June 10th, 50XX213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oDBemJZyS
Thursday
The night drifts into daytime. Kate's lying beside Franny in her arms asleep with a blanket over them on the back seat, Sadie's curled up in a sleeping bag up the front, passenger seat and Julian in one too, drivers seat at the parking campground they stopped at for the night.
Two people approach his van and there is a brief knock on the door.
Then they knock again till everyone wakes up inside. "Who is it?" Sadie whispers. Kate starts breathing deeply and Franny hugs the young girl close as Julian pulls out his gun, slipping out the drivers door.
It's quiet for a moment, then he returns, the two people with him. "We're good, team." He says, stepping aside to reveal Kyle Bates and Hannah Z.
"Well, hello, Franny Day. We haven't seen you in forever." Hannah says.
"Likewise." Franny snaps back. Kyle raises an eyebrow. "Just as feisty as I remember." He says.
"Uh, I'd say that's debatable actually." Julian responds.
"So, I heard you four need a helping hand so that's why we're here." Kyle adds on. "I heard a Shaniqua hooked you up with fake ID's. Haven't met her myself, but she sounds like one of us in the making."
"She doesn't want to be a rainbow teen." Franny tells him.
"More like rainbow adult. We grew up."
"Just tell me what both you're plans are to help us."
"Fine, since you asked so nicely. There is a remote community out rast, hours from the nearest major city. I would suggest heading there, I'll drop you folks there.
My advice is ditch this van now though and come in ours. You may be using fake ID's and in another state that isn't the one chasing you down or something? It wasn't clear what you meant, Julian.
None the less, you past a checkpoint and they will work it out eventually especially if your Shaniqua squeals or whatever.
Also, you have a 18 year old girl with previous runaway charges and unpaid tagging fine using her real ID. That will generate interest in your van and they will discover your ID's are fake."
"You can't say that about Shaniqua. She was a really kind person." Franny snaps.
"And the facts still remain, Fran."
"It's Franny to you, Kyle."
"Just get out." Hannah snaps. "We're burning midnight oil here."
"Okay, just collect your stuff everyone and hop out." Julian pleads and they all do.
"And you, Sadie? Heard you're the rainbow teen leader currently." Hannah says. "You going with them to a remote community?"
"No, I want to be dropped off at the lookout closest to the border, near the river. I'm meeting my girlfriend there." Sadie responds.
"Hmm, you're motivated by love."
"Aren't we all in some way?"
"Till people betray you. Personally, I like money and diamonds."
"And I like spray-paint and my girlfriend!"
"Hannah, just stop." Julian says.
"Fine, we'll drop you a short distance from there. You can hike up.
I'm a smuggler anyway, I'll get you there, past all security checkpoints."
"So, Sadie. Who's taking over as the leader? You can't lead the Rainbow Teens from the otherside of the wall." Kyle now picks on her.
"How do you know it still won't be me? I might have internet access."
"And if you don't? No one knows what is out there."
"Kyle, there is a long list of us. If I'm not heard from in 14 days exactly, the next person on the list becomes the leader.
We don't change the password for the Admin login."
"And who's the next person in running?"
"I'm not telling you. Julian, tell your buddy to back off."
"Kyle, Hannah. Leave Sadie alone, stop pushing her and don't keep pushing Fran either."
Our partners in crime duo is silent and walks back to Kyle and Hannah's van, everyone following and they climb in.
Driving off into the rising sun, leaving Julian's van behind. He can always source another van, he has connections.
"So, Franny. What did you do after we all left high-school or we're sent to Juvie?
Heard you distanced from everyone and went your own way." Hannah smirks from the front seat, Kyle driving beside her.
It's cramped in the back seat for the rest together.
"Uh... I moved around a fair bit. Hitch-hiked here and there, did some miscellaneous jobs and completed high-school at a umm- never mind, it doesn't matter."
"And how was that? What score did you pass with? Did you aim for extended also?"
"Uh, I was set up with a small dorm room on site. I paid for it from social funds, it wasn't expensive and I wasn't living at home so I qualified.
I scored 80% and no, I didn't go on to do extended. It's not required."
"But it boosts-"
"I wasn't interested, Hannah. I always hated schooling. I wasn't made for it, ever."
"None of us we're made for it." And Hannah shuts up. Franny shoots Julian a glare, letting him know she can't take the 20 questions game alongside Hannah being nosey.
He shrugs, signalling that some people never change.
Franny shrugs back. She did... She went onto become an officer of the law.
"So, Kyle. Hannah, it's been a long time since we've caught up with each other like this. I mean, other than the occasional text." Julian speaks up.
"Indeed. Juvie does that, I heard you stayed in the adult justice system for a further few years voluntarily."
"Uh, yeah..." He trails off, Franny glaring at him. He didn't tell her that.
"I didn't have anywhere to go and authorities we're still angry slightly. By staying, it took the heat off me more and eventually I left, did a halfway house and then vanished off the grid and they didn't care.
What did you and Hannah do?"
"We left at 18. They couldn't legally hold us. Went off the grid too like you, but straight away."
"But that would have drawn attention to you."
"Not if they couldn't find us to begin with. They would have closed our cases after a year.
I hear now that missing person cases only stay open a month or so."
Franny opens her mouth to talk, but Kate shoves a lollypop in Fran's mouth, causing Fran to cough.
She had a few in her backpack. Julian signals for her to be quiet and let him do the talking.
"Uh, yeah. I heard that too." Julian responds.
"Thank you." Franny whispers to Kate, pulling the lollypop out of her mouth to her disgust.
Sugar, she hates sugar. "Where's mine?" Sadie laughs and Kate holds one out to her. She accepts it.
There us a ring on Julian's phone and he answers. "Hello?
Oh, yeah. One moment. Sadie, it's Kat.
She said, Andrew is dropping her off in the area leading up the lookout. They're apparently actually ahead of us, he got a car."
"More like stole one I bet." Franny huffs.
"Is he coming with me and Kat?" Sadie asks and Julian questions him.
"No, he said he wants to stay behind and help other teens make it where they need to go."
"Hand the phone over here for a second. Tell Andrew I want to talk to him."
And he obliges.
"Andrew? Yeah, it's me. I'll be hiking up to the lookout soon. I'll probably be half a day to a day.
When me and Kat make it past the border, I want you to know, I'm done.
I'm done being the leader. The position is yours if you want it or we keep going down the list.
You'll take it? I'm so glad to hear. Good luck, bye." And she hands the phone back to Julian.
"Hey, we going to pull over and make a camp in a cave up ahead on my map. I know it's only midday, but we need to cook and settle in and best prepare for tomorrow.
We could keep going, but I don't wanna see Sadie hike up to a lookout in the dark and you, Julian with Franny and a minor walk through the boom docks to the remote community in the east during the night.
We do both earlier enough tomorrow morning, you will stand the best chance all of you making it where you want to go with plenty daylight hours to spare." Hannah says. "Safer that way and means Kyle and I don't need to drive around in the dark either later on."
Everyone agrees.
213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnVrrgELJR
