Page 110 of Veiled in Brick

“Could probably get there in like thirty,” Liam said.

“We’ll figure it out from there.” James murmured nervously, “Just…keep an eye out, okay guys?”

None of us voiced it, but the agreement was there. We drove on, all of us glancing around at the dark that surrounded us to find nothing, and eventually, we slowed. The gas station was just as Liam had described—small and in a remote location. There were no lights. There were no other cars. There were only four pumps—none of them diesel—and a small market that had been made out of a single-wide mobile home. The roof red and the inside dark, there was no doubt that we would be alone here—and if we weren’t, it appeared to be so quiet that any presence would quickly be known to us.

James was outside of his car in the parking lot, pacing back and forth near the rear bumper with his hands on his hips until we began to drive up beside him. The wheels crunched against stray crumbles of gravel on the cracked concrete slab below until we were, finally, stationary. We all made our way out of the vehicle, and James’ light eyes widened as he looked me up and down.

“Zoey—”

I held up a hand. “Don’t even start, Jay. I’m a mess. I get it.”

His face pinched together. “Your cheek,” he muttered, pointing at my scrape.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I know.”

A brief, repetitive rattling of metal clacking against metal came from behind us all. James squinted his eyes curiously, the rest of us turned to view the source of the noise, and we all saw Liam fighting to open the driver’s side door.

He called to us from the front seat, “Door’s stuck, I’m comin’!”

Illuminated by the car light above him, I watched him crawl over the center console. He bumbled his way, his burly body too large for that sort of movement, and by the time he made it to the door, he nearly fell out of it. The passenger side was thrown open, Liam caught himself on the upper frame with his elbow slung over it, and Luke, who was nearest to him, moved quickly to help.

“You good, man?” Luke asked him as he reached a supporting arm around Liam’s waist.

Liam’s wrist dangled over Luke’s shoulder, his weight making Luke’s knees buckle briefly before he steadied himself, and Liam patted him on the chest with his free hand.

“Never better,” Liam quipped sarcastically, looking down at him with a small, bitter smile. His teeth were tinged with red. “Thanks.”

“Fuck, you look awful,” James stared at him, his eyebrows high. “Do you need to get yourself checked out?”

“I’ve had worse,” he remarked, waving him away with a swat of his hand. Liam’s body swayed with the movement, and Luke grunted as he strained to keep him upright. “Oop,” Liam voiced as his feet fumbled backward, “Let me go, let-me-go.”

“Shit.” Luke stumbled as Liam thudded to the ground, his weight nearly shaking the concrete beneath us. Luke cringed as he looked at him apologetically. “Sorry.”

Liam sat on his rear end, gazing up at us all with slow-blinking eyes. He tipped his bloody head back just slightly, it found the right tail light of my car, and he exhaled as he closed his eyes. He threw Luke a quick thumbs up.

“Clean landing,” he mumbled.

I rushed his way, moving to crouch down beside him. I inspected his head with gentle hands, unable to find the source of the red that was staining his light hair. He winced at my touch, and I jerked my arms away.

“You okay?”

He opened his eyes to glance at me. “I’m fine, Zo’.”

James exclaimed, “You were driving like this?! How?”

I argued, “You’re not fine, you’re concussed, Liam.”

“Pulling over wasn’t really an option,” Liam told James, and with the slightest turn of his head, he looked back to me. “I got racked like twenty, thirty minutes ago. Stood up too fast. I’m just dizzy; I’m fine.”

“You’re all bloody,” Claire noted.

“Heads bleed a lot,” Liam insisted. “I didn’t pass out—I’m fine. Are we really arguing about this?”

I sat back on my behind, comforted only by the fact that Liam appeared to be lucid despite the head wound.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Motel, then, for now?”

Liam ventured, “Are we all set on the motel idea?”

---