Page 90 of Degradation
I hear them leave and frown at the door as it clicks shut. Grabbing my phone, I change the amount to the same as Andy and I get. Five hundred a week.
The laptop is going to take a couple hours to run through the simulation. I might as well join them for a bite.
I grab my coat and rush after them, taking the stairs two at a time instead of waiting for the elevator. I get out and go to the parking lot where I left my car, calling Mav to find out where they are.
Then I see them ahead of me, walking slowly side by side along the path next to the road. I head their way, following quickly to catch up to them before they get to the crossing. They stop at the light, and I can see Mav searching for his phone.
The light turns red, and they begin to walk across.
He picks up. ‘Hey. Change your mind?’
‘Yeah,’ I begin, and then I hear the screech of tires behind me.
A black, beat-up Camero turns onto the road from one of the side streets and revs its engine. It accelerates, the tires smoking and leaving marks on the asphalt. The car hurtles in the direction of Mav and Daisy, who are still crossing.
‘Mav!’ I yell down the phone, running faster as the car careens toward them.
It whizzes past me, and I realize the driver has a hood pulled up to hide their face.
Daisy freezes in the middle of the road when she sees it heading straight for them.
NO!
Chapter Six
DAISY
Mav yells something and yanks me out of the way just as the car swerves to hit me, and I fall into the bushes on the side of the road.
I’m confused and disorientated and I feel hands grabbing me, pulling me up.
When, I’m on my feet, I see a dirty black car turn down another street in my periphery, but it’s gone before I can focus on the license plate.
‘Daisy?’
I’m breathing hard. I blink at Mav. Shade’s asking me questions. When did he get here?
‘Are you hurt?’
‘Daisy?’
‘No,’ I make myself say.
My hands are shaking.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Mav mutters.
Shade stares at Mav and their eyes lock in a meaningful exchange the way they often do, I’ve noticed. All three of the guys do it. They’re saying something to each other, but I don’t know what. I glance back and forth between them, trying so hard to glean something.
‘Drunk driver,’ Shade mutters and Mav nods immediately.
‘Must have been.’
I replay what happened in my mind. The car swerved toward me. The driver was looking my way though I couldn’t see their face.
They want me to believe it was an accident, I realize. Maybe it was. But, as I keep rolling it around in my mind, I’m not sure. Did that driver swerve to hit me specifically? I was stopped in the middle of the road, helpless as it flew toward me. Everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion, but I couldn’tmove.
‘Is your ankle, okay?’
