Chained

"Seriously, if you're ever out of ammo and knives - just run," she advised me.

"Are you really that bad?" Alicia arrived looking irritatingly perfect.

"No," I snapped. "I'm getting changed." I stormed into the bedroom and rooted around until I found my SubWar pants and boots and a clean white tank top. I pulled a brush through my hair and took a breath before re-emerging in the living area.

"Sorry if I upset you," Laurie said, holding my eye. "But if we're heading into a fight it's only fair that we all know each other's strengths and weaknesses."

"It's okay, I know I'm not great in a fist fight," I sighed.

"Maybe I can give you some lessons when we get back," Coal offered.

"Or maybe, as someone who actually knows how to train people, I could." Hunter gave Coal a look that I couldn't work out.

"Or maybe I could!" Alicia gushed. "Seriously people, can we talk about something relevant to the mission. I'll give Maya some extra knives later, problem solved." I smiled at Alicia's forthright manner.

"Thanks," I muttered and she flashed me a smile back.

"So what's the plan?" Laurie asked.

"Simple. Breakfast, then we hit the road," Hunter said as he produced a bag filled with fresh croissants and a jar of strawberry jam.

Chapter Twenty Four

The journey north would take two days by road. There was a farmhouse a little farther than half way where we would take shelter for the night.

The trees changed subtly as the car wound its way onwards. They were darker the further north we went, the leaves rougher in appearance. The undergrowth was different too, it looked spongey and damp but not humid like the forest we had entered initially. It just looked wet. The temperature dropped as well and I huddled down into my seat, my breath misting on the windows.

"Is it much further?" I asked. Laurie was asleep again and Alicia was concentrating on the road. Coal had been staring vacantly out of the opposite window in silence for what seemed like years. "I'm bored to death."

"I'm not sure it's possible to be bored to death," Coal replied, his mouth curling up at the side.

"Well it must be. I can feel my heart giving up on beating, my lungs can't be bothered to work and my brain is definitely trying to disintegrate." And my legs were numb, I was hungry and I needed to pee but I tried to reign in the moaning a bit.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"If I knew I'd have done it myself already." I looked over my shoulder at Kaloo who had curled up in the truck bed and fallen asleep. Her fur blew back and forth in the wind but she looked perfectly at ease. I shivered at the thought of being out there with her. Behind us on the road were two other trucks, filled with Hunter and his men.

I could feel Coal watching me and shifted my eyes to meet his.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just wondering what this must be like for you, after living hidden away in your tower your whole life. To come out here, to see all of this. You're coping extremely well considering." He gave me a look that made me feel like a science experiment.

"Am I now?"

"Yes."

We sat in silence for several moments looking at each other. I didn't know what else to say to him. He was distractingly attractive and every time I thought of something I instantly forgot it. Eventually I just turned my attention back to the window.

"Do you steal weapons from the SubWar battles often?" I asked after a while.

"Not really. I was looking for some plants they needed in the hospital. I had more trouble finding them than I expected and I ended up close to the battlefield." He shrugged. "I've always been a bit of an opportunist so I thought it wouldn't hurt to stock up."

"So it was just dumb luck that we met then?"

"I guess. You can think of it as fate or divine intervention if you prefer," he teased.

"Maybe I do prefer. I'd rather not think that my life was one random choice made by a stranger away from being over."