Suggested Music:

Gotta Get Thru This (Acoustic Version) - Daniel Bedingfield

Mad World - Michael Andrews & Gary Jules

Red Hands - R.E.V.O.

***

"Reason but skins the wound, which is perpetually liable to fester again." -Erasmus Darwin

"We don't have the car," I repeat after him, sinking to my knees. "We don't have a car."

How are we supposed to get to the dispatch without a car? Judging from the distance we walked a few hours ago, it doesn't look like we're close enough to just take a stroll. My breath hitches in my throat.

Chase anxiously glances at me before walking to the closest car.

"We can't find the dispatch if we don't have a car," I whisper brokenly, re-imagining my body disintegrating into a grotesque, black char. While I'm nearly having a panic attack, Chase is running around the parking lot, looking through the windows of each car.

"Keys," He mumbles to himself as he shifts his attention to a black SUV.

"What are you doing?" I ask, shifting my body so I can get a better look at him. He ignores me, murmuring something while weaving through the maze of vehicles.

"Shit!" He suddenly yells, aiming a kick at the wheel of a car.

"Chase! What are you doing?" Jumping up from my position, I run after him. I'm not allowing him to take another chance at breaking his foot. He barely glances in my direction before moving to the next car.

"Chase, you need to calm down. Maybe... Maybe Dad took the car. Yeah, maybe he just left to go get something and he's driving back right now." Chase slows a bit at the mention of our father, but continues running around, nevertheless. I shake my head, leaning against a pillar as I wait for him to calm down. There's nothing we can do at this point besides wait for our father.

The father I know wouldn't leave us stranded here.

"Is he?" Chase asks, stopping momentarily to look into my eyes. Even though he's several yards away, I can see his lip quivering. "Do you really think he's coming back, Lia? It's been an entire day."

"Why would he take the car, Chase?" I glare at his lack of faith for our dad.

A foreign expression flickers across his face before he looks at the ground.

"Chase," I call his name out again, "Why would he take the car?"

"I don't know."

"Chase--"

"I don't know!" His yell surprises me, causing my back to collide against the concrete. "Do you want to recap why our father left us, or do you want to get the hell out of here?" His glare momentarily softens as he sees how terrified I am. Terrified of him. It's not the yelling, it's not the panicking. I'm genuinely afraid of what he's suggesting. That our father would take our only mode of transportation, leaving us in a city that's one disaster away from being ruled by savages.

"What's your plan?" I mumble, attempting to put on a brave face.

Chase looks into the window of another car before nodding to himself.

"We're going to hot-wire a car."

"What?"

"You heard me." Chase taps the window of the adjacent minivan for effect. "Find me something solid, like a crowbar."

I frown at him, but follow his orders nonetheless.

"He's gone crazy," I murmur to myself as I look around the parking lot.

"I heard that!"

Rolling my eyes, I hoist my body over the trunk of a pickup truck. I give Chase a triumphant thumbs up before pulling out a crowbar. It's heavy, causing me to drag it behind me as I take it to him.

"Be careful," I say before handing it off to Chase. "It's heav--"

He easily picks it up, wasting no time to swing it at the window of the car. The glass shatters around us.

"When did you learn to hot-wire a car?" I ask as Chase carefully reaches in and unlocks the door. He sweeps the pieces of glass away from the seat, using the crowbar.

He grins at me before replying, "You don't think I just sat at home after my classes, do you? I picked up a few jobs, but I guess you didn't notice."

But I did notice. I noticed how late he would come home, how after he would make his daily visits to my room, his face would fall slightly in exhaustion. He was out doing something, that much I could guess, but doing what, exactly, I could never figure out. The most curious thing, however, was how I never saw him doing schoolwork. He had only picked up a few classes after graduating high school, but wouldn't that mean he had at least a few books? While he made an effort to tell me about his day to help me cope, I always wondered whether he was telling the full truth. Asking him would be rude, and, to be quite honest, I didn't care if he was lying to me. He was helping, and after going through months of ignoring my issues, I needed whatever he could offer me.

"Yeah, maybe I never noticed," I sigh.

"Voila! Our chariot awaits." The car comes to life after a few minutes of Chase's tinkering. Judging from the crisscrossing wires sitting underneath his fingertips, it looks like he's had a lot of practice.

"Great. Now, let's get out of here." I clap him on the back before making my way to the adjacent seat.

***

Chase somehow manages to drive through the backstreets of Schismin, carefully avoiding the streets congested with people. Regardless of whether we're avoiding the main streets, however, we still drive by a few people. And, judging from their looks, we're the only ones crazy enough to drive through the streets. Or maybe they think we've found a way out.

"I don't like this," I mumble after we pass another person. As we continue down the streets, the looks get more and more menacing. It's as if they know exactly where we're going. "It looks like we're running away."

"That's because we are running away," Chase says while keeping his eyes on the road. I notice his hands tremorring slightly with each person we drive by. He's just as worried as I am. Just as he's about to make another turn, a small girl steps into the middle of the road.

"Stop!" I scream, grabbing his arm. "You'll hit her! Stop!" I practically lean over him as I plead for him to stop the car.

Chase slams on the brakes, causing the car to harshly lurch forward. I look over to see Chase groaning as his head collides with the steering wheel. Just as he begins to lose consciousness, my cheek collides with the passenger window. My head pounds as I attempt to catch my breath.

"Chase." I shake my brother's shoulder, but its no use. The only sign that he's alive is the labored breaths coming out of his mouth. My hands shake as I attempt to staunch the blood coming from a cut on his forehead. "Get a grip, Lia. We're almost there." I bite my lip as I ease Chase by into his seat.

"Help me." My head snaps up at the sound of a foreign voice.

"Oh, my god." Bile rises in my throat. It's the same girl that we almost hit. Is she hurt? Did we hit her?

"Help me," a little girl whispers. I quickly open the door, scrambling to see if she's okay. Where the hell are her parents?

"Are you okay?" I ask as I manage to pull myself out of the minivan. "Where are your pare--"

I stop in my tracks at the sight of the girl's hands.

"You're sick." I take a cautious step back. The girl steps forward. My eyes flick over her body.

"You promised," she says, frowning at me. Her eyes are bloodshot.

"What?" I swallow as she continues to walk toward me.

"You lied. You broke your promise," The girl whispers, twisting her hand through her long, brown hair.

"What do you mean?" I choke out. She tightens her grip on her hair, keeping her eyes locked on mine. She continues to wind her hand through her hair, making sure it tangles around her small fingers.

"I know where you're going." My back hits the front of the minivan as she continues to walk toward me. I whimper pathetically as she reaches her hand toward mine.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" I carefully inch around the car, away from her outstretched hand. She narrows her eyes at me as I stumble over debris. As she nears me, I realize that her eyes aren't bloodshot.

Her pupils are red.

"You're running away," she states. Her hand grips tighter into her hair. My head pounds even harder.

"Yes," I manage to breathe out. "I'm running away. You're sick. I want to help you, but I can't do that unless you listen to me. Please, please stop walking toward me." Tears escape my eyes as she comes even closer to me.

"You're running away," She repeats. "You always run away."

"What's your name, Sweetie? Where are your parents?" I ask, attempting to slow her down. She lingers for a moment, as if deep in thought, until her mouth spreads into a wide grin. Even her teeth are decaying.

"What's my name?" She smiles at me before yanking her hair. I scream, my head feeling as if it's splitting open. "Where are my parents? I left them. I ran away, too."

My throat constricts as she tightens her grip on her hair. Just a few more yards and she'll be standing right next to me.

She cocks her head to the side before whispering, "We have the same hair."

What? I glance at hair, realizing that we do, indeed, have the same hair. But why does that matter?

Within a few seconds, the little girl is standing in front of me while I stand, paralyzed.

"You're afraid of me." She giggles. I gag at the feel of her rancid breath near my ear.

"Please, don't," I plead for the last time.

"Why are you afraid of me?" She asks as she places her fingertips on my bruised cheek. She strokes her black fingertips against my skin. I wheeze as she continues her actions, pulling me down slowly so we're eye level.

"Who are you?" I whisper, crying out at the sight of my hands charring alongside hers. How could it be spreading so quickly? I glance over to where Chace is sitting, the blood on his head now drying. Will he wake up? I glance over at the girl. Will she make him sick, too?

"Don't leave him like you did with the others," the little girl says, staring staring straight into my eyes. "We can't leave him."

"We?"

"Yes," she frowns.

"I can't help him. I'm sick. You made me sick." I glance momentarily at our interwined hands.

"We have to help him."

"Who do you think you are? You're not touching him!" I break away from her grip, falling on the ground.

She leans over me before whispering, "Who am I, Lia?"

I stare as she coughs into her shoulder, inky liquid spilling from her mouth.

"I'm you."

***

My mind is swirling in a kaleidoscopic dream as I hear a muffled shout from the back of my head. Images blur together, thickening the tide as I fight against oncoming lucidity. The screams seem to amplify as time goes by, blackening the edges of my vision.

"Ugh," I groan as my eyelids flutter open.

"Lia!" I voice calls out, shaking me from my stupor. A memory vaguely comes back to me, but I can barely grasp onto it. I wait until the light completely filters into my vision.

"What's going on?" I grumble as I look around me. Suddenly, the memory floods back to me.

Chase, hurt in the drivers seat.

Hitting my cheek against the window.

That girl... Me... I'm sick.

"I'm sick," I croak. I need to get away as soon as possible. I can't touch anybody.

"Lia, what are you talking about?"

I look over to see my brother shaking my shoulder. Besides a worried look etched on his face, he looks completely fine. There's no sign of trauma, no cuts. It's as if nothing happened.

I move away from his touch, tears burning my eyes. He touched me. I made him sick. I frantically reach for the door handle until I realize my hands aren't black. Besides looking frighteningly pale from clenching them so hard, they look fine. There's no telltale sign of discoloration on them.

"Where is she? Where did she go?" I cry out, whipping my head around us. The car has stopped, but there's nothing around us. In fact, none of the houses that we were driving by are here. Squinting into the distance, I notice what looks like a large metal dome, barren from any human life besides a few heavy-duty vehicles.

"Where is who, Lia? What are you talking about?" Chase asks, using his hand to check my temperature.

"I don't understand," I whisper. "We were in an accident. The little girl... She... I was sick. And you, you were hurt."

"They're back, huh?" Much to my surprise, Chase wraps his arms tightly around me. "It's okay, Lia. It was just a nightmare. You're fine." I tremble as Chase runs his hand through my hair, assuring me that what I saw wasn't real.

Just like all of the other times I woke up screaming in the night.

Just like all of the times I saw a loved one die at my hands while I ran away like a coward.

Somehow, under all of this stress and tension, my PTSD has come back, full throttle.

"What did I do?" I choke out, staring at my hands.

"You were screaming," Chase murmurs as he continues to hold me.

"What else? Don't censor anything."

"At some point while you were asleep, you screamed for me to stop the car. I obviously did, but after seeing you had a nightmare, I decided to keep on driving. This time... It was worse than the others. I can't lie to you. You were hurting yourself, pulling your hair, banging your head against the window. You kept on calling out to someone, but you never said their name."

"Are you hurt?" I ask, holding my breath. After seeing him shake his head, I let out a relieved sigh. If I hurt Chase... I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

"I have some good news," he says as he unwraps his arms from me. "We're here, Lia. We made it to the dispatch."

We share crooked grins, laughing together before Chase turns on the car and drives toward a building. A relaxed silence settles over us as we take in our surroundings. Beside the dome, we're surrounded by what looks like an abandoned parking lot. The gravel goes on for miles, giving the appearance that we're approaching some sort of abandoned warehouse.

"Where are the walls?" I ask. Chase may say we're at the northbound border, but I don't see any walls separating the district from the outside world.

Chase glances at me before murmuring, "Don't believe everything you see, Lia."

"What do you--"

As soon as I open my mouth, I notice a flicker in the distance. Up at the rightmost flank, it's as if the clouds overhead are flickering. As we near the dome, the flickering turns into a flash, and it's as if, one by one, units of the sky fall apart to show what looks like an electrified barrier. I yelp as a spark flies off one of the plates, falling toward the deserted ground.

"It's invisible," I conclude, leaning toward the window to get a better look at it. The wall curves overhead, reaching up to the point that I can't guess where it's leading.

"I wouldn't say invisible. More like... Deceptive. A trick of the eye." After seeing my confused look, Chase continues, "The barrier itself isn't invisible. It's always been overhead, but it's so far, your eyes can't focus on it enough to notice the metal plates. The engineers have manipulated the wall so it affects how our eyes adjust to the ultraviolet light. Basically, it's reflecting its surroundings in a way that your eyes won't catch its actual appearance."

"So, it's like a super advanced mirror."

"Basically." Chase smirks at me. "The chinks, like the one you just saw, are hard to see. Only a handful of people will spot it out on their own."

I think back to the flickering portion of the wall. I most definitely wouldn't have found it without his help.

"You seem to know a lot about this," I huff. Chase's eyebrows draw together, but he quickly regains his composure after looking at whatever's in front of the car.

"We're here." The van's engine dies out as Chase returns to fiddling with the wires. Looking up, I'm surprised by how large the building is. It has to be at least four floors, its expanse reaching out to the point that I'm worried about how close it is to the border.

As soon as our feet hit the ground, a pulse sounds around us, amplifying as we approach the building. I glance nervously at Chase.

"Sensors," He says, reaching out for my hand reassuringly. My vision blurs, opening to a familiar abyss. The Graft.

Chaston and Ophelia Darwin. I see no projection beyond a bright light, pulsating alongside each syllable.

I vaguely feel myself tighten my grip around Chase's hand.

This is it.

This is the dispatch.

This is escape.

We've been expecting you. An image swims into view, blurring and focusing at an alarming rate. A blinding white light expands against the dark background. Craters rise up against the surface of the light. Seconds pass by as I try to capture the flickering image, straining to understand what the message is trying to show me.

Suddenly, it's as if the image pops into clarity.

It's a moon.

Welcome to Project Luna, the voice resurfaces. The Graft immediately halts, leaving me blinking furiously.

"Chase," I gasp finally. My breath catches as a million questions swim through my mind.

However, only one pushes past my lips in the utmost urgency.

"What the hell did you sign us up for?"

Before Chase can open his mouth, the dome cracks open.

~~~

A/N: Okay, well I have the worst sense of timing. For those of you wondering, this is not quite the climactic moment that I've been raving about. Halfway through writing this chapter, I realized that I have so much building up I need to finish before rushing to the super interesting bits. I tried pushing through the build-up, but, honestly, I don't want to leave you all confused as stuff hits the fan. I want to completely immerse you guys into this story as much as I have immersed myself. While I do warn that there'll be a lot of explanations coming up, there won't be a moment where you're bored. Everything will tie together into a cute, little bow. We all love bows, right? I do promise, however, that a couple chapters from now, stuff will really hit the fan. Full throttle. If you thought that running away from a rampaging disease was rough, you'll be blown away by what's coming up. I am so ready.

What do you guys think about Lia and Chase's formal names? Chaston and Ophelia? ;)

I've noticed that my story is getting a lot of recognition lately, and I'd like to take a moment to say thank you. All of the comments I've gotten have made me so happy. It amazes me to no end that people are actually enjoying my story. I have no words.

I'd like to return some love. If you would like me to read your story, edit your story, anything, please comment here. I'm also a cover junkie, so if you ever would like a cover, or a visual for your media section, don't be afraid to ask! :)

To those of you who would like to contact me personally or just get to know me better beyond Wattpad, I'm on Twitter @LilianaAraxes. If you'd like to email me, my email is [email protected]. However, if you do email me, please let me know in my Wattpad inbox. I don't check it that often, haha.

Phew, that was a long author's note.

Please comment/vote/etc. if you're enjoying the story so far!

Until next time,

Liliana <3