Chapter VIII

JOEY EYED THE BACK of Michelle's head as she trailed her. She felt stupid for blindly following someone she didn't know—especially someone in the Dome—but she had no knowledge of the Dome or what to expect. Michelle may have said that fighting each other wasn't the answer, but Joey kept the energy needed to form her daggers in the palm of her hand incase Michelle turned out to be just as dangerous as Heather. She couldn't fall for someone so easily after being in the Dome for minutes. That wasn't the way to survive.

A pit feeling settled in her stomach as she continued following Michelle. Something told her to turn and run, but she couldn't. Not when this girl could possibly be her only chance of survival. She didn't know the Dome; not as much as Michelle seemed to. If she was going to survive this, she was going to need this seemingly fearless leader.

"Are you going to ask questions or are you going to bore holes into the back of my head?" Michelle asked, climbing over a fallen tree.

Joey averted her gaze and cleared her throat. "Yeah, alright. I have a question." She paused, struggling over the same log. "Who are you?"

"I've already told you. I'm Michelle," the brunette replied, pushing brush out of her way.

Joey looked down to avoid several holes in the dirt. "No. I mean—"

"You mean out there?" the leader interrupted. "In the real world?" Joey didn't respond, hoping Michelle would take her silence as a means to continue. "I was a nobody. Just some run away orphan living on the streets in the Slums until Claire scooped me up and put me in here."

"Claire," Joey whispered, her brow pulling together in anger, and she clenched her jaw. That woman's name made her skin crawl and blood curdle.

Michelle ducked under a low hanging branch. "I take it you know her?" She twisted her neck around and shot a quick glance at Joey. "I'm surprised really. Claire doesn't usually like to make a public appearance. No one knew her name when I knew her, and I spent quite some time with her before coming here."

"What do you mean?" Heather halted and twirled around to face Joey and Michelle, her brow bent in puzzlement. "Everyone knows Claire Agard. She's the founder of Agcorp and the most powerful woman in the world." She crossed her arms. "She's trying to save us."

Michelle glanced between Joey and Heather, her brow furrowed. She licked her bottom lip and lowered her gaze seeming to think. "Uh-huh. Interesting." She gestured forward telling Heather to press on. Heather huffed, lowered her hands allowing them to slap her thighs, and swung around continuing on her trek through the thick forest.

"You said you spent time with her," Joey brought up. "Why? She sent us directly to the Dome." She stopped moving. "What makes you so special?"

Placing a foot on a boulder about to step over, Michelle rested a hand against another low branch, and turned to face Joey. "Because she thought I could be useful to her army. A child that wouldn't be missed and could be trained to become your weapon ..." She shrugged. "Who could say no to an opportunity like that?" Pushing herself up with her leg, she ducked under the branch and hopped off the rock. "I made a pretty good soldier too until she found out I had an ability and thought I would be more useful to her cure than her army."

Joey watched her a moment before following. "So, she didn't know you had an ability when she found you."

"I was four," Michelle replied with a snicker. "Even I didn't know." She paused, letting out a sigh through her nose, and her voice strangely went soft. "Look, I know what she's doing is wrong, but ... there was a time I believed in her." She turned her head to the right, and Joey noticed Michelle eyeing her from the corner of her eye. "I would've died if she hadn't found me. She practically raised me."

"And yet, she still tossed you in here," Joey snapped.

Michelle looked straight, and answered, "Yup," seeming unfazed by Joey's words.

"How long have you been here?" Joey continued, shoving aside some brush.

"About five years."

"Five years and you've never found the way out?" Heather scoffed. "Remind me again why I'm still her? Because I'm sure I could've found it by now."

Joey jumped as Michelle unexpectedly launched a foot forward into Heather's back. Her heart raced, watching as Michelle buried her boot in Heather's shoulder blades, and Heather cried out gripping the grass in a tight fist. Bending low, Michelle shouted through gritted teeth. "You wouldn't last five minutes in this place, let alone five years! You lack the skill and experience I have. The trials of this Dome will eat ... you ... alive before the end of the first day! I spent years training to be Agcorp's solider so if anyone's going to survive the Domes it'll be me!" Joey gulped, suddenly finding herself cowering before the leader in front of her. "Trust me," the brunette continued, pushing off of Heather's back. Now standing tall, she turned towards Joey. "If there was a way out, I would've found it by now." She twisted around and kept walking, leaving Heather withering on the ground.

Joey stepped over Heather and raced after Michelle. "But then why hasn't Agcorp come to get you? If Claire's so desperate for her cure, why would she just leave someone in the Dome for so long? After everything you've gone through in here, the Toxicoma in your blood must be through the roof."

"That's not why Claire designed the Domes," Michelle explained. "She hates people with abilities. There is no escaping."

Joey stopped and shook her head. "But ... no, Mr. Magnus said some people had escape. It doesn't ... it doesn't make any—"

Michelle suddenly swung around meeting Joey eye to eye, their noses nearly touching. "Claire wants us dead!" Joey felt her blood drain from her face. "She wants to rid the world of abilities!" Michelle shook her head, pain visible in her eyes. "There is no exit because there was never meant to be one." She panted through her nose from what had to have been a rush of adrenaline. She stood up straight and continued in her normal tone, "The rules are Agcorp doesn't intervene except to drop off new victims. That's the way it's always been."

Fear suddenly sent Joey's heart lurching as she remembered the others in the aircraft. Nauseous boiled in her stomach and her knees went weak at the very thought of them out there somewhere in the Dome, unsure of where they were or how to protect themselves. Running her hands along her scalp, she gripped her hair. "No, no, no, no!"

"What is it?"

She looked up at Michelle with a silent plea in her eyes. "Tell me you've seen them?" She took frantic steps forward, barely able to form words. "I came with some others. They're my friends."

"Friends?" Joey turned and looked down, finding Heather pushing herself up off the ground. With a wince, Heather hunched over with her hands on her knees, but glared at Joey. "You didn't tell me the others were here."

Joey copied the glare. "You didn't give me much chance to say anything before you tried to kill me."

"They're fine," Michelle replied, drawing both the girls attention. "My crew is out gathering them."

"You know where they are?" Joey asked in a flood of relief.

The leader nodded, and raised her chin in some sort of pride. "Sure, I do! I knew where you'd all be." Smirking, she said, "Having an ability to see the future does come in handy in the Dome."

Joey's eyes widened as her body went numb and the world around her went silent. Michelle's mouth opened, but no sound came from her lips. The next thing Joey knew, Heather stepped around her, brushing roughly against her shoulder and the two pressed on.

"In my vision," Michelle continued, and Joey raced to catch up, "I watched Agcorp's aircraft drop you off. They lower you down on ropes and ditch your sedative body. That's how it's always been." She snarled. "Dumb fools placed you right into wolf territory. If it wasn't for me and my crew, you wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Wolf territory?" Heather's voice rang out. "The ... immortal wolves, right?" Michelle answered with a nod.

Joey felt her heart beat quicken, and she laid a palm over her pocket as the poem for the first Dome peaked her mind. In the darkness of the night, live vile creatures of awful fright. She wasn't sure what creatures Mr. Magnus's wife had seen, but surely it wasn't just the wolves or else it would've said so.

"Uh, so, you see the future, huh?" Joey asked, and she cleared her throat. "That's cool. Are there ..." Her cheeks grew hot. "Are there any others like you in the Dome?"

Michelle shrugged. "There was another once, but they're long gone." Joey's heart sank as Michelle pushed through a final piece of brush, and stepped out into an area with a medium sized pool of water rippling at the bottom of a waterfall that gushed from the side of a rather humongous rock formation.

Joey gawked at the loud crashing sound from the water as it smacked the pool, and it brought a smile to her face. The sunlight from the dying sun reflected off the fall, sparkling off the trees and rocks surrounding them. She was stunned at the amount of water collected in one place. Out in the real world water was scarce, and if it wasn't for the factories producing water, there wouldn't still be a world today, but here ... The Dome was beautiful for a place stained with the blood of thousands. "Where are we?"

"How's your climbing skills?" Michelle leaned all her weight on one foot with her arms crossed. Joey shot her a quizzical look, and Michelle pointed towards the fall. "We have a hideout hidden behind the fall." She made an incline with her arm. "Only way to get to it is to climb."

"But I don't see any opening behind the fall," Heather said, relaxing her scrunched face.

"That's exactly what we want Agcorp to think," Michelle continued. "They have cameras hidden throughout the Domes, but the only place they don't is here."

"Why?" Joey asked, turning from the mountain to the Michelle. "Wouldn't that just raise suspicions?"

A grin curled Michelle's lips. "No, because there's no cameras all all in the wolves territory. We've come to the conclusion that they destroyed them." She snickered. "But honestly, you'd have to be pretty stupid to think hiding here was a good plan. Many have tried. Many have died." She crossed her arms. "Guess Agcorp's experiments didn't go quite as they had hoped."

"Experiments?" Heather asked before Joey had the chance.

"The animals are mutated," Michelle continued. She interlocked her fingers. "DNA's merged to create monsters."

Heather snorted and thrust a hand on her hip. "Animals don't scary me. You'd think Agcorp could do better. I've already killed one of their officials. What's a few animals?"

Joey's blood ran cold hearing how murdering another human being seemed to have no affect on Heather, and she guessed that must have been why Heather could attack a "friend" so easily ... Because the blonde simply felt nothing.

"Oh, you should be scared. You should be very scared." Michelle's words sent bumps crawling up Joey's arms. "See, these monsters aren't the pathetic fairy tails you read about in bedtime stories. They're smart, cunning, and will do anything for their next meal. So, next time you see a cute little bunny, I'd think twice before bending down to pet it. One bite or scratch is all it takes here in the Dome. You never know how dangerous a creature is until it's too late."

Frozen, Joey noticed beads of sweat dampen her brow. She looked down, placing a hand on her chest as the oxygen grew thin, and found it unexpectedly getting harder to breathe. Closing her eyes, she drew in a few long and focused breaths. As much as being in the Dome frightened her, she had to get her attacks under control. She couldn't lose it in the middle of a dangerous situation if she wanted to survive. Letting out one final breath, she glanced up at Michelle, who stared at her with an arched brow.

Michelle then threw a thumb over her shoulder towards the left side of the fall. "Over there, underneath all that moss on the side, are some grooves you can fit your hands into. I'll admit it's not easy, but you'll survive. When you get halfway to the top, there will be a small hole in the mountain that you'll have to crawl through. We found it on a hunt two years ago and covered it with brush so neither Agcorp nor the animals could track us, and thankfully, the fall masks our scent."

Joey gulped as she took small steps towards the side of the mountain. She had never been good at climbing and wasn't very strong either. Depriving herself of sleep and food had a way of making her feel extremely weak, but she never had upper body strength to begin with. Silently, she prayed she would be able to make it to the top without falling because oddly enough, "you'll survive" was not very reassuring.

She released a quick puff of air, pushed some of the moss aside, and placed one foot in the minuscule covered hole. She grabbed a handful of moss in the opposite hand and began her ascend, placing one hand after the other. She struggled her way to the top, but she never looked down, knowing that if she did she would lose her courage.

It took strength to keep herself going when all she wanted to do was return to the ground. Her legs shook and her muscles ached, begging for relief from this never ending climb. She let out a low grunt in frustration quickly taking a glance around. This hole Michelle spoke of didn't appear to exist. Reaching up with a hand to grasp another patch of moss, her foot suddenly slipped on the wet rock and she dug her nails into the dirt to keep from falling. She bit her tongue refusing to scream, but she wasn't sure how much strength was left in her biceps to continue the climb.

"You should have chiseled in footholds or something!" Joey joked, shouting over the raging water.

"Right," came Michelle's dead-pan response. "I'll put that on my to-do list along with a neon sign painted 'we're here!' Keep moving!" Joey felt a slap on her ankle causing her to slip again, and this time she released a small yelp. Sucking in a deep breath and willing herself to go on, she continued to scale the wall.

It felt like an eternity had passed when an overwhelming amount of joy washed over her upon reaching the hole Michelle had mentioned. She smiled big seeing her climbing journey was at an end. Shoving the branches and leaves to the side, she slipped headfirst into the hole, but the ache in her arms got no relief as she now crawled her way through a hole she barely fit through. Claustrophobia set in and she panted as she glanced around at the dirt surrounding her body, envisioning the tunnel collapsing with her inside. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and began to army crawl, keeping the intrusive thoughts on a leash.

After a few seconds of crawling, her fingers brushed against something on the ground that changed from the soft dirt to a harder substance. As she fingered it more carefully, she came to the conclusion that it was stone. She felt a hard smack on the bottom of her boot, and she opened her eyes. Twisting her head to the right to rebuke the person behind her, her forehead smacked the side of the tunnel and she scolded herself.

A dim light came into view at the end of the tunnel as she wiggled her way a few more feet on the stone. Excitement filled her, ready to be free from this constricting prison, and she quickened her crawl. Following the light, she inevitably found the ground underneath her disappeared and she toppled forward out of the hole with a flip.

Landing on her back, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen and she cringed. Her hand made its way to her ribs, realizing they still ached as the pain had yet to really subside from Heather's thick boot; she had been so caught up in trying to survive Heather's attack that she hadn't really thought of the injury.

Her eyes widened starring up at the ceiling as two faces towered over her; two identical, young faces. One held a torch while the other a broadsword aimed at her chin. She raised her hands defensively but they shook uncontrollably, feeling heavy from her climb. She panted while lying on the cold stony ground, wondering if this was Michelle's plan all along and she had fallen prey to the trap.

"Rufus. Brutus." Michelle emerged from the hole, though, unlike Joey, she landed on her feet. Puffing out a breath of air, she placed her hands on her knees. "There's no need. She's with us."

"Oh, sorry about that!" the one with the sword said. His accent was strange, and Joey could easily tell that he wasn't from any of the cities she had lived in. He sheathed the weapon, extended a hand, and the boy holding the torch also lended his free hand.

She didn't respond, but cautiously accepted their hands. Together, the boys hoisted her to her feet, and she glanced between them. They were a few inches shorter than her, but there was no mistaking their resemblance. "Twins?"

"If you want to know the difference between them ..." Michelle began, helping Heather out of the hole. "Rufus has green eyes and Brutus's are blue."

Joey squinted to see, but from the light that Rufus—apparently—was holding, she could see that the twins eyes were, in fact, different.

"Joey?" Her heart leapt as her attention turned towards the familiar voice at the back of the cave. "Joey, is that you?" A figure in the shadows stood up.

Relief filled her as he stepped into the dim light of the torch, and she whispered with excitement, "David!" He rushed towards her, and she watched as condensation flowed behind him assuring her without a doubt that it was him. His appearance was now of the ice boy he had entrusted with her rather than the boy she'd seen unconscious on the aircraft.

She threw herself into his arms and embraced him tightly, tears welling her eyes as her bare arms touched his cold skin. David returned her hug, and his frigid fingers sent shivers up her spine. Pulling away to keep from freezing, she stared into his electric blue eyes with a giddy smile.

She noticed his eyebrows pull together as his gaze ventured away from her eyes. He tenderly rubbed her neck, his fingers chilling her skin. She reached up wondering what he was feeling for and winced as her touch burned. Her fingers traced a small indention like a ring around her neck, and when she pulled her hand away, the faint scent of iron entered her nostrils despite being unable to see any blood.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. She felt his fingers rubbing against the thin dent. "Did they do this to you?"

She gazed at him and slightly narrowed her eyes. "No, it wasn't them. It was—" She cut herself off, pursing her lips. She could tell him about what happened between her and Heather, but if they were going to survive then she couldn't risk a rift between the two. She gave a slight shrug along with a forced grin, and she lied, "I'm not really sure what happened." She pulled his hand away. "Must have been something Agcorp did."

He frowned and stared at her for what felt like the longest time. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you," he whispered. "I should've saved you."

She shook her head. "You did everything you could, but ..." She let out a sigh, glancing down at her boots. "In the end, we both knew this was were we'd end up."

"David?"

David's attention shifted over her shoulder, and Joey turned around as Heather slowly strode up to them. She stepped to the side so he and Heather were standing directly in front of one another. "Heather?" David stared at her shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"What is this?" Her eyes scanned him from head to toe, and tears glistened in her eyes from the nearby torch. "You're ... you're one of them?"

David glanced down at his appearance and, as quick as flipping a light switch, he reverted to his old self. "I can explain." He took a step forward.

"Please do." Heather's voice cracked with the obvious appearance of betrayal.

"I was six when it happened," he continued, hastily. "It came out of the blue. I was taken to the hospital because of a high fever, so high that my parents were told I wasn't going to make it because Agcorp had halted all medicines to the Slums hospital." He glanced down for a second, his voice softening, and he shot Joey a quick glance from the corner of his eye. "They ... later found out that I had Ignisha." Heather and Joey both gasped. "It was in my bloodstream. That's what was making me so sick. Doctors couldn't explain it, but a few days later ..." He shrugged. "It went away and I was fine. They ran tests, but couldn't find what had chased off the virus so they sent me home. And yes ..." He glanced between the girls. "They took blood samples, but my Toxicoma wasn't high enough to suggest I had an ability. But ..." He trailed off, averting his gaze. "When I woke up in my bed the next day, I woke up looking like this." He allowed himself to turn back into his ice form at a much slower pace to give Heather the chance to process. Chuckling uneasily, he said, "I'm gonna guess I'm immune to the virus."

"It must've been a traumatic experience for a six year old," Joey whispered to herself, recalling her teachers words.

Heather shook her head. "All this time?" Her voice sounded broken. "All this time and you didn't tell me? Me?" Her voice heightened in anger. "I thought we told each other everything?!"

"Heather, I wanted to," he explained. "I really did! But ... I was afraid of what you'd do if you found out." His voice came out sounding just as equally hurt. "You always agreed with what Agcorp was doing, and I didn't want you turning me in." He paused. "I'm ... I'm sorry, Heather. I didn't—"

"You didn't trust me," she whispered, and David didn't respond. Eyeing Joey, she said, "Looks like he was never my best friend after all." She walked away to the other end of the cave, and David didn't stop her.

Joey averted her gaze, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't imagine how betrayed Heather must have felt. Even through Heather's anger, Joey knew how it felt to feel like the world was collapsing, and that wasn't a feeling she'd wish on even her enemy.