CHAPTER HUNDRED AND ONE
The moment we heard movement from the entrance, we ran into the shop and locked ourselves in, watching from the window as people came to look around the back.
They couldn't see us but we could see them and it broke my heart at how many people would betray us for money they weren't even gonna get. The thought that they'd financially crippled us to the point that we'd willingly sell off our own for them was sickening but this gave me a bigger drive.
I was a little girl but I've read histories of little girls making a change and even if it cost me my life, I'd free as many people as I could.
This was the resolve in my heart when they finally left, a look of disappointment on their faces and terror on ours.
We ran into the van and thankfully, my mom was obsessed with a full tank and we began driving to the edge of town where everyone believed The Resistance was, hopefully it wasn't a group of drug addicts or something.
But even if it was, with the money we had, we could convince them to do anything.
“Press the pedal harder, the van is strong,” Anna whispered as though we were still out there where someone could grab us and take us back to the capital.
“Sorry, I'm just scared of us killing ourselves instead,” I joked and pressed the gas pedal harder.
With the mix of nerves and fear, I didn't even remember how much I didn't know how to drive. Anna just said which was for what and the vehicle moved.
We knocked down a few flower vases before we could turn around though.
When we finally got onto the federal road, it wasn't what we'd anticipated.
I mean, we weren't really anticipating anything but a straight, tarred road with a forest and tall trees on both sides weren't in my vision board. If we were going on a vacation or something, I'd totally dig this vibe but it was like we were in a horror movie where there's no building in sight and the protagonist’s car was low on fuel.
Our fuel tank was full but for how long? I have never been out of the Capital and I didn't have any idea how far the next town was. Also, the next town probably had the same order to bundle me up and deliver me back to his highness, no questions asked.
And then it began to dawn on me that we didn't actually have any useful plan for this journey. Anna was right to be worried about the bigger picture earlier. I was even scared of packing somewhere for us to think this through because the likelihood of someone trailing us was high; our van was popular in Brown County.
“What the fuck was I thinking? That the resistance would be right on the outskirts of the capital?” I grunted in frustration, disappointed in my lack of proper information.
“Don't panic yet, let's look at the information we have already, okay?”
“That's the problem Anna, we know next to nothing!” I exclaimed in frustration, taking my hands of the steering and the car veered off the road, “fuck!“ I exclaimed, struggling to get control of it again as it drove into the forest wildly
“Hold it! Hold it!” Anna screamed at me.
“I'm trying!” I cried back in response before I realized I'd been pressing my feet hard on the wrong pedal out of fear.
I switched to the brake pedal and the car slowed down, finally coming to a stop.
“Great! Now we're truly in the middle of nowhere. Why does the universe hate me so much!” I screamed, my hands slamming on the steering wheel, making the horn beep loudly.
“Calm down Tessy!” Anna exclaimed, her eyes looking around the thick forest in fear.
“I mean what's the point? Roe was right, we should have just allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do. I mean, what if I hadn't eavesdropped on that phone call?”
“He'd still have kidnapped our parents, continued enslaving humans and put a pregnant woman in coma just because he wants to give you the illusion of happiness in a strange planet,”
“Sure Smart pants but look where that ended us. I feel like such a failure right now,”
“Instead of wailing and all, why don't we just wait here, eat something and when we're calmer, we'll find a way out of this forest and drive back to the capital?”
“Then all of this would have been for nothing?”
“You can confront him and demand that he sets our parents free! Also, we can totally use a change of scenery and a new planet doesn't sound so bad,” she joked, trying to lighten up the mood.
“You're right. Thank you for calming me down, you're just like Brendan in that way,” I said with a small smile.
“I don't really remember much about him and it makes me feel terrible sometimes. Like I didn't love him enough,”
“Don't do that, okay? It's not your fault, your brain just deals with trauma in a different way. Mine attacks me with it all the goddamn time and trust me, you don't want that,”
“I wish he was still here,” she said, sadly.
“Me too,”
***
At some point, we had dozed off. Thankfully, our windows were locked and I jerked up to a harsh knock on it, scaring the heck out of me.
I quickly shook Anna awake, as we took in our surroundings.
People.
So many people.
I looked around, scared out of my mind.
They stood all around the van, staring at us and it wasn't like a neighbor welcoming you to the neighborhood.
These were hostile expressions all directed towards us.
I considered my options. Zero.
There was nowhere to run to and I didn't even know if they spoke English, they all stood quietly, staring at us while the younger guy in jeans and plain, gray T-shirt. I would have found him attractive if he wasn't a danger to my existence right now.
I mean, how are there so many people in the forest? Did Xavier have special forces of just humans for situations like this?
They didn't like that I was wasting time, thinking about my lack of options as the guy knocked again.
“What are we going to do?” Anna wondered out loud, the panic in her voice palpable.
“I don't really think that's up to us,” I replied as I rolled down the window gradually
I didn't even see it coming but a powder was hurled in my face and it was until I saw
the dots in my vision that I realized what had just happened.
And then everywhere went black.
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