Out of the Woods
The next morning, I woke up feeling cold and stiff. Well, except for my back which was being kept rather warm by Alec's chest as he held me against him. Turns out that sleeping on money is not all that comfortable. Or maybe we just hadn't stolen enough. Hmm, that thought sounded a little too much like Alec. Whatever the reason, I really needed to get up and stretch.
I freed myself from Alec's hold and pulled my clothes back on. Alec groaned unhappily and began to stir. I smiled to myself knowing that it'd be another five minutes before he'd be even close to consciousness.
Sighing, I began to stretch and my sigh swiftly turned into a groan. I noted that my leg felt much better although twice as stiff as the rest of me. I spent some extra time warming up those muscles.
"Whatcha doing?" Alec mumbled.
"Stretching." I replied as I sat down and leaned over my legs to grab my toes, "You should, too."
"Sleeping better." Alec said, using his arm to gather more cash to pillow under his head.
"You can't sleep all day out here. We've got to get moving." I reminded him.
"I guess." Alec agreed grumpily, reluctantly sitting up.
I moved over towards him so that my feet were against his, then reached forward and grabbed his arms. Pulling them towards me and bracing his legs with mine, I pulled him into a stretch.
"Aww, damn, Jess. Too early for this." Alec protested.
"Big baby." I replied, releasing him.
Alec twisted a little until his back popped. I made a face at him and climbed back to my feet. I collected Alec's clothing for him, dropping them in his lap. Alec pulled them on and we both collected the money.
"Alright, let's go." Alec nodded.
"You have a plan?" I asked, following him out of the cave and back into the woods.
"Steal another car, get the heck out of this city, pull into a new one and find some fun ways to spend our cash." Alec replied, smirking at me over his shoulder.
I rolled my eyes in response. We trekked through the woods in the opposite direction of the mansion we'd ripped off in silence for a little while, hoping for some sign of civilization. My mind wandered idly. I wondered what Kyra was doing. I was sure that Max and the others would take care of her. Especially Krit. But that didn't mean that I wasn't worried about her. Just like I was sure that she was worrying about me.
"What do you think the others are doing right now?" I asked out loud.
"You mean Max and them?" Alec asked, "Well, Max is probably pouting and crusading and avoiding Logan's phone calls."
"You think they're okay?" I asked, wanting his reassurance.
"With Max around? That girl attracts trouble like I attract girls." Alec snorted, obviously not realizing that I was worried.
I frowned, not appreciating the comment. He was right, after all. Max was dangerous to be around. She was the prime target for all of our enemies. Alec must have seen my frown because he stopped walking and turned towards me, a puzzled look on his face.
"Jess, what's wrong?" he asked.
A flash of annoyance flared up in me. How was it that he could read me so well most of the time and yet still be so oblivious now?
"Forget it." I grumbled, pushing past him.
"Hey!" Alec protested, "What'd I do?"
"I said forget it." I snapped, not looking, but hearing him hurrying after me.
"But you're mad at me."
"I'm not mad." I denied.
"Hey, I've been around Max for awhile now. I think I know when a girl's mad at me."
"Oh, yeah." I agreed sarcastically, spinning around to walk backwards so I could glare at him, "You're so intuitive."
"Could you just tell me what's wrong?" Alec sighed in frustration.
"What's wrong?" I repeated, my voice rising in volume as my anger got the better of me. I stopped moving, "How about the entire world wants us dead and my best friend is out there somewhere with everybody's most wanted?!"
Realization sparked in Alec's eyes and his mouthed formed a silent 'Oh.' I humphed in exasperation at him taking this long to figure this out.
"Jess…" Alec began, taking a hesitant step towards me even though my body language was warning him that coming too close might cause him bodily harm. I look up at him, my eyes challenging him to find the right words to defuse the situation, "she's fine. I mean, we talked to Max just the other day and everything was fine, right?"
I continued to stare at him silently, my eyes asking him if he thought I was stupid. We both knew that situations can change in seconds.
"Okay, you're right." Alec conceded, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "But as often as Max gets in trouble, she always gets out of it, too. I mean, she's been on the Outside almost her whole life, dodging Manticore. She's good at this sort of thing. She'll take care of her."
I nodded my head slowly, letting him know that that made me feel a little better. Alec cautiously placed a hand on my arm.
"Besides, chances are Kyra's probably off somewhere doing the nasty with Krit and you've got nothing to worry about." Alec continued, flashing me a grin.
"Ugh." I replied, making a face at him, "You're such a guy."
Alec smiled happily, knowing that I'd forgiven him, "Yeah, that's true. One hundred percent genetically enhanced, damn fine specimen of manhood."
I decided not to justify that with a response because anything I said would only make it worse. Instead, I turned back around and resumed walking. Alec fell in next to me, still grinning. We walked for a few more hours, Alec babbling about anything that came to mind, before I heard something that didn't fit the surroundings. I paused, gesturing for Alec to be quiet so I could hear more clearly.
"A road." I decided, glancing at Alec.
"About time." Alec grumbled, "Not that I'm not loving our spur of the moment camping trip, but let's get some wheels."
We moved a little quicker towards the roadway, but slowed before we moved into sight of the motorists. Without speaking a word, we both cautiously peered through the cover of the trees at what now appeared to be a highway. Traffic was fairly steady, which was good for us, but I would have preferred a camp ground or some place where the cars were parked. Our best bet at this point would be to try and get picked up as hitchhikers until we could get somewhere more convenient for witness-free auto theft.
"You should go." Alec said, gesturing towards the road, "You show a little leg, someone'll stop."
I glared at him. Although it was reassuring to see that he'd come to the same conclusion I had, I wasn't too keen on the idea of flaunting myself on the side of a road.
"No way." I replied, "You go."
Alec shook his head, "It's a solid fact that girls are more likely to get someone to stop."
I stood up straight, my hands dropping to my hips as I continued to glare at him, "If I get someone to stop, I'm leaving without you."
"You wouldn't." Alec denied, "Besides, don't you want me to protect you from the creepy truck driver?"
"I'm pretty sure I can handle a creepy truck driver." I deadpanned, unamused.
"Fine." Alec grumbled, "We'll both go."
I nodded in reluctant agreement and we both moved out from behind the trees to the roadside. I was sure we looked pretty out of place in our black clothing in the middle of nowhere, but it couldn't be helped. I exchanged a glance with Alec before we both reluctantly stuck our thumbs out.
The cars continued to whiz past, not even slowly down as they passed us. And it wasn't like the road was packed so each car that didn't stop felt like a missed opportunity in a limited supply.
"Look sexier." Alec grumbled, getting frustrated with holding his thumb out and instead waving his arms to get driver's attention.
"What do you want me to do?" I demanded, "Take my shirt off?"
"I'm not against that idea." Alec replied, making me want to smack him. I restrained myself, figuring that probably wouldn't help our chances of getting picked up.
Instead, I dropped my arm back to my side and turned away from the road for a moment. Pausing to think, I finally decided to try something, anything, to get us out of here. I reached up and pulled my ponytail holder out, shaking my head and using my hands to fluff out my hair. I stooped down and picked up some dirt off the ground, rubbing it into the knees of my pants and the sleeves of my shirt. As an afterthought, I rubbed a dirty hand across my cheek before dusting them off on my pants. Between this and spending the night in the cave, I decided I looked sufficiently mussed. I turned back around and moved back to the side of the road. Alec was looking at me curiously, but I ignored him. A truck was coming up the road. Without pausing to second-guess myself, I ran out into the road, waving my arms like crazy.
"Jess!" Alec yelled in protest, but I barely heard him over the squeal of the truck's brakes.
Uncertainty flashed through me as the truck screeched to a halt, but not nearly fast enough and I slowly began to back away. I could leap out of the way, but it wouldn't look human and that would blow our cover. Luckily, the truck swerved past me, finally coming to a stop about twenty feet past me. I stared at the vehicle for a moment, processing the fact that I had almost gotten myself hit by a car, when a strong pair of arms suddenly enveloped me, snapping me out of it.
"Are you okay?" Alec demanded, pulling me roughly against him and crushing me in a powerful embrace.
I nodded against his chest, "I got someone to stop."
Alec pulled away to stare at me incredulously, "You're nuts."
"Shit, are you okay?" an unfamiliar voice interrupted us.
I turned my head to see the truck driver running back towards us. I pulled free from Alec, nodding quickly, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry. We just really need some help."
The driver slowed to a stop, looking the pair of us over.
"What are you kids doing out here?" he asked.
"We got stranded." Alec leaped in, picking up on my plan, "We've been stuck out here for a few days, lost as hell. We just found the road."
"Please, you have to help us." I added, shooting him what I hoped was an irresistibly desperate look.
The trucker shifted uncomfortably, reaching up and adjusting his baseball cap. He was a gruff-looking older man, a thick stubble of graying beard on his face, tanned skin, and weathered clothes. This guy wouldn't be easily played. He'd been places, seen things. He knew how the world worked and had survived in it. I looked down at the street, feeling the first crushing feelings of yet another failure to add to my track record. Alec must have sensed my defeat because his hand caught mine, making me glance back towards him.
"Come on." the trucker finally said, making me start in surprise, "Get in."
"Thank you!" I gushed, hurrying towards the vehicle, pulling Alec after me.
I climbed into the cab followed by Alec. I squished against him to make plenty of room for the trucker who soon joined us. He looked us over again before he started the truck. I took in that look, realizing that while we where almost out of the woods literally, we were figuratively still in the thick of it.
