“What the fuck is going on?” John growled, clearly upset with the equal set of sexes. I glanced between the boys, just as confused as they were. Clayton blinked a few times, unsure of what he was seeing was real.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed indifferent to the world around her.

“Who are you?” Clayton asked quietly. She ignored the boys, studying her nails. She had a pretty face, clear of pimples and blemishes. Her dark, wavy hair

went just above her breasts, giving her a mature appearance. I realized she had pulled it out of a clip, letting it hang its full length. Her arms hinted at muscles, ones

that looked threatening too.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, just audible.

She perked up slightly at my voice, paying me attention “I think the real question is, what are you doing here?”

I bit my lip, looking down shyly “I don’t know”

“Neither do we. Only recently did we get any information on a girl who wasn’t part of the FIA on the Boy’s Side. Little did I know they were planning on killing

you.” She said.

“What are you talking about?” John snapped.

The girl ignored him, focusing on me “You’re recently awakened, aren’t you?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Awakened?”

“From hyper-sleep?” She sighed “Shit, what did they call it? They… froze your body?”

I nodded slightly “Yes, I think so. That’s the last thing I can remember before John and Clayton found me”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John tense up at the use of my name. Clayton gave me a slight smile at my bravery. I felt strangely comfortable talking to

this girl.

It could have been the lack of hate radiating from her.

“I thought they had a few of our capsules on their side” The strange girl sighed “I’ll definitely be reporting this to the President”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, fingers to my temple in confusion.

She laughed “Right, you wouldn’t know anything about our Side. I’ll explain it once those two are gone” She nodded towards John and Clayton.

I looked at them.

John stepped forward “She’s our responsibility. We’re not leaving until she’s on her own Side”

This caught the stranger’s attention. She straightened up, crossing her arms “Yeah well I’m a girl and I happen to have full responsibility by law over a newly

awakened girl. So back the fuck off, faggot”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the tone of her voice.

This angered John greatly. “She’s mine. Back off Leech”

The girl gasped “Don’t you dare call me a Leech!”

“Just did, Leech”

The girl shot out her leg, hitting John directly in the gut. He doubled over with a grunt, curling up on the floor. I let out a small shriek, hands over my mouth.

Clayton let out a growl, heading towards the girl with a fist ready.

As he went to hit her face, she ducked, jabbing him in the neck. Clayton’s eyes widened as he gripped at his neck, falling backwards.

Within seconds both boys were on the ground. I gazed in amazement at the girl.

She smirked slightly “Just a few things you pick up”

~*~

Evening set in quickly with an eerie quietness about. John and Clayton exchanged glances many times, but neither spoke. The girl had clearly made herself

comfortable in our little hide-out, setting up her own corner.

She maneuvered rocks around to set up a little bed, evening going out of her way to make me one too. I could tell her guard was constantly up, her body was

ready for any more trouble. Clearly, she could handle both boys if they decided to gang up on her.

There was little light left in the small cave we were in, giving us only dark appearances of each other.

“What’s your name?” I asked finally, trying to break the silence.

“Ezra” She said “But you can call me Zee”

“I’m Ellie”

“I know”

“Oh”

So much for a conversation.

I glanced over at the boys who sat together against a wall, glaring. Clayton had never looked more like John than now.

I sat down on the small bed-like area prepared for me. Zee followed my lead, keeping her eyes on the guys across from us.

“So what are we going to do now, captain?” John asked mockingly to Zee.

“We have to wait until the search dies down. They don’t know about this little dug-out so they’ll think you either drowned or escaped off the far end.” She

explained, talking mostly to me “This could be over tomorrow, or it could be over next week.”

“What are we going to do about food?” I whispered

“There’s a lake out there, isn’t there?” She asked rhetorically “Surely there must be some fish. Oh wait, you guys killed off all your wildlife”

The last bit was laced is heavy sarcasm and malice.

“Watch it, Leech. If you remember correctly, that was entirely caused by your attack” John defended.

She rolled her eyes, standing up “I’m going to search for any plants along the edge of the lake.” She pointed to Clayton “You’re coming with me”

“Why do you think I will?”

Zee approached Clayton, her hand snaking around to the back of his neck. Clayton tensed up, letting out a slight gasp of pain.

“That’s why I think you will” She growled, releasing him. She looked at John threateningly “If you do anything to Ellie, I will personally and slowly kill your little

friend”

“Go ahead”

Clayton’s eyes widened in shock at how casually John allowed his death.

Zee simply smirked though “Oh please, this is all an act. And if its not.. I guess both of you can kiss your lives goodbye. Let’s go”

She led Clayton out to the edge where the most light was. With a shove, Zee pushed Clayton off, following after him.

I waited a few minutes until I saw both of their heads bob up in the distance before looking over at John.

It was strange to be alone with him.

The last time that had happened a few interesting things occurred.

I could feel the tension rising within the seconds. John avoided looking at me as I him.

Finally, he cleared his throat.

“Do you trust her?” He asked quietly.

I glanced up at him, not catching his gaze. “Yes”

“Why?”

“I…” Why did I? I felt comfortable with her. I felt like I could speak my mind. Was it because she accepted me as a girl? Because she didn’t threaten me every

few seconds? Because she was the first girl I’d come across in who knows how long?

“I don’t know” I said honestly.

“you shouldn’t” He warned “I wouldn’t trust her. Even if I was a girl”

“Warning noted” I muttered just quiet enough for him not to her.

“Let me ask you something” he said. It wasn’t a question, it was a command.

I waited for him to continue

“The other night when you…kissed me” He shuddered at the word ‘kiss’ “What happened? I know that wasn’t what Clayton was talking about when he

described it”

I blushed slightly remembering the insane lust I felt for John that night. “I don’t know”

“Did you implant some kind of chip into me? Cause I swear, girl, if you did anything like that I will personally strangle you”

“I didn’t!” I explained, holding my hands up caustiously “I swear I didn’t!”

“Then what was that?!”

“I… I don’t know! I’m just as confused!”

He watched me for a moment, not saying anything.

I avoided eye contact, staring off to where Clayton and Zee had disappeared. Out of the corner, of my eye, I saw John stand up and approach me.

I turned my head to face him, letting him know I knew he was moving.

He stopped in front of me, sticking a hand out. I raised in eyebrow in confusion. He made a face, motioning with his hand for me to take it. Hesitantly, I

wrapped my fingers around his hand.

He hoisted me up effortlessly. I leaned against the back of the cave, gaining my balance.

“Do it again” he commanded

“Wh..what?” I asked

“Kiss me again” He growled, putting a hand on either side of my head.

My mouth ran dry. I blinked, unsure of how to respond. “W—what?”

“You heard me” he hissed, leaning in. His face was one of anger, but his eyes said something else. I saw a hint of lust in them, something which shocked

me

“I can’t”

“Why?”

I gulped, taking a daring move “If you want to be kissed, you can’t force it. You have to make the other person want it to”

John stood back, taking in my words. He stared at the ground thinking. I could feel my face heating up from embarrassment, but I could only hope that he

would back down and leave me be. Though, I couldn’t deny that I wanted the kiss to happen. I simply didn’t want any fear to be between us if we did.

John looked up at me with confusion, “How?”

My face grew more red “Well you have to make the person feel good. Don’t say anything demanding and act like you like the person”

“But I don’t like you” He stated simply.

I frowned “Then why do you want me to kiss you?”

“Because I….” he trailed off “Because I like how it feels”

“Then you have to make me want to want the kiss again”

“Don’t you?” he raised an eyebrow. Truth be told, I did.

“No”

“How?”

“Cause I’ve kissed guys before”

His frown deepened at that. Jealous, I questioned. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, knowing it wasn’t it. John hated girls. Why would he be

jealous of a girl kissing a guy? I internally sighed, realizing he was upset that other guys had suffered the kiss of a girl.

“Look, just kiss me” he was clearly getting annoyed

“Do you know my name?” I asked randomly. I knew at any second I could push him too far. I knew John might snap and I might find myself in severe pain…

or worse.

But I also knew that I had to push him to find out any answers I wanted.

“Yes”

“What is it?”

“I’m not going to say your name, girl” He growled

“Then I’m not going to kiss you”

John pressed his hands against my shoulders, holding me against the wall. “That’s not how this works, Leech. You do what I tell you to do. Kiss me. Now”

“Say my name” I said, trying to keep as much confidence in my voice as I could muster.

“No”

“Yes”

“No”

“Yes”

“No”

“Yes”

“No”

“Then I won’t kiss you”

John glared at me before looking to his side, checking to see if anyone was there. He took a deep breath, before turning back, looking me in the eye.

“Ellie”

I smiled, butterflies in my stomach. I knew this wasn’t right—I shouldn’t be feeling this all because he said my name.

Yet, the fact that I had convinced him to say my name all on my own gave me a feeling of victory. I felt accomplished, powerful, in control. I felt amazing.

“Now kiss me”

John didn’t wait for me to say anything. He didn’t wait at all. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. My eyes fluttered close as I felt his lips slowly

start to mold with mine. My heart sped up as John nipped at my lip.

His hands slide down from my shoulders, over top my breasts. Without any hesitation, his hands cupped my breasts gently, squeezing. I gasped, smiling

into the kiss. John let out a growl, kissing me harder.

He pressed for entrance, something I denied him. I wanted to dominance today. I tugged at his lips, trying to get them open. John quickly understood what I

wanted, giving me access. I could taste him, feel him, hear him.

John groaned slightly, still cupping my breasts. My hands were on his chest, digging in. I moaned, which caused John to deepen the kiss.

He pulled away slightly, “Oh my freakin…”

I giggled, wrapping my hands around his neck and pulled him back to my lips. John slid his hands around, grabbing my ass. He pulled me closer to him so

that our bodies touched. I was on my toes, losing my breath.

“Agh!” John yelled. I felt him ripped from me, a coldness surrounding me.

I screamed slightly in shock as John fell to the ground.

Zee ran up, purposely stepping on his groin. John cried out in pain, clutching at his area. She stood next to him, a gun pointed.

A laser red dot appeared on John’s forehead. His face changed from shock to fear as he processed what was happening. I had seen enough sci-fi movies

to understand the red dot was probably from the gun.

“Wait!” I yelled, “Stop!”

“I told you not to touch her” Zee growled. A humming noise started up.

“Oh my God, please don’t” John begged, genuine fear in his voice.

“You don’t fucking listen” Zee continued “As soon as I kill you, I’m going to kill your little friend”

“Zee! Stop!” I cried out “He didn’t touch me!”

“I saw what he was doing” She spat, not looking away from John.

“Please! Let me explain!”

The humming grew louder.

“I gave him orders to follow.”

“I made him do it!” I lied “Please, Ezra, let me explain!”

She sighed, the humming starting to quiet. “Fine. But I’m tying the Boy’s up. I don’t trust them”

She put the gun back in her pocket, forcing John to roll over with her foot. I breathed a sigh of relief, surprisingly glad that John wasn’t going to die.

I watched quietly without protest as Zee tied up John and Clayton. I had a feeling she could take on both boys at the same time, definitely not a girl to mess

with.