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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT conning the police
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
WHEN SHE WOKE UP, there were only two days before the end of the world. Two days before Armageddon would sweep over her, consuming her in a million ways. Two days before Nadine Vidal and everything she loved was lost, and humanity's imprint was swept away. Two days before the world turned into a desolate wasteland, barren of any life, a shell of a planet with the ghosts of what could've been.
It wasn't a very pleasant thought to open her eyes to, but as Nadine woke up with a crick in her neck and her jacket tucked neatly over her shoulders, a sense of purpose imbedded into her regardless. Time was running out—indeed, in two days, if she didn't do anything, the world would be consumed. But she had a chance. She had to try, even if she failed. She wouldn't just sit by and let the apocalypse rage on without lifting a finger.
She blinked, coming fully to consciousness and realizing that she was no longer on the rainy highway. Instead, she was in the heart of a leafy green forest, a quiet road with nature spread around it. The car wasn't moving, either; instead, it was pulled in front of a quaint little cottage with Jenkins scrawled across the mailbox. As Nadine rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched out her neck, Allison, who'd been flipping through the Jenkins police file, turned to her, her lips spreading into a tired smile. "You're awake," she said. There were heavy bags weighing down her eyes.
Nadine looked to the cottage, and at the sunlight that streamed through the trees. It was daytime. "Did you drive all night?" she asked Allison after a minute, guilt flooding through her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep, I—"
"Don't worry about it, Nadine," Allison responded quickly, cutting her off. "You needed your rest. And besides, I slept, too. I didn't want to, but I had to pull over for a few hours." A yawn spilled past her lips, and Nadine got the sneaking suspicion that however long Allison had slept for, it hadn't been enough. "But, anyway, we're here. This is the address on the Jenkins file."
Nadine exhaled. This was it.
"A cabin in the woods," she noted, unbuckling her seatbelt. "In the middle of nowhere. Fantastic."
"I know," said Allison. "But we have to do this. We have to find Vanya and Harold."
Nadine nodded. Her hands tightened into fists.
Her mouth tasted horrible, so she took a few minutes to rinse it with a bottle of water she'd brought along for the ride. Then she stretched out the kinks in her limbs and stepped out of the car, her heart thudding with anticipation.
Immediately upon stepping outside, she was accosted by all sorts of nature sounds she couldn't find in the city—the chirping of birds, the drum of a woodpecker, the croaking of frogs from the nearby lake. She had to admit the sounds were a refreshing change, along with the cool breeze that swept gently across her cheeks, but this was exactly what she'd been afraid of. Harold's grandmother may have lived in this place for solitude, to get away from the world, but she doubted Harold himself had such innocent motivations. She looked around, finding nothing but green anywhere she looked. The closest neighbours must've been miles away.
