Revolution- Runaways 3 [EDITING]

Chapter 13: Peyton

I think that's everything. We were leaving for California in a few minutes, and the stress was getting to me. Kamiah had only further proved how dangerous our endeavor was. Currently, I was repacking my backpack with everything that had made it to Kamiah with us. I only had a couple pieces of clothing, essential toiletries, and the matches and other supplies that we still had from a few weeks ago.

If I could have told myself a month ago where I would be today, I think I would have died of shock. I had never been the adventurous, brave, heroic type, and yet here I was with a group of borderline reckless teenagers attempting to save the country from a world war and permanent genetic manipulation. Not to mention we also had Red Shield to deal with.

Luke told us yesterday that Red Shield was behind the sabotages. According to him, it was an international organization attempting to create a superhuman race. They were taking the already genetically enhanced kids to use a lab rats in a slew of experiments to create the perfect serum.

And if that wasn't crazy enough, they set fire to each camp to purify the kids for the experiments. They believed the fumes would prepare the kids for experimentation, I guess. Luke was one-hundred-percent accurate when he called them a cult. These people were sick.

A knock sounded on the stairwell door above us. "Come in," Reese called up. Britt poked her head in just enough to see all of us.

"When you finish packing you can come upstairs. We're taking off as soon as everyone's ready. And let them know too." She gestured toward the downstairs doorway.

Micaiah opened the other door and shouted the same message downstairs. He got a cacophony of voices in response.

I took my phone and slid it in the pocket of my shorts, throwing my backpack over my shoulder. "Anyone else ready to go upstairs?"

Skye stood from where she'd been perched on her bed. "I'll follow you up there." Kylie and Colin stood too. Skye waved her hand up the stairs. "After you."

When we got upstairs, the adults were all waiting in the living room. Each had a small suitcase at their feet, much nicer than the ragged backpacks we had brought with us. They looked more put together than any of us had been in a while, I'm sure.

I slid a hair tie off my wrist and began to twist my hair into a quick side-braid. I needed a haircut badly. My near-waist length hair was not suited for the flames we were bound to encounter in the next forty-eight hours.

Skye thrust her bag onto the floor and stepped out the back door. "I'll be back in a second," she said before rushing outside. I barely caught her slide what looked like a flip phone out of her pocket. Kylie wasn't even paying attention, and no one else seemed bothered by it. But why would she need to step outside to use her phone? And besides, that wasn't even the phone the CCSA had given her.

Everyone continued to trickle up the stairs one by one. "You ready for this?" Eli asked as he came up beside me.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to say yes to that question. But I'm as ready as I'll ever be. You?" He nodded anyways, though I knew we were both thinking the same thing. He'd had nightmares again last night, and I was starting to get concerned.

"Is everyone here?" Michelle was counting us with her pointer finger. I could barely keep track of all of us, and she had six times the number of contacts to keep up with. I didn't know how she did it.

I noticed Skye slide in the back door just before Michelle finished. My curiosity was trying to get the better of me. I wanted to know what she was doing outside, but I didn't feel comfortable enough to ask. Yes, I'd been living in the same quarters as her for over two weeks, but she was starting to seem stand-offish. I didn't want to sound like I was prying.