Chapter XV

"DAVID!" JOEY JERKED HER head up as Ella sprinted to there side. She dropped to her knees, sliding in the snow, and gripped David's hand tightly in hers. She glanced up at Joey, tears glistening off her lashes in the soft light. "What happened?" she whimpered.

Joey swallowed and scanned the confused and worried faces of the forming crowd.

"You going to tell them?" She turned and eyed Michelle who crossed her arms. "Or should I?"

Joey's eyes traveled back down to David's restful face. She let out a soft sigh through her nose before turning her gaze up to Ella. "He doesn't have time for me to go into detail," she whispered softly before shooting Michelle an equal glare. "All you need to know is that the more we delay the less chance we have of saving him."

Snorting, Michelle shoved between the twins. She knelt down and whispered only loud enough for Joey and Ella to hear but her voice remained stern. "You don't know Lucinda like I do," she said, her words aimed at Joey. "You're risking the safety of everyone to help one man."

"That man is my brother!" Ella shouted, and Joey placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not asking you to join me." Joey looked to her right at Ella. "Any of you ..." When Ella turned her way, Joey's gaze met Michelle's. "But I'm getting David there."

"We're going! Whether you come or not," Ella fired.

Michelle let out a huff through her nose and stood.

Nathan lunged forward, grasping Michelle's tricep. "This is a bad idea," he stated through gritted teeth. "We can't expect that witch to help us. Not after what she did to Timothy. If these newbs want to get themselves killed then let them, but I say we let them go alone."

"I already offered to go alone," Joey spoke up, a little louder then necessary.

"And I declined," Michelle interrupted, not bothering to return the gaze as she continued her conversation with Nathan. "She has the poems. She can lead us out of here."

"Then we take them and find the way out ourselves!" he shouted.

Joey could tell by Michelle's face that that wasn't going to be an option. "Take your hand off me before I put you on the ground," she said softly, yet her voice spoke with a force that sent shivers down Joey's spine.

Nathan forcefully released Michelle and backed away, jabbing a finger at his chest. "She left my little brother to die. She could've saved him but instead she let him suffer." He balled his hands, his knuckles turning white. "You should've let me kill her!" he screamed, spit flying from his mouth.

"And if you had, Lucinda wouldn't still be around to save David," Ella argued back. Her voice was calm but her eyes told a different story.

"Let's go before I change my mind," Michelle called out to the group.

"Wait a minute!" Brianna slid past Chase, and slipped a strap off her shoulder. She knelt in the snow beside David, and plopped a backpack down next to her. Unzipping the pack, she pulled out several different sizes of nonstick pads and a roll of tape. "Let me dress his wounds. We don't need him bleeding out before we find Lucinda."

Ella reached across David's body and grabbed his arm before tugging him to the side with a grunt. Brianna helped push him upright, but Ella wasn't strong enough to hold all her brothers weight. After giving her nose a quick swipe with her sleeve, Joey aided Ella.

Brianna gave a slight wince before sighing. She quickly rummaged through the bag and pulled out a few more pads, bigger than any of the previous ones. "Hold him still if you can."

Joey watched Brianna for a few seconds before her eyes shifted to David's head resting in the hook of her arm. "Where did you learn to do all this?" She looked up and found Kathleen watching intently.

Brianna shot her a quick glance and smirked. "Both mine and Chase's parents are doctors." She shrugged. "Guess it's just in my genes."

Chase snorted. "Or you've just seen Aunt Laura take care of wounds before."

Brianna's smile widened. "Alright, that too." She torn a piece of tape off with her teeth, and as she placed it gentle against David's skin, she said, "Mom always was precise."

"We don't have time to chat. Hurry!" Michelle barked, and Brianna did. Seconds later, she placed the unneeded items back in the pack, and slung the strap over her shoulder as she stood. "Nathan, if you please."

Nathan snarled, along with giving Michelle a side-eye glare, as he squatted. Even in his anger, Joey was surprised at how gently he lifted David. He placed David on his back in the firefighter style before he begun his trek through the snow behind Michelle. Ella stayed close to her brothers side, but Joey waited until one of her friends made a move.

It was time. Time to move on through the Dome and either save David or kill herself, and quite possibly her friends, in the process. She grimaced as she tried standing, but she hadn't realized just how much her muscles ached and burned until now. She pulled her foot out from under her and stood, but her knees wobbled as she placed her weight on her heels, struggling to completely stand.

"I gotcha." Alex walked towards her, the snow instantly melting under his foot with each step, and gripped her arms gently pulling her to her feet. His skin let off a soft yellowish glow, and Joey felt warmth spread throughout her body. He grinned. "Better?"

She returned the smile. "Definitely. Thanks." She raised a brow and her grin wavered ever so slightly. "But uh ... you're not going to burn me, are you?"

Alex blushed. "Hopefully not." He released her arms, seeming unsure about his actions. "Better to be safe than sorry though."

Despite everything that was going on, she was thankful to have a friend like Alex who knew how to make her smile at just the right time.

"Here." Brianna pulled the backpack off once again; this time she pulled out a black jacket with one thick gray strip running up the sleeves. "Put this on before we're burying two bodies." She placed the jacket around Joey's shoulders. "It was David's. He left it inside. Figured we could take turns wearing it to stay warm."

Joey felt the color in her face drain at Brianna's words and her shoulders sagged. "You don't think we're going to save him, do you?" she said lowly, and for some odd reason, she felt any spark of hope she had suddenly fade away.

Alex placed a warm hand on her shoulder as Brianna looked at her compassionately. "Look, I like that you're optimistic, but you don't know Lucinda. She is bad news, and for David to survive the journey there would be a lot." She smiled and gently slapped Joey's shoulder. "But hey, I don't know David. He may be stronger then I think."

She turned to leave when Joey called back, "Where are we going exactly?"

"To the center of the Dome," Chase replied, brushing Joey's shoulder as he passed by. "It's where she's hiding. She knows no one will try to find her there."

"Why?" Alex asked.

Chase's head twisted to eye Alex as he continued his walk. "It's the most dangerous spot in the entire Dome."

"So ..." Alex drew out the word in thought. "We're walking towards what is known to be an extremely dangerous place to find an extremely dangerous person ... But we don't know where that one person actually is? Just that she's in the center?"

"And, like, how big is the center?" Jenny asked, looking up at her brother. Joey's brow pulled together, more confused now then before.

"We're never going to find her in time," she heard Kathleen whisper to her cousins with a sense of despair.

Chase walked away, and she shuddered. Joey slipped her arms through the jacket's sleeves and turned to face the direction the others had already started walking. The moonlight drifted in and out of clouds making it difficult to follow, but the warm glow coming from Alex, who walked inches in front of her, was just enough to keep her from tripping over a fellow companions heel.

Zipping the second jacket over her first, she shoved her hands inside the thin pockets and wondered what could possibly make the center of the Dome more frightening then living on the edge of wolf territory. Maybe there were hundreds of Nokida's in the center, but she was sure Agcorp didn't waste all their experiments on making one monster. If Michelle was scared enough to want to stay far away—someone as fearless as her—whatever was in the center had to be truly horrifying.

"So, what were you doing out here?"

Joey, who had been staring at the back of David's head at the front of the group, jerked her head to the side at the unexpected voice that broke the silence.

Alex's head twisted her way. "Or maybe I should be asking why were you out here?"

A lump formed in her throat as she ducked her head close to her shoulders and lowered her gaze. Clearing her throat, she replied, "I heard voices."

"Joey—"

"It was my dad," she went on, ignoring his deadpan tone. "I know. I didn't listen. We weren't supposed to go out at night, but I just couldn't—" She stopped abruptly when warm hands grasped her biceps. Lifting her head, she found Alex standing in front of her bending forward so he could meet her eye to eye.

"I would've done the same," came his unexpected soft voice.

"You ... you would've?" she questioned, arching her brow.

He lowered his hands and stood straight. "If I heard my mom's voice ... I would've done anything to get to her."

Joey's shoulders slumped and a deep frown etched her face. "You sound like something happened to her."

Alex's eyes ventured over Joey's shoulder, and she twisted her head around to find Jenny standing a few feet behind her, boring holes into Alex's skull. "She died. Soon after Jenny was born."

Joey's heart sank as Jenny averted her gaze, wrapped her arms around herself, and dragged her feet through the snow towards the others. "She blames herself for mom deaths." Furrowing her brow, she glanced back at Alex in confusion. "Says mom would still be alive if she was never born."

"But ..." She trailed off and looked past him towards Jenny. "She was just a baby."

Alex shrugged. "Girls ..." He gave a chuckle. "You know how they are." He turned around to walk off, but stopped. "Oh!" Quickly, he fumbled through his pant pocket, and withdrew a piece of paper. He then extended his hand towards her. "You might want to take this before I accidentally burn it." Joey swiftly grabbed the paper from his grasp, and he lowered his hand to his side. "Still not in full control."

Glancing down at the paper, she unfolded the crumpled parchment and found that is held her washed out poems. "How did you get this?" she asked hurriedly.

"It must've fallen out of your pocket," Alex suggested. "I found it on the floor of the cave. Might wanna hold onto that better." He continued on his walk, taking long strides to reach the others.

Joey slowly started on her walk, but it only took her seconds to freeze in place. She let the cold wind hit her body as Alex's warm glow faded in the distance leaving her to the surrounding darkness. Staring down at the paper in her grasp, she crumpled it in her fist and gritted her teeth. She clenched her eyes shut and allowed a few tears to drip past her lashes. She found no point in trying to follow these poems if David wasn't going to be beside her when she found the exit.

Feeling like her world had imploded, she dropped to the snow on her knees and wept. She sat there for a good minute, sobbing and shivering, before she snapped herself back together. She couldn't lose it now. Not when she needed to be strong for the others. Drying her eyes with her rough jacket sleeve, she sniffed and raced forward to find the others. When she arrived, she found herself in the middle of a conversation she wished she hadn't missed.

"Pfft! How do you even know she's still there?" Heather asked with an eye roll. "Don't you think she would've found the exit by now?"

Michelle twisted her head around and smirked. "Because Lucinda's too scared to leave the center." She turned back around. "Believe me. She's still there."

"She's talking about herself." Joey's ears perked at the whispering filtering in to the right. Her eyes shifted, and she found Kathleen walking—her arms hugged tightly around her body—in-between the twins. "Michelle threatened her after Lucinda let Timothy die."

"Now, Lucinda's too scared to leave the center because she knows Michelle will kill her," the other twin finished.

"But she knows Michelle would never willingly go to the center." Joey's head spun watching Kathleen flip her head from side to side between the two complete each others sentences.

"So, Lucinda's hiding." Kathleen finally said what Joey had been thinking, matching the boys whisper.

"Shh!" Joey's head snapped forward to find Michelle glaring back at Kathleen and the twins. "If I can hear you, so can the animals," Michelle whispered, and Joey gulped as her heart dropped. "It's time to be quiet. You need to be ready and prepared for an attack. Most likely, there will come a time tonight where we'll all be fighting for our lives." Her eyes settled on Joey, and Joey paled. "That's the price for traveling at night."

Clearing her throat, Joey took a few longer strides trying to make her way to the front of the group closer to Michelle, Nathan, David, and Ella. As she passed by, she noticed Jenny slowly step closer to her brother, her face as white as the ground beneath her. This was all new to them. They'd never been in a situation where they would need to fight their way to freedom, and none of them had asked for this either. To be forced into becoming someone with an ability; someone to be hunted. Her friends had lived a simple, normal life until she got involved. They weren't skilled soldiers. She and David knew a little about fighting, but the rest of them were just ordinary teenagers who had probably never fought a day in their life. She pressed her arms tight against her body as she once again shivered, only this time, it wasn't from the cold.

Her eyes traveled past the bodies around her until they met David who still lay unconscious over Nathan's shoulder. She felt a sudden pang in her heart as she stared at his body and the three lines of blood filling the nonstick pads across his back. Even with his wounds covered, the poison coursing through his veins made her afraid he wouldn't last another hour let alone the day it would take to reach Lucinda.

She looked up at the stars as tears formed on her bottom eyelids. She wouldn't cry now. Not with others watching, and she was sure that the tears would freeze to her cheeks. Sniffing, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her rapid pulse. As hard as it was to shake away the anxiety, she knew that David would be fine. Vivid gunshots rang in her ears, and the image of David's dead form sopping wet filled her mind. Her eyes shot open as her heart lurched, but for the strangest reason, it wasn't out of fear like it had been millions of other times. No, this time, it was reassurance. She knew David couldn't die because the scenario didn't match her vision. And her visions had always come true.

Her attention was drawn forward as Nathan unexpectedly lowered David to the ground, and Ella and Michelle crowded around him. Feeling her heart beat quicken, Joey jogged forward to see what was going on. Her mind immediately wondered to the worse, but when she arrived she found David pushing himself off his elbows into a sitting position.

"David?" Joey panted as adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she fell to her knees beside him.

David turned to her with a smile, but winced as Ella gripped his arm. Ella quickly withdrew her hand and apologized as she leaned in closer.

David chuckled uneasily as his eyes scanned the many faces that had by now crowded around him. "W-what's everyone l-looking at?"

"Wha-what's going on?" Joey's gaze ventured from David's to Michelle's, who sat across from her.

"Don't get your hopes up," came Michelle's heartless response. "Same thing happened to Timothy." Her cold gaze turned to David as she finished, "He was begging for death by the time the poison got through his system." Without another word, she stood up and scanned the group. "If we stop we die." She twisted around, kicking up snow, and marched on.

"There's never a minute with her," Jenny whispered.

"A minute sitting here is another minute ticked off his time," Nathan answered aggravated, shocking most. "We're not risking our lives walking through the dark to sit and waste time." He turned around to follow Michelle, but gave a final glance over his shoulder. "If you ask me, this is a worthless mission." He balled his fist. "He should just die like my brother did."

Grunting, Ella's knuckles turned white and she made it to her knees before David reached out and grabbed her bicep holding her back. Her eyes shifted his way, and he gave her a simple shake of his head.

"Come on. Let's get you to your feet." Alex carefully gripped David under his arm, and with his and Kathleen's help, they were able to get David to his feet. He struggled to keep his balance, but Alex never let him go.

Joey climbed to her feet, and David's grin along with his furrowed brow made her realize that she had been staring. Blushing, she averted her gaze, and Brianna brushed past her.

"You may need this." Brianna threw a wad of black fabric at David, and when he caught it, he held onto the top with both hands and let the bottom unravel. "An extra shirt. Yours is basically falling off," Brianna snickered.

David glanced down at the shirt before up at Brianna and nodded. "Thanks."

"You need some help with that?"

David glanced down at the shirt in his hand and snorted before looking back at Alex. "Thanks, but some stuff I can still do alone." Alex released him for a moment, and David winced as he slowly removed his shredded shirt, and replaced it with the fresh one.

Alex's gave met Joey's and he smirked. "Come on, girls. We don't want to lose the others out here." Alex walked off with Kathleen, Jenny, and Heather, but Ella clung to her brothers side.

After a couple seconds of fumbling for words, Joey finally began, "David ... I—"

"I don't want to hear it," David said quickly, cutting her off. He took a few wobbled steps forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She could feel his heart pounding, and a sense of relief calmed her. "Thanks for not giving up one me," he whispered.

Releasing the breath she had been holding, a puff of white formed in the air as she smiled and returned the hug embracing him around the neck.

She was startled when something rammed her leg and nearly knocked her and David over. Glancing down, she found Ella squeezing David tightly around his hips. He chuckled as he released Joey, and patted Ella on the back. "I'm alright, sis'."

"For how long?" came Ella's muffled, wimpy cry. "What if we don't find Lucinda?"

"We'll find her," David reassurance, drawing Joey's confused look. "I could hear. I know the plan."

"Hey! You three!" Joey twisted her neck around to find one of the twins calling to them from up in the distance. "Let's get moving!" His shouting only gained him a slap on the head from his brother.

"We should do as he says." David let a chuckle slip. "Don't want to run into another one of those Nokida's." He cringed as he took a step forward, and Joey quickly gripped him under the arm. Ella did the same with his other, and together they helped him hobble his way through the snow.

After hours of traveling, Joey could tell that exhaustion was beginning to settle in on the group. The sun had yet to peak the sky, and the cold chilled her bones but she pressed on. Glancing from the corner of her eye, she could tell that David was wearing down. His body became heavier as he could barely lift them through the thickening snow, and not even trailing behind Alex—who melted inches of snow at a time—helped. His breathing had started to increase, letting her know that he wouldn't be able to keep up for much longer, despite the lie that he would tell.

The silent of the night was again interrupted, and Joey turned around Kathleen spoke up. "A-are we going t-to take a break s-soon?" Her arms were crossed and squeezed close to her body as she dragged her feet along the snow leaving long trails. "It's f-freezing out here! I d-don't know how much l-longer I can go o-on like t-this."

"Will you s-shut u-up?" Heather shouted. Her hands grasping her jacket around the collar squeezed the material tightly. "You're c-cold? W-what about the rest of u-us? It's not a-all about Miss P-Princess!" She tossed a hand towards the twins. "E-even they aren't c-complaining! And t-they have to be f-five years younger than y-you!"

"C-Cut it out," Joey said, shooting Heather a glare. "Yes, w-we're all c-cold, but t-treating each other like g-garbage isn't going to h-help."

Heather's eyes narrowed and she snarled. "We w-wouldn't be in this m-mess if it w-wasn't for y-you."

"Heather, we need each other if we want to make it out of here alive," David defended, his voice growing weak. "The least you can do is quit being so rude."

"Why are y-you defending her?" Heather shouted, a look of hurt on her face. "Look at you! You're d-dieing because of h-her!"

"Heather, what's w-wrong with y-you?" Jenny asked, seeming confused by Heather's sudden outburst, but Joey knew.

"She's what's wrong with me!" Heather screamed, jabbing a finger in the air towards Joey. "She's the whole reason we're here and have been turned into freaks!"

Joey jumped as a shock of cold wave flooded her body, and she turned towards David to find him now standing in his ice form.

"Does that go for the people who would've died without the help of an ability?" David said sternly, standing straight. "Do you think I should've died from a virus I couldn't avoid?"

For once, Heather stayed quiet, her eyes fixed on David. After a few seconds, she spoke again this time more gentle, "David, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it like that."

"So, it's okay to have an ability if it saved your life?"

Heather sighed angrily. "You didn't have a choice, David! You were ten!"

"Well then, we're all freaks, Heather!" he interrupted. "Ignisha would've killed me, but those who just got their abilities—you, Kathleen, Alex—Agcorp would've killed you without them." Heather pursed her lips, and David melted back to his original self. "We're not monsters, Heather," he spoke softer. "We're just ordinary people."

The surrounding air was silent as Joey's heart pounded against her ribs. The tension in the air was high, and the only voice to break the silence was Alex's whisper. "I get the feeling I'm missing some important details."

"S-same," came Jenny's shivered reply.

"Alright, that's enough," Michelle interrupted, glancing around the forest. She held up her index finger as she counted, "One hour. That's how long you get to rest. Sit, sleep, do what you will, but do it quietly." She eyed Alex. "And I suggest no fire if you ever wanna see the sun again."

"What?" Joey wanted to shout but she kept her voice low. "Rest? We don't have time to rest! We need to—"

"Joey." She stopped and looked at David who gave her a smile. "I'll be fine for an hour."

"We're only a day out," Michelle reassured. "Now, providing that Agcorp hasn't changed the poison over the years, David has enough time." Her eyes shifted towards David and she nodded. "You'll make it." She then walked away, her boots leaving heavy footprints in the snow, and she sat in front a tree with her back against the bark.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Joey glanced behind to find most of the group huddling in a circle around Alex trying to glean a little of his body heat. Those who didn't—mainly Brianna and Nathan—stayed close to Michelle.

Coughing pulled her attention back towards David, and she caught the worried gaze on Ella's face. "Let's find somewhere to sit." Joey and Ella dragged David towards one of the trees, his body rapidly growing heavy as he stumbled to get his footing. Before they got a chance to lower him to the ground, David quickly removed his arms from around their shoulders and fell on all fours in a coughing fit. A few seconds later, he twisted around, and Joey's eyes widened seeing a trickle of blood slid down his chin. Grimacing, David wiped at his chin, spotted the blood now on his hand, and exchanged glanced between Joey and Ella.

Joey gulped, and reached for Ella's hand, who sounded like she would hyperventilate if she didn't calm down. Trying to stay calm, Joey squeezed Ella's hand until she drew the younger girls attention. With a smile, she said softly, "How 'bout you go see if Brianna has any water in that pack of hers?"

Ella took a few slower breaths before nodding and she scurried away.

Joey then knelt beside David and placed a gentle hand on his knee. "You alright?"

David chuckled, and she cringed seeing his scarlet teeth. "No, but Michelle said I'd make it, right?" She maneuvered around to where she could now sit beside him, and he leaned his head against the bark. "I can feel it." His words came out so softly she was sure no one had heard him but her, and her eyes slid his way. "And it ... hurts."

A lump formed in her throat, and she couldn't think of anything to say. Her heart leaped when she felt his cool fingers along hers, and his pinky interlaced with hers. She released a low sigh through her nose and rested her head against the bark, but quickly lurched forward with a soft yelp as a pain shot through her skull. With her free hand, she reached back to find the sore spot on her head and winced at the pain that rocked her brain.

The squeeze around her pinky tightened and she looked over at David. He furrowed his brow and asked, "Are you okay?"

She peeled away at something crusty before lowering her hand. "I'm fine," she replied, despite the sudden dizzy wave.

She blinked a few times and looked up to find Ella returning with a silver canteen in hand. She knelt beside her brother and extended him the canteen. "There's not much left," she explained, "but Michelle said you could have the rest."

David released Joey's pinky, and he quickly snatched the canteen from Ella and downed the last remaining drops inside.

The dull ache grew into a sharp pain in the back of Joey's skull, and again she clenched her eyes shut and gently rubbed the place that hurt.

"You sure you're okay, Joey?"

She returned a grin and nodded. "I'm alright, David." She opened her eyes and found the Spencer's staring at her. "I ... may have gotten a small concussion fighting the Nokida." She shrugged, embarrassed to be thinking of something so small at a time like this. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Would you like me to take a look at it?"

Joey jumped, glancing around for the unexpected voice, and she flinched as Chase suddenly became visible on her right. He was crouched and the backpack Brianna had been caring sat in front of him.

A wide smile grew on his face as he snickered. "Sorry. I could't resist."

"I could've killed you," she snapped, her heart racing. "Scaring someone like that ... it's likely to get you killed in a place like this."

Chase's brow arched but his grin remained. "Fair enough." He glanced down at the pack. "My question still remains." She didn't reply, and he maneuvered to his knees, making a circle with his finger gesturing for her to turn around. "Come on. Let me take a look."

Joey glanced from Chase, to David, back to Chase. Shaking her head, she said, "No, thanks. I'll survive."

Chase huffed. "Look, you're lucky we have someone like Michelle on the team. She could hear your pain from miles away." He unzipped the backpack and rummaged through its contents. "And if I'm being honest, if I was the leader I wouldn't be wasting our limited supplies on a headache."

"If you were the leader then we'd still be back at the cave, and you'd have left David to die," Joey retorted.

"Yeah, and?" Chase shrugged. "How many lives are we putting at risk to save one?" His gaze shifted up from the backpack to David. "I'm sorry, man, but even if we find Lucinda she isn't going to help you." He pulled a few supplies from the pack. "If you ask me ..." he ripped open a nonstick pad, the loud crinkle drawing a few others attention, and his eyes slid towards Joey, "Michelle's got a weak spot for you."

"For me?" Joey questioned, puzzled. "What would make you say that?"

Chase stopped unscrewing a lid from a hidden canteen in the backpack and scanned Joey up and down before continuing. "Nah, maybe you're right. There's nothing special 'bout you." He popped off the lid, placed the pad on top of the hole, and quickly tipped it upside down. What looked like water poured onto the pad, and he dug the canteen into the snow upright. He must've noticed Joey's confused glance because for some reason he felt the need to explain. "What? It's for medical use only." Again, he made a motion with his fingers for Joey to twirl around.

Huffing, she complied and sat with her back towards him, her knees up to her chest. She winced as the pad touched her head along with the cold water, and he gently scrubbed off dried blood. After a few more seconds of silence, Chase softly prodded at her sore spot and softly groaned, "Eh, you'll be okay. I've seen worse head injuries."

Joey twisted herself back around and watched as Chase placed the lid back on the canteen and stuck it and the wrapper back inside the backpack. It was then her eyes met the rough patch of burnt skin above Chase's wrist. The burn he had received from Alex. It was no wonder he wasn't a big fan of them.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to stare?" Chase asked, tugging on his jacket sleeve to cover the burn.

Joey blinked for what felt like the first time in a while, and sucked in a sigh as she looked away. "No," she answered blankly. "My dad was taken from me when I was young, and my mom's been too busy with work." She felt the stares, but didn't want to make eye contact.

Clearing her throat, she changed the subject, "So, why are you and Brianna the two called on to help with a bandage?" She pulled her legs back up to her chest. "I mean, you guys don't strike me as medical professionals," she joked.

Chase shifted off his knees to his bottom and criss-crossed his legs. With a shrugs he said, "Guess it's just in our genes. Both our parents were doctors."

"Wow, bet you lived like royalty on the upper level," David said, sarcastically. Joey eyed him from the corner of her eye, listening to how hard he panted.

Chase snickered, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Let me guess ..." His brow furrowed. "A Slums kid?" David didn't answer. "I don't remember, actually. I was four when Agcorp took me away."

"Four?" Ella shouted, receiving a "shush" from Michelle.

Chase smirked. "Eh, I don't blame them for turning me in honestly. Having a baby who could disappear ... I'm sure that was pretty terrifying for a parent." He chuckled, trying to make light, but Joey could tell by his voice how hurt he truly was.

"They put you in here?" she asked, barely able to believe the words coming from her own mouth.

He shrugged. "They had other children to worry about. Children who weren't like me."

"But, you were only four," Ella said, confused. "How do you remember anything about your siblings?"

Chase turned to address her. "Because what four year old could survive the Dome? At least Claire had a bit of humanity back then." He paused and looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "She kept me, and when I got old enough ..." He turned his head a few inches to eye something from the corner of his eye. "Well, let's just say the Dome isn't where Michelle and I met."

"Michelle was being trained to be Claire's weapon," Joey finished.

"An assassin," Chase corrected, and he smirked. "And boy, was she good."

"You two ... trained together?" David asked, his words sounding forced and hard to form.

Chase's eyes met his and he nodded. "I believed that what she was doing was good. That my parents gave me up for the right reason, and that killing innocent people was necessary for the human race to survive. I even volunteered to go into the Dome for her, but she would always say, "I'm too young."

"So ... what happened?" Ella pressed when he went silent. "Did you just finally get old enough?"

His eyes landed on Ella, and even Joey shivered from his glare. "She wanted me to prove my loyalty to her another way." He paused, and Joey's heartbeat quickened. "She wanted me to kill my family." Ella gasped, and Joey watched David grip her hand. Chase pursed his lips. "I wanted to prove my loyalty to her no matter what so I took a few men and we stormed into my family's apartment." He looked at David and grinned. "Yes, in the upper level of Ciriela." His gaze found its way to Joey. "I thought I would have no problem killing them. After all, they gave me up so they must not have loved me."

He sat up straight and his voice cracked. "I wanted to show them who I had become, the man that I was, and my strength. I wanted them to know my pain and anger." His hands slowly unclenched the fabric of his pants. "But if I'm honest, I really just wanted to rub in their faces that they could've had a son to be proud of. One who worked for Agcorp just like them." He sighed. "But all I saw when I busted down their door was a terrified mother, father and eleven children." He gulped. "And I couldn't do it." He twisted himself around to where his back was facing them. "Instead, they had me detained and one of the men under my command executed all of them."

Joey grimaced and lowered her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Her heart shattered listening to Chase's story. "Oh my gosh, Chase, I'm so sorry."

"I'm six ... teen," he said slowly. "Two were older, but the rest—" He cut himself off and shook his head. "Claire murdered innocent children. My brothers and sisters."

"We'll get her back," was all Joey could think of to say. "We will survive the Domes, and get our revenge for our loved ones."

"How?" Chase twisted his neck around to eye her. "You haven't seen what I've seen." He jumped up and marched away, calling back, "You were dead the moment you left the cave." Her frown deepened as she watched him leave.

"Joey!" Joey flung her head towards Ella's scream, and noticed her sister staring mortified at her brother. Joey found David slumped to the side, and his breathing was either shallow or non-existent. Trying not to think the worse, Joey quickly reached out and located the pulse in his neck. It was slow, but there.

She released a slow sigh of relief as she lowered her hand. "He's okay. Hopefully just sleeping."

Ella instantly broke down crying and snuggled into her brothers side.

Holding back her tears, Joey leaned her head against the bark, instantly regretting the decision, and she stared up at the stars. Slowly, she intertwined her fingers with David's and squeezed his hand tight. Drawing in a shaky breath, she whispered, "You're gonna make it," and she repeated the phrase over and over until she believed it.