Day two was pretty much the same thing as day one, everyone running around trying to figure things out, but on the third morning is when I finally got the good news I was waiting for. "So we've managed to finish the last renovations in the summer camp. We can move everyone today."
"That's really good," Alex said.
"Yep, we should be able to get everyone out of here in no time."
"When do you think you are going to leave for the smaller camp?"
"I want to leave immediately. Though it might take some to pack everything up," Penelope said, looking around the room.
"Alright? Anyone else?" I asked, looking at each person to make sure they didn't have anything else. "No? Okay. Let's adjourn and meet back here at sevn tonight." Chairs scuffled as everyone started standing up, and walking away, often in pairs or trios. "Come on," I told Mirable. She nodded and together we stood up.
"Come on," Penelope said, walking past Mirable and I. "Time is money here." I gave a short laugh, and walked after her.
"We'll talk later," I called after Mirable.
"No problem," she called out after me.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked her.
"Been ready since I got here."
"I get you," I said walking out of the building. There was a van waiting for us by the gate with twenty of the old prison guards sitting in the back. We had only two vans, the one in front of me, and the one Calvin had taken this morning. Everyone was curious about what he was going to return with today, but not even he seemed to know what he was going to receive. Penelope and I walked towards the van and we split to walk down the sides of the van, with her on the driver side, and me on the passenger.
Penelope had been driving since she was eleven, apparently she had been raised on a ranch since she was three, and had been taught since a young age. My family hadn't tried to teach me, wanting to wait until I was fifteen to allow me anywhere near the driver's seat. I closed the door, and Penelope turned on the van. I looked over my shoulder, and saw that there was a door separating Penelope and I from the prisoners in the back. As soon as she turned the van on, and pulled forward, the gate slowly started rumbling open.
Penelope started pulling forward, and drove through the gate, she turned left, and drove the short distance to camp Cuckoo. It looked the same as it had a couple days ago, and wasn't much different than before, though it looked a little better. The gate was closed and locked, and wasn't as rusted as before. I opened the door, and jumped out of the seat.
"Welcome back," Camilla shouted from one of the cabins.
"It's good to see the place in better condition," I said, walking up to join her.
"Prisoners in the back?" she asked looking around me to better see van.
"Twenty of them," I said.
"Good." She walked around the van to get the people out of the van. I heard her unlock the door, and people shuffled out of the van. Camilla led them around the side of the van, and directed them to the first cabin.
"Thank you," I called out, waving my hand.
"You're welcome," Camilla yelled back.
"Come on," I said too Penelope. She gave me a look, before turning to walk back to the van. We hopped back in, and drove back to Tundra for the next group of people. Two hours later we were done, and after Penelope dropped me off at Tundra she drove back to Cuckoo. As she drove away, Mirable walked up to me.
"What's going on?" I asked her.
"Calvin was supposed to be back an hour ago," Mirable said, stopping in front of me, crossing her arms as she did.
"Where was he going today?"
"Whitman."
"Maybe he ran out of gas?"
"Or he turned us into command?"
"He like's Felicia too much to turn us in." The walkie talkie that was in my pocket buzzed and I brought it to my mouth. I hit the button and asked "what's going on?"
"Calvin is a minute out, said he found something interesting on his trip."
"Did he say what it was?" Mirable asked.
"No, he said it was better to show than explain over the walkie talkie," Alex said.
"That doesn't sound good," I said
"I know," Alex said. I heard the gate buzz open, and turned to face it.
"Time to face the music," Mirable said.
"Yep," I answered as the van pulled to a stop in front of us. Calvin was in the driver seat, wearing a sheepish smile on his face. I folded my arms across my chest, and the smile dropped. He climbed out of the seat, and slammed the door shut.
"I know you're mad at me for being late, but I have a surprise for you," Calvin called out as he stepped to the back of the van.
"What would that be?" I asked.
"Come and check." I looked at Mirable, and she shook her head. Mirable and I stepped forward and we walked around the bus, right as a five year old white girl jumped out of the van. I blinked in surprise, and finished walking around the back. There were nearly twenty people in the back of the van, ranging from an infant to a seventy year old woman. There were two infants, and a couple toddlers, as well as some kids around the age that he designated age for psi, as well as some above it. Most of the adults seemed to be their parents or other relatives. All of them blinked at me curiously.
"Where did you find these people?" I asked, looking at Calvin. "How did you manage to convince them to come over here?"
"They were hiding in Arthur. They actually wanted to keep their kids, so when the banks started coming for their houses, they packed their things up and started living together in an Inn. Nancy over there saw me digging through their cabinets, and I managed to convince them to stick together. She is also a teacher." I gave him a deadpaned look and he shrugged.
"Come on," I said looking into the van. "Everyone out, and line up against the side of the van." I looked at Mirable. "Tell Alex to call the council. Got to tell them about it."
"Fine," she said, stepping away so that Alex wouldn't overhear the conversation. I looked back at the people who were slowly getting out of the van. I walked to the side and offered my hand to an older woman who seemed to be having trouble walking.
"Thank you dear," she said, patting my hand.
"No problem," I said, walking her around the van. I only released her when she was leaning against the wall of the van. I looked at one of the women who was nearby and said, "Come help her up." She nodded, and replaced me at the woman's side. Calvin was standing next to an older man with a military haircut.
"This is my old army buddie," Calvin explained. "He didn't join the PSF's and actually quit the army three years ago. He's the reason I was able to convince everyone to come in."
"Thanks for that detail," I said. "Make sure you lock the door."
"Fine," Calvin said, and the man walked around the side of the van to join the others.
"What did you tell them?" I asked as he slammed the doors shut, and locked the door.
"Told them I could hide the kids from the outside world, and that a teenager named Ava was in charge."
"Did you tell them about the color system?"
"Yeah. I think Nancy's kids have powers, but I'm not sure about any of the other kids."
"Thanks," I said, and together we walked around the side of the van. Jackie and Isabella were waiting for us, giving the new arrivals curious looks.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked.
"Alex called us," Jackie said. "Said we needed to get down here as soon as possible."
"Fine," I said, and turned to the group. "My name is Ava, I'm in charge here. Isabella is in charge of the medical center. Mirable is in charge of guarding our camp. Jackie is in charge of twenty eight kids. Calvin tells me that all of you know what is going on. For right now, I want you to split into three groups. Everyone under the age of seven will go with Mirable. Kids between the ages of seven and twenty years old will go with Isabella to the Infirmary to be tested. Everyone over twenty will stay with Jackie and I as we explain things to you."
"Come on now," Isabella said. "Anyone between seven and twenty with me." Some of the kids seemed to be hesitant to go, and sent curious looks at Calvin's friends.
"Go," he said, and the few kids between the ages stepped forward and formed a small line behind Isabella. Who gave them a smile as they approached. There were only five people, and they seemed rather curious as they followed behind her. The kids sent looks over their shoulders as they walked, but continued walking.
"Okay," I started again, and everyone turned to face me. "Kids, how about you go with Miss Mirable and Jackie for me, so that the adults and I can talk?" They gave little nods of agreement. "Good." The two women holding the newborns willingly handed their kids over and everyone else filled far enough away from their kids to be seen, but not heard. "Keep an eye on them." They nodded and I walked to join the people.
"Why did you pull us away?" the old woman asked.
"Because I didn't want them to hear what I had to say," I said. "None of the kids here have had good experiences with adults recently. It's been a bad few months, weeks, and days for us, so not a lot of the kids are going to react well to you being here. I'm going to allow you to stay here on a trial basis though, but only for the sake of your children. If any of you try to go past our rules, and try to do us harm, you will be kicked out without your memories here. Understand?" A few people nodded.
"Where are we going to stay?" the old woman asked, looking around.
"The old PSF's cabins, we've moved them out, so they're empty for now," I answered. "Tundra wasn't supposed to be meant for kids without powers, so you keep your kids with you. Though I insist that if any of the kids are yellow and above stay in the cabins with the others of their color. I would ask for it if I didn't know how dangerous they were."
"Okay," the old woman said, and several people nodded as well.
"All of you will be doing some form of job as part of your trial here, so I need you to tell me what you used to do."
"Teacher," a woman said, as did a woman and a man.
"We used to work on a construction crew," another woman said. She pointed at two men who were standing next to her.
"Worked at the grocery store," the army man said.
"I'm retired," the old woman said. "Used to be a librarian."
"That's convenient," I said looking at Calvin.
"There were less than seven thousand people before IANN started. There weren't a lot of jobs," Calvin said. "Those were the four major jobs in Arthur."
"Fine," I said, and looked over at the infirmary where some of the kids were coming back out again. Three of the kids were holding clothes that were meant for the psi. "Look, the teachers, I have a job for you. I'll get you in contact with the correct people. I'll find jobs for the rest of you soon. What are your names?"
"Nancy," the female teacher said.
"Elise," the old woman said.
"Bob," Calvin's friend said. The others told me their names.
"Alright," I said as Isabella joined me. "What do we have?"
"Red, yellow, and green," she said. "None of them seemed to have known."
"Thank's," I said.
"I already called the cabin leader's."
"The green could stay in with their parents if they want to, but we can keep the red and yellow in their cabins. What about everyone else?"
"No one is showing any signs of being a psi."
"Alright, until we figure anything else out, let's keep them in the PSF's old cabins," I said and turned to the group. "Come on, I'll show you where you will be staying for now. Jackie, Mirable, you mind sending some of your people around to tell everyone what happened."
"Of course," Jackie answered.
"Everyone who works in the infirmary knows," Isabella said.
"Thank you," Mirable said, walking away with Jackie.
"Come on, everyone," I told the group, and I turned to walk with the group. We walked around the control tower, and as we rounded I saw kids working in the garden give us surprised and shocked looks. Most of them openly stared while others moved back to working.
"Why do you guys have barbed wire up?" Nancy asked.
"The old regime had them up, and we haven't been able to yank it all down yet," I answered. "One last thing, everyone under the age of ten is required to go to the school we have set up. It's not much of a school, but it's one. They're trying to figure out the powers right now."
"You don't know how to use your powers?" Elise asked.
"We're on day three of the PSF's not being in charge, and most of us came in before we knew what we could do, so no, we don't know yet how to control our powers, though we are trying," I said, opening the gate for the old PSF cabins. "This is home for you right now, it's not much but it's something. The mom with the infants can stay in a different cabin if you want to."
"Thank you," Tracy, one of the moms, said.
"You're welcome. I don't know if they changed the sheets yet, but I can make sure your sheets are washed." Several people nodded, and I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see that Charlie and Logan were standing by the gate looking in at us surprised. "Hey guys."
"Hey," Logan said looking at the group of people.
"Everyone, this is Charlie and Logan, they're in charge of the school. Everyone under ten will stick with them for the next few weeks. They're going to show the two kids around and meet up with others with their powers."
"Alright," the red said.
"Why don't you three go and see the cabins?" I asked, looking at the three psi. "Logan can introduce you to the cabin leader with green beds." I told the three psi.
"Okay," the red boy said, after looking at his mother. Logan stepped aside, and Charlie stepped forward to lead them out.
"Why don't you go as well?" I asked the ten year old girl who didn't have any powers. She didn't fit in anywhere, but she could always meet anyone.
"Are you sure?" she asked in a small voice.
"Of course. You'll probably get powers one day, why wouldn't you want to see what you might get one day?" I asked and she smiled up at me, before running after them. Once she was gone, her mother stepped up beside me.
"You know the chances of her surviving aren't great?" she asked.
"I know, but we have silvers, and we will try our best to make sure she survives," I answered and looked back at the group. "Alright. Families on the first cabin on the left, individuals first on the right, infants second on the right."
"Thank you," Tracy answered, and they all walked away to see the inside of the cabins.
"You know this isn't going to go over well with some people," Mirable said walking up beside me.
"I know, but we saved three kids from the camp, and we have the possibility of saving five more from death," I answered. "Keep an eye on them for me."
"Of course," Mirable said, and I stepped away so that I could talk to the rest of the council, which had gathered right outside the gates of the PSF cabins. There seemed to be varying degrees of confusion and anger amongst the group. With many of them more confused than angry.
"So, you let adults back into Tundra?" Levi asked, and I winced at his tone. Levi had every reason to be afraid of the adults, most of the colors could defend themselves with their powers, but greens had a major disadvantage compared to everyone else.
"Okay everyone, I want you to remain calm. The new adults are not a part of the PSF's, they are just concerned parents that want to stick with their kids. Despite what most of Tundra will tell you, there are parents who actually don't mind having kids with superpowers." Several kids gave me a doubtful look. "Look, they are on a trial basis here, which means we are being judgemental of them. If they mess up in a big way, they're out. They're in the same position as Calvin, and they are willing to help us.
There were grumbles amongst the crowd, and I had to give more reassurances to them for them to begrudgingly accept their new reality, and walk away to tell everyone else. Most of the kids seemed fine with it, though some, mostly greens, weren't as happy about it. When the last of the kids walked away, I turned back to the small encampment. I took a few steps back through the gate.
Most of the people seemed to have settled into the cabins, and some of the younger ones seemed to be getting anxious waiting around for something to happen. Calvin and Bob were talking quietly with one another next to cabin sixty one. They seemed to be in an argument, but weren't upset with each other to raise their voices.
"What are you two upset about?" I asked approaching the pair. Both looked at me surprised.
"Some of our old army buddies have kids still alive. We don't know if they have powers or not. I want to go and find them, but Calvin doesn't," Bob said.
"That's because Calvin knows exactly what would happen if someone found out what was going on here," I said, looking between the pair. "But I do agree we need to help the kids."
"I was thinking we could meet up somewhere, get them and then bring them back here," Bob said enthusiastically. I gave Calvin a side look, and he tapped his head. What's going on? I thought to him.
Look, I want to help the kids, but isn't it dangerous to be constantly driving in and out of the camp? Calvin thought.
That's not the question I'm worried about, I thought back. Do you trust them? Calvin looked at me surprised, before nodding. Okay, where would they be?
Mostly Kansas. I know some relocated to Nebraska.
Okay. I want you to meet up with them somewhere in Kansas. Take the van and ditch it eventually. Travel through the night, you're less likely to be caught. Take one of the oranges with you, and don't come back until you're sure you have everyone.
That's a risk.
Don't you think I know that? We have an opportunity to keep kids out of the camps. It's a risk, but we'll all feel worse if one of those kids is an upper scaled kid, and they're caught and killed.
Fine, he thought and looked back at his friend, who was looking at us confused.
"What's going on?" Bob asked, looking between us confused.
"You know some oranges can talk with their minds, right?" I asked, and he shook his head. "Alright, I'll let you and Calvin go on this round trip of yours. There are some basic rules I want to lay out though. Calvin's in charge, you listen to him. Don't do anything so dangerous that you will attract attention to yourself. You do it, I'll throw you in the program I have at Chucko. Don't show up again, until you find all your friends."
"You're just going to let us go, without a fight?" Bob asked.
"Yes, because I have leverage material," I said. "You hand us over, your kids will end up dead, or an experimental camp. I hear the camp officials are really interested in kids who haven't contracted IAAN yet." Bob paled, and Calvin seemed unfazed by the comment. "Now get out of here before I change my mind." Both men nodded, and walked away towards the tower.
I looked at the others, who had walked out of the cabins to look at us confused. They were hanging around trying not to be suspicious, but were failing horribly. I heard kids screaming and playing around me in the silence, and turned to see the school aged kids were playing around happily.
"Come on. I'll give you a tour," I called out, and the rest of the people walked out of the cabins to join us. They seemed interested in looking in their new surroundings. They formed a kind of line, but once I was sure everyone was in front of me, I turned to the gate, and led them out.
"Alright," Mirable called out, pointing towards the tower. "That's the control tower. Everything that is important going on goes on in there. Over there is the dining hall, and the infirmary. The warehouse is on that side of the building. The cabins go counterclockwise from purple, blue, green, yellow, red, silver, then orage. It's pretty simple once you get used to it."
"What are some of the jobs we're going to do?" Tracy asked, and I took the opportunity to step up.
"The former teachers will join up with ours for now. We need people to help us move forward. The rest of you will end up splitting your time between the garden and the warehouse. You won't be allowed on the security team, but you can find things to do," I said and everyone gave murmurs of agreements. We walked towards the dining hall, and I saw kids give us wide eye looks. I ignored them, and led them into the air conditioned building.
Several people sighed in relief, and started shuffling out of the way to let more kids through the door. We wandered through the tables, and lined up against the wall in front of the window. There wasn't usually food still left in the dining hall at this time of day, but there could be crumbles left.
"Hey. How are you guys?" Levi asked, walking over to the window. Several people's eyes widened in surprise. "You guys can eat anything you want. It's not the best, but it's better than nothing."
"Go," I said, and several people grabbed plates, and started scoping food out of the long metal tubs, and putting them on their trays. Levi looked down the line, and looked back at me.
"Where's Calvin?"
"He and one of the incomers are going to go check out a lead on some kids," I answered. His eyebrows raised, and I shrugged. I waved him off, and walked with the group to join the others at a table in the corner of the room.
It took me a little while to figure out where to put everyone, but I was able to find places for them to stay. Everyone except the teachers and Elise ended up in the garden. Elise joined with the few kids we had in the library, and spent the day rearranging the few rooms to make it more easier to get the books. While the three teachers we got spent the day devising a plan with Charlie to help find a way to give kids actual substance in their learning.
I spent the rest of the day jumping from place to place finding places to help others, and checking on Cuckoo every few hours. When everything was starting to slow down for the night and everyone was finding their way back to their cabins, I walked back to the old PSF's cabins. Most of them had settled down, and someone had dragged a bench out for Elise to sit on.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm good. Did you enjoy today?" I asked stopping in front of her.
"Of course, I haven't felt this alive in years," Elise said with a bright smile. "It was so interesting to watch some of your kids using their powers. I also talked with Isabella and the silvers earlier today. They said they could help me find a way to release some pain from my bad hip."
"Good," I said, happy that she seemed to be doing well. It had been one of my biggest fears that she and the others would accept us as is, but she seemed to be doing good with everything.
"Have you heard anything from Bob and Calvin?" Nancy asked, walking up to join us.
"None, but that's not a surprise. None of us have any phones," I answered, looking at her. "We should hear from them in a few days though."
"Fine," Nancy sighed, and looked over at Amelia, Bob's ten year old daughter. She was playing with a soccer ball that Calvin had brought back yesterday. She was upset that her dad had left, though she understood why he was doing it. Nancy shook her head, before she walked away to see her kids before lights out. Tracy walked up to me, clearly exhausted.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, just tired," she sent a look at Amelia, before looking back at me. "I'm worried about her, she's never been without her dad for a long period of time. Even when he deployed she had her mother around."
"What happened to her mother?"
"Committed suicide a few months ago," Elise said. "Amelia lost her two older brothers near the start of IAAN, and her mother couldn't bear it anymore." I sighed and looked at the girl heartbroken.
"Look, I can put her in my old cabin, some of the girls went through the same thing as her."
"Thank you," Elise said happily.
"No problem," I said with a forced smile.
"Ava?" Tracy asked. Looking at her Amelia for a second before looking at me again. "What are the chances that she actually makes it?"
"You mean survive IAAN?"
"Yeah, with the silvers it makes it easier for her to survive it, right?"
"Honestly Tracy, I have no idea. The kids you came with are the first we've seen without powers in months. I don't even know where to start on making sure she survives, no one does. We don't have any information on it."
"Dang it."
"I know," I said pity running through my veins. "We do have x-ray machines we can use to help us understand it, but I don't know how we can help."
"Thank you. That's all I needed to know."
"No problem. Will you guys be fine here?"
"Yeah," Elise said after sharing a look with Tracy.
"Good," I said and looked over at the girl in question. "Amelia." The girl looked over at me and stopped playing with her soccer ball.
"Yeah?"
"Come on. I'm going to be put you in my old cabin."
"Really?"
"Yeah," I said leaning down in front of her. "Elise told you some of the things you're going through, and some of the girls have gone through the same thing you did. I figured you would like to talk to them."
"Okay," she said, and looked at Tracy and Elise. She waved and they waved back.
"Come on," I said.
"I'm coming," she said and she followed me out of the gate. We walked in silence for a few minutes, before she spoke up.
"I overheard your conversation with my Tracy," Amelia said, throwing me a curve. I looked down at how she survived. "What's IAAN? Everyone seems to know what's going on, but no one wants to explain it to me."
"IAAN stands for Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration. It's a near fatal disease that strikes at random killing ninty eight percent of the affected and leaving survivors with powers. It has no known cure, and no way to know who is going to survive."
"The survivors have powers like the ones you have?"
"One of the seven, or all of them. Why are you asking me instead of your dad, or one of the others you were brought in with?"
"They wouldn't explain it to me. I have a question though."
"What is it?"
"I heard that you could have a microchip in someone which reads the brain and send it somewhere else. Have you heard of it?"
"Yeah, doctors use it to track tumors. What are you getting at?"
"How hard would it be to find one and put it in my neck?" My jaw dropped, and I stopped walking. Amelia stopped walking as well and looked up at me with a serious look on her face.
"Why would you want a microchip in your neck?" I asked after a second of terror.
"I'm going to die anyway, might as well do something with my life. If this information helps others survive IAAN, then why would I pass over the chance of doing it. Plus, it beats being in an x-ray machine for hours at a time each day. It would allow me to play with everyone else, and give you guys an opportunity to study how someone becomes a psi." My stomach seemed to be getting lower and lower with each word she said. I took a deep breath and released it.
"Amelia, if you want to do this, I will support you in every way I can. Not a lot of people are going to like it though."
"You're going to have people criticize you no matter what you do. The question is would you rather have faulty or good information?" I took another deep breath and released it slowly.
"I'll talk with Isabella about getting a microchip in your neck," I said, and her face took on a bright smile.
"Thank you so much," she said and wrapped her arms around my chest.
"No problem, now why don't we go meet everyone?" I asked, and she nodded. I smiled and she followed me to my old cabin. The kids inside were playing around and telling stories, but as soon as we walked in, and everyone saw my face they knew something was wrong.
"Hey," Jackie said, sliding out of her bed. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well Amelia's dad left with Calvin this morning, and she didn't have anyone to stay with her. So I figured it would be a good thing to have her spend some time with kids her age."
"Alright," Jackie said, leaning down to talk with Amelia face to face. "Its nice to meet you Amelia, I'm Jackie. Do you happen to like stories?" Amelia nodded. "Well we do the best stories here. Do you want me to show you your bed?" She nodded again, and grabbed Jackies offered hand. Jackie stood up, and led her to my old bed.
Delta, Elizabeth, and Mirable instantly jumped out of their beds, and walked down the aisle to join me. Delta gave me a look, and I turned around to walk back out the door. The three girls following close behind me, and Mirable shut the door behind her. "What's going on?" Delta asked as soon as the door was locked.
"Her mom committed suicide a few months ago, and her brothers died of IAAN," I said.
"That wouldn't get you this worked up?" Elizabeth said.
"She asked me to put a microchip in her neck. She figures she won't survive IAAN, and she wants to give us information about what happens when some dies of it."
"Oh Ava," Delta said, and threw her arms around my shoulders. I hugged her back, and Elizabeth and Mirable hugged me as well. After a second, they pulled back and Delta smiled at me.
"You know she could change her mind about it?" Delta said.
"I was going to do it. She doesn't want to have to spend a lot of time in the Infirmary," I said.
"Okay. You know she does have a chance to survive?"
"I know, but she doesn't have a good chance," I said, and looked at the sunset in the distance. I wish I had an answer, but I didn't. I wish I could prevent Amelia's death, but I knew deep down that I couldn't do much about it. I looked at my friends, and with a nod towards the cabin. They recognized that I didn't feel like talking anymore, so they walked back into the cabin. I sighed and went back to my small room in the infirmary.