by Holly Hook
It’s much quieter out now.
The helicopter’s moving farther away, so faint now that I have to strain my ears to hear it. Nobody’s running down the street anymore. Anyone who’s smart or knows what’s going on has left this part of town. All of the houses are dark.
Mom and Dad. Tommy.
They’ve got to be so worried.
I pull out my phone. The three of them have tried to call at least thirty times. Each. I never heard the ring from my pocket. They’re probably at home or at the police station, waiting for any news, waiting to see what happens next. My hand trembles and I nearly drop the phone.
I want to call them. Tell them I’m all right. But I can’t risk that now. The police could track my calls—couldn’t they? Or worse, Mom and Dad could come out here looking for me. Tommy would, too. He’d risk facing the Deathwind to find me. Madeline’s desperate enough to turn them by now no matter what I say. She has to be, with only a few hours before—
“Allie. Go on,” Kyle whispers from the front door behind me. “We’ll be right behind you.”
I shove the phone back in my pocket just as it rings again. My heart rips out of my chest and I break into a run.
The street’s quiet. Dark. No stray bottle rockets or explosions go off this year. I run, breathing hard, searching the yards for any sign of life. There’s none. The police aren’t even coming down the road yet with their dogs. They might be in another part of town. I can’t tell.
I turn the corner. Elm and Driftwood, according to the signs. A cruiser goes through a pair of intersections ahead, but it doesn’t slow. They haven’t seen me. I should still be careful. If they do, they’ll stop and wonder why I’m running so fast. Offer me a ride somewhere. They might even have my description as the hostage. Mom and Dad have sure given it to them already.
There’s still no one.
I dash around another corner.
Town’s empty. Or hunkered down. There have to be people still here.
Then, shouting.
There’s an open garage down the street, near the end of a cul-de-sac. Light pours out. Shadows move. Someone’s still here. They’re rushing. Packing. Getting out before the Deathwind finds them. If anyone else is still around, they’re hiding with the lights off. I’ve got no way of knowing.
A man yells something and a teenage boy hollers something back. A woman joins in. Car doors open and close. I draw closer, feeling like a snake in the shadows. It’s a scared family. Like mine.
I stop two yards away from the house. I catch a glimpse of flopping sandals and white shorts. Of tennis shoes and a duffel bag. Of a car door that’s been left open to eat their belongings. Nothing but darkness stretches out at the end of the cul-de-sac. Open fields. Woods. This is the end of the subdivision.
I’ve got no other choice.
I pull out my phone and send a text to Uncle Cassius.
I never want to talk to you again.
I must have come half a mile. Madeline and the others have to be close behind me, stalking through dark yards. This family will have to work. They’re too rushed and worried about themselves for me to ask them for help or to lure them out of the garage. Madeline’s going to have to risk it and stand in the street. She has to know exactly where these people are to send the Deathwind at them.
My phone’s silent. I turn, looking for any movement. What if I’ve lost the others? The time reads twelve forty-five. The guy yells something again from the garage, though it’s too muffled for me to make out.
