Dead World

Chapter 11: Mausoleum

I was pleased. In terms of vehicles, Hel was great. There was a pull between us; she spoke to me, just as all cars spoke with their drivers. She wanted me to set her loose, to get her on the road and let her sing, let her gears whirr and her tires rip across terrain.

Dead World was a sentence, but I wouldn't let the car become my coffin.

I wasn't sure if I could win, it didn't seem even remotely possible. But maybe I would get far, farther than any human before and that would be enough.

Doors opening startled me over the noise of Hel's engine. I cut it and pocketed the key, assuming a guard was bound to come ask me what I was going, but the sound was too erratic to not be human. I would've been surprised by the lack of security if it weren't for the fact that the cars were immovable tucked so tightly together. And the cameras of course, easily spotted as soon as I had entered the garage.

I exited Hel anyway to investigate the noise. A parade of voices reached me, male and female but casual like they were joking. I stayed hidden between Hel and the large SUV until faces came into view and I caught a flash of copper hair.

"Misty?" I asked, incredulous.

The copper-hair girl turned to me, her eyes widened before she dived toward me. Her arms dug into my shoulders as she embraced me. "Mar!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked at the same time Misty spoke.

"How did you get here?" She asked seriously, pulling away from me, but keeping her fingers clenched around my forearms.

"You first," I said, hoping she would tell me more about after she got taken, but instead she went a different direction.

"Please tell me that boy didn't give you up."

"Kit? No," I said. "I took out a drone."

Misty swallowed the information, considered opening her mouth.

"Magda also died," I blurted, unable to keep the words inside anymore. I had to say them to someone, I had to make it real, even though I wanted to melt away into the pain.

"Oh, Mar," Misty said, her voice full of remorse. She pulled me back into a hug, even tighter than the previous. "I'm so sorry."

"What happened after they took you?" I asked, then touched the purple bruise across the bridge of her nose. "Did they hurt you?"

Misty sighed and pulled away from our hug. The group behind her had already disbanded, finding their ways into cars. "No, I fell on the concrete when we got caught. They tore me away from Duke and sent me here. I'm not sure if it's better or worse than rehab."

"Better," I said firmly. "At least we get to leave the city."

"Ah, yes. At last you get your wish, Mar," Misty said. It might've sounded crude under other circumstances, but her tone was sincere.

"What happened to Duke?" I asked, surprised with myself for remembering him in that moment.

Misty looked away from me and nodded her chin across the warehouse, a few cars down, there was Duke, investigating a motorcycle. He kicked the tire and the bike didn't budge. It made him frown. "He has a plan." Misty said, her voice low.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit loud.

"Come on," Misty said and grabbed my elbow, guiding me through the cars. She stopped in front of a boxy sedan, one I recognized. Difficult to work on and hard to find parts for it, but it was exceptionally safe. Relief flooded through me when she opened the door with a key and got in. I followed and sat in the passenger seat, snapping the door shut.

"Duke has a plan to get out of Dead World. Alive."

I waited for her to continue.

"Well?" She prompted.

"Oh, was that all you had?"

"Well, it's all I know. Duke has a plan, but for now we're waiting," she explained.

"Waiting for what?"

"He said he can't tell me, that it's safer if I don't know," Misty said.

I reeled.

"And you trust him?" I asked. "Do you even know him that well?"

"We didn't know Kit, but we relied on his help and look where that got us. We have minimal chances at hope in this dying world, Mar. We must cling to hope where we find it," she said, passion in her words. Duke's charisma was already working its way into Misty.

"It was not Kit's fault that any of us got caught. I really don't know, Misty. I think we should play this smart. You and I could-"

"-We can accomplish nothing! This race will kill us if we don't take action, if we don't band together now."

"Alliances never hold in this game. You know that. They break apart any connections racers have. They'll use Dottie against you. They'll use Karl against me. This race already has two pressure points against us, do you really want to give them more fuel?" I asked.

"I want to get out of this race and I want to see my sister again. Are you with me or not?" She asked.

"Of course I'm with you. But I'm not sure if I'm with him," I said, my eyes glancing over to where Duke was.

"You don't know him!" She huffed.

"Do you?" I countered.

"Don't act like because you work on these cars that you know everything there is to know about this fucking race. I am trying anything to get back to my sister. I would die for her. What would you die for?" She asked, the question coated with acid.

"I will die for what is right," I said and exited the car. The buzz of her anger was too much. She followed and I heard her door open and slam closed.

"Think about it," she said, offering like a life-preserver in this ocean of suffering.