A World Together

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Logan

Maisie's grip on my hand begins to feel more and more like a shackle with every passing second. She, of course, is oblivious to my discomfort. If I try to wriggle my way free her fingers only clamp down tighter, like a vice. In the end I choose not to put up a fight and just let her pull me along. I wouldn't be able to put up a fight if I tried anyway. What little strength I had left that wasn't battered into the ground by this hangover has definitely been sapped away by the heat. It's a miracle I can even walk at all.

Not to mention I can feel Rocket's heated glare on the back of my head, pressing down on me, trying hard to shove me to the ground. I've decided to avoid her gaze altogether, especially now that she has a baseball bat.

There's little I can blame my discomfort on that I'm not directly responsible for, so I'm reduced to cursing out the sun, the only thing that hasn't been brought about by my own stupidity.

"Are we almost there?" I ask, although I don't know why I bother. It's the same answer every time.

"Almost," Maisie chirps, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

She was giving the same answer yesterday, too. Every time she says it, I believe her a little less. It doesn't take two days to walk from one edge of the city to the other. A day at most, maybe even less. So where is she leading us that is taking so long? The urge to demand an answer from her is one I have to suppress. All the cars we pass with their open gas caps and empty tanks just remind me how much we need her. The last thing I want is to frighten her off.

So I swallow my complaints and stumble on. It isn't long before I feel them creeping back up my throat though. When a strikingly familiar restaurant comes into focus down the street, I have no choice but to voice them.

"Wait a second," I say, pulling Maisie to a stop. "We've been here before."

"What?" Maisie squeaks.

"We've passed that restaurant before." I snatch my wrist out of her grasp. "You're leading us in circles!"

"Am I?" Maisie asks, looking round at the other buildings. Stella and Gale are so engrossed in a conversation that they don't seem to notice, but Rocket steps up beside me.

"What's going on?" she asks.

"We've been down this street before! She's leading us in circles!" I growl, jutting a finger in Maisie's direction. Anger flushes my face, doubling the intensity of the sun that has just passed over us. My tongue feels swollen in my mouth and I realize I'm so dehydrated that I'm barely sweating. I breathe in slowly, to calm myself down and relieve some of the heat.

"Is that true, Maisie?" Rocket asks, her tone far more controlled than mine.

"No!" Maisie squawks. Her brows furrow as if she's preparing herself for an argument, but then they relax and leave her looking puzzled. "Where are we going again?" she asks.

Our only hope for finding gas, and she doesn't even know where she's taking us. I feel like an idiot. I should have listened to Stella, not this mad girl who sees the world as something it's not. Now, all I've achieved is leading us into the middle of Las Vegas with no gas, little food and even less water. The weight of the moon is back on my shoulders, crushing down on me, a reminder of the mess I've gotten us into. I'm not sure if it's fury or dread that leaves me lightheaded, but I quickly decide that I can't deal with Maisie right now.