Taken By Surprise

by Jessica Frances

  ***

  “Zoe, wake up.” My body is being shaken lightly and I unwillingly open my eyes. “We’re in Bowman and I think we should get some food and find a restroom.”

  “What time is it?” I’ve already closed my eyes again, still resting comfortably on Charlie’s shoulder.

  “This car doesn’t have a clock, but I would say past lunchtime.”

  I still really don’t want to move, but the thought of food makes my stomach grumble and I’m suddenly busting to go to the bathroom.

  “Okay.”

  “I think a change of clothes might be in order.” Charlie moves to grab our bags from the back seat and winces as it twists his side. I move his hand away before he can try again and grab both his as well as my own bag, bringing them back around. Joel is still completely out of it.

  Charlie pulls out a new t-shirt and attempts to take off the shirt he is currently wearing. Instead, he only gets part way before he groans and stops.

  “Is it your side?”

  “Yeah, it hurts when I try to lift my arm,” he answers hesitantly.

  “Face me a second.”

  He slides around on the seat and I help him pull his shirt off. Bruises litter his entire chest.

  “Crap, Charlie, look at you! There isn’t a spot on you where you aren’t bruised!” I rest my hand on his heavily bruised side which makes him instantly move away.

  “Careful.”

  “You really need to get this looked at.”

  “It looks worse than it is,” he dismisses me. I bite back on my insistence that he get checked out.

  I help him put on a fresh shirt and notice more bruises over his body. I assume they’re from training, however they could also have been from his fall. I have several from that stupid circuit. Seeing him so injured puts a damper on seeing him shirtless for the first time.

  He puts on a baseball cap and I go through my own bag to try to find something to wear. I grab out a button up shirt and discover a beanie at the bottom of my bag, one from home. I feel awkward having Charlie in the car with me while I change, but I try to turn the other way a bit so that I’m mostly hidden.

  “You think I’m bruised, you should take a look at yourself,” Charlie says quietly, revealing to me that he obviously doesn’t mind watching me while I change. I feel self-conscious and am quick to button up my shirt.

  “Is that some new look you’re going for?”

  “What?” My voice is sharp as I start feeling annoyed that he’s been looking while I dress. I pull down on my beanie and hope it’ll make it harder to recognize me.

  I look down at myself and realize that I’ve missed the top hole, so every single button is done in the wrong one.

  “Shut up.” I push his arm lightly and then move to redo them. My heart is racing and I’m not sure if it’s from being so close to Charlie or from being on the run and knowing we’re about to go out in public which could possibly cause us to get caught.

  “Hey, it’s going to be okay.” Charlie leans close to me and while he takes my hand and squeezes it reassuringly, he also moves his lips to my own and we kiss. My body loosens and I let myself lean in closer to him before he pulls away. “Trust me.” It’s not exactly the kiss I crave from him, although given our exhaustion and the fact that Joel is passed out behind us, I don’t complain.

  We get out of the car and I nearly fall straight onto the ground. My legs are like jelly. I stretch them out and then proceed to stretch my whole body. While it feels good to do so, it also makes me want to curl up into a warm bed and sleep for days.

  I look at the backseat where Joel is sleeping and decide there isn’t much point waking him up.

  Charlie takes hold of my hand and we walk towards the shops that are ahead of us. I’m hungry, but unsure what for. In the end, there isn’t a real lot of choice and Charlie and I have pizza. We buy some food and bottles of water for later to take with us. We just make it to the car as it begins to rain.

  “Do you think we need to swap cars again?” Charlie asks, opening his door, but still standing outside the driver’s door, looking across the top of the car at me.

  “You want to steal another car?” I can’t help thinking that inconveniencing one person is definitely more than enough.

  “I don’t want to, but if they know we have this car and it gets found in Nebraska, then they’ll know where we are.”

  “Well, we won’t be in Nebraska long and I suppose from there, we could always get a different car? Perhaps we can buy one under one of our fake names.”

  Charlie nods his head and ducks out of the rain which is starting to get heavier. I go to follow, but in the corner of my eye, I see something that gives me a chill that has nothing to do with the weather. I turn and look more carefully and see a black SUV entering the small car park. It’s too dark to see through the tinted windows, but I’m sure it’s someone from P.A.G.E. My instincts kick in and I know not to ignore them.

  “Zoe?” Charlie stands back up when he notices I haven’t followed him into the car.

  I duck into the car and in one swift move lean over to the driver’s seat and pull hard on Charlie’s hand.

  “Ouch, Zoe—” Charlie bumps his head on the top on the car as I pull him down by his hand and he collapses onto the seat.

  “They’re here!” I gasp at him, worried my heart might jump out of my chest. I already hear my breathing getting louder and I quickly lean back to my side and shut the door. My hair, that hadn’t been under my beanie, is wet and my shirt is sticking uncomfortably to me.

  “What? Who?”

  “Who do you think?” I borderline shriek at him.

  “Shit.” Charlie tenses up and he, too, is quick to pull his feet in the car and shut the door.

  The rain falls harder and it becomes impossible to see far into the distance.

  “What if they’re looking for this car? It could have been reported stolen and they might have put it together with us.” I’m shaking as I realize what this could mean. We’re going to get caught. We’re going to go back to The Windmill. We’ve failed Drew.