by Jen Guberman
Suddenly, the truck was pulled backwards again. Lamb began to frantically push buttons all over the dashboard.
“I don’t know how to make the bars lower!” she squeaked.
“Keep trying!” Zane yelled.
A moment later, Lamb must have hit the right button, and the middle set of bars began to lower, allowing Zane to back the truck up further. Just as we cleared the middle set, the official appeared, running toward the rising inner set of bars.
“Go, go, go!” I panicked, leaning forward between the front seats.
Zane continued backing up as the inner set reached the cave ceiling once more.
The official, who had narrowly missed his chance to catch the truck, was screaming something inaudible, banging on the bars of Bellicose as we cleared the middle and outer layers of bars. Zane switched the gear back, and we were moving forward again, but this time, he steered us away from the Bellicose caverns.
Zane rolled down the windows as we cruised along the compacted sand road, the caverns growing more and more miniscule behind us.
“This is amazing!” Lamb shouted over the air whipping through the vehicle.
“Do we have any idea where we’re going?” I asked Zane.
“Uhh,” he thought for a moment. “We’re going to Equivox. Lamb, can you get your map out?”
“Mhm!” She rummaged through her bag, unfolding a map. She turned the map a few times, trying to get her bearings. “That way!” She pointed.
“Speaking of maps,” I started. “My stuff is still at Equivox. My bag, my boots, the Skeleton Key papers…”
“We’ll get it back,” Zane said confidently.
I smiled half-heartedly, even though I knew he couldn’t see it with his focus ahead of him. His knuckles were white as he death-gripped the pleather steering wheel. Lamb’s face was still one of pure ecstasy, her eyes closed as her fuzzy, curly blonde hair blew wildly, occasionally flapping into her mouth, causing her to sputter to detach it from her lips.
“How long did it take you to get from Equivox to Bellicose, E?” Zane asked.
“I’m not really sure,” I answered. “I mean, they got me with one of those tranq syringes back in Equivox, and I woke up in the truck. I have no recollection of even being put in the truck.”
“Dang.”
I scoffed.
We drove in silence for a while, watching the endless scape of sand, the shallow dunes appearing to undulate as we passed. I stared out the window, mesmerized, until Zane slammed on the breaks.
“What is it?” Lamb asked, her eyes opening with panic.
“I can’t drive anymore. My hands are killing me! I don’t know how the drivers do this!” He shook his hands loosely, a frustrated and confused look on his face.
“Can I?” Lamb offered excitedly.
“Be my guest.”
The two stepped out of the truck and switched places. Lamb rubbed her hands together for a moment, looking down at the pedals eagerly.
“The right one is gas,” Zane explained.
“Ah.”
The truck blasted off from its position, zooming down the road significantly faster than when Zane had been behind the wheel.
“THIS IS AMAZING!” she shouted over the wind, laughing maniacally.
Zane held his arms stiff in front of him, his hands pressed against the dashboard. His face turned a sickly yellow-green. I reached in his bag, which had been tossed into the seat beside me, and pulled out one of the bottles of water, handing it to him.
“Thank you,” he mouthed, sipping on the water.
Lamb drove at the same ridiculous speed for about an hour before eventually braking, slamming violently on the brakes.
“Can we have something to eat? I’m starving,” she proposed.
We left the engine running as we dug out some of the food from Zane and Lamb’s bags and sat outside the truck in the warm sand eating. Zane and Lamb began conversing about things they would want to use the Skeleton Key for, when in the distance, I spotted a blurry figure.
“Guys,” I said softly, trying to get their attention. When they kept talking over me, I said it a little louder.
“What?” Lamb asked, looking a little irritated that I had interrupted her.
I pointed at the figure.
“Oh! Um. Do you think they see us?” she asked, seemingly unworried.
“I’m not sure. It looks like they’re coming toward us a little.”
Sure enough, the figure was growing in size. Whoever it was, they were running directly for us.
“Get in the truck and get down! Roll up the windows. Lock the doors and keep yourselves covered,” I commanded, rushing into the truck.
When we were all in the truck, squished down on the floor between the seats, I clicked the locks of each of the doors. All I could hear was our combined breathing, and all I could see was the dark floor of the truck.
A few minutes into the silence, Zane spoke up.
“How long are we going to stay like this?” he asked.
“Until we can be sure whoever that was is gone.”
“But, if they saw us before, wouldn’t they have seen us get into the truck?”
“Yes, but I couldn’t make out anything about that person from that distance, so at least this way, they don’t know who we are.”
“But, isn’t it suspicious to have an ‘abandoned’ truck just sitting here, even if they didn’t notice us? Or wouldn’t they suspect something if someone were to duck down in here?”
“Well, yes, but what were our other options? We don’t know who they are! We don’t know what they want!”
“Can we go back a little ways and hope they go a different direction before reaching us?” Lamb asked.
“Too risky,” Zane answered. “They could see the plate number by now if we turn around, and they could report it—then everyone will be looking for this truck.”
“They were coming from directly in front of the truck, meaning they are blocking the road in front of us. So we don’t have anywhere to go,” I said.
“Can we assume whoever it is, they probably aren’t someone we would want to tangle with? Because if they are, then we can just keep driving in that direction! It’s a scare tactic. They’ll move out of the way eventually! Unless Lamb is driving, in which case they don’t have time to move.” Zane snickered.
“I mean, we can try that, but then we risk them seeing who we are.”
“What difference does it make?”
“It’d be easier to spot us in the future, especially if they give our description to the cities. It’ll be impossible to stay hidden when we go looking for the Key in the cities if everyone recognizes us! We may not blend in that well, but we could lose every chance of that if we le—”
“OPEN THE DOOR!” an angry female voice roared at us, accompanied by an aggressive thumping on one of the windows. “Don’t play stupid! I know you’re in there! I have a gun! Show yourself or I’ll unload this freaking clip into the side of your truck!”
I turned to throw Zane and Lamb a panicked look, and Zane popped his head up from his hiding position, his hands out in surrender.
“Don’t shoot!” he said hurriedly. “Don’t shoot.”
“You’re not an official,” the voice said in surprised observation. It sounds like a girl about our age.
“No, I’m not,” he admitted calmly.
“How did you get this truck?” she lowered her voice.
“I…” Zane sighed. “I took it.”
“You took it?” The voice let out a quick, high-pitched laugh.
“I didn’t kill the official. He’s fine. It’s a long story. How’d you get the gun?”
“I took it. Long story.”
“Fair enough.”
“Who are you?” she asked with a calmed voice.
“Who wants to know?” Zane retorted smugly.
“My name is Skylar,” she answered. “I’m from Delaisse.”
“Zane. Avid.”
Lamb poked up to see
the source of the voice and smiled.
“Hi! I’m Leanne. You can call me Lamb! Eos,” she called down to me on the floor. “I don’t think she’s going to cause us any trouble. You can come out now.”
“What are you doing?” I hissed under my breath.
“She’s like us, E.”
I hesitantly eased myself upright, nodding in an unwilling greeting to Skylar. She was unnaturally pretty, with unblemished skin, sharp eyebrows, and a subtle cleft chin. Her chestnut hair was slightly bumped up on her head, with narrow braids like a crown from her temples. Her stance was comfortable, yet defensive as she held a handgun in her right hand toward the floor. The moment she made eye contact with me, she squinted, and her petite nose wrinkled as if she had smelled something foul. Her olive green, cat-like eyes flew from mine to Zane’s, and her mood seemed to lighten again.
“Do you guys know where Fortitude is?” she asked.
“Where what is?” I interjected.
“Fortitude,” she repeated, not breaking her eye contact with Zane.
“What’s that?” Zane asked.
“It’s a refuge. For exiles who manage to escape. There aren’t many, but when they do escape, I heard they tend to head toward Fortitude. It’s essentially like a city for those who want to escape exile towns but can’t go back into the cities.”
“Where did you hear about this?” Zane asked.
“My great-uncle. He’s still in Delaisse. I guess he knew people who made it there or something like that, and he told me about it. He didn’t want to come with because he figured he was too old to make the trip, but he wasn’t super specific about where to go. I thought I understood his directions, but apparently not.”
“What were his directions like?” Zane urged her to continue.
“He said to head past Bellicose, toward the sea. He said I would see a purple light,” she spread her arms out, motioning dramatically around her. “I don’t see the sea, let alone a freaking purple light! I don’t have a clue where I am anymore!”
“We’ve never heard of Fortitude, sorry. I wish I could help. We have a map though, so I could probably point you in the right direction,” Zane offered.
“Hey, can I just hitch a ride with you guys? We can head there together! I mean, where were you guys going? I’m assuming you recently escaped?”
“Something like that,” I mumbled.
“Where are you guys headed?”
“Uhh…” Zane struggled.
“We aren’t headed in that direction,” I answered for him.
Skylar sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t answer my question.”
“Here, I’ll show you where you are on the map,” Zane offered again, climbing into the front seat with Lamb’s map, scanning it for an estimate on our coordinates.
Tap tap.
Skylar rapped her gun lightly on the window beside Zane.
“Better idea!” she said. “Leave the map in the truck and get out.”
“How about no?” I said snarkily, drawing her attention from Zane.
“I’m not really giving you much of a choice,” she threatened, pointing the gun toward me. “I’ve been out here for days, and I’m running low on supplies. I’m sick of wandering around in this crap-hole looking for something that I don’t even know if it exists, let alone if—”
Her words were cut short as Zane slammed on the gas pedal, the truck kicking up sand behind it as we raced away. I looked in the rear window, seeing a fuming and very sandy Skylar screaming in rage.
“You’re lucky she didn’t shoot Eos, Zane!” Lamb shot Zane a dirty look. “She had her gun pointed right at her!”
“That’s why I drove away!”
“But what if she would have reacted fast enough and shot Eos?”
“She wouldn’t have been aiming at Eos at the rate we got out of there. The most she would have hit would have been the very back of the truck. Just a scratch.”
Lamb looked at Zane with both disbelief and slight admiration.
“I sorta’ feel bad for that girl. She’s wandering around all by herself. What if she runs out of food or water and there’s no one to help her?”
“Not our problem,” I said plainly.
Lamb looked uneasy for a moment before we adjusted ourselves in the back seats. Suddenly, there was a dinging sound from the front seat.
“What was that?” Lamb asked, poking her head between the front seats.
“I think it’s the gas.”
Zane stopped the truck and cut the engine.
“Check the trunk, see if we have any extra gas,” he asked us.
“There are a bunch of red jugs,” Lamb answered, leaning to peer into the trunk.
“They probably have gas in them. I’ll handle it,” Zane said, stepping out of the truck.
He opened the trunk, pulling out some of the containers. After a few minutes of fumbling around outside, he began to pour the gas. When he was done, some of the jugs were empty and he threw them back into the trunk, causing them to make hollow rattling noises.
“It’s getting late. Would anyone object to just calling it quits for today?” he asked.
Lamb and I shook our heads.
“So, how is the sleeping situation supposed to work?” Lamb asked uncomfortably. “There isn’t a lot of room to lie down in here.”
“Shouldn’t someone take watch?” Zane asked.
“Yeah, good idea,” she agreed.
“Well,” I started. “Whoever takes watch can sprawl out a little in the back seats if they want—that way they have some leg room at least. The other two can probably fit in the trunk—it’s a decent size, and we can crack the trunk door and all so it isn’t too claustrophobic.”
“Good idea. Who goes where though? I guess you and I can take the trunk?” Lamb proposed.
“Uhh, yeah. Yeah, sure, that works,” I responded, noticing a soft look on Zane’s face as his eyes met mine.
Lamb sat in silence for a moment, then furrowed her brow, her eyes bouncing between my face and Zane’s.
“Ohhh!” she said. “I get it! Not a problem. I’ll take first watch.”
Lamb smirked, throwing me a subtle wink.
“No! Not like that!”
She laughed. “I’m just messing with you. Go ahead with your cuddle buddy and I’ll just get nice and cozy with all my friends in the backseat.”
Lamb sighed in a woe-is-me fashion as she smiled, stretching out in the backseat before I had a chance to move. She kicked her feet up leisurely on my lap.
“Ehem! Do you mind? I’m trying to get comfortable,” she joked with a lighthearted laugh.
Zane stepped out and made his way around to the trunk.
“Thanks, Leanne. Zane and I will both take next watch so you can have the trunk to yourself to get comfortable,” I whispered with a genuine smile, climbing over the backseat and flopping into the trunk.
Why am I thanking her? Why am I even so eager to be back here with him? I still don’t know if I can even trust Zane. I mean, I trust him, as far as Skeleton Key stuff goes, but I don’t know if I trust him as anything more than a friend. Doubts about Zane kept running through my mind as memories flashed back from my time in Avid, when he was involved in so many of the things that pushed me to leave in the first place. But then again… he got my ring back from Luka, and even when he was involved in the things that happened to me, usually he wasn’t the ringleader. I couldn’t have gotten this far without him, and he’s become a good friend since we left.
Zane climbed into the trunk beside me. I reached to pull the door shut, but he threw his hand in front of mine.
“Don’t,” he said. “Leave it open.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have a blanket to give you,” he apologized.
“It’s okay. Mine is in my bag back in Equivox, so hopefully I will have it back soon enough.”
“We’ll get your stuff back, I promise,” he said, lowering himself onto his back with an exhausted groan. He let out a
sigh as he stretched on the floor of the trunk.
I lay down on my side, facing Zane.
“What are we going to do when we find the Skeleton Key?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, we can do anything we want—we just have to stick together.”
“We can’t go back to Avid, not permanently anyways.”
“Why would you want to? I thought that was part of why we all left? So we never have to go back.”
“We can’t go back to the cities either. I mean, technically speaking we can, but we’d have to be careful, and there wouldn’t be much use in it.”
“Geez. Someone is negative. Fine then, dream-crusher, what would you like to do with it?”
“I’d like to use it to sneak into any of the cities whenever I needed for supplies or anything I want, and I’d like to find somewhere away from all of this to set up and call ‘home.’ I want to just rest for a while, and then I’ll see what I want to do next. I’ve thought about using the Key to break people out of the exile towns, but they would have nowhere to go either.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” he thought for a moment. “What about Fortitude? That place Skylar was talking about?”
“Zane,” I said. “We don’t even know if that place exists, or what to expect.”
“Neither does Skylar, but she’s trying anyways. I mean, why not? If we have the Key, we can always fall back on your plan of just settling somewhere if it doesn’t work out with Fortitude.”
“Okay, but why do you want to go there anyways?”
“Why not? I mean, it could be cool. A bunch of people who managed to evade the system and start their own little society. We could find it, mark it on our maps, and then go lead other exiles there. It would be worth a shot, if nothing else, just to see if it exists.”
“I like that idea!” Lamb said, peeking her head over the tops of the seats and looking down at us. “We’ve already met some sweet people along the way, like your friend Paren! We could totally free people like that and bring them to Fortitude!”
I sighed in disagreement and Lamb lay back down.
“I just don’t know what to expect if we find Fortitude,” I said.
“If it exists, we will find it, and then it doesn’t matter what you expect.”
“Alright, fine. If we get the K—”