A World Without Trust

Chapter Eight

What the fuck am I doing? I can’t be falling for this girl! “Don’t become attached!” That’s what the general said to all of us before we were released out to our different states in America.

I have to admit, being attractive to girls has come as a huge plus for me, as it has helped in my quest to ‘persuade’ them to journey to Los Angeles with me. Not to mention my British accent! I have successfully diverted over fifty teenage girls and young women towards the camps in LA in the past eight months. I haven’t actually ventured to the city myself, I’ve just tracked down some of the soldiers in the Black Van who have come and taken them off my hands. It’s always felt… rewarding in a sense, like I have done something good for the new hierarchy!

This time is different though. I’m getting these feelings that I shouldn’t be getting! The sooner I can contact a Van the better.

 

I’m walking through the tree line towards the main road to ‘look for a petrol station’. Instead I make sure I am well out of range from Ashton and Essie and slip my Comm Phone from my pocket. I press the red button in the centre which sends out to all Vans in close range a signal, telling them where I am. As soon as I press it a pang of guilt threatens to make me change my mind. I shake it off and walk slowly up the road kicking loose stones with my hands in my pocket. I let out a deep sigh and look up to see a small building in the distance. I squint through the heat waves coming off the hot road and realise it’s a small gas station.

“Shit…” I say under my breath. I could go back and say I couldn’t find one and force them to stay put and rest until the next day, which would hopefully give one of the Vans time to find us. Essie is smart though and will insist on going to have a look for herself. It would be so much easier if it were just Essie because she would be easy to tie up while I wait for a Van, not saying she wouldn’t go down without a fight though! Ashton is the obstacle standing in the way though, even though he is injured he is a lot more muscular then me, which would make it hard to take him down.

 

 

I sit down on the overgrown grass embankment beside the tar sealed interstate and lay my gun down beside me. I turn the Comm Phone around in my hands feeling the smooth surface on my rough finger tips. All that comes to mind is Essie’s lips brushing against mine in the Ute and how for just for a second, time seemed to stop when I was looking into her gorgeous blue eyes. In that moment I seemed to forget about everything that was going on, like the way that I was leading her into a trap and the way I lied to her about who I really am. I slip my Comm Phone back into my pocket and lay my head in the palms of my hands. I have a choice to make and it needs to be made now!