The Runaways

Chapter 10

Hannah drove for an hour straight in silence. Cody sat thinking as Juliane was asleep, leaning on the window.

Suddenly, Hannah pulled over on the side of the road. "I don't feel like this is something we should get into and I'm turning the truck around," she said as she shifted the truck into reverse.

"NO!" Cody yelled as he fought for the wheel from Hannah, which woke Juliane up. "We can't go back, we're in this together now."

"Why are you arguing?!" Juliane yelled. "I've been dealing with my problems for too long, and when I finally feel like I have an escape, you guys argue if it's worth it!"

Hannah laid her head on the steering wheel. "Is it worth it?" She admitted.

"I've been suicidal for so long," Juliane frowned. "We all need each other, and that's it. So yes, it's worth it. Do you want to go back and everything be worse than it was?! Do you want me to go stay with my dad again?!"

"You guys are worth risking everything for," Cody threw in. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I want change. I want better for all of us. And if you don't,"

He looked at Hannah, "then I'll go alone."

Hannah slowly shifted her truck into drive as she peered out of the dirty rear-view mirror. She wiped it off and pulled out into the highway and they were off again.

"You guys have changed my mind for now, but if something happens in the long run I won't forgive you," Hannah said flatly.

She was right, Cody thought. What if things went wrong? What if he had led them into a trap? He knew he couldn't afford to think like that.

"We're gonna be alright," Cody assured her. "I promise."

Juliane laid her head on the window again. Cody knew she had not attempted to sleep, but she was just thinking, hoping and praying that everything would be okay.

The next couple of hours had passed again in silence, everyone respectively thinking about their role in this.

"Pull into this pasture," Cody said. Juliane and Hannah had puzzled looks on their face. "Please."

And so Hannah pulled into the pasture of which Cody was speaking.

Cody got out and Hannah and Juliane had no choice but to follow him. He opened the tailgate and sat down, inviting the others to join him.

They sat and watched the sun set. The sky was fiery with colors of red and orange, one of the most beautiful sunsets any of them had ever seen in their lives.

Cody put his arm around Hannah and Juliane but no words were said. Sitting together, they listened to the wind whistled through the trees and felt it blow through their hair, as they all did separately when they couldn't bear the thought of being in their homes.

It was past the time they had planned for their parents to know they would be home, 7 o'clock. They all knew the world had started searching for them, but they continued to sit together on the tailgate, beginning a search of their own.