I don’t know. There was a moment of silence when I assumed Joshua tried to figure out where he was. I’m in the trunk. We’re driving somewhere, fast.
“Craynor definitely stole a vehicle.” I stepped outside into the rain once again, this time at the front of the building as my eyes darted around, searching for a truck.
Cole finally spoke up. He’d been quiet. Too quiet. “You can borrow my car.” He pulled the keys from his pocket as I stood out in the rain, handing them to me. How long would he have held out? I snatched the keys from his hands.
“Which way?” I asked.
I was thankful it wasn’t at all like the vehicle Joshua and I had driven in. It had a solid roof shielding us from rain as Gavin, Rane and I piled into the car. “I need you to stay here. When reinforcements come they’ll need to know we’re going to Haven,” I instructed Cole. “You need to send them up north.” I hoped that was where Craynor had taken Joshua. If Haven was destroyed, it was possible a building or two could have remained standing. Enough of a place for Craynor to hide and no one else to find or recognize him. Cole didn’t complain. He seemed relieved he got to stay behind in Torv. I tossed my soaking bag in the backseat and shut the door. A moment later, we headed out of the city.
Hang on, Josh. We’re on our way.
CHAPTER 3
I wasted no time, my foot hard on the gas. Talk to me, I insisted, needing him to give me any details he could. I needed to know he was alive. That he was still breathing. I couldn’t let anything happen to him.
We’re still driving. He sounded scared. Concerned. I couldn’t blame him. I was glad our telepathic bond had stretched farther than it had been capable of before. I didn’t care the reason, whether it was fear, love, or strength in training that had done it. I needed to find Joshua.
Can you see anything? Hear anything you recognize? I asked him. He was in the trunk but I hoped there was a crack somewhere or a way to escape.
My hands are tied and no, I don’t see or hear anything, but the hum of the engine and the bumps from the road. I could hear the stress in his voice. I tried to focus as I drove the car north towards Haven. Joshua had been the one good with a map. I glanced in the rearview at Rane. “Do you remember how you got here from Haven?” I hadn’t asked her much about her escape.
Rane sighed. “I was walking for a few days. Then someone picked me up.”
Gavin frowned, this was news to him. “Who picked you up?”
“I don’t know. I’ve assumed he was from your town of Torv. He did bring me back with him.” She stated the obvious. “It’s not like I saw him again, though. He dropped me off with the high council. That was it.”
“Were there any other survivors?” I asked, glancing around me, looking for tire tracks, evidence someone had taken this old dirt road earlier.
“I didn’t see anyone,” Rane admitted. “How do you know we’re going the right way?” she quipped.
“I just do.” It made sense. It was the only town where he could go without being recognized, because it had been destroyed. It was uninhabitable as far as everyone was concerned. Craynor needed a place where he could hide: he’d take Joshua to Haven. Josh can you make the car break down? If he stalled on the open road, would it give us time to catch up?
I don’t know, he answered. I don’t want to face Craynor any sooner than I have to. He was right. At least Joshua was still alive and conscious. I could talk to him. Who knows what awaited him if Craynor stopped the car and pulled Joshua out? I grimaced, not wanting to imagine it.
Just hang on! I urged as I hit the gas harder feeling the car bumping along the grassy roads.
“Slow down.” Gavin gripped the handle on the car above his head beside the door. “We’re no good to him dead.”
He was right, too, but I couldn’t slow down. Not without wasting valuable time.
Olivia! Olivia we’ve stopped!
I tried not to reveal my concentration more on Joshua and less on the open road. Tell me what you see. I needed something to go by. We’d been driving awhile but not long enough to have reached Haven. At least I hadn’t thought so.
I… Olivia. It was the last thing I heard from him. I felt my hands shake and I glanced around me. I couldn’t see anything. No sign of a vehicle or civilization and I could no longer hear Joshua. “Damn it!” I screamed out of frustration. I felt Gavin’s and Rane’s eyes on me but I ignored them.
“Do you want me to drive?” Gavin suggested. “It might be easier on you.”
“I’m fine!” I pushed harder on the gas. “They can’t be that far ahead of us.” I just hoped we were headed in the right direction.
We drove another twenty minutes north as I moved off the dirt road and onto grass. I glanced back at Rane. “Do you think Craynor could have found a place in Haven to keep Joshua?”
“I don’t know. Not much was left. There could have been a cellar or basement abandoned that didn’t get struck. That’s how I survived,” Rane admitted.
It at least gave me hope. As we drove north, the rain stopped and the clouds parted. Cresting a hill, I slammed the brakes as we jolted to an abrupt halt.
“What the hell?” Gavin’s voice echoed as the seatbelt restrained him and his arm shot up on the dashboard to steady himself. A few feet away, I saw outlaws with weapons pointed in our direction. “Hurry up!” His voice threatened in my ear as I slammed on the gas, but our car wasn’t going anywhere: the tires had blown from spikes in the road.
Locking the doors hadn’t helped. They busted the car window and flipped the lock, opening the door, dragging all three of us out.
“What do you want?” Gavin demanded. “You’re wrecked the car. We don’t have food or water. We’re worthless to you.”
We were outnumbered, six to three. “This is a mistake!” I offered trying to let them save face. “The government has fallen. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’re here looking for a friend who was taken.” I pleaded with them hoping it would help.
The tallest of the six, even taller than Gavin, laughed. “You hear her?” He pointed his pistol at my face. The six outlaws laughed until he finished what he had to say. “We don’t care.” I felt the stale air, humid and thick. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.
“What do you want with us?” I couldn’t see how we were of any use to them.
A shorter and fatter man missing a few teeth smiled eerily. “You catch a hefty price on the market. That’s good enough for me.”
“Pirates?” I whispered to Rane as they dragged her out of the car beside me.
“Get down!” the stranger shouted, tossing us to the ground, my feet falling out from under me. My knees hit the grass and dirt, kicking it up as I coughed head bent forward. I turned my head slightly catching a glimpse of Rane. I noticed a bloody cut on her forehead. When had she gotten that? The car? The men? I hadn’t noticed.
“Let them go!” Gavin demanded. I heard his voice, but couldn’t see him. He must have been on the opposite side of the car. I noticed now that four men surrounded us and the other two stood beside Gavin.
I could take four men. It wouldn’t be easy, but I could do this. I took a deep breath, calming all thoughts as I stood up. The first man went for me with his fist, but he missed. I landed a punch to his jaw and a kick to his stomach. He fell back into the car. My eyes narrowed as I grew hot with rage. Smoke permeated my nostrils. Joshua was gone and these men stood in my way. The anger poured out from inside of me, and with it my hands burned. A spark followed with a ball of fire, lighting one of the outlaws aflame.