Rowan
They had found us.
The flashing red and blue lights illuminated the skeletons of the trees.
"Fuck," Charly cursed and she leaped off the hood of the car. She left her blanket on the ground as she tore open the passenger door.
At the same time, I opened Tommy's door. "Tommy! Tommy, wake up!" I shook his shoulder until he jumped upright and stared at me through blurry vision, "The cops are here, come on. We gotta run."
"What the fuck?" I heard Kyle shout.
Tommy said nothing as he got out of the car. I backed up, my eyes flickering over the roof of the car to see the police closing in. I could see the dust rising in the headlights as they sped towards us. I spun around when I heard tires tearing up gravel and dirt.
There were police closing in from both sides.
"Let's go!" Tommy hollered, "Leave the car!"
I snapped out of my trance and I started sprinting after Tommy and Charly. They had taken off down the slight downhill slope into the cornfield. Kyle abruptly stopped in front of me.
I cursed, fumbling to stop before I ran into him. "What are you doing?" I blurted.
He glanced back at the car, "We should set it on fire."
"What? We don't have fucking time," I grabbed his hoodie sleeve and tried to pull him in the direction Tommy and Charly went. They had disappeared within the tall corn stalks.
"The gangs did it all the time to eliminate evidence," Kyle was determined and he broke free from my grip and ran back to the car, "It will buy us some time because they won't let a wildfire get started!"
I felt my heart beating harshly. This wasn't good. I saw the police cars, they were nearly upon us. We had maybe thirty seconds before it would be too late.
Kyle was leaning into the passenger side, the door hanging open, and I knew couldn't leave him. I would never leave him behind again.
Against my will, I ran back to the car.
I scrambled for my lighter in my hoodie, and I felt like it kept slipping away from my fingers. I was shaking. I was terrified, and my body was screaming at me to run. It wasn't every day that I ignored my instincts in order to stay behind.
"Here," Kyle was in front of me, shoving an array of papers into my hands, "Light 'em up!"
I obeyed without thinking and started flicking the lighter. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Kyle crawl under the side of the car. He had something sharp in his hand. A second later, I could smell gasoline, and I knew he cut the gas lines on the car.
I kept clicking the lighter and no flame came.
"Hurry!" Kyle shouted.
"I'm trying!"
Flashing lights illuminated us.
"Come on, Rowan!"
Three more clicks.
My hands were shaking so bad. I heard the police officers shouting. I wasn't sure if it was at us or if they were barking orders to each other but they were within ten feet. It was too close.
It was too close.
"Ro--"
A flame appeared.
I didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief in fear the flame would disappear and I instantly held the papers over the flame. As soon as they caught on fire, Kyle snatched them and tossed them below the car.
He spun, grabbed my arm and we were running.
Only a second later, I felt intense heat skim my back as the fire reached the gasoline. An orange glow lit up the entire night surrounding us and it allowed us to run faster. We skidded down the slope into the cornfield just as a loud explosion hurt my eardrums.
Somehow, we had lost our footing. I misstepped and Kyle tumbled down in front of me. We rolled once, twice, and then we were back on our feet. I brushed away random debris stuck to my sweaty skin and kept running.
For an entire minute, I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't hear the police sirens wailing, I couldn't hear the fire crackling and devouring Tommy's car. I couldn't even hear myself panting. It wasn't until I smacked my palm against my head did my ears finally pop.
Suddenly, I could hear the cornstalks rustling as I disturbed them. I hadn't broken pace but I couldn't see in front of myself.
The shadow of the fire grew distant and I held my hands out in front of myself to push aside the cornstalks, and to make sure I didn't run headfirst into something.
"Fucking hell, these stalks hurt," I heard Kyle from somewhere nearby but I couldn't see him.
It had grown progressively darker, as the night settled upon us in the absence of the fire. I blinked multiple times, trying to make sense of anything. I didn't even know where we were running or what direction was our goal.
I didn't even know this country, I was a city kid.
We were just kids on the run but our time was slowly coming to an end.
My lungs began to burn and I almost tripped over something until I decided to stop for a second. I set my hands on my knees and sucked into as much air as I could. Then, I realized, only silence surrounded me.
I stopped breathing.
There wasn't a sound. Where was Kyle?
I spun around, hoping my eyes would catch his figure nearby but I only saw more cornstalks. Panic seized me.
"Kyle?"
There was no answer. No sound.
"Kyle!" I whisper-yelled.
My heart was like thunder in my ears, I couldn't believe I had lost him. I didn't know what to do. Where had Charly and Tommy gone?
I didn't want to be alone.
"I'm here," Kyle's voice was suddenly beside me and he reached out to grab my arm, "Come on."
"Oh, thank god," I breathed and followed him, "You fucking scared me."
"Yeah, well, I thought I lost you," Kyle answered, "I didn't know where you went."
I risked a glance behind me, nothing but darkness and shaking cornstalks trailed behind. "Do you think they will follow us?"
"Probably not," He said, continuing to weave through the cornstalks with his hand refusing to let go of my hoodie sleeve, "I didn't think the car would explode like that but their first priority would be to control it before it starts a wildfire. We should have until dawn before they dispatch a search team."
"What are we gonna do?"
"Find Tommy and Charly."
He was right. That was our priority right now. I had no more words after that. I was still processing that everything had literally gone to hell within minutes. I should have been used to it but I wasn't.
One second, I felt like I was being a good brother for Charly, and the next, we were on the run again. It felt like a never-ending cycle that wouldn't let us settle. How long could we run now? Especially on foot?
It wasn't looking good.
It felt like an eternity before the cornfield finally came to an end. My skin was burning from the harshness of the cornstalks but I brushed aside the minor pain. There were bigger problems that I needed to deal with.
Kyle let go of my sleeve and brought both his hands into his hair. He gripped the roots and I had learned it was a sign of his anxiety.
There was a woodline ahead of us. I could just make it out in the dark.
"Think they ran into there?" Kyle finally asked.
"I think so," I answered, "They wouldn't have stopped or they would have heard us, right?"
"Yeah," He nodded, even though he didn't sound convinced. He only hesitated for another second before he started walking towards the forest.
I automatically followed him.
Tall, wispy grass brushed against my legs and I glanced up at the stars for a second. Only moments ago, those stars seemed so bright and valiant, but now they were distant and cloudy. It was as if they had watched everything unfold and grew sad above.
Eventually, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could see a little better. Enough that I was stumbling over things on the ground and I could clearly see Kyle walking ahead of me.
He would pause occasionally, surveying our surroundings, listening, and then we would continue.
It was just an endless expanse of forest.
I didn't know how long we spent trying to find our siblings. I could tell Kyle was trying to remain calm but he kept raking his fingers through his hair, which meant he wasn't calm in any sense. There was a storm brewing within.
I was feeling just as anxious the further we looked.
Where were they?
"Fuck!" Kyle abruptly hissed, slamming his open palm against the rough bark of a nearby tree. He stood there for a moment and he hung his head. His body language spoke clearly of how defeated he felt right then.
I could feel my chest tightening as a panic attack loomed over my mind. My eyes glanced around once more and it proved fruitless as nothing looked any different. Just the night and the trees that mocked us.
There was no sign of Charly and Tommy.
They were gone.
x
Should I apologize for my cliffhangers?
That was a rhetorical question because I would never. I actually kinda enjoy writing cliffhangers as my way to keep you hooked into the book (and slightly insane because I know some of you are) lol
Anyway, for those who wanted a warning prior to everything going down... this is it. From here, it's gonna get pretty shitty.