Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction

Chapter 126 The Stowaways

An optimist may see a light where there is none,
But why must a pessimist always run to blow it out?

Emma

Panic. That's the first feeling I become aware of. With every second we are being carried further away from Burns and the others.

I don't know where we are going or what will happen when we arrive on this truck's destination. If the Soul that drives this thing discovers us... what if he unloads in the middle of a city? With so many people around, we'll have no chance of getting away. Even if Arashi would shoot our way out, which I hope he won't, there will never be enough bullets to take out a city. Seekers will be on us before we reach the end of the street.

Arashi appears far more calm than me. He's sitting on the floor and leans against the wall.

"What are we going to do?" I ask him quietly.

He glances at me. There's annoyance on his face, as if I'm a child he needs to babysit against his will. "We wait for the right moment to get off," he says.

"How so we know when that is?" I ask, "we don't even know where we are going."

"We do," he counters and when I look at him questioningly, he sighs and waves the clipboard.

Oh.

"We're on the highway right now,"Arashi continues, "there won't be a stop for miles. Our best chance is the next intersection when they need to slow down, and hope we can jump off unseen."

"We're in the middle of nowhere," I say, "how are we supposed to find a way back? They'll be looking for us."

"No, they won't,"Arashi says.

Slowly I turn towards him. "What do you mean, 'they won't'?"

Arashi lets out a heavy sigh. "It's protocol," he explains, "when one of us gets separated, they either come back on their own or they make sure the others are not found." He pats his pocket meaningful and I understand. Either find your way home undetected, or swallow the pill we all carry.

"It's different when we're caught as a group," Arashi continues, "as long as we're together, we fight our way out, but once you're alone, you're alone. We protect the group, and the other groups, at all cost."

I know it's the sensible thing to do. I know that. Still, the thought of never seeing Burns again... of having to take my own life after all I've been through to keep it... I don't want to die, but I would do anything to keep the others safe. Hopefully we can escape before we have to make that choice.

"Here," Arashi says, and I'm just in time to catch a bread roll, "might as well eat something."

There's a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat, but I force the food down anyway. Arashi is right, if we need to walk all the way back we will need the energy.

"So..." I say after a few moment s of silence, "what's your story? I don't really know much about you."

He glares at me. "This isn't a movie, Emma. This is not the part where we have a heart to heart conversation."

I blink at his rudeness. What did I ever do to offend him? He doesn't need to brush me off like that. He could just be civil about it.

But then again, no one seems to know much about Arashi's past. Perhaps there are things he doesn't want to talk about. Perhaps there are things he'd rather forget.

I sigh and lean my head back against a crate. It's hot in the back of the truck and it's making me sleepy, but I force myself to stay awake. Falling asleep now is dangerous. We need to be ready to jump off.