Chapter Two
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Her door opened. One eye peeked out from a mountain of blankets. Nothing. Oh, well. She closed her eyes. A floorboard creaked. Both eyes shot open and she sat up amidst a flurry of covers. A shadowy figure by the door. She reached out a hand.
As the figure walked towards her slowly, she gasped. The boy from her dream. But this time he was real. She opened her mouth to scream, but the boy held a finger to his lips. He crept into the sliver of silver moonlight streaming in through her window and smiled, glancing furtively around the small bedroom.
“You. You’re real?” She asked in hushed tones. For the first time, he spoke.
“Yes.” Gravelly and whispered, she almost missed it. “Pack a bag. We leave now. Grab enough to get you through winter at the least.”
“Leave?”
“Yes. It’s the Fall of Ages. President Jaidin is trying to eradicate the teenage generation. In order to survive, we have to flee to a remote area of the world. I’d like to get us to Alaska.
“Now, pack!”
She jumped out of bed and grabbed a large hardsided suitcase.
“Here,” she breathed. “It’s full. Go downstairs and take the keys to the Honda off of the hook. We will never get anywhere otherwise. Oh!” She ripped a heavy wool blanket off of her bed. “Put this in there too.” The boy nodded and silently backed out of the room. The girl closed the door and grabbed the warmest clothes she could find out of her dresser, put them on, and tiptoed downstairs. She stole down to the basement, snatched three pairs of snow pants and warm winter coats, and ran back upstairs. As she looked out the open door, she dropped the winter supplies, dashed back inside, and left a note on the kitchen table.
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Mom and Dad:
Please don’t worry. I had to leave late last night. I took the van and dad’s credit card. Please don’t report it stolen. Also, don’t call me. It could get me killed. I love you both, and Kyla too.
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Grabbing her phone and her father’s credit card, she ran back outside into the dark. She grabbed the driver's side door and swung in. looking out, she saw the boy
and another figure conversing in the shadows. The boy tugged the other person into the backseat, then climbed in the passenger side.
“Now go!” He rasped. The girl hit the ignition and punched it in reverse.
Ten minutes later, flying down I-95 at a solid 75 mph, the boy spoke again.
“I’m sorry,we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Cameo, and this is my cousin Harley, but everyone calls her Gizmo.” He motioned to the figure hidden in the backseat.
“Infinity,” spoke the girl in a voice as smooth as glass. “My name is Infinity.” Imperceptible in the dark of night and all noise drowned out by rubber on pavement, the boy, Cameo, whistled softly.
“Infinity,” he breathed.
“Now, can you please explain this Fall of Ages? I still don’t know why I have been, technically, kidnapped by a fifteen year old and his thirteen-year-old cousin,” Infinity demanded without taking her eyes from the road.
“Sixteen,” Cameo huffed. “Anyway, President Beau Jaidin has passed a law with about a million other world leaders that any male or female ages thirteen to nineteen should be brought to Washington D.C. to be executed. No trial, no nothing. So a few of us got wind of these nefarious plans and struck out on our own, each choosing two others to save with ourselves. Any more, and we’d be too detectable. We each chose a remote corner of the earth to hide until this is over. That’s about it.”
“And,” piped up Harley from the backseat, “if you try to protect a teen from being killed, they take you to Washington to make an example out of you.”
“Fun.” Infinity muttered. Out loud she said, “Why? Why does he want to do this?”
“We have strong evidence that he is not mentally competent when it comes to children. We believe it is some sort of strange syndrome that should stop as soon as all us teens are dead.”
“So he’s afraid of teenagers.”
“To put it bluntly, yes, I suppose so.” Cameo rolled his eyes. “I personally think it’s stupid, but that’s probably because it’s my life on the line.” Infinity tossed him her phone.
“I’d like to get to New Hampshire by dawn. See if you can book us a campsite somewhere. I don't want to risk a hotel.”
The boy typed in a few searches. “Done.” He handed the phone back to Infinity. “Follow these directions.” She placed the phone on the dashboard and headed deep into the black abyss of night.
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