Revolution- Runaways 3 [EDITING]

Chapter 25: Peyton

Eli had been given a lunch break today, so we were in the mess area eating with Micaiah and Reese. The guys were describing the plan they'd developed for the invasion tonight. I didn't know if they were trying to ease our worries or what, but Reese and I were both getting worked up.

"You're facing a group of people that think killing minors for research purposes is a good idea. You're crazy if you aren't at least a little scared," Reese told Micaiah forcefully.

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant." She rolled her eyes.

"It's exactly what you said."

I sighed, reaching for Eli's hand under the table. He took it gently, giving it a small squeeze. I had stopped trying to fight him on this decision. The CCSA was technically giving him a choice, but he had decided a while ago that he wasn't going to turn it down. It scared me to death knowing that he was going to come nose-to-nose with his uncle, but I understood where he was coming from. I would do the same thing in his shoes.

"We'll be okay," Eli assured us. His voice had a strange tension to it, like he was hiding something. I didn't press him on it. If he was, it was probably because he knew I would keep him from going if he told me. I was paranoid about the situation already, and if he was sparing me some of the more difficult details, I was okay with that.

Stress was etched drawn across Reese's face. "I wish I was going with you guys."

Micaiah dropped his arm around her shoulder. "Come on now. At least one of us has to survive this." She frowned. "I'm joking. You know we'll be fine. They won't be ready for what we're bringing their way."

"Liz is strong enough," Eli stated. "She'll do her job just as well as you would if you were there." Reese didn't seem very convinced, but she nodded anyways.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the urge to move. I couldn't sit still anymore. "Eli, do you want to take a walk with me?" I checked the clock on the wall behind his head. "You still have a few minutes."

He glanced at Micaiah. He had also been working with the investigators today, and he had to go back the same time Eli did. "We should just go back early," Eli replied. "I'm sorry."

I tried not to let his rejection sting. I knew he couldn't help the schedule that they were on. And he was right. A lap around the floor would take at least seven minutes, and he only had five.

He planted a kiss on the top of my head before getting up to throw his garbage away. "I'll see you before we take off." With that, he followed Micaiah back to the elevators, leaving me and Reese alone.

She ran her fingers through her hair. Her lunch had been picked over, only a bite taken here and there. I had seen her many different ways at many different times, but she had never been this anxious before. I reached out a hand to calm her.

She let out a long, slow breath. "I feel like I shouldn't be scared. Micaiah is quite obviously one of the strongest people here, both by ability and just physically. And this is a lot safer, really, than sending him into a camp."

"Nonsense. You have every right to be worried," I said.

"I have no idea how you survived when you thought Eli was dead," she added out of the blue. "If something happened to Micaiah—I don't know what I'd do."

She had absolutely no idea, that was valid. I had locked those dark memories in a tiny box deep inside my mind, and I did everything I could to hold them there. They were right up there with the days I attempted suicide as being the worst days of my life. It was crazy to think that they were only six weeks ago. So much had happened since then.