A World Apart

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Stella

I have a headache.

A bad one. The kind that hits you with a warbling drumbeat accompanied by staccato bursts of gunfire. Since finding somewhere dark and waiting for it to pass isn't an option, I've decided to make a game to try and take my mind off the pain. Nothing strenuous, just guessing, out of the myriad of possibilities, which delight has donned me with this thunderous crown.

The oncoming horde. Having to waste time taking a picture! For someone who says they can't trust us! How do we know she can be trusted? Not to mention, with the amount of head injuries I've sustained, I wouldn't be surprised if the next one is my last. It's no surprise my headache is this severe. And now Logan is talking in my ear, throwing out some half-assed apology for how he spoke about Max on the bus.

"It's fine," I tell him, because really, the last thing I could care about right now is anyone's opinion on my relationship.

There's just too much else to focus on. My mind is still reeling with the information that there are people in the prison. I know this doesn't mean that Max is alive, but it's enough to turn the small mound of hope I've been standing on all this time into a mountain.

Even when Ava reveals the building we'll need to climb to see over the city isn't actually across the street, but a significantly further distance away, I don't complain. If this is my best chance at seeing Max, then I'll agree to take a photo of Bigfoot for her, waste of time or not.

"Once you get to the end of Barton road, approach from the side the supermarket is on and you'll find a stairwell next to a parking garage, it'll take you all the way to the roof." Ava finishes tracing her finger down the map and looks at me expectantly. "Got all that?"

Self-preservation has me reconsidering her offer one last time. She could be lying, but her disposition tells me that isn't her M.O., and the sirens that wailed at just a glance of the bandits don't sound with this group of people.

An affirmative nod seals the deal.

"Shouldn't take you longer than twenty minutes to get there and back," Ava says, giving my shoulder a quick pat. "Sure you don't want a drink first?"

My face pinches up at the offer and she laughs. Logan wishes me luck, then I'm leaving the small room and retracing my way back to the exit. Part of the deal included him staying with Ava, to disrupt our hostile plans incase we have any. A clause I did have complaints about, but of course, ended up conceding to. I have to remember that we're in no place to make demands.

It would seem that I have too many problems hanging over my head to even keep track of them all now. As soon as I'm outside in the sun, my eyes settle on the three, little capricious birds patiently waiting for me. My gaze zones in on the smallest one. Our little lunatic, Maisie, has now ingested who knows what? A lethal drug that's going to produce seizures and death? Or a happy little pill that might make her feel warm and fuzzy for awhile? The possibilities force a violent migraine that actually makes me dizzy. The sun's heated glare doesn't help. It becomes too much and I have to stop for a minute, a few feet away from them to regain myself.

They don't give me the chance though. Gale and Joey, with Maisie hooked between them, rush over to me with questioning squawks about Logan, whether I found Ava and what took me so long. It takes a bountiful reserve of restraint not to snap back at them. Once they've quietened down, I give them the update on everything that happened inside. The last sentence hasn't even finished leaving my mouth and I already have two volunteers for the expedition.

Things would probably be faster on my own, but Joey is insistent on accompanying me. Which wouldn't be a problem, if it didn't mean leaving Maisie alone with Gale, who's proven once already that he's incapable of watching her. As has Logan. Maybe both of them together will do a better job, but that would mean having to walk Maisie and Gale back through the club. Something I can only deem as an egregious waste of time.