Freedom & Chrome 0 || Book 1 ENGLISH

What the hell are we doing here?

No sooner was V out of camp than Kaden was caught in the middle. His parents tore Kaden from one opinion to another, but quickly had to realize that Kaden could bring the same temperament to light as Ash

No matter if they wanted to force Kaden to stay in the camp or send him off to find V, Kaden remained stubborn and only hissed back angrily. He stayed on V's side, especially after all the words Mell and Tyler had thrown at Ash. On top of that, he found out something else and his faith in clan cohesion and honesty crumbled. Enough so that he could make a decision.

While Mell and Tyler went off by themselves to find their son to read him the rounds, Kaden grabbed the signed papers his parents had left in the rush. He hurried toward his trailer, noticing Bandit behind him, who was walking through the camp, roused by the arguments.

"I guess I can't take you with me," he patted the robot's metal, smooth head, which followed him on every step of the way, even into the trailer. He searched his closets for the biggest bag he could find and gathered some clothes from his closet. Right now he was very happy about the fact that V was more or less living with Kaden in the trailer, and most of the stuff was with him and not in his parents' tent anymore. He was able to stuff his most important clothes into the bag and a few other things he considered important. V's small tool kit, for example. Kaden was sure that if V came along, he was guaranteed to catch up with Bandit at some point, and what would V be without his wrench?

Pfft, like V wouldn't come along.

Honestly, Kaden had no clue what he was actually doing here. He had never been keen on experiencing the cities like V, but he knew how important Ash was to him and if such an opportunity presented itself to them, why not take it? Except for the city ban, they had never been forbidden to do anything. They could actually always do what they wanted, go wherever they wanted. Only V's obedience to his parents and Kaden's mild interest in big cities had always kept the two young nomads close to the clan.

Holy crap, their parents would kill them both if they got their hands on the two again. Bandit jumped onto Kaden's bed and inspected the mattress closely. Confused, Kaden looked up from his bag and looked over at Bandit as he continued not to move an inch. The bed was neatly made, but there was something there that hadn't been there before.

"What have you got there?" asked Kaden, saving himself to walk up to V's dog. Bandit picked up the items from the mattress with his muzzle and brought it over to Kaden. It was one of the photos hanging on Kaden's closet wall and a plastic card. Kaden looked at the card more closely, but couldn't tell what it was for. NA Apartment Complex 18 was written on the card with letters stamped in it, and a simple skyline of several skyscrapers adorned the background. He turned the photo over and saw that someone had written something on it. The writing was a little spidery and smudged, probably because the picture had been put on the bed before the ink was dry, but Kaden could still read it.

78 Melroe Street. Floor 7, Apartment 221, Ash.

Even more confused, Kaden frowned. When had Ash put this here? Had V not followed him? Or had V lost his trail and Ash taken advantage of the moment to leave the address? Kaden also doubted Ash would answer the phone, let alone V. They used the thing so infrequently anyway that it was pretty easy to forget about it in a situation like this. Kaden put the photo and the card in the front pocket of his backpack and stowed it under the bed. If V didn't come back until the evening, Kaden would wait until Mell and Tyler went to bed. They would want to make sure before then, guaranteed, that at least one of them was still in the clan. If Kaden disappeared now, he could mess it up completely. So he waited.

He kept trying to reach V, but he couldn't get through. After Mell and Tyler made their rounds as expected and made sure Kaden was still in place, they went back to their tent.
It was almost 11 p.m. and V still hadn't returned. Had he perhaps left after all? No, V would let him know if he was thinking of leaving. He resolutely grabbed his bag, took a quick look around the half-empty trailer, and shooed Bandit outside. V's dog had kept him company all afternoon. He could hardly believe it, but this nasty little shoe-eater had actually grown a little fond of him. On nimble feet, he crept along the edge of the camp, always on guard for the guards. They would probably be much more alert now, as long as V wasn't back. Patiently he waited hidden in the dark shadows until the respective guard turned around and he was out of sight. It felt strange. Like a convict on the run, he crept through his own home. Absurd.