I open the door of the room, my heart pounding a mile a minute. And there he lays, a few tubes inserted in his skin, his face wan, his eyelids half-closed.

"Chance," I breathe, rushing to the bedside, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. "Chance," I repeat, taking his hand. His eyes slowly focus on me, and a small smile spreads on his face.

"He's too weak to speak now, but give him a day or so, and he should be fine," the man says, and I force a nod, holding back tears at the sight of my Chance so fragile and weak. Pressing a kiss to Chance's forehead, I close my eyes, and let myself relax. He's okay. The worst is over.

The truth is, the worst has just begun.

"You should go get some sleep," Carmen suggests from behind me. I look at Chance, and gently kiss his cheek before standing up, reluctant to let go of his hand. After a moment, I lower our intertwined hands and slip my hand from his, before heading out the door.

I've no appetite to eat anymore, even though I know that Chance is going to be alright, so I collapse on my bed and fall asleep immediately.

----------

"Amber," someone calls my name. Slowly, I open my eyes, adjusting to the light in the room. Dustin hovers over me, his face grave. My heart stops. Did something happen while I was asleep?

"Nah, nothing's the problem, just that we may have gotten a few more people on board, and we might have to eat a tiny bit less than yesterday," Dustin says, "not that you ate or anything."

"Who?" I straighten up.

As if on cue, the door opens, and someone barrels straight at me, wrapping his arms around me. Troy. I bury my nose in his hair, inhaling his familiar scent, the scent of home and love and comfort. He's removed his Edit somehow, maybe through the sacrifice of more blood, but I don't care. As long as he's safe and sound and breathing, nothing matters anymore.

"Amber," he tightens his arms, and I pull back far enough to kiss his forehead. His eyes glisten with tears, and my heart aches. I haven't seen him in forever.

"How have you been?" We ask at the same time, then laugh together before I gasp.

Because leaning against the doorframe is Sharlynn, Shaylee, and Caden. They come over and wrap me in their arms, and a tear escapes my eye. They know about the plan. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for it, too. But what's the best and most heart warming is that they are here. In the flesh, and alive. If Edit got hold of them, I'd never forgive myself.

After much hugging and talking and laughter and tears, Dustin explains that there will be two batches of us going in at different times, so we'll have to land at two different places for Edit to take them. The first batch consists of Sharlynn, Dustin, Caden and Carmen. Apparently Sharlynn and Caden have been taking care of Troy for me, and they couldn't leave him alone when Carmen contacted them, through the same way she got hold of Dustin-through a comm, like the recorded message Sharlynn sent me at first, but smaller and it self-destructs so that no one gets hold of the message-so they decided to take Troy to us, too, and he and Carmen have switched places. Shay's going to stay in the pod as well, and Sam is more than happy to have kids around.

The second batch is Chance, Dakota, Xavier and I. We'll be entering from the East side of the Outer Cities, and the others from the South. We'll be communicating through comms, since Carmen and Xavier both know how to operate one, and it'll be much easier than meeting each other at the camp, which is located at the West.

After the plan is outlined and discussed, we're handed breakfast which I wolf down, and then left to finish whatever we need to. I head towards Chance's room, my stomach turning.

One more day before we reach the Outer Cities.

Pushing open the door, I reach Chance's bed. He's awake and sitting up, his back propped up against a few pillows. My heart flutters.

"Hey," I say tentatively, like I'm afraid he won't recognise me or reject me. The tubes inserted in him yesterday are gone, and I'm glad. I don't think I would be able to handle it.

Chance smiles a little, before giving me a once-over. I bite my lip. We seem so awkward with one another, it's unnerving. Chance sighs, before taking my hand and pulling me down to the bed and wrapping his arms around me. I melt into the hug immediately, missing his touch and scent. Choking back a sob I rest my head against his chest, and hug him tightly. He nuzzles my cheek gently, placing a kiss there.

"How've you been?" He murmurs into my ear, and I force a smile.

"Okay, I guess. We have a plan to take down Edit already, and we're going to execute it tomorrow. I'd be lying, though, if I say I'm not scared. I guess it's just-"

"No," Chance cuts me off, frowning, "I'm talking about you. You as a person. How have you been holding up mentally and physically?" His deep blue eyes are relaxing and comforting.

I'm tempted to tell him about the nightmare, but I don't. "I've been alright," I say, determined not to let him worry-he has enough on his plate, having to take in all the new information of a plan and everything.

"Alright? That's very... vague," Chance says as he runs his knuckles across my face. "You've grown thin, that's for one. Have you been eating regularly?"

A pang reverberates in my chest as I nod.

"Hmm," Chance narrows his eyes. "That's not what I heard."

Shoot.

"I had no appetite for those meals, and I'm still eating, don't worry. I ate breakfast today," I try to say, but Chance just shakes his head and kisses my temple.

"I told you, Amber, even if you don't want to eat, you must eat." He says.

I close my eyes and soak in the sound of his voice. After the sensor incident, I never want to let him go.

"Fine. I promise to eat on time from now on," I say.

"Good," Chance says as he plays with my hair casually.

Then I fill him in about the plan, and he manages to remember everything he needs to do. However, though there may be some mishaps along the way, once we reach the Edit base the plan can proceed via that group. I've heard, from Xavier, that the East side of the Outer Cities has a higher risk of getting caught, and when they get caught, it's not normal. They beat and bruise you.

Just the thought of it makes me shudder. If anything happens to anyone on my team...

You'll be the cause of their deaths.

"So what's everyone doing right now?" Chance asks.

"We're heading towards the East first, and Samantha is trying to multitask by acquainting herself with Troy. The others are probably trying to find out who Carmen is, and I'm here." I shrug.

"We have enough resources in here?" Chance raises a brow.

"I guess. Sharlynn and Caden can take a bed, if they're comfortable, Sam can sleep in anything, Carmen told me, and Dakota and Xavier is pretty obvious. If it's not too awkward, I think Carmen and Dustin can share one, or Dustin and Troy, and Shaylee and Carmen, but I think Shay's fine with Troy," I say.

"And you'll be here with me?" Chance asks softly.

"Yeah," I say. It could be our last day together, anyway. Why not spend more time with him than regret it later on?

Chance nods, before kissing my head. The door swings open, and Carmen stands in the doorway, smiling.

"It's time," she says.

-------

Following her out the door, we reach the main room of the pod, where Sam has already set up a camera. I give her a hug and thank her for willing to sacrifice her life for the cause, but she just waves that comment off with a sarcastic remark.

"Amber, you're first," She says, and my hands begin to shake. Chance and the others give me encouraging smiles, and slowly I take a deep breath and take a seat on the chair placed in front of the camera.

"In three, two, one, action!" Sam yells like some movie director, and I begin to talk.

I tell the camera my name, and how I was always a loyal user of Edit. I tell them that I'd always wanted attention. I talk about my loss of ability to feel, and how my parents had died to save me. I let everyone hear my story, as if they were my family. Once I begin, I can't stop. And once I conclude and stand up to return behind the camera, Chance slides into the seat.

And he begins. Just like me, he says his name with confidence, seeming unintimidated, fearless. He keeps his eyes on me the whole time he speaks. Raised in a family knowing that his uncle started Edit, he hated his extended family, and always kept to himself, until he started falling for the girl next door. My heart begins to pound as his gaze holds me in place.

He tells everyone his story, of how his uncle and aunt did everything they could to make him use Edit, to get him addicted. He talks about his fear, his insecurities. There'd be fights late at night, his screams and wails and sobs, his uncle and aunt yelling at him to keep quiet and use Edit. Those were the nights when his parents were away.

In the end, Chance was badly scarred by Edit, and he hated it to the core. With courage, he says he knows that there are people out there just like him, but they're not strong enough to stand up. He says that this is our chance, our golden opportunity to do whatever we need to.

One by one, everyone tells their horrifying story of how Edit destroyed their life. Dustin was forced to use it when his parents took him out, even after his father died, he'd be forced to use Edit. It had developed into a habit. Every single time he'd be disgusted at the feeling of the façade, the mask on his face. Shaylee and Troy listen with terrified expressions. Xavier tells the camera and us about his father, the way he was brought up, knowing that Edit would be passed to him one day. Dakota weaves a tale so deep, so true that it hurts to hear how her adoptive parents hated her and abused her, sending her to the Inner Cities just to become a draft. She describes the nights she spent alone, curled up in a foetus position, weeping from the hurt and pain.

Even Sharlynn and Caden step up to tell their own story, one they never told me, or anyone else for that matter. As Sharlynn takes her place in front of the camera, Shaylee's eyes widen. Sharlynn starts her story off with how she was just twelve when her parents, both policemen, were murdered. She had to provide for her six-year old sister, so she took up after-school jobs, and was thus introduced to Edit. Working as a waitress in a pub, Sharlynn knew the better she looked, the more money she would be paid. Therefore, she decided to use Edit more and more often. And then Sharlynn reveals something I never thought my best friend would be put through.

Sharlynn was often raped by customers.

At that, Caden starts to clench his fists to curb his anger, and closes his eyes. Shaylee attempts to hold back a gasp. My eyes widen and Sharlynn just sends us all a weak smile.

She proceeds to conclude her confession by saying that everyone has a right to show their own beauty, and that Edit was far worse than getting bullied for being ugly, so even if anyone is facing some bullying problems, they should never ever turn to Edit for help. Standing from the seat, Sharlynn walks briskly over to her little sister and scoops her up, kissing her forehead.

And finally Caden takes his seat.

Clearing his throat, Caden begins. He confesses, straight to our faces, that he was a player before Sharlynn, Dustin and me. He liked to change his looks everyday so no one could trace him and blame him for getting girls pregnant. He used the same method to participate in shop thefts, and soon it was hard to get rid of the bad habit.

He picked up smoking and did drugs, until he met Sharlynn, and he started to fall for her, but it was obvious back then that Sharlynn wanted to keep it at a friend level. Soon enough Caden managed to stop everything except the shop theft, and he hated it, but Edit was such an important object in his life, a procedure that was repeated daily until it became a muscle memory, and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. His life looked up a little more after he met Dustin, and they talked it out. Eventually, by the time Caden and I became friends, he had completely changed.

As Sharlynn takes control of the camera, Sam gets into the seat awkwardly. She starts off with a simple setting, her school. Then that's where it starts to get complicated. Having dark skin, she was often ostracised by her fellow schoolmates, and one day her schoolmates decided to get rid of her, because Sam stood out in every way, gaining the teacher's liking. So they pushed her down, into the Black Hole, and she never got out again, until today. She almost became a draft because she hated being down there, and always misbehaved, but being one of the few that knew how to operate technical materials, she was always spared. She tells the camera about the way the people in the Black Hole sacrifice their blood in exchange for daily materials.

The stories of every single one of us here are heart breaking, and raw. There's nothing else that can replace the words that had left our mouths.

And that's what we're going to show the world-something real and original and true.

•

Hey there! The song attached is Change Your Life by Little Mix. Hope you enjoy it!

-NeverEverGiveUp-