The road was a long stretch. No one was driving behind the rusty old red truck anymore. Very few people leave the little town. You get the odd person just passing through but its one of those places people live for generations and they're happy about it. Some people work outside of the town but they would be on their way home. Lara guessed that was where the string of cars came from but that was miles ago. Since then she forced herself to do as J.T. had done and forget but it took all her concentration to make the image of the car out of her rushing mind. Overgrown fields bordered the road making J.T.s truck look tiny in comparison.
"We'll be out of gas soon." J.T. told her. The nerves stared to set in again. J.T. refused to slow down at risk of being caught by any SUV the 'government' as she had began to assume would send. This time it wasn't the eager feeling that set in. Her home was behind her- her life, her dad. Snapping out of her moping Lara's hand dived into her pocket to pull out her phone. It seems in the time spent driving in the opposite direction from where she wanted to be her battery had plummeted all the way down the 4% but that wasn't the worst part. There was no service. Silently she cursed changing her network supplier even though she didn't know whether it would have made a difference whilst she was surrounded by absolutely nothing. Lara just needed someone to blame for... whatever this is.
"You don't happen to have a phone?" She asked panicked. Her dad would freak out if she didn't make it home. Lara wasn't even allowed to go to Elise's house after school without telling him every last detail of her day. She wouldn't say he dad was overbearing. He would allow her an hour and a half after the end of school in case she got a detention, which wasn't an unfamiliar case in Lara's high school experience. J.T. shook his head, Lara let out a frustrated sigh. They had most definitely went over her after school time. The last time she dint make it home on time he called the cops. The police work for the government. It would set more dogs on their heels- more problems they cant deal with. Lara felt the speed drop. "I thought you said soon, not thirty seconds."
"Relax, there's still some gas left. I need to stash the truck." J.T. said rolling along a side path just big enough for the truck. Lara nodded, accepting that J.T. had a better idea of what he was doing than she ever would. They came to a stop in the center of the field. J.T. hopped out quickly. Lara climbed out much less eager than him. J.T. had already begun to pull the large blades of grass to cover the truck . It would have been easier had the truck not been red but with enough work it would do the job. Lara watched J.T. frantically pluck grass from the ground and throw it over the truck with little care. J.T. turned around to to get more of the tall green lines that were making a good job of covering the truck and was shocked to see Lara standing there although he refused to show it in his facial expression which remained indifferent to everything. He took them from her without a word.
It took a while but thankfully they made it far enough into the field and with the amount of grass J.T. had coated the car in anyone driving past on the road would never know. J.T. gestured a hand forwards instructing Lara to walk. Every few steps J.T. stopped to check they hadn't crushed too much grass along the way to the point where there path could be traced by anyone. Every so often he would stop to pull the grass together, moulding it like someone would style their hair. All they could hear was the rustling whisper of the wind pushing through the grass.
"Where are we going?" Lara asked again.
"I don't know." J.T. laughed with very little humour.
"What do they want?"
"I don't know that either."
Despite not having a phone J.T. was wearing a watch. It had a small round face and an old worn brown leather strap which failed to match the black of his jeans he wore to school (although his choice in clothing was against the schools rules on uniform). Lara noticed one of the notches which would have made the watch bigger was stretched out meaning it was worn by someone with a larger wrist in the past. She didn't ask about the watch. There was already enough questions without straight answers.
"We should pick up the pace or we'll be spending the night out here."
"Where will we go? I don't have any money."
"yeah, me neither." J.T. shook his head. "Come on." He said no longer caring about covering their tracks. They were to far in to be caught by any drive by . They were in the clear for now but on foot would leave them in the dust of any vehicle. All the others need it a glimpse and if they're too close because they didn't move fast enough then they're screwed, not only that but Lara doubts she could forgive herself. J.T. although a pompous jerk who under any other circumstances would receive a blow to the head with a branch, helped her under these circumstances. Even Lara wasn't that committed to holding grudges. Lara watched him speed off ahead. Realizing it was her only choice she followed.
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Lara was shaky on her feet. Now she knew for sure; 'Take it easy' was not simply a replacement for 'see you later'. It genuinely meant to take it easy and not to go running through fields whilst being chased by feds- who knew? She was ready to drop- her knees were weak, her breathing heavy and her getaway driver was only now turning back to see her ready to collapse in a heap.
"Whats taking so long, O'Neil?" He asked jogging up. Lara couldn't grasp how he had the energy to keep running. It was like J.T. was Usain Bolt and Lara was Homer Simpson.
"I'm just a little lightheaded." Lara panted, her breath refused to return to normal as she begun to sway. She gripped hold of her knees as she begged it to stop. "That's all." she gasped. J.T. reached her just in time to grab her shoulders, preventing her from falling like a tree.
"We haven't gone that far." J.T. shook his head. Letting go of Lara he began pacing whilst mulling something over in his head. Lara's face had drained of color and she was doused in sweat. Lara was almost happy J.T. had let go of her. She must have looked disgusting- smelled disgusting. "When was the last time you ate something?"
"Yesterday."
"You haven't eaten all day?" J.T. exclaimed.
"I wasn't hungry." Lara shrugged. Bad idea. When she shrugged it made he tip to the right. She stumbled back to steady herself but she felt a headache growing. It was slowly tearing through her head, sending a pulsing pain through her head causing her to clutch her forehead and hiss.
"Yeah but- all day?" Lara nodded, it was hardly an improvement to the consequences of her wobbly shrug but her balance remained reasonably firm.
"I meant to go to my locker to get my lunch but Elise told me to give blood-"
"You gave blood on an empty stomach? Whats wrong with you?"
"I wasn't thinking." J.T. scoffed. Honestly, Lara had done some stupid things in her life time but giving blood on an empty stomach was up there on the list of worlds biggest mental lapses.
"Five minutes." J.T. huffed. He dropped down to the ground taking a seat and lying back with his hands behind his head as though nothing was really going on. They were just two teenagers out for a stroll. That wasn't the truth, no matter how badly either wanted it to be.Lara dropped like a fly to the ground with zero control, landing in a highly uncomfortable position. J.T. shot to sit upright, clearly getting a scare by how Lara fell. To anyone with a distance larger than a few feet it could be assumed that she fainted. "O'Neil!"
"I'm fine." Lara moaned, sliding to search for more comfort. She lay star fished on the damp ground. J.T. must have been tired also when he made no attempt to get up despite his back now having a wet patch stretches across his wrinkled shirt. "Why are you here?" Lara wondered, unintentionally out loud.
"I got bored."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah." J.T. muttered. Lara found it hard to believe J.T. would surrender his life for this purely because there was nothing worth watching on TV. Given the choice between reruns of friends or a running away from everyone Lara would choose the sitcom. Letting her weak body relax Lara felt even more drained. She was tired. Her eye lids were heavier than her weight felt when she was on her feet and from how she felt she would not be on her feet for a while and with that being as it were she let them fall. Lara could no longer fight off sleep.
UNEDITED
