Page 6 of Dusk & Desire

“The bridge across the Ochlockonee is blocked,” he answers.

I lean forward and poke my face between their two seats. Immediately, I see the cars piled up on the bridge. “Did they crash or something?” I feel like all I’m doing is asking questions, like the kid in the backseat nagging the parents if they’re there yet. We passed a few abandoned cars in the short amount of time we’ve been driving, but this is the first time I’ve seen more of them together.

“What are the odds that half a dozen cars pile up at a bottleneck where no one can bypass?” Noa’s cynical scenario raises the hair on my arms. Is this an ambush?

“Let’s go around,” I say decisively. “Take another bridge.”

“Mmm,” Noa purrs, smirking back at me. “I like it when you’re bossy, pretty girl.” I gasp at the look in her narrowed eyes, surprised at the warming sensations between my legs. What the heck is she doing to me? It’s like a war of attrition, eroding my heterosexuality with each smirking comment.

“Not now, Noa,” Axel grumbles from the driver’s seat, shifting into reverse with a bit more force than necessary.

Since I’m the only one looking ahead, I’m the first to see the group of men jump out from behind the stalled vehicles. My jaw unhinges.

“Faster, Axel!” I screech, tapping his shoulder. Thankfully, he doesn’t question me and picks up speed, using the handbrake tospin the car around. Noa braces her hands on the dash in front of her, and I wrap my arms around her headrest.

I scream when glass shatters and rounded shards of it rain over me. My heart does its best to escape my chest, beating so hard and fast I feel dizzy and nauseous. When the car straightens, facing the way we came, Axel hits the pedal, and I slam back against the backrest, the glass rolling over the tin and plastic of our supplies and onto me, cutting my skin in places.

The men shout after us as we peel off, and I turn around to see them throwing more rocks at us, even though we’re too far away.

After five minutes, Axel eases off on the gas. I shake my head and glass shards fall on my lap. When I see the tiny cuts on my arms, I hiss, the pain registering. Noa must hear me, because she turns around, scanning me. I guess I look worse than I thought because she lets loose a string of expletives.

“Find a place to stop, I need the first aid kit for Linda,” she instructs her brother.

Axel clicks his tongue. “Are you nuts? You saw those assholes back there! Fuck knows how many like them are around, waiting for idiots to stop for a piss break.”

“I’m fine, Noa.” I try to sound unconcerned – I don’t want them to fight because of me, don’t want to be any trouble. What if they decide I’m too much hassle and leave me behind? I can’t survive without them.

“It’s not fine. You’re bleeding all over.” She waves a hand in my direction as if I’m not seeing what she’s seeing.

“We’ll be at the base in a couple of hours,” Axel grits out through clenched teeth.

“He’s right.”

Noa ignores me and glares at her brother instead. “What if we run into more roadblocks like that? We can’t be sure when we’ll get there. Pull into a forest road, no one’s going to see us.”

Axel does as she says, though with obvious reluctance. She always seems to get her way with him. I bet she’s the older sister.

I bounce in the backseat as we hit uneven ground and try not to show the blue-haired girl that it’s just hurting me more. Whenwe roll to a stop, she immediately hops out of the car and opens the trunk. As she rummages through it to get to the first aid kit, I carefully exit and rid my hair and clothes of as much glass as I can.

“Move, Winnie,” Axel says gruffly, pushing me aside. I see that he put gloves on and has now started to clean the backseat. I blush at his thoughtfulness. I think it’s because he’s been so grumpy and dismissive this entire time that it stands out more now when he’s being nice.

Wait, isn’t that a type of Stockholm Syndrome?

Noa interrupts my thoughts by coming close and placing the open first aid kit on the car’s roof.

“Take your top off,” she says matter-of-factly.

I gape at her. “Excuse me?”

She sighs and pauses soaking a cotton ball with alcohol. “Your top is torn and bloody; there are cuts underneath. And I’m sure you don’t want to roll up to the military base looking like a zombie.”

I look at my disheveled clothing and a flush warms my cheeks. Squirming, I tug on the hem of my top. I look at Axel, but he’s ignoring us, still cleaning the backseat. Finally, I tug the top over my head. My heart pounds against my ribs again. For a moment, I think about seeing a doctor for the issue, then remember that’s probably highly unlikely right now.

I feel gentle dabbing on the skin of my upper arms, then a burning sting from the disinfectant. The astringent smell of alcohol invades my nostrils, overpowering Noa’s much more pleasant one. I keep my eyes on my feet, but I can see my chest trembling regardless. I can’t help myself and glance at Noa’s face to see if she noticed. Just then, she starts cleaning a cut above my left breast. She uses the pinky finger of her left hand to gently push the gold locket necklace my parents gave me to the side. Goosebumps gallop in her wake and her lips twitch into a self-satisfied smirk. She moves closer, like she wants to inspect the cut, and I feel her breath against my overheated skin. If she moved a couple of inches, her mouth would be on my cleavage.

Why am I thinking about that?

“If this was just an excuse to cop a feel, I’m leaving both of you on the side of the road.”

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