Burning Willow

XXIII

We stayed in the car for another thirty minutes. Neither of us spoke. When the digital clock on the display turned half past eight, Chase got out of the truck.

He opened my door and I slowly got out. He offered his hand which I didn't take, so sighing without a word, he put his arm around me and helped me walk towards the nearest cargo train.

"Daniel's supposed to be here by now." He muttered under his breath.

The rain had slowed down, but not enough. My hair was still drenched, just like the rest of my body.

"Maya..." I whispered.

"She's going to be fine."

I didn't reply. I wasn't so sure any of us would be okay.

The area was built like a train station, only it had no roof and the train lines looked like a maze. I didn't know if the trains were automatic because I didn't see a soul around, or maybe it was just too dark to tell. Trains moved along both directions, and some of them just stood still. They looked really old.

From the distance, we saw a figure approaching, running towards us as fast as he could.

He pointed on the nearest train. It was an ugly blue color, rusted and old.

Chase helped me onto the nearest carriage. Daniel jumped onto the other end of the same one just as the train began moving.

"What are you—"

"Shh!" Daniel cut him off. He looked out the window where a car had just slammed on the breaks. "That was..."

"Close." Chase licked his lips. Daniel threw a small bag on the ground.

"Too close."

"Mind telling me why the fuck we're going in the opposite direction?"

"Because." Daniel slid down onto the floor with his back next to the door. This certain carriage was full of cartons and cardboard boxes. "The next train that would have taken us in the right direction would have come, in approximately, three minutes. And we didn't have three minutes."

Chase shook his head. "I don't understand why we just didn't stay in town, hidden, somewhere. Gregori expected us to run."

"No." Daniel said. I didn't dare look out of the window. I was too scared. But as every second passed, my heartbeat grew slower.

"Gregori expected us to run. So he knew we wouldn't – which means he's in town searching for us. So we do the stupid thing because we're expected to not do the stupid thing."

"Whatever, you're the smart one." Chase shrugged.

Daniel looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Did you get to Maya?"

"I got a signal, and I sent Anderson a message. I had to destroy the phone in case Gregori intercepted."

"How sure are you that Anderson got it?"

"Not a bit. But I'm hoping."

My heart sank. With one hand, I pushed all the strands of wet hair away from my face.

"Okay. Okay." I didn't know if I was talking to them or myself. "You need to start explaining. Now."

None of them replied – which just got me angrier. "I swear, I'll jump out of this stupid train if you don't—"

"Where do you want us to start?" Daniel sighed.

"At the beginning." I said, leaning next to a huge cardboard box. "And don't leave out a single detail. Because you..." I looked at Daniel. "You're smarter than you want people to know. You knew Gregori would be here."