Mania by J. R. Johansson

I’ll drive Brewster straight home and be very nice to him.”
    Finn didn’t look entirely convinced, but he said. “Very well.”
    â€œThank you,” she said. She sounded like she might say more but didn’t get a chance.
    â€œRemember, you can’t turn on his windshield wipers and blinker at the same time or his engine will start on fire!” The corner of Finn’s mouth jerked up in a wry smile.
    Addie groaned and said, “Can I talk to just Parker now?”
    Chuckling, Parker took the phone and turned off the speakerphone before saying hello. I focused my attention on the road ahead of me. He and his friends were kind of a mystery to me. I could see how much they meant to each other, but I’d never been close to anyone quite like that.
    Actually, maybe that wasn’t true. My relationship with Libby was probably close, although I always thought of her more like a sister than anything else. My mouth curved up at just the idea of seeing her again. I needed her kind of optimism right now.
    Parker hung up the phone and then turned to face me. “So, who is this Randall, and why is it so important we go to this trailer park?
    â€œCypress Crest isn’t just a trailer park. It’s a rebel camp full of Night Walkers who are fighting against the Takers.” I turned on my blinker and headed toward the highway. “Randall is the Builder currently leading them. He’s an old friend of Dad’s. Hopefully he’ll be able to provide us with some answers about this formula.”

    Cypress Crest looked pretty run down from the outside, but it still felt more like home to me than anywhere else. The front half was a normal trailer park; no Night Walkers, just average people—Dreamers like Finn, Mia, and Mrs. Chipp. The back half was filled with Night Walker rebels. Some of the group meetings and security we’d organized had made the Dreamers in the park start to believe we were some kind of cult. They quickly learned to keep out of our business and look the other way whenever possible. That suited the rebels just fine.
    I’d lived here for years before Dad came back for me. Even after we’d left, and during our years on the run, Dad and I visited the camp often. It was where my mom had lived and where she’d died. It was where Dad had first found out that I existed.
    I drove the big van carefully down the narrow, winding road between the trailers, being careful not to run over anything or anyone. It was just before noon and a beautiful day. People were out chatting and working in their tiny patches of garden. I parked all the way in the back near a big field of tall grass. Parker, Finn, and I opened our doors. Even as I climbed out of the van, I could feel eyes on me.
    I smiled to myself. Good. They’d finally taken my advice and tightened up security around here. Before this they’d been too vulnerable, as evidenced by the times people had disappeared in the middle of the night, or worse, when the whole camp had been attacked.
    I stopped just short of shutting my door when I realized Chloe was frozen in place, ducked low in the back of the van.
    â€œAre you staying here?”
    â€œI think getting out and walking around here would be a very bad idea for me.” She peered over the seat and gave me a hard look. “Don’t you agree?”
    I nodded, glad she’d been the one to bring it up instead of me insisting on it. Even if she truly was on our side now and trying to help us, ours wasn’t an easy situation to explain.
    â€œAgreed.” I gave her a grim nod. “I’ll try to hurry.”
    I joined Parker and Finn in front of the van.
    â€œEverything okay?” Parker tilted his head toward Chloe.
    â€œYeah.” I didn’t elaborate, just started walking. Parker and Finn kept pace with me immediately.
    â€œI’m still thinking … what about Wormhole?” Finn rubbed his hands together,