Page 42 of Screwed

Itossedandturnedin my bed, unable to get comfortable. I had assumed Ray would follow me upstairs almost immediately, but as dusk fell into full night, I realized he wasn’t coming. Where was he? Was he safe? Alive?

Nothing was ever a certainty after the Collapse. Surely I understood that concept better than most.

Eventually I turned my lamp off, pretending like I was going to sleep. I couldn’t exactly go downstairs and check to make sure he was okay, especially after the close call with Laura and Brother Brutus. Sometimes I really hated this world. I hadn’t realized how simple life was before. Worried about your boyfriend? You texted him, or called him.

Now, you lay in bed and imagined thousands of horrific scenarios, all ending with his body at the bottom of a ditch.

I stared up at my ceiling, barely lit by the waning moon. Some of the popcorn texture was scraped away, and I wondered who had been bored enough to pick at the layers of plaster. Bored, or desperate. You would’ve had to stand on the bed frame to reach it, so I was going to go with desperate.

Eventually the night bled into the purple bruise of dawn, and I managed to close my eyes for a moment or two.

When I opened them again, the orange tone of the morning sun was painting over night. Someone knocked lightly at my door. I narrowed my eyes at the noise, wondering who was disturbing the sleep I had just managed to fall into, when Ray poked his head in. He was maskless, but still wore the black hoodie of the Kingsnakes.

“Ray,” I breathed. All of last night’s anxiety fell away, seeing his face look just as tired as mine. “What the hell happened to you?” Ray did a double take behind his back, then slid into my room. He closed the door silently and came to sit at the head of my small mattress with me. “I was on my way upstairs, when Avery showed up at the door.”

Avery? Here?“What the hell was she thinking?” I sat up, crossing my legs, and looked Ray in the eyes. “How did she even know where to find you?” I still couldn’t picture the tiny toddler I had pushed on the swings as an almost-teenager, grown and with a mind of her own. It just didn’t compute.

He sighed. “Those were basically my exact words. But Avery isn’t stupid. She knows what I do, and where to find me. Ella was sick last night. Really sick. We were up all night trying to keep her fever down.” I looked more closely at him, at the dark circles ringing his eyes.

Ray wasn’t lying when he said he’d been up all night – just like me. “Shit, I’m sorry. Is she okay?” Ray nodded, giving me a crooked smile.

“She’s through the worst of it. The fever broke just before dawn.” He was quiet for a moment, his eyes unfocused. “I don’t think it helps being in that apartment building. Everyone is living on top of one another, and her immune system is still weak from whatever she caught after mom died.”

“So then why are you here? Ella still needs you. And if anyone catches you here in the morning, especially after last night...” I didn’t even want to think about the consequences.

“I’m here because of a promise I made.” He laughed quietly and pulled me into his chest. I rested against him and watched his gray eyes. “And because I have a plan to get us out of here.”

“You do?” My eyes widened. We had been planning an escape for a while, but nothing seemed feasible, especially with two young girls. But this time, Ray seemed fairly certain. “How?”

“We’re going to use the dramatics of the Choosing to sneak away. I’m on door duty with Dogberry that day, so we don’t need to worry about another brother watching the front door. Besides, I got first choice last month, so I’ll be one of the last to choose this month. If we sneak out in the morning or early afternoon, we should have hours before anyone realizes either of us is missing. Ella is still weak, but she’s light enough we can carry her if need be. I’ll pack as many extra supplies for her as I can.”

The brothers on door duty had been one of the biggest obstacles in our getaway plan. We could take down one, but not the other before the brothers who stayed with the pregnant girls would realize something was going on. Ray being on door duty would be a huge help.

“Ella and Avery?” I asked.

“There’s a shed around the back of the motel. No one uses it. I’ve hidden the supplies in there, in a couple backpacks, and I’ll sneak the girls in there in the morning. The plan is to get as far away from the motel as possible.” He chewed on his lip, and I knew what was coming next.

“Don’t start that again, Ray.” He glared down at me.

“I need to know my sisters are safe if I have to stay behind.”

I sighed. “Of course they’ll be safe. But if we’re leaving, we’re leaving together.” It was my turn to think for a moment. “What about the rest of the girls? We can’t just leave them here.”

“Some of them will want to stay, babydoll. It’s the only safety they’ve ever known.” Ray ran his fingers through my hair, stroking my cheeks. “But we’ll leave the door unlocked behind us for those who want to leave. Like Hannah.”

Hannah. I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Hannah deserves another chance. I’ll let her know to be ready.”

Ray pulled me tighter to his chest. “Hannah you can tell. But no one else. She can let the other girls know after we’re far enough away. I can’t take any chances with your or my sisters’ safety.”

“I know. I know.” I burrowed deeper into him, letting his heartbeat lull me into a false sense of security.

“Was that the promise you mentioned?”

“Hmm?” he asked absentmindedly. His fingers were trailing up and down my back.

“You said you were here this early because you had a promise to keep. Was the promise telling me about the escape plan?”

Ray laughed, his chest vibrating under my ear. “Unfortunately not.” He pulled me up and over, so I sat on his lap with a leg on either side. “The promise in question is one I made my incredibly precocious and determined little sister.”

---