YP – B1: Finale – Chapter 22

253 Days Until Melancholy and The Uncertain End (part 2)

Heia looked over the remaining things that needed to be done. The Triplets were busy working with Evester and learning how to kill Aralax the way he had. Heia wasn’t certain that he had killed an Aralax — she had, she knew the difficulty of the task — however she had smelt the blood, and seen the muck. The filth wasn’t someone could pretend, unless he bathed in it. Somehow Heia doubted even he was that crazy.

“You really want us to do this?” Andre called out her. Moving from a bedroom to her. He had finished his rounds of checks to make sure nothing of importance was forgotten. Not that it mattered, any thing that was of importance they could carry on them in a single bag per person. The Catastrophe had taken far too much.

“I don’t know whether to trust it.” Heia admitted. “What I know is that he believes it.”

“The papers seemed convincing to me.” Robee admitted. He was sitting atop the cart that had been packed with all their bags.

Andre and Layla glared at him.

“I agree.” Trace jumped up to sit with him on the cart that was packed. “You don’t just carry all that nonsense around to pull a con on X’s. We aren’t that stupid.”

“If he’s telling the truth, then we will save lives.” Heia decided that this was the answer she wanted to give. “If he’s wrong then what’s the worse that could happen? We have to come back?”

But if Evester was right and she hadn’t made him save these people… In truth, Heia wasn’t sure that she trusted him. The papers seemed convincing. Even if she couldn’t read or understand half of what was written there. What mattered to her was the fact that he believed in it. The fact that Evester seemed to believe it and seemed to be a true Circle was enough for her. 

“So we leave.” Andre understood. “Layla and myself?”

“That’s what we agreed to. You should be safe.” Robee called out. The Circle. Robee didn’t like using his name for some reason. There was a confusion and disdain in his voice every time he did. “If the Circle is telling the truth.”

“We escort you out. Do you think you need us?” Heia wanted the most support she could get as they fought to protect their people. That meant the triplets, herself, Robee, and Trace. Andre and Layla were skilled enough to be able to protect the caravan in the designated safe area that Evester had picked out. He had mapped out where the attack should not touch outside, and that was where they would hide. A day out, and far enough away that Heia hoped they’d be safe. Worse came to worse, Andre and Layla would survive. 

“Alright.” Andre decided to agree with Heia. “Ready Layla?”

“Yes.” Layla was pissed, and not talking to Heia. She didn’t like the idea of giving up their home. She didn’t like the idea of trusting a strange man who came out of nowhere and had a Circle on his hand. She didn’t like any of it and Heia knew that.

With a nod Andre signaled them to begin calling out to the children. Robee and Trace got ready to move with Layla and Andre to transport the stuff out of the city in secret. It would be the most difficult part. Next they’d escort the children. Heia walked inside to see Andre rounding everyone up in the common room.

“Leaving?” Kori called out to them.

“Yes. Protect the kids!” Heia shouted back. The words brought a silence to the room as all the orphan began to group together with Evester and the triplets.  Evester’s eyes met Heia’s eyes before she showed her back to him and left. When she returned to the others she started to direct her siblings to move the supplies and cart out. Heia led her family towards the pathway that she and Robee had cleared out. 

As they moved through the dark of the ruined  caves with the supplies, they came towards the rail tracks where a large hover bus was waiting for them. 

“Is everyone going to fit in this?” Heia looked over it.

“I’m sorry.” Trace’s voice was thick with irritation and sarcasm. “I should have gotten five like you asked because you know how easy that is.”

“We have two more cars for the caravan. We’ll transport the kids through on those and then once through you can reorganize and shift. We figured Andre and Tim could drive two.” Robee cut in. “As you get this bus out. I’ll get the cars.”

“It’ll be fine. We will figure it out.” Layla disagreed. Heia somehow agreed. One bus would be better to transport everyone, for many reasons. “Just get the supplies onto it.”

The siblings moved around each other to move the supplies from the cart to the bus. As they packed it on, Trace taught Layla to drive the bus. The whole process was pretty quick, not that there was much organization on the bus itself. Once it was packed the family got onto the bus, but Robee who waved signaling that he was off to get the other vehicles. Layla began to drive over the rails, through the caves and with Heia in the lead spotting to make sure they went down the path that would keep them from being seen. When they came towards the outskirts of the city, the final plan was coming into action. The bus pulled into the city as others starred at them. All the supplies were too low on the ground to be seen but that did not calm their nerves. Heia glared out the front window.

As they came to the city exit, they were stopped by Soldiers. Layla opened the window.

“Where did you get this?” One soldier asked her.

“We are headed out.” Layla ignored him. “Open the gates please.”

“What for?”

“What for?” Layla repeated. “Since when did you need to know why we leave or enter?”

“You’ve never left with a bus before.” So she knew him? Heia knew better to question how her siblings got in and out on their raids.

“Thank you James.” Layla shut the window and did not speak anymore. Heia watched her sister, who seemed determined to get out of the situation without saying much more. The soldier named James glared at her and then signaled for the gate to open. Layla sped up and out of the exit. Getting the cars through would be far easier, as they could use the smaller exits that most thought were destroyed in the catastrophe, but her family had reopened. It was how they’d get the kids out. The bus had been the hardest part and Layla had powered through it without much of a problem. 

The issue would be that the eyes would be on them. Good thing they were getting everyone out that night.

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Two chapters tomorrow too for missing last week. See you tomorrow!

MM