of if all at one time. She hated it. She wanted answers and she wanted them immediately.

It felt like she'd barely had a nap before Thomas was shaking her awake again. Aside from his smiling face, all she could see was the sky. It was fading from dark purple to pale blue, steaks or orange lining it. It would have been beautiful under other circumstances. "Glad to see you're still with us", he said as he helped her up. Ruby only groaned in response. "Can't believe we're still alive." Now that was something she could smile about. "Are there more? Did we kill all of them?" This question was directed at Minho.

Minho snorted out a laugh. "We made it to sunrise, somehow, or else ten more would have been on our asses." He shifted before standing. With the way he groaned, it must have been painful. "I still can't believe it either. Seriously. We made it through the whole night. That's never been done before. Ever."

"We lived — yay", Ruby said sarcastically. The two boys began talking about something of another that Ruby didn't care about, only making her grumble tiredly. She was getting sick of their bickering. But, then again, boys would be boys. She guessed anyway. She wasn't so sure she could say that, considering her memories of boys were pretty fuzzy. They'd clear soon enough. Hopefully. "Can y'all, like, be quiet? Please? My head hurts and the room is spinning and — Oh, this is not a fun time", Ruby croaked out, still swaying on her feet.

"I told you to stay put, dumb ass", Minho grunted.

"Hey, she's not dumb!", Thomas argued.

Minho groaned. "You two newlyweds are really starting to get on my nerves now", he sighed. "I've been stuck out here with you two for too long."

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