Bruised But Not Broken

Chapter 12

The train car moves steadily along the tracks, moving farther from home and closer to San Fransisco. Windsor watches out the window, a blank, almost emotionless expression on her face. The only emotion there is a slight hint of nervousness.

"Tickets please!" The conductor yells.

I fish out two twenty-dollar bills from my bag, which should be enough to cover two one-way tickets to Los Angeles.

"Paying with money?" The conductor asks as he nears us.

"Yes, sir." I reply.

"Los Angeles alone?" He asks.

I quickly come up with a lie.

"We are visiting our mom, it's her birthday tomorrow."

"Where is your dad?"

"Don't have one."

"Where do you live?"

"St. John's. The boarding school."

"Oh smart kids I see. Are you twins?"

"Not real ones. Irish twins. I was born January 1st and she was born September 28th."

"I see." He says, making change. "Have a nice time with your mom." Then he walks away.

"Nice one." She says.

"Thanks."

"Where did you come up with it?"

"I honestly have no idea. Probably one of those crime shows we watched."

"Oh yeah the one where the twin was the suspect, but the cops found out the twin died years ago and the older brother was only 8 months older!"

"Oh yeah that's the one." I say.

She looks away and out the window. The train moves on steadily for about an hour.

<><><><>

The view outside the window changes as the train rattles on. Sometimes towns and cities are visible, and other times it's mountains and countryside.

I really hope to find my mom. But this whole trip is nerve-racking. We are walking from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, normally an hour by car. It's probably going to take more than I week just to walk to San Fransisco. In that time, where will we sleep? What if we have to sleep in alleys with people who are drug addicts? Bigger? Stronger? I try to shake the thoughts from my head but I can't.

"Are we going to make it?" I ask.

"Of course we will." He answers.

"No I mean will we be alright. In the alleys and with the criminals and-" I say before he cuts me off with a kiss.

"We'll be fine. I'll protect you. We can't talk about it here though." He says.

I nod my head.

A few hours later, the train comes to a stop at a train station in Los Angeles. We gather what little luggage we have and make our way out of the train car with all the other passangers. The station is packed with people. Pike and I walk hand in hand through the crowd until we finally make it out into the city. It's about 4:00.

"Well I guess let's start walking."

He starts in one direction and I follow behind him. People don't really notice us, and if they do they just smile and carry on with there day, apparently not giving much thought into two teenagers alone together in one of the major cities of the United States.

We walk for blocks and blocks, all throughout the day, trying to find landmarks that can tell us where we are going. Darkness consumes the clouds and blue sky as day becomes night.

"We should find a place to sleep." I say.

"Yeah, you're right."

He looks around until spotting an empty alley except for some boxes.

"Here." He says, and I don't argue.

"I'll stay up first watch if you want." I offer.

He nods. We make ourselves comfortable. He lays down in one of the boxes, and I sit on the ground. It's cold out, and I shiver a little. The night is quiet and it stays that way for a while. My shift is over, so I wake Pike up.

"Your turn to watch." I tell him.

He groggily replies an "okay" and shifts so that he is standing up.

I lay on his lap, and start to fall asleep until I hear faint cries. Pike hears it too. We both get up and start walking towards the beginning of the alley, towards the street. A girl stands there, head against the wall, crying.

Rin.

"Rin!" Pike exclaims.

She turns to look at us. Her eyes are red and puffy.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

<><><><>

Windsor's eyes show many emotions. Anger. Annoyance. Confusion. I'm sure mine show the same.

Although Windsor's gaze stays hard, I try to soften mine.

"Rin, why are you here?"

"I found this." She says, handing me the packet that Windsor dropped.

"I can tell you are lying."

"Your brother found it."

My eyes widen. She continues.

"He was fuming and interrogating me. He thinks you are still dating me. I took it from him and ran."

"How did you catch up to us?"

She holds out her subway card.

"Nothing left on it though."

"Go home, Rin." I tell her.

"I can't. No money. I want to help you guys. The police are looking for all three of us now."

"They'll believe my dad and your brother, Pike. We're on our own." Windsor says.

"So I guess it's the three of us then." Rin says.

"Yeah. I guess so." Windsor responds.

"From now on, we walk at night, stay hidden during the day."

"Deal." Both girls say at the same time.

We start to walk. My arm is snaked around Windsor's waist, pulling her body as close go mine as possible. Rin walks behind us.

We walk four blocks, various noises erupting through the city. Gun shots and screams shatter the peaceful silence, and sirens become louder before they completely disappear.

"It's scary to think people live this type of life." Rin says from behind us.

"This will be our life for a few days."

"But imagine living in constant fear?" She asks.

"I don't have to imagine it." Windsor says, burying her face deeper into my chest.

Rin doesn't say anything, just jogs to keep up with us.

"This is pretty scary. Especially if you don't have protection."

"I got you both." I say, not really looking at her. She just nods and we keep walking.

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A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! I've been gone for awhile I know but it's been hard to update. I'm going to start planning this book a little more and hopefully come January I will be able to update every other Monday. I think this book will have around 25-30 chapters.