Reaper's Kryptonite - Chapter One

         Reaper’s Kryptonite, Chapter One: Arriving at Paradise

  In the haze of all the confusion, the only thing I could make out was parts of a conversation going on between a couple of strangers. Eyes closed shut, body paralyzed, heart beating as slow as a heart can without stopping completely, and yet I could make out all these sounds going on around me.
“But we can’t just leave her here! She has a pulse so she’s obviously still alive!” a voice protested, and by the sound of it, it belonged to a male close to my age. Then came a different voice that sounded like it belonged to another male, slightly older than the first.
  “Ren, we can’t just pick up every stray that we find.” The man argued, sounding significantly exhausted, as if he had been in an ongoing battle. Stray? What are they talking about? I thought, wanting very desperately to speak up, move or at least open my eyes, but my body would just not respond. “Where’s Kaleb?” the older man asked, sounding like a worried father who has just realized his son is missing.
  “I’m not sure. He said he had some things to take care of and just left.” The younger guy, whom I assumed was Ren, explained. There was a long moment of silence, and I could feel my body tingling. The feeling was coming back into my hands and my heart rate was slowly starting to pick up. My vision, however, was taking longer. I could see nothing but blur and haze, but I could slightly make out the figures of what I assumed were the two that had been talking before. Finally, I could feel my fingers and feet moving and my back slightly curve. My first guess was that I was sitting up, leaning against something.
  That’s when the thought occurred to me. What happened? Why was I in this state in the first place? Was I still back home in Verona…or had my plane crashed on the way to Jackle’s Paradise? No, that didn’t make any sense. If my plane had crashed there’s no way I would be alive, and neither would they. Then again, I had no idea who they were either. Were they even on the plane with me to begin with? Their English sounded too perfect to be coming from Verona. In fact, one of them seemed to have some sort of accent that was anything but Italian. I had been studying the English language for years, but my accent was still very much there. All of these questions clouded my head all at once as if some sort of storm was about to break out in there, when suddenly one of the figures moved.
  “Nate!” I heard Ren’s voice hiss. He sounded extremely alarmed and irritated. I heard the other man, whom I now knew was Nate, curse under his breath.
  “Alright, grab her and go! I’ll meet you back at the Theatre” his instructions were clear, but Ren didn’t seem to follow.
  “What! No, you’re crazy! You can’t take on both of them by yourself Nate!” Ren’s voice was full of rage and concern all at the same time, and it began to crack here and there. As he spoke, it gradually began to get weaker and quieter.
  “And you obviously don’t know me that well” Nate responded. There was nothing but rage in his voice, and something told me my plane had taken an extremely wrong turn. I could hear a loud shuffling of feet and a pair of arms suddenly lifted me up. I strained to focus my eyes on my surroundings, but only managed to get a quick glimpse of a pair of bright green eyes staring down at me before a loud BOOM that sounded like gun fire went off and my eyesight faded to black once again; taking my hearing and the feeling in my body along with it.

  I opened my eyes slowly, after what seemed to me like a short second, letting the scene creep its way into my head. I halfway squinted, expecting everything around me to be brightly lit, but was unpleasantly surprised. My brain told me to make an attempt to sit up, but my body didn't agree, so I simply tilted my head slightly to the right and studied closely what I could see. A narrow metal door with a small lantern hanging above it plainly stood in the middle of a red brick wall. The more I looked at it, the more I appeared to be in some kind of jail cell.
  My eyes skimmed the wall, expecting to see something else, and they landed upon a small black object in the far corner of the room. Although my body had refused to move before, my curiosity got the best of me. I propped myself up on my elbows and every inch of my body ached simultaneously. I winced in pain, but continued to slowly push myself up and swung my legs over the side of the small couch I had just noticed was under me.
  I went step by step until I was fully standing and carefully walked up to the object. I crouched down and quickly grabbed it so I could straighten myself up again. My eyes shot open and I froze when I realized what I was holding in my hands. Whose is this? Is it…mine? I took another look around the tiny room, and that’s when everything finally sunk in. I had no idea where I was, how I got there or who I was with. Last I remembered, I had bordered the plane with about 50 other people, and was on the way to the only place on earth that, at that moment, was giving me any sense of hope, and somehow I woke up here. It was like something straight out of a horror film, and the worst part was that I didn't remember a thing.
  I heard slight footsteps approaching the door and I held the hefty metal gun tightly in my hands, out of pure instincts. As the door slid open, I raised the gun, unsure of whether I’d even have the courage to shoot. Still, I was ready to defend myself, tooth and nail, against whatever stepped through that door. A couple of feet stepped in and my adrenaline took over, forcing me to pull the trigger. What surprised me more than the fact that I had just used a gun was the pair of green eyes that stared back at me. I immediately recognized them, and suddenly I wasn't so sure of what I was doing anymore. He had his hands up as a white flag and he glanced down at the bullet sized hole in the middle of the door.
  “Don’t worry, we come in peace” a familiar voice said as a tall, slender man with short, messy brown hair and a slightly scratched pair of glasses stepped through the door. I studied them closer, and something about them told me that we had a lot in common. Their clothes were torn and dusty, and they had several bruises and scars all throughout their bodies. One of them, the 5 feet and some inches, green eyed boy with pale skin and light blonde hair that shot out in all directions, had a piece of black cloth wrapped around his right wrist.
  I slowly lowered the gun and sat it back where I had spotted it. “Sorry” I mumbled, my voice sounding raspy and weak. The two of them shuffled in and shut the door.
  “Don’t be, we understand.” The older man spoke again, and the other one just nodded. “I’m Nathan Smith, but please call me Nate” he said with a warm smile, then pointed at the boy standing next to him. “And this is Ren Fitzgerald” Ren smiled shyly and quickly waved hello, but didn't say a word.
  “I’m Aria Rosseli” I half whispered, and the two of them exchanged an odd look.
  “Pleasure to meet you Aria” Nate said carefully shaking my hand so as not to hurt me. “That’s an interesting accent you have. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?” I glanced back and forth between the two of them, remembering I had found one of their accents pretty interesting myself. By the sound of Nate’s English, Ren was the one with the accent, but for some unknown reason he wasn’t even attempting to speak to me. It was kind of ironic that they found my accent interesting.
  “Verona, Italy. I’ve lived there all my life” I said, now feeling a little self-conscious about my own English. Both Nate and Ren’s eyebrows shot up like rockets and they smiled. I assumed they were big fans of my country.
  “Wow! You’re the first Italian we’ve met yet.” Nate says enthusiastically. “But your English is very impressive!” As soon as he said that, a small smile spread across my face. For some odd reason, his compliment made me forget the circumstances that I was in at the moment. To be complimented on my English by someone who spoke it perfectly was like winning a prestigious award. Well, at least it was to me. 
  “Really? You think so?” I asked, a bit overly enthusiastic, and they chuckled.
  “Yes, of course! Do you study English in Italy?” Nate responded, and I nodded almost immediately.
  “I have been since I was 13” I explained, feeling very proud of myself at that moment. “But your English is sup- su- umm” I stopped for a moment, not wanting to sound like an illiterate idiot and just decided to stick with the words I knew well “It’s much better than mine.” I continued “Where are you from?” Ren smiled and Nate gave a small chuckle at my attempt to sound intelligent.
  “Well, Ren and I both have English as our first language, so it only makes sense that we’d know how to speak it.” Nate explains. “I’m from Chicago, Illinois.” I stand still, quietly thinking for a few seconds, until his words finally register.
  “Like, from America?” I asked, realizing I must of sounded like a little child on Christmas, but he just smiled and nodded.
  “Yes ma’am!” he said, saluting me. “And Ren here, is from London, as in England” Ren smiles and does a quick bow. Now I had never met anyone from England before and the little that I knew about them, I learned from my English classes and from watching television, but I wasn't sure if he was being silly, or if that was really their way of saying hello. Either way, I did a quick curtsey myself as I very politely said “Pleased to meet you” in the best English I could manage. He apparently found it amusing, because a big smile spread across his face.  Nate laughed as well and gave me thumbs up.
  “That was very good Miss Roseli!” Nate complimented, and I simply smiled. I looked at Ren, wanting some sort of approval from him two, but he still didn't speak. Instead he did some movements with his hands. I wasn't too sure of what to think of it at first but then, realizing he hadn't said a single word this whole time, I came to the conclusion that he was using sign language. Nate didn't take long to notice my confusion, and a sort of worried expression took over his face.
  “He said he’s pleased to meet you too, and that you’re English is extremely well spoken.” I simply nodded, unsure of what was going on. I knew he wasn't a mute, because I had clearly heard him speaking before, but obviously something had changed between then and now. I sort of hesitated to ask, but in the end I didn't even have to.
  “He’s not a mute” Nate said bluntly, followed by an awkward look from Ren.        “Whenever Ren yells, screams or speaks loudly he slowly begins to lose his voice.” As Nate explained, I studied Ren’s expressions carefully. He didn't seem at all helpless or weak, but mainly tired and warn out. “Sometimes it will come back in a few hours and sometimes it won’t come back until the next day or the day after.” Then, before Nate even touched on the subject, something clicked. What caused an organ in your body to slowly lose its purpose until it no longer functions? The answer to that was clearly obvious,
  “Reaper’s Kryptonite” I said slowly, almost at the same exact moment that Nate did. He sadly glanced over at Ren and nodded.
  “You got it” he said. I stood there quietly, not sure of what to say. I had so many questions to ask them, but no idea where to begin.
  “What about you?” I guess that question was as good as any. It was the only one that I could get myself to ask anyways. Nate half smiled and made his way over to the couch.
  “See these?” he says taking off his glasses as he sits down. I nod and he puts them back on. “Well, without them I’m basically blind and pretty soon not even these will do me any good.” I was at a loss for words yet again, and couldn't think of anything else to do but to stare at the concrete floor. “It happened in a matter of one week” he continued “one day I had 20-20 vision…and the next I could barely see two feet in front of me.” As Nate spoke, Ren motioned for me to sit on the couch while he sat on the other side of Nate. “I hardly even noticed at first, until one day I took my wife and kids out for dinner and nearly got everyone in the car killed when I didn't see the light turn red.”
  He glanced over at me, as his hazel eyes seemed to slowly swell up with tears, but not a single one escaped. “That’s when my wife and I decided that it was time to put my fate into the Jackles' hands, so about a week ago I border the plane to Jackle’s paradise and well…” he looks up at me one more time, his eyebrows wrinkled with anger “Here I am now” After Nate’s story ended, Ren and I exchanged a look. I’m still not quite sure of what he was thinking at that moment, but I was pretty sure of what I wanted to ask them next.
  “What do you mean “here I am”…This isn’t Jackle’s paradise…is it?” I sort of winced from the pain in my entire body as I stood up to face them both. I wanted satisfying answers, and I wasn't going anywhere until I got them. Ren still didn't say a word, but his look said it all. Right then and there, I was sure that I wasn't going to like the answers one bit. Nate stood up, his 6 foot body slightly towering over me, and took a deep breath.
  In that same second, the metal door flung open, and in stepped another man, who seemed closer to Nate’s age. He looked to be about 6 feet also, and his shoulder length black hair covered one of his dark brown eyes. He was light skinned as the other two were, but something about his features made him look different. As I studied him closer, I noticed he was clutching the left side of his stomach, and there was a blotch of red under his hands. As he stepped in he shut the door and sat himself down against the wall.
  “Kaleb!” Nate said as he rushed over to him, followed by Ren. They both crouched down on either side of him and Ren carefully studied his wound as I stood there, helplessly watching the scene.
“What in the world happened to you?” Kaleb calmly looked up at Nate and chuckled a bit.
“I just had a run in with the same bastard that’s been trailing us all week.” He explained, sounding a bit out of breath. I immediately noticed he had an accent as well, but not like Ren’s nor mine. He lifted up his shirt to show the wound and I looked away automatically. Blood and guts had always made me extremely queasy. “It’s just a scratch, see?”
Ren studied it closely and nodded. “Literally” he said after clearing his throat a bit. Hearing his voice now for the first time caught me a bit off guard. He sounded so…strong but calm at the same time. “How you manage to fight all these assholes and come out with a simple scratch every time, is beyond me.” As he spoke, his accent and way of speaking fascinated me more and more by the second. I felt as if I were someone who was meeting an international celebrity for the first time, and was hanging on their every word.
  “You need to stop running off like that Kaleb!” Nate lectured, now slightly irritated. “I know you mean well, but don’t forget you have your wife with a baby on the way back home.” As Nate spoke, Kaleb’s smile slowly dissolved and he got to his feet.
  “I haven’t forgotten” he responded “They’re the reason I’m even trying to get out of this hell hole.” Nate patted his shoulder in agreement, then quickly pointed at Ren.
  “And you! Stop straining your voice and wait until it fully recovers!” he folded his arms with authority and Ren shrugged as he mouthed the word ‘Sorry’. The way those two were with each other reminded me of my dad and I, when he was still around. More than a dad, he was my best friend and the first one that I went to when I needed anything. Seeing Nate and Ren that way, brought an odd sick feeling to the pit of my stomach. My head began to swirl a bit as well and I took it upon myself to sit down on the couch behind me. For the first time in a long time, the memories of my parents and brother hit me like an oncoming train. Man, did I miss them!
  Kaleb’s glance quickly moved from Nate over to me, and in a second transformed into a glare.  “Who’s this?” he asked bluntly, and all I could think to do was to smile innocently and hope he didn't hate me. Nate and Ren turned their heads to look at me and Nate made his way over to sit on the couch as well.
  “This is Aria Rosseli. We found her about two hours ago by the clock tower.” Nate carefully explained so as to not get him angry. I assumed he had a short temper, so I just sat quietly waiting for everything to play out. Maybe if I was patient, all the answers to my questions would come next.
  “Here you are lecturing me about running off, and you go off and pick up some stray that we don’t even know? What if she was one of them playing a trick on us?” Kaleb’s voice seemed tired, but irritated at the same time.
  “She’s not a-“
  “How do you know!”
After being interrupted by Kaleb, Nate seemed irritated himself and stood up, but Ren stepped in between the two of them.
  “It was my idea.” He struggled to get the words out, his voice cutting off at some parts. Kaleb took a step back and put his hands up in defeat.
  “Sorry…” he said as he looked at me and I nodded shyly. “Sorry Nate, I’m just-“
  “I know” Nate said, interrupting him this time. “We all are.” There was a short moment of silence, and then Ren tapped Kaleb on the shoulder and signed something once again. Of course, I wanted to ask right away what he said, but I didn't want to come off as nosy by any means. Kaleb smiled and looked over at me with an evil looking grin.
  “So, you’re Italian, huh?” he asked playfully, and I nodded.
  “From Verona” I said shyly, my accent slightly noticeable. Kaleb smiled and seemed very interested in what I was saying, which made me feel a bit self-conscious again, but I ignored it.
  “Well, Miss Rosseli, did my bro Ren here tell you that he loves Italian women?” Kaleb joked as both he and Nate stifled a laugh. Ren glared at him and gently elbowed him in the rib, causing him to wince.
  “Ay! Ren!” Kaleb whined, rubbing his wound. Ren’s eyes widened like dinner plates and he mouthed the word ‘Sorry’ over and over again. Kaleb chuckled and ruffled his hair a bit. “Calmate, I was just messin’ with you.” Ren sighed and threw his hands up as if to say ‘I give up!’ Kaleb ignored this and planted himself on the couch next to me.
“I’m not kidding though” he half whispers to me “Little Ren here is a med student who’s taking Italian classes on the side. Plus, he’s a very handsome dude!” I looked up at Ren and smiled, as his face turned bright red. “You know, I’ve tried to tell him that the girls back in Barcelona are very beautiful, but he’s always told me how beautiful Italian girls are. Now I see what he meant!” Kaleb says as he gives me a playful nudge, followed by a chuckle when he notices Ren’s embarrassed look.
  “Alright, alright, that’s enough. You’re scaring the poor girl.” Nate said, slightly covering Ren. We locked eyes for a few seconds and I swore on my grandfather’s life, that he had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Then, just like that, everything about him seemed amazing. His eyes, his smile, his features and something about the way he acted. Although he couldn't say much, I could tell he had been through a lot and had survived. I sort of laughed to myself, realizing Kaleb had accomplished what he was aiming for after all. or perhaps the fact that we lived in the same continent of Europe, yet were so different sort of amazed me.
  “Hey, we've been here for too long. We better get a move on.” Nate said, snapping me out of my trance. Ren nodded in agreement and walked over to the corner of the room, picked up the heavy metal gun and tucked it under his belt. He walked back to the door and gave us all a nod.
  “Wait!” I said as soon as they all started walking out. They turned to look at me with questioning looks and I stared at them innocently, trying to find the right words. Then again, I have never been any good at that. “Well I…still have no idea what’s going on.” I explained, and their faces all transformed from confusion to worry. “I mean, where are we? And why are we here? And why…” I winced as I pushed myself to stand up “Why am I hurt so badly? HOW am I hurt so badly?” I looked at them, my big brown eyes desperately asking for answers. They all looked at me with sorry-filed eyes as if they had devastating news and not one of them wanted to tell me, and I wasn't sure of how else to ask.
  “Look Aria, I promise you we’ll answer all those questions soon.” Nate said, placing his hand on the door handle.
  “But right now we really have to get out of here before they find us?” Kaleb continued as he secured his own gun. Ren simply stared at me, his eyes fixed on my face. his expression reminded me somewhat of a little lost puppy-dog and it kind of broke my heart, so i just let it go. I noticed Kaleb said ‘before they find us’ and of course I wanted to know who ‘they’ were, but I assumed that was part of the story too. Nate opened the door, but before anyone stepped out, Ren signed something towards me. Nate looked at him and sort of smiled kindly.
  “He wants to know if you can walk on your own or if you’re body hurts too much.” He interpreted as he glanced over at me. My stare switched back and forth between Nate and Ren, and I nodded slightly.
  “Yeah I can make it, I’m just…“ As I took a step I felt a jolt of pain starting at my foot all the way up my leg and I let out a small yelp. I suddenly froze and looked up at everyone’s concerned faces as I stifled a smile. "Well, maybe i shouldn't push it." Ren responded with a slight grin himself and walked over to me. He took my right hand and hung it around his shoulders while his left hand snaked around my waist and sort of propped me up, taking a significant amount of weight off my legs. “Thank you.” I said quietly, and he grinned.
  "Prego" he said softly.
  We carefully made our way out of the tiny brick room and into the larger part of the building. I studied my surroundings to see if I could figure out in what type of building we were, and it didn't take me long. From the second I realized we had stepped out into a large wooden stage, I figured out we were in an old abandoned Theater. A Theater, yeah that’s right! I remembered Nate mentioning a Theater when they first found me. I was amazed at how authentic it looked, despite all the dust and rubble. It was mesmerizing and beautiful. Then again, I had always been a Drama freak. The boys most likely just saw it as an old, broken down building. I dazed as I admired the structure of the enormous building; I didn't realize Ren’s gaze was fixed on me the whole time. My face flashed a bright red once I realized I must have looked like such a nerd to him, but all he did was smile.
  “Clock tower?” Kaleb mumbled to Nate as they both walked a few feet ahead of us. Nate nodded and Kaleb glanced over his shoulder at us. “Ren, you feelin’ okay?” he said as quietly as he could. Ren nodded and gave him a quick thumbs-up with his free hand. “Good, cause there’s a couple waiting outside.” Right after Kaleb said that, Ren’s free hand wrapped around the back of my knees and I was up off the floor within seconds. I stared bug-eyed at him for several seconds and he sort of laughed but soon after his face became serious and determined. He then gave the other boys a nod and they both readied their guns.
  In my mind, everything seemed to freeze for a moment, as I watched the three of them do their little routine. It seemed as if they had been practicing that all day, every day; and they probably had. To be honest, all I was thinking about at that moment was… Am I going to hold Ren back...? But before I could ask, Nate made a signal with his hands, which I assumed was known only to the three of them, and they stormed out of the building. As we stepped outside, I scrunched my eyes from the impact of the sunlight. Kaleb and Nate both went their separate ways, as did Ren, and soon it was just him and I running straight ahead. I figured it was best to keep my mouth shut and let them do their thing, since I didn’t even have a clue of where we were.
  As we ran, Ren would occasionally look over at me to make sure I was okay, and would smile when he was sure that I was. After about a minute of running, he began to slowly pick up his pace and I noticed him reach for his gun. My heart jumped into my mouth and I held on a little tighter. I had no idea what was going on, but it was obvious that it wasn't anything good. Not even five seconds later, a dark figure dashed passed us and disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. Right then I decided I couldn’t hold it anymore, I had to say something.
  “Ren?” I said nervously, and he looked over at me. His face was serious, but his green eyes showed otherwise. “Ren, just put me down. I’m only going to hold you back.” His eyebrows scrunched together as I finished saying that, but he never removed his eyes from the path ahead of us. The figure passed once again, but this time instead of disappearing, it came to a stop right in front of us. My body automatically froze, as Ren slowed his pace.
  I was able to get a good look at the face, and I remember very specifically that in that very moment, everything suddenly began to make sense. It was a tall woman in black, with a very beautiful body and face. Her features were as well carved as if she had been sculpted by the highest skilled professional. Her platinum, blonde hair fell in waves all the way down to her waist and framed her face perfectly. But what caught my attention the most were her bright green eyes. They immediately reminded me of Ren’s, except unlike his, hers seemed cold as ice. She directed a smile towards him, but her face went blank when she noticed me.
  “Who’s that Reirei?” She asked in a very haunting voice. I could feel Ren’s muscles tense up, and he clutched the gun harder. She stared at him, expecting an answer, but simply gave up and smirked when he didn't. “Cat got your tongue again?” she teased. “Well, then I guess this won’t be much fun.” And with that, she extended her hand towards us, causing every object made of metal that surrounded us to move in our direction.
  In the same moment Ren lifted his gun and didn’t hesitate a seconds before pulling the trigger. The bullet whisked past her head and into a large metal tank standing right behind her. She glanced back and smirked once again as she took a step closer. “Wow, mute AND blind? You don’t have much going for you, do you Reirei?” She mocked. All i could think about at that moment was 'Why does she keep calling him “Reirei"?' As she took another step forward, there was a loud crack that came directly from behind her. Ren’s mouth formed a smirk almost identical to hers, and he placed his gun back under his shirt as he took off running again. A few seconds later, I heard an explosion coming from behind us. The blast was strong enough to cause Ren to stumble and nearly fall. He quickly steadied himself and got up to the same speed as he had been running before. I watched him, bewildered by what I had just witnessed, and all he did was smile.
  I got a good look at the scenery surrounding for the first time, and a sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. There were broken down buildings, damaged roads, trashed streets and rubble everywhere. It was like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic movie, and we were right in the middle of it. In between all the rubble, I could see a tall, narrow clock tower that was cracked burned all over, but was somehow still standing. By the looks of it, it was right in the middle of the place that once seemed to be a beautiful city. Within seconds we were standing in front of it, by a small metal door hidden behind dirt and bricks. He looked at me and I nodded, so he gently placed me on the ground, but kept my hand around his shoulders and his around my waist.
  “Are you alright?” I asked before we entered the place.
He looked over at me and grinned.
  “Never better” he said quietly, his voice strangely relaxing. He pushed open the door and the darkness quickly flooded my eyes. In the far distance there was a small light that was traveling towards us, along with several footsteps. I tensed up a bit, but Ren seemed as relaxed as always so I kept quiet.
  “Are you both alright?” as soon as I heard Nate speak, an enormous wave of relief washed over me. As they came closer I could make out their faces a little bit better along with the lantern Nate was carrying in his hand and I sighed in relief.
  “Sounds like you two had some trouble.” Kaleb stated after hearing my sigh.
  “You could say that.” Ren said, his tone sounding dry and a bit harsh. I immediately assumed it was my fault, because I was holding him back, so I took my hand off his shoulders and separated myself. I had already troubled them enough for one day; I figured I’d just take care of myself from there. I know, I wasn't very smart, but then again, I had no idea what I was dealing with. Ren looked over at me with a questioning glance and I smiled as sweetly and sincerely as I could manage.
  “Thank you guys for all your help” I began. The words hurt my throat as I spoke, but I continued. “But I’m just going to be a bother from here on so…” I noticed Ren shake his head and I stopped midsentence.
  “You’re not the bother, Aria.” He said sweetly and sincerely as he extended his hand to me. I looked over at the other two and they nodded in unison.
  “Like it or not, you’re stuck with us.” Kaleb joked. I looked at Ren and was ready to protest, but he anticipated it and beat me to it.
  “And “No” or “but” are not options.” He said, and I couldn’t help but smile. I hesitated a bit, but something pushed me to take his hand, so I did. He helped me over and our hands went back to their regular position as they went back to their original subject.
  “So what happened? Were you ambushed?” Nate questioned anxiously.
  “I ran in to her again.” Ren explained and the other two’s faces arranged into a baffled expression.
  “Her, as in your-“
  “Raven…yeah.” Ren said, cutting Kaleb off; his tone sounded extremely agitated.
  “So that means one of two things.” Nate said holding the lantern up a bit higher so he could see our faces better. “Either they made another clone, in which case we might have to deal with a lot more of them than we thought, or…” the rest of us stayed pending on his last word as he carefully thought over his next sentence. “Or the bomb didn’t kill her, in which case…” he looked at each one of us individually and hesitated a bit, but finally finished his statement “We have zero chance of making it.”