Brady polished off my sandwich, then the rest of Hunt’s, and soon we were piled back in Clyde.
Why wait when you had a highly dangerous plan with very low odds of success? Better to rip off the Band-Aid quickly from that sucker.
We ditched our bags in our school lockers since it would support our stories of an impromptu joyride, and Griffin pointed Clyde toward the Periwinkle Hill neighborhood and my sweet boy Bobo.
Afternoon classes were gonna suck it. And maybe, just maybe, so were Magnum, Fanny, the lie-rents, and Magnum’s murder squad with the happy trigger fingers.
When Griffin’s hand wasn’t on the gearshift, it was on my leg. We drove home in complete silence, feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders. Feeling the razor-fine line between life and death chomping at Clyde’s back bumper.
We were going to run. But could we really outrun our deaths?
11
We Hope You Enjoyed Your Visit to Ridgemore, Where Strangers Become Prisoners—Oops, I Mean Friends
Bobo was ecstatic at the unexpected ride with all his favorite people. I managed to sneak him out without encountering my lie-rents, and I now occupied the passenger seat of Clyde so he could stick his head out the window, which he did, as far as I’d allow him. His cute boxy face was split into a wide grin, his eyes narrowed to slits against the wind, his jowls quivering comically as they caught air. A slim stream of his drool trailed behind us like a banner.
If only the rest of us could be that excited to be nearing Ridgemore’s town boundary… We’d set the scene for our “joyride,” explaining aloud for our listeners that we needed a break from the stressors of school and general life demands. And what better way to ease some of that tension than to feel out how Clyde was running after his latest tune-up? To really let him loose on the open road?
After that, Griffin turned the radio to the classic rock station to cover up how we’d settled into a burdened silence. I kept tasting what I had eaten of my chicken salad sandwich as a nervous nausea swirled through my gut. Were we foolish to risk escaping?If Magnum or any of his lackeys discovered that we were on to them, that we knew way more than we should given we were rebooted just the night before, they’d kill us for sure. And chances were they’d succeed in wiping out what limited understanding we did have of the situation and our adversaries.
But continuing to play dumb in their lethal game wasn’t reasonable either. How could we continue to allow them to do what they’d done to us? Tomurderus, to erase entire years of our lives? To toy with us and our futures as if we truly were Magnum’s chattel?
Whatever choice we made, one certainty remained: The stakes were too damn high, the people at risk far too fucking important to be risking.
Clutching Bobo around the hips so he wouldn’t fall out the window, I leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes. The opening notes of “Bad to the Bone” burst forth from Clyde’s speakers, and Layla yelled loudly enough to be heard over the music and the rush of air from the open windows, “Fuck to the yeah! Perfect song for a joyride!”
Griffin’s hand landed on my knee. When he squeezed, I opened my eyes to find him glancing from me to the road and back again. His eyes were troubled. They seemed to ask,Are you okay?
I offered him what smile I could. It was flimsy, betraying too much of the fear I was working hard to hold at bay, the visceral memories of death and the terror of losing my loved ones forever that I was trying hard to forget.
His responding smile was part grimace. It appeared to say,Yeah, I know. We’re not okay at all.
We really weren’t. I didn’t know if we’d ever be all right again. This was the kind of recurring trauma that was featured in psychiatry journals.
When the song drew to a close, Griffin turned down the volume and leaned forward over the steering wheel.
“We’re almost at the edge of town,” he announced.
Living in a town as small as Ridgemore, we were never more than twenty or so minutes away from its limits, no matter where we were. There was no more drawing out our escape plan. The moment of truth was upon us. Would Magnum’s forces swarm us the moment he realized we were trying to leave? Would they wait until we put enough miles between us and town that it became evident we didn’t intend to return? When we bailed on our scheduled training session with our ninja instructors later that afternoon?
“I’m so glad we decided to do this today,” Layla said for our audience. “It’s a perfect day for a joyride. Warm enough but not hot. Fall crisp but not yet cold. Clear skies. No traffic since it’s the middle of the day.”
My girl was doing her best to sound normal, but she’d never been one to list out the mundane. Still, her performance was so much better than anything I could manage.
“It was about time for a nice, long drive,” Brady added. “We were majorly overdue for one.”
We were overdue for a lot of stuff. A reprieve from being hunted like beasts would have been nice, for starters.
Griffin dipped his head lower, studying the quaint, eagerly happy sign announcing the departure from town. The words were painted in a bright, scrawling flourish.
We hope you enjoyed your visit to Ridgemore, where strangers become friends. Come back to see us soon!
I scoffed under my breath. More like,where strangers become prisoners—oops, I mean friends.
Griffin turned off the radio entirely. he said into our minds.
I gripped Bobo tighter and held my breath.
