Chapter 30
Hope drove May all around Reservation before finally parking their car near the western wall. It was a beautiful place; no houses or buildings to be seen. This part of the wall had no entrance, but there was an NSO officer who had stopped by a few minutes earlier on an ATV, and then another officer had a few minutes later. Apparently they ran a circuitous route that had a different officer constantly passing by walls so no spot was unguarded for more than a moment or two.
Hope had handed May an Almond Joy and a can of Sprite before opening the door to the jeep and spreading out a blanket on the ground nearby.
"Sister picnic?" she said, grinning up at May.
May smiled back, "We have about ten minutes," she said.
Hope's smile dimmed a little, but she shrugged, "We'll just have to make real plans for next time, maybe we could go dancing?"
May lowered herself to sit crosslegged on the blanket and leaned against one of the tires, "Sounds fun," she answered, before taking a bite of her candy bar.
"I think this kind is my favorite," she told Hope.
"Me too," Hope said, before popping the top on her soda and taking a big gulp.
Hope's phone chimed and she looked down at it, her eyes narrowing.
"What's the matter?" May asked, after she swallowed.
"Breeze is telling me to bring you back home," she answered, using her ring finger, the only finger May could see that wasn't covered in chocolate to answer.
May watched her type, "You've learned so much in such a short time," she said, "Did they give you the phone right away? What other things have you been learning?"
Hope closed her eyes and lifted her face up to the sunlight, "Cooking, laundry, driving, which I am obviously good at, communication…"
"What's that mean?" May asked, curious.
"Oh," Hope said, "using words instead of fists, or teeth, or snarls… still working on that," she added with a smile.
"But you can still do it?" May asked concerned, "they're not telling you not to snarl or growl or whatever. Because you should still do those things," May started feeling upset, "It's part of who you are! It's not fair to ask you not to do that!"
Hope sat up, watching May closely, "You are upset," she observed, "why?"
"Because you shouldn't change who you are! If you want to snarl at me, snarl! I don't care, I'll figure out what you mean!" May huffed.
"You are worried about me," Hope commented, "and protective."
"Of course I am!" May answered loudly, "You're my sister! I love you! I don't want people telling you not to be yourself!"
Hope's arm shot out and pulled May into her body. May could feel Hope's body rumbling, and she realized, she was purring. Hope rubbed her face back and forth across May's head, "You love me?"
Tears filled May's eyes and she wondered, had anyone ever told Hope that before? Probably not.
May put her arms around Hope to embrace her, "I love you," she said again, "you are my family and we will take care of each other forever."
She heard a sniffle before Hope's arms tightened and released her. May looked at her and saw Hope rubbing her hands across her eyes. A small smile played across Hope's lips, "I love you too," she said, taking a deep breath.
She stared out at the wall for a moment, before sighing again and then saying, "As for your question, no one gave me the phone. It was from Werner, I just hung onto it."
May's stomach dropped, "You kept it?" she whispered.
She reached for it, picking it up from the blanket and quickly thumbing into settings, shutting off location services and find my phone and anything else that might show where they were.
"We have to go," May said, standing up, "we need to get rid of your phone. It can be traced and I don't want you carrying it. Werner could find you!"
Hope watched her wide-eyed, "I didn't know," she breathed, "I am so sorry May, I didn't know."
"It's okay," May tried to reassure her quickly, throwing the blanket in the backseat and jumping into the jeep, "I'm sure it's fine. But let's go, okay?"
Hope nodded, and cranked the jeep. May heard a rumble and looked over, thinking it was one of the NSO officers on their ATV, but it wasn't. She looked around, not seeing anything, and then, she looked at the wall. Men were swarming over it, dressed in black tactical gear and sliding down ropes, headed right for Hope and May.
"Shit," Hope said, looking at May before throwing her phone out of the jeep and pressing hard on the gas. May heard a pop and the jeep was spinning out of control. Dirt was flying all around them, as they bounced over the hill, back toward Reservation.
There was another loud bang and the jeep stopped, "Get out get out!" Hope yelled, "run!"