The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) (21 page)

“This isn’t a joke!” he yelled. “What is wrong with you? Why aren’t you taking this seriously? I thought when you laughed in his face you might have hit your head at some point. And then I realized you were just stupid.”

Anger started to boil in my chest. I said slowly, “I’m not stupid. You call me stupid one more time and you will find yourself with something sticking out of you. I didn’t mean to laugh at him but come on, who would take that seriously? And seeing how my life is on the line, I did the only thing I could do other than cry, which was laugh.” I cleared my throat. I was terrified, but I couldn’t focus on that emotion. I would be paralyzed if I did. “Let’s fight later. For now, I have a plan.” Walking over to the window, I peered through it. Kieran had sent men to stay in the hallway. I wasn't surprised. “We need to escape.”

Gregory’s eyes narrowed. “And how exactly are we going to do that? If you haven’t noticed, he brought men with him, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have more.”

I ran past him and into the bathroom. There was a window there, and after pulling the curtain free, I could see an alley. “Come help me,” I yelled.

Gregory walked into the bathroom. “What?” He looked up at me standing on the toilet while I tried to open up the window.

“I can’t open it,” I said, pinching my finger between the bottom of the window and edge. “Ouch.”

“Move,” Gregory said. I jumped from the window, my finger in my mouth, and Gregory took my spot. He opened the window in seconds. It wasn’t fair.
How did he do that so fast?

“I must have loosened it for you,” I said.

“Right,” he said. “So, what’s this big plan of yours?”

“Okay,” I said. “We sneak out of this window and go down the alley. From there, we head to the streets and find somewhere to hide until we can get out of Inonia.”

“There is a slight problem with your plan,” he said.

“No there isn’t,” I said. It would work perfectly. I knew it.

“I can’t fit through the window,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

I looked back up at the window and realized he was right. Crap. I would be lucky enough to get through it. “Okay, what can we do?” I asked. We needed a head start. This was supposed to be our head start.

Gregory walked past me and into the other room. I followed him. He stalked over to the window and peered out of it. After a few minutes, he closed the curtain. “Here’s the new plan,” he said as he walked over to the duffel bags. Picking them up, he walked back to the bathroom, and I followed him back into the bathroom. “You’re going to go out the window,” he said as he threw out the duffel bags. “Will you be able to carry both duffel bags and backpack while your arm is in a sling?” It was a little late now, seeing as he’d just thrown them out the window.

I wouldn’t be able to run fast if I had to run. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’re going out the window, and you’re going to head toward the train station. Do you think you can get there?”

Probably not.
It must have shown on my face because Gregory shook his head and sighed. “Okay, this is where you’re going,” he said. “When you jump, you’re going to go right and straight through the streets. Make sure you try to blend in with those walking around. Three blocks down you will take a left. After you turn, go straight for a few more blocks and you’ll come to a deserted building. The building’s only ten minutes from the train station, but it’s empty. Go in there and hide, and wait until you hear from me. Make sure you keep hidden on the way there.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “How do you know it’s deserted?”

“I found it last night after you fell asleep. I went out to make sure we had an escape route—and it’s a good thing I did. I’m going out the door and slipping out the back,” he said. I nodded my head. We would save the talk about leaving me behind while I slept for another time. For now, we just needed to survive. 

As I stood on top of the toilet, I looked out the window; it wasn’t a very far jump, but with my shoulder I knew it was going to hurt. “Why can’t we both sneak out the back?” I said looking back at him.

“It’s just easier this way,” was all he said.

“Right,” I said. “If you don’t show up, I will hunt you down and kill you? Got it?”

He shook his head, clearly amused. “Whatever,” he said. “Just don’t die.”

Oh, how encouraging
. I took a deep breath in and let it out. Awkwardly, I started to put my legs through the window. Gregory helped me, holding me by my underarms—my shoulder screamed in pain—and helped lower me to the ground. As I touched the ground, he let go. Sliding both duffel bags up my good shoulder, I hobbled away and could hear the window shut behind me. Making sure my feet weren't making too much noise, I shuffled down the road. When I got to the end of the alley, I pulled the hood of my jacket up and looked toward the front of the entrance. Kieran and his men were standing around a green Jeep I hadn’t noticed before and talking. Next time I’d be more observant. Thankfully, the streets were packed with people, so I shouldn't have a hard time sneaking by. 

Saying a quick prayer, I put my head down and walked quietly across. People bumped into me. It was getting harder to keep my head down, so instead I just stared straight ahead. It was difficult to walk, as I had to shuffle my way around others.
I have to keep going straight for how long?
I tried to remember what Gregory said.

It wasn’t until I walked the first block that I heard the yelling. Chancing a look behind, I could still see the inn and I could see Kieran yelling at his men. They must have figured out we’d escaped. Damn! I was hoping we would have had more time. Just as I thought that, Kieran looked my way. Our gazes connected. For a few seconds, we just stared at one another until someone bumped into me, breaking our connection. When I pushed forward and started running, the duffel bags bounced against my side. Kieran's voice floated toward me, as I heard him yelling at his men. With people walking in all different directions and the weight of the duffel bags, it was hard to pick up my pace. A shot rang off behind me, and people started screaming. I moved faster and shoved people out of my way, mumbling sorry but not staying long enough to hear a reply. Another shot banged out, and more screaming came from behind me. As I took a sneak peek behind me, I could feel the blood draining from my face. Three of Kieran’s soldiers were gaining on me. I couldn’t outrun them. I looked around frantically as I ran; I needed to hide. As I ran past an opened door, another shot went off, and I was pulled in through the door. I was pushed behind someone as they shut the door. I looked up into the face of an elderly woman.

“This way,” she croaked, grabbing my good arm and pulling me toward the back.

“What are you doing?” I asked. I tried to pull out of her grip, but she was too strong.

“I’m saving your life.” She stopped as we made it to the back. She put her crooked finger against her lip. “You should be able to escape back here.”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked.

“You need the help,” was all she said.

She opened up the door and I slid out. “Thank you,” I whispered. She just nodded her head and ushered me on. I moved silently, hearing the metal door of the shop close. Keeping to the shadows, I listened closely to the shouting on the opposite sides of the buildings. By the time the building came into view, I let out a breath of relief. It was hard to tell where I was going, but I had finally made it. I walked up to the building and surveyed the area: it was empty. When I pulled the door open, I winced at the loud scratching sound. I stopped immediately and flashed my eyes about to see if anyone would come running toward the noise. After a few minutes of quiet, I slowly opened the door a little bit more and slid right in. Closing the door as quietly as I could, I stood in the silence of the pitched black building. I couldn't see a damn thing.

“Gregory?” I whispered, hoping he was already there. After a few minutes of silence though, I knew my answer. Minutes later my eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and I walked my way further into the building. My hands trailed against the cold metal wall, until coming up against a wooden door. I felt my way down the wood until my hand caught the cold, round door handle. Turning the handle, the door opened quietly and I made my way in. My head hit a string that was hanging down and I pulled it, and light illuminated the room—a small closet. Old moldy mops were on one side with a bunch of buckets, while there were brooms on the back wall. 

Closing the door behind me, I made room next to the wall for me to sit and turned off the light. The floor was freezing, so I unzipped my jacket and placed it underneath me. I sat there, straining my ears to hear Gregory or anyone coming into the building. There was only stillness. I pulled my knees up and set my chin on them. A creak sounded outside of the door, and I stopped breathing. I knew if it was Gregory he would say something, call my name. For what felt like hours, I sat there frozen before finally letting my body relax when I couldn't hear anything. I started to nod off; the running had taken so much out of me.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I heard a loud crash, I woke suddenly and smacked my head against the wall behind me, causing me to bite down on my tongue. The pain vibrated through my head, and I could taste the metallic of the blood from my tongue. I stayed completely still, not knowing exactly which direction the crash had come from, but it sounded like it had come from inside the building. Slowly, I moved my hand toward my backpack and put both straps on my uninjured arm. Just in case I had to get away fast, I would at least have the backpack. I stayed crouched, ready to flee for what felt like an hour, but nothing came from the noise. I settled myself back against the wall and rubbed the back of my head. My head was killing me now. I closed my eyes. Gregory was supposed to be here by now. What if I had been asleep when he’d gotten here and I’d never answered when he’d called out for me? Would he go looking for me? What if he hadn’t made it out of the inn? I felt sick at that thought. No, he had to have made it. A loud screeching came from the other room and I stayed completely still. The sound echoed through the building again, and I clamped my hands over my mouth from yelling out. Someone was here. My heart thumped in my chest painfully and it hit harder when I could hear creaks from the person walking in.
Please let it be Gregory, please let it be Gregory.

“Mia?” his voice whispered through the room.

I exhaled my breath and smiled. I crawled to the door and opened it. “Gregory?”

“You’re here,” he said. I could see him coming closer to me. I stood up and pulled on the string. I blinked across the brightness as I watched Gregory walk toward me. As he got in front of me, I noticed a large ugly cut lining his forehead, making its way from his eyebrow to his ear. 

“You’re hurt,” I said, reaching up to touch it. He grabbed my hand and pulled it back down, his face a mask of emotions.

“I saw them run after you,” he said. “I tried to lead them off. After you disappeared, they focused on me, and I had to run all over the region to lose them. I didn’t want to be followed, so I hid out for a few hours.”

I was happy to see him, but I’d never admit it. I bit the side of my thumb as I watched Gregory shut the door and sit down in front of it. “We should probably clean up your cut.” Blood was still scattering out of it. Gregory wiped his head and looked at the little bit of blood on his hands. 

“It’s fine,” Gregory said as he leaned his head back against the door and closed his eyes. I unzipped a duffel and took out one of my clean shirts.

“Here.” I threw the shirt at him. “Use that to hold against your head so it stops the bleeding.”

Gregory threw the shirt back to me. “It’s fine.”

I bit my lip out of frustration. “If you won’t do it, I’ll come over there and do it myself.”

“IT’S. FINE,” Gregory said, slowly and loudly.

I breathed in and out. My body shook. I didn’t know why I was getting so angry with him, but I needed him to take this seriously. “You’re bleeding. If you don’t stop the bleeding, you will die, and frankly I don’t want to have to dig a grave.”

Gregory tilted his head at me. Annoyance cleared from his face and understanding dawned. Gregory stood up and came toward me. I flinched as he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. I didn’t know what was going on. My arms moved of their own accord to hold on to him. “I’m okay,” he murmured into my ear. My body began to shake terribly as I buried my head into his chest. His hand rubbed up and down my back. Gregory sat down without letting me go. I burrowed into him as I felt the first wave of tears hit. He just held on to me as I cried into his chest.

Once the tears all dried up, I pulled out of his embrace. I didn’t know what had come over me. Why did I cry? I was too tired to think. I used a duffel bag as a pillow as I lay down and turned my back to Gregory. Closing my eyes, I could feel sleep taking over and the last thing I heard was Gregory saying, "I'm sorry." I didn’t know what he was sorry for, but I needed to hear him say it. My heart needed it, which confused the hell out of me. What was going on?