CHAPTER 46: BREAK
16 years old
To Summer’s relief, the evening’s a quiet affair with no excitement whatsoever. She lay between Lucy and Jaden on the floor in the back of the bookstore (the best smelling place she’s ever been). They have no problems zonking out, but Summer stays awake for the majority of the night. Even though her body’s sore and exhausted, her mind reels with all the events of the day. She wonders if this has all just been a really strange dream. The only good news is that the President of New York has offered them safe passage as long as they’re able to reach the border. Gage seems positive about it, but after the police chase that left her head and shoulders feeling discombobulated, she’s not sure what’s next.
The following day is bright and sunny, and every once in a while a hovercraft darts across the sky. This time Gage takes the driver’s seat while Cameron sits up front with him. Together they’re a force of nature as they start the vehicle and speed down the road.
“Here’s the plan,” says Cameron over her shoulder. “We’re going to travel to Illinois today, and tomorrow we’ll finish our trip to New York. I know it’s going to be a long journey with all of us in this car, but let’s try to be respectful of each other, all right?”
“Yes Mum,” says Rob with an eye roll.
Everyone else mumbles in agreement while Summer nods. But, funnily enough, after only twenty minutes Rob and Jaden get into a heated discussion over the beauty of music played on a cello compared to a guitar. Avery studiously ignores everyone as he shines his swimmers medal for the second time in five minutes, while Lucy and Landon move closer together and talk so quietly that Summer can’t even hear them. They’re all here for her, but she still feels like the outsider—which isn’t so unusual. Even Gage sitting up front and talking car-speak to Cameron has his own little world sans Summer. Part of her isolation, she knows, is her own fault because she’d schooled herself into silence. Everything was different when it was just Landon and Summer, but now he has others to talk to.
Hours pass as Summer does what she does best: observes. She learns many things about the people around her—inconsequential, but information nonetheless. And you can never have too much of that. For example, Jaden wears a leather necklace with brown beads for each of her family members. She’s had it since she was taken, but now it’s too small and is the size of a choker on her; she never takes it off. Lucy also carries a little memento: the book The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. It just happened to be in her backpack (which she was wearing when the Exodus happened). She’s a little embarrassed by it because it’s a book geared towards younger children (and therefore is teased mercilessly by Avery). But it connects her to Kylie and her family. Out of everything Lucy says the only information that really sticks out is the fact that Lucy was walking around with her backpack at midnight when the Exodus happened.
There are also the weird things she really doesn’t want to know about people, but could one day come in handy. Like the fact that Avery’s double-jointed, and Rob can hold his breath for almost two whole minutes without passing out. Avery finds this very impressive. She even learns that besides being an almost-Doctor, Cameron has gone out of her way to learn about all things hover, including cars and crafts alike. Gage, on the other hand, is the only one who talks freely amongst everyone without dropping a single hint about himself. It’s probably just his Leaguer training, because he’s offered up quite a bit of information about himself when it’s just the two of them.
“I’ve got to pee,” says Lucy as she crosses her legs uncomfortably.
“Didn’t you go to the toilet before we left?” asks Rob with a scowl.
“Of course I did, but I’ve got a small bladder.” Lucy holds up her index finger and thumb barely an inch apart.
“We’ll stop, but it’s got to be on the outskirts of town; you can’t use an actual restroom,” says Cameron as she pulls up a map on the windshield. It glows bright blue and green with detailed drawings of where all buildings and cameras are.
“Does that thing predict your future too?” jokes Rob with a laugh.
“Depends,” Cameron answers seriously.
Summer runs a hand through her long locks as she attempts to read the map. Cameron zooms into a desolate spot where Lucy can have some privacy while squatting behind a bush. The detail on the map is outstanding—she can almost zoom in so close grains of sand would be visible with great clarity.
They pull to the side of the road, and the two back doors slide open. “If you have to piss, do it now,” says Cameron. “We won’t be stopping again.”
Everyone exits besides Summer. She barely peeks out one of the doors and squints at the intensity of the sun on her face. She’s blonde again, this morning’s shower washing the black from her hair. This only makes her more nervous and a much bigger target. In the distance she can see a fenced-in area with several grounded hovercrafts. There’s one other building on the opposite side of the road that appears to be old and abandoned.
Several of them take care of business while Gage walks around the car and leans against the open door, his blonde hair shifting in the light breeze, and his green eyes alert. His posture is the opposite, all lean lines in his dark jeans and white shirt, comfortably slouching. Someone else might think he’s just hanging out, when in fact he’s just as aware of everything going on around him as she is.
“It’s okay if you need to go,” he offers with a wave of his hand.
Summer shakes her head and shifts back into the shadows. Something’s wrong. She can’t see it, but she can sense it. Her heart clamps down, and a chill runs the length of her veins as if they’ve turned to ice. Gage looks between her and the world outside with pinched eyebrows, reading the stress on her face. Jaden hops on Rob’s back as they playfully horse around, laughing loudly. Lucy’s pulling at Avery’s large ears, both of them laughing and oblivious. But Summer’s not—they’re being watched. Landon’s turned away, finishing his business, though she can see his back go rigid as if he can feel the tension thicken in the air.
“Cameron?” whispers Gage harshly. “We need to go. Now!” Cameron examines his face and reads the intelligence there.
Summer backs a little farther into the car, the wind from the two open doors causing her hair to tangle and fly into her face. The laughter of her friends suddenly sounds sinister, and her breathing shallows. The wind abruptly stops, and her hair falls limply on her shoulders. She waits for it—
A hand clamps down over her mouth from behind while an arm encircles her waist, yanking her backward. She manages a kick that barely caresses the side of Gage’s jeans. Summer’s pulled from the car as Gage whips around, bending down to see the dust from the sand rise into a cloud where her feet drag. He shouts her name as the sound of feet pounding around the car fill the dusty air. Her name echoes through it all eerily. Memories flash in her head of Jarvis’s flesh touching hers, how no amount of soap in the entire world would wash the feel of his touch away. Her stomach rolls, her heart hammers like a piston, and her breath stings with each intake. Never again.
Summer fights against her kidnapper, kicking, thrusting her arms to try and find a clean shot to elbow him in the face or side. Finding no openings, she bites down into the man’s fleshy palm over her mouth as her flight or fight response kicks in. She wants to do both. The man howls in pain and releases her face—not that she’ll scream out anyway. She spits out blood and bends over to thrust her weight backward, her elbow landing directly into the man’s nose with a crunch. There’s a grunt and curse from the man, but now there are several people surrounding her, and her friends are being held back. There are too many of them, their all-red uniforms—no, hood cloaks—are so obviously not the same as the Leaguer’s normal attire.
Hands from all directions reach out to grab her as they hold her still, though her muscles, no matter how worn and tired, refuse to give up, wildly jerking and fighting the forceful hands. Gage’s frantically shouting her name, no longer a battle cry, but a w
himper of remorse. A sob. Angry tears roll down her face as she continues to fight. A needle is jammed viciously into her arm, and she cries out in pain. Whatever drug they’ve injected her with burns as they empty the syringe into her muscle. Nothing happens at first, but slowly she can feel her body relaxing like a heavy blanket has been placed over her. No matter how much her brain tells her to keep fighting her limbs can’t battle the heaviness. She falls limply onto the ground at her captor’s feet. The last thing she hears is the intense vibrations of a hovercraft overhead and Gage’s voice shouting, arguing, and screaming her name. He begs her to fight. Sand lifts into the air and each grain becomes their own tiny needle as the hovercraft’s movement causes a sandstorm.
Sand. Screaming. All of it dissolves as Summer finally goes completely limp on the ground.