Free The Sphinx Project by Kate Hawkings

body with no outlet. I couldn't think of anything I could do to help her. First Mom, then Guy, and now Mouse was in trouble. I couldn't lose her too.
    I sat by her head, stroking her hair from her face as I listened to her soft breathing. Nicole rummaged around in the back of the car until she found a rough blanket, which she tucked around Mouse's tiny frame. She seemed even smaller than usual.
    What had triggered the seizure? She'd never had one before. None of us had. Was there something about this outside world that caused it? The strange tingling I'd been feeling in my own limbs had never happened before we left the labs either...
    Or was it something we no longer had that caused the fit? Were the vitamins they'd been feeding us holding back some sort of illness? What would happen without the daily dosage of medicine? Had the years of experimentation left side effects that we weren't yet aware of?
    Mouse shifted slightly. A moan slid from her lips, her eyelids twitched. I didn't move, not even blinking in case I missed something.
    After what seemed like forever, her eyes flickered open. She looked uncertain as she lifted her groggy gaze to me. It was like she was trying to peer through dirty windows, unable to make out more than an outline.
    "Are you okay?"
    She pressed closer to me. "I…I don't know." She shivered, tears welling up in her eyes. They overflowed, and she started sobbing.
    I gathered her close, rubbing her arm under the thick blanket. "It'll be okay, I promise." I tried to make myself believe it. I wanted to cry, but I fought to hold back the tears. Mouse needed me now.
    What if we were changing, without the drugs they'd been feeding us? Could we become mindless creatures?
    Briana watched solemnly, sitting on the hood of the car. Nicole crouched a few feet from us. I lifted my eyes to hers, silently begging her to think of something to say. For the first time ever, she looked completely uncertain.
    I let Mouse cry until she ran out of tears. I made reassuring noises and stroked her hair. When she finally fell quiet and the shivers subsided, I helped her to her feet. With Nicole's assistance, I maneuvered her into the car. We settled her in the back, curled in the blanket against the door, where she fell asleep almost immediately.
    "Make sure you keep an eye on her," I told Briana, who for once took heed of an instruction without complaint. She looked nervous too.
    Nicole and I continued on, clearing the road so the car could pass. I constantly fell back to check on Mouse, to make sure she was breathing properly. I trusted Briana, but it made me more comfortable to see for myself.
    I saw no one, just utter chaos and destruction. Eventually we found ourselves on a clear stretch of road again approaching Mississippi.
    Briana, Nicole and I took turns driving while Mouse slept. She woke occasionally but we refused to let her take the wheel in case she started seizing again.
    After debating where to stay for the night, we eventually decided on sleeping in the car. We were trying to avoid leaving a trail that might lead the scientists to us. The trunk of the car was spacious, not an enclosed sedan, but it was still uncomfortable.
    ***
    After following every twist and turn the road had thrown at us—and creating some of our own—we reached California. Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles, to be precise.
    California was still in one piece, unaffected by the devastation seen in other parts of the country.
    The short pedestrian road of Hermosa Beach was lined with clothing stores and bars, the wide walkway continuing out over the water in the form of a pier. It seemed a lifetime away from the hustle and bustle we'd passed in Santa Monica. Far removed from all of the gray, dirty buildings we'd seen en route as well.
    We wandered aimlessly along the path in the cool winter sun, enjoying being out of the car. I kept an eye on Mouse, who still seemed tired after the other day. She had worn an expression of nervous fear ever