Chapter Nineteen: Aspen

Chapter Nineteen
~ Aspen ~

I woke to the sound of laughter. The muscles in my neck protested as I stretched away the sleep. Surprisingly, it’d been the best night’s rest I’d gotten in a while. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes and sat up. The sleeping bag around me pooled at my waist before I slid my legs free. I made my way toward the entrance of my tent, which was actually Grey’s tent, and peaked my head out. I stopped to watch the source of the happy sounds, a small smile pulling at my lips.
Gracie was playing with two young boys. They were running around, trying to catch each other but mostly just falling over in fits of giggles. Seeing them so carefree reminded me of why E was doing what she was doing. She was going through hell so that these kids, and everyone else for that matter, could have some semblance of a normal life.
I saw it in all of them. Grey, with his commanding energy, took the lead with logistical problems. Jax was the brains of the operation, obviously, seeing as he’d stayed up all night trying to analyze a substance with nearly no tools. And Will, well, it seemed like he worked to keep the peace. I hadn’t seen much of him after telling him everything I knew about E last night. He was too busy wandering around, making sure everyone else was okay.
Aside from the kids running around, there really wasn’t much going on. There were a few people starting to portion out food for breakfast, but that was about it. Suddenly, what felt like a brick wall ran into me, hard. I would’ve fallen over if said wall hadn’t wrapped an arm around my waist and hoisted me back up. I swallowed harshly when I realized I was face to face with Grey. Due to the way he’d caught me, my body was practically flush against his. I felt my cheeks explode with heat as I took a big step back.
“Are you ready?” He asked, giving me a weird, unreadable look. “It’s almost time to go.”
I’d nearly forgotten about our plan for the day. I didn’t want to think about it anymore than I had to. So much could go wrong. Any of us could die. It was a huge risk, but one we were all willing to take for E.
“Yeah, I think so.” Truthfully, I wouldn’t ever be ready to do something like this. But I had to, so I would.
He nodded and motioned for me to follow, so I did. As we passed Gracie and her friends, he barked some kind of order. I watched the smile fade from her lips and wondered why he was so tough with her. It was moments like this that he reminded me of dad. I knew Grey was a much better person than that, but he needed to start showing that part of himself to Gracie too. He led me to the tent where Will and Jax were finishing the final preparations before we headed above ground.
“You ready for this?” Will asked. Although it was nearly the same wording as the question Grey had just posed, it held a different meaning. He didn’t want to know if I had all my stuff together, he wanted to know if I was emotionally prepared for what we were about to do.
“Are you?” I knew it was going to be hard for him to go back to the place where he’d been treated so poorly. It was going to bring back memories of things he’d only had a few days to process. We shared a knowing look. Neither of us were ready.
“Alright.” Jax interrupted. “We’re burning daylight. Let’s go.”
We started the journey to the ground level, my nerves rising with every step that we took. I could only hope that we didn’t run into dad. I wouldn’t be able to face him directly. In no time, we had all squeezed through the opening in the ground. Immediately, the atmosphere felt off. Grey tensed and looked as if he were listening for something.
“Something’s weird.” He said, brows furrowed in thought.
Just then, a deafening boom shook the trees around us. I ducked down on instinct, even though it had sounded far away. It was almost like an explosion of some kind. But the only place that could happen was…
“Shit.” Will muttered just before taking off in a sprint.
“Dude!” Jax called after him, running to catch up with no hesitation.
Grey and I weren’t far behind. We all ran like crazy through the forest, not stopping until we reached the line that separated us from the place I once called home. A shocked gasp fell from my lips, and I covered my mouth to prevent myself from crying out at the sight before me. Dad's office building was on fire. Huge, raging flames overtook the entire structure. You could hardly even see that there was a building underneath it all. Will moved to run onto the scene, but Grey caught his shoulder.
“Wait.” He still looked like he was listening for something. “She isn’t in there.”
Will, Jax, and I shared a few seconds of confusion before he took off. The boys trailed after him right away, but I needed a moment to catch my breath. After I could take in more than just labored gasps, I moved in the direction they’d gone. My breath was taken away again when I saw what had made Grey change paths.
“Lexa!” Will shouted her name and scooped her limp body into his arms.
My mind went straight to the worst-case scenario. Was she dead? Seriously injured? Or something worse? There was no time to speculate as Jax jumped in to help Will carry her. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t moving until Grey grabbed my hand in his and tugged me harshly behind him. My legs could barely keep up with their speed, but, eventually, we were all safely crouched in the tunnels.
“Shit.” Will hissed under his breath. “Lexa. Lexa.” He was shaking her lightly, trying to wake her. I could see his panic rising as she remained unresponsive.
“We need to move.” Grey all but ordered. “The sooner we get her back, the better chance she has.”
It all felt too easy. My mind was screaming that there had to be a catch. We hadn’t gone through with any part of our plan, yet she’d fallen into our arms. It seemed like a set up. My stomach churned uneasily the further we went, knowing the distance from my old life was growing with it. The second we entered the large clearing, chaos broke out. Will and Jax were swarmed instantly, everyone trying to get a good look at E. I doubted it was a sight any of them were prepared for. She was filthy, dried blood and dirt matted in her hair and covering her skin. Her clothes were torn and barely managed to cover her body.
Grey shooed them all away, promising they’d see her soon, and led us all to Jax’s tent. On the way, he explained that their last supply of medicine was kept there. I wasn’t sure they would have whatever it was that she needed to get better. Will laid E on the sleeping bag at his feet and sat as close to her as possible without actually being on top of her. Jax turned his back to us and began rifling through a duffel bag. A tense silence had fallen over us all.
“It’s true!” A squeaky, excited voice broke the tension.
I wrapped my arms around myself and glanced at the entrance to see Gracie poking her head in. Now was definitely not the best time for her to see E. Her battered state would probably be scary to a kid.
“Gracelyn, not now.” Grey moved to block her view of the inside. She tried her best to look around him, but he was much bigger than her.
“Come on!” She pleaded. Grey opened his mouth to oppose, I’m sure, but was cut off by a voice from the other side of the tent.
“Wait.” It was Will, sounding as desperate as ever. “Maybe she can help.”
Grey turned around so fast, I was surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash. His expression quickly morphed from one of annoyance to harsh anger.
“Absolutely not.” His voice was dark and commanding. It left no room for argument.
“Dude, I have no idea where all of our drugs went…” Jax sighed in defeat, turning to look at us all in exasperation. “All we have is a few pills of acetaminophen. It’s not going to do much.”
“I can do it!” Gracie somehow managed to squirm her way past Grey and practically ran until she plopped down beside Will. She looked more curious than horrified as her crystal blue eyes scanned over E’s mangled form. My confusion was growing by the second. How would Gracie help anything?
“I said no.” Grey stomped over and gripped her arm lightly. He was about to pull her back to her feet and kick her out, but Will gave him a pleading look.
“You know I wouldn’t ask this if I didn’t think it was necessary.” He shifted E in his arms to better support her head. “Come on, man. You wanted her to start practicing anyway. Nothing bad will come of it.”
“It will hurt her.” He still didn’t let go of Gracie as he glared down at Will. “And she’s a kid.”
“I am not!” She gasped, offended, as she pulled her arm free. “I want to do it, Greybear.”
“I don’t really care what you want. My answer is no.”
“Can you jump off your high horse for one second and think about the bigger picture here?” Jax suddenly spoke up, his voice loud with frustration. “We have no drugs. No doctors. Gracie can help and is willing to. Just let her try so Lexa’s death doesn’t weigh too heavily on your conscience.”
I couldn’t stop the shocked gasp that came out of me at his words. I’d never seen him anything but apathetic, and that had been really harsh. Grey’s jaw ticked and his fists clenched. I wondered for a moment if they would start fighting. I hadn’t considered how dire the situation was until Jax put it all out on the table. How had these people survived so long with so little? If I had known, I would’ve stocked up on medicine from the labs before coming here yesterday.
“You have ten minutes.” Grey finally bit out, nodding stiffly at Gracie.
She squealed with excitement and pulled her sleeves up. I’d just watched an entire argument and I still had no idea what was going on. She mumbled something to Will, and he placed her hands on E, one on her stomach and the other on her forehead. Gracie closed her eyes and furrowed her brows in concentration.
“What is she doing?” I asked no one in particular.
“Healing her.” Grey huffed, sounding very displeased. “You have nine minutes.”
To say I was shocked would be a major understatement. I knew next to nothing about this world of powers, but I hadn’t realized that healing could be one of them. I watched as E began looking slightly more alive with each passing moment. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. These people would do anything for each other. Gracie, a child, was willing to step up and save E’s life. And Grey, although apprehensively, allowed her to lose a bit of her innocence in the process. There was no doubt in my mind that they were all a family, and it was heartwarming to see. Now, I just couldn’t imagine where I would fit into it all.