Another dart wizzed past me as I ducked behind old storage crates.

Ambush. Just my day.

About six troopers had been waiting for us here. That didn’t help to settle the unease in my stomach.

I looked over to my right, Eliot sat behind crates, sniping a few of the troopers but they seemed to multiply whenever we tried to take any out.

I heard footsteps to my left, stumbling, before I saw the figure.

Ronan.

He ducked next to me behind the same crate, another few darts flew past, barely missing him.

He was breathing hard, had a scrape on his arm and blood on his knife.

“Got one, I’m pretty sure the dude’s a zombie though.” He told me.

I nodded. “Something off with these guys.” I muttered.

Ronan turned and kneeled behind the crate so he could peer over. Apparently that was all they needed to land a shot.

“OW! Rude.” Ronan muttered, sitting back down, back against the crate and dart in his shoulder.

My heart leapt into my throat. Please don’t let these be poison. Please don’t let these be poison.

I gently reached over and plucked the dart from his shoulder, whatever was in the vile was empty inside of him now.

“Ronan, talk to me.” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

His head sagged forward slightly, but he was still awake as far as I could tell.

Then he reached up one hand and poked my nose with his finger.

“Boop.” He said simply. Then started giggling. Ronan. Giggling.

I needed a nap.

He finally looked up at me, his pupils blown and grin wide.

“You look so shocked. What’s the matter?” He asked, his body swaying slightly.

“You’ve been drugged.” I stated, trying to keep calm—when on the inside, I was still saying: Please don’t let these be poison. Please don’t let these be poison.

“Maxie.” Ronan said deadpan. “I think I’d know if I took drugs.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t take anything. Someone gave it to you.” I held his arm to steady him as his body swayed again. “We don’t have time for this. Eliot?” I glanced over at them, watching as they shot a few more bullets at the guards. Their blond hair pale, almost silvery against the old streetlight.

“None of them are staying down.” They muttered in annoyance. “Is he okay?” They glanced past me at the Fire Holder—still giggling and leaning against my shoulder.

I shook my head quickly. “He’s drugged, we need to get to safety. I can use my abilities to heal him once we’re in the clear.”

“The Eternals said not to use our powers too much.” Eliot reminded. “They said we should store them for big things.”

I sighed, running a hand through my curls and trying to ignore the weight of Ronan giggling into my shoulder. “Okay, okay. Can you cover for us enough to exit?”

Eliot nodded, like they were saying “Of course I can, don’t ever doubt me.”

I nodded back and turned to my roommate, his curls tickling my neck.

I shifted a hand under Ronans arms to help him stand.

“Where’re we goin’?” He slurred, his head lolling against my shoulder again.

“Somewhere where you being drugged isn’t something that could get us killed.” I told him as I half dragged the boy across the junkyard and through the fence we came from.

“You’re strong.” Ronan gasped, like this was a big revelation he just discovered.

I huffed out a slight laugh, he was swaying so much now, his knees nearly giving out, I had no choice but to lift him. One hand under his knees, the other around his shoulders, careful not to jostle him as I did so.

“Really strong.” He told me, his head resting against my shoulder. I tried to ignore how light this boy was in my arms, too light for someone as energetic as he was.

I could feel him watching me from my arms as I ran through the old main-street, ducking into the alleyway we had come through.

Don’t miss a turn. Don’t let anyone see you. Don’t let him say something honest. Something that’ll wreck me when he forgets it tomorrow.

“You have eyes.” He said dramatically.

“Yeah?” I laughed a bit, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Big blue eyes.” He slurred again. “Like they can make someone feel better just by looking at them.”

My heart ached at that, I cast a quick look at him. Brown curls flattened against my shoulder, brown eyes watching me through the foggy haze of his mind. His hand curled into my jacket like he couldn’t let go even if he wanted to.

I slipped through a hole in the Sector Three wall. One we have used countless times to save our butts.

I ran through the Ridges—is what we called them. There were spaced between each of the sector walls about four steps wide, that were usually for government troops to get to any sector quickly, but empty unless they needed backup.

My legs burned, my shoulders ached, but I kept running. The warehouse was just outside the wall of Sector seven. The government abandoned the warehouses when they switched to underground facilities. More private and secure.

Ronan was giggling again by this point, kicking his legs slightly as I got him through the door.

“So worried.” Ronan clicked his tongue. “Why are you worried, Maxie?”

“I’m worried ‘cause I don’t know what’s in that stuff that was just injected inside of you.” I breathed shaking my head. His dazed expression softened when I looked at him.

My head shot up as I scanned the warehouse catching sight of Declan, Skylar, and River already in the living room. Declan standing up the moment he spots us.

“What happened?” He asked quickly.

“Ambush. Some kind of tranq darts. Didn’t knock him out, just made the idiot tipsy.” I noted quickly. Skylar and River stood up from where they’d been arguing on the couch so I could lay Ronan down, he giggled again when he saw Declan.

His giggling scared me more than anything.

Ronan — this chaotic fire boy who acts like nothing gets to him — is sitting here completely out of it. And we just have to sit and watch.

It feels too raw, like we walked in on a memory that isn’t ours.

I knelt down beside him, brushing his curls from his face. His eyelids were getting heavier.

“You…all look so worried.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. “Yeah, well. We don’t like it when you get hurt.”

“I don’t need you guys babying me.”

“Being taken care of you isn’t us “babying” you.” Declan stepped in, his voice firm.

His breath hitched like he genuinely didn’t realize it.

Then his eyes closed, his breathing evened out, but his grip on my hoodie sleeve didn’t loosen.

I huffed out a laugh, watching his chest going up and down slowly with each breath. Declan gave me an odd look but I ignored it.

“Anyone else hurt?” I asked the room, my hand still resting on the couch next to Ronan.

Sky nodded and pointed to River. “He got cut from a knife but refuses to admit it.”

My stomach dropped. I’d never patched up River before.

He sighed but came over and sat down in front of me. He was around the same age as Sky, about four years older than me and Ronan. Yet he still had the stubbornness that he probably had since he was a kid.

I gently removed my sleeve from Ronan’s grip but didn’t move away from him, not yet. But I couldn’t work properly without both hands.

River pushed up his sleeve to show a knife gash on his forearm. It was an odd angle to get cut at, but it wasn’t deep enough to be too bad.

I gently rest my hands against his arm, letting myself stitch the skin and tissue back together. It was always an odd feeling, the warmth like the Sun Eternal is helping me heal.

I’ve gotten used to it by now, though.

Once the gash was healed to a small sliver of scarring, I pulled a rag from my pocket to wipe the blood that had dried on his arm, this he was all good to go.

“Don’t pull on it too much for a few hours.” I told him. He nodded and gave a long glance as Ronan before he got up.

I could hear Skylar and Declan talking quietly in the kitchen.

“Ambushed like they knew where we were. This is getting bad.” I heard her say. “We need to be better prepared next time, you know the attacks have gotten worse lately.”

Declan nodded, running a hand through his hair. “The train we intercepted earlier was carrying way more equipment than usual. Like they’re preparing.”

I tensed at that. I had noticed the attacks were more frequent, more cornering. Like they’re learning our paths and routes. It’d only be a matter of time before someone gets caught.

“Where’s Eliot?” River asked the room suddenly. His tone made me flinch.

My heart started to pick up again. “They were helping with the ambush, they said they could handle it.”

“Where?” River said, his voice suddenly defensive.

“Junkyard in Sector Three.” I said quickly. I needed to get better at not just spouting information if someone yelled at me for it.

River nodded and set for the door, but then we heard something from the back of the warehouse.

A door creak open.

Eliot popped through the other entrance. Their hair perfect, no mud or blood on their clothes like nothing ever happened. Their spinner was slung on their back and gloves tight on their hands.

River ran to them a little too eagerly.

“Are you okay?” He asked, stepping very close to them as he scanned them from head to toe.

Eliot nodded, stepping aside from him but I saw their hand trail from his.

What was going on there?

“Thornblade is using something. They’re not zombies. They bleed, they react—but there’s something off. Like they’re puppets wearing skin. Fast. Precise. Trained.” Eliot told Declan. It was odd seeing them speak in full sentences, considering they never really spoke much. “They’re very hard to kill and have good enough aim for it to be a concern.”

Declan nodded. I knew he always love how Eliot just skipped right to the point. Sometimes he was a little impatient.

“Let’s start trying to get what they look like in our heads. We’ll keep an eye out.” Declan told everyone. We all nodded. “Let’s wash up for bed, it has been a long day.”

I nodded again, glancing back at Ronan in front of me. His mouth hung open slightly, body curled to the side, hand still resting off the couch where he’d been holding my sleeve.

I gently placed his hand back on the cushion and pulled a blanket from the floor over him. He didn’t move. The boy was out cold.

I didn’t like the thought of him sleeping here by himself. But I didn’t want to risk waking him by bringing him upstairs. If I slept down here… well, it wouldn’t be much of a night’s sleep.

I took a deep breath and stood up, leaving my canteen of water next to the couch in case he woke up and got thirsty, then made my way up to bed.