10
Jack was in the front seat, originally, he had planned to drive, but Pierce insisted he just sit back.
Jack leaned back against the headrest, but sat back up almost immediately. It smelled like Jayif. Whatever sort of smell that might be, he could accurately depict that being musty cave and something like gun powder. He resorted to gripping onto the door handle as the bumps jostled the truck, watching an endless sea of sand pass by.
"So what's our plan?" Shaundi asked finally, breaking an eerie sort of silence.
"Just drive." Jack replied quickly, "Until a village maybe. Or…a base. Either way.."
Pierce couldn't help but flash him a smile, "C'mon man, I can't believe you ain't smiling. Why ain't we all fucking smiling? We made it! In one whole piece. Man, there ain't nothing that can take us down."
"I'll smile when I'm back in a concrete jungle. I don't wanna see another fucking desert…or cave, ever again." Jack replied, leaning into himself further still eyeing the cloudless sky and the shifting sand dunes.
In agreement, no one replied but Shaundi flashed Pierce a look in the rear-view mirror that Pierce acknowledged with his eyes.
Kinzie turned around, looking through the small window to see Oleg comfortably sitting in the flat-bed, his leg hanging off the back with a sheet of material tied around his face to block the sand from his eyes.
She popped it open for a second and smiled at his unknowing back. "Oleg!"
He turned around, seeing her face inadvertently brought a smile to his lips, "Yes?"
"You're okay still?"
"Yes…A-Are you?"
"I can't complain."
"…How is everyone else? Jack is alright?"
"Yeah…well…I think so."
Oleg tilted his head and gave an 'well, what can you do?' sort of expression, "He has not spoken…of what happened, I mean to say."
"Yet." Kinzie replied optimistically.
"Of course. I'm sure our friend will come around."
Oleg swallowed his own lie, and she was just about to turn around when Oleg reached out to the window, preventing her from closing it. She turned back around, and he looked into her eyes.
For just a split second, he imagined his face up to the window, her face up to the window, and their lips…so close to touching…so close to…
"I…I feel like I should apologize. Jack is my friend, and you must think I am monstrous for what I said. No better than one of those…abominations. My clones."
She looked at him, confusion in her eyes, her eyebrows brushed against her eyelashes, "What are you talking about, Oleg?" She whispered as to not attract attention from the two other girls that sat beside her.
But she imagined they weren't listening to her anyway, they were both talking to Pierce about whether he should continue to go straight or to turn in the opposite way of the sun to avoid the harsh rays.
"…I do not want you to think I am…cold and uncaring." He whispered, "I have had sudden revelations, I suppose you could call it. I realize what I said…it was wrong. When I…encouraged Jack to give himself up for us. I was not thinking straight, I should have…"
She shook her head, "You weren't siding against Jack. You were agreeing with his reasoning. I never thought-…"
"I am caring man."
She smiled, "I know you are."
He thought about it again, reaching in and touching her face. Pushing the pad of his thumb against her pink dotted cheeks. But he didn't dare do it.
He swallowed instead and smiled a little at her.
"The way the sun hits your face…" He whispered, "…you are very beautiful, Mackenzie."
Her eyes widened behind her now crooked glasses, she pushed them up against her face and removed her hand from beneath the popped window.
She blushed, realizing his words as they set in.
"Is that…Is that a…" Pierce stuttered breaking the moment in two.
Jack followed his gaze and begun to roll the window down with the old-fashioned crank. "It's a helicopter…" He stared at it for a second in shock, a fleur de lis painted across the side, "Stop the car, Pierce. It's the most beautiful purple helicopter I've ever seen!"
Pierce looked over to him once, turned to look up out of the windshield again just to make sure, and then looked back at him again, a grin spreading across his face at the sight.
"Haha, yeah, man! I knew our boys would be there for us. I mean c'mon, I knew that they'd be on their way!" He rambled on as he slammed against the brakes.
Kinzie looked back to Oleg, "There's a-"
"I see it." Oleg replied, turning away and clambering off the back with one easy push as the truck came to a sudden halt.
Jack pushed the door open, jumping into the sands, knees buckling beneath him subsequently, but hurriedly pushed himself up out of the hot sediment, and begun waving his arms back and forth.
The Saints were looking for them.
He wasn't sure why the thought had never occurred, but there they were. The Saints were looking for them.
For their leader.
For their second-in-commands.
For the patriarchs of the family.
For christ sake, he'd never been so happy to see a glimpse of purple dotting the sky. He'd taken them for granted, that was for sure.
Pierce joined in on waving, jumping up and down and laughing, "They-.." He laughed.
"…found us! Holy shit." Shaundi finished for him.
Pierce hit Jack on the shoulder playfully, and though it stung against his cuts and bruises, Jack could only smile wider.
"We're saved." Viola whispered unbelieving what she saw, "We're not going to die after all…"