I woke up in the middle of the night, and couldn't go back to sleep. I quietly got dressed and left the drom, listening to the other Echo members' breathing as I left.

I quietly walked through the cafeteria and heads towards the Training room. I stopped after I found the shooting range and silently pulled open the glass door.

On my right there was a wall of compound bows in all different sizes, each one painted - you guessed it - orange.

I pulled one off the wall that was close to the one I used at the school. I found a barrel of arrows in each booth and pulled one with a green shaft and red tip out.

I notched it, thinking of how much faster Lukkas did it. I steadily pulled the string back, ceasing my breath and focusing on the target about a hundred yards away. I peered down the shaft, and straightened my pointer and middle finehrs, letting the string snap back into place, slinging the arrow into the target.

I dropped the bow to waist level, seeing that my arrow struck a door away from the middle, left and up.

As I angrily pulled another arrow out I heard a clicking noise behind me.

I whirled around, seeing someone standing just inside the door.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." he said, looking up towards my face.

It was Gib. I noticed how green his eyes looked in the dark. It scared me and reminded me of Ross's eyes, but lighter. They contrasted deeply with his light brown hair that hung in curls to his ears.

"You didn't scare me. I just didn't want to get in trouble." I explained.

His mouth twitched into a smile. "So you're scared of being in trouble?"

"Yeah." I said shortly, turning back to the range.

"Where are the bows?" he asked bluntly. He pointed to the right hand wall, then replaced my hand on the bow.

"Hello? Rain?" he asked.

"Want me to grab one for you?" I asked, turning around again.

He grinned. "How kind of you."

I walked to the wall, glancing back at him to gauge his arm size. I pulled a bow off the wall that was slightly larger than my own.

"Here," I said, handing it to him. He took it and strode to the booths next to me.

I watched him grab an arrow and steady himself against the rail and edge of the window before releasing.

His arrow flew a little to the right of its target.

"How did I do?" he asked.

"Whatever." I said, heaving my own bow up and walking back to my booth.

This time my arrow stuck in the middle with a quiet "whoosh".

"Nice." he murmered, not looking to see where it hit.

We continued shooting arrows, until my barrel was empty and I asked Gib to stop shooting.

We walked down the range, even though Gib had a few more arrows to shoot. We yanked them out and carried them back, holding them under each arm.

As we started unloading the ammo back into the barrels the rest of group Echo walked in.

"There you guys are." Lukkas said, walking towards us. "How long have you been shooting?"

"Maybe half an hour." I responded. "I woke up and was bored." I said with a shrug.

"Why did you go?" Lukkas said in a weird tone, turning to Gib.

"I heard a noise, and woke up. I wanted to make sure she was okay." Gib replied, not meeting his eyes.

"And... Nothing happened?" Lukkas' face flushed with the color of embarrassment.

"Nothing happened." I repeated, clarifying for him.

Lukkas nodded, glancing back at Gib. Was Lukkas really that untrusting? I mean, I'm not the one who breaks the law. Well... Not recently anyways.

"Come on everyone!" Zoe cheered. "It time to see how fast you can run five miles!"

We all groaned, following Zoe to breakfast.

I sat down with my tray, noticing the cans looked different then normal. Each one had a small screen in the side.

"Hey Zoe, what's this for?" Sky askes, noticing the same thing.

"It's a new technology! Take out your Takers and write your name on it! It will create a customized meal just for you!" She replied, pulling her own Taker out.

I grabbed mine from my pocket and tapped the screen on the Cann. I then wrote my name on the table, glancing up every now and then to see my name spelled out - Rainia J. Thomas.

The edges of the panel flashed green twice, then the can popped open on itself.

"Fancy-Shmancy." Chad laughed, wiggling his eyebrows.

Out popped a baguette, like the one Zoe had yesterday. I quickly opened another and. Zuccini and ear of corn popped out.

After I finished we all got up and headed outside to the area we used yesterday for that weird "stand up as a group because that will defiantly come in handy" thing.

Outside, cones had been set up in two rows to create a track. They two rows of cones were spaced almost a hundred and fifty feet apart.

Everyone lined up at the start, some crouching down, some standing with fists cleanched.

"This race will be used to determine your starting speed for this training course." announced a loud voice to my left. "It is not important that you come first."

Not important if you want to let your awesome group leader down.

"Go!" he yelled without warning, and after a seconds hesistation, I took off.

I used to run a mile in school, but this was five miles. I knew that I could run a mile in ten twenty, so I should come in at about and hour if I weighed in exhaustion.

People were still running past me when we went around the first bend. I weaved through them, exerting a little more energy to get to an uncrowded area in front of me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder after about seven minutes.

"Wanna race?" Lukkas asked with a grin.

I nodded, saving my energy. Every bit counts. I then watched him Sprint away from me.

All I had to do now was keep Lukkas right in front of me, then at the end, sprint ahead of him. Easy, right?

After a while, Sky passed me.

"Steady pace keep it up." I heard her mutter under her breath.

I listened and picked up my speed a little, even though my legs wanted to fall off - don't get me started on whatever my lungs were doing.

The edges of my vision started to get blurry and I lost track of time. It felt like the finish should be right under my feet, if not, twenty behind.

I took several deep breaths and kept myself right behind Lukkas.

I finally spotted the finish, and started taking deep breaths of air for my big sprint at the end. I fell a few feet behind Lukkas.

I waited for the right time, and when the track cleared into a straight off, I burnt rubber (whatever that means) and whizzed by Lukkas.

I passed the finish a full stride ahead of him. We tumbled to the ground together, laughing hysterically.

He rolled off me and stood, pulling me to my feet.

"Lukkas and Rain!" Zoe cheered. "You two came 71st and 72nd! Way to go! Holly and Sky are waiting just over there by the water."

"Thanks Zoe." I panted, breathing heavily.

Lukkas turned towards me. "You won. Well fu- I mean, maybe next time."

"Lukkas!" I said, pulling him aside. " You can't say things like that. "

"Do you think they do?" he asked.

"What?"

"Them." he gestured to the Gates. "The Disruptors. Do you think they swear?"

"I dont know. I've never met a Disruptor."

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Chad said coming up behind Lukkas and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"The race." Lukkas responded nonchalantly. Maybe he was good at lying.

"How'd you guys place?" he asked.

"71st." I replied .

"72nd." Lukkas rolled his eyes.

"Aww man. I was all the way up at a hundred and fourth. Guess these muscles aren't build for running." he said, pulling back a sleeve.

"Wow." Lukkas said with an exaggerated squint. "I think I actually see something."

I laughed, even though Chad had a decent amount of muscle. He was average height with red messy hair that reminded me of Quinn without the freckles.

"Hey guys!" said a chipper voice who I assumed was Zoe's. "Let's go check the rankings!"

We headed over to the rankings, which were right outside the Training Room.

"Here we are!" Zoe said, excited. "Guys! We're in eleventh!"

We all cheered, high fiving, when we were suddenly pushed out of the way. We turned and saw a group of six, their shirts labeled with and 'F'.

"First place, no way!" cheered the one in front. They turned to face us, and a stout man stepped out from behind them.

"Well, if it isnt the leader of Echo." he sneered.

"Michael." Zoe said frowning. "It's been a while since you actually ranked higher than me."

"Is that so? Well let's try not to let our little wager get in the way of our blooming relationship." he grinned, revealing perfect teeth.

"Oh trust me I won't." Zoe laughed as he lead his group away.

"Who was that?" Sky questioned.

"Michael, he's been in charge of Foxtrot as long as I've been in charge of Echo. He sure is something."

"Bad something or good something?" Chad joked grinning.

"Both." she replied, moving down the hall way.

"Wonder what that was about." Lukkas whispered next to me as we walked.

I simply shrugged in response, looking up at Lukkas.

I took note of every little feature. His whitish blonde hair and tan skin. The way his nose didnt line up with his chin. His huge ears and eyes that didn't stop blinking.

Steel blue eyes. The ones that reminded me of Hudson.

The eyes that I broke.

Again, cliche but again, nothing you can do. Unless you knew a few shady people who got that dirt on me and are planning to blackmail me until I fix my writing - nothing you can do. And now, you have a good way to do it. You're welcome.

Speaking of blackmail, I found out about this really interesting thing today. I mean, I'm not going to use it as blackmail, but it's there if someone needs a little persuasion, or I need an inside man.

Also, no need to repeat any of that to anyone. Ever. Or else your secrets are- you know what why don't we step away from illegal topics.

For ever. They are illegal.