Escape

Chapter Eight

Aaron finds us at sunrise, looking fairly tired himself.

I nod to him, and he grunts in reply, looking down at his sleeping sister.

"How'd you sleep?" I ask, resting my head on my forearm and staring up at the sky.

He doesn't respond immediately, the only sound between us being his shuffling as he sits down. "Well enough," he responds after a while. "You?"

I shrug. "I got some sleep. I'm used to sleeping in shifts, though, so getting a night's worth is foreign to me."

"Can't imagine how you survived alone."

"Sleeping for an hour or two here and there, hiding in sewers when I was too exhausted to go any further," I say with a delicate shrug. "Wasn't the healthiest, but it worked."

He nods out of the corner of my eye. "Sounds about right."

"What about you? How's all this extra sleep doing for your psyche?" 

Aaron snorts. "I can hardly sleep. The slightest noise makes me stir, and not having Lea in proximity makes it worse."

I hum. "Can't much empathize on that second point, but I understand the first. Takes a while, but you get used to it. Is that why you came up here, then? To make sure your sister's alright?"

"I suppose. That, and I hadn't seen the roof yet. Figured since you two had been up here all night, it was worth a peek."

I nod. "And now that you're here? Enjoy the view?" I motion with the hand not under my head to the sky and scenery around us.

"Yeah, it's definitely one of the better views I've had," he agrees, staring off at something in the distance.

I nod softly, inhaling the morning air and closing my eyes. I've no intention of going back to sleep, but this conversation is going nowhere, and I'd rather continue rooting out my internal map for the way to Rhode Island.

"What is it with Rhode Island, anyways? Why not California, or Canada, or even New York?" Aaron asks suddenly, as if reading my very thoughts.

"New York was taken two years ago," I murmur. "California is in the process of domination, and Canada's too hard to get into. The other free colonies are either only partial, or in the process of losing their battles. Rhode Island is the only concrete colony we can get to without much struggle, and there is plenty more land there than any other free colony. Plus, it was just on the way to everyone's goal. I suppose it's just our way of granting the original team's wish." I'm silent for a moment. "Justin was right when he said that all this havoc was only caused when I joined them. I suppose I feel like I owe it to them to show that their conquest wasn't in vain, you know? Rhode Island is just that monumental goal that I want to reach."

"It's like a twisted tag race," he murmurs softly. "There were people before you racing for the finish line, and when they went down, they tagged you in to finish the race. There are other, simpler finish lines closer to you, but it's that one, original goal that you have to make because it's what your team desired from the beginning."

My lips curve into a small smile. "Yeah."

We fall into a fitful silence, Lea's breathing the only sound to be heard in the early morning.

I remember a time in the spring back before the war, when you could wake up in the early morning just after the sun was rising and hear birds chirping. Just beautiful nature. I was too young to truly appreciate it, but what I wouldn't give now to sit out here and be able to listen to that. Just another side-effect of the war, I suppose.