“Whoa!” he calls out when he sees the weapon. “It’s just me.”
I gratefully put the rifle down on his seat. Shaun opens the door and picks it up. Then he reaches for one of the cases containing our cargo. “Can you grab the other two cases?”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re ditching this car.”
I pull the last two cases from the car and follow Shaun. We stop at the garage’s entrance to check for Outsiders and sprint into the alley. The car that I saw pull into the alley idles against a wall. Its front right bumper has smashed against the side of the alley, and the driver side door is open. Next to the door lays a girl my age, perhaps younger.
Although she is an Outsider, I gasp. “Did you kill her?”
Shaun gives me a look of disgust. “Of course not. She’s just unconscious.”
He throws his case into the back of the Outsider’s car and then approaches the girl. She is about my size with dark brown hair almost the same color as mine, but her hair is short. Her sunglasses are still on her face, dangling from her nose, and a baseball cap hangs at an angle from her head.
Shaun takes the sunglasses and cap and hands them to me. “Put them on.”
“Why?” I ask.
He smiles at me. “You’re going to pretend to be her. We’ll drive this car out of here as if we’re one of them.”
I understand his plan now. We can’t hope to escape the Outsiders in our car, but if they think that we’re one of them, we can leave right under their noses.
After securing my cases in the back seat, I put on the girl’s baseball cap and sunglasses. I tuck my hair under the cap to hide its length. Anyone who looks closely will instantly notice that I’m not her, but hopefully, no one will get a close look.
* * *
I drive out of the alley and head toward the highway with Shaun hidden on the floor in the back seat. There’s only supposed to be one person in this car, so no one can see that he’s inside too.
Before we drive one block, another car crosses our path in the intersection ahead. The driver glances at me and continues driving. So far, so good.
“It’s working,” I mutter to Shaun.
“Good.”
Two turns and five blocks later, the on-ramp to the highway is in sight. At a four way stop, another car arrives at the intersection before I do.
The driver yells to me, “Diane, see anything yet?”
I shake my head.
“I’ll head that way,” the boy in the car shouts, pointing ahead of him.
I nod in reply. His gaze rests on me longer than I want it to, but he eventually proceeds forward. After he leaves the intersection, I also zoom away. My eyes alternate between the road in front of me and the view through the mirror. My dread comes to fruition when I see the car that I just encountered turn onto the street behind me.
“We may have a problem,” I tell Shaun. “I think the last Outsider caught on that I’m not one of them.”
“Can you make it to the highway?”
“Yes, I should be able to.”
“Keep going then. Tell me if he starts gaining on you.”
A few seconds later, I tell Shaun that he is. The car is clearly in pursuit now.
“Drive!” Shaun shouts. “Get on the highway and go straight home. You can make it.”
I abandon all pretenses that I’m part of the Outsiders’ pack and slam down on the gas pedal. This car isn’t as fast as my car, but it manages to pull away from my pursuer. We enter the highway at breakneck speed.
A moment later, the car behind me merges onto the highway too. It slowly catches up to me. My pedal is pressed all the way down to the floor, but the vehicle refuses to move any faster. Although the rain has stopped, the roads are still slick, but I feel safer driving on a straight wet road than letting the Outsider catch us.
Then I remember that Shaun is in the back, unbuckled and sure to die if I crash.
“I can’t lose him!” I shout behind me. “He’s faster than I am!”
“Let him catch up and then ram him.” For the first time, there is a trace of concern in his voice, and I know why he’s not as confident as before.
“If I do, then you might get thrown.”
“You have to. Getting this medicine home is the most important thing. You have to make it back.”
I know what he’s asking me to do, but I still can’t will my body to comply.
In the far distance, I can see the walls that guard San Jose from the Outside. Maybe I can make it after all.
A quick glance in the mirror reveals that the Outsider has made up more distance than I thought. He moves into the lane to my right, and I follow to block him. He shifts left, so I do the same. The gap between us closes, and he’s right on my rear bumper.
My body jolts backward as our cars collide.
Shaun sits up and looks out the rear window. No point in pretending he isn’t in the car anymore. “Why don’t you ram him?”
“You’re not buckled in!”
He shoots an incredulous look my way. Instead of saying anything, Shaun starts to climb over the passenger seat, but another collision sends him into the back again. He curses and picks himself up. This time, he safely makes it over the seat before our pursuer can crash into us. Shaun bumps into me, causing the car to swerve, but I recover before we hit the guard rails.
The Outsider is to my right now, visible from my side mirror. Shaun’s seat belt clicks shut just as the other car swipes against the back of mine. My car fishtails while I hold the steering wheel steady. I let go of the gas pedal and ride the direction of our momentum like I’ve been trained to do. The tires finally grip the road again and we regain speed. However, the Outsider’s car is now against our side.
It rams us.
Metal screeches as our car is pinned against the guard rails. I turn the wheel to the right, but the other car has me boxed in.
Instead of resisting, I step on the brakes. The other car zips ahead of us, and we become the pursuers. I swing to the right of him, trying to catch up.
Then I see his brake lights flash. He’s trying the same thing. Before we pass by him though, I turn to the left. Our cars crunch together.
“Lean back,” I hear Shaun say. I glance to my right and see his gun beside my face.
I press as far back against my seat as I can. Shaun shoots, a deafening noise so close to my ears that all other sounds are immediately replaced by a dull ringing. It leaves my head in a daze. I don’t realize that I’ve slowed down because my driving instincts are now on autopilot.
I also don’t see the car behind me swerve and crash against the side of the highway. It isn’t until I see Shaun laughing that I know something good has happened.
In the rearview mirror, I don’t see anyone else pursuing us. There’s nothing ahead of us either except for the gates of San Jose.
* * *
When the city’s walls are clearly visible, I wonder why no one has opened the gates yet.
Then it dawns on me. “They don’t know it’s us. They think we’re Outsiders.”
Shaun thinks for a moment before leaning his body outside the window. He waves his arms in the direction of the gates, but they remain closed.
I slow down when we near the walls. In the rearview mirror, I see at least two sets of headlights approaching. “We’ve got company.”
Shaun waves more frantically to no avail. The Outsiders will be upon us in a minute. I slam my palm against the horn, but that also fails to elicit a response from the guards behind the gate.
“What now?”
Shaun reaches across my seat, sliding his arm under mine. “Sorry,” he says without looking at me. His hand grabs the headlight lever to my left and he flicks it on. Then he turns it off. On, off, on, off, on.
“What are you doing, Shaun?”
“Morse code.”
“Morse code?” I’ve heard of Morse code before, but I didn’t think anyone still uses it. “You know Morse code
?”
“Yeah, and so do the guards.”
“What are you spelling?”
“My initials. They should know it’s me.”
The headlights behind us grow into distinct shapes with wheels. I try to stay calm while Shaun communicates with the guards, but all I think about is what will happen if the Outsiders reach us before we get inside the gates.
The groan of metal is the most beautiful sound in the world. A crack in the city’s fortification appears. Without waiting for the gates to open completely, I take off.
Guards with rifles line the sides of the gate as we enter. They fire at our pursuers to ensure that only we make it inside.
Once safely on the other side of the walls, I exhale a long, slow breath. I can’t believe I’ve made it. Never have I thought of this walled city as home as much as I do now.
Home, sweet home.
Shaun says something to me that I can barely hear through the waves of relief washing over me and the residual ringing in my ears. It sounds like, “You did good, Claire, you did good.”
* * *
Novels by H.S. Stone:
Gifted
Keep Your Enemies Close
Beyond New Eden
In the Hands of Children
George and the Galactic Games
Short stories by H.S. Stone:
Protect (The Driver Series #2)
Search (The Driver Series #3)
Numbers Plus Four
With Five You Get Fortune Cookies
A House in the Woods
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H.S. Stone
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