Author's note: I apologize for the late update, but circumstances conspired against me. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!
It's funny, really, the sorts of things that people throw away.
Like this tennis ball, for instance. Nothing really wrong with it besides one brown spot on the side.
I couldn't sleep this morning, so I was hanging out in this alley, bouncing it against the wall. The thuds made an almost comforting (if loud) rhythm.
After that got dull, I curled up and tried to sleep again.
I woke up a few hours later, drenched in sweat, after a rather harrowing dream in which I was a rabbit pursued by a very hungry Viss.
Speaking of Viss...
"Hello, Echo."
She was in human form (best for blending in with the general populace. Wish I could do that.)
"Hey, Viss." I stood up, rolled my shoulders a few times, and yawned. "Catch a lot of bunnies?"
"Yes."
"So... what's up?"
"I was thinking... I believe we ought to move on."
"Move on? Well, I guess..." The School hadn't caught up with me yet, but who knew how long my luck would hold? Unless they'd just decided to give up on me or something.
Yeah. And there's a great bridge I want to sell you, too.
The thing was, where to go? I doubted that I'd be lucky enough to snag a ride on an orange truck again.
"I have procured keys to a car." She held them up. "We should really leave before the owner becomes aware of his loss."
Oh great. Grand theft auto.
I mean, it's one thing to snitch a few oranges. But stealing a car?
Well, this was a life-or-death thing. I'm sure the owner would be happy to donate his car to help a few kids in need. And besides, I'm sure his insurance would cover it.
"Ah, okay," I said, grabbing my tennis ball and pulling up my hood. "Hey... do you even know how to drive?"
"I watched Andrea. I believe I have the general idea."
That did not boost my confidence.
The car in question was a shiny red Ford. Viss hopped into the driver's seat. Technically, I'm the older one, so I wondered briefly whether I should drive. But only very briefly. Viss did have more experience, even if it was just being able to observe someone else closely. Besides, I was still a little shaky after the rabbit dream.
She started up the car, and we were on the road.
Fortunately, Viss really did have "the general idea", at least enough that we didn't crash or get pulled over by cops. We even drove pretty close to the speed limit.
Both of us were silent for a while. Then I said, "Mind if I turn on the radio?"
"Sure," Viss replied, shrugging.
I pushed the button... and clapped my hands over my ears as my ears were assaulted by a barrage of noise. Apparently, the guy who owned this car liked his music loud. As in, you can hear it across a parking lot loud. I jabbed the button to turn the radio off again. My ears were ringing.
Any sympathy I might have had for the guy whose car we had borrowed evaporated.
We continued our drive in silence. I guess I could have just turned the volume down, but I really wasn't inclined to turn the radio back on after that little experience.
Besides, if the radio was on, we might not have been able to hear the whirring blades of the chopper overhead.
I heard it first, thanks to my batty ears (which had by this time stopped ringing and had mostly resumed their normal functions).
I rolled down the window and peeked my head out. Yup, there was a chopper flying behind us. It was still pretty far away, though.
I didn't mention it until Viss asked why I kept poking my head out the window. "You'll attract attention," she hissed at me.
"It's just that there's a helicoper behind us... it might be an ordinary helicopter, but..."
"Urgh," she snarled. "I'll take a few turns and we can see if it follows us."
She did. It did.
"Should we ditch the car?" I asked.
"It's our best mode of transportation for now. If we head off on foot it will only help them track us," she replied.
It was about then that I started hearing police sirens. It wasn't long at all before an officer had pulled up alongside and was motioning for us to pull over.
We really couldn't do that. Even if the chopper wasn't School property, we were driving a stolen vehicle without a license.
Yeah.
"Floor it!" I told Viss.
"With pleasure," she replied.
It was our good fortune that the stretch of road we were on was only sparsely populated with other cars. Even so, when Viss swerved to avoid a collusion, the car went skidding off the road... and into a tree.
We hit it head-on, and the last thing I saw before passing out was the airbag inflating.
