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Ryder turns toward me, bringing his leg onto the seat. "Allura, we really need to get you back to the station because you'll be safe there, but when we get closer to where there could be detours, we need to hide you for a while. Reece, Ryder, and I all have fake papers so we should be fine. But you don't and that's going to raise some red flags, which is really bad."
"Okay." I'm not sure what he's implying.
"And the only place we can hide you"--Blaise slants forward and catches my gaze--"is in the compartment of the trunk."
My heart pumps faster as I glance back and forth between Blaise and Ryder. "You want me to get into the trunk?"
"A compartment that Blaise built inside the trunk." Ryder's gaze never wavers from mine. "It's not nearly as bad as it sounds."
"You've been in it before?" I ask Ryder, wrapping my arms around myself.
He nods. "A ton of times."
I consider what they're asking me to do--being locked up somewhere again. I don't know if I can do it. And what if this is still some sort of trick? I don't know what to do, who to trust.
"It's our only option." Blaise shoves the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows, revealing countless scars on his arms. "These detours are guarded by watchers. If they find out about you, they'll take you back to the wardens, and you'll either be killed or put underground again. That is, if they don't keep you. If they do keep you, it'll probably be worse."
I massage my aching chest. "These watchers, are they like visitors? Will they put their hands on my chest? Why do they do that? It's always confused me."
Blaise glances at Ryder with a brow arched. "How does she know what sunlight and cars are, but she doesn't understand why wardens have her trapped down in the channels?"
Ryder gives him a stone cold look, and Blaise retaliates with a glower.
"You're talking around her again," Ryder warns, sliding his arm across the back of the seat. "Stop it."
Blaise's jaw ticks. But when he looks at me again, the tension eases.
"How much do you know about the broken city?"
"I don't think I've heard of it before," I whisper.
Blaise fiddles with the metal in his lip, twisting the barbell back and forth. "It doesn't make any sense. If you were ever outside of the channels, you should know about the city and the watchers. It's a part of life." He moves his fingers away from the piercing and lowers his hand to his lap. "Maybe you were never outside."
"Or maybe she lived at one of the burials before she was taken underground," Reece says, steering the car to the right. "They're supposed to be pretty secluded from our world, at least from what I've heard."
Blaise shakes his head. "She's too young for that. Those went into extinction at least twenty years ago."
"Yeah, I'm not convinced they're all gone." Reece gives the wheel a quick spin, veering the car to the right.
I grab Ryder's arm as the car hits a bump and I'm jolted sideways. He places a hand over mine to steady me, and the foreign touch sends an overdose of adrenaline through my veins. The world spins as my vision spots. I inhale through my nose, trying to calm myself down.
"W-what's a burial?" I ask, prying my fingers from Ryder's arm. "Is it like a graveyard?"
"They're safe havens from the city. The watchers never found them, so their corruption never spread there. Supposedly, the old way of life was able to survive the infestation." Blaise rakes his fingers through his hair. "Although, I'm not completely convinced burials ever existed to begin with. I think it was more legend than fact."
I have so many questions buzzing at the tip of my tongue, but before I can ask, Reece puts an end to the conversation.
"Look, we can explain this to her later. Right now, we need to get her into the compartment before we reach the crossway."
Blaise and Ryder look at me, and I shrink back.
"These watchers, if they find me, and they find out I'm Nameless, they'll hurt me, right? Or send me back underground?" I double-check that I understand everything correctly.
Blaise nods with zero hesitation. "Or worse."
I don't have to ask what "or worse" means. I've seen enough worse in my time. If what he's saying is true, I need to be brave and get into the compartment. I'd rather die than ever go back.
"Is it dark in there?" I ask. "In the compartment, I mean."
Blaise nods. "I can give you a flashlight if you want. If the car stops at all, though, you'll have to turn it off."
I pick at a loose thread in the hem of my shirt. "Is it confined?"
Blaise runs his hand over the shaved side of his head. "Kind of."
"It's big enough to hold about two people," Ryder says. "So it won't be too cramped. You might get a little claustrophobic, though, like you were in the tunnels."
"Will I be locked inside it?" I whisper. "Or will I be able to get out if I need to?"
Blaise's expression softens. "We'd never lock you up. The compartment locks from the inside, so you can get out if you need to. And you can lock us out if you need to."
I lower my feet to the floor and tug at the bottom of my shirt, trying to cover myself up. "All right, I'll do it."
Ryder blows out a relieved breath. "Thanks, Allura."
Strands of my hair fall in my eyes as I angle my head to the side. "For what?"
"For trusting us." He smiles, reaching out to brush my hair out of my eyes.
I flinch, but then decide my reaction might not be appropriate considering they're about to help me, so I try to mimic his smile, but it doesn't feel right.
"When we reach Luxington Crossway, pull over," Ryder tells Reece. Then he sticks his hand into a pouch on the seat in front of him. "Where the hell did I put my card?"
He starts rummaging through the front of the car and under the seat, looking for his card--whatever that is. Eventually, he finds it, and I discover that a card is a plastic square about the size of my palm. I'm not sure what's so important about the card, but I don't ask.
Time drifts by as we continue to drive, but it's different than being inside my cell. Whereas every minute seems endless there, the minutes and hours out here zoom by in a blurry race. I feel scared, excited, strange, eager--a thousand different things. I also feel tired, but I'm too amped up on adrenaline to fall asleep.
Eventually, I close my eyes and listen to the guys' voices, at peace with the knowledge I'm not alone. Ryder starts talking to Reece and Blaise about what they're going to do when they make it back to Leviter Station
and how they're going to report the outcome of this mission. From the way they speak of the station, I'm guessing they live there. They seem really enthusiastic to get back.
Listening to them talk to each other, so naturally and at ease, baffles me. I find myself mesmerized by their interaction. Is this what it's like to be normal, to live outside of the cells? Will I ever be like this?
"Fuck. Please tell me you at least got some of their files," Ryder says to Reece, his voice rising.
The unexpected loudness causes my eyes to snap open. I glance over at Ryder just as he leans forward and shoves a black box with a cracked screen underneath the seat
"I got one file," Reece says.
Ryder frowns. "Only one?"
Reece lifts his shoulders and shrugs. "I was heading into another section when you ran out with Allura. I didn't have enough time."
"Shit, I was hoping you got more." Blaise reclines back in the seat with a huff. "At least tell me the file's useful, and that it wasn't just one of their junk files."
"I haven't looked at it yet." Reece points at something in front of us. "We're getting close to Lexington Crossway. When we stop to put Allura in the compartment, I'll check the file."
I want to ask what files they're talking about, if it's the files the wardens keep on the Nameless, but they're talking so fast it's hard to keep up. Or maybe they're talking at a normal pace and I'm just not used to it.
"Where the hell did I put my card?" Ryder's brows dip as he moves his hand out from under the seat. "Hell yes. Look what I found." He sits back up, holding a pair of ...
I try to seem excited like he is, but I'm lost.
"Is that the card you were looking for?"
A laugh escapes him. Even Blaise cracks a tiny smile.
"No, it's not the card." Ryder unfolds the sides of the object. "These are what we call Allura-eye-protectors."
I have no clue if he's being serious or not.
"Is that what they're really called?" I ask, eyeballing the black and silver object.
Ryder's eyes practically sparkle. "Of course. Would I lie to you?"
"I don't know. I don't really know you." I glance at Blaise, hoping he'll tell me the truth.
Blaise rolls his eyes then snatches the object from Ryder. "They're called sunglasses," he explains to me. "You put them on over your eyes, and it should help with your light sensitivity."
