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“Right. So, when is this scouting mission?” he asked.
“They don’t have an exact date yet, but it should be the week after next.”
“Hmm,” he murmured. “Sounds promising.”
Ali heard the sarcasm in his voice and rolled her eyes. Hope was a dangerous thing. Of course Eli hoped that Nik’s plan would work but he wouldn’t believe it until he saw it. It would hurt too much if it failed.
Ali explained how they would leave over the wall and follow the trails southward.
“Why can’t we take the tunnel? The one we entered through?”
“I asked him about that. It’s locked on both sides, apparently. And they keep the keys separate so it would be too difficult. If one person held both keys, it might’ve been an option, but we can’t risk getting more people involved.”
“And what happens when we’re out of here?” Eli asked quietly. It wasn’t just the escape that concerned him. Where would they go? How would they feed themselves and survive the rest of winter? What if they ran into a group that was even less kind than Rysburg, like the Coyotes? And worst of all, what would it be like to live as a third wheel to Ali and Nik? He could already barely stomach the thought of them together. It would cut even deeper to have it thrown in his face.
Would there come a day when Eli would have to leave them to go off on his own? That future scared him almost as much as the one that awaited him in Rysburg.
“I think we’ll have to figure it out as we go.” It was a universal answer. The answer to where they’d go and the answer to how they’d cohabitate. She knew just as well as he did that this wouldn’t be easy.
Eli nodded and stared at her. Despite the uncomfortable questions, she looked at ease. It struck him just how content and happy she looked, even happier than he remembered her in Andus. Had he missed her entire transformation? Had he missed all the signs that she was changing right before his eyes?
“I should get back,” she said as she headed back toward the ladder. “This will work, Eli.”
“Tell me the plan again,” Ali requested for the tenth time. She busied herself with packing three backpacks, one for each of them, mostly filled with clothes and other essentials. She’d seemed like a nervous wreck ever since Nik had gotten the word on the final date for the next scouting mission. Two days from now.
“I’ve already checked the schedule. Eli is set to work that evening, so that won’t be an issue. We’ll wait until it’s dark out and the town is tucked in bed. The scouts will make their way east, so we’ll go west. Once we’re confident we’re far enough away from Rysburg, we can start heading south. Most of our missions have been up toward the lake, so I think we’ll have more luck heading away from the shore.”
Nik gripped her shoulders and pressed his thumbs in, rubbing in circles to loosen her tense muscles.
“But you don’t know for certain what’s out there?”
Nik shook his head. “The furthest I’ve ever gone on a mission to the south was about four hours. There’s nothing in that range. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to run into civilization.”
“And once we do, there’s no way of telling if they’re good people or if we’re trading one hell for another.” Ali’s eyes connected with his. They were full of sorrow, pity, doubt, hope. Neither of them had any answers. They just knew they couldn’t stay here. Nik would do anything to keep her safe. She caressed his face, the stubbly hairs prickling her fingers.
“Are you certain you want to do this?” he asked.
“One hundred percent.”
Time passed slowly over the next couple days. Ali collected non-perishable food to include in the backpacks and Nik bought extra rations of drinking water to take with them. He wasn’t sure how long they’d have to survive in the wild, but he planned for the worst. They ate their meals in silence, too nervous to speak, and spent their nights tangled up, distracted from their upcoming adventure.
On the night of the scouting mission, they were ready. It almost felt too right, like there was no way it could be this easy.
The sun went down while they ate dinner. Ali was exceptionally quiet, and Nik could tell by the way her legs shook that she was anxious. “It’s going to be fine,” he reassured her, although the lump in his throat protested. “Better than fine.”
And it would be. He’d spent so much time fantasizing about a future together. The future they could have when they were both given a fresh start. One where he wasn’t a shell of a man, the villain in her story, and one where she wasn’t stifled, free to be herself.
Free. They could both be free.
“I trust you.”
I love you.
They waited several hours after they normally would’ve been fast asleep, not wanting to risk running into any night owls. An unnerving silence hung in the air between them. Nik felt like he couldn’t breathe, lest someone hear him. He slipped his hand into Ali’s as he opened the front door and they left their house behind.
He hadn’t expected to feel any remorse about leaving Rysburg. It had been his only home, but lately he’d resented it. Now, though, each step he took felt like a pang of grief for the things he was giving up. The house where he shared memories of his mother as a child. The career he’d made for himself where he was well-respected. Sam, the only person he considered even close to a friend.
But he turned to look at Ali, and he knew he’d give it all up for her. He was giving it all up for her. For their future together. It was all that mattered to him.
