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“What about the families of the other kids? If all of you banned together, surely someone would listen.”

Iggy stared at her lap. “A lot of those kids died. I think their families were threatened and paid off. But I don’t know that for sure.”

“They died? How many?”

“When I first got to the hospital, there was a whole floor for the camp kids. Four wings – two for the girls and two for the boys. By the time they let us all go home, we all fit into one wing with some rooms still empty.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable. It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie. It’s so warped and twisted.”

“Funny thing is, I don’t think we were the only group of kids this happened to. I think there were several others in different states.”

“But
why
? What was the CDC’s purpose in doing all of that? I don’t understand.”

Iggy shrugged. “I’m still not certain myself. They refused to talk to us. They didn’t even treat us like we were people. Most of the time, when I was put in a room with a monkey I was supposed to do something to, I felt like the scientists just saw two animals that were a part of an experiment.”

Several minutes of silence stretched between us. I could sense that Iggy was becoming uncomfortable. “My mind is blown. I was already stunned by what I’ve seen lately, but this is…it’s…life altering.”

“Maybe now you see why I’m so defensive around people I don’t trust.”

I dragged a hand through my hair and took a deep breath. “Why has Jensen resorted to kidnapping? If you haven’t been back in almost three years, why is he so desperate
now
?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t you have a million questions you want to ask him?”

“Sure. And I’ve tried. He won’t answer.”

I glanced over at her. “At the gate that day, he said if you didn’t go with him, you’d die. What did that mean exactly?”

She shrugged. “Maybe it means I could get sick again. Maybe some of the others already have. But I won’t go back there, no matter how desperate I am for answers.” She tensed up and exclaimed, “Do you realize you just ran a red light?”

“Oh, shit! Did I?” I looked back and was relieved to find there were only a couple of cars passing through the intersection. Embarrassed, I said, “You should put on your seatbelt.”

She relaxed back into her seat. “That’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. What if I’d hit someone back there? If we get in a wreck, you could die.”

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

“You never change, Iggy. You’re as bullheaded now as you were when we were kids.” I knew my tone was sharp, but her choice frustrated me.

“Yeah, well, you never used to fuss at me about it back then. There’s no need to start now.”

“I was scared to argue with you back then. I’m not scared of you anymore.”

She bit her lip and studied me a moment. “Are you sure about that?”

It didn’t take long for me to understand what she was referring to. I reached out and placed my hand on top of hers, squeezing lightly. “I’m sure.”

Chapter 9

Cael

Iggy threw herself into Wesley’s arms in the middle of the Target parking lot while rain pelted them. He hugged her so tightly that she was lifted off the ground. It irritated me, and I drummed my fingers on top of the steering wheel despite the pain. Then Cody reached out to give her a brief hug, and I squirmed in my seat. Was there anyone Iggy knew that
didn’t
hug her? I ripped off a piece of my t-shirt and wrapped my pinky with the finger beside it for stability.

When they piled back in the car, Cody said, “You look pissed.”

“My parents’ car was found crashed into a tree in some strange city. I had to abandon my bullet ridden Nissan. I stole a car. There’s probably a warrant out for my arrest because I shot two men. And I’ve been soaked all damn day.” He was in the seat next to me. I turned to face him and said, “It’s been a rough day.” I wasn't going to mention my conversation with Iggy or my jealousy.

To my surprise, Wesley was the one to suggest, “Let’s just make it to Ringgold today, and then grab a hotel room. I could use a hot shower and a shot of Jack.”

I had to listen to Iggy relay her story to Wesley and Cody and make everyone swear never to tell her Dad and Kim about Granger while I retraced my route back to the interstate. Fortunately, the roads weren’t too bad, so I didn’t have to deal with the added stress of traffic and debris on top of answering a bunch of questions. By the time we reached Ringgold, we'd talked the story to death — minus Iggy’s confession to me about her power — and she looked worn out.

The first two hotels we tried denied us a room because they’d temporarily closed for business. The third try was a charm, and the whole place was empty, so we had our choice of rooms according to a depressed-looking manager at the front desk. After debating whether or not to spend double the money for two adjoining rooms, we agreed that we needed to spend as little as possible on this trip. While I paid for one room with two double beds on the first floor, Iggy chatted away with the man. She had him smiling and laughing before my credit card receipt had even printed, and he ended up giving us the adjoining room at no extra cost. Then he told us he would put out some cereal and prepackaged pastries for breakfast, but the usual hot bar wouldn’t be available because they were operating with a fraction of the staff and a lack of supplies.

We didn’t want to chance someone breaking into our car and stealing our stuff, so we brought everything inside. The manager’s eyes widened when we rolled our cart by his desk, but he said nothing about our shotguns, water bottles, and MREs. When my eyes met his, he quickly looked away and busied himself with tidying up the counter. But I didn’t need to worry because Iggy bounced over to him to do damage control. She’d probably get a hug out of the man before long.

Iggy and Wesley took one room, and Cody called the shower first in our room. I snacked on olives and flipped through television stations until it was my turn in the bathroom. After a hot shower, I dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and blow dried my hair because I couldn’t stand being wet one second longer. When I came out, Cody wasn’t around, and the door between our room and Iggy’s was wide open.

I walked to the doorway to find Cody and Iggy sitting cross-legged opposite each other on the far bed, a pile of cards between them. Wesley had pushed a chair up to the bed and was pouring a shot of whiskey, which he then handed to Cody. On the table by the window, several MREs were opened and entrees were heating in pouches.

Iggy plucked a pickled artichoke out of glass jar and said, “Hit me.” Cody slid a card over, she picked it up to examine it, and then she tossed it back on the bed. “Bust.” She popped the artichoke into her mouth and chewed.

“Mind if I join you?”

Her eyes darted to my hand. I'd found our first aid kit and taped my two fingers together with adhesive bandages. She quickly looked away. “Pull up a chair.”

Cody added, “Grab an MRE. We’re betting the desserts in them. Iggy just lost three M&Ms.”

I grabbed a brown package and pulled the other chair up to the bed opposite of Wesley. He looked like he’d already had a couple of shots – his eyes were still focused and sharp, but he no longer looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He poured another shot and handed the glass to me.

“Thanks.” I swallowed the brown liquid in a quick gulp and handed back the shot glass.

“What do you have in there?” Iggy asked me, eyeing my MRE bag. “I hope it’s the lemon poppy pound cake.”

This was the first time I’d seen her hair down. It was completely dry and hung in soft blonde waves down her back and around her shoulders. A few shorter pieces framed her face, the ends curling just a bit. I ripped open the bag, dug around, and pulled out a package of peanut M&Ms.

She said, “That works too. One can never have enough chocolate.” Wesley handed her the shot glass, but it was only half full. She sniffed the liquor, wrinkled her nose, and then downed it. She made a face and shivered, then handed back the glass. She looked at Cody. “Offer’s still there. My chili mac for your cheese tortellini.”

My best friend shook his head. “I hate chili mac. No way.” He plucked a fruit candy out of a package and set it on the center of the bed. “Initial bets,” he told us while handing out cards. Iggy put down a plain red M&M, Wesley tossed a peanut butter disk into the pile, and I topped it off with one yellow peanut M&M.

Iggy looked at me and asked, “What’s your entrée?”

I pulled it out of the bag and read, “Lemon pepper tuna.”

“Yes!” She did a fist pump in the air. “Trade ya for chili mac?”

I tossed the package to her. She caught it with a ‘thanks’. Wesley and I took hits. Cody and Iggy stayed. Iggy upped the bet by an M&M. Cody and I added to the pile. Wesley folded.

“All right, guys,” Cody said. “House has eighteen. Beat that.”

I set my cards on the bed. “Seventeen.”

Iggy grinned and turned over an ace of hearts to add to her ten of clubs.

“Damn!” Cody exclaimed.

Wesley reached for the Jack.

Iggy scraped in her pile of candy, laughing lightly. It was her Disney princess laugh. The sound quickly changed to an ‘mmm’ of enjoyment after she put the peanut butter disk on her tongue. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think MREs are good. Except for the chili mac.” She handed the artichoke jar to Wesley who placed it on the bed stand, and then she worked on setting up her tuna in the chemical heater pouch. As she peeled the packaging, her brow furrowed in concentration and her teeth pressed into her pink lower lip.

Cody started shuffling the cards. “I don’t suppose anybody has any weed?”

We all shook our heads. Iggy set her tuna package behind her on the bed, dug out a jar of pepperocini from the plastic bag on her other side, and tried twisting off the lid.

“I’ll probably never get weed again,” Cody lamented.

Iggy got tired of struggling to open the jar. She looked up at Wesley and started to hand it to him, but then she saw he was busy pouring, and she turned to me. Then she looked at my hand again and gave the jar to Cody instead. He popped off the lid, and I watched her pluck a pepper off its stem with her teeth.

Cody leaned back against the headboard. “If I’d known the last blunt I smoked would be my last, I would have taken the time to really appreciate it.”

Iggy slid off the bed and tapped my shoulder. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

I shook my head and reached toward Wesley, who automatically handed over a shot. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I even want to think about it until tomorrow.” I threw my head back and swallowed, enjoying the burn.

Iggy put her tuna on the table with the other entrees and returned with a packet of cashews. She poured a couple into her palm and handed the rest to me. She must have remembered that I liked them. I poured a handful of nuts into my mouth. I was starving and they were delicious.

Cody crunched another pepperocini and said, “That works for me. I vote none of us think about anything other than food and sleep.”

Wes handed Iggy another half shot, and she had to muster up the courage to drink it. I was already feeling my liquor given that I hadn’t eaten anything since early morning. I was warm and relaxed, and I didn’t care how Wesley had gotten the bottle of Jack, I was just grateful that he’d brought it.

We played a few more card games and ate until we were stuffed. Then Iggy put on a movie – something having to with aliens – and we all lounged around in the dark, occasionally taking a swig when the bottle came around. Sitting on one of the beds, I started to fall asleep, but Cody and Wesley were noisily discussing ice hockey. I announced that I was going to bed, and I walked through to my own dimly lit room to collapse onto the closest mattress. A few minutes later, I felt the mattress move and caught a whiff of vanilla sugar cookies mixed with whiskey.

“Iggy?” Her name came out as a half-whispered croak.

“I’m sleepy too, but they’re so loud.”

I could still hear every word Cody and Wes were saying, but my entire being was focused on Iggy. I sat up and her warm body pressed into my side as she laid her head on my shoulder. It was surprising but very welcome. I started to curl my arm around her shoulders but she stiffened and said, "Be careful of your finger."

"My finger is just fine." I curled my arm around her anyway, feeling guilty because she was feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. It's been a rough day. I know I made it even worse for you."

"I'm still mad at you."

"I know. And I deserve it."

"I'm sorry I broke your finger."

"I asked you to."

"I'm sorry you had to shoot two people to help me."

"I'd do it again without hesitation."

She shook her head and pulled back. "I know you feel really bad about it. And it's my fault. I've been nothing but trouble for you since we started this trip. I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry."