Detonate

Chapter 8

Waking up, Kate felt sluggish and sore. Her body refused to move at first, but little by little she got it working. It must have been about 8 or 9 in the morning, as the sun was out but not right above her. Her clothes had dried out and it felt like hers shoe had moulded to her feet. She could feel the blisters from not wearing her socks.

After a while of searching, Kate came across a road running parallel to the river. She followed it in the same direction, ducking into the shrubs every time she heard a sound.

Eventually she came to the outskirts of a small country town. Her heart leapt at the sight of civilisation and her tummy rumbled. It had been a while since she had eaten last.

Taking the long way around, she made her way to a diner, hoping to scare up a pity feed. The place was pretty run down, with dirty windows and faded red awnings, but looked inviting enough. A few regulars were sitting around the counter. Kate looked down at the muddy, crumpled clothes, there was no way she’d be allowed in, let alone fed.

Standing there, feeling terrible and staring through the front glass windows, she was surprised where she saw her own face; staring back at her passed her own reflection. It was sprawled across the TV screen hanging on the wall.

At first she thought it was a missing person’s ad, but it wasn’t. “Wanted for questioning” flashed across the screen. ‘Dangerous’ was below it in red letters. Kate was shocked.

Ducking her head, she let her hair obscure half her face. She walked quickly away from the place, unsure of what to do now. The police must still be looking for her from what happened at school. But surely that had been some time ago. She wasn’t sure exactly how long, because it felt like whole lifetime. So much had changed, herself included. 

Kate made her way back out of town, every step made her throat dryer and her stomach ache. She was starting to feel light headed, but she kept moving down the deserted streets and shady paths.

After a little while, Kate realised she was lost. Neat houses lined the road, much too close together. It was bearing down on her.

“Mum, do you know where my shoes are?

A child’s voice sounded out to her left. Moving behind a tree, she saw a mother and her three kids moving around a family van. It was grey, taking up most of their driveway. The moment looked like pure chaos. The mother was strapping one small boy into a car set, while the other two were playing a haphazard game of tag.

Kate watched as the woman lost her temper, her arms making stiff, jerky movements.

“Peter! Come here now. David, go get your shoes, they’re in the rack by the door.”

Both boys ignored their mother, continuing to chase and run. That was until she’d finished putting the little boy in his booster seat. The she talked around the car, anger clearly written all over her face. The boys knew she meant business.

Kate wasn’t sure why she as so enthralled by the scene. It was an everyday occurrence to them. But it had been so long since she’d seen someone… normal? Someone that didn’t immediately hate her. Kate missed her family, the way it was before. The way her mum smelt when she hugged her, or the way she laughed. Kate even missed her dad. Maybe she could call him some place? She wasn’t sure.

The eldest boy ran back into the house as the woman buckled in the other.

“Don’t forget to pull the door closed,” she yelled.

The little boy came running out of the house, stopped, returned, pulled the door closed and dived straight into the car.

“We’re so late boys,” said the woman, hustling around the car and jumping in the driver door. They reversed at speed, and then they were gone.