𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞| ᴀ ʟᴇᴏɴ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

8. Tracked

As soon as we leave the cinema I know the town isn't the same. It rumbles with life, I hear cars and vans approaching as well as the heavy footfalls of soldiers, no doubt sent my Theodore. Leon links our fingers together as we race away from the building, sprinting down the street until the cars sound louder. "We're sitting ducks here." I panic, but Leon's got a plan. He suddenly banks right, pulling us down a small alleyway just as a squad of cars speed down the street with FutureFront on them, racing to the cinema. The enclosed space is a tight fit, I'm not even sure this is actually an alleyway. Leon's chest is pressed against mine as we both breathe heavy, faces turned towards the street with vigilant anticipation. I lean into Leon's warmth, needing that small bit of contact for reassurance. His head turns to me, then surprisingly he leans closer to me, pushing me to the wall as he cages me in. His hand reaches out to steady himself on the wall beside my head, I'm completely and utterly surrounded by him. We don't speak, but the racing of our hearts and the desperate greedy look we give each other is enough. 

Suddenly Leon's crashing his mouth to mine, dominating me with such passion. My knees grow weak as he distracts me from the impending doom. Soon the street goes quiet again, but I'm too busy fisting Leon's tee in my hand, arching into him until we're yin and yang. He pulls away, pupils wide and I know he wants more, but now isn't the time. 

"We need to move quick because they're tracking us. We'll take the backstreets and head back to the car, and let's hope they aren't surrounding it." Leon gruffly says. I nod, too dumbstruck to speak. He slips away from me, then we begin to crouch low, speeding behind buildings without even thinking of possible bioweapons. We don't run into any trouble as we dodge the patrols, then finally we see the car. There's nobody around but it could be a trap, we're out of options though, so without stopping for a debate I run to it, but keep going past until I'm nestled between two buildings on the opposite side of the street to Leon. He glares at me from across the road, shaking his head as he curses under his breath. I wait for someone to come and catch me, but nobody comes. 

With the coast being clear we both run to the car, Leon's already unlocking the doors and diving in as I throw myself into the passenger seat. Right away Leon turns the car on, then he doesn't wait until we've got our seatbelts on before wheel spinning away. It's a rush, and not a fun one. My palms are slick with sweat and Leon keeps looking in the rear-view mirror. We leave Grimhurst behind, and I don't look back. "Grab my phone, it's in my pocket. We shouldn't be jammed now, so try and call Hunnigan."

I'm glad he thought of it, because I'm not really in the right mindset to think of anything but 'run'. I lean over and reach into Leon's pocket, grabbing his phone. I'm dialling Hunnigan before I can even get back in my seat. With one hand I finally do my seatbelt, then lean over and do the same for Leon, it's better to be safe than dead. After three rings Hunnigan picks up, already desperately hissing at us. 

"Where the hell have you both been! I've been worried sick and lost your signal not long after you arrived at the town. What did you find? Actually never mind about that, because things have been crazy weird here. I got a call from Theodore Jackson asking to put you both down as KIA barely twenty-four hours after I lost you." She inhales deeply when she's done. I hold the phone between Leon and I as he drives back the way we came, the forested roads long and winding. 

"Yeah about that," Leon drawls in a tone that implies he's about to deliver some bad news, "It seems like homeland security actually wants us and the rest of the world dead." 

"What?" Hunnigan questions. 

I sigh as Leon begins to fill her in on all our findings and what we've discovered about the great ol' government. I keep looking behind us, waiting for the cars and FutureFront to show up, but from a stroke of luck we've avoided detection for now. We're not out of the woods yet though, even if we are one step closer to freedom. When Leon finally finishes talking to Hunnigan she tells us to be careful, then she hangs up. I let my shoulders slump as I close Leon's flip phone, setting it in the cup holder. I feel a little better knowing that at least one person in this world knows about what we've found, so if anything happens to us she can put things right. 

I take Leon's hand in mine as he drives, gripping the steering wheel with a white knuckled grip. "Promise me that no matter what we'll fix this, even if we have to die for it."

Leon's head swivels towards me, a shook look crosses his features. It soon turns stern as he shakes his head. "You're not gonna die, and we will make things right." He swears, I don't comment on the fact he said 'you're' rather than 'we're' right now because we've been through enough within the last day. With the afternoon sun shining in the sky and the white clouds drifting calmly, we begin our journey back home without a plan but with sheer determination.