"Thank you, you too." Was all that Honor said, taking her change and stuffing it into her pocket before gently taking Oscar's arm and pulling him with her as they walked out of the store and back to the truck. "We have to get going, right now. I just talked to a guy out here and we have less than five minutes to get out of town before they lock us in here." She said, her words rushed. Being around Oscar, she didn't mind, but the thought of any other one of his kind being in the same town as them gave her chills. They were scary beings, ones she didn't want to mess with.
Oscar seemed just as anxious as Honor, fumbling to buckle his seatbelt. "I can feel them now. They're really close…..will they know I'm here too?"
"I'm not sure…probably." She said, being completely truthful even if it was a worrying thought. Not only could Oscar get taken away if they found him here, but Honor would also be punished severely for helping him. She quickly buckled as well and let out a shaky breath as she started the truck. It rumbled to life moments later and she tried to keep calm as she pulled away from the gas station and checked the main road to see if they were going to be able to get out of town before Goldenrod came.
In one direction–the way they'd come from–the road was already clearly blocked by dark blue vans and police cruisers. In the other direction, the road took a turn, but so far as they could see, the way looked clear. Oscar gripped the edges of his seat, digging his fingers in. The bandages on his forehead were starting to look a little battered and bloody again, as if the stitches on his forehead were breaking. "We really have to go."
(Sorry it's short)
Honor nodded, pulling onto the main road and not bothering to hide her nervousness. "I know." She said, her voice clipped and stressed as she drove. They had to get out of this town before everything was shut down.
(It's no worries, mine's gonna be short too XD)
They drove down the empty street and were just rounding the bend when Oscar jerked back in his seat. "Stop! Stop the car!"
As quickly as she could, she checked to make sure there was no one behind her before slamming on the brakes and looking over at him with a worried expression. "What's wrong Oscar? We have to get out of here before they close off this road and we're stuck here."
"It's too late. Look!" Oscar pointed at the edge of town, which stood so tantalizingly close. In the middle of the road, a van sat blocking both lanes, and several agents were busy getting equipment out of the back. How they had managed to get there so quickly was anyone's guess, but there would certainly be no sneaking around them. Luckily, they at least hadn't noticed Honor and Oscar yet, busy as they were setting up some strange metal tripods with lights at the tops on either side of the road.
Honor cursed loudly, smacking her hand on the steering wheel and deciding the best thing to do now was pull into the parking lot of the building in front of them. Once again she got the truck rolling, pulling into the parking lot and trying to think of what to do.
Oscar fidgeted worriedly, glancing up and down the road and tugging at the bandages on his head. "I don't like those light things they have. I can feel them, somehow…. there's some on either side of us, and in front and behind us too. They're making me feel sick."
"They're all around us?" She asked, worried but trying to hide it, "Are they giving you a headache? Or what?" Honor shut off the truck and turned to face him in her seat, studying his bandages as he tugged at them. Gently she reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to keep him from yanking the bandages off.
He stilled somewhat, staring off at nothing. His eyes were looking very dark at the moment. "I just feel kind of…..dizzy, like I can't breathe. I feel tired, too, but it's like a bad kind of tired. I want to hide somewhere, away from those lights."
"You could sit in the bed of the truck," She offered gently, "The light wouldn't be as direct then, and you could cover your eyes with a blanket is it got worse." Honor didn't know what to do if she was being honest with herself. Dealing with an Other was new territory, but one that didn't feel good and who's eyes were turning the frightening dark color again was way out of her knowledge range.
Oscar nodded, then pointed generally northeast. "Could we move the truck somewhere more in….that direction first, where Goldenrod can't see us? I think it's better over that way. And then could we sit together for a bit? I don't want to be alone…."
Honor nodded, bucking back up and starting the truck again, "Yeah we can go that way, tell me when it's far enough. And yes we can sit together, I don't mind that." She started driving, watching for any sign of people from the goldenrod agency or the lights that were bothering Oscar.
It seemed that Goldenrod was limiting its agents and equipment to the outskirts of town—for now, at least. two blocks deep, they reached a gravelly vacant lot with a tall wooden fence around it and nothing inside but a few broken-down cars. Oscar quickly pointed the place out. "There. Let's hide there for a minute."
(Gotta work all day, probs won't be back until tomorrow)
(That's alright, have fun!)
She looked towards where he pointed, not terribly fond of the place as she first looked at it. "Ok, if you say so," She said, pulling in and parking inside the lot. "Well, here we are." She turned off the truck and looked over at him, getting out of the truck to open up the back. She popped down the gate to the truck bed and looked to Oscar, "You can get in, there's blankets in there, I'm going to lock the truck quick."
Oscar nodded and did as she instructed, glancing around furtively. There didn't seem to be anyone around—perhaps the town's residents were hunkering down in their homes until the danger had passed. By now the sun was starting to set, filling the vacant lot with pinkish light and deep blue shadows. It began to slowly cool off, and all was quiet except for the muffled rustle of wings from the pigeons circling overhead.
Finding some blankets, Oscar sat with his back to the cab and stared out at the world miserably. "What are we going to do? What if they find us before they find the one they're hunting for?" His expression turned to a glare. "And if there really is one like me nearby, why can't I tell? I thought my kind would feel….different from normal humans somehow."
Honor locked the cab of the truck, stuffing her keys into her pocket before walking back around to the back and joining him laying against the truck. She pulled one of the blankets from Oscar's grip, smiling gently at him as she wrapped it around herself. "Maybe they're not nearby? Maybe that's why you can't feel them." She suggested, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on her knees.
"Maybe…." Oscar focused all his attention on the puzzle for a moment, mostly to distract himself from the danger all around them. "I can almost feel them, somewhere around here….but I can't pinpoint it. It's like they're behind an invisible wall or something." He curled up is hands tensely. "Do you think if we could find them, we could somehow get them caught by Goldenrod and escape while they're not looking?"
"Maybe…" She thought over his suggestion for a minute and shrugged, "We would have to play it right, make a big enough scene with them that they brought all the forces in to deal with them while we bolted." Honor sighed and laid her head back against the truck, watching the sun start to set slowly.
"I bet we could do it," Oscar insisted, clinging to the idea for lack of a better one. "Maybe if we found it and hurt it so it couldn't escape, then made lots of noise then ran before anyone saw us–"
From only a few feet away, the empty air within one of the old cars suddenly spoke in a faint, tired man's voice. "I wouldn't try it if I were you."
(Oops I gotta go, seeya later)
(Ok! See ya!)
"That sounds like it could work." Honor seemed to jump three feet in the air at the voice, her head smacking the topper of the bed of the truck and she was instantly shaken. "Holy crap..I think I almost just had a heart attack," She muttered, looking around for the source of the voice, "Who are you? More importantly, where are you?"
(For pete's sake I know this is supposed to be a fun little prank but I did not wake up in the mood for this…. Thesaurus Parasite and I kinda hope it goes away soon)
(Okay I breathed deeply and got used to it, little Dusty's less grumpled now XD)
"I'm right here," the voice said tentatively, still emanating from the front seat of the unused vehicle. "But I'm not going to tell you who I am until you promise not to hurt me and let Goldenrod catch me. That wouldn't be very kind….and like I already said, it wouldn't work. If I could just run while they were distracted, I would have already. Who are you guys?"
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