Hopeful

Jupiter

The doctor turned around. I could sense Angel gasping but I was still staring towards the baby.

I snapped out of it as I saw the doctor struggling to stay with the baby on the hillside or run towards us.

He chose us. The cart with the baby- MY baby- was rolling down the hillside.

"Get him!" Angel yelled. I hesitated, wanting to help Angel, then ran. I could hear her running with me. The cart was steadily rolling down the hillside. I could hear the doctor cursing loudly as he stumbled.

Angel grabbed the cart and I quickly undid the straps binding my baby on it. Then Angel and I ran.

I had never seen anything like this. Occasionally they allowed us to look into books with picture of the outdoors, but the books didn't allow you to smell the fresh air, to run around free. I turned around. The doctor was gone- he must have left for backup.

"What do we do?" Angel sounded petrified, yet awestruck.

"We'll have to.... I guess... hide?" I wasn't sure what was normal and what was unusual out here... in the real world.

~Angel~

I had been out here when I was younger. But I was three or four then. I had vague memories of it. It was just so amazing. I wanted to stand here forever, but I couldn't do that. I knew that, at that very moment, that doctor would be calling backup, and they would be locking the whole place down. I didn't realize how far off the ground we were. We had to hide. I motioned for her to follow me. She held her baby close, following my footsteps. I went deep into the surrounding forest, not caring about the sounds that were echoing off the trees.

The voices were saying to keep low, so I worked with them, ducking my head under the cover of the bushes and brush. We couldn't stay here long. They would have the dogs out at night to track our scent if they didn't see us during the day. I saw a bright red dot flashing in the tree above us. I gasped, pointing to it. Jupiter looked up. A camera. Luckily, it was pointing out towards the door we just came from. At least they wouldn't know where we went.

"We need a plan," Jupiter whispered. I nodded.

"Stay hidden, and stay alive," I said. That was the best I could do at the moment. But we went deeper into the forest. I didn't want to leave my friends in there, but I would be coming back for them. At the moment, I couldn't afford to be caught. Not with Jupiter and her son with me. No, not now.

Jupiter

We were inside of a house.

Let me backtrack. In the woods we had been found by a woman who offered us safety in exchange for us saving her son- who just so happened to be Logan. Since I was going to go get him anyway, it was killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

"Who's the child?" the woman asked.

"My son," I said quietly. He was still- miraculously- asleep.

"Whats his name?" she asked, caughing from the smoke from the fire.

"I don't know..." I closed my eyes for a moment and then said, without thinking, "It's David."

The woman looked at me wide-eyed. "Why did you choose that name?" she asked roughly.

"It... just came to mind," I said, shrugging.

She didn't elaborate as to why she was so shocked.

~Angel~

I sat on the farthest wall away from both of them, but it was impossible not to be included in the circle for how tiny the house was. So David was the name of choice? I liked that name.

We all ate some soup that the woman made. We needed a plan if we wanted to save Logan, and this wasn't just one of those hide and survive plans. This was a plan to sneak into the last place I wanted to go. Back into the hospital. I had to save my friends, even if I'd die trying.

I heard David croon, and my heart was suddenly full of hope. Maybe we would be fine after all...Maybe.

Jupiter

"There's a vent leading to my room," I said quietly after a few moments of silence. "Air comes from there. If we have a way of opening it..."

The woman looked hopeful. "That could work. By the way, I'm Meladrose Anaris," she added. I nodded but didn't say any 'pleased to meet you'.

"Do you think that might work?" I asked Angel. She thought for a moment, then spoke.

~Angel~

"It's possible. But if it doesn't, I know another way in. No one is on guard at the front door around noon every other day. No one usually gets as far as the door, so they usually don't keep their guard up, and half of them go to sleep. So we could take the front door if the air vent is blocked."

I had been around the hospital on the inside, and only imagined what it would look like on the outside. Now it was time to see if my imagination was correct. I went through the layout once more in my head, making sure I'd know what it looked like when it was dark.

"The central system is the power system. Since no one ever escapes, it on the roof. If we cut that, we can go in in the dark." She nodded.

"How do you know all of this?" Jupiter asked me. I looked at her. "I had to go to the main office once, and that's where they keep their maps." I smiled wryly. She laughed. It was a perfect plan.

Eva

I told Logan my short life story, there wasn't much to say. Jupiter left then nurses came in and told us to go back to our cells, it was bedtime. Renee came and got me and she led me back to my cell. It looked so dark and dinky, so different from the room I had stayed in today. I looked around, my worn mattress and the thin sheets were still there, yet something looked different. I went and laid down. I felt a small lump pressing against my back, I rolled off the bed and looked under my mattress. There was a rusty key, one that looked just like the one Renee used to opened my cell. I put my hand under the mattress again, hoping to find something else. I pulled out a key card, similar to the one that they used to get in the rooms and labs with. Who had given them to me?
I sat on the floor, examining my new discoveries, when a loud ringing noise erupted through my cell. It was the emergency alarm, the shut down system. It only went off when someone was trying to escape, or had escaped. I hastily placed the key and card in my pockets and laid down. Moments later, Renee rushed in, looked at me, then rushed out. She was just checking on me to make sure I wasn't the one that escaped.
I laid there, waiting for the alarm to shut off. Hours later it did and everything was silent. I laid there debating, wondering what I should do. Finally I got up and tried the key in my door. It clicked open. Cautiously, I opened the door.

~Angel~

I wondered if leaving David here would be best, or if Jupiter would really want to part with him so early. The wind outside felt good. I wanted to take it in before we would have to go back there, into the darkness where we knew nothing of the outside, where we were rats to be tested on, where we were ignorant children.

I sat on top of the tiny house. The roof itself felt good against my skin. I had never felt real wood before. I had only felt the polished wood of some of the old beds they laid us on sometimes. I lied there, looking up at the beautiful sky. Never before had I seen the stars like this. Only in pictures and on TV. But that didn't show the true magnificence of it, or the true color of the dark midnight sky. I could only imagine these things, and even then, it wasn't the same.

I heard someone join me, and knew it was Jupiter. I was very surprised to see that she wasn't holding David. She must have seen it on my face because she said, "He's asleep." I nodded in understanding. I looked back at the stars. She lied down next to me.

"I'm scared," I whispered. Though I would never wanted to admit it. But I knew Jupiter would be as well, so I could tell her this. She looked over at me.

"Me too," she answered. I felt safe at the moment though. Sitting here on this roof, looking at the gentle blue sky. My life was perfect at the moment...well, not perfect. There was one thing my life was missing. I wanted someone to love. I needed someone to love. If only there were someone who knew that I wasn't useless. At least that's the way I always felt.

"Am I useless?" I asked almost silently. Jupiter looked at me. "No," she said. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here with my son. And I thank you for that." I shook my head.

"You were the one who let me out. I have you to thank." I paused for a moment. There was that awkward moment I hated so much. "I guess we all have someone to thank. For me, it's you. For you, it's me. For that lady down there, it's us. So we need a plan." I had gone from thoughtful to more serious. She nodded. "Are you bringing David with us, or leaving him here?" She paused for a moment, thinking.

Jupiter

It had to be one of the hardest decisions I was being asked to make.

"I can't leave him alone here with that woman, but bringing him back into the school? It's too dangerous as well. If only we knew someone that we could trust...." I felt cornered. I couldn't leave him alone with Logan's mom.

"We don't know anyone..." Angel said quietly.

"Well...." I paused. "I might know someone. But I don't know if... if I can trust them. I saw their names on a paper that the nurse had left lying around. I kind of memorized their number."

"Who is it?" Angel asked.

I paused. "My mom," I said quietly.

~Angel~

"Your mom?" I asked. She was looking down, but I could see concern on her face. "Your mom wouldn't...would she even recognize you?" I asked. She shrugged, looking over at me.

"It's worth a shot," she said. For some reason, I wanted to trust her. I wanted to believe it was all going to be alright. But...I also wanted to believe that we might die, just to keep my guard up.

I nodded. It was worth a shot. But we had to know we could trust her first, before we even mentioned that Jupiter was her daughter. She might turn us back in, but I doubted that. I had faith that she loved her daughter enough to shelter her grandson. That just made me laugh.

"What?" Jupiter asked puzzled.

"Nothing, just the thought of what your mom might think of being a grandmother." She smiled, shaking her head. It was nice to be able to smile after all of this.

I'm going to California, so I might be pretty inactive.

Jupiter

"Well... it is worth a shot, isn't it?" I said.

"Of course," she said reassuringly. I grabbed a quarter that I had snagged off the street and put it into a pay-phone. I waited until someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Is Amy there?" I asked nervously.

"This is she," the woman said. I sucked in my breath.

"I... I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to take care of my son for a few days."

Silence. Then, "Do I know you...?"

"Um, this might come as a shock to you..... but I'm your daughter."

Alright, I'll be sure to keep you in the story just in case!

~Angel~

I waited impatiently, not liking the sound of the city. I jumped as each car passed. I wanted Jupiter to hurry. I saw a group of people, boys, across the street. One of them looked familiar for some reason, but I couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen him. He stared at me for a moment before one of his friends followed his glare and then looked at me.

Jupiter nudged my arm. I was holding David for her. I turned to her, realizing that I was staring.

Jupiter

"Who're they?" I asked when Ellie handed David back.

"I don't know..." she muttered. "They look familiar, though..."

"They look hostile, thats what they look like," I muttered. "She couldn't help us, but she had someone she could send us to that she knew would."

When we arrived at the house, I looked at it nervously. "Is this the right thing to do?"

"No," Ellie said. "The right thing to do is to stay there."

"But we're not doing that either, now are we?" she added.

I knocked on the door.

The person who opened it immediately made me feel like I was safe with leaving David there. He was actually my age, but somehow I knew David would be safe with him.

"Hi," I said nervously. "I'm Jupiter."

"Charlie," he said, grinning. "And I believe we were both brought there for testing. The difference is... you're going back."

He gave us a smile. "And that's where I come in, isn't it?"

Um, sunstar, the character's name was Angel. Its OK, a simple mistake. Ha ha. And also, if you said you were up for love, and you don't have a partner in mind, just PM me so I know who to pair up! Unless you want to get that done between yourselves, but remember to PM me who the partners are so I know who to put on the first post, just in case anyone forgets! Thank you!

~Angel~

I could tell Jupiter felt safe with leaving David here. I even felt safe here with this stranger. He invited us in and we followed him into a tiny space that must've been the living room. There, Jupiter and Charlie hashed out what they were going to do, while I blankly stared off into space--I was sure that's what it looked like--while I tried to remember where I'd seen that boy before.

Crapfilled hallmarks, I know Ellie so well she's mixing into these posts! xD Sorry!!! And Logan doesn't have anyone in mind he said. ^^

Jupiter

"He'll be alright?" I asked nervously.

"I won't take my eyes off of him," Charlie promised. I smiled towards him and spoke.

"Thanks. A lot. For everything."

"I haven't even done anything yet," he said, smiling.

"I know," I said. "But you will." I turned to ANGEl [Not ellie. ] "Ready to go?"