"Angela, get DOWN!" Cam screamed.

Cam ran full pelt in her direction. She found herself frozen to the spot as he leapt into the air. He dived at her as a flash of light and deafening high pitch sound sent her flailing backwards.

They landed together away from the bin with Cam's weight pressing her to the pavement. She heard nothing except muffled screams and the high-pitched ringing of her ears. Cam held her head down and covered her body with his. Frightened, she pressed herself into his chest.

When he rolled away, she saw the debris from the exploded shops littering the street. Alfred's men lay between the stones. Some clutched wounds and groaned. Others helped to lift the injured to safety. Her heart pounded as she examined the chaos for Sebastian and Ginge. When she saw them huddled away from the rubble she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Cam!" Angela said. She still couldn't hear her own voice.

Cam lay on the road with his clothes torn. He was alive and awake but his arm had bent back at a funny angle. His lips moved yet she couldn't hear him speak. A laser gun fired to her right. They had to find shelter. Angela hooked her arm under Cam's shoulder and pulled him to his feet.

While the lasers shot around them, she helped him over to Sebastian and Ginge, where they took cover behind an upturned car. Sebastian eased Cam to the ground where he examined his arm.

"He has a dislocated shoulder," he said. "He needs help."

His words found her through the fog of the explosion. She peeked around the car, desperate to see the Enforcers retreating, but they only strengthened in numbers as Alfred's men lay injured and hurt. They were done for. Her stomach sunk at the realisation and she took Cam's hand.

"We need te get out o'here an' ah dunnae care about Alfred nae more," Ginge said. The panic in her eyes frightened Angela.

"Help me lift Cam," Angela said to Sebastian, trying to hold it together. She had to think quickly. As her hearing came back, she heard the screams of the hurt and dying. It chilled her to the bone.

Cam cried out in pain as Sebastian helped him up. Another shot from a laser gun forced them back to the ground. The Enforcers approached. They marched in line with their weapons at the ready.

"We can't do anything," she said, wiping away the tears.

"We've got to crawl." Sebastian shouted over the noise. "We just crawl back the way we came until we're out of sight."

"They'll shoot us." Angela wiped her nose with her sleeve. "We can't escape."

The four of them shared desperate glances. It was no use. All they could do was hide and hope they weren't killed by the Enforcers. Capture was their best chance of surviving. Angela pulled Cam's hand to her lips, holding his skin against her face.

"Ah ye givin' up Ange?" he said.

She shook her head. "I don't know."

Their eyes met and held. She opened her mouth to tell him everything she'd always wanted to say: how she loved him, how she wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together and start a family. She never got a chance.

A thunderous battle-cry sounded from beyond their hiding place. It was like a hundred voices coming together in one great scream. Angela lifted her head and saw Enforcers rounded up by dozens of cars and trucks. The cars split them into small groups and picked them off.

"The Blemished from Area 13," Angela said in a breathless voice. "They've joined the fight."

"Onward!" Alfred boomed.

Angela assisted Cam up from the ground. Ginge covered them with her rifle. The four of them forced their way towards the headquarters. Alfred ran through the crowds, knocking Enforcers to the ground and dodging laser streams. He was a man on a mission a determined to do his job at any cost.

They followed some way behind, almost getting lost in the chaos and fighting. Angela had to shove people out of the way to help Cam through the crowd. When they reached the headquarters, Alfred had already been inside to capture a prisoner. He grinned with triumph as he presented the man to the crowd a his pistol positioned exactly by his temple.

The noise of gunfire, lasers and, cars stopped. Only the rustle of the shops in flames, and the sound of falling debris could be heard. Alfred presented his hostage.

"Vice Commander Franklin, do you relinquish your hold over Area 13?" Alfred shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Y-yes," said the man.

"I don't think they can hear you."

"YES," shouted Franklin. "I relinquish control." The man squirmed under Alfred's grip. His face contorted in terror. "I surrender."

Angela suppressed a shudder as she watched the army celebrate their victory. All around her the Blemished men chanted. No longer "Fourteen", their chant became: "BLEM-ISHED, BLEM-ISHED, BLEM-ISHED."

"The revolution has begun!" Alfred yelled.

37 * Daniel *

The priest finished reading and placed the book down. "Shall I go on?"

Daniel shook his head. "Not now. I don't want to hear anymore. Not until I've seen the others." He leaned back against the hard wood of the pew and stared up at the high ceilings. He hadn't wanted this. He hadn't wanted to be the first to know. It weighed heavily on his chest. Now he'd have to tell them how it all started and he didn't want to.

"I understand," said the priest. He handed Daniel the notebook. "Well, I think I'll leave you to it." He rose to leave.

"Wait," Daniel said. He sat upright on the pew and reached out to the old man. The priest sat back onto his seat. "Why do you do this? Why do you hide these people under your church? You must know about the things they do. I mean, I've seen the Resistance bomb public places. Apparently they kill GEM girls. Sometimes I'm not even sure I'm on the good side."

The priest chuckled, the air escaping slowly from his lungs in a wheeze. "Side. Now, there is a loaded word. But I suppose in the world we live in, taking sides seems paramount. It's all you've ever known." He leaned so close Daniel smelled his tea-fragranced breath. "There are no sides, not really. And there certainly isn't a good side. There aren't even any good people a not in the sense you're thinking of. Have you ever known a person who didn't make a mistake? Who never got it wrong?" He lifted his furry-white caterpillar eyebrows expectantly.

"No, I guess not."

"That's right. There's no point choosing a side, unless it's yourself. When the Ministry started to do the things they did a banishing people left, right and centre, calling them nasty words, making them wear a uniform a I had a choice to make. A very difficult choice." He sighed. "One which compromised some of my own beliefs. Someone came to me in grave danger, who wanted things to stop. They feared the future of the country and I chose to believe in that person."

"Who was it?" Daniel asked.

"Someone who had a vision for the future, and while it wasn't my vision, I saw good in it. Since then I've let people into my church who I regretaa"

"Susannah," Daniel said.

"Yes. Her. I suppose you have to set your boundaries in times of strife and war. You have to ask yourself what you'd be willing to do and what you'll never do."

"I'd never kidnap or murder," Daniel said.

"I'm sure you wouldn't. I don't think many people would say that. But then they might find themselves changing their minds at some point."

"What are you saying?"

He sighed. "Who knows? It's little more than the ramblings of an old man."

Daniel thought about his words, and thought about the lines he'd drawn for himself. Could he ever stoop so low? Could he ever kill an unarmed man a or woman a if he thought it might save many lives?

The priest slapped his thigh with his hand and brought Daniel back to reality. "Now, you have friends to find and histories to discuss." He gestured to the notebook.

Daniel sighed. He'd been stalling a trying to avoid the explanation to the others. They had a right to know what was inside Anna's notebook. He stood to leave and paused before saying, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said the priest.

As Daniel walked through the knave of the church, a horrible churning grew in his belly. He knew something was very, very wrong. He began to jog, almost knocking over a nun, as he made his way through the church and to the secret door to the steps. His heartbeat quickened as the realisation dawned on him. He just hoped that he was wrong. Deep down, he knew why his stomach hurt. One of the Freaks felt pain, and he felt it along with them.

He ran through the basement and around the corner, where Mina and her father lay. She had her hands balled into fists. She clung to his blood-soaked clothes.

Daniel dropped to his knees beside her. With shaking fingers he reached for the Professor and felt for a pulse. There was no sign of life a just cold skin and dried blood.

"He's gone." Mina clutched her knees. Her blood shot eyes stared into nothing. His heart ached for her.

Daniel wrapped his arms around her. She was like a fragile bird huddled against his chest, shaking with grief. The other Freaks appeared around the corner, breathless. They'd felt it too. Kitty saw Jonathon's body and covered her face with her hands. Mike's shoulders slumped, and Hiro's large eye's filled with tears. They joined Daniel on the floor and wrapped their arms around him and Mina. Only Mike hung back away from them, guilt in his eyes.

"She won't leave him," Daniel told Ali and Matthew. "I can't get her to... I'm sorry, Matthew. I really am."

Ali propped Matthew up against the basement wall. He clutched his chest with one hand, and stared at Mina and Jonathon with wet eyes. Daniel found it difficult to tear his eyes away from Mina long enough to tell Matthew about his brother.

"I knew this was going to happen," Matthew said. "It's my punishment."

"Dunnae speak like that." Ali pulled Matthew closer to him.

"Why not? It's true. If I hadn'taa"

"If, Matty, if. Ye didnae know what would happen. It's not ye fault. It's not."

Daniel walked over to where Mina rocked back and forth, hugging her knees. He placed a gentle hand on her head. "Come away, Min. Please. You don't want to stay with him like this."

She shook her head and mumbled something inaudible. She'd been talking to herself a lot. Either that or she talked to her father.

"Mina, this isn't good for you."

"Leave her be, Dan," said Ali. "She's gunnae need time."

Daniel followed Ali away from Jonathon's body. Matthew stayed behind.

"How ye doin', lad? Ye all right?" Ali asked.

"I'm worried about heraa"

Ali stopped him and put a hand on his shoulder. "No, not her. You. Ye coping?"

Daniel nodded.

"Good, acos we're gunnae need ye." Ali's voice became deadly serious. "It's bad." Ali nodded at Elena, who sat at the computer table with her arms folded.

She followed Daniel with her eyes. "What's happened?"

"He's dead," Daniel said, without letting his voice break. It wanted to, but he fought it back.

"Oh no." Elena's hand went to her mouth. "That's so much for her... this is terrible."

"Ye need te tell him," Ali said. He pulled up a chair, and rested one boot on top of his knee.

Daniel decided to stand. He glanced around the room, noticing the thick tension in the air. Kitty and Hiro sat on the bunk beds playing cards, both glum and staring into space. Dale sat with Elena; his face set. Mike stood in the kitchen and stared into nothing.

"What is it?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"I think the war has started," Elena replied.

38 * Mina *

The cold seized me and squeezed my insides until I thought they might pop. Freezing. My body shook until my teeth chattered, sending searing pain into my skull.

I stared at my fingers for hours, waiting for them to snap from the cold. But when I clenched my hands into a fist, they moved and flexed. How was that possible?

He lay beside me. Red blood. Old clothes. Dirty hair. Broken glasses.

Dirty. I said that out loud?

"She's losing her mind."

Cold.

"We need to get the body out of here."

Dead.

"She won't let go of him."

Stiff.

"Where's Daniel? Maybe he can talk some sense into her."

Who were those people? Why did they want me?

"She's shaking. It's the withdrawal from the drugs. Mina, you need to come away."

Bony fingers prodded me.

"Someone just lift her away from him."

"She needs timeaa"

"She needs to get away from the body before it attracts rats."

Rats.

"Where the hell is Daniel?"