Sarah let me change first and I struggled my way into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Everyone else would be dressed in black to stay hidden in the dark, but I needed to be seen. I figured they couldn’t miss me in white, even if it did start pouring down with rain. Sitting on a camp chair outside our tent, I listened to Sarah rummaging around inside trying to get her things together. When she eventually crawled out of the tent, her hair stuck up from the static of the tents walls and she was red in the face.
“I can’t find my torch anywhere. Have you seen it? I wonder if I left it at Harper’s.” She wasn’t telling me as such. She looked around the dirt floor in deep thought. “I’ll have to go and have a look.” She disappeared behind the tent.
A smirk spread across my lips, catching Joe’s attention as he walked towards me with a backpack slung over his shoulders.
“And what’s so funny?” he asked.
“Sarah. You should’ve just seen her. It’s crazy how much she’s changed. If you’d have told me I’d be camping with her two years ago I would’ve fallen to the floor in hysterics. Now she’s got crazy tent hair and is looking for a torch in the middle of the rainforest.”
He laughed before dragging over a chair to sit in front of me with a smile.
“Yup, if you told me that day we spent at the beach, I wouldn’t have believed it either. I wonder what we would’ve done the night we met at the Tavern in Sandhaven if we knew where our meeting would lead us. Would we still have talked, or would you have turned and ran for the door?”
“Well, I kind of walked out on you guys anyway remember. I was so tired, and the vodka went straight to my head. I left well before you lot did.”
“I know. I was trying so hard to get your attention. But you sure weren’t interested in me.”
“You were trying to get my attention? I just knew Sarah was keen on you and wanted you all to herself.”
“No way, I was like ‘do you really have to go’, but you had no interest in me. You just wanted to be home in bed. Then the next time I saw you, there was the whole drama with Sarah.”
“You know it’s funny. It’s feels like the whole issue with Sarah was a blip on the radar now. At the time, my whole world felt like it was falling apart.”
“It kind of was, if I remember correctly.”
“Yeah, I guess it was in a way. But to be honest, I do think it was worth it to meet you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have met Rose and Ethan, or Harper. And I wouldn’t have met Dawn. It also meant Sarah got to meet Byron, and you got to meet… sorry.”
“That’s okay. Yes, I got to meet Laina.” He took an exaggerated breath. “She wasn’t exactly my type, you know. She was different from the type of girl I’d normally go for, but she was so sweet and, of course, stunning. I guess I let my teenage boy side make the decision to be with her. Just like when I’d decided to meet Sarah at the Sandhaven Tavern.”
“Well, I, for one, am glad you did. And at least you didn’t waste six months on her to find out you weren’t what she wanted anyway.”
“Yeah, that would suck.” He gave me his cheeky sideways grin breaking the sombre mood.
I punched him in the arm. “Yeah, it would.”
“Did you ever tell Cameron we shared that dream? You know, the one in my bedroom?”
Heat rose in my cheeks as I remembered the intimate moment. Joe’s arms wrapped around me, the calmness I’d felt in the sunlit bedroom.
“I thought about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. He was already jealous enough.”
“Jealous? Of me? You’re kidding.”
“I know, crazy, right?” This time I received a soft punch in the arm.
“Did you tell Laina about our shared dreams?”
“No way. We both know how jealous she was.” He stopped deep in thought for a moment. “Do you ever wonder why we don’t share dreams anymore?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. Since I’d contacted him in my dream while almost drowning in the MMC facility, we hadn’t shared a single dream.
“Maybe it’s because we’re safe for now. And together,” I suggested.
“Maybe. Did you know everyone stopped practicing Dual Dreaming when you disappeared?” he asked.
“No I didn’t. Why’d they do that?”
“I think they felt bad because I couldn’t reach you. I wasn’t exactly good at hiding how frustrated I was about it. And to be honest, they weren’t getting any better at it anyway. They could make contact, but it wouldn’t last long, and they couldn’t get the clarity we did in ours.”
“So they gave up?” Harper had thought it was so important before I was taken.
“Yeah, I guess so. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them still practice in private though.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Can I ask you something?” Joe’s mood had shifted, his tone more serious.
“Of course, anything.”
“Why did you choose Cameron instead of me? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’ve just always wondered why you thought he was the better choice.”
His question took me by surprise. I wanted a moment to process it before answering. I’d never told him why. Why I thought a life with Cameron was going to better than one with him. Maybe I was confident Joe would be in my life for a long time, and I wasn’t ready to lose Cameron yet.
“Found it.” Sarah’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Would you believe it was sitting on the floor of the toilet? You’d think someone would’ve seen it and brought it back to me. It’s only got Sarah written on it with fluorescent pink marker. But nooo…”
Joe stood up, fixing his bag on his back. “You two ready to do this?”
“Sure am,” I replied with a smile, attempting to hide my guilt for not answered his question.
“I am now I’ve got this.” Sarah held up her torch with a beaming smile.
Both Joe and I shook our heads at the sight of her and walked off in the direction of the cars. We’d have to finish our conversation another time. Now he’d asked, I felt like I owed him an explanation. But tonight we were going to steal from the MMC, and our heads needed to be on task.
Chapter Sixteen
Rain poured down as I crouched in the knee-length grass by the side of the road. I leant back against the car, doing my best to avoid the downpour, but without much luck. The storm had erupted as we’d left camp, the rain pelting from all sides with the constantly changing wind, the sky alight with flashes of lightning. A deep grumbling filled the air around me. My hair stuck to my face, and I looked down to breathe through the onslaught. My white shirt had become see-through, clinging to my skin, and I second-guessed my decision to wear it to be seen. The driver in the truck was going to see much more of me than I’d originally intended. I was tempted to crawl back into the warmth and dryness of the car’s cab while I waited for the truck. But Joe had convinced me it would be more believable if I was soaked through. I wondered if he’d feel the same way if he was in my position. I’d thought to make a joke about him wanting to see me half-naked, but decided it wasn’t the appropriate time. I held a two-way radio in my hand, using my body to shield it from the downpour as best as I could, waiting for the message to come through it, saying the truck was on its way.
Two headlights appeared up the road, too dull to be those of the truck. I crouched down low and hoped they wouldn’t feel the need to check out what was happening with the random car on the side of the road. They cruised past without as much as a glance.
“You all right, Amelia?” Joe’s voice came through the two-way, making me jump. Losing my balance, I fell over hitting my head on the side of the car and landed on my behind in a puddle.
“You scared the crap outta me.” I rubbed the side of my head where it ached and got back up from the ground, the seat of my pants soaked through. “Sure, I’m great. A bit of rain can’t hurt me. Can you see the truck yet? It’s getting cold out here.”
“It’s cold and wet here too,
you know. But no, no truck yet.”
“Maybe Cameron got it wrong. How long are we going to sit out here, freezing our butts off?”
“Let’s give it another half hour… Hang on, I think I see… here it is, quick.”
Two headlights blared down the road, their light rippling over the slick asphalt. Stepping out from the tall grass, I ran out onto the wet bitumen, shielding my eyes with my left arm and waving my right in the air to get the truck driver’s attention. I hobbled to look like I’d been injured in a car accident, and stood in the middle of the road on the white lines. The truck thundered towards me, blowing its horn to fill the quiet of the night. It was raining too heavily. It wasn’t going to stop.
It had to stop. If the other group had to blow its tyres in the rain, it’d be more dangerous than we’d thought. The image of the truck rolling over came to my mind, my friends being hurt in the process. Kaelee crying in a corner, watching it all unfold. I continued waving and hobbling along the road as the truck drew nearer. It blew its horn again, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. The truck had to stop. Its lights grew brighter and brighter dancing through the rain, and I resigned myself to the fact it was going to hit me.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the brakes slammed on with a loud squeal and it slid towards me, screeching to a halt inches from where I stood. A puff of fog filled the air as I released the breath I’d been holding and the adrenalin rushing through my limbs made me feel both warmer and nauseous. My stomach churned and I leant forward over my knees as bile rose into my throat and I began to throw up my dinner onto the asphalt. Once I’d heaved until my stomach was empty, I wiped at my mouth with the bottom of my wet shirt, unable to swallow away the burning in my throat. I’d nearly been hit by a truck. What was I thinking?
Straightening myself up, my head felt light and I squinted through the pelting rain highlighted by the headlights of the truck. A large, broad man approached me, holding a gun with a long barrel up from his chest and I held my hands in the air as he drew closer.
“On your knees,” he commanded.
“My friend! I crashed and my friend is missing,” I pleaded, appreciating the new roughness in my voice.
“On your knees, hands behind your head.” He stepped closer, pointing his gun in my face.
He wore a grey raincoat, the hood pulled tight around his face. At least someone had dressed appropriately for the rain. He took another step closer. My heart thumped in my ears, and my eyes began to water from the bright lights. Maybe he hadn’t heard me over the splash of rain on the road.
I took a step away from my vomit, moving towards him, yelling over the crack of thunder echoing above us. “My friend… I have to find my-”
“I don’t care where your friend is. I want you on your knees,” he insisted.
Bending down, I placed my hands on the ground and crouched down onto my knees. I was thankful for my jeans as the bitumen’s bite was painful enough through them.
“Now, hands behind your head.”
I did as he said, squinting up at him through the drips running off my hair and over my forehead.
“Who are you? What are you doing out here?” The gun waving in front of my face made it hard to focus on his words.
Lightning ripping through the air above us making me jump, sending my nerves over the edge. The loud rumble that followed, vibrating through my chest, didn’t help either.
“My car, my friend.”
He took a step closer, the barrel of his gun pressed into my cheek taking my breath away. I wondered what my friends were doing. Where was Byron with the gun? He must’ve panicked. He was probably realising at that moment he couldn’t bring himself to shoot someone. I couldn’t be angry at him. I couldn’t blow up the MMC building. My thoughts wandered to Joe and his question. Why had I picked Cameron over him? I wished I’d had a chance to answer him. Tell him the truth so he didn’t have to wonder for the rest of his life.
“Are you listening to me?”
Smack! Pain shot into my left cheek, through my head, and down my neck. When I opened my eyes I was lying on my side, on the road. The rain bounced off it in front of my face. Where I’d been hit ached and my right cheek stung, raw from hitting the road. I sat myself up onto my knees and reached up to touch my tender face where the gun had hit me. I brought my hand back in front of my eyes to find blood smeared across my fingers and running down my palm with the rain.
“Now tell me, who are you? What are you doing out here?”
Smack! The noise reverberated around me again, but this time it wasn’t my head being hit. Byron stood over the limp body of the man who’d been holding the gun.
“Sorry I couldn’t do that sooner. I was scared he’d shoot you,” said Byron.
“I can’t believe you found a way to use the gun without killing someone. I can’t tell you how thankful I am.” I tried to smile at him but it only sent pain through my face and head.
“What the hell are you doing?” A loud voice sounded from the truck as shorter man approached us, this time with a smaller weapon.
As he came at us from the front of the truck, a figure leapt towards him and a struggle ensued. Limbs and loud thumps echoed through the night, and as another strike of lightning lit up the area around us, a loud boom sounded as the gun fired, and thunder rippled through the ensuing silence.
“Joe!” I cried out, pushing myself up to my feet and running towards the figures that lay on the ground.
As I approached, Joe rose to his knees and then climbed to his feet, checking himself over. “It’s okay, I hit him over the head with this.” He held up a lump of timber before throwing it to the side of the road. “The gun went off, but he missed me.”
Relief flooded through me and I flung my arms around him. Noticing my face, he stood back assessing my wounds.
“Crap, you’re bleeding. I can’t believe the bastard hit you.” He turned my face left to right.
“I’ll be okay, we need to get the canisters out of the truck and into the ute.”
“You wait in the car.”
“I’m okay. I told you. I’m helping.”
Sarah and Janine appeared around the corner, carrying large plastic boxes filled with canisters.
“There’s two more in there, boys. Let’s get out of here,” said Janine.
“See, there’s two left. We don’t need your help. So you can go jump in the car. Please.” Joe took off with Byron towards the back of the truck, turning once to point in the direction of the car.
“Wait here. I’ll drive the ute out,” I said to Sarah and Janine.
I ran into the bush where Joe and Byron had hidden the ute and drove it onto the road in front of the truck. Sarah and Janine loaded the boxes into the tray followed by the boys. Joe appeared at my window.
“Shove over. You aren’t driving after having your face busted up.”
He was right. My stomach was still queasy, and my aching head was light. There was also a dull ringing in my ears I couldn’t ignore. I climbed over to the passenger seat and Joe climbed in next to me, passing me a towel from the back seat. I wrapped it around me loosely in an attempt to dry off. Giving up, I pressed it to my bleeding cheeks. Byron, Sarah and Janine climbed into my fake crashed car and reversed it onto the road. Joe and I followed them up the highway.
The radio sounded and Janine’s voice came through.
“Byron thinks we should call an ambulance or the police to make sure those guys are okay.”
“Are you kidding? Did you see what they did to Amelia?” Joe bit back.
“Man, I don’t want their deaths on my hands,” Byron’s voice crackled through.
“Our hands. And they’ll be fine. Janine checked they were alive. They’ll wake up with sore heads in half an hour or so.”
No one responded.
“Do you believe him?” he asked me.
“It’s Byron. I knew he wouldn’t be able to shoot someone. He isn’t the violent type.”
“What, smashing someo
ne over the head isn’t violent?”
My vision blurred and my head began to swim. Closing my eyes, I sank down into my seat.
“I’m so sorry I’m angry. It must be the adrenalin. I wish I could do something to help you. Do you want some water?”
I nodded. I didn’t open my eyes for fear the spinning starting in my head would get worse. A cool bottle was pressed into my hand and I took a swig before handing it back.
“Here, hold this on your cheek instead and wrap the towel around you. You must be freezing.” He pressed a swab of material to my face making me wince before holding it myself. “Rest. We’ll fix you up as soon as we get back, okay?”
“Joe. I want to tell you why I picked Cameron.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. You have to rest.”
“Joe…”
“Amelia, rest.”
“I think it’s because of everything we’d been through. And I was scared of what our connection might mean.” The exertion of speaking mixed with pain and the lack of adrenalin running through my veins, and I slipped into darkness.
Chapter Seventeen
When I woke a few hours later, my face throbbed with pain and a headache had firmly planted itself behind my forehead and temples. Groaning, I lifted my hand to touch my face. A gauze was taped to one of my cheeks and I could tell without looking both were bruised and swollen.
“How’s she doing?” Cameron’s voice startled me, making me open my eyes.
Where was I? What was he doing there?
“Ssshhh.” Rose stroked my arm. “He’s here to make sure you’re okay.”
“How are you feeling?” Although he was dressed in a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, his bedside manner reminded me of the Cameron I’d met at the Sleep Ward at the MMC’s building in the city.
“Amazing,” I answered, rolling my eyes.
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