An hour into the drive, Vain started to sing softly to the tune of whatever she fancied at the moment. With nothing else to occupy her own mind, Neesha tried to pin the song down to figure out why it was familiar.
Ida said not two minutes after Vain began singing, "Stop that, Vain."
"I'm on the right track... Oh come on, captain, it's a great song from the twenty-first!"
Ida stared steadily at her and Vain sighed. Ida turned her attention to Neesha: "Do you know what to do when we get there?"
"Stay out of the way and let you guys take over?"
Derek laughed and swerved left to pass a slow food truck. "We'll make an operative out of you yet!"
"You'll go with Derek and find those diaries," Ida said. "That's the most important thing. Vain and I will be on the lookout for any patrols in the area and cover your retreat. If it looks like we won't make it, Derek will drive you back to the base."
"We can't just leave you behind," Neesha objected.
"If you think I'll just drive off like that, you don't know me," Derek said in agreement.
Ida gave the two of them a glare but for once Neesha refused to cower. "You saved me. I'm not going to leave you here after that," the girl said. "And I may be useless, but I'm not stupid enough to leave the one who has to lead some top secret mission out here to die."
"The diaries are more important." Ida tried to say. If she did die, she knew the operation would be in good hands. But stars and planets, what would happen to their country if Thandisry ever realised the value of those casually written words of a young child? He would destroy them without a second thought and undo everything Erik's rebellion had done. Why couldn't they see that? This was her decision, damn it! Too many people have already died trying to take down Thandisry. If a few more could put an end to the man's reign, she would gladly sign up.
"I bet they are just as important as whatever you have to do," Neesha said, taking a stab in the dark when she saw a flash of hesitation in Ida's eyes.
Vain finally spoke up. "Am I the only smart one in this vehicle? Because it sure is starting to seem that way to me."
Derek glanced at her in the rear-view mirror and caught her line of thinking. He smirked. "Have something to say, Oh, Smart One?"
"We just have to keep up with them," Vain said.
Ida was pulled out of her dark thoughts and marvelled at the simplicity of Vain's thinking. It was the sort of thing she might have said a few years ago. Too much has happened and that self was gone.
"I don't know about you Ida, but there's no way Derek can outrun me."
"You have got to be kidding me. There is no way you can outrun me, V." He sent her a knowing smile before diving down to join the rest of the population on ground level - even in the dark, there was a good chance a speedy and risk-taking craft might catch the attention of the patrols.
"Enough," Ida said sharply. "That is the plan. We will do our best not...to be left behind." She finished speaking with a slight smirk.
Neesha relaxed into her seat and looked out her window to hide her worry. But what if it doesn't work out? She let herself be absorbed by the passing scenery. Unfamiliar surroundings melted into familiar ones. Familiar ones melted into those she could name on sight, and those in turn became ones she was emotionally attached to.
That bookstore, where she would work once a week and stay in as long as possible...before it was bombed for hosting secret pro-Erik meetings in their basement. Both of which never existed in a first place.
That corner store, where she would always buy her pens and chocolate. It was still standing, but someone had painted graffiti on the side: THNDSRY MPYRE RKS!
That post office, where she would send and receive old fashioned letters to her pen pal in New Canada...what happened to her? Neesha hadn't thought of her in such a long time.
Her school, where she managed to fit in but somehow still ended up alone, save for one friend. Again, someone she hadn't contacted since the bombing. I must be a terrible friend.
That playground, where her mother used to take her on Saturday mornings.
The house that she used to call home before everything went wrong, starting with her mother's sickness.
The street, where she had lived until not so long ago.
And finally.
That house, where she lived without a home to keep her anchored.
She blinked and stared blankly as they rolled pass the house and down the next street. Derek continued to drive their vehicle until they rounded the corner and were parked a few blocks away, safe from the wreckage and behind an ancient blue motorcycle.
"Well?" Ida asked.
"A patrol will be coming in twenty minutes from the west," Vain said and tapped her screen again. "Depending on how long it takes to find the diaries in the wreckage we may or may not run into them."
"Find it in ten minutes," Ida ordered Neesha.
"Got it."
Goggles were placed over eyes and final checks were made to see if they were all connected via com. units and they synced their watches. The four of them left the car and Neesha immediately began to take the shortest route to where the back of the house used to be while Ida and Vain scouted the front.
"My room was facing the backyard," Neesha said to Derek when the silence became too heavy. "It was the nursery at the time and I shared it with my younger step-brother who was a few months old. A few years later he and his sister switched rooms. Personally, I preferred having Jake rather than Sarah because Jake was quieter and listened to me. Sarah on the other hand, always nagged me to tell her stories and would never let me finish them. She only got more annoying as she grew older. When the attic was finally reconstructed, she moved up there and I had the room to myself."
"That must have been a relief," Derek remarked. "I was still sharing a single room with three of my brothers before I moved out and I was eighteen. 618Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyxH5aYH34
"This is it." He stopped and stared at the mess.
Neesha blew out a breath. "We better get started then. Look for a big wooden closet. It's supposed to be brown."
"Team, you have eight minutes," Ida said into their ear.
Derek raised his left hand to his lips. "Yeah, we're on it."
Neesha used her booted foot to move the larger pieces of furniture and roofing tiles away. Random sheets of paper and pens were scattered all over, including clothes, pillows, blankets, memory chips, kitchenware - everything. She started her search near the pens and papers, knowing that those belonged to her. No one else in the house used pens; they all went for their tablets and phones if they ever needed to jot something down.
She swallowed the bile that started to rise. "They're...not still here, are they?"
Derek paused and stood to face her. "Oh, I'm sorry. We forgot to tell you more. You didn't seem to want to know so we didn't say."
"Say what?"
"Once you were rescued, your family members were found and cremated."
Neesha breathed in through her nose as she nodded and went back to work, trying her best not to think of them. She found her school bag, still filled with her last day's assignments and gym clothes. Near that, she spotted her ruined desk and lamp. She continued to rummage through her belongings.
When she found the crate filled with her past diaries, Derek looked into the crate and his only comment was, "Those look thick and heavy."
Neesha surveyed the blue notebooks that had around two hundred pages each. There were four of them, filled with five years' worth of war.
"They're here," she said.
"You two better jet - the patrol is three minutes away," Vain said.
Derek led the way back to the vehicle at a run, unlocking it when they approached. He climbed into the driver's seat and she slid in behind him. Ida and Vain joined them after another minute and he floored the craft the moment they were seated.
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