Nowhere Girl | The Darkest Minds Fanfic

Octopus's Garden

"Hey, Sheena, wake up." It was Drew's voice.

　　I sat up in my seat, "What?" I shook in an attempt to clear my head. It seemed to me that we had already left Pennsylvania and got deeper into the heart of darkness in the states. The trees looked basically the same, but the buildings and the landscape looked very different.

　　"We got something." Drew handed me the tablet of PSFs' database, and it was showing Liam Stewart's scowling face at the moment.

　　"Yeah?" I took over the tablet.

　　"There's an update." James said in the passenger's seat.

　　I shot up in alarm. Oh, please don't, please don't...

　　"There's a sighting of him in Nashville." Drew said.

　　Thank God. "Sighting of Liam Stewart?" I asked as I took over the tablet. Still nothing on his brother, but there was a tip on him being seen somewhere in the suburb of Nashville.

　　"It might be a long shot, but I think we should try to find him there." Ang said in the driver's seat. "Even if that Stewart of yours weren't his brother, we could still find out why he was hiding him."

　　I couldn't believe that, after we lost our home, after we left Pennsylvania, after I had almost decided to let Stewart go, they were still thinking about helping me find him.

　　"Yes, that would be great." I said, swallowing hard.

　　"Well, looks like we had ourselves a little side quest, then." Ang said.

　　"Yeah, just make sure we don't go on taking side quests forever." Drew said. "I mean, man, playing Witcher 3 with you was a nightmare."

　　James snickered, and I had no idea what Witcher 3 was.

　　James took out the map to guide Ang on the way we should go, and we started planning our search. The sighting happened on the outskirt of Nashville, beside Cumberland River, so we decided to start there.

　　We did need a refill for gas on the way, though. Apparently, they stole gas from cars parking on the side of the road most of the time, but every once in a while, when the timings were right and the moon and the stars aligned, they would found some self-service gas station with only a couple of staffs, and bypass the credit card receiver to get the gas when no one is watching. I've never seen them done it before.

　　Today seemed to be one of those lucky days. Drew and I had to hide when James and Ang got it done, though, so I didn't really see much. All I knew was that they got out of the car, and got back in after a few minutes.

　　We reached the outskirt of Nashville after nightfall. It was not the ideal timing to start a search, but it didn't really matter, because apparently, the entire city seemed to be closed off. The signs on the sides of the road read 'City Closed', 'Flood Zone', and 'National Guards Only' in big, bold, spray-painted letters.

　　So much for our plans.

　　"What now?" Ang asked as he took a U-turn a couple of hundred yards before the barricade ahead.

　　"Maybe we can get in on foot." Drew suggested as he checked the tree lines on either side of the road.

　　"Not in this light." James said. "We could step on thin ice and fall into a river anytime."

　　"So we just give up?" Drew protested.

　　"No." Ang said. "How about we make camp tonight, and get in the city on foot at dawn? Is everyone happy with this plan?"