Road to Clover (The Breanna Raven Series) by Katarin Haley Pope Page A

shooting and the fires are, and we’ll try to avoid all that. Hopefully, we’ll make it to my aunt’s house in no time. Come on.” Agni pushes off on his bike.
    We go behind a gas station across the street from the welcome sign. We’re meandering through small alleys and unoccupied backstreets just like Agni said. I can still hear gunfire going off, and it sounds like it’s getting real close.
    Agni is cautious before we cross roads. He’s checking around corners before we make any movement out into the open. I feel really safe with him.
    When we get to Sunflower Boulevard, we peep around the corner to the right and see a line of soldiers marching away from us shoulder to shoulder. They’re shooting at anything that moves.
    Agni tells me we have to cross the street. I guess it makes sense, but I don’t want to be out in the open like that. Those soldiers don’t have pistols. They have automatic machine guns, and they’re firing at any breathing thing. I look up the street in the other direction, and they’ve left a trail of destruction behind them. I am so freakin’ scared! My heart is killing my chest, and sweat is pouring out of every pore. What if they turn around and start shooting at us?
    “Breanna, are you ready?”
    “Heck no,” I say as I back up while straddling the bicycle.
    “We can’t stay here.”
    “Are you sure there isn’t another way?”
    Agni exhale with impatience and says, “No, Breanna, there isn’t another way. We’ve avoided the soldiers so far. We’ll be fine. We just can’t mess around getting across the street.”
    “You go first.” I remark.
    “I’m not going without you. We go together .”
    That’s why Agni is my best ie. He never leaves me hanging. His courage gives me courage. I take in a deep breath. I count to ten, and then I nod at Agni. I’m ready as I’ll ever be. We push off on our bicycles, and we’re pedaling across the four lane road. We’re leaning forward and looking straight ahead at the alley in front of us.
    We make it safely across, and I can’t help but to smile. It seems like the hardest part is behind us. Every round of the wheels brings us closer to Agni’s aunt. I can’t wait to get there and away from the shooting and the fires. Maybe, I’ll have a chance to eat a decent meal and get a good rest before setting out to the mainland tomorrow.
    Agni is ahead of me again. He comes to another street. He checks again to make sure the coast is clear, and he gives us the signal to go. We make it across, and he looks back at me with a smile.
    We’re riding in a long alley now. On both sides are long fences, and there are garbage cans beside each gate. The alley smells awful from all the nasty garbage, and some of it has spilled on the ground. I pedal faster to catch up with Agni, but he’s moving out.
    Right before Agni gets to the end of the alley, the third gate before the last one flies open, and he crashes right into it. King only slides forward in the sidecar. Agni lunges forward and hits the gate with the side of his face and his stomach hits handlebars. He lands hard on the cement ground on his left, hitting his head in the process. A middle age lady that opened the gate has landed on the ground, as well. I can see her pick up her glasses that’s within arms’ reach of where she is. She stands and puts them on. The woman also pops her head from behind the gate and sees Agni. Then without warning, she slams the gate shut, and I can hear her running back to her house. I move his bike out of the way, but it’s difficult because the front tire rim is bent.
    “Agni,” I call to him as I kneel down beside him. “Are you okay?”
    His eyes meet mine, but I don’t think he can really see me. He really hit the gate and ground pretty hard. He has a scrap on his left cheek, and it’s swelling already.
    King doesn’t seem to be hurt, and he leaps out of the sidecar. He comes over and licks Agni’s face. Miss Kiki joins in and jumps on his