Numbered

Chapter Nineteen

Kylie woke up, disoriented in the car and realised she must have fallen asleep during the journey.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. The car was parked up at the side of a shop and she turned to see Nico inside, buying food at the till.

She pulled down the blanket he'd put over her and turned on the radio. Nico opened the car door, throwing a buttered croissant into her lap.

"Sleeping beauty finally woke up," he smirked.

She pursed her lips. "How long was I out?"

"A couple hours," he told her. "We're heading south. There's a rebel town nearby, so hopefully someone will give us a place to stay."

She quietly ate her breakfast as Nico read the newspaper.

"Anything interesting?" she asked.

Nico shrugged. "A section on rebels. They have a picture of Jared."

Kylie flipped over the page and her chest tightened when she saw a fuzzy photograph of him. He was carrying a hold-all and was walking down a street in Topaz with his mother behind him. Mrs Worth's face was pinched and angry-looking,  like she was having an argument with him. He looked blank - his eyes were empty, and there were dark circles under them. But he was okay. Kylie realised she had been holding her breath and she exhaled slowly.

She willed herself not to cry when she saw Nico watching her intently.

Her foot was tapping against the floor of the car and Nico reached over and put his hand on her knee, stilling the movement.

"He's safe," she said, trying to convince herself rather than Nico. "That's all that matters, right? He's okay."

"Yeah," Nico replied. "And you're okay too."

She blinked to keep the tears from falling. "He doesn't know that, though."

"He knows I'm looking after you," Nico said.

She nodded. Nico started up the engine and she wiped her face and looked at herself in the rearview mirror. Her face was a mess and her hair was knotted. She brushed through it with her fingers and tied it back with an elastic band.

She saw a few Official trucks lined up on the side of the road and slid further down the seat, pulling up her scarf.

"We'll be safe once we're in the town," Nico said.

Kylie knew they were nearly there when they reached a toll bridge with rebels guarding it. They explained to him about Nick and the rebels scanned their fingerprints and numbers onto a computer.

One of them recognised her from the papers and waved them on through quickly. The town looked run-down, there were signs of conflict, damaged buildings, armed rebels keeping watch.

The roads were pretty deserted, apart from the odd guard here and there. Kylie saw a few teenagers kicking a ball about an abandoned carpark. She ached to join them. It felt like she hadn't had any down time in ages. Her muscles were always tense, ready to fight. Until she had Jared by her side, she couldn't rest. She constantly thought about him.

"Hey!" Nico shouted at one of the guards. "Is there any places to stay around here?"

The guard shrugged. "There's an old hotel two blocks down that are begging for customers...the Marquis."

"Thanks mate," Nico said.

The guard gave him a thumbs up as they drove past.

As they drove further down the road, a car was traveling towards them at a high speed. Kylie leaned forward to study the car which looked like it had been smashed in the side. Nico pulled over to let him pass in the narrow road, when at the last minute, the driver swerved and hit them on Nico's side. Kylie shielded her eyes as glass shattered around her.