|Like a thief in the night, robbed daylight 

|Song: Traitor, Daughtry

|||

Lisa's P.O.V.

Carter turned to growd once again. 'Listen, it's crazy out there. It's all happened really quickly. This morning the police were overpowered and the gates were opened. Some Cranks from the Palace joined them. They're everywhere now. Please people, don't go out there. We will get all of you out of Denver. We promise. In here it's safe.'

Finally the murmering of the crowd died down, making him look at us. 'So whose coming?'

'I am, I have to,' I said, turning to meet the others.
'If you're going, then so am I,' Dawn spoke up from behind me.
'You two are not leaving without us,' Minho said, gesturing to himself and Thomas.
'What about us?' Brenda said, nodding at herself and Jorge.

Thomas took a deep breath. 'Listen, Brenda, we need someone to watch over things here. These are all people who can help us take Wicked down. We need someone we can trust to stay behind. Plus, you're a good leader and you still have your memories.'

Brenda gave Thomas a long glare and suddenly I felt uncomfortable, as if I was breaking a very intimate moment meant for just the two of them. 'Fine,' Brenda whispered, 'but be careful.'
Thomas nodded at her. By just looking at him I knew what he wasn't saying but definitely thinking. In here it was safe and he wanted, no needed, Brenda to be safe. 

Then I looked back at Carter. 'Let's go.'

He nodded and turned towards the other guards. After he'd given them instructions we were good to go. The five of us made our way through the doors. Thomas had given me the Launcher and Minho was carrying the gun. We made our way down a long hallway and stopped before the door leading out of the building. Light fell through the cracks and I felt eager to see the daylight again.

'Okay, we have to make a decision,' Carter said, turning to us.

The others probably didn't notice but I saw the little frown between his eyebrows. It was the frown he had when he was worried but was trying his hardest not to show it.

'If we go on foot, it'll take a couple of hours, but we have a lot better chance of getting through the streets. We can hide on foot easier than if we take the van. The van would get us there faster but we'd be spotted for sure.' 

'Speed versus stealth,' Thomas said, looking at us. 'What do you guys think?'

'The van definitely,' I said, only the thought of walking out there with just two weapons gave me goosebumps.
'The van,' Dawn agreed.
And Minho nodded.

'Okay, the van it is. Now keep your mouths shut and those weapons ready. First thing we gotta do is get in the vehicle and lock the doors. It's right outside, ready?' Carter raised his eyebrows at us.

I raised my Launcher as a response, nerves swimming through my stomach.
I noticed Dawn chewing her lip, she probably felt very vulnerable without her bow.
Carter took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the many locks on the door.

The door slowly cracked open. It was dark outside, a lone streetlamp providing some light. I felt slightly disappointed upon noticing that was the light I had seen shining under the door instead of the actual sun.

Carter peeked his head outside. 'Seems clear, let's go.'

We slipped outside, quiet and fast.
I spotted the van parked in a narrow alley about twenty feet away.
Quickly we sprinted towards it as Carter locked the door behind us.
My eyes scanned the street but everything seemed quiet. Still I held the Launcher tight, my hands turning white.
As soon as Carter unlocked the van we jumped inside. He sat behind the wheel and somehow I ended in the front seat next to him. The others sat in the back and I could almost feel Minho his eyes on the back of my head.

The engine started and Carter was about to drive away when a loud bang came from above our heads, making the van shake. Silence followed, only to be broken by a cough. Someone had jumped onto the roof.

Suddely the van shot forward, Carter his hands tightly around the wheel and a determined look on his face.

I turned to look out the back window but there was nothing to be seen. Then I turned back forwards and yelped when a face started creeping down the front windshield, staring at us upside down.
It was a woman, her hair whipping in the wind as Carter set the van tearing down the alley at a high speed.
She looked right at me, then smiled, showing a pair of perfect teeth.
I felt a weird urge to throw up, my stomach twisting weirdly inside of me by looking at her. Something in that smile was so wrong and menacing that it made my neckhairs rise. Then she made a fist from her hand and started hitting the window.

'Would you please get rid of her?' Dawn shouted from the back.

'Fine,' Carter responded through gritted teeth and he slammed on the bricks.

The woman flew through the air, shooting forward as if she were launched by a catapult, until she crashed on the ground. Frozen I watched her get up almost immediately. She wasn't smiling anymore, her lips had curled up in a fierce snarl instead.

A shiver crawled down my spine, leaving goosebumps on my arms.

Next to me Carter gunned the engine and for a second she looked as if she was about to jump in front of the car, but then at the very last moment a frown appeared on her face, as if her thoughts had cleared at the very last second. And soon we had left her behind.

'She was like a mix of sane and not sane,' Thomas whispered.

'Just be glad she was alone,' Carter muttered.

I turned around to look at Dawn, she seemed worlds away with her thoughts. 'It's hard to look at. You know since...' Dawn cut herself off.

Thomas didn't answer, just put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze as comfort.
Minho's eyes saddened and Dawn exhaled deeply.
I turned back forwards, not able to see the pain on their faces.

We reached the end of the alley and Carter went right onto a bigger street.
Small groups of people were huddled together on the street. Some people were fighting but most were digging through trashcans or staring with an empty and haunted expression painted on their faces.

'I can't believe it happened all so fast,' Dawn whispered. 'You think they were somehow planning to take over Denver? Could they really organize something like that?' 

'Who cares,' Minho responded, his voice empty. 'They're here now and let's hope we don't get a chance to ask them about their master plan.'

We fell silent again and I felt nerves and fear swimming inside of me. I wanted this ride to be over as soon as possible.

Carter slowed down to make a turn left into a long alley. 'Almost there. We need to be more careful now.' He turned off the headlights then picked up the speed again.

As we drove it became darker and my nerves grew and I felt my hands becoming sweaty as the rest of my body started trembling. I had wanted to see the Right Arm, to see what been left from the organisation that I had created. However as we were getting closer I wasn't really fond of the idea anymore. They probably didn't know who I was. And if they did, would it matter? They had another leader now and I couldn't just burst in and demand control. I didn't even know if that was what I wanted.
All I knew was I had to see for myself what had become of what I used to call my redemption.

'Are you okay?' Carter asked quietly.

I had almost forgotten how good he used to be able to read me. Despite not seeing each other for almost a year and me not even remembering him until a few days ago, he was still pretty good at it. Considering how much I had changed in that year.

'Depends on what okay means,' I answered.

A small smile appeared on his face as he opened his mouth to answer but then he suddenly frowned, making me turn to look out of the front window to see what he was looking at. Before I could see what it was, though, I flew forward, only to be snapped back by the seat belt. Gasping for air I realised we must have run over something.

'What the shuck?' Minho yelled.

'Probably a trash can or something,' Carter answered, his voice quiet. 'Scared the crap out of me.' He inched forward and a loud, scraping screech filled the air. Then came a thump, another crash and everything fell silent. 'Got her loose,' he mumbled, not even bothering to hide his relief. 

'Maybe you should turn the lights back on?' Thomas suggested. 'I can't see a thing out there.'
'Yeah,' Minho added. 'I'm pretty sure anyone out there heard that racket anyway.'
'I guess so,' Carter replied and he turned them on.

The beams of light covered the entire street in brught yellow light. I squinted and then frowned as my eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness. Slowly something became visible and then I gasped.

About twenty feet away, in front of us at least thirty people stood packed together on the street. Their faces were like those of ghosts, hollow, scratched and bruised. But what scared me most was the almost animal like, growls on their faces and just when I was about to scream for Carter to turn backwards the crowd parted in two groups and freed the road for us. One of them even gestured for us to drive through.

'Those are some awfully polite Cranks,' Carter whispered.

'You're not really thinking about driving through them, right?' I asked, not caring about the fact I sounded scared.

'Maybe they're not past the Gone yet?' Thomas answered. 'Or not in a mood to get run over by a big van?'

'Well, gun it,' Minho said. 'Before they change their mind.'

And Carter did just that. We shot through the group like a race car. And I held my breath the entire time.
We had almost reached the end of their group when suddenly several loud pops sounded and the van jolted to the right. Its front end slammed into the wall of the alley, pinning two Cranks against it.
My heart beated fast in my chest as I stared in horror at the two bloody Cranks, hiting the van in a hopeless attempt to get free.

'What the hell?' Carter screamed. He put the van in reverse and we screeched backwards as the vehicle started shaking horribly.
The two Cranks fell on the ground and were immediately attacked by the others.
I looked away, not wanting to see any of it. On all sides Cranks were thumping the van with their fists and at the same time the tires were spinning and screeching.

'What's going on?' Dawn yelled, fear and panic making her voice higher than it normally would be.

'They did something to the tires!' Carter yelled while switching the van from reverse to drive but it only moved a few feet.

'I told you this was stupid,' I groaned through gritted teeth.

The boy from my past kept on switching the van from reverse to drive but we never moved.
My stomach twisted painfully with panic when I saw a woman making an attempt to break the window. The glass didn't give though and I realised a shaky breath.

'We really need to get out of here!' Thomas shouted.

Cranks started attacking the van from all sides. I heard tumps on the roof. One even got a shovel and was now hitting the window. I bit my lip, mad at myself for falling for such an obvious trap.

'She's going to break it!' Minho screamed.

I turned around and noticed another woman with a large branch in her hand, hitting the window over and over again. A crack shot across the glass.

'Get us out of here!' Dawn cried.

The van moved a few inches but didn't drive. I gasped for air when suddenly a Crank came running and hit the glass with a hammer. Little lines, like those of a spiderweb, crawled acrosd the glass. 

'Carter!' I screeched, reaching for my Launcher. It was no use, the weapon was way too big to be used in a car.

The sudden sound of shattering glass made me turn around. An arm came through the window, the sharp edges of the glass cutting through the flesh but stull the person the arm belonged to kept on pushing. Thomas unlocked its seat belt and moved towards it.

'Thomas!' Minho threw him the gun.

Dawn kicked against the arm, hard, a paniced glare in her eyes.

The arm twisted in an unnatural way and was pulled out of the window.
Then Thomas reached the window and started firing outside.
Cranks screamed as they fell down. While the noise of the squeling tires and pounding of fists from the Cranks were haunting my ears as well. It was becoming unbearably overwhelming.

'I think we're almost loose!' Carter shouted. 'I don't know what the hell they did!'

'Well, hurry up!' I screamed back, turning to Thomas. He was still shooting down Cranks but would be out of bullets soon...Then a woman's head appeared by the window.
I yelped as my heart jumped in my chest.

'Just let us in,' she snarled. 'All we want is food. Just give us some food. Let me in!' She screamed the last words and started punching the web of glass lines on the windshield. A hole appeared and I tried to raise the Launcher, ready to fire and put her down.

But suddenly the van shot forwards, the woman falling off of it with a scream. 'I think I've got it!' Carter yelled.

'Finally!' I breathed, still holding the Launcher ready. With one last, horrible squeel the van shot forward, throwing down the Cranks in the way. I closed my eyes when I saw bodies falling off the roof, unto the street. I tried to steady my breathing as we rode on. The echoes of the horrible sounds were still haunting me. A shiver went through me as I opened my eyes again. I could feel Carter his worried glare resting on me, but I ignored him and kept my focuse on the road.

Carter turned off the headlights again, making the street around us dark once again. We made two more turns and then entered an open garage door, which closed as soon as we had entered. The van came to a halt and Carter shut off the engine.

The sudden silence was painful to my ears as I leaned back and tried to calm myself, reminding myself that I was still alive.

No one said a word for a long moment. Each of us trying to push the terrifying encounter with the Cranks away.

Until finally Carter spoke. 'They're out there, surrounding us, waiting for us to come out.'

'Who?' Dawn asked, her voice trembling.

'The boss's guards. They know this is one of their vans, but they won't approach us until we get out and show ourselves. They need to confirm who we are. I'd guess we have about twenty weapons aimed at us right now.' He said it casually, as if nothing of what just happened had touched him in the slightest.

'So what do we do?' Thomas asked. 

'We get out, nice and slow. They'll recognize me. I'll go first, tell them who you are. Wait for a knock on the window. Okay?'

'Just go,' I mumbled.

Carter his blue eyes landed on my face and I felt a shock going through my body, electrifying me as thousand of memories were slowly drowning me. Then he opened the door and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me sitting there with the sudden urge to cry. I grimaced at my weak response to this familiar face his return and looked outside the window. It was completely dark, nothing moved. It took a few seconds but finally the knock came. 'Alright guys, let's do this,' I mumbled, unlocking my seat belt and slowly opening the door. I heard the others do the same. 

As soon as I stood outside, a white light suddenly floaded the room. I squinted, wanting to be able to see something as soon as possible. It appeared as if a huge, white, spotlight was aimed right at us. I could see some figures, two on either side of the light. They were all holding weapons, just like Carter said they would.
I turned to my right. Dawn was standing next to me with Minho and Thomas before her.

'Carter, is that you?' A voice called out.

'Yeah, it's me,' he replied from beside me.

'What happened to the van? Who are these people? You better have a good reason for destroying one of the few vans we have left,' the voice continued.

'They are Immunes-' 'No,' the voice interrupted Carter. 'We want to hear it from them.'

We shared a quick glare and I nodded at Thomas. He gave me a small smile in return and took a step forwards. 'My name is Thomas. This Minho, Dawn and Lisa.' He pointed at us as he said our names. 'We know Gally, we're with him at Wicked. He told us about the Right Arm and what you guys do. We were on board to help, but not like this. Kidnapping Immunes? I thought that was Wicked kind of stuff.'

Surprise flashed through me when the guy the voice belonged to chuckled. 'I think I'll let you see the boss just so he can get the idea out of your head that we'd ever do anything like Wicked.'

'Fine. Let's go then,' I spoke, taking a step forwards. Now I was here, I wanted to get it over with. I wanted to see the man who had convinced my people to kidnap Immunes. I blinked when I realised I meant what I said. The Right Arm was my organisation, and although half of the orginal Army was probably dead, I was still willing to fight for it. Just like I had done before. These were my people. And I wasn't going to abandon them, not again.