a
crazy moment of fear, he leaned forward and touched his mouth ever
so lightly to mine. He then slid out of the Car and slammed the
door shut.
I reached for my temples. So many emotions
were at war in my head that my brain felt as though it were
pulsating. I steadied myself. Forget the kiss Avery. I was sure
that it was just a good luck kiss. Or a please-don’t-die kiss. But
I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to be either of those types of
kisses. I shook myself. No, Avery. I knew he didn’t feel that way
for me. I needed to forget about it.
Instead I
channeled my concentration into remembering the plan, and tried to
count the seconds starting from when the driver took off again from
Felix’s drop off point. I guessed that we were travelling at about
a hundred kilometers an hour, but that was a stab in the dark based
on minimal experience riding in a Car. On Olympia I usually walked
everywhere, the populated part of the mountain was only a small
place, and I had never ventured further down the mountain than the
town outskirts. I reached one thousand, eight hundred and nineteen
seconds before we stopped again. I guessed that equalled about half
an hour of driving. I did some of the quickest maths I had ever
done. At an estimated 100km/h that would mean that we had travelled
fifty kilometers. There was no hope in me finding Felix. We had no
idea what direction the other was in, and even if we managed to
somehow move in that exact direction, we would be walking for 25
kilometers each before intercepting. The driver opened my door and
reached for my hand, pulling me from the car.
“ How are you
feeling?” he asked in an unexpectedly kind voice. I guessed he must
have noticed my trembling, clammy palm. I looked up to meet his eye
and realized that they were almost the exact shade of my mother’s.
A woman who I loved despite her shallowness, and a woman who I
would never see again. A tear rolled down my cheek and I swiped at
it with my free hand. The driver pulled me into a hug. I wanted so
badly to tell him why I was crying. But for all he knew, I was just
another Prime. He probably thought I was crying with excitement. He
held me tight and I began to wonder why he was hugging me so
intimately. Then I heard a muffled voice in my ear.
“ You’re
bloody stupid Ms Optime. Bloody stupid.” I jumped at his voice in
my ear, but managed to maintain the embrace. “But you’re also
bloody brave, and I appreciate that someone finally has the courage
to fight the system. Your friend is about fifteen kilometers
towards the east. It’ll only take you an hour to reach him if you
run. I told him to stay still.”
My mouth dropped open. How did he know my
secret? And surely if he knew my secret, then the Alphas knew too!
I wanted to ask him how he discovered that I was human but he
released me from the hug. He still held my hands so I squeezed them
in thanks, a questioning look in my eye. He popped the trunk of the
HoverCar and pulled out a backpack. He rushed around to his door
and retrieved a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly scrawled down
some words and stuffed the paper into the pack. He looked around
nervously and handed the bag to me,
“Every Newbie receives a pack. It should come
in handy.” He winked, turned away from me, got back into the Car,
and sped away.
I stood still until I could no longer hear
the HoverCar engine. The backpack in my hands was light. Too light
to be carrying anything other than the note the driver had written.
I turned it upside down. Only the paper fell out. I un-scrunched
the note and saw a sentence written in a barely legible scrawl. The
driver had written ‘I scrambled your voices by turning on car
music. Your secret is safe for now. Be careful they are listening.
Don’t give up. You will have support.’
I shook my head in amazement. The driver had
heard us talking. That meant he knew our secret. But the note
suggested he was on our side. I mentally thanked him, hoping that
the
crazy moment of fear, he leaned forward and touched his mouth ever
so lightly to mine. He then slid out of the Car and slammed the
door shut.
I reached for my temples. So many emotions
were at war in my head that my brain felt as though it were
pulsating. I steadied myself. Forget the kiss Avery. I was sure
that it was just a good luck kiss. Or a please-don’t-die kiss. But
I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to be either of those types of
kisses. I shook myself. No, Avery. I knew he didn’t feel that way
for me. I needed to forget about it.
Instead I
channeled my concentration into remembering the plan, and tried to
count the seconds starting from when the driver took off again from
Felix’s drop off point. I guessed that we were travelling at about
a hundred kilometers an hour, but that was a stab in the dark based
on minimal experience riding in a Car. On Olympia I usually walked
everywhere, the populated part of the mountain was only a small
place, and I had never ventured further down the mountain than the
town outskirts. I reached one thousand, eight hundred and nineteen
seconds before we stopped again. I guessed that equalled about half
an hour of driving. I did some of the quickest maths I had ever
done. At an estimated 100km/h that would mean that we had travelled
fifty kilometers. There was no hope in me finding Felix. We had no
idea what direction the other was in, and even if we managed to
somehow move in that exact direction, we would be walking for 25
kilometers each before intercepting. The driver opened my door and
reached for my hand, pulling me from the car.
“ How are you
feeling?” he asked in an unexpectedly kind voice. I guessed he must
have noticed my trembling, clammy palm. I looked up to meet his eye
and realized that they were almost the exact shade of my mother’s.
A woman who I loved despite her shallowness, and a woman who I
would never see again. A tear rolled down my cheek and I swiped at
it with my free hand. The driver pulled me into a hug. I wanted so
badly to tell him why I was crying. But for all he knew, I was just
another Prime. He probably thought I was crying with excitement. He
held me tight and I began to wonder why he was hugging me so
intimately. Then I heard a muffled voice in my ear.
“ You’re
bloody stupid Ms Optime. Bloody stupid.” I jumped at his voice in
my ear, but managed to maintain the embrace. “But you’re also
bloody brave, and I appreciate that someone finally has the courage
to fight the system. Your friend is about fifteen kilometers
towards the east. It’ll only take you an hour to reach him if you
run. I told him to stay still.”
My mouth dropped open. How did he know my
secret? And surely if he knew my secret, then the Alphas knew too!
I wanted to ask him how he discovered that I was human but he
released me from the hug. He still held my hands so I squeezed them
in thanks, a questioning look in my eye. He popped the trunk of the
HoverCar and pulled out a backpack. He rushed around to his door
and retrieved a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly scrawled down
some words and stuffed the paper into the pack. He looked around
nervously and handed the bag to me,
“Every Newbie receives a pack. It should come
in handy.” He winked, turned away from me, got back into the Car,
and sped away.
I stood still until I could no longer hear
the HoverCar engine. The backpack in my hands was light. Too light
to be carrying anything other than the note the driver had written.
I turned it upside down. Only the paper fell out. I un-scrunched
the note and saw a sentence written in a barely legible scrawl. The
driver had written ‘I scrambled your voices by turning on car
music. Your secret is safe for now. Be careful they are listening.
Don’t give up. You will have support.’
I shook my head in amazement. The driver had
heard us talking. That meant he knew our secret. But the note
suggested he was on our side. I mentally thanked him, hoping that
the
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