I remember everything. About the day it happened. I was home sick. I had an allergic reaction the day before and was still feeling the effects. I remember the newscaster. Reporting the news of a nationwide virus, affecting only what seemed like the children. She was a blonde woman in a white pantsuit- her hair tucked away into a bun, her lips painted red.

I was on the couch, watching. My mother had tucked me away in my favorite fuzzy blanket. She was making me soup in the kitchen when the blaring alarm went off on the television. She dropped the knife on the cutting board, rushing into the room. She held me close and wouldn't let me out of her sight, until that night.

Until they killed my mother.

They, being the trackers. They busted into our house. It was 2:11 a.m. They were on the prowl for children. They wanted us dead. This was after the change. When I was suddenly able to control electricity at my fingertips. This was because of Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration, IAAN for short. Over 98% of the nation's children were dead. The remaining 2%, were left with powers. The ones who survived were sent off to camps. The government didn't care about the ones who died. They were scared of us, the ones who lived. And that's why they wanted me so bad. My mother refused to give me up.

We were all each other had.

Rather than send me off, she gave me a pair of yellow dish gloves to contain my powers until I was strong enough to contain them myself.

Almost like a break-even, as soon as I was able to contain my powers, the trackers broke in. My mother already knew what was happening. She kissed me on the forehead, told me how much she loved me, and shoved me in the closet.

There were three gunshots. The only person standing after the shootout was one of the trackers. A broad, tall, dark man with leather gloves and a face mask settled right under his eyes. Flaming grey eyes- eyes of a killer. He snatched me right out of the closet- zip tied my wrists and threw me over his shoulder like a ragdoll.

I beat and kicked, screaming as loud as I could. It didn't matter, though. My mother lay dead, a bloodied bullet hole right between her gorgeous green eyes. Her hand gripped a gun- her soft, soothing hand that was brushing my hair only hours before. "Mommy!" I screamed. I screamed, and screamed, and screamed. I screamed until the man got tired enough to throw me on the ground and shove a rag into my mouth. I sobbed the entire way to his van.

I tried to kill him in his sleep. I managed to push my still zip tied hands into his thick neck and brew up an electric blast straight into his neck. This only angered him. A slap to the face sent me reeling into the back of the van. His wedding ring left an inch long cut into my bottom lip. "Should've tried for the heart, kid," he spit. I tasted blood the entire way to the camp. To Caledonia.

It was long, tedious hours of work, and long, sleepless nights. I hated it. I spoke to no one- I forgot what my own voice sounded like, working like a machine until it was time for bed. That's when I would lay there, sleepless, staring at the ceiling until exhaustion took over. Until that night.

The gate didn't just break- it exploded. One moment, the fence buzzed quietly with electrified currents. The next, a high-pitched whine cut the silence, followed by a roar of sparking metal. I was frozen- there was no way they did it. It was impossible.

But it wasn't.

A sea of kids flooded the yard, pushing and shoving another to get to the opening. I was frozen. Do I run? Surely, they'd catch me. And if I did escape, surely, they'd find me. Maybe not tomorrow, but later, right?

"C'mon!" A girl yelled in my ear, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along as she ran. We dove into the stampede, being pushed and pulled. The mass of green, blue and yellow was pure chaos. My hands clenched and relaxed as energy crackled through my veins. I was anxious- too many people, and not enough time. The girl who grabbed me was pushed onto the ground. Her scream rang in my ears for days after. 

The night I met Liam, I was ready to give up. It had been a couple days- there was no way of being able to tell exactly long. I hardly had time to hide behind a tree before he burst through the underbrush, face streaked with dirt. 

"Hey, easy," he demanded, his voice low. The boy had his hands out in surrender. He was tall, broad shouldered, and blonde. I wanted to crawl up the tree, lay in the branches, and fly away, just like the birds I'd watch in the early mornings at the camp. I prayed and prayed he wasn't a tracker. If it was, I was dead.

I didn't want it to be easy for him. I readied my hands, letting electricity crackle between my palms tauntingly. "What do you want," I demanded. My entire body was wound up in fear, my muscles so taut it hurt. "Same thing as you, to get the hell out of dodge."

We stood opposing, sizing one another up, like two predators. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you," he said carefully, glancing over his shoulder. He turned back to me, "And you're not going to hurt me." He stated this factually, as if I was the one who didn't know. "You don't know me," I spit. "You don't know what it's like."

"Yes I do," he replied without missing a beat. "Look, we're both in danger, and you're the one who doesn't realize it yet. I'm not one of them and I'm a sitting damn duck here."  

My blood was cold- I had two options and only one was the right one. I just didn't know what. "We really need to-"

I cut him off, shooting a bolt to his abdomen. He doubles over, groaning. "Oh, you idiot." 

"Back the hell up," I seethe, the crackling from my fingertips echoing through the wooded area. He turned his head up, narrowing his eyes with an expression that didn't betray a damn thing. Without a warning, he lunged.

My heart jumped in my throat. He locked my hands together and crushed them between his own, his fingers digging into my skin hard enough to bruise. "Stop," he snapped, his voice laced with anger. "You're going to get us both killed."

I thrashed in his grasp. My hands were locked in his, preventing any attempt of defense. A scream ripped through my throat, raw and desperate. "Let me go!" 

"Shut the hell up!" he barked, clamping a hand over my mouth. Panic surged in my chest, and I struggled to breathe. My entire body shook with adrenaline and fear; his grip never loosened as I thrashed in his hold. 

We both froze at the faintest cracking of a twig. Someone found us.

He pulled me into him, his body shielding me as he dove us into the trees. "D'you see what you did? C'mon, we need to go. Now."

The sheer panic in his voice makes goosebumps prickly my arms. He didn't give me a choice. Only instructions. "I'm going to let you go and we're both going to run. Okay?" His eyes searched mine for understanding. I nodded, breathing heavily through my nose. "On three, okay?"

I nodded, the electricity pulsing under my skin. I was anxious- I was buzzing. 

"One."

I pulled my palms apart, watching the glow of the currents between them. 

"Two."

They were growing faster than I could've ever made them. 

"Three." 

With a loud snap, the current exploded from my hands, lighting up the dark forest. I heard a scream, but I didn't turn back. We ran together, slipping through wet mud and over slick rocks. We didn't stop running. Not until we collapsed. 

The electricity was pulsating and it hurt so bad that my entire body was numb. I laid on the damp ground, letting the coldness seep into my dirtied, yellow uniform. I gasped for air- no matter how big my breathe was, I couldn't breathe. "Are you okay?" My new partner panted, turning his head to look at me. I pushed myself up, dizzily. I grabbed at my chest, my hands shaking. He scrambled up, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Shit," he cursed, yanking his hand away. "You shocked me," he stated quizzically. 

I struggled to speak- I could only look at him helplessly, silently begging for help. I saw his eyes widen at my shaking hands. The air around me was charged. My body seized with a painful jolt. "It hurts," I wheezed, climbing onto my knees. I dig my hands into the earth, groaning. My head was spinning, and the pressure was so unbearable that I lost control over myself. 

It was an odd feeling- the feeling of the ground pulling the electricity straight from the source. The charge didn't ask permission- it controlled me this time. The soil beneath me didn't seem to mind, though. The current dissipated into the dirt, like water into a thirsty plant. I screamed into my shoulder, shuddering as the last of the current dripped out of my palms. When it was finished, I was so exhausted, I collapsed. 

I woke up six hours later. "I thought you were dead," Liam said, a look of disbelief and confusion etched into his features. "I'm fine," I croaked, my throat sore. He spared one long, hard look. I pushed myself up, despite the way my muscles screamed in protest. I was embarrassed, but too exhausted to care. "Hardly. That ever happen to you before?"

"No." He offers me a half-empty bottle of water. I press my lips together in thanks. I take a small sip, savoring the way it slides down my raw throat. "Why did you stay with me?" I ask hoarsely, twisting the cap back onto the bottle. He twists the knife in his hands between his fingers. "I couldn't just... leave you. I ain't got no one else. I'm assuming you don't, either."

I avoid his gaze, digging the dirt out from under my fingernails. He pulls his gaze away, turning to look at the clearing. He clears his throat, "Besides, we gotta look out for each other. I'm gonna need help getting to East River."

I furrow my brows. "A sanctuary for the PSI kids. Supposed to be safe. What's your name, anyways?" 

"Lottia," I mutter, watching as I dig the toe of the camp-issues sneakers into the moist dirt. "Hm," he hums, clicking the knife closed. "Problem?" I ask, not bothering to look at him. "No. Just... unique."

"Oh, and your name is?" I glare, finally looking at him. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Liam. Liam Stewart."