Homesick: Ashes Of An Angel

Chapter 9

The tunnel was left in scraps full of blood, dead Mutants, puddles of icky stuff, a few guns and a tragically upturned car. Well, I thought, it would join the rest of them. I was slumped in the backseat, staring back and forth from Pollax and gazing without thought at the back of Jana's brown hair, who had not spoken a word to us ever since she had rescued us from the station. I felt like I had a ball stuck in my throat. It was awkward and I didn't know what to say, as I had just left randomly, leaving Pollax and Jana at the Safe Camp without a warning or anything, with Withers and all.

Troy, who was still slightly out of breath, staggered into the backseat next to me, after offering Watchee the backseat first initially, but he refused. Watchee adjusted his precious gun in the small cargo bed, with only a few gas cans to keep him company and peered in through the rear window, folding down the rusty iron bars, peering in and smiling down at us.

"You alright?" I asked Troy, who was still trying to make himself comfortable in the car, his face scrunched up and hair flapping as we drove into the open.

"Yeah, I think so," Troy replied nonchalantly, looking a little surprised at Pollax and Jana's sudden entrance. He sat down and was still the only person who bothered to do his seat belt. The car sloshed into another puddle, skittering water everywhere as the car trundled smoothly along the dirt road. Pollax spun the wheel, cranking the gear stick and the car seemed to trundle off a long sloping road that was heading downwards. It was almost like travelling down a roller-coaster. The mountains, when I gazed out of the car, was eroded slowly upwards by slabs and slabs of rocks, slowly covered over time by moss and weeds, which spiralled upwards. A few trees which were losing their colour was rooted to the ground on the side of the road every now and then.

"You okay, Watchee? We owe you one, with that gun and everything," said Troy thankfully.

Watchee grinned and stared ahead. "You should thank those two the most. Had the brains to follow us. Knew we wouldn't survive for long."

Pollax flapped down the iron bars to allow fresh air to seep into the car, and Jana did hers too, one hand clutching onto the roof handle as the brownish car made another sharp turn, and another hand checking on her gun, where she was slotting in a fresh magazine of ammunition. I wondered if she had any for us, because we were unarmed, as my backpack and our guns were inside the car in the Mutant-filled train station, which none of us was looking forward to paying an old reunion, any time soon. We just had a flashlight between us, Troy's small bag and Watchee's gun, which was empty.

Jana and Pollax seemed determined not to talk to us, like they were waiting for an explanation, so Watchee spoke to them first.

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Watchee blurted disapprovingly, sighing loudly. "We were wrong. We're not going to get far without even speaking a word to each other, so you two better spit it all out and start telling us off like we're kids."

"We're not mad. We found you guys in the end, that's what matters," said Pollax without looking back and flashing a sharp look in the cracked rear mirror.

"I'm - I'm sorry, I just didn't want to drag you all into this," I said truthfully, looking exasperated. "In fact, I'm surprised that you guys are still following me after all this time, considering what's happened when you're with me, after all these years."

Jana finally rounded on us, grabbing the neck of her car seat for support, biting her lip. "You want me to spit it out? Fine. Well, I'm impressed. You guys nearly lasted a whole day. Your welcome." She added scathingly, and we all winced a little, Troy included. She turned back around again. That insult was relatable.

"You could've just said it like Pollax," mumbled Troy, as thought it was not our fault. I saw Jana give a wicked grin in the rear mirror, and I could tell, with relief, that she was not seriously mad. "How'd you get away from Withers and that? How'd you find us?" Troy added, shifting the topic for a little while.