Above

49

Estelle
Everyone's parked in a U in a clearing, just outside of Canada. 
I pull in, parking my car next to the one with the babies inside. 
"What's going on?" I ask, getting out of the car. 
"Estelle, we can't run forever." Nigel says. 
I furrow my brows. "What do you mean?"
"We can't keep running." He says. "Because if we don't stop now, we're going to always be running." 
"We can't just give up." I say. 
"We're not going to." Nigel says, looking over at Wrenton, who was unloading all the weapons from his car. 
"What about the kids?" I motion to the car holding Hetij and Ellis. "They'll starve, or get sick and die." 
"Ned's staying with them." Nigel answers. "He can't fight." 
"You shouldn't fight either, you're like 59." I say. 
"First we're gonna hide, then we'll fight." Gabrie says, holding a hand gun. "So go into the shelter-belt and hide the best you can." 
I look over at Leeciy, who was helping distribute weapons.
"Okay." I say, walking away from them. 
He hands me my ax, before grabbing my hand and dragging me away. 
"So." I say, playing with his long fingers.
"You have to stay close to me okay?" He says, letting me play with his fingers. "September's in the car and so is Cirus, you're the only thing we have to worry about." 
"I'm gonna worry about you." I say. 
"You don't need to." He says. "They're going to be looking for you, not me." 
"Well in the pictures that leak we were kissing so they're going to know that you're important to me." 
"Well, don't worry about that." He says. "It's not like it's the end of the rebellion if I die." 
"Don't talk like that." I press, dropping his fingers and looking into his blue eyes. 
An expression I couldn't pinpoint was painted on his face. "Promise me you'll stay close to me." 
"I promise." 
He puts his pinky out, holding it in front of him. "Pinky promise?" 
I link my pinky with his. "Pinky promise." 
"They'll be here in thirty!" Titanios yells from behind me. 
I look behind me and see Cirus whispering in his ear. 
"Your whole car deal really helped." Leeciy says. 
I nod. "Guess it did." 
"Hey guys!" Luca says, joining our little circle. 
"Hey, Lucarth." I reply. "You ready?" 
He nods. "I am, how 'bout you guys?" 
"Ready as I'll ever be." Leeciy answers. 
"I'm not, but what can you do about that?" I say. 
"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine." Luca says, nudging me with his bony elbow.
I nod. "Surely." 
"Absolutely." Luca continues. 
"Definitely." I continue. 
"What are you doing?" Leeciy asks.
"Affirming with eachother?" Luca says, as if it was obvious. 
"Oh, okay." Leeciy replies, completely confused. 
I grin. "I'm gonna go check on September." 
***
September was talking quietly with Ned, making sure Ellis didn't wake up. 
Next to Ellis, laid Reiba, who was taking a cat nap, purring. 
Hetij was awake now, babbling to himself.
"How's it going?" I ask quietly. 
"Good, we just came up with a plan." September says. 
"Which is?" 
"If everything goes South, we'll plow through them and make it to Canada." Ned explains. "Then we'll come back in like a week and keep Hetij, Ellis, and Cirus safe." 
"That's a great plan." I say, patting September's shoulder. "If everything goes South, you better go back to school." 
"That's the plan." He says. "Cirus will go too, right to the third grade." 
"Maybe home school Cirus, she might go rogue on her class." I say. "Plus, the whole white hair thing, and her preference against shoes." 
"Maybe that's a better idea." Ned says. "But I almost flunked out of college so, it would be kinda hard for me to teach her a lot." 
"Teach her to draw, you're good at that." I shrug. "Plus, Hetij can go straight to preschool, and Ellis can continue doing what he does best." 
"Which is?" 
"He can continue being a baby." I shrug.
He nods, looking back at his sleeping baby, which now had red curly hair, and developed blue eyes, just like Melissa's. "That he can, and will, do." 
"Alright." I smile at Ned. "I'm gonna go talk to Logan." 
"You do that." September says, giving me a huge grin. 
***
"Hey." I say, walking up. 
"Oh, hi." Annaliesee says, looking at me. 
"Hey." Logan murmurs, trying to figure out how to load a gun. 
Annaliesee was trying to help, but she didn't really have an idea either. 
"Lemme try." I say. 
Logan hands my the gun and the magazine. 
I look over the gun, looking at each side of it. 
In the handle, there was a hole that was the same size of the magazine, so I easily slide the magazine in. "Do you know how to shoot it?" 
"Nope." Logan starts. "But, I wanna help, and I had about seventy Nerf guns growing up, so it can't be too hard." 
"Handguns have a kick, so it might hit you in the face, and aiming is really hard, so don't expect to get any accurate shots." I say. 
"Gee, you sound confident in my shooting skills." Logan says sarcastically. 
Annaliesee chortles. 
"You guys ready?" I ask. 
Annaliesee nods. "I am, dunno about Logan." 
"I'm terrified." Logan smiles tightly. 
"Well, try not to die, and don't make too much noise while we're hiding." I say. 
Logan nods. "You try not to make a huge earthquake and give us all away." 
"I'll try." I nod. 
I feel a large hand on my shoulder. "We should start hiding." Leeciy says from above me. 
I look up at him and grin. "Okay." 
"Do you two have a plan?" Leeciy asks. 
"I'm gonna try and roast a few, then I'm gonna have to guard Logan, since she doesn't know how to shoot a gun." Annaliesee answers. 
"I'll teach you someday." He says to Logan, who nods. "Anyway, go hide." 
They nod, running off. 
I turn to Leeciy, who leans down and gives me a chaste kiss. 
"What was that for?" I ask. 
"Just in case." He smiles. "Anyway, let's go." 
We walk into the shelter-belt and duck behind a dense bush. 
A black SUV drives into the clearing not too long after.