The Immune

11. Pick-Up

Morning comes faster than expected. After packing up our things, we head back out onto the road and continue riding along. Isaac doesn't say anything about the night before, and I don't push it. If he wants to talk, he will in his own time. I respect that. His eyes are swollen, though, and tinged with baby pink.

For a long while, we coast up and down hills. The morning air is chilly, biting at my bare hands and turning my ears into ice cubes. The knotted mess which is my hair whips around in a wild funnel around my head. By the time we get to some form of civilization, I'm going to look like I've been through a cyclone. Isaac doesn't look much better. Our clothes are wrinkled; bags hang off our shoulders with careless abandon.

We've just stopped for a break in the parking lot of an old fire department when Isaac looks around suddenly.

"What's wrong?" I ask, putting down the canteen.

"I hear another vehicle," he mumbles, throwing his things back in his bag. I follow suit, and we work together to roll our bikes out of sight behind a parked car.

Isaac and I crouch down, completely out of sight. I crawl over and peek out around the bumper to see the vehicle coming around a corner. To my surprise, it's not another olive search vehicle. The truck noisily making its way towards us is black and white. And it's coming from the other direction— not from Compound 4.

"Jane," Isaac whispers. "They must be heading into 4 to make a delivery."

"Think they have time to give us a ride?"

Isaac shoots me a curious look. "A ride?"

"Can you imagine how much easier this would be if we were inside a vehicle?" I sigh. "My legs are killing me. I don't want to pedal anymore."

Isaac smirks. "I'm tired, too, but is it worth risking one of her crew telling Hartley where we are?"

I look back at the vehicle inching closer. Jane told me about the voices. She knows more than anyone about what might be out there looking for me. She also warned me about Hartley listening in. Jane isn't on his side; she couldn't be.

"I think we can trust her," I finally say. Isaac nods.

"And I trust you. So let's do it."

Before I can change my mind, I run out from behind the vehicle and into the street, waving my arms in the air. The first truck jerks to a stop. A rubbery smell fills the air; a loud screech follows it. A head I don't recognize pokes out of the initial truck, eyebrows creasing in the middle.

"Who are you?" he asks, popping the door open. I take a couple steps back from him. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Jane isn't here.

"I'm sorry. I was— I thought— I made a mistake."

"You're from 4. What are you doing outside The Wall?"

I glance back in Isaac's direction, but he's hidden himself again. Good. If I have to get thrown back in, maybe he can keep going. Maybe he can find something.

"Well, you see..." I search for some valid excuse, but my mind draws a blank.

"I've got to take you—"

"Dylan? What's going on?"

My heart flutters a little. That voice I recognize. A burst of red hair jumps out of the second vehicle. Jane's face lights up.

"Jaelyn Price!" She spreads her arms out, grin just as wide. "You're a long way from home."

I rub the back of my neck nervously. "Yeah, well, I kind of ran away."