Born 01 - Born

watch."
    "That's some bedtime story." I liked Jake's better.
    He laughs. I watch his silhouette in the dark for a moment. He doesn’t lean in to kiss me. He watches the hill we climbed.
    I lie down on his jacket and snuggle into the smell.
    "How long have they been breeding the science babies?"
    His outline turns to me and I see the shine of his eyes in the dark. "A long time. They started in the early 2000's."
    "Are the babies different than the rest of us?" I am scared of the answer.
    "Yes."

Chapter Thirteen

    The broken branches lead us to a camp in a valley on the opposite side of the mountain where my farmhouse sat. The size of the camp is disturbing.
    Will smiles as he sees it and walks directly up to the man holding the gun amid the trees.
    "Halt."
    "Lancaster." Will shouts.
    The gunman smiles, "No shit, Willy boy, you're alive and well. I heard they caught you." He climbs down and walks to us.
    He laughs, "They think they did. Christ, I didn’t realize this was the damned hill we were climbing. Is Marshall still in charge?"
    Lancaster points to the camp. "He's in the smallest tent. You know what he's like. Still paranoid they will bomb us."
    Will laughs and points to me. "This is my friend, Emma."
    I feel hurt he calls me his friend. I don’t know why, but the word stings.
    "I'm John." He puts a hand out, and I notice he has a nice smile.
    I meet his gray eyes and smile back. "Nice to meet you."
    His eyes flicker on Will for a moment and an even bigger smile crosses his lips. "So where did you two meet?"
    I look at Will.
    He shakes his head. "She walked up to the mountain retreat the other day with a huge timber wolf for a pet and an unruly teenager."
    John's eyes grow wide. "You have a wolf?"
    I nod. I want to find Anna and Jake. I don’t understand why Will isn’t busting inside to see them. I feel myself fidget.
    "Well, I'm going to go see Marshall and see what's new on this side of the hill."
    We walk toward the camp as the sound of a bird squawking fills the forest. The gunmen lower their weapons as they hear the sound and we walk past them. The camp opens as the forest spreads thin.
    "You've been here before?"
    He looks at me and smiles. "I made this camp. I have never come up the backside before. That was Marshall's side to scout."
    It looks like the camp we were at before except that everyone is wearing a firearm or a knife. At one point I swear I see a sword. There are no children here.
    "Will. You're alive!"
    A girl with long blonde hair in two braids and cut off shorts runs and jumps into his arms. My heart stops. She kisses his lips. The lips that only just kissed me the day before. I feel heat radiating from my cheeks. I've read about rogue men in the romance novels and feel sick that I've fallen for one. All the years of reading the novels and judging the females who seem strong and smart and then fall for a jerk. Reality hurts. I want Jake and Anna and my cabin with Leo and Meg. I want to let the world kill itself and hide up in the mountains. I will never kiss him again. I can't believe I was so reckless.
    "Star, what the hell? You know me better than that." He twirls her around and looks sheepishly at me. "This is Emma."
    I nod and grip my bow.
    She beams at me. "Wow, nice find, Will. He save you from the farms too?"
    I raise an eyebrow. "I don’t need to be saved. I'm the hero of my own story." I've died and gone to heaven when her face drops. I read that in a novel my Granny had. I've always wanted to say it.
    She looks at Will, who is staring at me. I walk past him and start to look around. If he doesn’t want to find his siblings, that’s his problem. I'll be damned if I will let them live another moment without the knowledge that their asshole brother is alive and well.
    "You pissed at me?"
    I don’t turn. I continue along. My eyes desperately scan the crowds of people.
    "Willy boy." He shakes hands with a very tanned man with the whitest smile I've ever seen. It almost glows in the dark.
    People continue to greet him, but I can't hear them anymore. I see what I'm looking for. I see a tall guy limping with shaggy dark hair. I break into a run. I run through the crowd and dive, as I get close enough for the arm of the man.
    As I make contact, he turns. His face is exactly as I remember it. He has me in his arms before I can speak a word. He is mauling me like a bear, like Granny always said.
    "Emma, oh my God. Emma, it's you. Holy shit, I thought they got you." He is planting