by RJ Crayton
Willie shot back, “No one said the five grand was based on distance. I charge based on checkpoint. They don’t look to see who I got on board. They look to see who I’m letting on. You overrode the last checkpoint, and the fee for the DC checkpoint is five grand. I don’t care how far you ride, once you get on.”
“That’s not fair,” Elaan said.
He smiled at her. “I gotta admit, girl, I miss the innocence of youth. After all the shit that’s happened in this world, you still believe that something oughtta be fair.” He chuckled lightly and his beard wiggled. He was missing a tooth on the lower left side of his mouth.
She took a step closer to him, even though she felt nervous. But right now they needed this guy, and he seemed to like her. For the wrong reasons, yes, but he still liked her. She wondered if Josh was right. Was he just bargaining? Would he relent if they kept at him? “The world has turned to shit,” she said. “You’re right about that, but people don’t have to turn into shit. They can still be human and decent, alright?”
His smile faded, but his eyes softened toward her.
Elaan looked at the ring in his fingers. “That ring was my mother’s. She died of the Helnoan virus, and that’s all I have left of her. It’s the only thing in the world I have that was hers. The only thing that isn’t part of my genetic makeup. I’m giving that to you because it’s all we have to offer.”
He gave her the once over, his eyes tracing her body in a way that could only mean he was having thoughts about her that she didn’t even want to know. She ignored that and spoke again.
“I can’t offer you what you want. My mother would turn over in her grave if she thought it had come to that, but I can give you this ring, and the cash we have.” She turned to Josh. “Ethan has five hundred in cash, and that’s really all we can give you. I just ask if you can take the ring, and the cash, and find it in your heart to take us part of the way and not turn us in at the checkpoints. And after we’re gone, think of us fondly when you wipe your ass with our money.”
He grinned at her again. “Sweetie, I miss the hutzpah of you pretty young girls,” he said, a gentle sigh. “What the hell? I’ll take you most of the way, if you throw in one thing.”
“What?” Lijah asked, his voice apprehensive.
“I want a hug,” Willie said, “from her.”
A hug. For the love of Pete. Was he serious? “A hug?” Elaan asked.
“Yep,” he said.
“Fine,” Elaan said, and she took a couple of steps closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. He smelled like sweat and old gym socks. He pushed his entire body unnecessarily close to hers. She stifled a retch as he wrapped his arms around her and grabbed her ass. She cringed, holding her breath, but said nothing. She didn’t want the deal to fall apart on this point. Still, being groped by a man more than twice her age was disgusting.
“Hey,” Lijah said. “Hug’s over.” Willie let go of Elaan.
Lijah grabbed Elaan’s arm, pulled her toward himself, and mouthed, “You OK?” She nodded.
“We have a deal then?” Lijah said.
Willie smiled. “Yeah,” he said. “Deal sealed. I’ll take you to Terra Haute, Indiana.”
“That’s on the Indiana, Illinois border,” Josh said, directing his comment toward Elaan and Lijah. “So, we just have to get through Illinois.”
Willie squinted at Josh. “You from Indiana?” he asked.
Josh shook his head. “No, I just liked to study maps when I was a kid,” he said. “I was a little bit of a geek.”
That drew another round of uproarious laughter from Willie. “You’re still a geek, kid.” Josh’s cheeks reddened, but he didn’t respond. Willie pocketed the ring and eyed Josh. “You got the cash, Ethan?” Josh nodded, and went over to his pack in the corner. A moment later, he returned and handed Willie five one-hundred-dollar bills.
Willie pocketed that, too, then bent over to one of his blue plastic boxes. He lifted the lid and pulled out three black hooded sweatshirts. He handed them to Lijah. “Since you paid, you get the treatment paying customers get,” he said.
Lijah handed Josh and Elaan each a hoody, then Willie spoke again. “It gets cold on these trains at night. It’s cooler where we’re going than where we’re coming from, and I expect night temperatures to be in the low to mid 50s. Normally, I ask my passengers to pack a blanket. I don’t provide ’em because I can’t launder ’em, and, frankly, they’re hard to come by. I do provide the hoodies, because I know a guy. It also helps give my customers privacy when they exit the train. You pull up the hood, keep your eyes to the ground, and leave the train yard, when you get off. Got it?”
They all nodded.
“The train ride takes longer now because of the checkpoints, so we’ll hit Terra Haute about five p.m. You’ll have a couple of hours of light to find shelter. Once you do, stay the night, and then you guys can walk during the day or steal a car, or whatever. I don’t really care. But, don’t forget about the Martial Law. The military guys find you out in the middle of the night, they’ll shoot first and ask questions later.” He looked at Elaan. “I’d hate to see a young thing like you cut down in your prime.”
Lijah, who was still gripping Elaan’s arm, tugged on her, signaling her to take a step back. “I’ll worry about my sister,” he said.
“Fine,” Willie conceded. “Well, make whatever preparations you need to make for sleep, in the next five minutes. Then it’s bed time. I leave the light on when I have passengers in the car with me.” He bent over and rooted under his blankets for a moment. When he rose, he held a gun, the kind the cops carried on TV shows. It was probably an automatic of some kind, but Elaan didn’t know enough about guns to know anything other than she should avoid having them pointed at her. “I sleep with this, and I’m a very light sleeper who wakes up shooting. Don’t disturb me while I sleep. If the train stops or something out of the ordinary happens, I’ll wake up. You need to stay on your side over there, and I’ll stay over here, and we won’t have any problems. Capiche?”
Lijah, Josh, and Elaan all nodded. They turned and walked over to the corner where their bags were. Elaan sat down with her back against the wall. Josh sat next to her. Lijah squatted in front of them. “Given what he asked for earlier,” Lijah said, “I don’t think we should all sleep at the same time.”
That was a good idea, Elaan thought. He’d tried to scare them away from messing with him, but it was good that someone keep watch to make sure Willie didn’t mess with them.
“I’ll take first watch,” Lijah said. “You and Ethan can get some sleep.”
“Are you sure?” Elaan said. “You were up early today and if you want to rest...”
He shook his head. “I’m too wired to sleep. And I’d feel better being first watch. I’ll wake Ethan if I get tired.”
Elaan nodded. “You trust him to take us to Terra Haute, not double cross us?” Elaan asked.
Lijah shrugged. “I don’t think we have much of a choice at this point. Get some sleep,” he said. Then he smiled and added, “Priya.”
She smiled back at him. “Goodnight, Daanish,” she said.
He took a few steps away and sat on the boxcar wall that was at a right angle to the one Josh and Elaan were on. Josh pulled the sweatshirt over his head, and Elaan decided to follow suit. Josh scooted closer to Elaan and put his arm around her. “We’ll be warmer this way,” he said. He was right, but even if they weren’t warmer that way, she still wanted to be in his arms. She was leaning into him when she caught sight of Lijah, who was looking their way. The second their eyes met, Lijah turned away to look at Willie, to keep watch. But, in that second when they did see each other, she realized Willie was right. Lijah had the look of a spurned lover. He’d never answered her question about his feelings for Josh, yet she wondered if that look just had. She pulled away from Josh. “You know, Ethan,” she said. “I’m warm enough.”
She patted her backpack, which was on the other side of her, and leaned that way. T
he idea of Lijah being stuck watching her in Josh’s arms was something she didn’t want.
Elaan lay her head down. She needed to sleep, more than anything. This had been a long day, and she’d done way too much. She needed to mentally let go of this day and get ready for tomorrow. For, tomorrow was the first day of her life fully in this new world. She wouldn’t be concealed in the scientist housing. She wouldn’t be concealed by Kingston’s machinations. Tomorrow she’d be exposed to the new world. With the help of Lijah and Josh, she would have to take on the world of the virus, in hopes of finding her mother, in hopes of finding a new safe haven. Tomorrow was something new, something different, an entree to a scary world. If she were going to face it well, she needed rest. She closed her eyes. “’Til tomorrow,” she thought, as she drifted into a fierce sleep her body needed.
THE END
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Turn the page for a sneak peek at Exposed.
Preview – Exposed
Chapter 1
(Lijah)
Elijah sat on the train’s cold, hard floor, his eyes fixed on Boxcar Willie on the other side of the dimly lit cargo train. Boxcar Willie was such a stupid name. At one time it had been the stage name of a performer who sang about riding the rails. It had come to be the generic name of anyone who rode the rails to get around. Only, there was nothing generic or song-inspiring about this man.
This Boxcar Willie was a savage who wanted Lijah’s little sister. The old pervert appeared to be sleeping, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm as he lay under a grimy blanket. Lijah didn’t trust him. Not enough to close his eyes and leave her unprotected.
He glanced at Elaan for a second. His eyes instinctively returned to the man who’d demanded his sister be his “nighttime companion” for the duration of the ride. They’d nixed that, but Willie didn’t seem the type to give up easily. But neither did Lijah. And he wouldn’t let that man hurt Elaan. His brief glance had proved she was safe. Asleep at the moment, curled up in a ball. She had to be cold. He was shivering himself, as the train car was freezing. The metal seemed to cool or warm to the temperature outside. They didn’t have a thermometer, but if Lijah had to guess, it was probably about fifty degrees outside. Not freezing territory, but by no means warm. He glanced at her again. She looked so cold, over there.
A wave of guilt washed over him. It was his fault she’d moved away from Josh. They’d be warmer together, but she’d caught a glimpse of Lijah right as she was snuggling up to Josh, and she’d seen it. She’d seen his jealousy, and she’d moved.
God, he was a horrible brother. He’d been telling himself his feelings for Josh had nothing to do with his opposition to the two of them being together. Only, that had been a lie. He’d been lying to himself so he wouldn’t feel bad about keeping them apart. He’d lied to her earlier, when she asked about his feelings. He’d done a reverse guilt trip, turned the tables. “You think that if I had a crush on a guy that my baby sister liked, that I would tell her not to get involved, just so I could feel better?” he’d asked her. “That I would hurt my baby sister’s heart just so mine wouldn’t?”
And she’d felt the appropriate guilt and backed off. Only it was a lie. He had done exactly what she had accused him of. And he was a horrible human being for doing so. He was stupid, too, because crushing on a guy who wasn’t even gay was a stupid move.
If they hadn’t been locked in quarantine together, he was sure he wouldn’t have developed feelings for Josh. But being quarantined together — both of them so alone, so afraid, so unique in their dilemma — had forged a bond between them he hadn’t expected. They had been so close, had talked so much. And he got a slight vibe from Josh, or at least he thought he had. Only, the circumstances had clouded his judgment, had turned wishful thinking into his reality. And when he realized that Josh wasn’t like him, that Josh was into Elaan, he should’ve let it go. He didn’t. He just decided he couldn’t bear to see them together, and he concocted a bunch of reasons it was a bad idea. Reasons that made sense to Josh, and almost made sense to him, but deep down, he’d known.
He’d done the first decent thing for the two of them a few hours ago. He closed his eyes for a second and thought back to his conversation with Josh near the river. They’d left Elaan alone in the jeep and gotten far enough to have some privacy, when Josh let loose on him.
“What the hell is this about?” he’d spat, breathing heavily with anger.
They’d been so contentious recently. It hurt that Josh had started to view him with dread, and by then, with contempt. “I wanted to apologize,” Lijah said.
Josh took a step back, and stared. “Apologize?”
Lijah nodded, focused on the ground. “I haven’t been fair to you and Elaan. Down there, it was different. Down there, it was about keeping our secret and keeping her away from that. About not letting her know just how damaged we’d gotten, how damaged we could be up here, and maybe I was misguided in that, but I just wanted to protect her. She’s my little sister.”
Josh came closer and put his hand on his shoulder. The feeling of it was like a spark of pleasure shooting through him, yet there was that aftershock of pain. Because Josh just wanted to be his friend. Josh spoke when Lijah finally met his gaze again.
“I know you want to protect her,” Josh said. “So do I.”
“I know,” Lijah said, sliding away from Josh’s touch. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you now. I want to ask you to stay with Elaan, to protect her, if anything happens to me.”
Josh didn’t speak, just stared at Lijah. The breeze chilled them, but neither moved to shield themselves against the wind or to shiver in warmth. Finally, Josh nodded. “OK.”
“Promise,” Lijah said. “Promise me you’ll do everything to protect her, to keep her safe, to get her safely to our mother.”
Josh said clearly, “I promise. I will do everything in my power to protect her and to get her to your mother.”
Lijah inhaled, his spirits lifting. At least he was doing one thing right. Finally. “If there’s a chance the three of us might get caught, know that I’ll sacrifice myself. You just take Elaan and get her somewhere safe.”
Josh shook his head. “Man, that’s crazy. We’re not in some war movie. There’s no reason you’ll need to leave us. We won’t need to split up. You won’t need to make some grand sacrifice.”
Lijah laughed. Grand sacrifice. It wasn’t a grand sacrifice. If he came in contact with the sick, he’d be just as deadly as Mark Dayton had been. There was no way he’d allow himself to cause anyone the pain of that disease. He’d die before he ever did that to someone. “Fine,” he said. “It’s not a movie where I make some grand sacrifice.” He stood there, swallowed, his body giving an involuntary shiver against the night cold before continuing. “All I can say is that Elaan is the one good thing about this world. She’s immune and she needs to live. Her DNA needs to keep going. Me, I’m damaged. I’m one contact from being turned into a plague that could kill thousands more people, so if it comes down to her surviving or me, I know where my place is. I know exactly what I’m going to do.”
Josh shook his head. “She wouldn’t want that.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m telling you. Because I want you to explain it to her if it happens.”
“But it won’t happen,” Josh said.
“Good, then,” Lijah said, not wanting to fight. “It won’t happen, but if it does, you’ll explain it to her and you’ll protect her. You know what they’ll do to her if they catch her. Dad didn’t tell her everything, but you know, don’t you?”
Josh breathed out and put his hand on Lijah’s shoulder again. “My dad told me. The cloning wasn’t the end. They want breeders. They’d harvest a fair number of eggs, but they want the immunes to bring the children to term. They think that’s the best chance of preserving human
ity. More immunes. My dad told me they wanted me, but for obvious reasons, he couldn’t agree.” Josh half laughed as Elijah tried to gauge what he was thinking. “Part of me thinks he would’ve liked for me to be immune, would’ve liked me to participate, and would’ve liked his family’s DNA shaping all of society, shaping the future of our nation and the world.”
Lijah reached up and patted Josh’s hand resting on his shoulder. He savored the touch silently before stepping away. He had to stop this infatuation, he told himself. It wasn’t healthy. “We’ve all got problems. My mother left and your father, he’s helpful, but has issues, too.”
Josh raised his eyebrows. “Issues are fine,” he said. “I’ve learned, through all of this, that people are who they are. You have to take the good with the bad, because the person isn’t who they are without both pieces. My dad has plenty of traits I don’t like, but he has a ton of instincts I respect. His desire to protect me isn’t that different from your desire to protect Elaan.”
Lijah nodded. Good with the bad. Yeah, he wished he’d discovered Josh’s Zen-like state. He couldn’t accept the bad that came with his mother or with himself or any other carriers. He couldn’t say that out loud, though. Not to Josh. He was like Elaan that way, hopeful. About humanity, about people, about the future. “We should go back or she’ll get worried,” Lijah said, tipping his head in the direction of the jeep.
Lijah opened his eyes, the memory fading. Boxcar Willie was asleep in his spot. Lijah peeked at Elaan and Josh, both asleep. She shivered and rolled over. He’d been such a jerk. He needed to get himself together. He’d lied to her, but she’d seen right through his lies. She’d seen his hurt and decided not to add to it. Now she was freezing.
He stood and took the few steps over to her. She was slumped in a heap facing the opposite direction as Josh, who was sound asleep and snoring. He kneeled and gently took hold of his sister by the shoulders and tried to reposition her so she was closer to Josh. She’d be warmer. He needed to make sure she was alright. As he nudged her closer to Josh, she started to stir. “Shhh,” he said softly. “Go back to sleep.” When she was younger, she used to want to stay up late to watch movies, but she always fell asleep — and early. Their parents wouldn’t fight her, just let her fall asleep on the sofa. Then their father would carry her to bed, and when she’d half wake up, he’d say, “Shhh, go back to sleep.” And then she’d be out like a light. Just like that.