After Fate Fell

38 • SIX

1 year, 3 months, and 16 days after it all
•SIX•

It's been pitch-black for hours, and we're still driving aimlessly through the desert. Our headlights are on, but this still doesn't help us navigate through the endless dunes.

We've been driving in the direction that we thought we came from, but we've been going for hours with no avail, there's no sign of the river, and worse yet, no sign of the others. This makes me nervous, because not only are we most likely travelling in the wrong direction, but also this means we could be getting further away from the others, and what if they need our help?

Nine has miraculously fallen asleep in the backseat, not that any of us are complaining. He's somehow positioned himself lying his head on Sam's lap, much to the dismay of Sam, but both Adam and I have shushed his complaints and stopped his attempts of escape. If not for the showdown that just incurred between Nine and I, I would have laughed at this and joked with Sam, calling it "cute". But now, all I can think while Nine's head lies on Sam's lap is how much more I want to kill him. The only things stopping me are the fact that he's Loric, and that I may get some of his blood on Sam's NASA shirt.

I really just hope he matures soon. From what I've heard from Five, when we reunited and whenever he talks over the walkie-talkie, he seems to have changed, in a good way. When they would fight back then, I would roll my eyes at both of their immaturity. Now, in this argument, it was Five's logic versus Nine's ignorance. Nine needs to learn to listen to others, most importantly Ella of course, but also all of us, especially when all the rest of us have come to a consensus but he still disagrees.

I've told Adam maybe we should just stop for the night, rest up, and get this sorted out in the morning, but he's dead-set on keeping moving. I can see his eyes becoming tired--he can barely keep them open--and he keeps shaking his head up and down, trying to keep himself awake. I feel bad, because first off, he can't open the window or turn on the radio to stay awake because we can't afford to let sand start blowing in here and we also can't afford to wake up Nine with the music (also I doubt that there's any radio signal out here), and second off, he really needs some sleep but he keeps pushing through. I think he's scared--rightfully so--that something's happened and the others desperately need us. But at this point, our chances of finding them have almost completely diminished, at least until we get some rest and the sun rises again.

The sand keeps kicking up in mini-storms, all of which I've tried to stop, but with no avail. I may have felt weak while trying to controll the other storm earlier, but now, I feel totally useless, unable to do anything. I know these little squalls (I don't know if I can even call them that since they aren't rain, just sand) aren't going to hurt us, but I still wish I was able to control them. I guess I'm just too tired to focus enough on my legacies. Tomorrow I should be fine.

"Adam, we really should stop and rest for the night," I say, exhausted and just hoping he agrees this time. "As much as I wish we could, we aren't going to find them tonight. And I fear that we're just getting more and more off course."

His tired eyes, trying to focus on the road ahead, barely register the statement I've just made. I say his name again.

"Adam. Did you hear what I said?"

He shakes his head, but he says otherwise.

"Yes. I know, Six. I just didn't want to accept it. But you're right. If we are getting further off-track, which is very likely, then if we keep going, we're just making things worse, which is the last thing we need to be doing right now," he says, and I can tell he's trying to keep his eyes open as he slows the car down. "But how do we make sure we don't get buried under the sand?" he asks, which is honestly something I hadn't thought about until now.

"I guess we'll have to keep one of us awake at all times, not Nine, and I don't know about Sam," I say. "Because if he moves, Nine might wake up."

"Yeah, I know what you're saying," he says, and I look back and see that Sam's already fallen asleep anyways.

"I'll go first Adam, you get some sleep. You need it," I tell him, gesturing that we need to switch seats so that I can be in the driver's seat.

"Are you sure?" he asks as he settles down in the passenger seat, but he already knows my answer. He's asleep within a minute.

I sit in the driver's seat as the sand blows all around the car, and since everyone else is asleep and all there is to listen to is the wind, I swear I can hear each individual little grain of sand hitting our car, the tiny little sounds making a chorus, like crickets in the forest.

In the darkness, I see each of the others sleeping. We were all exhausted today. If it was a smaller situation earlier, like which exit to take on a highway, maybe I would've been able to blame Nine's ignorance on exhaustion. I guess maybe I can still try to convince myself that what he did earlier was because of exhaustion. At least I can try. And I guess I could blame the fact that I lashed out on him on exhaustion, but I would know that would be a lie. I would've done that if I'd gotten 24 hours of sleep the day before. Once we find the others, I'll try to forgive him for what he did. But it's hard to even think about any of this, while I sit in a car with nothing outside but sand for miles and miles, no sign of the river, no sign of the ocean, no sign of the others.