Chapter 93

The ride through the tunnel in the mountain had taken hours, which was a surprise to Rain. She’d had no idea they were so entrenched in the mountains, but she had been asleep the first time she’d gone through a similar tunnel. Still, Seth had explained that their location was as far south as possible so that they’d have access to the river border to protect against any assaults. There was a different way out, one closer to Judea, one many of his friends had taken so that they could make sure the Mothers were preoccupied, if there were any, but it would make more sense for them to go as far north under the mountain as possible. Seth told her that Adam had taken that other exit when he’d left on his mission.
Some of Seth’s friends that had gone out to help had spotted Mothers on top of the mountain, combing the area, looking for traces that Rain and her party had been there. So far, they hadn’t engaged with them. Not a single citizen of Oklasaw wanted the Mothers there, but as long as they could avoid a fight, they were attempting to do so. From the tone she picked up over the truck’s speakers while his friends reported, she got the impression that wouldn’t last much longer if the Mothers noticed they were being watched.
Eventually, they’d emerged from the tunnel, and now, they were traveling over a gravel road through hills and valleys, not another vehicle in sight. That was a good thing. Rain kept her eyes trained out the window, looking for Mothers, looking for threats. She also continued to check Seth’s phone, which was poised in the console between them. Every time it rang, she jumped. Since his friends were checking in, keeping him apprised of what was happening with the Mothers, it startled her often. Each time, Seth would pick up his phone, check to see who was calling, shake his head slightly, press a button to connect him to his friend, and then squeeze her hand.
The last time, after he’d hung up, he’d tried to let go of her hand, but she hadn’t released it. Not knowing where Adam was, what might’ve happened to him, whether or not he was in danger or even still alive, had her mind running wild. She needed a lifeline, and at the moment, Seth was it.
“Should we try calling him again?” Walt asked from the back seat. “Maybe he can’t find the phone or something, and when it rings, he’ll hear it.”
“We can try,” Seth said, his voice not sounding hopeful. “It’ll be hard for him to hear it on the bike, though.”
“And none of the militia members have spotted him?” Mist’s voice sounded groggy, though she was trying to hide it. She’d insisted on sitting in the back seat instead of lying down in the bed of the truck, as Seth had intended. Rain glanced behind her and saw Mist’s face was even more pale than normal. She was still worried about her friend, even though she insisted she was fine.
“No, not even once,” Seth repeated. “We have to assume he got the tracker into the river because the Mothers shifted, putting their attention on that area, though not all of them headed that direction. Some of them continued to push north.”
“And the militia stayed with them?” Walt wanted to know.
“Yes. We don’t want them in our country, period. That has nothing to do with you.”
Rain kept her eyes trained on the landscape, not bothering to mention to him, again, if it hadn’t been for them, the Mothers would’ve never crossed into Oklasaw. They’d be hundreds of miles away, minding their own business.
Seth let go of her hand, leaving it cold for a moment before she shook it off and put it in her lap, realizing he’d need both hands to try and call Adam and drive the truck. He pressed a few buttons. Rain expected to hear the familiar ring she always heard whenever Seth called anyone. But this time, something was different. Rather than hearing that robotic ringing noise, they heard a voice.
It wasn’t Adam, though. It was an older gentleman. Seth’s forehead furrowed, and he hung up the call without saying anything. “Who was that?” Rain wanted to know.
“My grandpa,” Seth said, shifting in his seat.
“What? I thought he was deceased,” Mist said for all of them.
“He is. That was his recorded voice message. Usually, the phone rings a few times before it goes straight to voicemail if it’s on, but it didn’t, so that makes me think the phone is off. Either that, or he just doesn’t have a signal.” He rubbed his jaw, unable to hide his concern.
“Why would he turn the phone off?” Rain asked slowly.
“He wouldn’t. But if the battery died, then it would go straight to voicemail. Or… if something happened to the phone.”
Rain felt the blood flowing out of her face. “Like… what?”
Seth shrugged. “Maybe he dropped it or it got wet. Chances are, the battery just died. I had a battery pack on it that should’ve made it last a lot longer than normal, but it’s possible it died anyway. It’s an old phone.”
Rain let that sink in. Unless Adam found a way to charge the phone, she wouldn’t be able to talk to him again, which meant, he’d have to find them. If something had happened to the phone, was it possible something might’ve happened to him, too?
The feel of Seth’s hand on her leg drew her attention from the far off spot on the horizon she’d been absently staring at. It was nice to know he was there for her, to help her get through the unknown, but having Seth’s hand on her was also a reminder that he was not Adam, and she had no idea where he was or when she might see him again.
The thought was disturbing. He could be hurt or dying out there, all alone, or even in the Mother’s custody, and there was nothing Rain could do about it. She tried not to think about what the Mothers might do to him if they caught him alive. Would they torture him and demand he reveal location of the others? She didn’t think he would ever tell them anything, no matter what they did to him, but he was only human after all. If she were being tortured, would she divulge what she knew? She liked to think she’d be strong enough, but there was no way to know for sure, short of being captured, and she certainly didn’t want that to happen.
“It’ll be okay,” Rain, Mist said, leaning forward and putting her hand on Rain’s shoulder. “Adam is strong and brave. I’m sure he’s fine. I feel like he’s still out there, you know, that he’s still making his way toward us. You’ll see. When we get to the rendezvous point, he’ll be there.”
“Or he’ll show up real quick,” Walt added. Rain turned to look at them, and Walt nodded confidently.
Rain forced herself to nod, too, but she wasn’t nearly as sure as they were. She wanted to believe Walt was right, but she wasn’t as able to just swallow her doubts and believe the way her friends apparently were able to.
Closing her eyes, Rain reached out into the universe, trying to see if she could sense Adam. Was he still out there? Or had he crossed the Bridge, or whatever it was that carried a person from this existence to the beyond?
Even with her eyes closed tightly and all of her concentration on the picture of his face in her mind, nothing came through. It didn’t surprise her; she’d never believed in religion or spirituality the way some people did. She thought about the Bible story that had led Adam to choose his name and the others that people like Esther and Seth were named for. She knew them from her literature classes, but she knew them as folklore and had never thought that the God they referred to was an actual spiritual being. Now, when she needed there to be a higher power, someone to look out for Adam, someone to calm her spirits, it didn’t surprise her one bit to find she couldn’t locate that source of energy.
That didn’t mean that God didn’t exist any more than it meant that Adam was gone. It just meant she couldn’t tap into that energy the way that she wished she could.
Seth squeezed her leg again, and Rain opened her eyes. Once again, she trained her gaze out the window, looking for Mothers.