Chapter Six

Jay turned scarlet red and glared at the girl.

"I'm not anybody's slave, you got that?"

The girl snorted and looked away.

"It's true you know. We're just friends" I said, smiling weakly.

The girl frowned and jabbed a finger at me. "So you're not taking me to the Prison?" she said, as I rubbed my bruised arm.

"No. I could never do that"

She looked at me strangly and stood there unmoving.

"Where are you going?" Jay asked her cautiously.

"I can't tell you..." she said, and looked at Jay like he was the most dangerous person in the world.

Jay glanced at me and then said "I'm going to an abandoned train station"
The girl narrowed her eyes. "Travelling hundreds of miles to go to any station? Is it the Resistance?" she whispered, looking at me warily.

Jay nodded curtly and the girl jumped. "Take me with you"

Jay shrugged then nodded.

I reached into my backpack and found a scruffy pair of trainers and handed them to the girl. She took off her hole ridden sandals and put the trainers on, and we started to walk on silently.

As the sun went down, we sat in a small cave, miles from anywhere. I grabbed two sticks from a nearby tree and set up a fire like I had hundreds of times before. When I had done that, I took a threadbare blanket from my backpack, and sat down on it.

"Ami. My name is Ami." the girl murmured shyly.

"Maria. Look, just so you know, I'm not going to hurt you. I might be one of 'them' but I'm not like.... well... I haven't seen a single member of my family in nearly four years. Since just after the Invasion. I'm not going to betray you or do anything, kay?"

The girl nodded, looking relieved.

"How did you become friends with Jay? I mean, he's human and you're not...."
"After the Invasion, me and my twin brother left the spaceship. I was terrified. I had been taught basic English, and was told to go looking for hiding humans. My twin, he found Jay. Hiding in a railway tunnel. He grabbed Jay and pushed him against the wall. I had the handcuffs. My brother told me to handcuff him, and take him to the spaceship. I couldn't. He deserved to be free. Jay, he was crying. I shook my head, and then my brother; he glared at me so menacingly, and I knew that he meant to handcuff me too, and take me back to the ship in shame. Angrily, I handcuffed Jay and whispered a 'sorry' in his ear.

My brother he looked so satisfied. We were in the forest, and Jay was crying. A car swerved in front of us - a runaway human. This place terrified me, the brutalness of my usually timid brother. I unlocked the handcuffs and I ran, Jay following behind.

My brother never could run fast, and he never found us. Three years it's been. And I haven't seen my brother again "

Ami stared at me. "You left them all, your family, just to save Jay?"
I nodded. "And because I was sick of them, all it was was endless strategy, never saying what you really feel."
I pulled up my arm to show the tattoo. "All of us, we are born with these marks, it is part of the way we are. However, mine doesn't show my allegience to them. It means nothing. Nothing!"

Jay nodded thoughtfully and then smiled. Staring up at the damp cave wall, we soon all fell asleep.