A/N Couldn't post this last night because the Wi-Fi wasn't on, so here it is now! Had to tweak a few of the details about Lakeview to make them fit in with what I had planned, so apologies if there happen to be any die-hard Lakeviewers out there who are extremely offended by that.

It took us a good forty-five minutes to reach Lakeview, so by the time we arrived the town was really starting to get up and about with its day. I don't know how many of you have stolen a car before, but I'll have you know that it's not particularly at its easiest when everyone's on the streets on their way to work and whatnot. The morning rush also meant that we got a lot of strange looks from passersby; it's a pretty small place and I would guess that the folk who live there aren't all that used to seeing a group of unfamiliar, beat-up kids coming down the sidewalk. Thankfully it didn't seem like anyone identified us from our exploits on the news, but I still felt antsy, expecting a shout of recognition at any moment. The only good thing about us having been delayed so much was that it meant some of the shops in town were actually open when we got there. Our first stop was a small coffee shop. There, we collapsed into some chairs, taking up about half the tables in the place. We were silent or pretty much the whole of the next quarter hour; we'd been travelling since just after midnight, having been up for the full day before, and it was now coming up to eight in the morning. No one felt like talking.

After a while, I took a look around at the group and noticed that Star was looking in fairly bad shape again; her shoulder was still strapped up nicely, and she didn't seem to be in any pain, so for a moment I couldn't work out what was wrong. Then I realised that, putting her fairly constant complaining about food aside, she really did have a wicked fast metabolism, and not having eaten after fighting the Erasers probably meant that she was experiencing a pretty massive sugar low at the moment. I stood up, moving over to the counter and digging in my pocket for some change.

'What can I get for you?' asked the server, looking way too perky for my liking.

'One hot chocolate, please. Biggest you've got,' I replied.

'And are you wanting any extra shots in that?'

I frowned, scanning the board behind the counter.

'Um… Okay, basically, my friend's on a sugar low. You got anything good for that?'

She considered the question for a second, then shrugged.

'The hot chocolate should help. I could add a shot of espresso for an extra twenty-five cents if you want? Might not taste brilliant, but it'll give her a boost.'

'Uh, sure.'

'That'll just take a couple of minutes.'

I waited by the counter for the drink, paid, and made my way back to the table, plonking the cup down in front of Star.

She looked up at me, and her eyes seemed distant. I was suddenly aware that she hadn't been complaining about lack of food for the last half hour or so, which spoke volumes for how exhausted she must have been feeling.

'Drink,' I said, leaving no room for argument.

Gazzy looked outraged.

'Hey! How come we-?'

I cut him off with a look, jerking my head towards Star. He took in her appearance, nodding when he understood what I meant.

Star grabbed the cup, her hand shaking just a little, and downed half the drink in one go. It must have burned like nobody's business, but she didn't seem to feel it; her only reaction was to scowl at the mug as if it had insulted her, and then grimace up at me.

'That tastes like crap.'

Ten minutes later we decided it was time to get going. As we were leaving, I had a thought and ran back to the counter again.

'Can you tell me where the nearest city is going south from here?'

The girl thought for a moment.

'There's Redding about two hundred miles from here. Kind of north central California.'

'Nothing further east?'

'Not in Cali.'

I nodded thanks and turned to leave, but her voice made me look back around.

'Reno's only a little way over the eastern border into Nevada, though. Maybe a four and a half hour drive.'

I nodded again, this time more enthusiastically.

'Great, thanks.'

We left the shop, making our way back through the streets to the supermarket we'd seen a couple of blocks back. There, we stocked up on provisions for the next leg of our journey, leaving with our hands full of plastic bags. In the small parking lot outside, I turned to face the rest of the group.

'Okay, guys,' I said. 'Time for us to find a new ride. I just want to make sure that everyone's okay to stay moving, 'cause I don't really think we'll be wanting to hang around too much after stealing someone's car. Our next stop is about four and a half hours away. Think we can make it?'

Everybody looked beat, but they nodded. We were all used to having to keep on the move, even when it felt like we'd been catching time in an industrial-sized clothes dryer. So we made our way out of the parking lot and along the street, looking for a quieter area where we might not be seen hotwiring some random's car. As we moved along the fence that closed off the supermarket's loading bay from the main street, Dylan spoke up:

'There's a white loading van through there. Not being used, just parked at the back of the store.'

I looked at the fence, trying to see the van for myself, but there weren't any gaps between the slats of wood for me to peer through.

'How do you know that?' Holden asked, clearly thinking along the same lines as me.

Dylan shrugged one shoulder, looking slightly self-conscious.

'Sometimes I can see things. Through other things, through time, in other places… I don't really know how it works. But there's a van on the other side of that fence.'

Ratchet gave a low whistle.

'Cool, man. I get it. I mean, I can see all the pores and the resin canals and junk in those planks. I can see the ants over there-' He pointed to a patch of yellowed grass in front of a house across the road. '-and I can see a mouse running underneath that bush.' He pointed to the top of the hill that stuck up from the other side of the supermarket. I couldn't even see the bush he was talking about. 'But seeing right through shit? That's sick.'

'Okay, so we know what our target is,' I said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand. 'Now we just need to reach it.'

Taking a quick glance around, I reached up to grip the top of the fence, bracing my foot against the wood and boosting myself up. Dropping down the other side, I glared at the splinters in my hands. How normal, all-human criminals deal with not having wings, I have no clue.

I moved quickly around the loading bay, sticking to the edges of the space, keeping a constant watch around me for anyone nearby. When I was about halfway around the perimeter of the fence, the door into the back-end of the store opened and two people walked out. Ducking behind a couple of those industrial waste containers, I strained to listen to their conversation.

'So that's everything unloaded?' The sound of van doors opening accompanied the words.

'Yep, all done. Think we can catch a coffee break before we get back to the warehouse?'

'Don't see why not. Our next delivery isn't due to leave until the afternoon.'

Two sets of footsteps echoed across the loading bay, growing quieter as the men headed for the street, leaving the van unlocked behind them. Great, all the easier for me. Risking a look out from behind the containers, I waited until they were out of sight before racing straight across the space between me and the van. Yanking to door open on the driver's side, I threw myself in before closing door behind me; hopefully anyone looking out of a window or something wouldn't see me hunched in front of the dash, unclipping the access cover and pulling stuff out from underneath the steering wheel. After a few minutes of locating the right wires, I eventually managed to get the van started.

Now, the problem with hotwiring a car the way I did it (ie. the quick way you use when you don't want to get caught fiddling around under the hood) is that if you stall, you've got to go through the whole process again. So driving the van out of the loading bay and around to where the rest of the group waited was a fairly tense experience, what with me not being the most, ahem, accomplished driver in the world; the last thing I needed was to stall in the middle of the parking lot and be seen rewiring my stolen vehicle by a bunch of morning shoppers.

But the god of felonies must have been watching over me at that moment, because somehow I managed to get the van out of the bay and around the corner without so much as a sputter from the engine. Pulling up beside the group, I wound the window down and leaned my elbow against the frame.

'You kids in need of a ride?' I joked, getting a bunch of rolling eyes and shaking heads in response. Jumping out of the van, I left the door open for Kate, who pulled a face.

'Can someone else take it this time? I drove for about six hours back there, I could do with a rest from it.'

Ratchet leapt forwards.

'Allow me,' he boomed, climbing up into the driver's seat. 'It's been too long since I've driven outside the law.'

Kate blinked, her face forming a comical, exaggerated expression of fear. I got the feeling she was only half-joking.

Then we were on our way, leaving Lakeview behind as we continued south.

About two hours into the journey, as we flew over what looked like middle of nowhere, Iggy's voice suddenly sounded to my right.

'Damn.'

'What's up?' I asked.

His nose wrinkled.

'I need to pee.'

Gazzy spluttered, and then we were all laughing, the sound trailing out behind us as we carried on through the sky.

The young man walked through the corridor, his hands playing nervously with his tie as he neared his destination. He'd only been promoted last month, and this would be his first time meeting his boss, the leader of the whole organisation. Terrifying stories had reached him about the General, whispered around the lunch hall, obviously intended to reach him; whenever someone's first encounter was near, everyone seemed to hear about it. He'd heard all sorts of things, some of them more farfetched than others. Then again, working in this place really made you think twice about what was possible; any of the things he'd heard could be true.

When he had been sent to give the latest updates to the General, he'd been given a strict list of instructions: arrive no earlier than two, no later than ten past; don't knock; speak quickly and keep the initial briefing to the point – if she asks for more information afterwards, give it to her; don't hang around.

Reaching the door, he took a deep breath, checked his watch one last time – 14:06 – and pushed it open.

The office was large, and warmer than he'd expected. It was smart, professional, but at the same time very different from the white walls and floors he was used to; the desk was made of a dark wood instead of metal, and a picture of two girls sat next to the high-tech computer in front of the General. A huge screen covered the left-hand wall of the room, showing a satellite-streamed map of the west coast with ten small yellow dots moving slowly southwards.

The General's fingers moved quickly across the keys of the computer, and she didn't bother looking up at him when she spoke.

'Update.' It wasn't a question.

The man cleared his throat, praying he wouldn't stammer.

'The group's obs have shown a positive incline over the last hour, presenting an increase in energy levels after the drop following the confrontation. Subject 77.9 in particular suffered a dramatic fall in glucose levels and heart rate, but a rise was detected beginning at 0755 hours. No other changes of note.'

'Good.'

He let out a quiet sigh of relief, turning towards the door, but was stopped by the General's voice sounding again.

'I would like to stress the importance once again of keeping the Erasers in check.' The man turned around, looking back at the desk. The General's head had lifted, facing him dead on. 'I have not yet concluded why the subjects decided to make a move towards us, but we aren't going to hinder their journey. Everyone in your department is lucky they were called off before any lasting damage could be done.' She turned to look at the map on the wall, watching the crawling progress of the yellow dots. 'It was getting towards the time to bring them in anyway. There's no harm in things happening a little faster than anticipated.'

Looking back at the young man, Valencia Martinez smiled benevolently, and for a moment he saw her the way the flock must have. Then she spoke, and the utter calmness in her voice was terrifying.

'I think it's time for all of this child's play to end.'

A/N *legasp* Dr Martinez is evil! Or is she? I don't know. Actually, I do - I'm writing it. But YOU don't. Muahaha. :P Hopefully I'll have chapter 12 up by tonight, so long as the Wi-Fi stays on. Review!