Reclaim

Collision

                                      Aslan
                            Illinois
               12/23/26
Getting picked up by Hernando's mom didn't really me catch off guard. What caught me off guard was that Hernando's name wasn't even Hernando.

"Javier Diaz, I swear to God and everything holy, there better be a good damn excuse for why I came out all the way out here."

Hernando... Javier's aunt came out here to pick us up since his mom was out in Georgia. I bet she would be here if she could, but her not being here wasn't keeping his aunt from going off on him, saying everything his mom would've said.

"Your momma's worried sick about you, wondering if her baby boy is ok, whether he's gonna turn himself in or not, whether he's hurt or dying or being hunted by the police."

Most of what she said was Spanish, so when she'd switch up to english, I'd only have a glimpse of what she was saying, but overall, it was a lot of disappointment. Javier looked down as she lectured him, like a kid who just broke a window and was getting yelled at by his parents.

I could only imagine what was going on in his head. After a while of silence, once her speech was over, she finally addressed us.

"Two kids... and a damn baby... how do you always make the most of these situations, Javi?

He finally spoke up, ready to talk about everything, bringing her up to speed so she knew what we were dealing with and how bad things were. Obviously, she stayed quiet for a while, trying to process it all, giving me time to process it from Javer's perspective.

We were on the highway, so I had scenery passing by to help me concentrate on my thoughts, that paired with the clean car, and the smell of air sweeteners, the environment we were in felt peaceful, calming, and relaxing.
A nice breather compared to the past few days.

"Jesus Javi, you really did it now. I... I'll just take you guys to my place, hide you till I can think of something. I'll get some baby formula for your kid. "

She said, eyeing the baby in June's hands. The rest of the ride was fairly peaceful and quiet. I was about to fall asleep until the car rolled to a stop.

Traffic got stopped, completely. All cars were at a halt, but there wasn't an accident or anything. There were red and blue lights down the highway.
Traffic break.

Cops were walking past cars, checking them. Some flashed warrants, others were just finishing up, and the next cop was barely three cars down the road, finishing their search on a white van.

The search was fairly quick and light from the looks of it, so they were definitely looking for people, and considering how many cops there were, they were probably looking for us. Our group was large, too large to move together so booking it wasn't an option, me and Javier's guns were fully loaded, but I don't think a shootout with the cops would end well, especially with a baby and a teenager in the car.

We were pinned. A cop would come down to check us and immediately see the two fugitives in the back, we would be re-arrested and probably reclaimed, his aunt would get questioned and probably arrested as well, and with everything that happened, I dont think any of us are getting out anytime soon, if ever.

June looked just as scared as the rest of us, but not Javier's aunt. She seemed calm, or at least tried to look so.
"Leave the kids, they won't suspect them, but you two gotta go, try running for the woods, it's your best bet."

I hated that she was right. The cop was now two cars away and getting ready for the next, meaning our time was burning through quickly.

"We might slip their view, they might not notice us If we sneak towards the woods, if they do them we'll run."

The cop was almost a car away from us. It was now or never. I slowly creaked the door open and slipped out, praying none of the people paying attention would rat us out, before sneaking over to the car next to us as fast as I could.

The guy driving the car in front of me saw me, so I put my hands together and pleaded silently. He looked confused but nodded after Javier ran over next to me.

This was good, but Javier looked anything but pleased. The man in the car looked over at the road where Javier ran. When I looked I saw Javier's gun laying on the floor, it slipped out of his pocket.

A cop was gonna see the gun and immediately find us. There was a cop at the car right in front of Javier's aunt, focused on the woman inside rather than us. If we grabbed it, he would definitely see.

I looked towards the woods, ready to forget about it, but heard silent footsteps come closer. I nearly jumped on my back and pulled out my gun before I saw something that horrified me. Javier's gun in June's hands.

Now we were back together again, only this time Holly was still in the car with Javier's aunt. The cop ahead of her car was almost finished with their inspection, so I took the initiative and moved to the next car with June and Javier hot at my heels.

We didn't get noticed by anyone but the woman in the car in front of us. Her eyes were wide as if she were about to roll down her windows and yell for the cops, but after seeing June, I guess she thought otherwise. I thanked her silently and then moved on to the next car, an 18 wheeler. The man in the truck did a double take on us, then looked worried. He rolled down his window and stuck his head out the window.

My heart stopped. He would yell for the police before I could plead him not to and we would have to run, and with June behind us, they'd find us easily. Me and Javi would be dead, and our journey would end before we even left Illinois, but he didn't yell for the police, he whispered to us.
"The back, hurry."

The back... he was helping us.
I crouched down to avoid getting seen, then got under the truck, crawling to the back doors, with Javier and June right behind me. I've never been under a car, definitely not a truck, but there was just enough room to army crawl to the rear of the truck without being pinned by its underside. I pulled myself up and tried pulling up the shudders, but they were locked.

Panic struck as I noticed the cop two cars away, that could look over and see me at any time. The man in the car behind me was on his phone, not even noticing the fugitives in front of him. I got down right before Javier got out from under the truck.
"We don't have the key."

His face went white as he stopped before looking back at June.
"All or nothing, we need the key."
She gritted her teeth quickly and cussed before crawling back to the cab.
I couldn't see where she was, so the pain of waiting in suspense was ripping through my stomach like a wildfire.

A cop looked my way, and I could only pray they didn't see me, as for the cop in our lane, he was only one car ahead of us, finishing up, getting ready to come back here.

June still wasn't back, and considering seconds were precious right now, that was anything but good. I got down, just Javier, June was still getting the key. The car in front of us was finished, and the cop was coming up to inspect our truck.
I got down to a crawl and made my way under the truck.  June was down here with us, no key.

The cab door opened, and the truck driver talked with the cop as he inspected the cab.
"Alright, let's check the back real quick."

The man got out and made his way to the back, leaving the door open. June crawled out just as the cop and the trucker went to the back and ran to.the cab.

Javier crawled out quiet and fast. All I could do was follow. As we got up to a crouch, we saw her by the cab door, pointing inside. Once again, we were forced into an option with only one right answer.We crammed into the cab, compressing as tight and as low as we could.

Once the back shut, shaking the truck, the truck driver got back into the cab and shut the door nonchalantly.
"You guys are lucky, cop just checked under the truck."

A wave of relief rushed over me, as if I dodged a bullet or a train for this matter.
"Now... what's your guy's story?"
We were gonna be here a while.