JUST SAY SOMETHING

CHAPTER TWENTY: The Ride

Mike Williams

This is it. *Fingers Crossed*

Like · Comment · Share · 29 minutes ago

Marc Harris, Jenny Simmons, and 2 others like this.

CHAPTER 20:

“Caleb, get some rest, please,” Dean pleaded.

We were on the road for about an hour. Our location was still unknown to me. I stared out the window the whole time. Nicole woke up a half hour ago, but she soon fell asleep. I did not want to look at Dean. He had so much mystery around him and I was too blind to focus on it. I was not sure what to think about him. I refused to talk to him.

“Caleb,” he said.

I did not move. Before I knew it, my eyelids started to feel heavy even with the sun still high in the sky. The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was a more solid road. We were almost completely away from the camp. I was not sure if I was excited or if I dreaded what was waiting for me back home.

My slumber was light, but I could not pull away. My body refused to move from the uncomfortable passenger seat. I sensed that we were no longer moving. No sunlight forced my eyes open, but I still opened them. I kept still as I assessed where we were. The car was parked on one of those stops near the highway. We were still far from Colestone and I did not need a map to tell me that.

The sound of sobbing broke my concentration. I looked at the window and focused my eyes. I could see in the reflection that Dean was curled up on the driver’s seat. His arms were wrapped around his knees and his face was buried in his hands. His shoulders were trembling. It looked like he was trying to stop himself from crying.

“Caleb,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I would do anything in this world to erase these past few days.” I felt an ache in my chest when he said those words. It took all my strength to not turn around and hold him. I felt betrayed and confused with everything. I was not going to let it go so easily. The driver’s side door opened and closed. I heard him walk and from the side of my eye I saw him lean against the front of his car. I felt myself doze off again into a dreamless sleep.

“Caleb, wake up,” Dean said, shaking my arm. His voice was flat and tired. “We’re at the hospital. We need to get you and Nicole checked out.” The mention of Nicole got me up. Dean and I had to support Nicole as we walked up to the urgent care center. Luckily, it was not packed with patients. The nurses ushered each of us to a bed.

“Hi, I’m Dylan. I’ll be your nurse this evening,” the nurse said as he closed the curtains around the bed I was sitting on. He did not look at me until the curtains were all closed. “What’s your name and how old are you?”

“I’m Caleb, Caleb Matthews and I’m eighteen years old.”

“Alright, how are you feeling?”

“I, um, have this,” I said, showing him my gunshot wound.

“Where’d you get this?”

“Uh, I’m not sure I can say how I got this.”

“Judging by your clothes, you’re from the North Hill Camp, right?”

“How’d you know?”

He looked up from his chart. “It’s all over the news. You got here pretty fast.”

“We escaped.”

“Wow, that’s really something,” Dylan said. “You’re the first.”

“What do you mean?”