Here's a new chapter to my story. Thank you to all who read the previous chapters. I sincerely hope you enjoy this new installment!

Jared's POV

I always thought that when you inhaled chloroform, you would just be in the dark. Not seeing, not hearing, not feeling, not being. Only your body was truly there.

I was wrong.

Now, I couldn't see, or hear, or feel anyone on the outside of my body, out in the world. But in my mind, memories and thoughts and feelings were playing like a high def television. Each one more and more vivid than the rest.

They came back in spurts. Happy memories, sad ones, people's faces,

I attempted to soak in every single one, memorizing every detail of my life.

Then a strong memory hit me.

Her hands moved to the back of my neck slowly. And then they reached the thin scar on my neck. She screamed.

"Shhhhh, shhhh. Calm down" I said to her, attempting to calm her down. I grabbed her hands, which were still trembling against my neck. Damn. This girl had some pipes, but if she didn't shut up, we were going to get caught.

"Shut up!" I yelled back. She whimpered, but she stopped yelling. "Look at my eyes. Green. All green!" She stared at my eyes in confusion.

"But…..bu...bu….but, there's a scar on the back of your neck." Her brown eyes were terrified.

"I know. I know. I put it there on purpose." I tried to explain. "It's my camouflage. Nothing more."

She looked away for a second, trying to make sense of the information I had just given her. Her hands were still trembling in mine. "Oh." She sighed. "I think I just died a little bit there." She said, laughing slowly. She seemed to be uncomfortable. I understood why. I almost gave the first person I have seen in a few years a heart attack.

I took a moment to memorize her face. Long, dusky brown hair. She had a small nose and big brown eyes. She had a small scar above her lip, right below her nose. There was a scratch along her chin. Her cheeks were round and freckled. She had a little dimple on her left cheek. She had light tan skin. She was gorgeous.

Even if they hadn't been two of the last humans on earth, he still probably would have kissed her.

"Come with me. I have a jeep. It is faster than running." He told her. "Even if you are really fast."

"I would like to go with you but….." She trailed off, looking into the distance.

"But what?" Jared said, looking at her quizzically. "What Melanie?"

"I have to get back to someone." Her voice was distant, her eyes unclear. She seemed to be remembering someone, someone she was very fond of. My heart sank.

"Your boyfriend? You're not alone." I said sadly. I finally found another human, a girl. And she was already taken. Just my luck.

"Oh. Oh. No." She looked at me alarmed. "No nothing like that. I don't have a boyfriend." I looked at her with a look of alarm. "It's my little brother. His name is Jamie." She told me, trying to set my mind straight. "He's only 10. He's hiding in the woods."

"Ohhh." I thought about it for a second. I Couldn't help but let a smile creep across my face. So she was single. Yes!.

"So, I can't go with you. I have to go find my brother." She sighed sadly. "Goodbye." She turned and ran in the opposite direction from where my Jeep was.

"Hey Wait! Melanie! Wait!" she turned wildly. I gave her a crooked smile.. "Lead me to him. We can pick him up, and all go together."

She looked at me with a sly smile. "Sounds like a plan."

Oh God. Melanie. I was leaving her all alone. We had finally found our ways back to each other. After so much struggle, and pain, and confusion, we were finally happy. And now it was going to be ripped apart. The rug pulled out from under our feet.

But, I wasn't going down without a fight. I was going to take a page from Mel's book. I was going to stay. I was going to stay in the back of the mind of the soul that took my body from me. I was not giving in and leading the parasites to my family. I will do whatever it takes to protect them all. And even though we couldn't speak, I knew Ian felt the same way.

He loved Wanda as much as I loved Melanie. He was going to fight just as hard.

"I can't believe Mel is gone." Jamie said quietly, tears rolling down his tired face. It had been a few months since that horrid night in Chicago. I couldn't believe it either. She couldn't be gone.

She just, couldn't.

We were riding in my Jeep, towards the hideout Melanie's Uncle Jeb had created. Maggie and Sharon had helped us figure out the map he had made. We were about a mile away at this point.

"Me too kid." I said back. "Me too."

I had only known Melanie and Jamie about 2 years now, but they were my family. In this world, just being human was enough to be considered family.

Cool desert night air blew Sharon's flaming pink hair around, making it look crazy. Maggie was driving. She knew where she was going. I was in the back with Jamie. I had my arm wrapped around his shoulder. He was my only family now, and I would protect him with my life.

We pulled up to the edge of a cluster of crumbling mountains. There were cliffs np that stood at least 75 feet off the ground. Usually mountains had snow on top, but not out here in the desert. Out here, they were dry as bones.

Suddenly, the car stopped abruptly under a small overhang on the edge of the mountain. "We're here." Maggie said hastily. She wasn't the nicest or the most gentle or understanding person in the world.

"Already?" I asked, confused. I thought we were at least a mile away. "Huh." Jamie and I followed Sharon and Maggie out of the Jeep, to a cluster of bushes only 20 feet away. "Where's the entrance?" I asked, confused, seeing no openings to the caves around me.

"It's right here." Maggie said, with an annoyed edge to her voice. She pulled aside the tall bush to reveal a tall cave entrance.

"Wow." I said quietly. The opening led into a tunnel that was pitch black. I had no idea where it went. Only someone crazy would think to do this. Only someone crazy would build a resistance in a place like this. But, then again, with the things Mel had told me about her Uncle Jeb, I think that he might actually be just a little bit crazy. But not bad crazy. Good crazy.

Jamie smiled, a sight that I hadn't seen in months. "Crazy Uncle Jeb." He whispered. That tiny comment and smile made me a little bit happier. And a little bit happy was all I could ask for now.

I remembered the wonderful times I had spent with the resistance. My very first raid, where Kyle nearly gave us up by complaining too loudly. Our first soccer match when everyone realized that I was amazing. Nobody could hear my thoughts, so I wasn't being modest. Our first full day of plowing the earth. The blood, sweat, and tears we put into everything we grew. Finding out that Melanie truly was there, stuck in there with Wanda. Wanda giving Mel back to me, without a second thought. My first night alone with Melanie.

I scrutinized over the details of every face and every body and every person that had become my family Jeb's crazy eyes and ever growing smirk. Maggie's constant scowl and unprecedented anger. Sharon's flaming red hair and same flaming 's wise words of encouragement and truth. Trudy's smile lines that surrounded her mouth. Lucina's caramel-tanned skin. Isaiah's awe-struck gaze. Freedom's tiny hands. Geoffrey's slowly graying hair. Paige's infectious laugh. Lily's beautiful green eyes. Brandt's brooding figure. Andy's curly mane. Aaron's Texas-shaped mole on his right ankle. Jamie's stocky build and wonderful cheerfulness. Wanda's innocence and companionship and her trustworthy face. Ian's ever flaming blue eyes. Even Kyle's ever present glare. I couldn't believe I was going to miss Kyle. I was going to miss all of them.

And Melanie.

Melanie Stryder.

I attempted to remember every inch of her perfect person. She was the brightest light I had in a world of darkness and fear. She gave me hope. She brought me joy.

She had told me once before that I was the light in her life too.

Now that light was being put out.

At least she had Jamie. And Wanda. Together, they would get through all of this. I knew that they would.

Another flashback hit me. This one older than all the rest. A memory I knew all too well.

"Daddy! Daddy!" I giggled in my little five year old voice. "I scored my first goal! I did it." My dad looked over and smiled from his place at the grill. His brown eyes were full of pride.

"Nice job little Man!" He hollered across the yard. My oldest brother Daniel came up to me and clapped me on the back. He was 9 years older than me and much, much bigger, the sheer force knocked me on to the ground.

"Oh. Sorry little bro!" He smiled, grabbing my arm and pulling me back up. "Nice shot!"

"Thanks bubby!" I laughed again.

My family had two soccer nets in the back yard. I had four older brothers, and they absolutely loved soccer. They played games there every day. Today I joined them, and I managed to score the first goal. I was pretty sure my brother Josh had let me score purpose, but I didn't care. I was elated. My mother was sitting on the deck, rocking in her favorite wicker rocking chair. She was laughing loudly at my happy face. My dad was grilling burgers next to her, watching us play, grinning from ear to ear.

"I think we have a future star on her hands." My brother Stephen laughed, high fiving me. I had never felt better or more grown up.

That was my first happy moment that I could remember.

And at this moment, I finally got it. I finally got what all those people who've had near death experiences told me. Your whole life flashes before your eyes. The good and the bad. The happy and the sad. The nice and the angry. Every moment seemed to fleet by.

I wondered how much longer this was going to go on. Me sitting here, motionless, useless. How long until they occupied me with a Soul. How much time had I been ou? Had it been hours? Days? Minutes? I had no way of knowing.

Suddenly, I felt someone pulling on my shoulder. Here we go. I thought. It was happening.

They kept tugging on my shoulder. I wondered what they were doing,

Did they normally do this before insertion? Shake you all around? I wondered if they were doing the same thing to Ian.

Suddenly the shaking got wilder. They were shaking my whole body. I could faintly hear a voice outside of my head. They were waking me up.

Why?

Were they going to ask me questions about the other humans? Were they going to torture me, force me to tell them things? Were they capable of that much cruelty?

They shot us point blank. They were capable of cruelty.

I had the urge to wake up, but I couldn't. The chloroform had to strong of a hold on me. The person shaking me seemed to realize this. They let me go, my body stilling. I began to sink back into the lull of the chloroform when…

They slapped me across the face. They slapped me hard.

My eyes flew open, ready to face whatever was coming. I looked up and saw a pair of eyes staring down on me.

Bright blue eyes.

Only blue.

No iridescent ring. Just blue.

Human eyes.

"What? What?" I stammered.

"Come with me if you want to live."