I scream so loud my voice rattles my entire body. Daniel anticipates this, though, by pushing me into the helicopter despite any counterattack I could deploy. He knew to shove me around before getting here; it diminished my odds of successful escape.

Daniel greets the pilot, then slams the Renegade door behind us. As I claw away from him, he drags me into one of the many seats lining the cab. Most are filled with immobile bodies wearing oxygen masks. Of course, they're not inhaling air, otherwise they'd be awake. I don't want to find out what that gas is.

My shoulder bumps against a woman as Daniel locks me into a seat. At least her arm is warm: a sign of life.

Alive for now, who knows about later.

Daniel pulls a pair of earmuffs from beneath his seat. He reaches under me and places another set over my ears, despite my jerking shoulders and clenched fists. His carefulness is bizarre, especially as his eyes lock with mine.

"Can you hear me," he says. It's not his normal voice in my ears but an electronic version through the earmuffs. He adjusts his mic near his lips and pulls mine into a similar position. "Can you hear me, Ashley?"

"Unfortunately."

Someone laughs with Daniel. The stranger says, "Fantastic response, Miss Cummins. Prepare for takeoff."

The helicopter rises back into the sky, trapping me in Renegade territory. As we disappear into sky and clouds, I scan the cab. Not a single face looks familiar. No Mom. No Matt or Posey or any of the others.

Daniel fastens his own seat belt. "You should be thank-ing me," Daniel says, looking out the windows.

"What are you talking about?" I say. My seat belt fails to unlock when I push the button with my knuckle. Crap.

"You should be thanking me," Daniel repeats, turning his head towards me, "because I'm going to tell you why your entire life is a lie."

I stare at Daniel. This fragment of a true human being, coated in dirt and blood and ash, thinks he can trick me? Make me believe what lie exactly? How bad the Renegades are? How bad he is?

I sniffle, wiping dirt from my own face with my shoulder. Daniel may have read my files, but he doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what I last said to my dad before the Renegades murdered him. He doesn't know my paychecks cover the insurance and the house payments.

He doesn't know I'm forgetting more and more of my dad every day because I can't bear to think about what life used to be.

Daniel groans, then replaces his Renegade grin with a neutral expression.

"Listen, Cummins, the whole 'Renegade' thing is a lie. Renegadea was eradicated from the water supply decades ago. Your precious little government lies because it benefits them, and they don't want anyone questioning it."

I give him a baffled look. Of all the things that Daniel could have said, he chose to say that? I'm in a Renegade helicopter. How can he even try to convince me that Renegades aren't real if I'm looking at one right now?

Daniel gazes at me with another bored expression, so is this Daniel talking or the Renegade inside him talking?

"Spoken like a true Renegade," I say. "All you do is lie and—"

Daniel cuts me off with his laughter. The same overbearing laughter that make me want to strangle him. "Ashley, you're cracking me up. Renegades? Me?" He laughs again.

The fear should be bubbling out of me like an overcooked stew, but Daniel's attitude emboldens me to challenge him. It's worse than Rick's patronizing comments. Far worse.

I stare at him, ready to punch him if my hands weren't stuck behind my back. "What kind of game are you trying to play?" I ask roughly. "This isn't funny. At all."

He straightens his posture against the chair and runs a hand through his blonde hair. My gaze follows his every move with building anger. "Listen, princess, I'll explain later if--"

I cut him off. "You know what," I say. "You are a Renegade. You kidnapped me and now I'm sitting in a Renegade helicopter while you probably have my--"

I can't dare to imagine it, though the visuals burst into my mind, so I don't spit it out. My silence is their safety, right? Images of my brothers and mom flash thinly across my eyes. "Where are you taking all of us?"

Daniel rolls his eyes. The pilot in the cockpit glances at us through his rear-view mirror and smiles to himself.

I groan. I can't just sit here and give in to these Renegades. My fear soon dissolves, anger pulses through my veins instead. I let out a scream of frustration through my teeth, moving closer to Daniel's face and yelling loudly. "Where the hell are we going?"

Daniel looks into my eyes with a grin flickering across his lips, and then he lets out a laugh. He actually laughs as if it's a joke I'm yet to understand.

"Did a goody-goody like you just swear?" Daniel says with another laugh. "Man, I am really shaping you into a model citizen."

My face burns with a nasty scowl. All the anger bundled up inside me threatens to release as I huff. I'm not sure if feeding or starving Daniel's anarchic desires is better at getting the truth from him. Either way, Daniel's laughter drives me over the edge.

Looks like I'm gonna feed crazy with more crazy.

I struggle against the zip-tie behind my back as I scream in Daniel's face. "If you killed anyone, I am going to wipe your face off this planet!"

Daniel smiles, so smug and smitten. "I'm not killing anyone, Ashley. We rescued them the same way we are for you, so I think you owe me an apology."

A surge rushes through my body and hot, angry tears burn beneath my eyes. The cuts on my arms sting with vengeance.

I lean against my seat in mock-exhaustion, folding my legs to my chest. Then I spring my heels towards Daniel, kicking him hard in the gut. He yelps and keels forward for a moment.

"T-That's the best you can do, Miss Interrogation?" Daniel unbuckles his seat belt and stumbles towards the middle of the cab, yanking open a floorboard. He pulls off a lid to something, and then there's a container and an oxygen mask in his hands.

I fight against the zip-ties again, but my attempts are useless. I can't escape the helicopter let alone do anything else.

Daniel and the pilot laugh at my feeble attempts to break the restraints. "She's a fighter," the pilot says, chuckling. "I bet my life that she'll be as good a Clarifier as you are, Dan."

Daniel laughs and turns to me from across the cab. "Ready for nap time, Detective Cummins?"

"It's Agent." My protest comes out as a moan instead of a sentence.

Daniel narrows his eyes. "Exactly."

The pilot laughs to himself, "Try not to toy with her too much back there."

Daniel chuckles under his breath, more to me than himself. "You hear that, darling? Am I toying with you to the point of frustration?" I scream and flail as much as the zip-ties allow me.

Shutting the compartment, Daniel struts over to me with a victorious smirk. I shuffle away from him, banging my head on one of the seats. The mask covers my nose and mouth, but I hold my breath.

Only one thought remains clear in my mind: I will not make this easy for him.

Daniel laughs at me, and I want to scream at him. I close my eyes to try and focus my breathing. A small inhale to sustain me as long as possible. I don't want to die, I don't want to die. Not like this. No, this can't be happening. It can't.

But it is.

With every fraction of a breath I take, I still hear Daniel's sneers. I keep my eyes shut, though. As tight as possible.

And then my eyes are wide, wide open.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

vote-worthy chapter? and isn't daniel such a...

lol, you thought i would finish that. but seriously, answer the questions in every chapter, and i will give you a suprise! (bribery intended).

the winners of last chapter were fear and fight!