Chapter 36: The Traitor
I quickly reach for my slingshot as the stranger looks at me perplexed. “Who are you?” he asks, his blue eyes in a large question.
“Who are you?” I return.
He swiftly ducks as I let a rock loose—good reflects on his part. It hits the wall behind him, making a hard, cracking sound. As I load another stone, he makes it to behind the wingchair.
“Stop trying to hit me,” he implores, scrunching down as low as he can.
“Why should I?” I retort.
“Because . . .”
“Because what?”
“Because he’s my cousin,” Royce’s voice comes at me from the top of the ladder.
“Your cousin?”
“Please stop trying to hurt him,” Royce tells me with a smile as he reaches the bottom.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Royce’s cousin, but I didn’t know who you were.”
“You didn’t even let me explain.”
“If you had gone through what Royce and I have gone through, you’d shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Anyway,” Royce says, “Donny, this is Nova. Nova, this is Donny.”
“Hi, Donny,” I greet.
“I’m not coming out of my hiding place until she puts that lethal weapon away—she’s dangerous!”
“Donny!” chides Royce.
I stuff the slingshot back in my pocket. “You can come out now, Donny.”
He peeks from the side of the chair, his platinum blonde hair sticking out in spikes all over his head. Even his hairdo looks scared. I muffle a chuckle.
“I’m not used to being attacked,” Donny asserts, standing up.
“I can’t help it if you surprised me.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Can I come down?” asks a female voice from the top of the ladder.
“I bumped into Deena outside,” Royce announces. “I told her to let me go in first.”
“Come in, honey,” says Donny.
A pretty ash blonde with green eyes and a friendly smile climbs down.
Donny moves toward her and then points at me. “Honey, this is—”
“You don’t have to tell me! This is the Supernova!” she exclaims, bending by the waist and lowering her head.
Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? I’m horrified! “What are you doing?”
“You’re the Supernova!”
“I forgot about that,” blurts Donny, disconcerted. “I’m sorry if I offended you.” He makes the same movements as Deena.
“Why are you bowing?” I ask, incredibly uncomfortable and flabbergasted as Royce stares on with an amused look.
“You’re—”
“I’m a human being—that’s all.”
“The Supernova isn’t just another human being,” declares Deena.
“Please don’t bow,” I rush, my voice still startled. “I don’t want anyone bowing to me.”
“But—”
“We’re equal.”
“But—”
“Equal,” I assert.
They straighten out their bodies. I exhale a breath of relief.
“My name’s Nova,” I tell Deena, my freaked-out voice starting to return to normal.
“My name’s Deena. I’m Donny’s wife,” she informs me, eyeing me carefully as if unsure about what to think of me.
“How did you know we were here?” Royce asks Donny.
“Ever since you called me to tell me you were coming, I’ve been on the lookout.”
“That was quite a while when I called you from Constanza’s phone.”
“I didn’t know how long it would take you to get here. Then with the tornado and the soldiers that were found, I guessed you might be in this place.”
“Soldiers?” mumbles Royce.
“A colonel and a private. The colonel was dead when they found him. Funny thing—he was clutching a steering wheel. The rest of the pieces of his jeep were scattered all over the place.”
“And the private?” I ask, gulping. “What happened to him?”
“Ah, he’s the one who led me to you.”
“He talked about us?” questions Royce, his body shaping itself into defensive mode from its relaxed state.
“Sort of. He babbled on about the colonel driving straight into a tornado, a scary raccoon, a reward, and then he said something about prisoners escaping.”
“Prisoners?” I mutter.
“Don’t worry! He didn’t say anything after that. The poor guy died. I’m the one who put two and two together, wondering if he could be talking about you. Everyone else thought he was talking about himself trying to escape from being the colonel’s prisoner. The colonel had a reputation. Did he really drive into a tornado?”
Royce nods. “Yep.”
“Was he as nuts as they say he was?”
“Yep.”
“He must’ve been completely deranged if he went toward a tornado!”
“Nova dubbed him psycho colonel.”
“Good name,” Donny asserts.
“Were you in the jeep with him?” Deena asks, alarmed.
“I’m afraid so,” I answer.
“Really?!”
“Yep,” Royce interjects.
Donny’s eyes form round saucers. “How did you escape?”
“We jumped off the jeep.”
“You jumped off the jeep?!” exclaims Deena, her voice in a high pitch.
“We did,” I assert.
“Did you get hurt?” asks Deena, concerned.
“Luckily, the colonel had slowed down a lot—I guess he was having trouble maneuvering the jeep,” explains Royce. “We only got some bumps and bruises.”
“If you hadn’t jumped, you’d probably be dead too,” Donny comments.
“Yeah,” Royce utters.
“Let’s not even think about it,” Deena blurts, unhappily.
“I wonder why the private didn’t jump too?” asks Donny.
Royce’s face turns contemplative. “I think the tornado left him so freaked out that he didn’t do anything to save himself.”
“Sad,” Deena mutters quietly.
“You’ve got to think on your feet all the time,” Royce comments, looking at me. “That’s what we’ve had to do to survive.”
“I guess he just didn’t have it in him,” I say. “It’s just lucky for us that he didn’t say anything else about us.”
“After saying his last words, I started wondering about you, Royce.”
“Donny, you’re a quick thinker,” Royce asserts.
“I thought to myself, ‘If they were the escaped prisoners, where would they have gone in a storm like last night’s?’ Then I remembered having told you about this place.”
“It’s perfect for hiding,” Royce announces, “with the exception of not having any food that is.”
“You’ve been here since last night without food?” Deena asks, concerned.
“It’s okay,” I state, “food wasn’t the priority when we got out of that crazy weather.”
By now, I’m used to the hallow feeling of hunger in my stomach. I’m sure it’s the same way with Royce.
“I can’t have the Supernova starving on my watch,” gushes Deena. “I’ll be right back,” she announces, heading to the ladder.
I want to tell her not to trouble herself since Royce has our backpacks with the remaining dried meat inside, but the anticipation of fresh food stops me. My mouth actually waters. My tongue tingles with expectation.
As she reaches the top and climbs out, Donny stares after her with a loving expression. “She’s so great,” he says.
“She’s one of the most considerate people I know,” Royce asserts admiringly.
I love that Royce notices and appreciates such qualities in people.
“I had left her out there while I looked inside. The possibilities were good that you had been the one to pick the lock, Royce, but in case it hadn’t been you . . .”
>
“It’s good that you protected her from Nova’s lethal slingshot,” Royce declares, smiling.
Donny nods energetically. “You can say that again.”
“You’re right about her being very dangerous,” teases Royce.
“Quit,” I say.
“Nova, have you ever bashed a person’s head in with that thing?” Donny asks with curiosity.
“No.”
“But she caused amnesia,” Royce announces.
“What do you expect me to do with my slingshot?—shoot grains of sand or something?”
“Just don’t shoot us,” Donny says, smiling.
I smile slyly back. “Don’t get in my way.”
“Others have tried to and look at where they’re at,” Royce declares.
“Others?” Donny repeats in a puzzled way as if an idea suddenly pops in his head. “Come to think of it, shouldn’t there be one more person with you?”
“What?” asks Royce.
“Hadn’t you told me that our cousin was coming with you?”
“Yes, but—“
“Where’s Peter?”
The name suddenly triggers a reaction in me. Snippets of visions race before my mind’s eye. Royce notices what is happening to me, knowing my patterns by now, and immediately slips into my mind.
“I can’t believe this!” he exclaims with explosive anger and disbelief.
“What is it?” Donny asks, alarmed at Royce’s demeanor.
Royce pushes his right hand forward, palm facing Donny and fingers extended out, to stop any questions for the moment. “I’ve got to check this out for myself.”
Royce’s eyes glass over as if he’s in another place. Then his face comes back to life alarmed and furious. “It’s definitely Peter—the traitor!”
Supernova Page 34
