Chapter Three.                                03
( that won't save us! ) ━━━━━━━━
↳ STRANGER DANGER ↲

❝ LOOK YOUR NAME UP. ❞

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GLITTER
070 Shake

it's been nineteen tears to nineteen years
and now is that you wanna question
how, when, where, and who i have been
this time i don't be losin' my head
truth is i don't wanna lie again

truth is i wanna find myself again

tell me my friend, my friend
when did i lose it?

1:46 ────⊙────── 4:16
↻      ◁ II ▷     ↺

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FRYPAN STOOD FROM the sidelines watching a group stand in line holding shotguns in their hands. He watched them all concentrated and trying to aim at the empty glass bottles placed at a good distance. No one had been able to break a bottle and if the Right Arm had such spare time, they wouldn't have cared as much but they didn't.

Time was ticking meaning every second was valuable. Every second they were out here, meant every second their friends were inside WICKED's walls. This hadn't been fair but it's what's happened and the only thing they could do was keep going. Keep fighting because one day with all the hope they have, one day they will be free. But till then, everyone, had to pull their weight.

"The only solution we have is to stand and fight!" Vincent exclaimed as Jeremy checked the bullets in one of the shotguns as he handed it to one of the teens. "Breathe through the fear and walk through the fire as if you've done it before."

     "From now on, Jeremy, will be your instructor." Vincent raised his voice to inform the teenagers who were intimidated by the two men in front of them. "He's the best of the best! If you want to know how to use a gun, then listen to him."

Jeremy finished loading the gun he was going to use to teach them with. "I'm Jeremy, as you probably know by now. I'm going to be straightforward with the way I teach. I'll show how I carry the gun, aim with the gun, and shoot with the gun. What matters the most is how you're holding it."

The boy continued to explain more about the tactics and how he has been able to survive for so long. "Any questions before we start?" Jeremy asked.

A boy a few years younger than him raised his hand asking after Jeremy nodded at him, "why does Vince say you're the best of the best?"

A laugh left Jeremy's lips as he shrugged his shoulders, "In all honesty, I'm not sure. I just have better aim than most."

"Can you shoot all of the bottles?" The kid asked pointing at all the lined up glass bottles that none of the trainees had been able to shoot yet.

It didn't take much time for Jeremy to turn around lift up his gun and shoot each and every bottle that was displayed on the tables. He had done it in less than five seconds leaving everyone in that line astonished.

    "Woah," the young boy muttered looking over at his friend in astonishment, "that was so cool!"

"Some of you may think this is cool that you're learning how to use a weapon while others may think it's tragic. We're sorry that this is what you're enduring now." Vincent spoke as he began his speech to the kids who had been inside WICKED's hands for longer than they can remember. "But freedom comes with a price and you will not be safe for awhile. So, you better learn how to protect yourselves. We have people to save. So let's begin your training. Now."

     Time passed as Jeremy had been successful in teaching the majority of the kids how to shoot correctly. There were a few that struggled, but Jeremy knew that with a little bit more practice they would be good to go. The boy's attention had moved to the two boys that had arrived in the group Rosie arrived with.

     Thomas shot the glass bottles with deep concentration aiming perfectly. While Newt did the opposite and missed again. It was his seventh attempt missing the bottle getting him more frustrated then he already was. Especially when other kids were getting a hang of it quicker than he was.

    "Hey, make sure to wedge the end of the gun into your shoulder pocket." Jeremy stated as he had watched Newt try to attempt to shoot but kept missing. Jeremy stood behind him moving Newt's feet position to help him stand better. "Make sure to—"

The frustrated boy shook Jeremy's hands off responding back coldly, "I got it."

     A surprised Jeremy stepped back motioning with his hands up in quick surrender. "Sure." He replied already understanding the mood Newt was in. "Shoot then."

     Newt did his best to concentrate and do everything he was told to do but every single time he kept missing. Even now he kept missing. He needed Jeremy's help but he didn't want it.

     "You're not gripping the gun right." Jeremy reminded him, "you're letting it control you and that's not how it's suppose to be, Newt. You're suppose to have it wedged in your shoulder to make sure the gun won't move once you shoot—"

     "I know—"

     "No. Apparently you don't because you keep doing the opposite thing I've been telling you to do and it's getting you nowhere." Jeremy raised his voice getting annoyed himself.

     The blonde boy groaned in frustration as all his mind was thinking was how different he was to Jeremy. Everything about him was different so it made Newt wonder what Rosie saw in him if she had once been with Jeremy. Jeremy was perfect and well Newt—was a work in progress. So what did she even see in Newt?

     And then Newt remembered again, Rosie and Jeremy never broke up. They didn't give up on their love and look for it somewhere else intentionally. No, they were forcefully separated not mutually broken up. Jeremy searched for her for months in different cities and in different states willing to cross the world for her. Rosie's memory of him had been erased and once she recovered it—everything she felt for him came back. So, how could Newt even compete with Rosie's first love?

He couldn't.

"I'm only trying to help you, Newt!" Jeremy raised his voice losing his patience with the younger boy.

"Mate, I don't need your bloody help!" Newt bit back wanting to make him disappear and out of his sight.

Jeremy ignored him trying to explain to him how to do things correctly. "That's not how you carry a gun—you'll be dead before you know it."

Newt groaned in anger deciding to act without thinking. "Get out of my face." He warned before pointing his weapon at Jeremy who felt the shotgun press on his chest.

"Newt!" Thomas exclaimed trying to calm the situation down as he tried to meddle in between.

"What?" Newt questioned, "I don't want help from Rosie's sloppy seconds."

A scoff left Jeremy's mouth as he mocked, "sloppy seconds? Kid, I was with her first."

"Exactly." Newt responded, "was."

Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed and Newt could see his jaw tense before losing control of the gun. Jeremy moved his hands in a swift motion being able to easily grasp a hold of the shotgun and pointing it at Newt's chest.

"You're scared that Rosie isn't gonna come back to you when we get her back and guess what?" Jeremy spoke with a warning tone as Newt took a step back. "she won't. She'll come back to me."

Thomas moved between the two as he grabbed a hold of Newt by his shoulder making sure he wouldn't move any closer to Jeremy. Jeremy moved the gun down pointing it down at the ground as he added one last thing, "If you don't know how to save yourself, how the hell are you going to save the others?"

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    HEELS clicked against the expensive office flooring giving a quiet echo loud enough for people to hear nearby. With her braided high ponytail, Rosie Adams, walked through the halls of the World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department. It had been two weeks since she started working with her partner, Teresa.

     "Rosie! Hey!" A boy a few years older than her waved to greet her, "it's nice to see you."

     The Latina gave the boy a small smile not having the energy to give a genuine smile. "Morning, Brian." Rosie greeted passing him and continuing the walk down the hall.

      There was this gut feeling in her stomach that kept worrying her since she had woken up in the medical bed. She felt something was wrong but the fact that she couldn't remember a single thing made her doubt. All these people she was surrounded by were kind people and they treated her with the upmost respect.

     "Morning, Doctor Adams." A security guard greeted at the main door she needed to go through. The 40ish old man raked his eyes up and down the woman's body trying to go unnoticed by the young adult. The girl felt uneasy as she had noticed his eager eyes always looking at her like a dinner plate.

     "Morning." Rosie muttered quietly as she unclipped her tag from her lab coat and used it to scan for the door to open. A quiet beep was heard signaling to the girl and the security guard to move to their positions.

    "On three." The security guard stated waiting for the girl to put her hand on the lever. "One. Two. Three." Both pulled the lever to the right and shifted it down to the top watching the door open up. "Have a nice day."

      Faking a smile, Rosie walked through the door watching it shut behind her automatically. Letting out a disgusted groan, Rosie shook her head muttering, "creep."

The girl passed through the empty hallway and turning onto a corner to see them inside a see through laboratory. Rosie took a deep breath, nervous of what was to come today as she headed over to where they were. Another security guard opened the door for her and letting the door shut behind her as she walked in. For the first time today she genuinely smiled at the boy sitting in the chair. "Miss Ro!" The young boy greeted. "You came!"

     "Of course, I came." Rosie replied letting two assistants put gloves on each of her hands. "I told you I was going to be here for this. I wouldn't miss it."

"Do you think it's going to work?" The seven year old boy asked with eyes full of hope.

Rosie lifted her lips up smiling at him, "we hope so, buddy."

"I can't wait to go see my mom after this." The kid stated sitting back down on the comfortable chair. "Dr. Paige told me that if everything goes well, I'll finally get to see her. I haven't seen my mom for 18 days now. I miss her a lot."

A wave of sadness washed over her as she prayed that this serum was going to help the kid heal from the infection. Hopefully, he'd get to see his mother again. "Okay. We're going to get everything ready. We'll start in a bit."

"Okie dokie." The kid replied going back to playing with the tablet they had given him.

Rosie walked over to the table where another a few other workers and two of her assistants stood. "How are we doing this?" Rosie asks as it would be her first time.

The two looked at one another as they assumed she was a professional at this. Her information had stated that she knew what she was doing. "Um, all you do is administer this serum into the syringe and inject it into the boy's arm. We'll clean it before."

"Remind me again why they want us to use a sample of my blood?" Rosie questioned as she sat down pulling up her sleeve getting ready for one of the assistants to withdraw a bit of blood from her.

"Well it seems you were infected during the time you had been unconscious and no one understands how you were healed all by yourself." The assistant explained as she withdrew blood from Rosie's arm. "You should have been turned by now."

Rosie glanced down to her left bicep as the infection she didn't remember having had been cured only leaving her permanent scars of where the visible veins used to show. The other assistant turned to add more, "we have a theory that maybe your blood can help."

Nobody knew but it was Thomas' blood that had cured Rosie's infection.

"Right." Rosie mumbled feeling already like this wasn't going to work. "Okay."

The assistant placed a band-aid on her shoulder patting it before speaking, "you're set. Let me just add the samples together and we'll get this started."

Rosie nodded watching the two assistants prepare the serum with Rosie's blood. "Will Teresa be joining us?" She asked.

The assistant shook her head, "not this time. She has a report to finish and is going to evaluate another patient after."

"Here." The other assistant held the serum in one hand and the syringe in the other. "All you do is insert this in the syringe and you're going to administer it in the kid's arm."

Rosie stalls for a few seconds not wanting to do it but had to. Rosie inserts the serum into the automatic injector that they often referred to as a syringe. The girl heads over to the young boy who opens his eyes to see her with the injector.

"We're going to clean the spot really quickly okay?" The male assistant explained cleaning the arm really quickly before the kid could even reply. "Rosalie is now going to give you the medicine, alright?"

The kid nodded as Rosie sat down on a chair next to him. The boy closed his eyes waiting for Rosie to do it. Rosie stalled again feeling her hands shaking and not wanting to do this at all. She knew the consequences of what could happen if it didn't work. Fear crossed her eyes the moment she took a deep breath and administered the injector into the boy's skin.

"It burns!" The boy cried out wincing in pain and trying to pull away from the injector that needed to stay in for five whole seconds. "Get it out!"

"I'm sorry." Rosie whispered as she took it out right after the five seconds were over. The assistant grabbed a hold of the injector after Rosie handed it to them. "You did really good!"

The boy shook his head trying to give her a smile but the boy started to shake. "I don't feel really good, Miss Ro."

Everyone inside the laboratory turned their heads to the little kid whose veins were popping out more. The kid's eyes were bloodshot and within a few seconds he started to scream. "It burns! It burns!" He screamed. His nails carving into his skin as if he was trying to get the serum out of his body by cutting through.

Rosie tilted her head to the right in fear of what was happening to the kid but also because of a feeling of deja vu. She had been through a similar scenario with someone who had tried to cut through their skin to avoid the infection to spread. Who? Rosie didn't know.

The boy tried to throw himself at Rosie trying to bite her as she moved back before the boy was held back by two guards. "Hold him down!" Someone yelled as they tried to avoid the kid from biting them.

Rosie stayed silent more so in shock as she realized the serum didn't work. Instead it fastened the process of the boy turning. "Get out!" One of them yelled at Rosie pointing at the open door. "And shut the door behind you!"

     Rosie sprinted to the corner of the room and slipping out of the lab. Shutting the door closed, Rosie did the same with her eyes trying to control her emotions. She breathed in an out doing her best to calm herself down. The girl could hear the distant screams from the boy struggling to get out of the doctors' grasps.

Tears immediately ran down her face as she started to panic in distress. She moved to look through the glass and watched a doctor inject the poor boy with a syringe. Rosie knew they had just killed the poor boy. Her lips trembled watching whatever was left of the boy's life slip out from his small body.

     "Hay por Dios," Rosie muttered trembling, oh god.

     She didn't like this feeling. The feeling of a murderer. It was her fault. It was her blood that killed the boy. It was her who administered the serum. It was her who let the organization give her the task to do it. She let herself be told what to do. She didn't like it. She hated herself. A well known feeling she carried way before she forgot who she was.

     "I need you to get back inside, Rosalie." One of the assistants opened the door to tell her. "We need to cut open his arm to check—"

     "No." Rosie blurted. "I'm not going back in there!"

      "But—"

      "No!" Rosie raised her voice as she looked back at the window. "And no one's going to cut him open." Rosie demanded.

       The assistant glanced inside and back out to Rosie, "he's dead. There's nothing to be worried about. He's not going to come back as a crank—"

     Rosie's eyes widened, "the kid just died and you want to continue using him as an experimental subject? Let him rest!"

      "But, Doctor Paige ordered us to—"

      "Fuck whatever Doctor Paige instructed you to do." Rosie raised her voice. "I order you to stop everything and let the poor boy rest!"

       "But—"

     "I, I need to go." Rosie muttered turning around hoping that they will do as she ordered. She could feel something crawl up her throat. The girl rushed out of the office passing the security guards and entering a private path room.

     Before she knew it, she was on her knees throwing up on the bathroom toilet. Tears stained her makeup ruining it completely. A void in her chest had been depressing her and it became stronger after this incident. She could feel the emptiness in her body that everything was wrong. Something wasn't right.

     Rosie splashed water on her face before looking up to look at herself in the mirror. She washed her mouth with the water from the sink before spitting it back out. The girl took a few minutes to calm herself down as she held back the more tears that wanted to spill. She was mad at herself for failing that innocent child. All of her efforts in finding a cure went to waste once the kid's body rejected the serum. In a matter of minutes the child turned into a crank and they had to kill him.

     Teresa knocked on the bathroom door as she had seen Rosie rush inside here. "Rosie, you alright?" Teresa asked. "Can you come out?"

     Taking a deep breath, Rosie got herself together before opening the bathroom door to greet Teresa. "Sorry, did you need something?"

     "No, but Dr. Paige informed me about what happened. I just wanted to check up on you." Teresa explained. "She told me to tell you that you can take the rest of the day off."

     "Oh, okay." Rosie murmured, "thank you."

     The girl moved past Teresa to head to her office and seeing that Teresa was following her. "You know, it doesn't get easier." Teresa catched up to her as they were now walking side by side. "I still react the same when it doesn't work."

     Rosie glanced at her, "so you mean every single time?"

     Staring down the hallway Teresa nodded, "I know that this job takes a toll on you. It does it on everyone but someone has to do it. You know? We need to find a cure."

    "I know." Rosie replied entering her small office, "I just wish there was an alternative option to do these things. Those kids are suffering Teresa."

     As Rosie gathered her purse, she made sure to pack her laptop and a few documents she was going to take home to analyze. "I know. We're trying our best." Teresa responded.

     A slight hum left Rosie's lips as she finished gathering her stuff. "Do you by any chance know where the kid's parents live? I want to deliver them the news to them in person."

     Teresa's lips parted in surprise as she shook her head, "I don't know. I think they live outside the city though. I'll look for their address and maybe you can give them a call."

      "What? Can't I not just go outside the city?" Rosie questioned.

      Teresa shook her head, "we can't go outside. We're not permitted to do so. Plus the only way to go through is through the security section and there's no way you're going to be able to get through. I'll just find you their information, I'll give it to you tomorrow."

     "Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Rosie replied shortly.

     "Wait, I though maybe after I end my shift you wanted to get some dinner or go out—" Teresa wasn't able to finish her suggestion as Rosie shook her head.

    "Maybe another day." The Latina stated, "I'm just tired and I want to go home."

    The blue eyed girl nodded, "understandable. I'll see you tomorrow then."

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Jeremy sat next to the cook who stayed quiet not knowing what to say to the man who was competing with his friend over Rosie. "How are you holding up, Frypan?"

The boy gave Jeremy a half smile as he replied, "getting by."

"Why weren't you at the lineup?" Jeremy questioned as he motioned to Thomas and Newt, "I would have assumed you'd join since your buddies are doing it."

"I don't want to kill people." Frypan muttered as his best friend died by a bullet, his close friend got injured by a bullet and he doesn't even know if she's alive or not. "It doesn't sit right with me."

Jeremy nodded understanding where the boy was coming from. "I used to think like that once." he admitted, "long before I was left with only my sister to survive. Fry, you might be a really good guy and you might be the type to never even hurt a fly but that doesn't cut it anymore. This isn't a choice you get to just pick. You have to fight back. Or what was the point of all your friends dying for you? Huh? For nothing?"

Frypan stayed quiet staring at him as he hated what came out of Jeremy's mouth. He hated it because he was right. A little chuckle leaving Jeremy's lips grabbed Frypan's attention again, "don't pretend like you're some meek, pathetic little boy when I can see your potential. Fry, just because you might say you're soft doesn't mean you aren't a force to be reckoned with."

"I just don't want to be the cause of someone's death, you know?" Frypan replied, "you might be numb to it now or maybe heartless over it but I'm not. I don't think I ever will be."

The experienced boy shook his head as he started to lecture the younger inexperienced boy, "I might be heartless but if you continue with this thought process than all you are is naive. We don't live in a safe world anymore. You have to learn to fight back. You think your friends don't think what you're thinking? I know for a fact that they're also worried of actually having blood on their hands but Fry, no one's an angel. No one's perfect. Being against evil doesn't make you good. Nobody is good. You just gotta figure out what's important to you and fight for it. Simple as that."

Frypan didn't reply as Jeremy stood up leaving and shaking his head wondering what that boy will do if he doesn't try. Will he stay in his fearful mindset or will he get out of it and fight?

"Don't listen to him." A voice grabbed Frypan's attention again as he turned around to spot Brenda. "There are good people in this world. I believe there's good people."

The girl walked over to the quiet boy and sat down across from him on the bench table he was at. "You really think so?" Frypan asked.

Brenda smiled admiring the boy in front of her as she replied, "yeah, I'm looking at one right now."

The boy's eyes widened for a split second as he didn't know what to say back. "Oh, uh, t-thanks."

"Oh, uh—you're welcome." Brenda joked in a silly way that somehow got Frypan to get nervous. "So," she began as this was their first official conversation, "what's your story?"

"My story?" Frypan asked as no one had ever asked that question before. She nodded with a little smile that hadn't fallen off not even for a split second. "There's honestly not much I can tell you about. I don't remember anything before the trials and I didn't do much inside the glade. I was only a cook. I've just been lucky enough to get all the way here. What about you? What's your story?"

"Wait," Brenda stopped him, "that's like scratching the surface. There's gotta be more to who you are. What's made you this gentle? So kind?"

"I, I don't know." Frypan shrugged his shoulders.

Brenda's eyes narrowed on him as she shook her head pointing at him, "yes you do and I'll get it out of you one day."

A little smile tugged on Frypan's lips as he shook his head before asking, "okay, what's your story then? How'd you end up with Jorge?"

"Oh, I'd take hours to explain," Brenda murmured looking down to pick at her nails, "nobody would like to hear me talk for that long—"

"I'd listen to you for hours." Frypan responded in all honesty.

Brenda looked back up as the two shared a quiet silence that both didn't know what to do with. They stared at each other holding eye-contact and never breaking. There was this silent understanding between the pair that they hadn't shared with anyone before. Sometimes, eye contact was more intimate than words will ever be.

"Really?" She asked her voice more quiet but full of hope.

The boy nodded responding back, "I'd listen to you the whole night as long as you need."

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    Rosie walked out of her own office and said a few goodbyes to her coworkers before exiting the entire building. It was the middle of the day which gave her a lot of time to spare. She wasn't used to leaving work during the day time. Usually she'd enter early in the morning at 8 and wouldn't leave until 6 or 7 in the evening when the sun is setting down.

    The girl headed to the bus stop a block down from her job. She waited patiently for a few minutes as the bus arrived to drop a few riders. The girl payed for her ride and sat down towards the end of the bus.

     A man in a black hood entered the bus paying for his ride. He walked down the majorly empty bus and sat down right behind where Rosie was sat. There was a nervous inkling that formed in Rosie's gut as the man started to speak once the bus started to move.

    "Look your name up." The man stated in a whisper but loud enough for Rosie to hear. The girl raised her eyebrow in confusion as she wanted to avoid the strange man but curiosity won over her. "In the computer system WICKED has, look your name up."

     "Excuse me?" Rosie asked turning her head around to get a look at the man but was immediately stopped.

     "Do not turn to look at me." He cautioned. "There's cameras everywhere."

     "I don't know who you are. But I'm certain you've got the wrong person." Rosie replied as she picked at her nails. "I don't want to be associated with anything you may be doing—"

     The man interrupted her, "you're Rosie aren't you?" Rosie's lips parted as she was now feeling a bit wary of the man who knew her name. "That's what I thought. Listen to me carefully, tomorrow you're going to go to work and you're going to stay late. Once the majority of the staff leave, you will sign into one of the main computers. You will go to the database and look your name up."

     "Why?" Rosie asked looking around to see if anyone was listening in or watching them. But everyone else was in their own worlds minding their business.

    Rosie could hear a little sigh leaving the man's lips, "because you deserve to know the truth, Little One."

     Goosebumps had immediately formed on Rosie's body the moment the stranger said the last two words. Her eyes widened as she had heard that nickname before. That nickname had been used as a nickname for her. But only one person had ever called her by that nickname. Did she remember who? No. But she knew it was someone important to her.

     The bus stopped signaling the stop Rosie needed to get off on. The girl stood up having the inkling to glance to the stranger but before she could, the stranger bumped into her forcing something in her hand and rushing out of the bus before she could even get a glance of him. Rosie headed down the bus to see if she could find the stranger but he was nowhere to be seen.

     The girl unwrapped the crumbled paper and read what it said. Don't worry, little one. Everything will be alright. I'lll find you again. I'll help you remember. The girl's hands trembled but it wasn't from fear, it was more of a nervous inkling that maybe he could actually help her remember what actually happened.

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WELCOME BACK TO CHATS WITH THE AUTHOR 🎤

— y'all last night I killed a cockroach

— it was disgusting. i shall now be sleeping in the living room till further notice

— did you guys like this chapter??

— if you did, what'd you guys like?

— who's the mystery man?

— might be a bit obvious

— I made a new duo and it might be my favorite. everyone please root for my now fav duo: brenda & frypan 🤝🤙

— let me know if you guys want to see more from them. I have plans for them but idk if y'all want scenes from them. 

— newts getting on my nerves 😐

— I gotta fix him

— i really just made him do a 180 with his personality. he was so different in the first book. im gonna get him back to who he is soon! i swear!

— you guys think it's fair the way newt argues w Jeremy? what about Jeremy?

— i like how all of this is happening and Rosie has no clue who they are at the moment

— what do guys want to see? or who matter of fact

— see you in the next chapter that I will probs take forever to update bc i suck