Freerunner

Chapter 24

More than a year ago, I said goodbye to Stevie. I watched him climb into a truck bound for Bravo base 9. We wrote to each other as often as possible, all in name of the promise to never forget our friendship. The devastation I felt when I learned about the obliteration of the ally base destroyed me. Still, I had just a sliver of hope. He was missing, not dead. Then began the complication of filling the hole Stevie made. It was hard. Alex told me he was alive, Dante told me he was dead. Prince ended the argument and covered for Dante's lie. With everything that's happened, I was just so glad it was done and I'd get to see Stevie again.

The truck slowed to a halt. I groggily opened my eye and looked around. We couldn't have been driving for more than three minutes. Did we get caught? I sat up hurriedly, scaring Dante.

"Woah! Calm down Rose, you okay?" He said. I looked back at him and he flinched. "Yeah, I'm fine. You don't seem to be though," I replied. He averted his eyes. "I just- I can't believe that happened to you," he mumbled, brushing his hand across my left cheek. I jumped and he retracted his hand. "Sorry," he said quickly. I shook my head. "It's okay, it's just my vision," I said uncertainly.

There was a heavy sigh from behind Dante. We looked over the back of our seat to see Gabriel was waking up too. He was lying on his back with his head resting on Elijah's lap. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinked, then tried to sit up. However, he disturbed his bad shoulder and groaned in pain. Elijah quickly pushed him back down gently.

"What's happening?" Gabriel managed to stutter.

"I think you can figure that out," Prince said dryly. He also had turned in his seat to check up on his subordinate. Gabriel opened his eyes and stared at Prince. He gave me a swift glance then groaned again. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Don't give me that, you knew it was coming," Prince snapped. He threw open his door and stepped outside, waiting for us with his arms folded.

Gabriel cursed under his breath. Carefully, he sat up and climbed into the front to exit out of the driver's side. Elijah followed quickly. I stared in confusion.

"What are we doing?" I asked, turning to Dante. He shook his head in disbelief.

"We can't be... I'm sure I told you not to," he muttered under his breath. He threw open the passenger door and stepped out. He ran his fingers through his hair, continually muttering. It reminded me of how he answered Alex back in the prison. I tried to listen to his words but they were all strung together so quickly. It was impossible to decipher. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to me. "You coming out?" He asked, a nervous smile on his face. I watched him for a bit then got out of the truck.

The ground underneath me slipped and I caught the side of the truck to steady myself. I lifted up my shoe to find yellow dust. "What is this? I asked incredulously. "Sand," Dante replied. I looked around and saw Delta Base 2 not far off in the distance. We really hadn't travelled very far at all. Prince and the other two Runners walked over to us. The only one who didn't look sickened was Prince.

"Still have that remote, Pinks?" He asked. I nodded and reached into my pocket. I pulled the remote out and handed it to him. He took it and began inspecting it. Once he was done, he smiled and handed it back to me. "Good job. Now press the button."

I almost dropped it into the sand. "What?" I said dubiously. He just smiled. "You heard me: press it." I turned the remote over in my hands. "But, why?" I asked quietly. He stopped smiling and narrowed his eyes. "Because I reckon it's necessary. Now, are you gonna do it or not?" I glared at him and shook my head. "No!" I shouted.

"Why not?" He growled.

"Because it's not necessary at all!" I snapped. He brought a hand up and struck me across the face. Dante suddenly grabbed me and pushed me behind him. "Prince! What are you doing?" He yelled. "She's not cooperating, Dogs. You know what we discussed and you agreed to my conditions," Prince replied. Dante clenched his fists. "Can't we just forget about all this and leave?" Prince shook his head. "This was your idea, wasn't it? Don't back out now just because it's not working in your favour."