The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)

by Alexandra Bracken

WHEN THE WHITE NOISE WENT OFF, WE WERE IN THE GARDEN, PULLING WEEDS. I always reacted badly to it. It didn’t matter if I was outside, eating in the Mess Hall, or locked in my cabin. When it came, the shrieking tones blew up like a pipe bomb between my ears.

Ouch!

Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration—

A new not scientific name of the invisible disease spreading.

we in Washington are developing programs, both to support the families affected by this horrid affliction and the children blessed enough to survive it.”

More like work camps and lying to parents that their children are okay.

The government was never scared of the kids who might die, or the empty spaces they would leave behind. They were afraid of us—the ones who lived.

Cause they knew what would happen and the fear was in them. Especially the children that survived and had no idea what would happen next.

IT RAINED THE DAY THEY BROUGHT US TO THURMOND,

Reminds me of a book I read on the Holocaust. The Psi Special Forces sending them there.

The girl sitting next to me, the one that would later be classified Blue, seemed to recognize a sign at one point because she leaned over me to get a better look. She looked a little familiar to me, like I had seen her face from around my town, or she was from the next one over.

Could be Mia.

Psi Special Forces—

Security that would watch over the kids in camp. Or prevent them from leaving.

“Don’t be scared,” she whispered. “Don’t let them see.” The handwritten label on the tag of her jacket said SAMANTHA DAHL.

Ruby’s first friend in Camp Thurmond.

I’m not sure who she thought she was fooling with her sweet little B.S., but it wasn’t me.

Hahaha. That line was so funny reading it the first time, still is. 😂

“All they play are oldies now. I thought it was a joke at first, or something Washington wanted, but apparently that’s all that gets requested these days.”

Who doesn't love old music?

The others aren’t in danger.” “They’re always in danger,”

They're also suffering there as well. All the kids being forced to work. Eating whatever food is left. Confined and abused and even beaten by the PSF’s. So damn sad.

You are important, and you matter.

Awwww

But part of surviving is being able to move on.

“Do people have any idea?” I squeezed out. “Do the people know that they’re not reforming us at all?”

I doubt they know.

They had burned so bright, and fought so hard to get free. But none of them had made it to sixteen.

Gosh that is so heartbreaking.

but then the riots started when the PSF started pulling kids from schools without their parents’ permission.

Aww the poor kids and parents.

Wash Thurmond off me? Rub it off like a splatter of mud? I may have been able to erase everyone else’s memories, but I couldn’t scrub away my own.

“I’m using it first. Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll leave some water for you.” Maybe if I’m lucky, you’ll drown yourself in it.

😂😂😂

Boys. Why did it have to be boys?

😂😂😂

“We all agreed—no strays.” The other boy shook his head. “That’s why we didn’t take the kittens!” “Oh, for the love of . . .” Liam slumped down in his seat, pressing his face into his hands. “What were we going to do with a box of abandoned kittens?”

Hahaha 😂

“Maybe if that black heart of yours hadn’t been willing to leave them to starve, we could have found them new, loving homes.” Liam gave the other boy a look of pure amazement. “You’re never going to get over those cats, are you?” “They were innocent, defenseless kittens and you left them outside someone’s mailbox! A mailbox!”

Hahahahah😂

He leveled Liam with a withering stare. I don’t know what amazed me more, the fact that they were arguing about kittens, or that they’d managed to forget that I was in the car.

😂😂😂 the latter

they put in the call that there are freaks roaming around in a beat-up black minivan . . .” He couldn’t bring himself to finish. “Hey,” Liam said, holding up a finger, “don’t talk about Black Betty that way.” “Oh, excuse me for hurting the feelings of a twenty-year-old minivan.”

😂😂😂Hahahaha 👏🏾

The man who had fired at us turned his attention to taking out the SUV behind him, twisting around in the window. He lasted half a breath. A gunshot from the SUV clipped him in the chest and sent an explosive spray of blood into the air. The crack of the next bullet sent the shooter’s lifeless body sliding out of the passenger window of the truck. The driver—the woman—didn’t so much as look back at him.

Daaaang.

“Green!” Liam’s voice cut into my thoughts. “Can you drive?” “No—” “Can you see better than Chubs?” “Maybe, but—” “Great!” he said, reaching back for my arm. “Come on up to the captain’s seat.”

This should be good 😂

“Come on, it’s just like riding a bike. Right pedal is gas to go, left is brake, steer with wheel. That’s all you need to know.”

It's the complete opposite of riding a bike🤦🏾‍♀️ 😂

“Well, I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Chubs said. His little glasses were crooked on his face as he smoothed his blue button-down shirt. For good measure, he leaned forward and smacked the back of Liam’s head.

😂 so sassy.

“You did a good job,” he began. His voice was quieter than I expected. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm the pissed-off snake that was coiled tight around my stomach. I reached over and punched him in the arm. Hard. “Ow!” he cried, pulling away from me with wide eyes. “What was that for?” “That was not like riding a bike, you asshole!”

Hahahaha👏🏾👏🏾😂😂😂

“It doesn’t make you a bad person, you know—to want to live your own life.”

“Why,” Chubs began, “were you with the Children’s League?” “Hey now,” Liam said. “This is a don’t-ask-don’t-tell operation.

The rain was still coming down, casting a gray light around the car. The windows had fogged, and for a minute I did nothing but watch the rain. Car headlights were flashing through the front windshield, but it was nowhere near dark.

When someone is driving the car I like looking at the windows and admire nature. Or just imagine.

“Oh my God,” Chubs was saying, “I can’t believe it. We got Hansel and Greteled.

“We got Hansle and Greteled” 🤣

“You can’t just mail it?” “They started scanning mail for this exact reason about two years after you went to Thurmond,” Liam explained. “The government reads all, speaks all, and writes all. They’ve crafted a lovely little story about how we’re all being saved and reprogrammed back into sweet little

darlings at camp, and they don’t want anyone to get wind of the truth.”

That’s so dark and so sad and very cruel.

he was rewarded with a faceful of metal as I swung the megaphone.

Ayyyeee alright Ruby! I wish this scene was in the movie.

“Must be tiring being the big hero.” I waved him off, trying to quiet the small, ridiculous buzz of happiness in my chest that came with his words.

Awwww

“No. No, no, no, no, no,” Chubs said. “I want to register my nay vote, even though the two of you always win.”

😂 he's always outvoted.

Why he was looking at me like that.

He is into youuuu 👏🏾💖

I wanted to protect him—at that moment, it was suddenly clear to me exactly what I wanted: to protect them, all of them. They had saved me. They had saved my life and hadn’t expected a single thing in return. If the showdown with the undercover PSFs had shown me anything, it was that they needed someone like me. I could help them, protect them.

Awwww

It was a lot of ifs. If we found the Slip Kid. If he was an Orange. If he could help me figure out how to control my abilities. If he could help us contact our families.

Those are pretty big “ifs”

“Use the damn map,” Chubs groused behind him.

They went old school. Using maps. Instead of using Gps or any other high tech. They could all be traced and taken by the Skip Tracers or PSFs again if they did.

“I told you we should have taken that Ford SUV,” Chubs said. “That piece of—” Liam caught himself. “That box on wheels was a death trap—not to mention its transmission was shot to hell.” “So, naturally, the next choice was a minivan.” “Yep, she called to me from the parking lot of abandoned cars. The sun was shining through her windows like a beacon of hope.” Chubs groaned. “Why are you so weird?” “Because my weird has to be able to cancel out your weird, Lady Cross-stitch.” “At least what I do is considered an art form,” Chubs said. “Yes, in ye olde medieval Europe you would’ve been quite the catch—”

I like their funny conversations. 😂

That had to have been the fakest attempt at optimism since my fourth grade teacher tried reasoning that we were better off without the dead kids in our class because it’d mean more turns on the playground swings for the rest of us.

Wow 😂🤦🏾‍♀️

“Thank you, Mr. Sunshine and Smiles,” Liam gritted out.

Hahaha the nicknames

The socks were thrust in my direction. I looked down at them and then up at him, hoping I didn’t look as flabbergasted as I felt. “Just wanted to . . . give you these,” he said, giving them a little shake. He thrust them again in my direction. “You know, for you.” “Don’t you need them?” I asked. “I have a couple extra pairs, and you have none, right?”

Such a sweet moment awwww.

“Seriously. Please. Just take them. Chubs says your extremities or whatever are the first things to get cold, so you need them, and—”

Awww he's being so sweet and he's so flustered haha awww. Liam.

“Oh my God, Green,” I heard Chubs say from somewhere in the room. “Just take the damn socks and put the kid out of his misery.”

HAHAHAHAHHA😂

We could have stayed together in that comfortable silence for hours, and it still wouldn’t have been enough for me.

Awwwww she's enjoys time with him.

“Are you kidding me? Yesterday he thought a mailbox was a clown.”

Oh my gosh 😂

“I think maybe the most frustrating feeling in the world is to have something to say but not know how to put it into words.

That is true