18 Chapter 18

I flop onto my bed for what is probably the last time. No matter what I've been told, I still feel at home enveloped in the soft yellow quilt. There's some stuff in this room that I don't want blown up. Even though my friends are apparently brainwashed zombies, I still want the pictures of us together. My parents are crazy mad scientists, but I still want the quilt they made when I was a baby. I roll off the bed, pulling my backpack out from under the mess of dirty clothes on my floor. The next hour is spent packing, putting in things I'm still attached to after all this time. I'm zipping up my bag when my mom comes in. For once, she ignores the mounds of stuff on my floor and makes her way to my bed, sitting down and patting the spot next to her. After a moment's hesitation, I sit in silence. Looking over, I see her crying a little. "Mom?" I ask hesitantly.

"I'm sorry..." she murmured, wiping away tears. "You- you deserve so much better than this..."

This confuses me. "What...?"

"We just wanted what's best for you..." she replied, clutching the sides of my bed. "I love you so much, Quinn."

"But-" I start before getting cut off as she pulls the canister out of my pocket, fingering it gently. I'm in trouble, I know it. What's she going to do? Turn me into the government, lock me away forever, toss me into the river with weights strapped to my shoes?

Before I have time to react, she hands it back, "Be careful."