"Watch." He pointed back at her.
We continued to pick up speed but Kaloo wasn't falling behind anymore. She was powering along, her back legs looking almost like they would overtake the front and her ears were flat against her skull.
Alicia pushed forward a large stick that was protruding between her and Laurie's seats and the car heaved on with even more power. We continued to accelerate but Kaloo wasn't going to be left behind and at the last moment, she sprang into the air and flew into the truck bed landing with a thump that made the whole vehicle bounce.
Alicia whooped and soon we were all cheering and laughing and Kaloo was hanging her head to the side, tongue lolling out and enjoying the wind in her face.
The truck bounced along the highway for hours. It had been exhilarating at first but that wore off with the passage of time. The view from my window didn't vary much, the trees whipped by, sometimes interrupted by small towns which looked similar to the one we had just left behind. Beautiful birds would occasionally appear high above us to cross the channel made by the road.
The road itself was an endless stretch of grey. I had no way of knowing how far it carried on, just that it was a hell of a long way. At the sides of the highway there were rusted old cars that had been pushed aside, presumably after being abandoned at the end of the old world. They often had pieces missing from them where people had scavenged what they needed over time.
Eventually I turned my gaze from the view and looked around to find Coal watching me.
"What?" I asked.
"Sorry, it's just fascinating to watch you experience everything for the first time."
"I'll have to take you to the city some time then, see what it's like for myself."
"Perhaps," he smirked. "Are you sure you're up for this? It's not going to be easy."
"You haven't really explained why that is," I sighed. I got the feeling that I was generally regarded as next to useless when it came to fighting or anything dangerous.
"Well I don't know the plan yet either," he shrugged.
"But you know something surely?" I huffed.
"Not definitely enough to bother explaining it. We'll get our orders in Franklin," Coal said infuriatingly. I was obviously going to be left in the dark for a while longer.
"What's Franklin like?" I asked, deciding I might as well change the subject.
"It's a city, though not of the kind that you're used to."
"Describe it to me," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the headrest.
Coal rolled his eyes. "You can't just wait until we get there?"
"Nope." I grinned.
"It's not unlike the town we just left. There are roads and all the buildings have their own space. There's just more of them and a good few of them are taller, like the hospital. There are a lot more people there too," he said. "Is that a good enough description?"
"I guess. It's probably easier to just see it for myself though."
"Great." He crossed his arms and turned to look out of his window.
"Are there others coming with us?" I smirked, pleased with my efforts at being annoying.
"I expect so, though maybe not all the way. I doubt they would find any other people stupid enough to volunteer for that." He glanced at me from the corners of his eyes, without fully turning from the window.
"And then we'll go and find that list of names and give Baba access to the Harbour computer networks?"
"Yeah. There is a kind of rebellion in the walled cities like Harbour, or there was before it was discovered. The people outside The Walls just wanted the population within them to have a choice, to know they could come outside and enjoy the world again. And we'd
like access to some of their technology too. But the people in power within the cities don't want anyone to know they can leave. They like their lifestyle and it can only be maintained by standing on the shoulders of everyone beneath them." He turned back to me.
"But the people in the city aren't unhappy. The Guardians look after us and everyone is healthy and has enough food. Maybe they don't know about the contamination or they just want to keep everyone safe inside the city," I said. I still wasn't entirely convinced that the president and the rest of the Guardians in power could be so corrupt.
"Do you really believe that? You said yourself that they don't allow most people into the top levels at all."