Shards

chapter 41

Chapter 41:

I woke as the back door swung open, bringing in the cold night air like a vacuum. No dreams tonight. Julian had rolled over in his sleep, so his head rested on my chest. The sleeping quarters here were much too tight. To save him the embarrassment he would feel when he reached full consciousness, I shoved him off and quickly got to my feet.

Ian stood in the doorway. It was hard to see the expression on his face—as the only sources of light were the moon and a couple of nearby streetlights—but I didn't need to. I could feel his terror reflected there; probably something to do with his breathing.

“What is it?” I moved groggily over to the door. “Did you find something... Kyle?”

He shook his head, saying nothing. Turning he walked back around the side of the van. I followed. There, half concealed by the shadows stood Shay and Audrey. They stared at the side of the vehicle. Following their gaze, I saw it. It was spray painted onto the flat, white surface.

Not now Jaylee

Three simple words, but enough to make my stomach drop down to to my feet. They knew where we were. They knew I was here, yet they had made no attempt to either recapture or kill us. What was the deal with this ominous message anyways? Were they trying to scare us? Was this some psy-ops intimidation trick?

“Is that?” I spun around. Julian must have followed us out of the van. “Is that Kyle's handwriting?”

At his words, I took a second look. He was right. The black scrawl was unquestionably that of our friend. Or was it? Handwriting could be reproduced.

“Didn't you guys hear anything?” Audrey asked, her voice barely audible.

I shook my head. “We were all asleep. Jake wanted watch.”

An image of the Hispanic boy, slumped forward onto his keyboard, flashed through my mind. He must have been exhausted, yet frustration and anger still surged through my body. How could we have missed this? We had been a thin sheet of plastic away from him. He'd been a thin sheet of plastic away from us, yet he hadn't even stopped in to say hi. What had they done to him?

Somehow, the three words looked condescending to me, like in writing them he was looking down on us. I was reminded uncomfortably of how Nea had acted, all those years ago. Was it possible? Had he turned robot?

“It's not true!” Julian yelled, kicking the van hard enough that it left a small dent.

I instinctively winced at the ringing sound it created.

“It's not really them,” he rambled on. “It's a fake, or a trick... or-or, or there's a new kind of procedure or something. We know them. We've known them all our lives! They'd never give in, not without a fight. Maybe they're just doing it not to get tortured.” He was probably still groggy, not thinking straight.

“It would be so easy for them to run,” Ian said what I was thinking.

Every member of our group had their own moment of shock, as they woke one by one and stepped outside. I stayed silent, watching as their expressions transformed to match ours. Caught in a new kind of atmosphere, we sat in a circle in the center of the van. The time on the computer monitor read four o'clock in the morning.

The new course of action seemed clear to everyone, in our half awake, unargumentative state. Tomorrow, when Dale met with this leader, Kyle was sure to be nearby. We would grab Dale, regardless of if we could find Kyle. They knew where we were, they were practically mocking us. We were running out of time, and one friend was better than zero.