Chapter 8
In the night, we stopped and recuperated. We'd set up a little fire and broke out the hot dogs we'd taken from Lapierre. Millie and I talked as a sort of therapy; she held my dog, we talked. Well, it was more like she told me about the years of abuse she and her siblings--primarily her sisters--went through. It broke my heart; Millie almost had a child last year, and she missed school after the first trimester when it was too noticeable. She missed half a year of school for a stillborn little girl.
"What about your other two sisters?"
"They're not old enough to have children yet. Dad planned to wait 'til they're twelve."
"That's fucked." I paused. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't swear."
"It's okay... Is it okay if I go to bed early?" I nodded. I brushed her hair and gave her my most comfortable clothes for PJs. I laid out a blanket for her in the bed of the truck and left her to snuggle with Jazzy.
"Y'all better be quiet, Millie's asleep."
"So's Brandon," Katie whispered from the back seat. I nodded, then sat between Chi and Cam. As the night rolled on, everyone rolled out their sleeping bags and fell fast asleep. The only ones left up were me and Cam. I hugged the green eye plushie, remembering the old lady that gave it to me. After my group and I were dropped off, they took her deeper into the country to do god knows what for god knows who.
"We literally have nowhere to go. We're basically just heading for suicide," Cam sighed.
"You wanna stay with Lapierre?"
"No." I felt two arms wrap around my shoulders. "Just... what do we do?"
"Fuck if I know..." Cam rocked us back and forth.
"Hm." I stared into the fire, as if it held the answers to all our problems. All I saw was the smoke rising into the inky sky.
"We could crash in a hotel?"
"True. It'll be like our plans of living together after high school."
"Only instead of going to college, we'll be fending for ourselves, fighting just to try to go to the market." I felt him nod on my head. "Where are we gonna sleep? The truck's taken, we're suurrounded." I glanced around at all the sleeping bags around us, at the little girl and her brother sleeping in the truck bed, at Katie and my brother sleeping in the back seat of the truck.
"Help me pick up this log." We got up and took one end of the log each. We heaved it back into the patch of woods we found it in and rolled out a sleeping bag where it once was. I got in, cuddling the Sam plushie. Cam took the other side. I turned to him, still holding Sam. "Who gave you that?"
"A little old lady. Her grandkid was a Jack Septic Eye fan. She didn't get the chance to give it to them, though, so I got it."
"Why?"
"Her grandkids joined this group in America called, 'The Resistance'."
"Dangerous?"
"Maybe. I'm just glad I got Sammy," I yawned. It had to be almost one in the morning. I took off my glasses and placed them in the grass beside me. I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of distant crickets chirping and the wind rustling the trees.
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The next day started at 5:00. We all got up, ate, brushed our teeth and bathed in a lake two miles from the little campsite. Brandon and I kicked the ashes over the once-bonfire before hopping into the truck and heading South.
"Here's what we're going to do," I began. "There's a group in America called 'The Resistance'. I wanna scope them out. If they're accepting, maybe we can join. If not, we'll avoid them at all costs.
"Mana?"
"Yes, buddy?"
"Teddy?" Brandon pointed to Sammy. I threw it to him and watched him squeeze it.
"What do you say?"
"Tank you." The car fell silent for a couple of hours. The border proved to be closer than anticipated. It was also unguarded. We passed easily, and I began searching for nearby hotels to settle in.
The boys were riding high besides us, eyes peeled for danger or a hotel. Katie and Chi kept the children entertained. Millie was sitting beside me, quietly awing at my furry, fluffy dog. Sammy sat on my lap as I drove. We were like one big... family?
Yeah, family. We care for each other, take care of each other, and most important of all: tolerate each other.
YOU ARE READING
Mana
Science FictionA few months after Mason's crazy dream, things started to change not just in school, but in New England. People came down with a bacterial infection, went into a coma, then were back to normal. At least, that's what I thought.
