Samara pulled into the car park and we all but dived out of the car to catch the train. We ran to tag on and sped down the stairs as fast as we could, watching as the train opened its doors. I thought that there was no chance of us making it, but by some miracle we got on just in the nick of time.

I grabbed onto one of the yellow poles and held onto it and watched as Zak stumbled when the train started to move. I was glad I'd made it to the pole, if I hadn't, I can guarantee you, I would've gone flying. Some people learnt to walk at two, others learnt at fifteen.

"Talk about a close call," Zak panted. "I thought I was gonna leave my legs behind."

I chuckled lightly as I slowed my breathing. "Sorry, you won't be getting a pegleg any time soon."

"Bummer," Zak joked, "I was really looking forward to that."

I chuckled and shook my head. The train ride was long and boring. The train would go for a few minutes, stop to drop people off and pick them up, and then be off again. Nothing too special really. It was also mildly uncomfortable with the switchblade in my shoe and the train getting gradually more and more cramped.

But what surprised me was how few students from Nangidon I could see. In fact, it seemed like Zak, and I were the only ones wearing Nangidon uniforms. I could see uniforms with white, but they were usually paired with navi or green. But no one else was wearing white with gold. It was almost eerie how no Nangidon students were on the train.

I pushed the thought aside as the train pulled into the Perth train station. Zak and I got off, following the crowd as we switched trains. We needed to get to South Perth, which would require a bus ride. It would only be a few minutes, but it was better than walking through the crowded city with no knowledge of where the Hell we are. I may have grown up in Dalkeith, but that didn't mean I could navigate a city.

"What do you think this whole experience will be like?" Zak asked. "Do you think it'll actually be educational, or relate to what we're learning?"

"Samara said that we were looking at mutations in viruses," I replied. "I figured that was what we would be doing."

"Okay you have a point," Zak groaned. "This is just gonna be so boring. Why couldn't we go to Sci-Tech or something?"

"Do they have a new exhibit for what we're learning?" I asked.

"Well, no," Zak looked down as we reached the platform, "but it would be way more fun. Plus, I've never gotten to see the planetarium."

I rolled my eyes. "You didn't miss out on much," I replied. "After a few minutes I felt like vomiting."

"Yes, well you have a delicate stomach," Zak crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, "I don't."

"It also just drawled on and on about these machines we sent out into space," I shook my head. "Like we haven't destroyed our planet enough, we need to litter on other planets as well."

Zak groaned. "You take the fun out of any human advancement," he glared at me. "Aren't you even a little interested in extra-terrestrial life?"

I shook my head. "I couldn't care less about what some other beings on a different planet are doing," I admitted. "Doesn't really affect us, does it?"

Zak shook his head at me. I knew my opinion on space expeditions was quite different to that of most people. Personally, I just don't understand how we're allowed to make all these movies about aliens coming to Earth to take over, and then try to do the exact same thing to another planet. And in all honesty, I really don't care what's going on with these other beings. If it has no effect on our lives or the lives of our future generations then what does it matter?

Astronomy was also way too difficult for me to understand. Things like biology, botany, and earth sciences were just a lot easier to grasp. And Ms Standan at Sacredooka seemed to think it was great that I took an interest in the subjects she specialised in. I mean, astronomy was all about stars and the formation of the universe, but the three sciences I preferred were a lot more tangible.

I could remember Ms Standan had seemed to like me just as much as I liked her. She liked me more than the eshay's at least. And, unfortunately, there were a lot of eshay's in my old class. She just understood how to teach me a lot better than any of the other teachers, most of which never bothered to teach such a 'problem child' as I had been labelled. But she seemed to care more about why I did something than what I actually did.

Triston had also loved her. She was one of his favourite teachers in the whole school. Addison hadn't shared our opinion of her, saying she was playing favourites. I guess she was to a degree, but it wasn't our fault we were the best-behaved kids in the class. Addison hadn't been particularly misbehaving, but she tended to give up if she didn't get something on the first try.

"Earth to Flora," Zak clicked his fingers in front of my face. "The bus is gonna be here in a few minutes. Prepare for the stampede."

I chuckled at his words. I could hear the vague hum of a bus screeching to a halt. It would open the doors in about a minute. I turned my head and saw the bus coming towards us, the shrieking of the brakes getting louder as it neared. The bus halted with a loud screech and the doors opened. Zak and I stood back, letting the people on board get off before we got on.

Eventually the crowd dissipated, and we hopped on board, happy to see that it wasn't as crowded as the train to get there. I took a seat and Zak followed me. We wouldn't be on the bus for long, we just needed to get to South Perth. It was the nearby stop and we sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before we saw the bus stop swimming into view.

I got up and went to the doors, pressing the button so that they'd open when it stopped. The bus did and I got off, pressing my smartrider to the scanner thing I don't know the name for. We left the stop and waited on the footpath on the side of the road.

"How on Earth are we supposed to find this building?" Zak asked.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my phone out.

"Flo, you do realise those things are illegal during school hours," Zak crossed his arms.

"We're on an excursion," I shook my head as I pulled up a map. "Besides, it's not like they can arrest us for trying to find our way around this maze."

Zak sighed out in annoyance but didn't stop me. I looked at the directions and found that the quickest route took around five minutes when walking.

"Alright, follow me," I nodded my head and Zak followed me.

It wasn't quite as large and crowded as the inner city, but it was still decently populated. My guess was that most people were just making their daily commute to work. People dressed in work clothes, some in less formal clothing, and a few dressed for what was definitely an interview. Of course, a handful looked way too casual, and I doubted they'd be getting the job they were applying for.

Zak blabbered on about how much he was going to hate this, but I became acutely aware of the people around us. As I said, everyone was dressed for work or interviews. No one was dressed for a school excursion. No one looked young enough to be a school student. It didn't seem right that we were the only two students to hand in their notes and show up. Not right at all.

Zak and I reached a large building labelled as the Clark Corporation. It was surprisingly vacant on the front lawn, and I could see through the windows that only around three people were in the front entrance. Something seemed off. Why weren't there any school students around? Had we gotten the date wrong? I didn't think so.

But my nerves were settled as soon as I saw him. Mr Farsnic. My Science teacher was a bulky man with brown hair, scruffy facial hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. He struck me at first to someone I'd see teaching Phys Ed at Sacredooka. I'd never seen any physically fit people teaching any other classes at least.

Mr Farsnic quickly ran towards us and stopped in front of us with his usual grin.

"Hello Flora, Zak," he greeted. "We best get inside before the Earth spins. We're going through the back entrance."

"Um, why is no one else here?" I asked just as he left.

He smiled. "Everyone else is already out back," he waved us forward as he began walking. "Come on! Before the grass grows!"

Zak and I sped after him. I looked at the building, noticing it in closer detail than before. It was a tall building made almost entirely of windows, but colourful metals with holes in them wrapped around the buildings. It reminded me of the Science building at ECU. And when we walked in between the two buildings, our footsteps echoed all around us.

"I don't like this," Zak said. "This is the most ridiculous excursion. Sure, it's relevant with corona, but you're looking at genetic mutations and I'm looking at cell structure and function. It just doesn't make sense."

"Would you relax?" I replied. "They said we were looking at how viruses can mutate. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Well then why am I here?" He asked with a serious look on his face. "And why are we staying here for a whole five days? Surely you only need one day to explain that to a class that's actually learning that kind of thing?"

I bit my lip and glanced at Mr Farsnic. He was a jolly fellow with a smile on his face all hours of the day. And Irason, while very strict and loud, was also known to make a few jokes here and there. Granted, they were science jokes and god awful, but it was still humorous, nonetheless. Why was Zak trying to pick this apart to be such a bad thing? Was he just annoyed at having a lot of catch-up work?

I shook my head at the thought. Zak loved any excuse to miss school. If he had a cough, he'd claim life-threatening disease just so that he didn't have to go. Zak's reaction to it didn't make sense. He should've been bounding with joy!

"Did you ask Ciara if she was coming?" Zak blurted out in a hushed voice.

"Excuse me?" I looked at him with a confused expression.

"It's a yes or no question Flora!" He hissed. "Did you ask Ciara if she was coming?"

I shook my head. "I figured she would mention if she wasn't."

"That's exactly it," Zak's voice held a hint of urgency. "She would have mentioned it. Hell, she loves excursions just as much as the next person, and she would have asked us if we were coming."

"So?" I wasn't following.

"So, why didn't she?" Zak raised his eyebrows as though the answer was obvious.

"Because she forgot?" I answered, still very confused as to what the big deal was.

"No Flora!" He hissed in annoyance. "She didn't know about it! And if she didn't know about it, that means she wasn't invited. But, according to the note, it's an excursion for the whole year group."

And the realisation hit me like a rock. We were the only two students invited. And there was only one reason I could think of that made us so special. Me. My dreams. My healing abilities. It was all me. I couldn't think of why. They were a pharmaceutical company. What would they want with a freak like me?

I slowly began to piece it all together. My healing abilities. Their miracle cure. I was the miracle cure.

How did they find out!? I screamed at myself. I had been so careful! I made sure to leave no evidence behind! I made sure no one would figure out what I was! Hell! I wasn't even sure if I was human anymore! But these strangers wanted me for their cure. There was no other explanation I could think of. Nothing that made sense.

My mind was swimming. I looked up and saw that we had reached our destination. And, surprise, surprise, we were the only kids there.

"What do you want with us!?" Zak called out to Mr Farsnic.

Farsnic simply turned and smiled. "They must have taken the others inside already. How about we–"

"No!" Zak exclaimed. "You are telling us the truth! Why are we the only kids here!?"

Mr Farsnic looked at me and all of my theories were solidified. They wanted me.

"You need to come inside if you don't want to miss the introduction," he persisted with his lies. "Besides, the buildings a maze if you don't have someone to guide you."

"You son of a–" Zak was interrupted by a slamming door.

A very familiar woman came out. She had brown hair tied back in a ponytail, fair skin, and blue eyes. I had seen her from somewhere. I knew her from somewhere. But I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

"Good," she said in a high-pitched voice, "you found any stragglers. Well, the rest of your classmates are inside. So, we best get a move on."

"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me the truth!" Zak proclaimed. "So, get to it!"

The woman sighed. "Sweetie, I think you've been watching too many sci-fi movies."

"Bullshit!" He screamed. "No one else is here! It's only us! So, I will ask one more time. What is going on!?"

"Look, my son is the same," she said, fidgeting. What Zak was doing was getting to her. "He sees anything odd, and his mind immediately goes to what he sees on TV."

That's it! She has a son. A son, might I add, that I know very well.

"Lila Gilroy?" I asked. I knew where I had seen her. It was when Enzo had gotten sick and needed to be picked up early. She picked him up. But what terrified me most was the familiar grey hoodie, wrapped around her waist.

"It was you, wasn't it?" I crossed my arms and saw her smile falter. "You were the one that chased me onto someone else's roof."

"Sweetheart, I don't know what you're talking about," she forced the smile back onto her face. "Just, come inside–"

"Cut the crap!" I shouted at her. "I know what you want. I know about the truth behind that miracle cure! You haven't found a way through medicine like you claim!"

"Um, Flo," Zak tapped me on the shoulder, "what are you talking about?"

"You didn't bring Zak here because you needed him," I stated. "You brought him here so that he didn't mess up your plan! Because you can't have my family think I'm on an excursion while my friends think I'm sick if Zak is at school."

"Flora," Mr Farsnic cut in, "your gifts, truly are incredible. If you would just, let us find a way to obtain them so that we can find a way to cure COVID, then everything will be alright."

"How did you find out?" I asked, not daring to look at Zak.

"We've had eyes on your family ever since the incident," Lila explained. "And no, I'm not talking about your parents going missing."

"Ms Fickle, did you know I went to law school, before deciding I wanted to go into chemistry?" Mr Farsnic asked. "I dated this girl while attending law school. And, one night she got so drunk that she fell out of a fifth story window. She had severe injuries. She was declared a miracle survivor. I never saw her again.

"But suddenly, I hear about a girl named Terra winning a very big case against the defendant. And I think to myself that can't be her. But when I see her picture, I recognise her. Only, her surname is Fickle. She didn't have the scars I recognised from the hospital. There was nothing wrong with her."

I felt my eyes stinging. Mum had been like me. Did that mean Jade was like me too? I wasn't the only one? I wasn't the freak of nature I thought I was?

"Well, this has been fun," Lila said, pointing behind me, "but we need to get a move on. That cure won't create itself."

I turned around and saw Zak was restrained by two adults, one of them holding what looked like a gun!? Where the Hell did, they get a gun from!? They weren't a police officer! And it's not like you can go to the shops and find one there next to the lolly isle! For fucks sake, we weren't Americans!

"You do as we say, and your cousin doesn't die," Lila said in a startlingly calm voice. "Is that simple enough to understand?"

I was fuming. Were they so fucking sick that they would kill someone just for some miracle cure!? And Mr Farsnic! He was just standing there, calm as ever, waiting as though this was the most normal thing ever! They were sick! They were cruel! They were disgusting! They were... They were just terrible people!

"Look, Zak hasn't done anything," I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and hold back the tears. "Please, just don't hurt him."

"Flora, you just need to come inside so that you can explain to us how you do it," Mr Farsnic explained. "Then you can go back home."

Home. Home!? They couldn't kill Zak! It was too suspicious! If they killed him, they'd have to explain it to Samara! They were bluffing! That's why they were so calm! They knew that if I thought Zak's life was on the line, I would do anything! But I couldn't let them know I'd figured this out. I needed them to think they had the power if I wanted to pull off the plan I was formulating.

I blinked, and the tears I had been holding back cascaded down my cheeks. Let them think I'm crying. Make them think I'm giving up. But don't surrender. Play the long game.

"Just tell me how," I begged. "I just want to know how you know?"

"Flora, we have eyes and ears everywhere," Lila said, shaking her head. "For God's sake, we're a government run corporation. And Avdo wants to know what you are, and how you heal yourself. It's not that difficult to understand."

I restrained myself from glaring daggers at her. Daggers! My switchblade! I had forgotten about it, getting used to having it in my shoe. My plan was starting to come together. This was how I was going to trick them into letting us go. This was how we were going to escape.

I dropped to my knees and let out a wail. "Fine!" I cried out. "Fine I'll come with you! Just let him go!"

I could see in my peripheral vision that they had removed the gun from their hand. I moved my own hand to my ankle, and slowly pulled the switchblade out of my shoe. But then I heard it. A loud bang and a scream.

I shot my head to see Zak cradling his leg on the ground, blood pouring out of it. They wouldn't let Zak get off that easily. He could just blab to Samara that it was all a lie. And if their plan was going to work, they had to keep us with them for the five days. And they would hurt Zak if I didn't cooperate.

There was only one way out of this. I doubted I could take on four fully grown adults and get myself and Zak out of there. I needed a better strategy than that. I needed to make sure, Zak wouldn't get hurt.

In one quick motion, I pulled out the switchblade and held it to my throat.

"I'm guessing you need me alive for this to work?" I said with a smirk.

"Flora, are you crazy!?" Zak screamed. "These guys have just said they'll kill me!"

I didn't look at him. I had revealed myself, and they knew I knew. Lila looked scared, but Mr Farsnic looked calm as ever.

"Flora, we know you can't die," he shook his head. "Your Mother was a miracle survivor."

"Yes, but my Dad wasn't," I smiled. There was no reason for me to not make it. But they didn't need to know that. "He wasn't a miracle survivor, so what makes you think I won't die?"

At my words, Mr Farsnic began to look slightly more panicked.

"You're bluffing," he blurted out. "If you truly believed you would die, you wouldn't do this."

I looked at Zak, his eyes held no disdain, only sorrow and fear. He could get out of here. And that's what I told him to do. I mouthed the word run, and he seemed to understand what it meant. I looked away. I wasn't going to watch him cry.

"You wanna bet?" I asked.

I took in a deep breath as a stabbed the blade into the side of my neck. I could hear the loud gasps and screaming. I could taste blood. I felt dizzy. I moved the blade to slice my neck open and fell back.

Blood poured into my lungs and mouth. It was all I could taste and smell. I was shaking with the effort of coughing up my blood. Everything went blurry, and I could see my eyelids. My eyes were rolling back in my head. I was dying.

"Relax ... miracle ... won't die..." were the only words I could make out. I couldn't tell who was talking, but I guessed it was Mr Farsnic.

But then I couldn't hear anything. The world sounded blurry and then it all went silent. I couldn't hear the hammering of my heart as it desperately tried to pump oxygen through my system. But then, I couldn't really see either. It all went this blindingly white colour. People described falling unconscious as everything going black, but it looked like there really was a white light. Perhaps it was Heaven and I had been too cynical this whole time.

I couldn't smell or taste anything. I could feel the blood that filled my lungs and throat, but I had lost the ability to taste or smell it. Death took a lot longer than I thought it would. All of my senses were gone. All but one. I could still feel myself moving as I coughed, desperate to empty the blood from my lungs. I could feel the grass tickling my skin, and the blood dripping down my neck. I could feel the fast pace of my heart slow. Slow to a halt.