Suzume (Zu) Kimura


 * "Nothing about failure is final until you accept it."

Suzume Kimura aka Zu, is a Yellow and one of Ruby Daly's biggest allies.

Early On
When IAAN struck America, Zu recieved Yellow abilities, and can control electricity. When she accidentally short-circuited her mother's car in the middle of a freeway, and injured her mother, her mother demanded she went to school the next Monday. She ended up being picked up in the first Collection, and was brought to Caledonia.

In Caledonia, she met Liam Stewart and Charles (Chubs) Meriwether, and escaped along with them from Caledonia. She drove around in Black Betty with the two of them.

The Darkest Minds
Zu is introduced to us when she lets Ruby into the van after Ruby chased her through a gas station. Ruby is very protective of Zu, who doesn't speak the whole book. She hasn't said a word since they escaped Caledonia.

Zu loves Ruby and they often play dress up together. Zu also has nightmares about Caledonia and seeing everyone get shot, which Liam always helps her with.

She meets her cousin Hina at East River, and then when her and few other kids at camp petition to leave and permission is granted, she leaves with them. This leaves Liam, Chubs, and Ruby heartbroken and worried sick about her. But she leaves nevertheless, with loving letter to all of them.

Never Fade
Zu isn't seen at all in this novel. Although we do hear from Chubs status updates on her, and according to him she's doing fine with the others.

In the Afterlight
Zu is reunited with Ruby and the others after Ruby catches a road sign with KLZH on it. Turns out it stood for Kylie, Lucy, Zu, and Hina. Zu comes with them to the Ranch, where she meets Vida. Her and Vida grow a close enough relationship that Zu practiced talking to her in private. Finally, during a broadcast Zu began to talk on her own, leaving her friends shocked and overjoyed.

In Time
A Skip Tracer named Gabe caught Zu after their car crashed with Hina, Kylie, Lucy, and Talon. But instead of Gabe turning Zu over to the PSFs, Gabe nutured her and took care of her. When he watched The Wizard of Oz with Zu and she was interested in it, he started calling her Dorothy. He agreed to take her to her friends, but when they find each other, they shoot him, thinking he's a skip tracer. He dies from his wounds, but has fulfilled his duties in returning Zu safely,

The Darkest Legacy
The Darkest Legacy is told from Zu's point of view.

In this novel, it is several years later and Zu is seventeen. She speaks on the government's behalf, in an attempt to earn more rights for psionic children. But instead of seeming like their representative, she is viewed on poorly by other psi. After one speech, she sees someone pull a gun out at her, and she instinctevly uses her electrokinesis abilities on the man. An explosion is planted at that very moment, and then Zu is blamed for the explosion, becoming a fugitive. Priyanka Achurya and Roman Volkov attempt to help her get out of there, but then all three are captured by unnamed kidnappers.

They manage to escape, and now Zu is a known fugitive. Joseph Moore, a politian, blames Zu for being a part of a secret terrorist organization called the Psionic Ring. When she calls Chubs about it, he tells her to go find a safe place to lie low in, and so they go to Haven, a safe haven that Ruby and Liam set up. But apparently, Liam and Ruby both disappeared from Haven a while ago. After an attack on Haven, she sets off with Roman and Priyanka to go find them.

They find Liam in Sam Dahl's and Lucas Orfeo's cabin, with a bullet wound in his side. Only Ruby isn't with him. They find a boy named Max, who looks through Liam's mind to find Ruby. They find out Ruby is being held in Leda Corp. An organization called the Blue Star is also there when they go to rescue Ruby, and they barely manage to get out with her, except Ruby is in a medically induced coma. She regains consciousness after two weeks of her rescue.

Personality
Zu doesn't speak through the majority of the series, but starts to grow back confidence when talking with Vida. She is shown as compassionate and kind, and can always tell if someone is good or not. That's how she knew to let Ruby into the van and knew that Gabe wouldn't turn her in. She is also shown to be somewhat sassy towards Liam by making face expressions and gestures. She gave Ruby good advice when Ruby was hurting.

Looks
Zu is small with heart shaped lips and is quite small. Her hair is shaved during the beginning of the series due to the fact that her cabin at Caledonia got lice. She is very adorable but is seen brushing ghost hair out of her face. During the beginning of Darkest Minds, she wears yellow rubber gloves, although Ruby finds pink ones for her. But she learns how to control her abilities and no longer needs them. In The Darkest Legacy, her hair is long but she crops it chin length around halfway through.

Ruby
Ruby and Zu meet when Ruby is running from the Children's League, and Zu locks her out of the van after Ruby chases her. But when Zu sees Ruby is going to run to save Zu, Zu lets her in and hides her in the back. Ruby is forced to reveal herself when the Children's League begins to chase them, but they get out of the situation neatly. Ruby and Zu grow a close relationship, and Ruby is fiercely protective of Zu throughout the series. When Zu finds Ruby after she was captured by Leda Corp, Zu freaks out and immediately begins feeling horrible for not have realizing it was the government that had Ruby.

Liam
Liam is the one who saves Zu from being suffocated in the snow during the escape from Caledonia, and took her with them as they escaped and went on to run in their minivan Black Betty. Liam cared for Zu as if he was her older brother, and often lied to her to protect her from worrying and stuff. He taught her math in the back of the minivan, often telling her that when things came back to normal she'd be way ahead of everyone mathwise. He, along with everyone else, felt devastated when Zu decided to leave.

Chubs
Chubs was in the same camp as Liam and Zu, and travelled with them in Black Betty. He was kind to her and was also like her older brother, but unlike Liam he only told her the truth, not wanting her to be devastated when things never got back to normal. Ruby and Liam disagree with this, but Zu is somewhat thankful. When Zu decides to leave with Hina, Chubs is devastated and feels especially betrayed.

Vida
Vida despised Zu at first, and even once in her rage tore her notebook out of her hand and yelled at her to just talk. Zu wasn't affected by these outbursts. When Ruby chased Vida down and demanded why she was so mean to Zu, Vida said it was because it was like Ruby had just replaced Jude for Zu in her heart, and had just forgotten about him. Her and Ruby had an emotional moment, and then Vida was kinder to Zu. They even grew so close Zu began speaking to Vida in private. This encouraged her to finally speak out loud in front of everyone, and then completed an interview that Liam was going to speak for her.

Abilities
Zu is a Yellow, meaning she can control electricity with her mind. She used to have to wear yellow rubber gloves on her hands in order for her not to lose control, but at East River she learnt how to use her abilities without the gloves. It came to the point where she could snap her fingers and the lights would turn off.