Oh Em Gee

"But I don't see why you both have to go." I know I sound like a whiny child, but the thought of Burns going on a raid scares me.

"I told you Novel, we're going to pretend to be married. No one would ever suspect partnered souls who are so obviously on vacation. And plus, this isn't a normal raid just for supplies, we're going to try to find more humans." He ends his sentence with a light nudge to my chin. Trying to cheer me up with the thought of more survivors. It doesn't work, but I smile anyway.

"Okay. But just, be careful, you know? I don't know what I would do without my best friend." My eyes fill with tears that I try to sniff away. I'm thankful Burns and I are in the library alone, and don't have an audience.

"Novel, you know perfectly well that nothing is going to happen to me. I've gone on raids a thousand times before this. I'm an expert." His fingers rap around my chin and he tilts my head up, toward his. I want so badly for him to kiss me. Ever since I woke up this morning wrapped in his arms I could practically see the sparks between us.

Instead, he kisses my forehead and whispers "take care of yourself. Please." He ends the moment with a quick hug and then leaves me alone in the library. I sink down to the floor and rest my head on the bookshelf behind me. I can't lie to myself. What bothers me almost more then him being in danger is the fact that he has to pretend to be married to Wanda. Wanda who is beautiful and makes you want to protect her no matter what. Wanda who has way more in common with him then I do.

The only consolation I have is that Ian is going with them, along with Nate, Rachel, Lacy, Jamie, and Sebastion. Although, now that I think about it I should be more worried about Lacy sticking her creepy claws into Burns, then Wanda.

I stand up when I see May walk into the library. I knew it was only a matter of time before she would come looking for me.

"November! What is going on between you and Burns? And why haven't you told me how you felt about him?"

"What do you mean?" I feign naivety even though I know I am hopeless at lying to my twin.

"You slept with him." She hisses at me.

I laugh. "Its not like I slept slept with him May! You know that. We were in a crowded room. Plus, he won't even kiss me. Obviously I'm repulsive to every single male in the world."

She laughs, "I didn't mean that! But what do you mean he didn't kiss you? That's why I left you two in here to say goodbye."

"Well, does the forehead count?"

"Sorry, but no, it doesn't."

"What I don't understand is when did everyone even decide to go on a raid?"

"Last night during dinner. All of the adults were discussing when we would return to our home, but it was obvious no one really wanted to leave anytime soon. So, the fact that we needed more supplies was brought up and then of course anytime the word 'supplies' is mentioned, raids are the next conversation topic.

"Wanda started telling everyone about how she acts like a regular soul and is able to get much more then just average stealing like our set does. Burns felt like an idiot for not thinking about the fact that he has the perfect disguise and doesn't have to hide like the rest of us."

"I can't believe Sebastian gets to go on his first raid before us! He's only fifteen!"

"I know but when he heard that Jamie had already been on a raid he started flipping out." May said with an eye role.

"Whatever. Next raid I am going. I am so mad at myself for being anti social yesterday. I'm positive that if I had been at dinner I would have convinced them to take me with them. And anyway, they promised to let me go on the next one!"

I was surprised when instead of hearing support from May, I heard silence.

I stopped walking and looked around to see that she had stopped a good three feet behind me. "What's wrong May?"

"You don't," her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again, "you don't really want to go on raids do you?"

I'm confused. Doesn't she? "Of course I do! I've been waiting for my chance to go for the last few years. I want to leave our stupid cave and be able to go outside. I want to find supplies to feed and clothe our family. And I want to find more humans so we can finally take our world back from those damn parasites!"

"No. I wont let you Novel. The thought of you leaving me…and going out there, into all that danger. I wouldn't have any family left if something happened to you." She's close to tears. I walk back until I'm even with her and put my arm around her.

"Well, you could come with me."

She chuckles a bit, "hah. The thought of me going out there? And being all adventuress. No way. You're the brave twin."

"Me?? I'm the socially awkward shy twin. You're the one who can meet new people and immediately be their best friend without a hint of fear."

She snorts. "Yeah, as if meeting a new person is a test for bravery at all."

"Trust me, it is. I've always been jealous of your bubbly personality, the way you can talk to anyone…I've been envious my whole life."

"November…I should probably tell you before someone else does. They wanted you to go with them. They said your name like it was the obvious the choice to let you go, but I convinced them not to bring you. So they chose lacy instead."

"What?" anger was suddenly coursing through me and I removed my arm from around her shoulders, stepping back. "WHY?" I knew I was yelling but I couldn't care less. "Now they're all gone and Burns is going to act like he's married to Wanda. And Lacy is going! Lacy who never takes her snotty eyes off of him!"

May started crying. But this time her tears wouldn't work on me. The thought of Burns going on a raid that was going to be unusually long and unusually dangerous without me, when I had the chance to go, was more then I could handle. "Oh, shut up May! Save your tears for someone who actually cares."

Because those on the raid were expected to be gone for at least three weeks, everyone was assigned rooms. When shown to our rooms we discovered Jeb's cave system to be bigger then we had originally thought. Of course, May and I were assigned the same room. And even though I may have grumbled about it to her face, I was secretly glad to not have to sleep alone.

Our room was a small, but comfortable one. We each had our own mattress, but we shared the one dresser and toy chest. We couldn't actually open the chest, there was a heavy padlock on it and I hadn't been bothered to break it open yet. Instead, we pushed the chest against a wall, put cushions on it, and used it as a comfortable (albeit very small) couch. May had somehow got her hands on a few fashion magazines from before and filled our walls with photos of beautiful women in strange frocks and even more beautiful men in multi-colored suits.

Two weeks after Burns left I found myself if not technically angry at May, at least still annoyed. I had blown off her few attempts at an apology the first few days, until she had gotten angry with me for not forgiving her and 'seeing her side of things'. I hadn't actually had time to dwell on whether or not I was still angry; I grudgingly could kind of see her side of the story. I was so busy with work (gardening, cleaning, cooking, etc) and having to resume school again with Mrs. Kim (we had finals coming up, as if it mattered if I passed them or something) I was exhausted by the time I got to my room at night. May and I wouldn't have talked very much even if we had been on speaking terms.

I wake up this morning like every morning of the past two weeks—with hope. Maybe Burns will come home today. Two weeks is enough time to get supplies, find a human or two, and return. I stand up to stretch with a yawn. I meet Mays eyes mid stretch and glare. She glares back. She could at least pretend to be sorry that I may lose Burns because of her. What if Lacy has convinced him that he likes her? What if one of the humans he finds is a former super model?

I shake these thoughts away and head to the bathroom to take a shower before school. School! Who needs school when there is no chance of going to college or getting a job? I've pretty much learned everything that I've needed to. I have a suspicion that the only reason May and I have to finish our 'senior' year is to give the adults a since of accomplishment and a false feeling of normalcy. As I brush my teeth I seriously consider skipping school (who wants to be in a room alone with May, Mrs. Kim, and a chalkboard 5 hours a day?).

But as I walk back to my room to put my shoes on I know that I'm not actually going to skip school. I haven't actually done it—ever, but Nate is always threatening to punish us if we "don't take our school studies seriously". Then again…Nate isn't here. That's it, I'm skipping. When I arrive in my room I pass May carrying her toiletries. But where to go? The Library will be the first place they'll look for me.

I grimace, if I were a normal teenager in the life I should have had I could drive to the mall, go see a movie, even go to a park. I wander around the cave system trying to find something to do when I hear shrieking.

"They're back! They're back!"

I can't tell which direction Trudy's voice is coming from due to the horrible side effect of echoing whenever anything is shouted, but I assume its coming from the dining hall which is where the returnees would go first. I have to stop myself from flat out running. My heart is beating a mile a minute at the thought of Burns being back. My Burns. As I round the corner to the dining room I can feel the big cheesy grin on my face but I don't even care. The first returnee I see is Lacy, then Jamie, Sebastian, Nate, Rachel…where's Burns?

My smile slides off my face when I notice everyone else's pained expressions. I tune into the conversation.

"…That stupid snotty girl hadn't ruined the whole plan they would be here right now!" Rachel is shouting about Lacy too Lacy.

"It wasn't my fault!" retorts Lacy.

"Oh yes it is you evil cow! You couldn't stand the fact that you weren't needed. You complained the whole time we were gone!"

"BE QUIET!" A yell from Kyle cuts off Lacy's retort.

Kyle continues, "Where is my brother, Nate?"

Nate rubs his eyes and sighs, "We're not sure Kyle. We were on our last raid over in Flagstaff, it was supposed to be a simple one. Wanda and Burns went into the Barnes and Noble exactly like they had every other store we had went into previously. We hadn't even realized Lacy was gone until she was running towards us. Apparently she was 'trying' to help us and went into the store after Wanda and Burns. She was spotted by a seeker who happened to be in the store at the same time. Wanda and Burns were able to distract the seeker long enough for Lacy to get out of the store. When she told us what happened Ian immediately ran in after them.

"The rest of us were still trying to find a way to get in there without being detected when they came out of the store…handcuffed. We heard the seeker on the phone with another one, she mentioned that she was going to take them to the nearest hospital. Apparently, getting a soul into Ian was paramount."

"Did she mention which hospital?" asked Kyle.

"Flagstaff Medical Center…"
I didn't need to hear anymore.

I backed out of the room without anyone noticing and ran straight to my room. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I knew I had to do something.

When I reached my room my prayer for it to be empty was answered. May must have been in the Dining Hall with everyone else. I sat on my bed for a second to think. If I was going to do what my body wanted me to do then I would need a plan. I didn't have one. I checked my watch 11:35. I probably only had seven minutes before May came looking for me, she would be worried. I grimaced at the thought that I would have to leave her, especially with us in a fight. But she wouldn't be able to handle doing something as crazy as I was planning on doing. I quickly dumped all of my schoolbooks out of my backpack and filled it with two outfits and my toiletry kit. I would need food and water.

I was hoping the kitchen was empty and it was. I had found a camel pack in one of the supply closets and now filled it with water as much as it would hold. I packed my backpack with granola bars, leftover steaks from the night before, a bag of cookies, and as many apples and oranges as would fit.

Right when I forced the zipper closed I heard the footsteps of people coming in the kitchen. I dove behind one of the big cabinets praying they wouldn't look my way.

"…and this is the kitchen honey, make yourself at home and eat anything you want. I'm going to go back into the dining room and see if anyone comes up with a plan. I'll come and find you in a few minutes to show you to the room that Lilly and Heidi are setting up for you." Said Trudy.

"Thank you." Whispered a voice I didn't recognize.

I heard the mysterious person banging around in cabinets, opening and closing drawers, and rifling through the refrigerator. I started to panic when I heard his footsteps coming near the shelf I was hiding behind. His footsteps slowed to a stop. After a few moments of silence I peaked around the cereal box my head was hiding behind and came face to face with a very confused looking boy. I'm sure he would have screamed if his mouth hadn't been full to the brim with apple.

Even so, he quickly backed away and tripped over a chair falling on his but. Before he could finish chewing and scream I ran out from behind the shelf and knelt next to him.

"Oh no! Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to hide."

He mumbled something unintelligible. "Um, what?" I asked.

He finally swallowed, "I'm sorry, I was just hungry."

"Its okay. As long as you don't tell anyone that you saw me in here okay? At least not for a few hours."

"Why?"

I sighed. I supposed it was natural for him to wonder why but I didn't have time for this guy's curiosity.

I decided to do the obvious thing and lie, "I'm playing hide and go seek."

He raised an eyebrow. It was obvious I was lying. "Okay, I'm not playing hide and go seek! I'm trying to get out of here without anyone knowing so I can go find Burns, Wanda, and Ian. Its my fault they're gone and I know I can save them…somehow."

"How is it your fault? You weren't even there."

"I know, but they were in a bookstore right? I'm sure Burns was trying to buy me some books because I never shut up about how much I wanted some new ones. If he hadn't gone in there he would have been back here along with everyone else. And even if it hadn't been my fault…I would have went after him anyway."

"Well, its just as much my fault as it is yours." At my skeptical look he continued, "They were trying to find more humans weren't they? They found me."

I didn't have time to convince this boy that it wasn't his fault, it was mine. "sure, sure. Just don't tell anyone you saw me."

"Okay I wont." I started to stand up until I heard him say, "Because I'm going with you."

"What?" I hissed.

"Listen, either you take me with you or I call out right now."

I glared at him. He sucked in breath to yell. "Okay! Okay. You can come. But you have to hurry up do you understand? You wont have time to pack anything…" I was depending on this last sentence to dissuade him.

He smiled triumphantly and jumped up, offering his hand to me, "That's okay. I'm already packed. We just got here remember?" He gestured to a backpack sitting on the chair he had just tripped over. Equipped with a camel back and all.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad taking another person with me. Plus, maybe he had some tricks up his sleeve to help us out. I for sure was lost as to how were going to get to Flagstaff let alone save Burns, Wanda, and Ian who may or may not have been turned into a parasite by now.

AUTHORS NOTE: I'm a failure! I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. But here it is! So yeah, now it's really getting exciting. Lots and lots of adventure coming up :D:D:D:D
and thank you thank you thank you to all of my wonderamazing reviewers!