Chapter 17

chapter Seventeen

HE-NO, SHE-OPENED HER MOUTH, her lips parting in a silent gasp. At first blink I hadn't been able to tell, but she was definitely a girl, and a little one at that. Eight, maybe nine at most, judging by her size. Just a baby, drowning in an oversized Indy 500 shirt, complete with checkered flags and a bright green race car. Even weirder, her hands and arms up to her elbows were covered by bright yellow rubber gloves-the kind my mom used to wear when she scrubbed the bathroom or did the dishes.

The Asian girl's dark hair was shaved down into a buzz cut, and she was wearing baggy boys' jeans, but her face was so pretty she might have been a doll. Her full, heart-shaped lips formed a perfect O of shock, and her skin paled in such a drastic way that the freckles on her nose and cheeks stood out all the more.

"Where did you come from?" I managed to choke out.

The stunned look on her face flashed to one of terror. The hand she didn't have jammed down into a container of Twizzlers slammed the door shut with a streak of yellow.

"Hey!" I pushed it back open in time to see her dash out the door at the other end of the stockroom, heading out into the rain. I was right behind her, throwing the backpack over my shoulders as I ran past the shelves. The door had caught on a large rock and went flying open as I kicked it and sprinted through.

"Hey!"

Snack-sized bags of pretzels and chips were spilling out from her pockets and beneath her shirt.

She had every right to be terrified of the half-crazed girl chasing after her. I could waste time feeling bad about it later; but, for now, my mind had gotten a whiff of hope, and it wasn't about to let it escape through a parking lot. She had to have come from somewhere, and if she had a way out of this town, or a place to hide until Cate and the others gave up on me, I wanted to know about it.

The gas station's back lot was only four parking spaces wide, and one of them was taken up by an overturned Dumpster. I heard animals tittering inside it as I sprinted after her, keeping my eyes on the back of her gray T-shirt. Her legs were pumping so fast beneath her that she tripped where the lot's loose asphalt met a patch of wild grass. My arms flew out to catch her, but the girl recovered just in time.

I was within two steps of being able to grab the back of her shirt when she suddenly picked up her speed, zipping through the small cluster of trees that separated the station from what looked like another road.

"I just-just want to talk to you!" I called. "Please!"

What I should have said was, I won't hurt you, or I'm not a PSF, or something that would have clued her in to the fact that I was just as screwed in the safety department as she was. But my chest was on fire, and my lungs constricted, stretched tight and useless by the pain in my ribs. The panic button was jumping up into the air, bouncing against my chin and shoulders. I ripped it off so hard, the chain's clasp snapped.

The little girl leaped over a fallen tree trunk, her sneakers squelching through the forest muck. Mine weren't much quieter, but Martin's voice drowned us both out.

"Ruby!"

My blood ran so cold, it seemed to cease pumping through me altogether. I should never have turned back to look over my shoulder, but I did, more out of instinct than fear. I didn't realize that my feet had stopped moving until Martin's round shape appeared on the other side of the trees. He was close enough for me to see the red flush that had overtaken his face, but he hadn't seen me. Not yet.

"Ruby!"

I had expected to find nothing but trees and air waiting for me as I picked up my run, but there she was, a short distance away. The girl had tucked herself behind a tree, not hiding, but also not beckoning me forward. Her mouth was pulled into a tight line, eyes darting back and forth between me and the direction of Martin's voice. When I started toward her, she took off so fast that both feet jumped up from the ground. Scared off like a little rabbit.

"Come on," I gasped, pumping my arms at my side. "I just want to-"

We broke through the trees, pouring out onto a deserted stretch of road. On the other side of the dead-end street was a line of little ramshackle houses, their windows boarded up like black eyes. I thought for sure that she was heading toward the closest one-the house with the gray fence and green door-but she made a hard right and ran for the minivan parked on the side of the road.

The car was dented beyond repair, not just on the bumpers, but on the side doors and the roof. And that was to say nothing of the shot-out and cracked lights, and the black paint that was flaking off in clumps. The nicest thing about it was the cursive, swirling logo that someone had painted along the sliding door: BETTY JEAN CLEANING.

But it was a car. A way out. I wasn't thinking about the logistics at that point-about whether it had gas, or if its engine would even start. I think my heart grew a pair of big, fluffy white wings at the mere sight of it, and nothing was going to shoot it down.

The girl was running so hard, she slammed into the side paneling of the minivan and bounced off it. She landed hard on the ground but recovered faster than I ever would have. With both yellow-gloved hands on the door handle, she ripped the sliding door back with a sound loud enough to shake the birds from the nearby roofs.

I got there just in time for her to close the door and slam her hand down on the lock.

I could see my reflection in the tinted glass-see how she must have seen me. Eyes that were wide and wild, a tangled mass of dark hair, clothes that would have otherwise been too small if camp hadn't made me so damn skinny I could see bones in my chest I didn't know existed. I ran around to the other side of the car, putting the minivan between me and anyone who'd come charging out of the trees.

"Please!" My voice was hoarse. Martin's bellowing voice was either echoing around in my mind, or it was actually getting closer. The windows' tint was light enough that I could look through them and skim the trees for any flash of his waxy skin. If he was getting closer, then Cate and Rob wouldn't be far behind. They must have heard him yelling by now.

Two choices, Ruby, I thought. Go back or run.

My head and heart were in agreement on run, but the rest of my body-the parts that had been tormented by White Noise, poisoned, and mistreated by people who claimed they only had the best intentions-stubbornly held its ground. I sagged against the minivan, deflated. It was like someone had crushed my chest in a vise, spinning the handle until every ounce of air and courage had been squeezed out of me.

Years at Thurmond had taught me to stop believing I could ever get away from the life people were so eager to set for me. I don't know why I thought it would be any different on the outside.

I heard footsteps crashing through the trees and undergrowth, louder with each second. When I looked up again, Cate's startlingly blond hair was weaving in and out of the trees, glowing under the drizzly clouds like a firefly.

"Ruby!" I heard her call. "Ruby, where are you?"

And then there was Rob, walking right behind her with the gun in his hands. I looked right to the houses on the street's dead end. Farther down the opposite end of the street, I saw signs with symbols I didn't recognize-but that, the unknown, that had to be better than going back to Cate.

The little girl inside of the car looked at me, then turned to look at the trees. Her lips pressed together, pulling down into a frown. One hand was clenched on the door handle, the other on her seat's armrest. She started to stand once, only to sit back down and look one more time in my direction.

I swiped at my face with the back of my hand and took a step back. Hopefully the girl knew well enough to hide herself when Cate and Rob ran after me. I'd lead them as far away as I could-it was the least I could do after scaring a few years off her life.

I hadn't even fully turned to go when I heard the door roll open behind me. A pair of hands reached out and seized the back of my uniform shirt, twisting the fabric for a better grip. When she yanked, I fell back, hitting the closest seat. My neck snapped against the armrest and I rolled onto the rough carpet behind the front passenger seat. The door roared shut behind me.

I blinked, trying to clear the dark spots swimming in my vision, but the other girl wasn't about to wait for me to get settled. She climbed over my tangled legs to get to the rear seat, grabbing my shirt collar and giving it a hard tug.