Breeder Nation

Chapter Twenty-Eight ~Travis~

"So the Hunters are being hunted," Aiden says.

"Yes, they are," Sanders and I reply in unison.

"And where will we be going, exactly?" Alex asks.

"Canada," I respond, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"The free nation?"

"No," I shake my head. "But somewhere better than here."

"Can I just say how unbelievably fucking cool this is?" Danielle begins. "Think about it. It's like we're all characters in some rad book- Hot boy risks everything to save the girl he loves," she says pointing towards Maddie and me. "Hot boy has funny sidekick," she continues, pointing at Sanders. "Sidekick busts the hottest of all hotties, Mr. Hottie McFuckingHotterson, out of jail," she says, now pointing both index fingers at Aiden, then shifts one towards Alex and continues, "Brother and sister are reunited. Hottest of all hotties meets extremely, bad ass, and unbelievably charming babe...moi," she says, pointing to herself. "And all this happens while busting out of a military compound and running from our corrupt, evil, misogynistic, male run government. And this one here," she nods towards Becca, "all timid and quiet, will probably end up saving all our asses down the line. I mean seriously...if they still made movies. This would be one! It's fucking awesome."

Looking over at Maddie to see her reaction, I find her looking straight ahead, smiling.

"Sidekick? I'm just the sidekick?" Sanders bursts from the seat directly behind me, completely appalled. "Hell no!" he yells, turning in his seat to face Danielle. "I'm this story's M.V. mother fuckin P. The hero. Ya know, the good looking character who disappears, then shows up with perfect timing and saves the day. Yet, you minimize my role to the cute sidekick. I'm hurt Danielle."

"You're right," she replies, trying to look sincere as she fights the urge to laugh. "I'm sorry Sanders, you're the M.V P."

Turning back around in a huff, he says, "That's what I thought." And begins to mumble to himself, loud enough that we all can hear him. "Making me Brennan's cute sidekick."

"The funny sidekick actually," Aiden mutters under his breath.

"What was that pretty boy?" Sanders asks.

"She called you the funny sidekick, not the cute sidekick. The funny one," he repeats again. "You're a supporting role to my main character, who I believe she referred to as Mr. Hottie McFuckinHotterson, the hottest of all hotties."

"You got that right Hot Stuff," Danielle chimes in again from the backseat, and Sanders is mad once again.

An hour later, Sanders is finally done feeling insulted, and we're traveling down a long dirt road after spotting an old wooden sign along the highway which read, "This Way to Hillroy's Family Farm." We decided to give it a shot, hoping the property would include a house and enough open space for a chopper to land, allowing us to arrange the pickup here if possible. The less we move about, the less risk we have of getting caught. Plus, if there's a house on the property, it would be far enough off the main road and enclosed by enough brush and trees to provide us some natural coverage.

Bouncing along the unpaved road, the headlights are all that illuminate our path and the clouds of dirt kicked into motion by the tires of our SUV. Trees line the road on both sides, as well as some old, rusted farm equipment we pass along the way.

"There," Maddie says, pointing up ahead. "Is that a house or a barn?" she asks.

"Looks like a house to me," Alex offers from behind us.

"As long as it's not the compound, who the hell cares. I'd take a barn over that shithole any day," Danielle says.

As we pull closer an abandoned house comes into clearer view, and it's exactly the kind of home you'd expect to see on a farm. Time and neglect have clearly done their job. Brick red paint peels back from the panels of wood that once made up this barn style home, a few shutters hang sideways from their hinges.