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smoke trails from a small campfire in the mountains, the glow of the fire piercing through the midnight sky. It feels weird trying to sleep in an apartment an not in a camp or a motel or something. Tyler tries to sleep, meanwhile, me and Mason play cards. I was never taught any card games nor him so we just played snap. If you for some reason don't know that its when you place down a card at a time and until you place a double whoever shouts snap first gets the pile and then you try not to run out of car- blah blah blah, you get the idea. But we don't shout snap when we play, we don't even talk at all. when there's a double, whoever gets their and on top first gets the cards. After two games, I turn in and unpack my sleeping bag from my rucksack. I lie in my sleeping bag thinking about how I don't really want to see Brooke again. I know she's gonna get me to go with her at the border, but I would rather protest than hunt down a serial killer. But when Brooke shot that guy, I lost all respect and sorrow for her. She turned into one of them. And by them, I mean a person who doesn't care about their country or their life.
I try to sleep. I get about four to six hours sleep. In the morning, Kat bangs on the door and tells us to get ready. I throw on a baseball cap because my hair is sticking up and I haven't had a shower in forever so my hair is basically dripping. We take our rucksacks outside. Kat and some random blonde guy - about two years older than me - leans on one of those cool trucks that have an open back you can sit on. I don't think your meant to sit on them but its useful so who cares. His sunglasses shine against the sun. Mason shields his eyes from the sun and drops his bag.
"Who's this?" Mason asks in a fed up voice.
"This is Logan" Kat introduces. He chucks my map at me. I try to catch it like a cool guy but I drop it.
"Since you were balling your eyes out like a baby, I thought id give it back. Pretty decent, Although I'm not sure what those doodles were" Logan says, lowering his shades. I pick up the map.
"Oh, um those are my sisters drawings". Logan rolls his eyes and jumps in the van. I crunch my eyebrows together and watch the smug asshole hop in his varnished red van like he owns the world, like hello, were entering a suicide mission and you're strutting about like you're Danny Zuko. I turn around and look at Mason. His eye sockets are like two black holes on his face, he looks horrible. Tyler jumps in the back of the van.
"Mason, are you ok?" He looks at me, a smile churns on him.
"Well, we're about to enter death. But, we are gonna die as heroes, so I am bursting with joy at the moment." He walks past me. I'm gonna be honest, I am shaking in fear. He is literally right. We are going to die, no doubt about that.
We drive through the mountains, then the canyons, then town after town, but we're still ages away from the border. Kat sits with her arm on the window, listening to the music, me, Mason, and Tyler are playing from Logan's boom box. I always wanted one of them, but my parents could never afford it. Tyler turns down the music a little.
"Do you guys think this will be scary?". This is one of the first times I've heard Tyler show actual fear. I don't know if I like it, the responsible one being scared, doesn't sit right with me.
"I think it's gonna be great." Mason says. I don't like how exited he is, if I'm honest.
"Think about it Tyler. We're going to protest and destroy the border. And if we die, who cares."
"I guess you're right."
The night falls. We stop at a small travel stop. Logan and Mason walk into a little gift shop, Tyler and Kat fill the van with gas and I sit by a vending machine. the blue light from the machine illuminates a small letter underneath an abandoned car. I press my hands on the sandy gravel and push myself on to my feet. I pick up the letter. It's really torn and muddy. The paper scrapes against my fingertips. It smells like an old cookie jar. There's three dollars stuck to the back with some gum, Gross.
If you're reading this, I am probably dead. My Name is Pedro. I was at this travel stop minding my business when two cops arrested me. I didn't even do anything. I was just looking at a seashell for sale. I was gonna buy it and give it to my mother when I reached the border. But then one of the cops caught me looking at him. He asked if I was heading to the border, then didn't give me any time to answer. I'm cuffed to the police van right now writing this. The cops are in the gift shop right now for a coffee. If you are heading to the border, if you wouldn't mind, could you give my mother something for me? She lives at the wall and helps people cross. But could you buy the seashell and give it to her? Tell her it's from me and I miss her. The money is stuck to the back with some gum. If you are doing this I thankyou greatly. But if your some piece of Fitzgerald supporting scum, don't bother giving it to her.
- Pedro
I drop to my knees. The crispy gravel pierces through my skin. I take the money from the paper and run inside the store, my knees gushing but I don't care. I search for the shell. I walk down the Aisle, my blood trail stains the brown carpet. I look at the top shelf of the souvenirs section and there it is, a yellow and blue seashell. I grab it with such excitement and rub my hand over it. The dust fades, revealing the shells beautiful colours. After I've payed, I strut out the store with a grin, I was so exited to give Pedro's mom he shell. We ride the road till sunset. the wind flows through the truck. I smell the pine trees clawing my nose. just as we're about to stop at a bar -so Logan and Kat can have some drinks before we go to sleep- a girl stands in front of our truck when we're pulling into the warm gravel car park. She has her hands up, gesturing us to stop. Logan slams the breaks. I sit up and squint my eyes. her bright silhouette fades when Logan turns of the headlights. it's kali.
