Twenty minutes passed painfully slow. When the car slowed to a halt, time stopped. Evalene took a big gulp of air and another, focusing on not hyperventilating. She picked up a male voice, and possibly a second, but it was only mumbling from her vantage point.
Kevra must have been acceptable to the Regulators on border patrol, because they didn’t detain her more than a few minutes before the car jerked forward. About a block or so further down the road she heard Kevra give a little squeal of delight. A small smile briefly crossed Evalene’s face. Another five minutes passed, then ten. Twenty minutes. Longer.
Finally, Evalene heard the crunch of gravel and felt the car slow to a stop. Kevra was already apologizing as the hood popped open and the light of the moon poured into the trunk. “I didn’t see a good place to stop. I’m sorry. This was the first spot that looked safe. I didn’t want to risk it, just in case, you know?”
Evalene climbed out and tried to shake off the waves of stress. She stretched her hands up high and stood on tiptoe, enjoying the relief it brought to her muscles. “It’s okay. It was nice to sit in a slightly different position for a couple minutes,” she tried to joke, but it fell a little flat.
“Well, get back in the car, because the luxury seating is over and this little party is overdue to get back on the road.” Kevra tapped her wrist where a watch would be if she had one.
“Okay. But I get to drive now.” Evalene held out her hand for the keys. She wasn’t nearly as smooth a driver as Kevra, but she didn’t care. It was a taste of freedom, and she loved it.
Back on the open road, the black pavement no longer curved, but stretched out in front of them for miles and miles. Evalene felt a deep sense of relief sweep over her as the sun began to rise. The flat desert sand stretched out in front of them on both sides, not a single tree or even a bush to be seen, and mountains off in the distance.
Munching on a sandwich for breakfast, Evalene started to hum along with the radio, tapping the steering wheel happily as they passed the halfway point in their journey. Even though they still took precautions, keeping their sunglasses and scarves on, only stopping in deserted areas, and avoiding towns and checkpoints wherever possible, Evalene still felt more free than she had in years.
Kevra had packed so much food they could’ve lasted a week, and they’d made great time. Hours flew by, although it was hard to sleep in the car and they were both exhausted. That, plus the uncomfortable feeling of dirty clothes, that itched and smelled like sweat and dust, had put Kevra in a lousy mood. But Evalene ignored her because they were only a few hours away from Delmare. She turned the radio up even louder, much to Kevra’s dismay.
Beaming over at her friend who frowned out the window at the blue skies and wide open spaces, Evalene reached out and lightly punched Kevra’s arm. “What’s got you so gloomy?” she demanded. “This isn’t like you, especially now - I feel like I’m coming more alive every mile!” But Kevra just shrugged. In exasperation, Evalene turned down the music. “What happened to my friend and all her plans for when we get to the FreeLands, hmm?”
Kevra stretched sleepily and drooped back into her seat with an exaggerated yawn. “I’m just sick of this car, that’s all,” she said. “It’s hard to be cooped up so long, you know?”
When she didn’t say anything further, Evalene took her eyes off the road to squint at her. But Kevra closed her eyes, blocking her out. Shrugging, Evalene turned the radio back up and shook her head. She tried to tune back into her mood from a few minutes prior.
If Kevra was homesick, Evalene refused to join her. Considering the home Evalene had grown up in before her Numbering, as well as Lola, her freedom, her father the way he used to be, her mother when she’d been alive – Evalene had been homesick for years. And she was sick of it. Enough mourning. She was ready to start fresh. Bobbing her head along to the music, catching onto the chorus, she sang along.
The late afternoon sun shone down on them like a warm, golden hug, and the fresh breeze coming in the windows cooled off her toasting skin. The day felt like perfection. Evalene was gloriously happy. She felt like she could conquer anything. Even knowing the Regulators might have been alerted to their absence by now didn’t bother her. They were almost out of Eden.
Time passed without notice, while Kevra slept against the window, and Evalene drove until the gas light dinged.
She’d known it had to happen, but her anxiety returned anyway. Here was the next test. On the lookout for a discreet place to pull over, Evalene quickly hopped out to let Kevra drive again, climbing back into the trunk once more. So far, Kevra had handled every checkpoint, and they would have to go through another to get into town for gas. Evalene was more than happy to let her handle both.
They’d been gone all night and half a day. If either girl was reported missing, or more importantly, if Ruby realized they’d taken her Identity Card, this next checkpoint could go horribly wrong.
12
Delmare
V OICES SOUNDED OUTSIDE THE car as it slowed, one in particular barking at the car impatiently. Kevra’s flirtatious laugh floated back to where Evalene lay in the dark trunk. She could easily picture her friend flipping her now-brown hair and winking at one of the Regulators. But would it work?
They mumbled for what felt like ages, but was probably just five minutes. From her vantage point, Evalene couldn’t make out a single word, just muffled chuckles from a deep, male voice and high-pitched trills as Kevra joined him.
Finally, the car shifted into gear and crossed through the checkpoint into town without a hitch. Now they just needed gas. Evalene felt the car turn frequently, as Kevra searched the town for a pump. She didn’t stop to let Evalene out, but that wasn’t surprising. There were probably too many people around. A girl climbing out of a trunk would be suspicious.
So Evalene waited it out, feeling claustrophobic in the tight space. The air was musty and the way the sun beat down on the car without any breeze to cool her off had her sweating heavily.
The car stopped and shut off. Metal hit metal as Kevra placed the pump in the car and began filling up. Other voices sounded, faint in the background. The pump stopped. A long period of time passed, making Evalene nervous that Kevra was getting arrested inside the store right then. Evalene would have to live out her last few days in the trunk of a car. Or her last few hours, the way she was roasting. But then she heard the front door click open and felt Kevra climb in.
Just one last checkpoint before they arrived in Delmare. Kevra seemed determined to get to it as fast as possible, even though it meant leaving Evalene in the trunk another 30 minutes. She tried to sleep, but it was too hot.
Annoyed at Kevra for not asking her if this was okay, Evalene was agitated and wide awake by the time they reached the last checkpoint; the wall surrounding the city of Delmare. Though she was trapped in the trunk, she knew from growing up in this city that the wall encircled it like a half moon, all the way up to the coast on both sides. It was where the Number One lived, and so it was the most protected.
Kevra was flirting heavily now. Evalene could tell from the way her voice rose a full octave and she laughed at everything the Regulator said. She held her breath.
They were moving. Then the car stopped again. Kevra’s laugh sounded strained. Evalene pressed her ear to the roof, trying to make out what they were saying. All she could hear was her pulse thundering in her ears, drowning them out.
But a miracle must have happened – they were pulling away! This time, after they’d gone for about five minutes, Evalene thought she’d spent more than enough time in the trunk and kicked the hood a few times to make herself known. Only three times though. She had no idea where they were and didn’t want to risk a stranger noticing. A couple minutes passed and Evalene was getting ready for a few more kicks, harder this time, when Kevra pulled the car to a stop.
“Alright, alright,” Kevra said, lifting the hood. “Relax, geez. It was already past five, and I didn’t know how much time we had before a
report might reach the last checkpoint. Every minute counts, I figured you’d understand!”
Clenching her teeth at the argument, Evalene climbed out. She did understand. But that didn’t mean she liked it. But she nodded. “What happened at that last stop? You were leaving, and then they held you back?”
“Oh, ha!” Kevra rolled her eyes. “He was asking to call me on my cell phone.” She acted like she was used to men hitting on her. Maybe she was. “I told him I dropped it in a toilet!” Now she was laughing for real, and Evalene had to grin as she shook her head. Quick thinking. She was thankful it had been Kevra who talked to them. But she never wanted to see the inside of a trunk again.
“My turn.” Evalene held out her hand for the keys, and Kevra reluctantly handed them over. Climbing into the driver’s seat, Evalene looked around for the first time. They were in a part of town she didn’t recognize. Most of the houses in Delmare were squat and tough, made of cement and other bomb-shelter materials, a product of all the wars before the Number One took over. The streets were dirty.
Since her family had lived on the other side of the city near the coast, Evalene felt a little lost, but after Kevra pressed a few buttons, the GPS snapped back on to guide them to the coast.
As the sun dropped lower in the sky, Evalene soaked up another new song, cheering quickly as she drove through the hills leading to the coast. She navigated carefully around the outskirts of Delmare, staying away from where the Regulator Station rested in the heart of the city. Evalene gasped as they rounded a corner and came up right next to the ocean, at the top of a cliff.
“Look at that view!” Pulling the car onto the shoulder of a lookout point Evalene jumped out of the car, leaving her door open. The fresh air felt good. She could almost taste salt in the gusts of wind. The ocean stretched as far as her eyes could see to the left and the right. She hadn’t seen it since she was a little girl. It was so heartbreakingly beautiful.
Kevra grudgingly climbed out of the passenger seat and shuffled over to the stone wall of the outlook to join her. Evalene hoped the view would cheer her. “Isn’t it incredible?” She smiled at Kevra. “We just need to get on a ship now.” Kevra smiled back slightly, moving to rest her elbows on the stone barrier.
They stared out at the beautiful, clean water, ignoring the dirty, gray city behind them, where the buildings crowded each other out and left no room for yards or trees, only sidewalks and streets. “We’ve still got a lot to figure out before we’re on the water,” Kevra murmured.
In the distance, the Number One’s home rose like a fortress on the cliffs, its white pillars, turrets, and guard stations making it look like a modern, well-guarded castle. The house and grounds took over an entire hillside and the surrounding area, and Evalene remembered from visits with her father as a child that it was even bigger and more intimidating in person.
Kevra’s gaze though, was on the Regulator Station, another imposing tall, gray building in the heart of the city, and much closer. “What will we do if they check our Identity Card and find an alert? And how will we get on a ship without – ” Kevra cut off, frowning, without finishing her thought.
Evalene didn’t pursue the question, letting it fade off into the valley below them, into the frothy white foam where the waves crashed against rocks. She knew full well the questions they both had were all just versions of the same root question: How?
Getting back in the car, they drove the last hour in silence until they reached the pier. They pulled up to the docks, where the ships stretched out for many city blocks, barring their view of the ocean almost completely. The water here was deep. The pier was a huge platform built to stretch far out over the water so that the ships rested right next to it. A few people walked along the pier in various directions, and most of them wore red, for the merchant class, since they were allowed to travel for their trade, and their vocations depended on successful commerce.
Kevra perked up, whipping off her seatbelt. “Now we can finally get some answers.” Her door swung open before the car even came to a full stop.
Evalene threw the car into park, moving to unbuckle her seat belt. “Wait for me!”
“No!” Kevra said sharply, grabbing Evalene’s hand before she could press the button. “We only have the one Identity Card. If anyone needs to see one and I’m alone, it’ll be fine. But if you’re there, they’ll want to see two cards.” With wallet and ID in hand, she leapt out of the car, shut the door and was gone before Evalene could respond.
Dazed, Evalene tried to process the range of emotions she’d just witnessed. At first glance, Kevra’s argument made sense, but what if a Regulator stopped at the car instead? What was Evalene supposed to do without an ID?
She waited, chewing her fingernails to the quick until they bled, jumping at every sound, shrinking into her seat whenever someone walked too close to where she’d parked. At one point, she even started the car and drove it a block down the pier, further away. Kevra would still see it, but this way she was out of the way of foot traffic. Her chest felt tight.
The passenger door handle clicked and swung open when Evalene was staring out the drivers’ side window. She yelped before Kevra’s face appeared. Blowing out the breath she’d been holding, Evalene scowled at Kevra. “For Number One’s sake! What happened?”
Kevra smiled, buckling back into her seat, but somehow her smile seemed a bit crooked. “Sorry it took so long,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I did my research. Let’s go.” She gestured for Evalene to start driving.
But Evalene shook her head in exasperation. “Kevra, tell me what happened? Aren’t there any ships? Why aren’t we getting ready to board?”
“Oh – no there aren’t any ships leaving until tomorrow.” Kevra’s face was unreadable with the dark sunglasses. “First things first, we need to find a place to stay tonight, and then I’ll tell you, I promise!”
No more ships? That was strange. But it was getting late, and the sun was setting. They must not leave at night. She vaguely remembered sailors using the tides somehow. Evalene sighed in disappointment, starting the car. If they had to stay the night, Kevra was right, it would be good to get off the road.
They drove away from the pier into the nearby suburbs of Delmare. Inspecting the houses on both sides, they concealed their scrutiny behind their sunglasses. They needed something uninhabited, whether an abandoned factory or warehouse of some kind, or a vacant home.
As they crept along side roads, they travelled further and further away from the pier. “Maybe we should focus on finding something in this area.” Evalene itched a spot on the bridge of her nose where the sunglasses were beginning to bother her. “I don’t want to go too far from the docks, it’s already going to be at least an hour walk from here.”
“But I don’t want to walk,” Kevra argued. “We already bent the license plates – what if we just took them off altogether?”
“And risk getting pulled over for not having a license?” Evalene shook her head. “No. We need to ditch the car completely. The sooner, the better. Even if Ruby didn’t report her ID missing yet, I’m sure Daeva’s informed on us by now.”
Kevra grimaced and nodded. “Then we need to find a place to park that isn’t visible from the road.”
“And hopefully a place with a roof,” Evalene agreed. If worse came to worst, they could try to sleep in the woods, but neither of the girls knew anything about camping.
Kevra didn’t reply. When Evalene glanced over, Kevra was biting her lip, staring absently out the window. “Don’t worry,” Evalene tried to cheer her up, feeling as if their roles were reversed, and she was the optimistic one, “we’ll find the perfect place to hide for the night.” Driving in a zigzag pattern, Evalene made her way up and down the nearby streets.
Her stomach growled audibly. Without a word, Kevra opened their small bag of food, rationing out their dinner. Evalene was taking the last bite of her sandwich when they both saw it. At the end of the street, right next to some trees, wa
s a building that was without a doubt completely abandoned.
A few windows were boarded up, and shattered glass littered the sidewalk in front of the brick building. Dingy, shadowy letters spelled out G—O-C-E-R——S, missing letters fallen off and never replaced. There was garbage strewn across the sidewalk on both sides of the street. It was perfect. The only trick would be getting inside.
Evalene drove into the parking lot, discovering the store was shaped like an L. If they parked the car in the corner, right up against the building, it couldn’t be seen from the road. The perfect hiding spot. But would the inside of the building be as accommodating?
Kevra got out the moment Evalene put the car in park. With a quick glance around for watching eyes, she trotted up to the door and knelt to peer at the lock. Evalene turned off the engine and climbed out of the car, shutting both her door and Kevra’s. She pulled the license plates off the front of the car, just for good measure before walking up to the door to join Kevra.
They stared at the old-fashioned sliding door. Neither of them had experience picking locks, but this one looked complicated. Kevra whipped a couple of the pins from her hair, shoving them into the latch. She squinted, face stiffening in concentration.
Evalene stood in front of Kevra, acting as lookout, though not sure what she would do if someone actually appeared.
Five minutes later, after Kevra had poked the pins into the tiny lock every way imaginable without success, she threw them on the ground in frustration and smacked the door with both hands, “Ahh!”
Evalene jerked around in surprise. “Maybe there’s a back door that would be easier,” she tried to pacify her. “I’ll go look.”
But Kevra grabbed her arm to stop her. “No, I’ll go.” She picked up the pins from the ground, heading past Evalene around the side of the building.
Evalene shrugged, feeling helpless. She could circle the building in the opposite direction, she supposed. But instead she stepped up to the glass sliding door, cupping her hands above her eyes to shade from the sun, trying to see inside.
Evalene's Number: The Number Series Page 8