The Livingstones

Chapter Two: Bounty For Two

Blood spilled out of Rory McRiley's nose as he screamed at them angrily, along with the other citizens of the secluded town who just had their New Year's Eve celebration turn into a disaster. The mayor's daughter was howling (and crying) about her H&M dress, the gangle of schoolgirls sobbed as a group of medically trained people aided their minor injuries and Cameron's family shook their head as they turned red in the face.

Audrey bit her lower lip and slipped her freckled hands out of her overalls pocket. Her mousy hair blew in the wind as a heated argument began between the townspeople and the outcasts. She took a step back, muddy boots scratching against the green blades of grass. Cameron stood still and waited for them to take him in and put him in County Jail.

It seemed hopeless, but there was hope; they could still survive this angry horde of people and get away with it. She just needed to do the one thing she did when she needed to feel alive -

Audrey grabbed Cameron's forearm and whispered against his cheek. "Run."

As soon as Cameron received the message, he began to stumble backwards, towards the woods. Audrey let go of his arm and turned around and sprinted off in full speed. Her button collection slipping out of her pocket at every turn she made. Audrey travelled in a zig-zag making it impossible for the civilians to catch up to her; confusion was one of the basic elements she had taught herself during her fateful lifespan.

Cameron was already accustomed to Audrey's style of running. He couldn't help but look back at the crowd running after him and give them a rude gesture with his hands.

"By the grace of God, would you hurry up!" Audrey hollered, accelerating.

They were nearing the state border but Audrey could still hear the provoked mob chasing after them like a cluster of speeding bullets.

Clang.

Audrey looked to her left and spotted a metal pipe, she looked back to see Rory's outstretched hand. Golly, they were really mad at them. She picked up speed and glanced at her boyfriend.

"Cameron! Mongoose!"

Cameron thought for a moment. Was mongoose the signal for left or right? Or did it mean laundry?

Audrey made a sharp turn and Cameron followed close to her heels. They kept running, weariness on their faces.

"Did we lose them?" Cameron panted.

She swivelled her head around. They were gone, but not fully. "Let's keep going. We need to get out of Ohio."

Trailing behind her, Cameron thought she was right. Even if they stayed hidden in the woods, it was still part of Ohio and the mayor would've probably called the police by now. The bounty was on them and if they were caught, that meant a life sentence in County Jail. Ohio wasn't home, it was a prison.

Pushing her way into the green, Audrey tried to grasp for light. She put her left leg out into a small gap between two trees and swung herself for award and out of the woods. Cameron followed her movement's and nearly fell as a car zoomed past them.

"We're out," he muttered.

A gravel road extended across from one side to the other. It was quite deserted but a couple of cars would zip by at some moments. Beneath his feet, the ivory sand grew sprouts of rogue weeds. But Cameron didn't have time to think about the sand or the street, he only focused on the green sign on the edge of the road.

Pennsylvania. 400 meters.

A shiver draped down his spine as he read it again. He had never been this far from home and he felt a feeling that he was unfamiliar with. Yet, he didn't know. Cameron was sure he'd heard of it somewhere.

"Heck, we need a ride," sighed Audrey, hands on her knees as she breathed heavily from all the running.

It was nearing to sunrise after a few hours of hailing, in which had failed due to the lack of transportation, in which forced them to walk the 400 meters to Pennsylvania.

Neither of them brought water nor food and the low rumblings of Cameron's stomach made him feel decomposed. Audrey limited her talking, feeling that her throat was already too parched to let out another sound. They've been walking on for what seemed like ages and they were begging themselves to stop, but a voice inside told them that the police wouldn't stop, so why should they?

Eyes swollen from the sandy wind, Audrey could barely make out the speck of red trampling down the middle of the road. It wasn't until Cameron shouted "car!" that Audrey came to her full senses. He was right. A red sports car was riding down the road, completely oblivious of the two teenagers screaming for it to stop.

Sick to her stomach, Audrey lunged herself towards the middle of the road, hoping that the car would stop.

"Audrey!" Cameron screamed.

She could still see the car speeding towards her, headlights blinding her eyesight. Just when she felt the exhaust fumes skitter up her overalls, the vehicle came to a halt and a couple of their age, stepped out of the sports car to aid Audrey.

"Are you alright?" a dark-skinned young man asked, putting away his sunglasses.

"Do you need any help?" a teenage girl with a swarthy complexion and a fuchsia hijab massaged her arm tentatively.

Cameron came bounding for his unhurt girlfriend and pushed the couple away, panic written all over his face. "Woman, you're driving me crazy!"

Audrey, however didn't take heed of this, she turned to the couple and said. "Now that y'all asked, I think we do need help."

It didn't take long before the two couples made a friendly connection. The couple - Yasmine and Omar - were also coincidentally running away. Yasmine's mother didn't approve of their relationship because Omar's father was the leader of a dangerous clan in their district. Together, they hopped into Yasmine's brother's car and set a course for West Virginia where Omar's cousin would welcome them. That was until they almost ran over Audrey, who asked for a ride to Pennsylvania before they could proceed to West Virginia.

"How about you?" Yasmine asked, fixing her hijab.

"Well, I punched a jerk back in Ohio, he knocked over a lamp and the fireworks for the New Year's Eve party went boom and I guess we're on the run for outraging everyone," Cameron said casually.

Yasmine and Omar froze uncomfortably. Audrey looked away, trying to make herself smaller. Unaware of why everyone was so quiet,  Cameron turned around to see the road they had travelled behind them. They were truly leaving Ohio.

"Welcome to Pennsylvania," Omar smiled, slowing down.