Chương 153

They stayed close together and kept checking the street. Louis kept his hood up and his cap pulled low. He wore the sunglasses despite the dark because of the cameras. He felt the pistol pressing against his ribs inside the jacket. A siren approached from several blocks away. Red and blue light flashed across the buildings as an Aegis security cruiser passed them. It turned at the next corner and disappeared. No one spoke until it was gone. They kept walking toward the bus terminal five blocks away.

"You think they will come back?" Cherish whispered.

"No," Donya said.

"That was just a patrol. They do that all the time."

"Doesn't make it less creepy." Gladice kept her hands in her jacket pockets.

"I don't like this city."

"You just miss chaos," Savannah said.

"Maybe I do." The bus terminal was brightly lit beneath a wide canopy. Only a few travelers remained in the waiting area, each keeping their luggage close. A screen above the ticket counters displayed arrivals and departures in green letters. Black security cameras hung in each corner. Their bus waited at Bay 6 with its engine running. Louis studied the bus and found nothing unusual. It was a standard overnight coach with white-and-blue paint and dark windows.

A driver in a navy jacket and company cap stood by the door, checking passengers with a handheld scanner. He scanned one passenger's phone, nodded, and waved him aboard. Donya stopped a few feet from the line. Her hand tightened around the phone.

"You okay?" Louis asked. She nodded.

"Yes." She walked forward alone. The driver looked at the eight of them, then at the phone in Donya's hand.

"Group ticket?"

"Yes," Donya said. She held out the screen. A black-and-white QR code filled it. The scanner gave a small chirp. The driver looked at his device, then back at them. Louis went still. Then the driver waved them through without a word. Donya exhaled and climbed aboard first. The others followed. The air inside the bus was stale. Blue reading lights lined the ceiling. The aisle was narrow. Most passengers were already half asleep. Donya took a window seat near the front, and Cherish sat beside her.

Across the aisle, Louis gestured for Maeve to take the window seat. She sat down, and he took the aisle seat beside her. The others filled the row behind them. The driver closed the door. The bus shuddered and pulled away from the station. Louis looked past Maeve at the streets outside as the bus turned onto a larger road and picked up speed. Maeve sat with her forehead almost against the glass. Each streetlight briefly lit the bruises on her face.

Strands of red hair had slipped from beneath her hood and lay against her cheek.

"Are you okay?" Louis asked.

"Yes." She did not look at him.

"I have never been on this kind of vehicle before."

"It's comfortable?"

"More than I thought it would be." She touched the window.

"It's warm." Louis covered one of her hands with his. She flinched but did not pull away. He left it there until she relaxed.

"Thank you for coming with us," he said.

"I had nowhere else to go now." Her voice was flat.

"And I didn't want to be alone."

"You are not alone." He looked at her bruised face in profile.

"You can stay with me. After."

"You have enough women," she said.

"I don't have them." He shook his head.

"I'm with them. And I would like you to be with us too." She turned toward him and held his gaze.

"Why?"

"Because you are brave and beautiful and you saved my life." He kept his voice steady.

"And because I like you." She blinked slowly, then looked back out the window. Her hand stayed under his.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means you can be part of us."

"Part of your harem." She smiled slightly. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"If you want to call it that." He smiled back.

"But it's more than that. It's... family. It's our commune." She laughed softly.

"A dictator's son with a commune."

"Only in the Dominion." The bus merged onto the highway. Louis looked past Maeve as the buildings became lower and farther apart. They passed warehouses and gas stations before the streets beyond the highway grew dark. Maeve kept watching through the window.

"So this is the Alliance," she said.

"Not all of it," Louis said.

"Just one city."

"It's so big."

"Chicago is bigger. So is Los Angeles."

"I've never seen anything bigger than Beckley." She shook her head.

"We will show you."

"I'd like that." She glanced at him.

"Will you show me the ocean too?"

"I'll take you to Santa Monica."

"What is that?"

"It's a beach. With people. And light. And music."

"It sounds like a story."

"It's real." She looked back at the window.

"I hope I see it."

"Then we will go to Hawaii."

"Tell me about it."

"It's an island. Warm. With palms and water so blue it hurts your eyes." Louis smiled.

"And a lot of chickens."

"Chickens?" She laughed, surprised.

"Yes. Chickens everywhere. They are wild."

"That's strange."

"I will show you." She nodded, still smiling. She rested her head against the window. He watched her until her eyes closed and her breathing slowed and became even. She fell asleep with her hand still in his. He turned and found Cherish watching him across the aisle. Donya was asleep against her shoulder. He reached out his other hand, and Cherish leaned across the aisle to take it. Her fingers were warm.

"Is she okay?" Cherish whispered.

"Yes."

"Are we going home?"

"We are." Her eyes glistened.

"I don't want this to be a dream."

"It isn't." He squeezed her hand.

"I'm real." She smiled and closed her eyes, still holding his hand. Louis watched both of them for a moment, then looked through the window at the dark highway. The pistol pressed against his side. Maeve's hand remained in one of his, and Cherish held the other across the aisle. The bus vibrated beneath him. He closed his eyes. He did not know how long he had slept before Maeve began trembling beside him.

"Easy," he said.

"You're safe." She stared at him for a moment, her breathing ragged. He looked out the window. The bus was still moving. He saw a sign on the highway that said Indianapolis 40 miles.

"Bad dream," Maeve said, her hands twisting in her lap.

"Tell me." She hesitated.

"The cannibals. Their house. The girl… Mina… She said meat, Louis. She was happy about it."

"I know."

"After we left, she would have taken the bodies. And cooked them. And fed them to her brother. And they would have smiled." Maeve shuddered.

"We left them to do that."

"They are monsters," Louis said.

"You did not create them. And you are not responsible for them." She looked down.

"I killed one of them. A woman. I shot her in the chest. And I… I was glad. I was glad she died."

"You should be glad. She deserved it."

"I don't know." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"What does that make me?"

"It makes you a survivor."

"Is that what I want to be?" He pulled her closer.

"Yes. Because only survivors get to choose what to do next. The dead don't get a choice." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Okay." He stroked her hair.

"Go back to sleep." She closed her eyes but remained awake.

"What about you, Louis? Do you ever feel bad about what you did?"

"Every day," he said.

"There was a girl called Jennifer. She was the daughter of the Holy States secretary. She helped Angelique, Gladice and me to escape from her father's place. Then she came to us and wanted to come with us. We took her and we made it to Florida. She had just become a Dominion citizen. Then she sacrificed herself to save me during a shootout. She died because of me." Maeve's eyes opened.

"I'm sorry."

"I think about her a lot. I wonder if I could have saved her." He paused.

"And I think about a bait shop owner when we were escaping in Alabama. He told me he had a family. But he died in front of me anyway." She squeezed his hand.

"It's not your fault. You were fighting to survive."

"I know." He looked out at the dark highway.

"But it doesn't make it easier. I never killed men before the whole thing. Now I can. And I'm not afraid anymore."

"Me neither." She leaned closer.

"I've killed men in the war. Toll dogs, bandits, cannibals. And I never felt sorry."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know." She took a deep breath.

"But I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"You are not." They fell silent for a while. The bus stopped in Indianapolis to let off a few passengers. Some new ones got on. Louis stayed awake, watching the new faces. A young security officer walked through the aisle and sat in front of them. The bus left the station and continued north. The officer shifted in his seat. Then he glanced back at them.

"Can I help you?" Louis asked in a neutral tone. The officer kept looking.

"Do you have a power bank? My phone died."

"No." Louis held the officer's gaze.

"Sorry."

"No problem." The officer shrugged.

"Long night, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Louis said.

"I'm Edward, by the way." The officer pointed at himself.

"It's my first week on this job."

"Congrats," Louis said.

"Thanks." Edward looked at Maeve's face.

"Were you in a fight?"

"Yeah," Maeve said. Before she could continue, Louis said, "Some guy threw a bottle at us at the club." Edward nodded slowly.

"People can be jerks."

"They can."

"First time to Chicago?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Louis said.

"Vacation."

"Cool." Edward nodded.

"I've never been there either. They're sending me to HQ in the capital. I'm just a rookie, though." He sighed.

"They say it takes forever to move up."

"Aegis?" Louis asked.

"Yes."

"I heard they pay well."

"They do." Edward smiled.

"But the work is boring most of the time."

"Right."

"Where are you from? You don't sound local."

"Germany," Louis said.

"Oh, wow. I've always wanted to visit Germany. So what brings you to the Alliance?"

"Visiting friends," Louis said.

"We're going to the Art Institute of Chicago."

"That's nice." Edward smiled.

"Is it true that you have thirty paid vacation days in Germany?"

"Yes," Louis said.

"We only have ten." Edward shook his head.

"You Europeans have it easy."

"Maybe."

"It's late." Edward yawned.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Good night."

"Good night." Edward turned back around. Louis looked at Maeve. She was pale, but she had held her expression.

"You did well," he whispered in her ear. She nodded without speaking. He looked across the aisle. Cherish was awake, her eyes wide. He nodded to reassure her. She nodded back. The bus drove on. Edward didn't turn around again. Louis stayed awake for a long while, watching the highway. Maeve fell asleep again, her head resting against the window. He closed his eyes and let himself relax a little. He dreamed of waves and white sand. The women laughed in the sunlight while chickens ran across the beach.

His father stood near the water, waiting for him to come home.