Fault Line [Completed]

Chapter Five

"How do you know that it's them?" I ask as we leave the cafe.

"By the way they walk, the way that they scope the crowd. And their apparel just screams 'Hey, I'm with the FBI!' Not that hard to figure out."

"Oh . . . what do we do?"

"We just walk the streets like nothing's wrong. Works for me every time." She adds with a slight smile.

I raise an eyebrow at her but she doesn't notice. I shake my head slightly and look back down at my map. Being casual is just . . . boring. The sightseeing is awesome, but then you have to know what's going on all around you and crap like that. I wonder if I'll ever leave Jefferson City? I wonder if Lizzy will ever leave?

"Excuse me, but have you seen this girl?" A police man asks. He holds up a picture of someone that I don't recognize.

"Nope." I reply.

Lizzy shakes her in agreement. "Never seen her."

The man nods and continues on his way.

"Have you figured out your name yet?" I ask Lizzy with a hushed voice.

"Louiz Styffz."

"Yep, that works." I pause in thought. "Wait, so I'm too young to have any id on me, but what about you?"

"I guess I can call Richie." She shrugs nonchalantly.

"And Richie is . . ."

"A guy that helps make fake identities."

I nod, that's all I need to know about him. How did the police from Michigan contact the FBI so fast? And how did they know I was here?

Or are they here for me? Probably not, yet.

"Louiz?" I ask, tugging at her shirt, not that she's that much taller than me.

She looks down at me, she looks like she remembered something sad. "Yes, Janet."

"What did you really do?" I ask as we turn a corner, the street is empty and I know that we're almost to the house.

She exhales slowly. "You know all of the supplies that I have."

I nod, scared to know how she will continue with her explanation.

"Well, when I first ran away, I didn't have much time to grab anything so I knew that I wouldn't be able to survive the cold night. So for the next couple of days, I found some things around my hometown and then I . . . I . . ." she takes a deep breath. "I robbed a bank. I don't know how I managed it, but I got a lot of money and I've used it ever since, trying to survive this."

I nod, not knowing what to say. What can I say? "What would happen if they caught you?"

"I try not to think like that, but . . . I would probably go to prison for a very long time or a lifetime. If I was in my hometown . . . they would probably kill me. You see, the early settlers of my hometown, they believed in this quote. Um . . . oh, the quote is "The guilty shall rest under pain of death" and so now modern day Faerada still lives by it. It's the law."

That quote. Where have I heard it before? Oh, at Aunt Mallory's house. The book. And the guilty shall rest under pain of death. I shake my head, trying to dismiss the thought of it.

We enter our fortress after checking if anyone is watching us. No one is, as usual. I sit down on my sleeping bag and Lizzy goes to her bag. She flips open something and starts to go through its contents. She curses and I know that something is wrong.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Jane, this isn't good. At all."

"What is it?"

"We're broke." She replies still not looking at me.

"Well, how can we not be broke anymore?"

"Jane . . . we're going to have to rob a bank."

***************

Six days later

"I'm never ever ever doing that again with you!" I exclaim as I collapse on my sleeping bag.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad." She sits down on her sleeping bag, now smiling like an idiot. "Did you see that one guy's face though?"

I nod, laughing as I remember. "He was all like," I make a face that is completely opposite to the man's face. Lizzy just bursts out laughing. I join in the laughter with her.

We just got back from a fancy restaurant . . . which isn't so fancy anymore. We were laughing like idiots there and using our food as soldiers in a food war. We got kicked out . . . it was embarrassing, but we did have a good time.

We robbed the bank four days ago and I hated every second of it. No matter how much I protested, it was always going to happen.

I look up to see Lizzy on her back, trying desperately to end her laughter.

"Lizzy, just hold your breath."

She does as I commanded and soon enough she's not laughing anymore.

After a while, Lizzy is painting her nails or something and I'm reading a book. Suddenly sirens are surrounding our fortress and we quickly grab our bags and head to the upper level. We practiced this a week ago. There is a tree near a window on the upper level and a line of trees following that tree.

So we do just that, we climb out of the window and make our way down the line of trees. The sun is setting when I jump down from the last tree and then sprint in the direction that Lizzy went off in.

We run for what seems like forever, but still we continue to run. Run where . . . I don't know.

We take multiple turns until I don't even know where I am. She takes a sharp left and I follow almost running into her. We are in an alley, catching our breath.

She looks at me and I nod, we start to run once more. We reach the end of the alley and stop suddenly in front of the police car. I turn to run back into the alley but some men wearing all black are in the alley. The other two directions are blocked also.

We're surrounded.

Two of the black wearing men take away our backpacks and handcuff us and lead us to a dark gray van. I don't fight them and neither does Lizzy Once inside the back of the van, our handcuffs are attached to a chain connected to the floor. A few minutes later, the engine of the van comes to life and we are moving.

"I'm so sorry, Jane." Lizzy's voice fills the silence.

"It's okay, Lizzy. This was always going to happen." I reply quietly.

"No, I mean . . . I did this."

That got my attention. "What do you mean?"

"Throughout the time we've been together . . . we've been followed."

"What do you mean followed? How could they know about us?" I ask her, trying to hold back the anger building up inside me.

"I've always been followed. They always knew where I was. I don't know why they didn't take me in right away, but I guess that's how they do it. Lead you into a false sense of security and then ambush you."

"I'm not understanding."

"Jane . . . they always knew where we were. They were always watching. Because when you're with me, they're always watching."

I nod, though she could probably barely see it. And for the rest of the ride . . . we were silent.

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Chapter Five already?! I am in love with my story. There is a possibilty for a sequel. We shall see.

I'm so excited! It's my birthday tomorrow!!!!!! CELEBRATION TIME!!!!

Love all of ya folks!