“I think I found it,” Chris says. “Adam?”
“Yeah, that must be it. But if you cut that, it’ll kill the navigation too.”
“Just do it!” I yell. The cops are gaining on us, and I don’t know how much longer I can stay ahead of them.
“Give me one minute…” Chris says, using pliers from his backpack to pluck at the wires.
Adam points to something in the panel. “Watch out for the—”
“I know, I know!” Chris leans close, and a second later every screen and light on the dashboard dies. “There! Done!”
“Great…now how do I lose them?” I ask.
“Make lots of quick turns,” Chris says. “Once we lose sight of them, we can turn off the headlights and hide somewhere.”
I take a sharp left, and we’re all thrown to the side of the car. But the cops stick right behind us the entire time. I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m doing. I’m running on fear alone right now, my limbs so jumpy I can barely hang on to the steering wheel.
“You’re doing great.” Adam puts a hand on my shoulder. “Just focus.”
Something about his touch, or maybe his confidence in me, clears my head a little. I check the road around us and brace myself for what I’m about to do. “I have an idea. Hang on.”
I jerk the car to the left, onto the wrong side of the street, straight into oncoming traffic. Zoe screams and my heart jumps into my throat, but the other cars swerve out of the way or stop before they hit us. One side of our car scrapes against another one with a shriek of metal.
“Watch it!” Chris yells.
The police hang back now, thrown off by my reckless move. It was a gamble, but I’d guessed that the computers inside the cars wouldn’t let them hit us. Luckily, I was right.
While Chris guides me and Trent yells at me to go faster, I drive through streets I’ve never seen before. I don’t know where I’m going or where we are. I’m just trying to escape the flashing lights behind us. But soon we’re lost in a city that’s become a stranger.
Finally Zoe says, “They’re gone!”
I check my rearview window but don’t see anything through the rain. We take another few turns to be safe, and then Chris points ahead. “Quick, pull in there.”
I speed into the parking lot for a storage facility wedged underneath a freeway overpass. We drive around back so we’re blocked from the view of the street by the large building. I shut the car off and we crouch down in our seats, waiting in the darkness. Listening to rain drum against the roof. Straining to hear sirens.
After the longest five minutes of my life, we peek our heads out and look around. No one yanks the doors open. No one yells at us to freeze.
We’ve escaped. Barely.
13:05
I stare out the front window at the downpour. Now that my pulse is slowing and we’re out of danger, my earlier thoughts crash back into me. Memories flash of everything I did to those cops. Of the crime scene photos showing what I’m going to do. And the knowledge of what I am and what I’m going to become. The others talk around me, but it’s almost like they’re in another room, their voices muted and distant.
“But the navigation is dead—how will we find Lynne’s house?” Zoe asks.
Chris inspects the open panel on the dashboard. “I can probably fix it, but it might take me a few minutes.”
“Wake me up when you’re done,” Trent says, pulling his hood over his head.
The warm air in the car suffocates me. I can’t be with these people for one second longer. I throw open the door and jump out into the rain and the darkness.
“Elena, where are you going?” Zoe calls after me.
“I need some fresh air.” I shut the door and walk away. My shoes splash through deep puddles, soaking my socks. Water trickles down my hair and into my jacket. I’ll probably catch a cold, but what does it matter? I won’t be alive after tomorrow anyway.
Once I’m on the other side of the building, out of sight, I slouch against the wall. I close my eyes and try to block out all thoughts but the sound of the torrent around me. I try to forget what’s going to happen tomorrow. I try to forget that we might be brain damaged soon. I try to forget what I did to those cops. But of course I can’t. I remember every single second. Every tiny detail.