My Year Abroad

Chapter 20

Cameron kept the clerk busy till the end of her shift was near. She couldn't risk the boss showing up early, and switched back to security cams. Cameron exchanged a fake number, and wander back to the room casually while calling Jordan. It took a few attempts, but he finally answered as Cameron started the car.

"We need to get on the road now."

Cameron rolled the windows down and rushed upstairs to help gather their things. With two hours till sunrise, there was no time to waste. Megan was a little upset about being woken, and Jordan had some complaints as well, but the look on Cameron's face swept it away.

"What's wrong?" Megan investigated.

"We can talk about it in the car," Cameron began grabbing his stuff.

"You have to give me more than that." Megan crossed his arms.

"Can't believe I'm gonna say this but I agree. Not complaining just need to plan ahead." Jordan told Cameron.

Cameron turned the tv on at a low volume and switched to the news. Both of them went pale and continued gathering their things. Megan expected at least a week before they could find the body given the size of the city.

Jordan already considered something similar to this, and it's why he secured the fake ids, but this was a nationwide manhunt. With their faces being blasted on the news it wouldn't take long for them to be on their trail. He looked at the time and helped the others grab their stuff as they rushed to the car.

'We can cross in another state.'

"What's the plan?" Megan asked.

"For now get as far away from San Diego as possible, but that was the last motel," Jordan replied.

"I'm s-sorry." Megan apologized to Cameron.

"It's okay we needed to know. If we camped out and came in for supplies we would've been grabbed immediately. Now we can plan accordingly." Cameron stated.

'I'm gonna have to cut my hair.' Jordan sighed.

They were driving down the highway, and Jordan was struggling to not speed. Getting far away was important, but the statistics show traffic violations are an easy way to get caught. While Jordan was focused on the road Cameron, and Megan began operating the maps.

"There's a dirt road coming up on the right that could take us close to the border," Megan suggested.

"Right now it's best if we avoid the border. They knew we were in San Diego to get passports by now. In cases like this, it's common to track border towns and set up checkpoints. For now, we go north." Jordan replied.

"Are you sure about this?" Megan asked.

Cameron placed his hand on Megan's thigh to get her attention. She began blushing and checked to see if Jordan could see.

"He's got us this far so let's focus on the maps," Cameron told Megan.

"How about you get some sleep, and I'll focus on them." Megan slipped into the front seat.

"Don't do that shit." Jordan scolded while passing a sign on the highway.

"Why not!" Megan retorted.

"You know what a state trooper is right?" Jordan asked sarcastically.

'Not sure how I can sleep like this.'

"We do need to be careful," Cameron stated.

Hearing this Megan shut up, and crossed her arms. Cameron closed his eyes once more trying to take advantage of the night sky while he could. Megan looked back seeing him getting comfortable and hoped it would work.

'You're doing too much, and we don't know if you can keep this up.' Megan turned back to the map.

"Put your seatbelt on," Jordan ordered.

"Don't push it." Megan did what she was told with an attitude.

They were focused on the road, and not being caught they failed to notice lights swirling in the sky. Three white lights were flying around in unison near the motel for readings and rapidly chased after the car. They caught up in an instant and scanned the vehicle discreetly.

A beam that was naked to the human eye marked it before zipping back to the motel to continue their search. A patron from the motel stepped out for a cigarette and looked up to see the dancing orbs examining vehicles. He dropped his lighter and scrambled for a phone. A blue orb dropped from the sky as his home screen went static.

The man looked up seeing a crystal ball the size of a softball before falling to his knees trembling uncontrollably. He looked up one last time seeing an odd blue liquid swirling inside it as an odd language echoed in his head. The man desperately crawled for the security of his room.

Once the man retreated inside the blue orb flew back up towards the others, and began floating around casually. The white orbs discreetly trailed an anomaly to this location, but couldn't find the subject from the reservation. Now that they were discovered they were forced to deploy a deterrent to keep humans from interfering with their investigation.

Now that the trail was running cold the deterrent disappeared, and the drones zipped together before disappearing. Cameron's group was still unaware of it, but they were being hunted on two fronts with one side possessing a severe advantage. The drones tracked the energy signature left in the alley and traced it to the motel.

Anyone who crossed Cameron's path during his awakening had a residual aura attached. With all the vehicles marked they could continue their search another night. While sleeping Cameron was dreaming of his carefree life from before.

Cameron was sitting in the front room playing games with Jordan. Megan sat at his side trying to understand the controls as the doorbell rang signaling the delivery man's arrival. Cameron got up to check the door and was paying the man when an owl landed on his car.

'Why does that look familiar?' Cameron focused on the owl as its eyes went black.

"I need your help, but for that, to work you need to remember." A voice echoed in Cameron's head.

---Author's Notes---

The motherships can cloak themselves along with the dropships, but their scouting equipment is exposed to the human eye. Because of this, the blue orbs are used to inspire panic and fear to disorient those who could interfere.