Outcasts

Chapter Eight

When we exited the race hover, Ryan threw up again. My stomach was in a whirlpool, but even if I wanted too, I don't think I could've done the same.

I looked at where we stopped, and it was what looked to be the most massive, terrible campsite ever. The tents looked like they would only hold two people, but when the men came out, there were five in one tent. The tents were spread out almost as far as I could see, at least ten acres of them. The men looked un-showered, un-kept, and unruly. I could smell the stench of sweat from where I was standing.

We were not more than ten hover-car lengths away, but they didn't even glance toward us. 

"Okay, these are all the new soldiers, of every ranking. you just have to find Kile." Cassie told me.

"I still can't believe he's your brother," Ryan said. 

(A/N Who ships Bryan? who ships Rassie? just curious ;)

"Yeah, I can't either," I said. 

"Just walk in there," Cassie told me, "And act like you own the place. The knit-wits will probably follow your commands. They haven't been trained to be tough yet."

"Okay," I said. "But why can't you come with me?"

"More suspicion. you've got this."

So I waltzed up to the camp site. "Excuse me," I called. "I'm with the BFSC, Board For Soldiers Corp, and I'm looking for Kile Adelson. He was falsely called here."

BFSC. Wow, brain. Was that the best thing you could come up with?

"Kile isn't here anymore," someone said. "He was sent to work with the king directly."

"Yeah, Jared's right. He's not here."

"Are you sure?" I said. 

There were murmurs of agreement.

"If you're really with that BCS thing or whatever, why don't you know this yourself?"

"Oh, well..." Think, brain, think. "I was home sick today and didn't receive any of my messages. I apologize." Then I hastily walked out of the campsite, the stench of sweat following me to the hover car. I knew it was the lamest excuse ever, but they didn't protest.

When I got to Ryan and Cassie, I groaned. "You're doing that next time. He's not even here."

"He's not?" Ryan and Cassie asked in sync. 

I shook my head. "Apparently he was sent to work with the king directly, or something."

"Great," Cassie mumbled.

"What?" I asked. 

"That means he doesn't have enough training. He's going to be under high surveillance until he gets sent back here."

Hope and disappointment had a war in my heart. "Well," I said, "At least he's safe, right?"

"Yeah, but we're never going to get to him until they send him back."

At least he was safe, my heart told me. We're never going to get to him before the other country attacks, my head told me. 

I didn't know which one to choose.

"Well," Cassie concluded. "For now, we're going to have to just go get a hotel. Then we can wait until there's more political updates. But until then, I need the floor plans to the palace so we can see how to break in."

"What?" I said. "Break in?! there's already a group of police looking for me! for us!"

"Yeah, you dork. How else are we gonna get him? It's not like the police will just hand him over." She said it like she was saying, "Yeah, you dork, I'm gonna get a burger, I'm hungry. it's not like my stomach will just decided not to be hungry anymore."

"Cassie's right," Ryan said. "We have to act now, or the war is gonna start and it's gonna be over."

My shoulders slumped. I really didn't want to be arrested. I was going to have to get used to being on the run like this.

"Ok, get in," Cassie told us.

"Shotgun," Ryan said.

"Oh I see how this works," I told him, hopping into the back seat. 

He just smirked at me.

My heart fluttered as I met his amazing green/grey eyes. I looked away, sure I was blushing red as a strawberry.

I was spared from having to worry about being embarrassed any longer, because Cassie hit the gas. Then I just had to worry about not flying through the tinted windshield. 

Again, the ride seemed to only last a minute. then we were at the borders of another city. The wall was just as firm as the last one, but I didn't see any doors that didn't have people next to them.

"Okay," Cassie said. "This is a main tourist attraction. This time, we're gonna do it differently. All you have to do is act like tourists."

"But what if I'm not good at that?" Ryan asked. 

Cassie shrugged. "It's your fault if we get caught." She hopped out of the hover. 

"Great," Ryan said. "No pressure there."

I couldn't help but giggle as I exited the hover car. We made our way over to the lines of people standing outside the doors, and Cassie handed me some money.

"What?" I asked. "Where did you get this?"

"Doesn't matter. Just give it to them when you get up there."

"Cassie, how-"

"Doesn't matter," She said again, cutting me off.

Ryan looked equally confused. 

I couldn't question her anymore, because we had made our way to the end of the line and the police were holding out their hands waiting for our money.

I handed them mine cautiously as they scanned it with a red light to determine if it was fake or real. I held my breath that it was real, but I also kinda wanted it to be fake, because if it was real, Cassie probably stole it.

The light turned green.

Real money? where did Cassie get enough for all of us? What, did she rob a bank or something?

"Cas-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Shh!" She hissed. "It's just regular money, okay?"

I walked through the city walls confused. When we got through without suspicion, Cassie pulled us into an alleyway.

"What was that about?!" Ryan practically exploded. 

"Shh, okay?! Quiet!" Cassie said. 

"Then tell us what the heck is going on!" I told her. 

"Okay, truth is, it's my mom's money." Cassie fumbled. 

Me and Ryan fell silent.

Cassie continued. "She started a big business and gets paid a portion of the money, but she never works. She... Well, got into drugs, and she mostly spends her money on alcohol. But she has butt-loads of it. I got her drunk one time and... Well... I told her to make a copy of her credit card and give it to me so I could buy her any whiskey if there was an emergency.  And, yeah... I ran away and used the money for things I need."

Me and Ryan sat speechless.

"I know, I know." Cassie said. "I's evil. But, she wasn't going to use it anyway!"

"How has it not ran out?" I fumbled out.

Cassie turned red. "She's like, really rich. Like a billionaire."

"How..." Ryan squeaked. It was adorable.

"She... She came up with hover-cars."