"What choice de we have?" replied Ginge.

"We have the choice te wait. It's just that no one seems te want te take it."

Angela knew Cam was right. Yet at the same time there was a part of her who just wanted to go, right then and there. She thought of Mina and Daniel, and the heavy feeling grew stronger. She'd be abandoning them without any warning.

"Are you sure you can't wait?" Angela asked Sebastian one more time. "We could get Mina and Danielaa"

"Have you even seen them today? Mina is with her mum and Daniel's off brooding about her." Sebastian sighed and softened his voice. "I'd like to involve them. They have the other Freaks now though. They wouldn't leave without them. You know it. I can't wait. I just can't..."

"Okay," she said. "Let's do this. I don't get how we're going to get out of the Compound without waking everyone up, though. We can't just drive out of here."

"We'll just have to drive really fast," said Sebastian. "It'll take them ages to catch up. Ginge is a great driver."

Ginge stayed quiet, staring at the key in her hand.

"If ye think ye can outdrive the soldiers, men who've trained fer years, then yer a fool, lad." Cam shook his head.

Angela held her breath, expecting Sebastian to lose his head at being called a fool. Sebastian's cheeks flushed and his fists clenched; he seemed to force the anger away and relax his hands.

"Then what should we do?"

"We roll it," Ginge said.

Cam's eyes flashed. "Aye."

"Roll it?" Sebastian said. "But there's no wayaa"

"It's a smooth incline down te the gates," Ginge said with a shrug. She placed the key back and picked up another, smaller this time. "Ye'll see. Come on."

She walked out of the dwindling light and into darkness. As Angela followed them, she avoided Cam's eyes, not wanting to see his face in case it mocked her or snubbed her. Sebastian followed ahead, tracing Ginge's footsteps. The others stopped abruptly, causing Angela to bump into Cam's broad back.

"No way," Sebastian said.

Cam moved to let Angela through to the front. She found herself in front of the tiniest car she'd ever seen. It had large tyres with deep grips designed for rough terrain. There was a light roof with no windows and four narrow seats. At the back of the cart was a small shelf where belongings could be stored. Angela knew the vehicle well as they often used it on the farm.

"We're using the farm cart? It only travels thirty miles per hour," she said.

"Aye," Ginge leaned into the cart and released the handbrake. "But we can push it."

Angela finally caught on. "You're a genius."

With the three of them, it didn't take long to push the cart soundlessly through the Compound, even when they struggled to steer it around the rubble and debris. When the cart rolled onto the gravel Angela expected someone to wake and stop them; maybe Ali in nothing but a silk dressing gown and slippers. No one came. With relief, she wiped her forehead after they reached the gates and took time to catch their breath.

"We'll push it half a mile an' then start the engine," said Ginge.

"Half a mile?" Angela complained. She pushed her hands into her knees and took another deep breath. "That thing's heavy!"

Sebastian leaned against the roof of the cart. "Ginge is rightaa"

"Wait, what's that?" The moonlight fell onto the face of a body lying on the gravel path by the border. Angela moved closer to him and saw the random boxes strewn around him, boxes of fruit, vegetables, and loaves of bread. "It's one of the soldiers. What's he doing with all that food?"

Ginge crouched by the man and felt for a pulse. "He's just unconscious." She slapped his face a few times.

"Don't wake him!" Sebastian hissed. "He'll get Mary and the others. They'll stop us leaving."

"Isn't that the guy meant to be guarding Mina's mum?" Angela squinted through the dark.

"Ah dunno an' ah dunnae care. We need te leave." Ginge stood up and walked away from the collapsed soldier. "It'll be light in a few hours an' they'll find aim soon enough. Probably won't be the first time he's woken up on the gravel. Could've passed out drunk fer all we know."

"Didn't they have the meal to welcome Mina's mother to the Compound?" Sebastian noted.

"The one we weren't invited te," Ginge added.

Angela shared a glance with Cam. She could tell from the thin line of his lips that he thought something was amiss. It was just that Ginge and Sebastian were so desperate to leave. "Yeah but... why the boxes? It seems weird."

"We need to go tonight. I know you're worried, but Mary will sort this out in the morning. Mina has more than enough people looking out for her. You and I don't. We need to find the people who care about us back in Area 14, not get dragged into problems that don't involve us," Sebastian said.

"All right, I guess so," Angela replied.

The four of them moved on through the dark, leaving the Compound as little more than a shadow behind them. Angela's heart beat faster, and she wondered what lay ahead for them on the road to Area 14.

10 * Daniel *

He didn't remember his dream when he woke. Instead, it left an echo. A cold feeling of dread ran through his veins, and he knew something was wrong. He jumped up from his sleeping bag too quickly and staggered back after a dizzy spell. His head throbbed. It was almost as though he had a hangover.

After leaving the farmhouse, he'd ended up carrying Hiro to the Professor's trailer, and the little boy fell asleep in his arms. There, he'd found Jonathon sipping whiskey and reading from a notebook. The old man quizzed him on the events of the evening, but when Daniel relayed that it had been a night without so much as a hiccup, he seemed disappointed. When leaving he'd thought about sharing his vision with the Professor, yet something stopped him. The time they'd spent together in Area 14 had made them close, and now the recent revelations sullied those memories. It made him hesitate to confide in him.

He moved through the awakening bodies, avoiding the little kids running and jumping over some of the sleeping Compounders. They skipped around him giggling.

It was a cold morning with little sunshine. Daniel preferred cold weather to warm most days, but after his dream he felt as though the lack of warmth represented something deeper. An absence. The smell of cooking kippers drifted from a nearby stove, and he grimaced. He wouldn't be eating breakfast this morning, not with the sick feeling in his stomach.

"Daniel!" Kitty ran over to him, her feet moving swiftly through the grass of the camp site. She moved like a cat a graceful and prowling. "Have you seen Mina?" She clutched her forehead with her hand. "I woke up on top of the table in the farmhouse."

"What?"

"Yeah, just with my head on the table. I must've passed out."

"How much did you drink?" The sick feeling grew in his stomach.

"Not much," she replied. "A few glasses. Nothing to make me pass out on top of a table."

"Something's wrong," Daniel said. "Where's Mary?"

"I don't know. Everyone left before me."

Kitty faced the border and the wind whipped up her long blonde hair. "Anna Hart's car is gone. And... oh... I can taste it..." she drifted off, her eyes wet with tears.

"She's gone," Daniel whispered.

"It's her trail," Kitty replied. "It leaves the Compound."

Daniel walked so quickly Kitty jogged to keep up.

"I'll be able to track her. If they give us a truck we can follow them," Kitty said. "We'll all have to go, even Hiro. We can't split up. Not when one of us is missingaa"

"Why not?" Daniel snapped. "It's not like we've always been together. I've only known you a few months."

Kitty's head dropped, and Daniel immediately regretted his harsh words. He started to say sorry, but was no good with words and gave up before beginning. They were nearly at the wall anyway, and Daniel saw a crowd gathered around a body lying on the empty gravel path a near where the car had been. He pushed through the group and saw that it was Dave, the soldier guarding Anna.

Mary stood over him scratching her head. "Ah cannae believe this. The woman tricked us, drugged us an' effin' bolted."

"Is he all right?" Kitty asked.

"Just out fer the count," Mary replied. "Musta got a large dose o' whatever we had last night."

Daniel swore. "How could you let this happen, Mary? Someone should have heard the car. Why wasn't someone on guard?"

"There's nae one on guard because there's nothin' te guard," Mary said between gritted teeth. She straightened up to full height, almost meeting Daniel on the same level. "Ah didnae let this happen. Ah did everythin' ah could te stop it. She tricked ye as well, Danny-boy. Usually sleep this late de ye?"

Daniel tore his eyes away from Mary's. She was right. He'd slept like a baby last night. He only awoke because of his dream. She'd drugged him too; probably slipped something into his orange juice.

He moved to stand next to the Professor and Matthew. Ali rubbed his temples and grimaced down at the grass. The Professor glared at Matthew, his face bright red and his eyes bulging out of his skull. Hiro moved around to take Kitty's hand, and a few Compounders stood back, watching the show.

"And you?" the Professor said to Daniel, his voice loud with anger. "I take it she got you drunk and drugged did she?"

"I only drank orange juice," Daniel said. "She tricked everyone a even Hiro."

"My mind got blurry after a few drinks," Hiro admitted. "I didn't hear anything. I need practice with my filtering. I just thought it was that."

The Professor raked his fingers through his hair. "Mary we need a truck, now. We have to follow them."

"Hold on, nae, ye dunnae know where they've gone. An' we're short on trucks as it is, Jonathon. Ah'm sorry fer what happened te ye daughter butaa"

"Sorry?" Jonathon moved closer to Mary, standing at his full height over her. "You let this happen."

"Ah put a guard on her. Ah spared men fer ye." Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Jonathon.

"So much for a guard," Jonathon spat. "My daughter has been kidnapped."

"Nae hold on." Mary put her hands up in warning. "Ye dunnae know that. Ah know it's hard te hear, but what if Mina wanted te go? An' what if she went willingly?"

"No," Daniel blurted out. He couldn't bear to hear anymore. "She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't leave without me."

Mary placed a hand on his shoulder, her face full of pity. She opened her mouth to speak then seemed to think better of it; squeezing his shoulder instead. Jonathon paced around the group shaking his head angrily.

"If you'd never brought her, this wouldn't have happened," he yelled at Matthew.

"Hey," Ali stepped in. "Don't ye think he knows that?"

Daniel sighed. The longer they stood around fighting, the more ground Mina and her mother covered. "Stop it!" He directed his words at Jonathon. "We should go. Mary, please. We need to find her as soon as possible. If Anna is dangerous enough to drug us a what will she do to Mina?"

The group fell silent. Mary's eyes dropped.

"There's more," Kitty said. She wrung her hands. "I can taste more than just Mina's trail leaving the Compound. I think others left last night. Angela, Cam, Sebastian and Ginge."

"Ye what?" Mary put her hands on her hips and glared at Kitty. "Ginge has gone too? What the hell is going on around here, eh? It's a flamin' circus!" She shook her head.

Daniel stared at Kitty in disbelief. "So you're telling me that not just my girlfriend, but also my sister left the Compound last night."

She nodded sheepishly.

Daniel put his head in his hands for a moment. When he straightened up he said to Jonathon, "We leave now, and we get a truck. We have to follow them."

"Mary, we have to get them all back. I don't know what is going on, but we have too many young people out there, none of them even eighteen, and we can't just turn our backs on them," Jonathon begged.

"Aye, ah agree," Mary said. "Ah'll sort somethin' out fer ye."

Daniel helped load the truck with a heavy heart. The shadow of the dream played on his mind. He sensed the cogs revolving, moving the events towards their inevitable conclusion a his vision. First Anna arrived in the Compound. Then she stole Mina away. And worse, whilst all this went on his little sister slipped out of the Compound without so much as a goodbye.

Jonathon lifted a pack up into the old army truck, and Daniel helped him. "Do you think we'll get her back?"

The Professor held his eyes. "We have to."

"What's going on? What didn't you tell her? I know there's something else about Anna, something you've not told us," Daniel said.

He shook his head. "Anna has been corrupted by the GEM. I don't believe her when she says her intentions are to get to know her daughter after a decade. Mina is a weapon, the greatest weapon the Ministry could ever own."

"And you think she's taking Mina back to the GEM?" Daniel asked. "But what would she want with Angela and the others?"

The Professor leaned against the truck. "I don't know. That could just be an unfortunate coincidence. Has Angela said anything about leaving the Compound?"

Daniel shook his head.

"This must be harder on you than anyone. I know how much Mina means to you." He paused. "And then there's Angela. Look... we'll get them back. We have to."

Daniel glanced around them to check for anyone within earshot. Ali and the others remained a fair few feet away carrying their packs to the van. He knew they had some time. "I had a vision."

The Professor moved away from the truck and folded his arms. "Tell me."

Daniel fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt, unsure of where to begin. Was he doing the right thing? Could he trust him? All he knew was that he needed to share the problem, and he just hoped Jonathon loved his daughter enough to help him.

"It was Mina using her powers on all the people she loves. It was horrible."

Jonathon's face paled. "Have you told anyone else?"

"Hiro saw it in my mind."