Duplus

Chapter 53

—Amaani's POV—

Jaber didn't address me after that. It wasn't like he was angry with me but more like my words had thrown him into a chain of dark thoughts. Sumayya was quiet too and only navigated the GPS, telling Jaber which way to go. We were on the outskirts of the community and taking a huge U-turn to the other side. That was where the dead zone desert started.

It was when Jaber took the car into the thick sand that my alarms blew off. "This is the dead zone, Jaber. We're going into the desert." I informed him. Sumayya thrust her head towards me from the passenger seat. "No, I remember Lx2 saying to the driver to take him left from here. We didn't even stop here. It must be a shortcut." She announced a bit forcefully, taking me by surprise. I got quiet again and nodded. "Okay..."

I looked outside the window and remembered the time when Jaber had sent me to look for Lexie. It seemed like an eternity ago and was hard to believe that it had been only a few months that I met her. The moment we saw each other; it was like looking at our reflection in the mirror. She had saved my life and maybe Allah was giving me the chance to return the favour.

For miles I could see golden sand, shining under the sun which only seemed to get higher in the sky above our car. There was no sign of life and I felt the stinging sensation in my throat similar to the one I had experienced when I was there last time. Jaber took a left and the car slipped away further from the thick ground, straying from the path that, somewhere, far away, miles away, lead towards Megmel.

Megmel...

A futuristic city with thousands of secrets buried in its glass floors.

Home to a huge experiment that could completely change the course of humanity once the secret was unleashed. Bustling with real people—Duplus who didn't know there were others like them outside the barriers.

What other discoveries were waiting for us there, I could only imagine.

I looked back to our front to see where we were going. The blackness of the road was climbing back to the surface from the sand and I could see we were going to a remote area. "Take a right from that sign." Sumayya's voice overrode my thoughts and I quickly sat up, watching as Jaber swerved the car wherever she ordered. As she said, he made a turn from the road sign that read "Isanbal this way" in Kazefandrian language.

"Another right."

A completely black road appeared in front of us and the car had stopped jolting as soon as the tyres hit the smooth surface. "I think..." Sumayya thought out loud. "Here! Stop the car here." It was the moment Jaber was waiting for. As soon as she gave the cue, Jaber hit the brakes and we jerked forward. "Ow!" I groaned as my head butted the front seat. "You could've given a signal!" I said to him but earned no reply.

"Hmph!" I bristled and got out of the car.

In front of us was a green ground spread out and not a person was in sight. I looked around to inspect the place and found myself having a déjà vu moment. "I know this place..." I said to myself when Jaber walked up behind me. "Do you?" He asked, making me jump almost a foot in the air.

"—!"

I whirled around with my hand on my chest. "You startled me." I breathed and then straightened up to which he passed an amused smirk I couldn't ignore. He was being a  jerk even in a situation like that.