Chapter 13
Somewhere along the line, I fell asleep because the next thing I knew I was waking up in a soft bed. As I stretched awake, I wondered 'Where the hell are we, now?' Almost everything was white and looked new. 'This isn't some old cabin in the woods.' I thought as I got up and headed for the window. Pulling back the curtains, I noticed we actually were in the woods, and it was still dark out. 'Everything must've went smoothly after I fell asleep.' I turned around and looked the room over. There were three doors. I opened the small door and found an empty closet. The door next to it was a bathroom with a shower. 'Oh, thank God. I'm desperately in need of a shower.' Glancing down at myself, I noticed I still had on the blue dress, and it looked awful. The front was a little shredded across the chest, and I imagined the back looked the same. 'Crap. What am I going to wear?'
"How about this?" Eva happily said as she came in.
As I spun around, I blurted "Holy, crap! ... Eva, I swear you're trying to scare me to death."
"Sorry. I couldn't wait any longer. ... So, what do you think?" She said as she held out a green dress and shook it.
"I think it's a dress." I grumbled.
"Isn't it great. You'll look so cute in it."
"Eva, you do realize that I'm being carried at like 70 miles an hour, right?"
"Yes." She said in exasperation and teasingly add "But, it's long so it won't be that bad."
"It's still a dress." I whined.
"Shut up and put it on. It's the only thing you've got to wear." She taunted as she tossed it to me.
Catching the dress, I thought 'You are such a pain in the ass.'
"Thank you." She smugly teased. "There's some towels hanging on the back of the door. I'm making you something to eat, so, when you're done, come on out."
"Where are we? This place isn't exactly an old cabin in the woods."
"We're a few miles from Crystal City, Texas."
"How much further do we have to go?"
"About half of a day." She said with a small hint of sadness in her voice.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't think it's going to go as well as we're hoping."
"Neither do I, but I've got it covered."
"You've got us covered? How?"
"I expect the worse, and, with a little luck, it won't be that bad."
She laughed and said "Let me know how that works out. I'll be in the kitchen."
"I'll be there in a few." As she started to leave, I asked "Where is everyone?"
"Jason and Naomi are sleeping, and Damian and Malcolm are checking the area."
"Okay. ... Any trouble, yet?"
"No, but there is some good news."
"What's that?"
"There's a huge storm coming." She said with a smile.
'Rain.' I instantly thought. "We'll have an advantage."
"You'll have an advantage."
"Don't kid yourself. We'll all have an advantage."
"Sure. ... Well, let's get ready."
"Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes." With a small nod, she left the room, closing the door behind her. Trying to keep my thought from Eva, I kept repeating Fur Elise over and over in my head as I showered and changed. I didn't want her to know that I had thought about staying with Amanda for a few days and running after that, and I really hoped she wasn't able to hear Malcolm think about it, either.
