We all sat at the table drinking hot tea made from leaves that Oscar had put in the duffle bag. The warm bitter taste felt good in my mouth. They had all talked me into treating myself because I deserved a little comfort and relaxation after the shit we had done. I even put the secrecy they were hiding from me up over my head and let it go. There was no point in arguing or being pissed over something that was greater than me. I watched Morgan eye the chrome colored drive in his hand like it was a diamond plucked from the safari.

Trinity and Eve continued talking about the lab and how I managed to get to the other side from the falling floors like I was some sort of ninja. On top of the fact, we jumped off a two-story roof; I still can't believe I did that.

"We need to celebrate," Morgan said with glee as he playfully smacked the table. Rising up from his chair, we watched the excited man go into one of the cabinets above the stove and pull out some sort of wrapping. When he sat back down, I immediately knew what he had in hand. Small blue words that read Pop tart were printed across the metallic looking wrapper.

"Been saving this for a rainy day," Morgan said, opening the package.

"Man, it must be super stale by now, don't you think?" Eve chimed in her opinion.

"Most definitely," he said as he took a sniff at the blue coated icing snack.

My mouth watered at the sight of the delicious dessert. Morgan broke a peace off for each of us. Looking down at my portion, I couldn't help but think of Jenny and how awesome this would be, to share with her what I had as a kid. I don't even think she's had one of these before. Not bothering to change my mind, I grabbed the duffle bag and placed my portion in the open side pocket, saving it for my Little Mermaid.

Looking back at the group, all I could see were smiles displayed across all their faces. "What?" I asked. "It's for Jenny. She's never had one before."

Morgan snapped off another piece and placed it in front of me. Before I had a chance to give it back he put his hand over it and shook his head. "Enjoy it warrior, you deserve it."

I smiled and took the Pop tart, placing it to my lips. Before getting the urge to take a bite I sank my nose to it and got a long whiff. The smell of sweet blueberries entered my senses and I couldn't help but take a bite. The flavor of the dry stale pastry mixed with blueberry jam ignited my taste buds.

Looking up at the three, they were all enjoying theirs as well. Smiles and laughter echoed out of filled mouths. This was a successfully good night.

Before I could register what was going on behind Morgan at the pantry door were the tunnel led, someone extended their arm out of it and threw some sort of device onto the floor right next to us. Morgan grabbed Trinity and pushed the whole table sideways, shielding us from the loud explosion that blew out my ears.

Smoke filled the entire room as if it was on fire. Flashes of blue-red light went every direction. I lay there on the floor in a daze. Trying to force my body to get up, I looked over at Trinity had been knocked out unconscious. Morgan gasped for air trying to wake her up. Rankers started swarming in like ants.

Before I had enough time to register what was happening, Morgan and I locked eyes. He slid the drive my way before the men picked him up and carried him over to the exit on the South side. Soon they took Eve too, who thrashed in their hands with all her might. Next, was Trinity. I had to think of something before they got to me. Looking around the room, I could see a vent so I crawled my way to it, dropping the flashdrive inside.

Multiple hands grabbed ahold of me and dragged me up to the ladder and into the abandoned shack. I couldn't tell if Eve was laughing or screaming. She was way up in front of me and already out the door. I soon found out what all the fuss was about. A couple of men screamed in pain as I watched bear traps clamping over their feet. Dark warm blood oozed out and it flowed even more as some of the others tried to set them free.

The others were knelt down with a gun at their heads and Trinity finally woke up close to a Rankers foot. I looked to see if any of them were seriously injured. Small scrapes and cuts appeared on their faces, with tinted smoke and debris mixed in with bits of blood. Before I had a chance to find my footing, the Ranker who held my arm threw me to the ground, hitting the rubble surface hard. I moaned in pain from one of the sharp rocks cutting deep into my shin.

"We have them!" One of the men said over a walkie-talkie.

"Bring them to the Center Hall," the other end said and then cut out.

Getting my bearings in order, I tried lifting myself up off the ground.

"Alright, let's get them to the Center Hall, pronto!"

Taking my arm yet again, the Rankers grabbed me up, only this time it was both arms with a Ranker on each.

The armored men caused a huge scene on our side, which caused some of our people to peer out and take a closer look at what was going on. It felt like a parade as more stiffs stepped outside their homes watching in horror the scene that was unfolding before their eyes. Seeing the Boys and Girls Shelter, I prayed Jenny was still asleep and not a witness to what was happening.

My eyes landed upon Spencer and a few others from the shelter. They stood at the front door in pure shock. They watched us being dragged further along toward the destination, passing them and all the rest.

I soon watched Spencer try to make his way past some of the Rankers to get to me. "What the hell is going on?! You can't do this!"

"Spencer! Don't!" I pleaded as I looked him in the eyes, praying that he wouldn't do anything that would get him in the same predicament I was already in.

With our eyes locked in with one another, I could see the expression on his face change in the buildup to anger. He forced himself to back away from the situation but continued to follow close behind like all the other Stiffs were doing.

Entering the dome, the place was already lit up for us with floodlights. And right smack in the middle was indeed Sergeant Cooper and that awful buzz cut he continued to wear. The men threw me to my knees next to the other three. More than a dozen Rankers surrounded us, forming a barricade that kept us away from our friends.

"Let's see... what do we have here?" Cooper said, getting a closer look at us. "Well, I'll be damned. Is that you Dr. Jones?" he asked, looking over at the frail Trinity. "Along with one of the first cured... Interesting." Eyeing the pissed off expression on Morgan's face, he put his hand to his chin in thought.

"You two?" he said, pointing at the couple. "Have you two caused all this fuss?" He belly laughed. "A sad, bored scientist and her pet Stiff?!" His belly laugh continued, quite amused with himself.

The next thing the man did is walk over to me and Eve, narrowing his fierce eyes just at me. "Looks like one of you forgot something," he said, pulling out the sweatband that I had completely forgotten about.

I tried not to give anything away by not breaking my silence but I was afraid of what he would do, not only to me but to the others. I have a feeling he's one of those types who hates to lose.

Bending down right in my face, I kept myself calm and collected so that I wouldn't just sucker punch him right in that big jaw of his. "Where the fuck is the flashdrive at?" he whispered loudly, making my eyes water from his stale cigarette smoke-coated breath.

"Sergeant," a skinny Ranker boy with dark curls said from behind.

Cooper looked over his shoulder. "What?"

The boy dropped my duffle bag that was full of our food. Walking over, Sergeant Cooper opened the bag and smiled. "Look what we have here." He turned the bag upside down and out came all the goods that were meant for us.

His words drowned in silence as I watched the piece of Pop tart I was saving for Jenny fall to the ground. The man continued to rant his vicious words and unknowingly stepped on the one treat I knew would give Jenny a piece of what I had growing up. It was smashed beneath his boot like the cockroaches we were in his eyes. This is never going to end; we are never going to get the freedom we deserve if we don't do something. I've had enough. My sadness turned to fury as it slowly rose up. My preyful eyes met his.

"You want these low-life degenerates to take your food that you work so hard to give to your families!" Sergeant Cooper said meeting me forward.

He tilted his head as if amused by me. As if I wasn't going to do anything. But that is where he was wrong.

Giving a high kick right in the stomach of the Ranker who was next to me, I ran forward to Cooper and tackled him to the ground. Debris flew in our faces, but I didn't care. I knew where his face was. I closed my fist and started to wail on him.

Before I knew what was happening everyone joined in the fight. Rankers and Stiffs collided, making everything chaotic. Guns were going off and dirt was kicking up.

Seeing red on his nose, it brought satisfaction as I watched him bleed his own blood. But I couldn't enjoy it long enough. His body shifted below me causing me to lose my balance. My back hit the hard floor as I gasped for air. Trying to get up, his heavy body crawled on top of mine and tried choking me.

His hands continued wrapping tighter around my throat as I clashed my legs around trying to find some sort of leverage. His grip tightened on my breathing tube as I quickly started to go in and out of consciousness. Gliding my hand around for anything solid, my fingers grabbed ahold of a medium-sized rock. Slamming it to his temple, he released his grip and I coughed trying to take in air.

Catching my breath, I tried to hit him again with the rock but someone pulled my hands away. Trying to get out of the hold, I watched the evil snarling man get back up on his feet getting ready to kick me.

I braced for the blow but nothing came. Instead, I saw Spencer sideline him to the ground. Twisting my arm loose from the Ranker's hold, I gave a hard sidekick, sending him a few feet away. I looked at my hands, astonished by the strength that was growing inside me.

The fighting started to die down as a loud gunshot took off in the air causing us all to look in the direction of more Rankers wearing different colored armor huddled around a man holding the gun. "Everyone calm down. I am your leader. This is ending now."

My eyes looked over at a breathless but sweaty Spencer who saw where I was and headed my direction. Trying to find the others, I spotted Eve getting off of someone she had pinned on the ground and backed away. Looking over at the unknown man, this was the first opportunity seeing the leader, and if he was any kind of leader he sure as shit wasn't doing a good job.

After the fight simmered down, we all separated and went our own ways. They went toward the North and we went South. The next day Mark and his team, along with his son Emeric, who I've come to know from Morgan, brought food and supplies as a peace offering. It was a kind gesture but the thought didn't last when they offered a proposition for us. They would veto all vacancies for now including the checkups and therapy sessions for all Stiffs. But only if those of us on the list they had, go on a mission to extract a unit that had been MIA.

I was on that list, including Spencer and Eve. Three other Stiffs I never met were also on it. What I realized is that the six of us were the strongest in the bunch.

We had to take some time to think about it as the list of chosen ones, including Julet, the cook, Trinity, Brooke, Morgan, and a few others who wanted to hear the plans we had. We all sat down at one of the cafeteria tables with a couple of candles at the center secretly discussing what we were going to do next. Huddled next to Spencer, we looked towards Morgan who spoke about subject 101 and the fact that he was one of the first to be cured. Spencer held on tight to me as he listened to this information for the first time along with many others.

"I know Mark and so does Trinity," Morgan said as he looked over to his wife and then back to the circle of allies. "His intentions are good but I think he's too tied up with the past and what happened to Helen. It won't last, we'll go right back to being test subjects."

"We'll old man? You've been in hiding; you don't know what the hell we go through," a tall brawny man said from the corner.

"He's the one that's been providing the food, not the Luckies." I veered in. "I agree I don't think it's going to last. We'll be right back to where we started if we don't do something," I said.

If you would have asked me from the beginning, I would have told you that I wanted no part of the rebellion, but now I seen full well what we can all be united.

"But they have weapons including a firearm; I mean, we're not bulletproof," The cook said crossing his arms.

He was right. We had no shields or gun power and I was thankful that no one got shot during the fight but we had abilities like no other. "You all have been lied too," I said, looking at the cook and then all the others. "That poison they injected us with masks our truest self. We are all capable of so much. Don't be afraid of them. We are stronger together."

I looked at Morgan who gave a proud nod.

"And what of this Cooper guy?" Spencer questioned. "He still had his bit of power and his black ops Rankers."

Even though Mark stopped the checkups and tests, who knew what Cooper was doing behind closed doors. He is the biggest problem of all.

"Leave that to me," Trinity said. Her hair was completely out of her face and in a ponytail, showing her prominent and beautiful chocolate complexion. "I've been talking to a couple of colleagues who are on our side. I think I can possibly get back into the science building and keep a close eye on Cooper and all the other scientists."

"You expect us to trust a Lucky to have our backs?" the brawny man asked.

"We expect us all to be together on this. It will only falter if we divide. You have to see that," Morgan said, eyeing the questionable man.

Chatter started erupting between all the Stiffs who were arguing amongst one another on what steps to take next.

Watching from the corner, I saw Lucas and Justin, one of the chosen on the list, enter the room and come towards Morgan and me. He crouched down in between us. "We didn't find the drive," Lucas said.

"Are you sure? Did you look inside the vent?" I said.

"Positive. We checked everywhere."

Lucas and Justin sat down at the table. I tried remembering what happened during the raid but I was almost certain I dropped it inside there. Morgan placed his hand on my back when he noticed I was too much in thought about it.

"We'll find another way to get the evidence," Morgan said reassuring me, but I couldn't stop thinking about who might have already swooped it up before we did. We were back to square one. There was only one way to go about it now.

"We should go on that mission," I said, silencing everyone from my statement.

"Leona, it's too risky," Spencer said. His icy blues stared deep into my heart.

"We have too!" I said, taking my eyes off him and looking to the group. "It will take a lot of heat off our backs and show them we are cooperating. Either way, they'll force it on us if we don't. Besides, it will stop the vaccines and testing." I soon thought of Jenny who wouldn't have to go through that again.

"Do we all have an agreement?" Morgan announced after a long pause, making sure everyone took in what I said.

Everyone nodded and approved the plan and soon we all dispersed back to our homes and beds. All who remained was Spencer, me, Morgan and Trinity.

Saying my goodnights to the couple, Morgan took my hand and smiled along with Trinity who was closely nestled by her husband's side. "We are not one, but all," he said.

"We are not one, but all," I repeated. The words stayed close to my heart as it showed truly what it's like to join together as one.

Leaving the table with Spencer, he walked me the little ways to my side of the girls' bedroom and stopped us. Facing me forward, he glided his hand over my cheek and leaned in. The kiss felt soft and warm as our lips collided making my body feel electrified in a euphoric way.

Lying in my bed, I couldn't help but think of the moment we had together that lingered on my lips. I turned to my side and watched my beautiful Little Mermaid sleep peacefully in her new quilted blanket donated by one of the Luckies. The road ahead started to be clearer as far as where our future was heading. Cooper was still in the back of my mind, but he or anyone else who gets in my way won't get an easy ride from me—not anymore. The taste of freedom was still miles away but I was closer than ever before.