CHIPPED

Chapter 6

The note stayed gripped in my hands for three hours, while I tried not to fall asleep. I collected all of my thoughts from the day of the election up until now, and wondered what I could've done different to prevent all of this. I didn't regret fixing the election results, but maybe I should've allowed myself to rot in prison, instead of letting Rushwood pardon me. My life is on the line, Willder's life is on the line, and now Neva's life in on the line.

Beside me, Neva rests peacefully. I decided a few hours ago to let her sleep until 4 a.m., but even though I'm exhausted, I can't bring myself to close my eyes. I'll most likely let her drive when she wakes up, so we can keep moving and I can finally sleep.

My thoughts wander to Aspen, and how any of this could affect her. What if they're interrogating and torturing her, while I'm contemplating how to get away from my problems? Surely she's confused and hopeless if she knows anything about my situation. Would they even tell her what was going on, though?

I look down at the note for the umpteenth time and carefully read the words. I'm not here. Well, Willder, where the heck are you, then? Everyone is hunting you down, trying to figure out where you escaped to. I extracted the chip. What chip? Someone was tracking you? Why would they send me to find you if they had chipped you? How on earth did you extract such a device? Was it in your body? My mind races at the image of Willder removing a tracking device from his arm. No, it had to be a chip in his phone or on his clothes. Willder would never let someone insert a chip into his skin.

Neva stirs beside me, turning over with her bright blue eyes staring right at me. She notices the worried expression on my face and sits up in her seat. "Are you okay?"

I try to mask my emotions, "Just fine. You can go back to sleep." She was only asleep from 11pm to 2am.

She chuckles, "I can't. I'm used to working the graveyard shift, remember? Anyways, you look like you need some sleep."

I shake my head, "I do but I can't sleep either. I think we need to keep moving. I'll let you know when you need to take over the driving." We've been sitting ducks for almost three hours now. I twist the two red wires back together and listen to the engine crank up. Neva shrinks down in her seat.

"So, Neva," I calmly address her, "How old are you?" I don't see the harm in making small talk if neither of us can sleep and we have to keep moving. She already knows more about me than I would like her to know.

"I'm 20. How old are you, Parker Hanes?" She emphasizes my fake name and I laugh.

"I'm almost 21. My birthday is in a few days."

"Oh, happy early birthday, then..." She draws out the pause, and I can hear her flipping through something beside me. "Orlon Kane." She finishes.

I jerk my head to look at her, taking my eyes off of the road for a brief moment to see her holding my real license in her hand. I snatch the card from her grasp and turn my attention back to the road. She starts laughing, but I'm trying to hold in my anger.

"Where did you get that?" I ask, harshly.

She bites her bottom lip, "In your wallet, where licenses are usually kept." She replies sarcastically. I roll my eyes.

"Why did you go snooping through my stuff?" I almost explode.

She shrugs, "Just curious." She shows no remorse for her actions.

"Well, curiosity killed the cat." I retort, trying to snatch my license out of her hand.

"No, curiosity is what brought me to you in the first place. I saved the cat, the cat being you." She crosses her arms over her chest.