Chapter Four (Jay)

Okay, so I’ll admit that I wasn’t planning on becoming this friendly with the boys. It just happened.

I’m still tense with Jake, and I watch Ming and Brian closely but, honestly, the others weren’t too bad. Considering that they kidnapped and sold people.

Anyway as we trekked through the woods, we chatted about many things. We were talking about TV shows when we heard it.

Humming, but not people humming, vehicle humming. We looked at each and almost simultaneously ducked.

We slowly crawled towards the noise. We peeked through some bushes and saw the origin of the noise. A van.

The words on the van made me stop suddenly. TechOne was stamped on the side.

Two men, both with pistols, were fixing something.

I look at Jake. I can tell we’re thinking the same thing, attack. With nods to the others, me and Jake sneak around.

Then we jump into action. I tackle the man on the left, Jake gets the one on the right.

I begin to pumble to man on the chest and occasionally on the head. But then he does something, knocking me off. He gets up and points his gun at me.

Suddenly someone hits him in the head with a big stick, knocking out. Buck looks at me and nods.

He helps me up. I look around. Chris and Jake are dragging the unconscious men under some bushes.

Then we all freeze as something, or someone moves inside the van. I walk over slowly and press my ear against the van.

I hear nothing, so I decide to open the back doors. I do so slowly. But nothing could have prepared me for what was inside.

In the far corner sits a small child. The child whimpers and curls into a tighter ball.

“What are you guys looking at…” I hear Jake ask as they come back. “Whoa…” I hear him gasp.

Then for some reason I get in the van. It’s like my head is saying to leave it alone and walk, but my body refuses.

I sit down across from the child. “It’s ok, we’re not going to hurt you…” I whisper to the child.

The child lifts its head revealing a small, round face, streaked with tears and covered in bruises.

It’s a girl. Her blond hair is all tucked into her shirt, hiding it. Her eyes are bright green. She looks about eight years old.

She wears black stretch pants and a grey sweater. Despite the warm clothing she shivers uncontrollably.

I slowly come towards her, making soothing noises. Soon, I’m only a foot away.

“Hi there, I’m Jay. What’s your name?” I ask her. She looks at me and swallows. “Noel” she whispers so quietly, I almost don’t hear her.

“That’s a pretty name,” I tell her.

“Are the bad people gone?” she asks. I nod.

Suddenly she shoots herself into my arms sobbing. I rock her back and forth soothing her.

By this point the others have set up camp.

After about an hour I ask her if she wants to get out. She nods, holding her arms up for me to pick her up. I comply, only because it looks like she’s been through heck.

We sit down by the fire and she stays with me. I mean literally, she sits on my lap and if I go to the bathroom or to grab something she follows.

She only speaks to me. She answers the others my nodding and shaking her head. She especially avoids the boys. The only she seems to feel okay with is Matt.

Of course she does, Matt definitely tries to make her at least smile. He brings her things, makes jokes, and tells her stories.

Soon both she and Matt are yawning so much we send them to bed despite the complaints.

“She has to be a Type One.” Jake comments. This of course sends my blood pressure soaring.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Please tell me that you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.” I say tightly. He shrugs.

“I was just saying, I mean, why else would they have her?” he replies.

“Anyway, what about the van? The path seem wide enough for it, at least for now.” I say changing the subject.

“I agree, I came with keys, too. We could drive until we run out of fuel, or we actually find the lab.” he says.

We all agree, making plans on how it fit everything in the van, and figuring out how we’ll divide driving time.

We put up the food and get ready for bed. Chris takes first watch tonight.

Instead of going to bed I find a full water bottle and use the water to wipe off the dirt on my arms and legs.

I hear rustling behind to I turn around. Noel stands there watching me. I wave my hand over inviting her to come.

She does, so I begin to clean her up. All around us the sound of nighttime fills the air. Its June, so it’s not too cold.

As the dirt disappears, I see more a Noel. She has fair skin, and is very skinny. I dry her off and carry her to bed.

I don’t know why but I feel overly protective of her. I feel like a must protect her from the world.

I put her right between me and Ming. She falls asleep quickly, so I sneak out and sit by the fire.

By this time Jake is on watch.

I sit down across from him. I think for a moment before I start talking.

“If we discover that she is a Type One, you will not go near her. If you even so much as touch her, I will hurt you. Understand?” I warn him.

He nods, and then says “Know this, I’ve dealt with worse than you. You don’t scare me, your threats don’t scare me either. Understand?”

I glare at him and go to bed.

 

Done