Walls

19

The seatbelt was cutting into Abbie's chest in a way that brought her a wave of deja vu from the morning when she had crawled out of the wrecked car. But she was in a speeding car instead, gripping onto her seatbelt for dear life.

The land stretched ahead of them for miles.

"What is this place? In the middle of Angelora?"

"Yes!" Elias screamed over the high-pitched howling of the wind, "It's an illegal purchase. No one is supposed to know."

Abbie gulped. The bullets bouncing off of the back of the car were not making her comfortable at all. Elias was driving in weird angles, and it was making her dizzy. She tried to close her eyes, but the images forming behind her eyelids were not very pleasant.

She glanced back at the tower where most of the shooting was happening. It was growing tiny and tiny through the shattered back glass, and the sound was muffling faster over the howling wind.

"Awesome. Just awesome. Am I married to a mob boss?" Abbie ran a palm over the top of her mouth.

"You're not exactly married...yet. Also, no, I'm not a mob boss, thank you," Elias grit his teeth.

In the distance, huge pieces of machinery materialized. They were giant structures, perhaps surpassing the tall skyscrapers around them. Orange lights blinked around the metallic monstrosities, surrounded by men in yellow construction hats.

"What are they building?" Abbie peered over at the machines.

"They are not building. They're mining."

"What are they mining?"

"I don't know...I don't remember, I should say. Because I should have found out by now. No one can keep secrets for so long."

Abbie gulped again. Who is this man she is apparently engaged to? Now that the towers were long gone and they were speeding past very confused people in yellow hats, who were ogling them with wide eyes, Abbie felt like a zoo animal being paraded around the streets. Most of them had already pulled out what looked like walkie-talkies and were talking to them in short bursts.

Elias had his eyes set on the road, and his bottom lip sucked into his mouth. The thick pair of eyebrows over his eyes were furrowed in concentration. For a second, Abbie thought that he looked like an army soldier in the middle of a huge war.

Abbie decided to keep shut through the rest of the journey, praying for her safety and sanity alternatively.

"There is the end gate, duck!" Elias shouted, gripping the wheel tighter than ever.

Abbie did not have to be told twice before she ducked faster than light. For a split second, before planting her cheek on the firm fabric of her jeans, she noticed the tall towers beside the gate. No sooner had she ducked, the windshield came crashing down. Bullets were hailing all around them in loud popping shots.

She felt her bones grinding against each other at the sound of metal contacting metal as she imagined all the bumps those bullets were going to leave in the car. She was secretly thankful that it was not her car.

With a loud bang, the car collided with what Abbie assumed was the gate. The vibration shot through her body, making her paralyzed for a second. But the look of victory on Elias' face brought a fresh wave of hope back again.

As soon as they were out of the lands, they shot through a smaller and narrower street which was similar to the one they had taken to get to the land. The street threw them out to a bigger street that looked familiar.

The timer was now at a solid 20 minutes, and Abbie was feeling alive for the first time in hours. Maybe they can actually do this. They only have to get to Acute Inc. and install the re-engineered version of the software.

"How long will it take to Acute Inc.?" Abbie turned to Elias, watching him expectedly.

"Ages, if we don't fill up the gas tank," he tossed Abbie the phone on the dashboard, "Find someplace to get gas."

After a bit on google maps, Abbie found a gas station that was slightly off the direct route to Acute Inc. But the detour would only cost them five minutes.

"Well, that's a plan, right?" Abbie scrunched her forehead.

"Let's hope so."

The gas station was one of the modern ones with neon signs and clean white pumping machines that was practically impossible to be true. Abbie wished that the counters in her dorm room looked so clean. She then remembered that she probably lived somewhere else.

Elias climbed out of their trashed car, which was the only piece of trash in the whole area, and started filling the tank.

Abbie looked around the busy streets. It was approaching lunch hour, and the street was preparing for the rush. Right then, it was calm and sounded just like something from an ambient music track.

But the adrenaline pumping inside her body was not helping her calm down. She was hyper-aware of everything happening around her - the blinking down of the timer, the mirage on the center of the road, and the rising and falling of Elias's chest as he waited for the tank to fill. Also, her mind was going into overdrive with thoughts of mob bosses and guns.

Elias climbed in once he had paid and pocketed his credit card.

"Are you sure the program is ready?" he turned to Abbie as the engine powered up and the car pulled into the street.

"No."

"Great," Elias' lips pulled into a thin line, "should we call Suresh or whoever your new best friend is?"

Abbie pulled out her phone, ignoring his comment, and dialed Acute Inc waiting until she could get to Suresh.

"Abbie, seriously, you gotta give me your number." Suresh was talking faster than a cooling fan during a machine overheating, "Do you know how many times Elias' bodyguard told me to 'grow up'? He thinks that I am making all this up. I mean, why would I make things up about you calling me before you did him. Also, he does not approve of my choice in coffee, so there's that."

Abbie listened to him ramble on and managed to keep a straight face so that Elias did not grow suspicious.

"Well, we are at some gas station only minutes away from Acute. And we don't have a lot of time left. Can you prep the server room? I'm sure that you can get a terminal there."

"Oh, I'll see what I can do. Also, I informed the gates about you guys. You can override the security check."

"Good."