Deadly Atmosphere | Aris Jones [3]

1 || Preparations

Six Months Later

The last time I was prepared for a plan was back in the Glen. Escaping that place felt like an eternity, a lifetime. It seemed like it was merely a dream.

Now, I was somewhere new, ready to fight a brand new battle.

What was still left of the sun was shining over our new camp, the water glistening to every ripple. I huffed a sigh and watched as Vince led some of his people from the Right Arm to a few trucks. Tomorrow was what we had been planning for the last six months, all thanks to Thomas. He was more determined to figure out a way to save our friends before Vince ran off to the Safe Haven without them. At first, when Thomas introduced some of his ideas, Vince was unsure about it, but he finally came around and was ready to help him out.

I gulped down some of my water before heading to one of the trucks. Jumping inside, I cranked it up, almost put my foot on the pedal when someone jumped out in front of me.

I gasped. "Dammit, you crackface!"

"Sorry, stick, but I can't let ya go alone," Gwyneth informed me.

"Well, come on, then," I replied, motioning her to hop inside.

She smirked and obliged, huffing a sigh. "Stomp on it!"

"Woah, not yet!" Harriet shouted, swinging her legs over and plopping down in the back.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyone else we know that's going to join us?"

"Unless you want more people to join us..." Harriet said.

"Nah, I'm good." So I slammed my foot on the gas and drove out of the camp.

The scenery didn't change as much in the last six months. Other than being close to the water, we weren't too far from the Scorch. Still, where our camp was now, WICKED wasn't able to find us. It was odd, but nice, to be off the grid from those horrible people.

"I'm really gettin' tired of these roads," Gwyneth said as I drove over the bumps on the road.

"You are welcome to stay behind," I reminded her.

"Hell no. I want our friends back just as much as you do."

"Then stop complaining," I retorted, smiling a little.

"Seriously, Gwyn, you didn't complain this much when we were stuck in the Glen for two sticking years," Harriet pointed out.

"That's because everyone else did it for me," she stated.

The three of us chuckled as we continued on our trip. We passed by many abandoned buildings and torn down bridges. However, the view of the mountains was nice to look at.

"Will we make it back before Vince notices we're gone?" Harriet asked.

"It'll be fine," I assured her. "We've got plenty of trucks for tomorrow."

It was quiet for the rest of the bumpy ride. We were almost at your destination, which made me slow down a little. At the top of a cliff, I stopped the truck and turned it off. The three of us hopped out of the truck and went to the edge of the cliff. In the distance was train tracks, having no idea where they went.

For the last six months, WICKED had been going back and forth on the train, with many carts hooked up on each run. None of us knew where they were going or what or even who they were taking, but we paid close attention to their train schedule to see how often they came through.

"The train will come through tomorrow, right? Are we sure about this?" Harriet asked.

"Yes, we're sure," I answered.