I Meet My Group

Damien and I also rescue Peter.

I threw open the door with my gun ready and hurried inside. Damien and the others followed, and we examined the group of scientists and five or six guards. The scientists looked too scared to do anything, so we aimed our guns on the guards first. I swung my gun in the direction of a scientist with short blond hair. He screamed like a girl, and Damien grabbed his arm, dragging him to me.

"I don't want to hurt you." I spoke soothingly to the guy. "But you need to tell me if you guys radioed for help." He quivered with fear, but he refused to answer, so I pressed the gun to his head. "I don't want to hurt you." I repeated calmly. "But I will." He squeaked with fright.

"We called for help." he spilled. "They'll be here in five hours." I forced myself to not show any shock or fear at this statement.

"Good." I kept the gun pointed at his head. "Now, how do I get into the room that contains Auriela, my sister, and the other room that holds three other gifted kids?"

"You just need this card." he cried out, removing a laminated card from around his neck and shoving it at me. "Please, just leave me alone."

"Thank you for cooperating." I told him cordially, and Damien escorted him back to his spot in the crowd. Guns held high, we backed out of the room, me clutching the card tightly. 

"We have to go to their control room." Damien suggested, and I agreed.

"It's in room by A1." I remembered, and set off down the hallway, the masses of kids marching behind me.

Within minutes, we reached the control room, right by room A1, which was a giant meeting-room, with gloomy black walls, gray metal chairs, and a huge stage with a lone podium in the center, most likely for meetings and assemblies. We put all the asleep bodies that we had been carrying in room A2, then sent everyone in the meeting-room except the computer boy, who went into Control next door to try and figure out the fastest way out of here. Once everybody was inside the room, I climbed the steps to the stage. I felt completely alone, even though Damien was right next to me. The chatter died down, and they watched me intently as I mounted the podium. I swore softly. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

"Okay, everyone, we need to discover our groups. If you have family or friends you want to keep in your group, come forward with them now." I announced loudly. Damien smiled and came a little closer.

"Remember Auriela and Peter." he whispered, and I nodded. About thirty or so people shuffled forward, and separated into eleven little groups, after telling me their names so I could cross off their names. That way, I could tell who was already in a partially completed group.

Doing a little calculating, I figured we should split up into ninety-four bunches, nine per group. Looking at fair ways to decide how to group everyone, the only true, fair, and fast way would be to just pick names by random selection.

"Everyone, can I have your attention please?" The soft chatter died down, and all eyes turned to me. Swallowing my fear, I faced the crowd. "I will call forward eighty-two people by random selection. Those people will each take turns randomly selecting eight more people, and that will make eighty-two groups of nine. As for the people over here who have already separated into eleven groups, I'll call them up too, but if you are from one of the eleven groups, remember you are only choosing enough people to complete your team of nine."

"Team? You make this sound like this whole thing is just a game. This is our life!" someone shouted out, and yells of agreement rang out.

"Hey! This is my life, too!" I shouted. "This is the fastest and fairest way to do this, so just shut up and wait, or you can go back to your cage!" Silence. "Thank you. When I call your name, please come forward. Patricia Womack, Terri Smith, Gregory Hanson......"

Every time I called out a name, I crossed it off the list, and pretty soon, I had ninety-three people lined up (I was going to take the remaining names for my own group after all the other groups were finished). Each person took turns pointing to random names, me covering up the abilities panel so that the choosing would be totally fair.

When divisions were completed, they would shuffle off into some corner somewhere to talk and wait. Three names were chosen and called, but no one came forward, and so I guess they must've been the three still imprisoned. I told each leader that picked a missing person to remember the name so they could receive them when I went to retrieve them from their separate cages.

Finally, there were only five names left on the list, and five people still waiting. They hurried up the stairs to join Damien and I, and they surveyed us with a critical eye.

"Where's the rest of us?" the girl with paper white hair, dark brown skin, and stormy grey eyes spoke first.

"Still caged." I replied shortly. "I'm Adri, and this is Damien." I slipped my hand into his, and he turned to smile at me when something suddenly caught his gaze, and he stiffened. I followed his eyes, and groaned inwardly. It was my admirer, that kid that wouldn't leave me alone, standing with the group, glowering at Damien.

"I'm Ella." the white-haired girl was totally oblivious to the friction. "I can make it rain and stuff. Weather and all that."

"My name is Jeremy. I fix things." my devotee followed suit.

"Sadie. I can morph into animals." the brunette with a pixie haircut and startlingly green eyes.

"You'll never beat me at a race. I'm Dexter." spoke another boy, with an English accent. He was the one who I had seen on my first day; the kid that couldn't sit still. Even now, he was tapping his foot, messing with his brown-blond hair, his brown eyes darting back and forth.

"The Amazing Flying Kate!" the last girl accompanied her statement with jazz hands and an effervescent grin. I couldn't help staring at her; even though her clothes and hair were grimy from living in a cage-like everybody else-the sight of her was still blinding. Pink hair, pink shirt, pink pants, pink high-tops, pink nails, even pink socks.

"You like pink?" I asked her, amused, and she looked offended.

"No!" she huffed. "Well, yes, but not this much. They got me after I marched in a Breast Cancer Parade. This was my costume." I held up my hands in a surrender, still smiling. Looping the door card around my neck, I snagged a stun gun and stuck it in my pocket. I handed one to Damien, and he took it.

"We're going to go get the kids who are still caged." I hopped off the stage, Damien following, and headed for the door, pausing to turn and look at my future companions. "Keep an eye on everyone." I told them, and they nodded. "Don't die." I advised, and slipped out the door.

The hallway was eerily silent, and the twists, turns, and never-ending conformity in the hallway's appearance made me feel like I was in a maze. I located Peter and the others with my power, and navigated the seemingly endless corridors. 

"Hey." Damien stopped, touching my arm lightly. I stopped, turning to face him. "We never really got to finish that conversation."

"What conversation?" I asked, confused.

"This one." he replied, leaned over, and kissed me. At first, I just stood there like an idiot, too shocked to process. Then my brain screamed, What on Earth are you doing?! Kiss him back, moron! So I did, wrapping my arms around his neck. Damien finally pulled away, smiling, and grabbed my arm.

"Come on!" he laughed, and set off in a dead run, dragging me along. I laughed, regaining my footing and running alongside him.

We reached the door, breathless and giggling. I passed the card in front of a little black box on the wall next to the door, and the box beeped. A click resonated throughout the hallway, announcing the unlocking of the entrance. A tiny shove, and the door swung open with a slight creak.

The mirth on Damien's face was instantly replaced by dead seriousness as he examined the pitch black room. We stood there for a second, staring uneasily into the dark. Suddenly, a moan drifted out, and Damien snapped.

"Peter!" he charged into the the room, and I followed. We both stood in the room, Damien scanning the room frantically, waiting for our eyes to adjust.

"Damien?" A weak, pathetic voice answered. "Oh, God, I'm hearing things again." he sounded close to tears.

"Uh, no, I heard that too, T." Another voice, stronger than Peter's, came floating out of nowhere. Damien's eyes finally adjusted, and he ran over to four boxes arranged in a corner. He ripped the bars off of one with basically no effort, and yanked out his brother, pulling him into a hug. It was too dark to see what he really looked like, but Peter looked scrawny, compared to his big brother. I watched as Damien kept hugging him, and as Peter's body suddenly went limp.

"Damien!" I cried. "Set him down! You'll kill him!" I knelt on the ground, and set Peter's head on my lap as Damien set him down, carefully, like he might break. He crouched down.

"Is he okay?" Damien asked, and I held my hand in front of Peter's mouth to feel for his breathing.

"He just passed out." I told him, and Damien sighed with relief.

"Um, hello? Hate to break up the emotional moment here, but I'm in a freaking cage." The boy who had spoken earlier broke the silence. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You go get the others." I commanded Damien, and he trotted off obligingly. Using the hem of my ugly white shirt, I wiped the sweat off Peter's brow. His eyes twitched, and he muttered something. Damien dropped the broken bars of the last cage, and a loud crash sounded. Peter bolted up, his eyes wide and frightened, as he looked around in a panic.

"Whoa, slow down, Pete!" Damien came running over.

"What happened?" Peter seemed to calm a little at the sight of his brother.

"It's okay now." Damien said soothingly. "You passed out there for a sec."

"Yeah, after Rambo here squeezed the life out of you." I joked, and the brothers laughed, Peter's ending in a hacking cough.

"Let's get out of here." he said hoarsely, after regaining his breath, and tried to stand, only to promptly fall back down with a moan. He began to try again, before Damien pushed him back down.

"No moving." Damien said sternly. "I'll carry you." Peter protested, but Damien scooped him up anyhow. Peter quit his complaining and turned his attention to me.

"Who is she?" he asked curiously.

"I'm right here. You can go ahead and address me." I said irritably, but regretted it as soon as I saw Peter's eyes widen with fright. He was obviously had no experience with women, and I was scaring the crap out of him. "I'm Adri." I said, a little gentler. I turned to the other three kids, who had been stretching out their cramped bodies. Peter was the least healthy of the bunch; the two boys looked relatively fit, and the girl only looked skinny.

"Come on, let's go." Damien called, and walked out of the door with his brother. The others followed, and I brought up the rear.

Author's Note

Tell me if you think I described Peter's rescue well enough!!

Reviews

[CrimsonBlaze]

Peter's rescue, to me was well enough described and I have to say, hes seems cute! I especially like the shyness to girls-it kinda made me giggle a little bit..Although I could zoom in on my nook, maybe you can make the font a little bit bigger? Other than that, I'm reading on :)