“Yeah,” he whispers. “I wasn’t expecting this from her.”
“She may not have known, Sam. If she went, it was for the children. You have to know that about her.”
“Andie?” Ian urges. “Let’s go.”
“You better go see what Alexander found out. Talk you soon, Sam.” I leave him standing on the side of the road and get in the SUV with Ian.
Ian starts the vehicle. “Take the back roads,” I tell him. “Stay off of the main highways.”
“Okay,” he replies, looking in the rearview mirror. I turn around to see the collection of Guardians running after us.
--
“Why the hell is it snowing?” Ian asks, flipping on the windshield wipers. “It’s supposed to be summer.”
“Sam says there’s a bad storm coming in from the west. Emanuel can see it on the satellite images.”
“Great,” Ian exclaims as he slows the vehicle.
“Andie?” Sam asks into the phone.
“Yeah?”
“Emanuel says they are a few hours ahead of you. He can see a large vehicle, like a van. They are headed straight for Romney. But that storm is headed straight for you.”
“Wonderful,” I tell him.
“If you can get into Southern Pennsylvania you’ll miss the worst of it. He says West Virginia looks to be in the clear.”
“Okay,” I tell Sam. “I’m getting off the phone. Call me if there are any changes.” I end the call. “One good thing about the snow is it will keep the Survivors inside,” I tell Ian. “At least we won’t have to worry about trouble from them.”
“This couldn’t be falling on a worse day.”
“Sam says that if we make it to Southern Pennsylvania we’ll miss the worst of it.”
“If we have that much gas.”
I lean over and look at the gauges. “Sam said this thing has a double tank. That’s all we used to get here. Two tanks and Adam stopped the truck just a short walk from the gates.”
I wait for Ian to ask me about what happened, but he doesn’t.
“They have to know we’re following them.” Ian shakes his head and sighs.
“I’m sure that’s what Crane wants.”
“I don’t understand why he would take the children.”
“Because Crane wants me to go get him. Adam wants to kill him. And Crane knows that I had no intention of saving him. So he took my children.”
“Our children,” Ian corrects me.
“Our children,” I repeat. I don’t argue that Raven is actually Adam’s child, but I guess he’s not much of a parent. Raven has known Ian his entire life. “I’m guessing Adam wanted to get Blithe away from Crane but she wouldn’t leave the boys.”
“Still,” Ian scratches his chin. “There has to be something else.”
“I’m sure you’re right. There’s always something else. We’ll just have to wait until we get there to find out what it is.”
--
By mid-afternoon it starts to snow. Ian drives. It’s a white-knuckled-speeding-through-the-snow drive, the kind that we are used to in the north. Ian drives and drives, until the day passes and the snow lessens. We both watch anxiously as the gas tank gauge moves closer and closer to empty.
When I am sure it is the middle of the night, and there is nothing more than a thin coating of snow on the ground, the SUV sputters to a stop. With an expletive, Ian turns the wheel to ease the vehicle onto the side of the road before putting it in park and turning it off.
Moments later the cell phone rings.
“Andie?” Sam’s voice asks.
“Yeah, Sam?”
“Emanuel just called and said your truck stopped.”
“We’re out of gas,” I tell him.
“It seems Crane and Adam brought the children to an old school. It’s in that town you mentioned. Romney. You’re about ten miles away.”
“It’s still snowing here.”
“The snow should stop overnight. But Emanuel says it’s going to get really cold.”
I look at the windshield, noticing the tiny spiderwebs of ice forming as he speaks. “So we should wait until morning?”
“Yeah,” Sam replies. “We’ll watch from the satellites and let you know if anything changes.”
“Okay,” I tell him before hanging up. “Thanks, Sam.”
Ian looks at me expectantly. I fill him in on everything Sam just told me.
Ian turns to look out his window. “I don’t see the other Guardians. Do you think they made it?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I hope they did.” I turn looking at the ones that are sleeping in the cargo area of our SUV. “We should get some sleep,” I suggest.
I reach for my bag and pull out the bread and water. We eat in silence, only a small meal in case we need to make it last. It’s not long before the heat of the vehicle dissipates and we can see our breath. I shiver, wishing I had put an extra layer of clothes on.
Ian moves towards me. “It’s getting colder. I was hoping the heat would last a little longer in here,” he says as he pulls me towards him. “At least we can keep each other warm.”
I pull the fleece blanket out of my bag and lay it over us as we huddle together.
Ian sighs.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I just can’t believe I let this happen again.”
“Stop it,” I tell him as I tuck my head under his chin, trying to quell my own worry for my children. “You didn’t do anything.”
“That’s the problem, Andie. It’s happening all over again. Crane takes our child and then you.”
“Shush,” I tell him. “We’ll get the children and I’m not going anywhere.”
I feel a shudder run through him. “I hope they’re warm.”
“I’m sure they are. The building they held me in had electricity and water.”
“What did they do with you?” Ian asks.
I tell him every single detail, except the part where Adam tricked me into kissing him.
“This isn’t working,” Ian tells me when I’m done.
“What?”
“I’m freezing.”
I feel him shudder again. “Maybe you shouldn’t have lost so much weight,” I tell him as I pinch his stomach. I turn around, seeing the Guardians in the back. “The dogs look warm,” I tell him. “We could move in the back with them.
“Okay,” he agrees through his chattering teeth.
We climb over the seats and Ian adjusts the back bench seat so it’s lying down and we have one large cargo area. We lie between two of the dogs, with the third one laying at our feet. I look up at Ian, our noses almost touching. Feeling the heat radiating off of the large dogs, “We’ll be sweating by morning,” I tell him.
Ian smiles as he reaches out to wrap his arm around me and pull me closer. I lean into him and press my lips to his. “Thank you,” I tell him.
“For what?”
“For not giving up on us.”
“I couldn’t give up on you, not even if I tried,” he responds, his dark eyes penetrating mine.
--
I can’t say I slept much between the three dogs. But being curled up, with my back pressed tight against Ian’s chest and his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, kept me plenty warm.
The shrill ring of the cell phone causes us both to stir.
“Hello?” I answer.
Sam’s voice responds. “Andie, the storm’s over.” I look out the foggy window and see the morning light start to fill the sky. “You’ve got about ten miles to walk. We’ve been watching the area all night. There’s no movement in the forest, no patrols at all. It’s like they’re just sitting there, waiting for you to show up.”
“Of course.” I move to sit up. Ian sits and starts putting his boots on. “What’s it like out there?”
“Looks like a mild day. Most of the snow should melt by the afternoon and it should warm up. It’s a straight shot south if you follow the road you’re parked on. We will keep an
eye in the sky and call if there’s a problem.”
“Okay, thanks, Sam.”
After ending the call I start pulling on my boots.
“Sam says the way there is quiet,” I tell Ian. “They’ll call if there’s a problem.”
Ian starts folding the fleece blanket. “Better get moving then.” He crawls through the SUV, gets out and releases the trunk hatch.
The three Guardians jump out, followed by me. I adjust the backpack on my back and look up and down the road. The road is damp, the shoulder coated with snow, and the air seems to get warmer by the minute.
Just before we head south, Ian catches movement in the forest. He reaches for me, pushing me behind the vehicle. I hear the rustling of footsteps. Ian exhales.
“Holy crap.”
“What?” I ask.
“There’s a ton of them.”
“A ton of what?”
Ian pulls on my sleeve until I am standing right next to him and points towards the forest. As my eyes focus on the shadowed woods, I make out the figures of more Guardians standing in the cover of the trees, as though they are waiting for us to make the first move.
“Wow,” I reply. “It’s like all of them followed us.”
We walk south, staying on the road. Since I haven’t heard from Sam, I check the phone. The battery is half-full and there’s four bars of service. I remind myself to ask Alexander or George who else is connected to the lone cell phone service.
We walk in silence for over an hour until Ian asks, “Why did Elvis give you that look, when Sam said that you weren’t going to actually shoot anyone?”
I skip a step. “What do you mean?”
“I watched Elvis give you this look, like he knows something Sam doesn’t.”
“I don’t think you want to know, Ian.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to know?”
I can feel him watching me as we walk. “I don’t want to make this any harder for you.”
“What?”
“Accepting me back into your life. The past two years have been hard enough. If anything else-”
“Just tell me, Andie.” I stop walking. Ian stops and turns towards me. “Andie,” he urges, “tell me.”
“Elvis gave me that look because… because I killed a man.”
Ian’s body stills and his jaw slackens.
“I warned you,” I say. “I warned you that this wouldn’t make it easier. I know you. I know your beliefs. This is why I never told you. This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”
He takes a step towards me. “Wh-”
I take two steps backwards, raising my hands to keep him away from me. “I warned you, Ian. I had to do things I’m not proud of. Plenty of things I’m not proud of. You know most of them.”
Ian grabs my wrist before I can take another step backwards and pulls me into him, hard, wrapping both of his arms around my back in a tight embrace.
“My beliefs have changed. As soon as the Reformation occurred, it all changed. I can’t hold those things against you. I won’t.”
“Ian-”
He presses his lips to mine, halting my words. “Now, what else are you keeping from me?” he asks when he breaks the kiss. “I’m not talking about the Entities, I’m talking about where you’ve been the past few weeks. What happened between you and Adam? I can tell there’s something else you’re keeping from me.”
He squeezes me tighter and an emotion, a fear, wells up from my chest. I don’t want to disappoint him, not again. I’m sure what I’m about to say could end us for good. But he wants to know, he’s demanding it and I only want truth between us.
“I kissed him.” I look away from Ian’s face. “They had me locked up for over a week, they drugged me, and he said the only way he could get me out was if I kissed him.”
“And,” Ian asks, his voice thick.
“I just did it, but it didn’t mean anything, you have to believe me, Ian. It was just a kiss. It was the only way I could get back to you.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
I finally look into his eyes. “No.”
He nods and releases me from his embrace. We resume our walk, the pack of Guardians following us softly, Ian’s relaxed demeanor now gone. He’s fuming and by the time we reach the rusted sign that says Welcome to Romney, I’m pretty sure he’s ready to burst. I nervously check the cell phone to make sure we have service and Sam can reach us if there’s a problem.
As we follow the road into town, it ends in a three-way stop and the school the Survivors kept me in is a few hundred yards to our left.
We run for the school.
A familiar figure is simply sitting on the front steps of the school. It’s Mack. He stands as we get closer.
“Thought you’d be here sooner,” he tells us.
“Where are my children?” I ask him, slowing to a stop.
He leans to the side, taking in the pack of Guardians which stand behind us. “That orange-haired guy,” Mack swirls his hand near the side of his head. “He wanted to speak with you first.” He points at me. “Said it was important.”
“The children,” Ian demands.
“They’re fine,” Mack says. “Wasn’t expecting a load of kids to show up, nor that pretty lady. Either way, they’re playing in the gym.” He thumbs towards the door. “You ready to talk to that Crane guy?”
“And Adam?” I ask.
“With Crane,” Mack says.
“I’m not leaving you with them,” Ian steps in front of me.
I press my hand to his back. He can do this. “I can handle Crane and Adam.” I slide the cell phone into his pocket. And lowering my voice, I whisper, “Get the children and if you need to, get them out of here.” I slide the backpack off and hand it to him. “There are train tracks not far from here. They walked me here in a few hours. Call Sam when you need to.”
Ian reaches behind himself and squeezes my hand, hard. I take that as an agreement. We walk up the steps, the Guardians following us.
“Leave those outside,” Mack tells us.
I glance at the large dogs. “They don’t take commands,” I tell him. “You keep them out if you don’t like them.”
Mack frowns before turning around and entering the school.
We walk into the familiar hallway of the school, the Guardians trailing behind us. The gymnasium is to the left. Ian’s head snaps in that direction at the sound of a basketball hitting the floor. There is giggling and laughter from the double doors.
“Go,” I tell Ian.
He walks towards the gymnasium as Mack stops in the middle of the long hallway. “They’re in here,” he tells me, pointing to the door labeled Principal’s Office.
“How appropriate,” I mumble to myself.
Mack knocks and pushes the door open. Crane and Adam are both there, positioned on opposite sides of the room. Crane sits in an office chair. Adam stands near the corner.
“I didn’t come for you,” I tell Crane as I enter the room. “I came for my children, not you. I don’t care what this liar does with your speckled carcass.” I point at Adam. “I’m not saving it.”
I walk over to Adam, not even breaking my stride and slap him across the face as hard as I can. “What the hell were you thinking?” I yell at him.
He turns back to me with a grimace. “Deserved that.”
“You’re right. You did!” I back up before I give in to the urge to hit him again. “And you’re lucky I didn’t let Ian in here. I’m sure if he sees you, he’ll kill you.” I turn back to Crane, who sits behind the principal’s desk apparently enjoying the display before him. “What are you doing, taking my children? Of all the bullshit you’ve pulled this has got to be the worst kind.”
“I had to make you come back here. And you already told me that you wouldn’t come for me, only your children.”
“Why haven’t you killed him yet?” I ask Adam.
He rubs the side of his reddened face. “Because you need to listen to what he has to say.”
>
“I don’t want to listen to him!” I glare at Crane. “I just want to go home. I just want peace from all of this. I did what he asked me. I did everything. He promised me peace. That is all I want.” I shake my head and swallow hard, trying to control the trembling in my voice. “It’s bad enough he planned the Reformation. He changed the world.”
“Is it so bad now?” Crane asks as he folds his hands together. “All humanity needed was a little tweak to set things right. Did you take a breath outside? There’s almost no pollution.”
“Yeah, and no one seems to know what season it is anymore,” I snap at him.
“It will settle out,” Crane tries to soothe my speculation. “There’s more wildlife. The forests are starting to regrow. What we did was right, Andromeda, the planet would not have survived if things kept going the way they were.”
“And what are you going to do when the population starts increasing again and when the Sovereign stray from their vows to protect the Residents and turn corrupt, just like it was before? Except this time you made me create those people, the Residents won’t care what they do, they will listen to the ones in charge, they will do whatever they are told.”
“That is exactly why I need you, Andromeda. I need you to help keep things on track.”
“I’ve done all I can for you. I just want peace now.”
“You can have your peace and you can have your children back, on one condition.”
“I don’t want to hear this.” I start for the door.
“It seems your friend here has agreed to help me,” he tips his head towards Adam.
Adam gives me a look. One that I’ve seen before, when I knew his face as simply Adam, the one that says there’s more to this story.
“He’s not my friend,” I inform Crane. “He’s nothing more than a liar.”
“Listen,” Adam says, his voice a baritone of reason.
I cross my arms. “What?”
“You agree,” Crane pauses to clear his throat as though he’s practiced this speech but now he is unable to find the words. “You agree, Andromeda Somers, to live forever.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Live forever.”
“Why would I want to live forever?”
“Everyone is afraid of death; everyone wants to avoid that fear. I’m offering you that chance. I need you.”
The Phoenix Project Series: Books 1-3: The Phoenix Project, The Reformation, and Revelation Page 81