The Fast Lane

Chapter 32

"I’m thinking that we can start here and call Jasper in the Keys to keep an eye out there. We can move up to Columbia and look, then we can call Reggie in Jacksonville and he’ll look around for us there. Next we…"

Caleb’s plan of attack sounded like a bunch of jibberish in my head. I was supposed to be helping them find the love of my life but I couldn’t allow myself to get past the fact that he proposed to me knowing that he was going to leave me the next day. I had so many emotions rushing through my body for the last 5 hours - love, hate, anger, worry, sadness, confusion - that I could barely see straight anymore. How could he not tell me? When did he decide this? He didn’t even tell his two best friends. He left a note on the kitchen table thanking Caleb and Joel for their protection and companionship over the last couple of years and told them he was leaving. I clutched the wadded up paper in my hand, gripping it more and more tightly with every second that I became more emotional over the matter.

"That sound okay to you Tris?" Caleb and Joel were both looking at me as the three of us hovered over the small map on the kitchen table.

"What? Oh yeah. Yeah that’s fine," I said, rubbing my eyes and looking at my phone. It was only 3 in the afternoon. "When did you want to leave?"

Caleb and Joel looked at each other. “We just asked you if tonight was alright,” Joel said as Caleb looked at me worriedly.

I dropped the note, fell into the chair behind me, and put my face in my hands, exhaling hard. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, shaking my head and beginning to cry. Caleb squatted next to my chair and put an arm around me, and Joel began to rub my shoulder.

"We’ll find him. It’s okay," Caleb whispered to me.

As the sun began to set Caleb packed the trunk with our small backpacks of clothing and all sorts of small guns. He pulled out bulletproof vests from under the seats, and I watched from the top step of the porch as he tried one on and took it off. He looked over at me and picked one up. “Wanna try it on?” I sat still and stared at him for a moment, finally nodding slowly and standing. I stuck my arms out and stood patiently as I waited for Caleb to secure the vest around me. It was heavy. He backed up and I let my arms fall to my sides as he looked at the fit. “Too heavy?” I shook my head. “Does it feel alright?” I nodded. He sighed. “Good. You might need it.” He looked up at the dark sky. “Ready?”

Caleb sped along the highway toward Charlotte. Joel made phone calls the whole way. “Reggie? Hey man. Not much! Heading up to Charlotte. I was wondering if you would do me a huge favor…” I laid in the middle row of seats in the SUV and just thought to myself. I replayed everything that had happened over the course of the last couple of months with Harry. Meeting on the road, the wedding, sleeping together for the first time, cooking together, racing, shopping, playing UNO, making love, tickle fights, the fair, traveling… Every single memory seemed to want to flood my mind as I laid in the seat staring at the ceiling. I reached up and pulled on my paper airplane necklace.

It was early in the morning when we arrived at Jenna’s. I walked to the back of the car where Joel handed me my backpack and grabbed his own. Right as we turned to walk into the house, his phone rang. “Go on in and go to sleep, I’ll wake you in a few hours.” Caleb stood next to him and nodded at me as Joel answered the phone. “Hello?”

I walked up the stairs to the front porch and unlocked the front door. I set the keys down on the small table by the entrance and walked to the kitchen to grab some water. I grabbed my backpack off of the floor and walked into my room where I began to undress and crawl into bed. Suddenly, a shadow flew past my door.

"Joel?"

No answer.

"Caleb?"

No answer.

"Harry, is that you?"

When there was no answer the third time I stepped out into the hallway and looked into the darkness behind me and in front of me. Nothing moved. Putting my back against the wall, I reached for the hall light switch and flicked it on. I saw nothing. I peered into the bathroom across the hall as well as the room to the left of my own. When I saw nothing, I assumed it was my imagination and I turned to walk right back into my room. Right when I got comfortable in my bed, a large black figure stepped into my room and knocked me unconscious with the heavy handle of his gun.