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THE DARK FIGURE APPROACHED the car. As it drew closer, Evalene let out a huge sigh of relief. It was Kevra. They’d agreed she would sneak past the guard station and wait on the road, but Evalene had been thrown off by her friend’s hair, which was much darker than her original shade of red. In the moonlight, it was hard to tell, but it almost looked brown? And she’d cut it as short as Evalene’s!
They didn’t say a word to each other, per their previous agreement, as Kevra climbed into the passenger side and carefully shut the door. But Evalene frowned at her, confused.
Pulling away from the intersection, Evalene drove on. In just a few minutes, they reached the on-ramp to the main highway, and both girls breathed a huge sigh of relief. Kevra laughed loudly, startling Evalene, who giggled a second later. Pretty soon both were laughing so hard they had tears running down their faces.
Evalene relaxed her hold on the wheel, glancing over at Kevra. “What in the Number One’s name did you do to your hair?” She flipped on the overhead light in the car to be sure. The gorgeous shades of red were all gone. From the back, the girls could easily be mistaken as twins now, although Kevra’s hair had a hint of red peeking through.
“I needed to look like the Identity Card,” Kevra said, shrugging. “I might need to use it too. Plus, now if they put out an alert for us, they’ll be watching for a brunette and a redhead, right? This will throw them off our trail.”
It made sense. But Evalene frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kevra laughed. “I didn’t think of it until last minute, or I would have told you. I promise!” She mimed crossing her heart and smiled at Evalene. “Seriously. I had the time, and it’s so much better this way. Now either of us can be Ruby if we need to!”
It still felt odd to Evalene. Kevra usually talked everything through with her. But the stress had messed with Evalene’s mind too. It could make anyone forgetful. “It’s actually brilliant,” she said, giving in, and Kevra grinned back, proud of herself. Kevra wore the other outfit stolen from Ruby’s closet, a navy-blue dress with a white-speckled pattern like stars in a night sky, growing gradually lighter as it reached the top, as if dawn was coming. It would’ve been Evalene’s first choice, if the dress hadn’t been too small for her. But Kevra, being more petite like Ruby, fit into it perfectly. A thicker scarf, also blue, wrapped around Kevra’s neck over her tattoo.
Kevra’s green eyes flashed in excitement, “Wow. This feels amazing, right?” She grinned widely as she put her feet up on the dash, relaxed now. “I honestly didn’t know if this would work.”
Evalene stared at her friend, forgetting for a moment to watch the road. “What? I hope you’re kidding. I only agreed to your plan because you were so sure!”
Kevra shrugged, a simple gesture that didn’t match the pain in her voice. “I couldn’t stay another second. It was now or never.” Evalene was gathering the courage to ask her what exactly had happened with her boss when Kevra laughed loudly, throwing her head back, lightening the mood again. “We’re free! We made it!”
Evalene couldn’t help smiling. “It’s not over yet.” She shook her head at Kevra – the weightless sensation of her short hair swishing over her shoulders felt strange. “We still have to get to the coast and onto a ship.”
But she felt a tiny spark of hope for the first time since her Numbering.
Since Evalene was already driving, she took the first shift. They would take turns driving through the night and all day tomorrow, hopefully reaching the coast by nightfall. Kevra was far too excited to sleep, chattering excitedly about the FreeLands and how the first thing she would do when she got there was get her tattoo removed or eat a steak like high Numbers did. Maybe both at the same time. Evalene laughed. She couldn’t picture anything past the next day and a half.
The night sky was filled with stars and they stared out at the little bit of road visible in the headlights. The road curved around the desert terrain, winding through valleys. Kevra played with the high-tech GPS system. Thanks to her position in the television factory, she had a better grasp of technology than most low Numbers in Eden. After fifteen minutes of Kevra cursing at the machine, a robotic voice squawked on and began chirping directions.
A few hours later, Evalene’s leg ached from holding down the gas pedal. “You drive so slow,” Kevra complained for the third time. “Let’s switch. It’s my turn.”
Pulling over, they changed places. Kevra settled comfortably into the driver’s seat, immediately flipping a switch, “No wonder your leg hurts. You never turned on the cruise control.”
Evalene groaned, “I wish I’d known that a few hours ago.”
Kevra glanced over and sympathetically patted her leg, but didn’t say much. After the initial burst of conversation during the first couple hours, she’d grown quiet. Besides telling Evalene there were sandwiches in the bag she’d brought, Kevra stayed silent.
“Evalene, I was thinking,” Kevra broke the silence a few hours later, “we’re coming up on the first city border here in about 20 minutes. Since we only have the one ID, I think you should get in the trunk until we’re passed. Just to be safe. And of course,” Kevra added, “I’ll get in the trunk the next time. We can take turns!”
She made it sound like a game, such a Kevra thing to do. But Evalene didn’t argue. She welcomed the chance to avoid pretending. She always said the wrong thing. Anxiety gave her a headache from clenching every muscle in her body, and just the idea of facing the Regulators made her start sweating. The trunk would be a pleasant relief.
They pulled over, and Evalene climbed out as Kevra searched for the button to open the trunk. “I’ll let you out as soon as it’s safe,” she promised Evalene, who nodded. Nerves fluttered once again. Evalene wondered how much anxiety a person could take before they simply stopped functioning.
Climbing into the open trunk, Evalene reached up to find a grip on the inside and pulled down hard, pulling her hand back a split second before the lid crashed over her and clicked closed. It was as dark as a cave without the moonlight. She should’ve expected that. But the fears preying on her mind grew ten times the size they’d been in the front seat.
Lying there in the dark, Evalene felt the car pull out onto the open road again, and regretted being so willing to take the trunk spot. The rocking, bumping, swaying motion of the trunk made her carsick, and the confined space made it hard to breathe.
Twenty minutes passed painfully slow. When the car slowed to a halt, time stopped. Evalene took a big gulp of air and another, focusing on not hyperventilating. She picked up a male voice, and possibly a second, but it was only mumbling from her vantage point.
Kevra must have been acceptable to the Regulators on border patrol, because they didn’t detain her more than a few minutes before the car jerked forward. About a block or so further down the road she heard Kevra give a little squeal of delight. A small smile briefly crossed Evalene’s face. Another five minutes passed, then ten. Twenty minutes. Longer.
Finally, Evalene heard the crunch of gravel and felt the car slow to a stop. Kevra was already apologizing as the hood popped open and the light of the moon poured into the trunk. “I didn’t see a good place to stop. I’m sorry. This was the first spot that looked safe. I didn’t want to risk it, just in case, you know?”
Evalene climbed out and tried to shake off the waves of stress. She stretched her hands up high and stood on tiptoe, enjoying the relief it brought to her muscles. “It’s okay. It was nice to sit in a slightly different position for a couple minutes,” she tried to joke, but it fell a little flat.
“Well, get back in the car, because the luxury seating is over and this little party is overdue to get back on the road.” Kevra tapped her wrist where a watch would be if she had one.
“Okay. But I get to drive now.” Evalene held out her hand for the keys. She wasn’t nearly as smooth a driver as Kevra, but she didn’t care. It was a taste of freedom, and she loved it.
Back on the open road, the black pavement no longer curved, but stretched out in front of them for miles and miles. Evalene felt a deep sense of relief sweep over her as the sun began to rise. The flat desert sand stretched out in front of them on both sides, not a single tree or even a bush to be seen, and mountains off in the distance.
Munching on a sandwich for breakfast, Evalene started to hum along with the radio, tapping the steering wheel happily as they passed the halfway point in their journey. Even though they still took precautions, keeping their sunglasses and scarves on, only stopping in deserted areas, and avoiding towns and checkpoints wherever possible, Evalene still felt more free than she had in years.
Kevra had packed so much food they could’ve lasted a week, and they’d made great time. Hours flew by, although it was hard to sleep in the car and they were both exhausted. That, plus the uncomfortable feeling of dirty clothes, that itched and smelled like sweat and dust, had put Kevra in a lousy mood. But Evalene ignored her because they were only a few hours away from Delmare. She turned the radio up even louder, much to Kevra’s dismay.
Beaming over at her friend who frowned out the window at the blue skies and wide open spaces, Evalene reached out and lightly punched Kevra’s arm. “What’s got you so gloomy?” she demanded. “This isn’t like you, especially now - I feel like I’m coming more alive every mile!” But Kevra just shrugged. In exasperation, Evalene turned down the music. “What happened to my friend and all her plans for when we get to the FreeLands, hmm?”
Kevra stretched sleepily and drooped back into her seat with an exaggerated yawn. “I’m just sick of this car, that’s all,” she said. “It’s hard to be cooped up so long, you know?”
When she didn’t say anything further, Evalene took her eyes off the road to squint at her. But Kevra closed her eyes, blocking her out. Shrugging, Evalene turned the radio back up and shook her head. She tried to tune back into her mood from a few minutes prior.
If Kevra was homesick, Evalene refused to join her. Considering the home Evalene had grown up in before her Numbering, as well as Lola, her freedom, her father the way he used to be, her mother when she’d been alive – Evalene had been homesick for years. And she was sick of it. Enough mourning. She was ready to start fresh. Bobbing her head along to the music, catching onto the chorus, she sang along.
The late afternoon sun shone down on them like a warm, golden hug, and the fresh breeze coming in the windows cooled off her toasting skin. The day felt like perfection. Evalene was gloriously happy. She felt like she could conquer anything. Even knowing the Regulators might have been alerted to their absence by now didn’t bother her. They were almost out of Eden.
Time passed without notice, while Kevra slept against the window, and Evalene drove until the gas light dinged.
She’d known it had to happen, but her anxiety returned anyway. Here was the next test. On the lookout for a discreet place to pull over, Evalene quickly hopped out to let Kevra drive again, climbing back into the trunk once more. So far, Kevra had handled every checkpoint, and they would have to go through another to get into town for gas. Evalene was more than happy to let her handle both.
They’d been gone all night and half a day. If either girl was reported missing, or more importantly, if Ruby realized they’d taken her Identity Card, this next checkpoint could go horribly wrong.