Burning Day

Chapter 25

It was a hard slam of brakes that woke me, and I barely managed to stick a hand out in front of me before I could dive into the trunk's door.

But I wasn't fast enough to grab a still-asleep Gwen before she thudded head-first into the glass. She blinked herself awake, groaning as she held a hand to her forehead.

I snuck a glance out the window, and the breath left my body.

Wow, I thought, soaking in the view. Seeing it in a photograph had done nothing to prepare me for how imposing the real thing was. In front of the car, dozens of other vehicles lined up, separating us from a circular wall so high it seemed to scrape the sky. At least, I assumed it was circular; the concrete stretched so far in both directions I couldn't tell where the wall began and ended, if there was an end at all.

At the front, the indigo gate from the Polaroid opened and shut, letting in one car at a time, only after the police officers along the sides inspected the vehicle. No wonder the car seemed to edge forward an inch per hour.

I snapped back to reality when I heard Sophie's voice from the front of the car carry down to us.

"What was that?" she asked Timothy. "You secured the cooler, didn't you?"

My heartbeat sped up.

"Yeah, I did," Timothy said, sounding confused. "Should I go check on it?"

"Well, we've been stuck in this line forever. I don't think it'd hurt if you did."

Gasping quietly, I raised a hand to my mouth as Timothy's door popped open. I met Gwen's gaze, her eyes still hooded from sleep.

I raised my brows at her, asking the silent question. What are we gonna do?

Gwen didn't have time to answer before Timothy appeared at the front of the trunk, the sun behind him darkening his bouncing cheeks to a silhouette.

I grasped the front of Gwen's shirt and wrenched her down with me, ducking out of the line of sight of the window.

The trunk popped open, and my shoulders tensed. Well, it was now or never.

Timothy's jaw dropped in shock, but he didn't manage to get out a single word before Gwen sprang upwards to knee him in the groin.

Ah, so that was our plan.

Timothy howled in pain, doubling back and bringing his hands to his groin. Just as Sophie snapped her head around at the commotion, I threw my legs over the edge of the trunk.

Sophie grasped her partner's rifle and pointed it at us. "Oh no, you don't!" she spat, pulling the trigger.

I barely dove out of the way in time for the bullet to whiz over my shoulder.

"Kiara!" Gwen shouted, locking an arm around Timothy's neck. "LET'S GO!"

Nodding, I wrapped my hand around the fabric of Timothy's shirt. I yanked it toward me as I twisted away, and he stumbled into the trunk, crying out to Sophie for help. I shut the trunk's door just before she fired again and dashed after Gwen for the field stretching out from the edge of the road.

When I felt we were a tad far enough, I shut my eyes, putting my hands to my knees and stopping. Could I catch my breath? For once? How long would I have before Sophie climbed out of the minivan to shoot us?

"Oh dear," I heard Gwen mutter beside me. "We're so fucked."

Guess it wasn't long.

I opened my eyes, ready to get her to back off, but what I saw made my shoulders sink. We should've known the police officers at the front of the wall would notice the ruckus.