How much do you really know?

thirteen

    It took us another nine or so hours to reach the town after we spotted it on the horiz0n. We realized with relief that it was a bigger town than we had originally thought. That would mean we would be more hidden and harder to find. I didn't even know where we were going; I just followed Carson. I figured he had it all planned out, so I asked no questions.
    When we got to the first houses on the outskirts of the town, some boys were practically skipping with excitement. We had made it. We were free from GORG's grip. We were in another country now, one GORG didn't rule. I had imagined this moment the whole time we were on the run, and I thought it would feel good. I thought it would feel as if I had stepped into a whole different universe, but I really felt almost nothing. Yes, I was happy that we were free, but were we really?
    There were a couple people walking around, but they didn't pay us any attention other than giving us a couple weird looks. No one talked to us or even got near us. I guess we looked worse than I thought. We definitely stunk too.
    We saw more and more people as we started to get nearer to the center of the town. There were more houses closer together and more cars driving down the road. We started to get more stares and whispers.
    Finally, the houses gave way to restaurants, stores, coffee shops, and more. We stopped at the corner and Carson told us our plan.
    "You see that shop down there?" He pointed to a building across the corner that looked like it had been standing for at least a hundred years. "They look like they have the least amount of security. Actually, none by the looks of it. Since we obviously don't have any money, I'm sending in the least suspicious looking people out of us to go in fast, like you're looking for something specific. Act like they don't have it, then leave with a bunch of stuff up your sleeves." Everyone nodded. It sounded easier said than done to me. I was too clumsy to steal anything. I hoped he wouldn't pick me. "The rest of us will stay out here." He glanced at all of us in deep thought, trying to pick who he would send into the store. His eyes landed on me and my heart skipped a beat. I had never stolen anything before in my life. "Eliana, you're going in first." I nodded, though I didn't want to. I wanted to tell him no, but before I could say anything, he said, "And Ashton, you're second." He probably knew I wouldn't want to go.
    "Yes, sir," he said with a smile. He was way more excited than me.
    "And Kayden, you're last."
    "The caboose. Sick," Kayden said, making us all roll our eyes.
    We all crossed the street together and I entered the store, heart racing. What if we were caught? If I wasn't good enough of an actress, we definitely would get caught. The Canadian government would investigate us and find out we were from the United States and send us back. Then GORG would find us and we would all be screwed. My vision started to spin, but I realized if I let myself freak out, I wouldn't be able to be a good enough actress and I would fail us all. I took a couple deep breaths and walked down one of the aisles.
    The store was tiny and had a very limited selection. There were a couple other people browsing around and a young woman at the register.
    As I walked, I ran my hand along the shelves. I leaned down to act as if I was reading one of the labels, but behind my back, I slipped a bag of chips into my sweatshirt pocket. I did this a couple more times until I got to the last aisle. Then I heard the door open. I looked over the shelves and saw Ashton walk in, starting to glance around at the store. I leaned back down to glance at a box, stood up and frowned to seem as if I hadn't found what I needed. I started to walk back to the door when the woman from the register stepped out in front of me from one of the aisles.
    "And just where do you think you're going with all that food?" She raised her eyebrows at me.
    "What food?" I tried to play it cool, but I was freaking out on the inside.
    "The food in the pocket of your sweatshirt."
    "I don't have any food. I came here looking for some cold medicine but I guess you guys are too old and cheap to have it." I tried to remember if I had actually seen cold medicine or not, but decided it didn't matter. I needed to get out of here. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting back to my sick mother. Now I'll have to go out of my way to a store further away." I tried to step around her, but she put a hand against my chest.
    "Cut the bull crap. And buddy in aisle two, you can step on up here and join the conversation as well."
    I heard Ashton mutter, "shit," and saw him step out of the aisle.
    At that exact moment, Kayden walked in with a confused look. He was probably trying to find out what was taking me so long. When he locked eyes with me, terror spread across his face and he slowly started to back out the door.
    "Uh uh," the woman said without even turning to look at the door. "You stay right where you are, mister. And why don't you bring that huge group of yours inside." She was a couple years older than us, by the looks of it. She had short brown hair and freckles. She didn't look like someone who could talk like this. She was kind of impressive.
    I tried to make a feeble attempt to reclaim the situation. "What the hell are you doing? I'm just trying to help my mom feel better."
    "Yeah, ok. I've seen enough of your type to know what's up. Hell, I've been one of your type." Finally she turned around to look at Kayden who was standing dumbly in the doorway. "I said get that group of yours in here!" Kayden, as if snapped out of a trance, called for our group.
    I stood awkwardly in front of the woman as the boys shuffled into the shop one by one. I noticed that Bryce didn't walk in, and I smiled knowing there might be a chance for us.
    "I wasn't born yesterday. I know that pretty boy is still standing outside." I sighed and my heart dropped as Bryce entered.
    Carson knew we were done. "Who the hell are you and how did you know what we were doing?"
    The woman turned to face Carson. "Don't underestimate me. First of all, anybody that owns a store in this town would be stupid if they didn't have cameras inside and outside their store. So that's how I know what you were doing." Shit. So her security was so good that we thought she had no security. Don't judge a book by it's cover I guess. She then grinned and my eyebrows came together in confusion. "And I know where you guys are from."
    Immediately everyone took a step back. I heard someone mutter "Shit" and another say "We're so screwed."
    The woman saw the commotion around her and quickly put her hands up. "Ok, I know you're from the GORG base in Alaska, but I am not your enemy."
This statement did nothing to loosen the tension.
    I couldn't believe she just spit it out. Anyone of the other customers in the store could have heard.
    "My name is Aspen and I also escaped from the base. I was one of the few I knew of that successfully escaped, but now I know you guys."
    There was immediate silence. Nobody knew how to react or if we should even believe her. We had already believed one person and that didn't end too well.
    "Uh huh. And why would we believe you," Carson asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
    Personally, my heart was pounding. The memory of Julia was still very fresh in my mind. I couldn't imagine what it would do to me if Aspen was like Julia.
    "Because I can explain to you exactly what happened to me."