The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 57: Interrogation

Chapter 57

I would have never thought in a million years that this would happen. It left me feeling empty, guilty even. Scooter coming out of the cabin was very unpredictable, but for some reason I still feel like it's my fault. The more I think about it, the more helpless I feel. This is bad. Really bad. Brianna getting caught would have been worse, but this is still a problem. What will we do? We can't go chasing after the guards and try to convince them that Scooter didn't have malicious intent for being out past curfew. They won't believe us, or they'll see the faults in our 'over exaggerations'. We all know we can't tell them the full truth. All I know is that Scooter's capture is going to push us under the bus and raise a red flag for our group. That's the last thing we need, especially if we're going to try and leave this place.

"Damn it!" Layke yells. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands, frustrated. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know. But, we'll figure something out." Cameron says and gives him that semi-comforting pat on the shoulder guys do when they try to be empathetic. I never knew why they did that. It seems more awkward than reassuring.

"I know what we can do." Naomi says. "Get the hell out of here. The last thing we need is to be captured too."

I agree. We need to take this opportunity now while the guards are distracted, no matter how horrible that sounds. I can't think of a way to help Scooter other than leaving him be. Maybe there's something we can do in the morning. I just hope he's still in one piece.

"Seems like the logical thing to do." I say.

Everyone agrees, and we spend the next couple minutes getting our things together. Instead of using flashlights to help us get back to the cabin, we use the flashes of lighting that fill the sky every so often. The lightning looks more intense than it did before Z-Day. Light pollution isn't a problem anymore, so the sky is as dark as the deep ocean. Any light source looks as bright as the sun switching on for a quick second and then disappearing slowly. The stars are ten times brighter than they used to be too. Which is beautiful, but it can be a reminder of how big our world is and how much of it has turned to shit. The thunder, on the other hand, has died down and is nothing more than a faint rumble. It is still frequent though, starting moments after the flash of lightning. The clouds look like they can give at any second. I don't want to be out here when they do.

The walk, or run you could say, back to my cabin was quick and seamless. I was convinced that the guards would come back and investigate the area where Scooter was found, but that never happened. I'm thankful for it. As we piled ourselves onto the deck of my cabin, I let myself take some deep breaths. Running had tired me out even more than I already was. I stepped up to the door first, but I couldn't bring my hand to twist the doorknob.

"What's the matter?" Cameron asks stepping up behind me.

"I'm not ready to face the fact that my sister's a murderer." I say without turning around. I can feel hot tears start to form in my eyes. I try to blink them away.

Sweetly, he puts his hand on the small of my back. It shocks me and make my cheeks flush at the same time. "I know you aren't, but we can get through this. We busted her out of a military base for God's sake."

My lips form a light smile. I nod my head and reach out for the doorknob. With everyone anxiously waiting behind me, I open the door and step inside.

"Summer?" I hear through the blackened room.

Hearing the voice was surprising. It caused me to spring back like those old jump-scare videos used to make me do. You know, the one's that gave everyone a heart attack each time they watched it. My heart's racing the same way it did then, just this time, I have something to fear.