Page 42 of Convergence

I shared one quick, fearful look with Nate before we both finished our bags and thundered down the stairs. We tugged on our boots and coats as Everett came out of his room carrying his bag. He ushered us out the door, pulling on his coat. Nate and I jumped into the truck, but Everett went into the shed. He came out with a can of gasoline we had for topping off Marie Curie, placed it in the truck bed, and got in the cab.

“What’s that for?” Nate asked. Everett didn’t respond.

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Everett pulled up to the lab and hopped out of the truck. “Stay here,” he barked at us.

Nate opened his door and got out to follow Ev. “What’s the plan? What are you doing?”

Everett grabbed the gas can from the back of the truck and came around to the passenger side of the truck. I rolled down the window but followed the direction to stay.

“I need to make sure nothing survives,” Everett explained, his eyes darting from me to Nate.

Nate opened his arms up in awhat the fuckgesture. “And you’re going to what? Set the place on fire?”

“I am,” Everett said and walked towards the lab. “Stay in the truck.”

“No!” Nate shouted and started to follow Everett. “I’m not letting you do it by yourself. It’s not safe to go in there alone. What if there’s someone in there looking for us?”

Everett spun on his heel and pushed Nate with a palm to his chest back against the truck. This was not the calm, smirking cowboy I knew and cared for. He was steel, vengeance, and undeterred rage. I gasped as Nate’s back slammed against the truck at the front passenger door. Everett pressed his chest against Nate’s and spoke clearly and in a demanding tone that allowed for no negotiation, his arms boxed in Nate at his shoulders. “Stay. In. The. Truck.”

“You have five minutes before I come in and get you,” Nate said in an argumentative tone.

Everett pushed away from Nate and picked up the gas can and jogged into the lab. Nate looked down at his watch to mark the beginning of five minutes. Neither of us spoke, but Nate kept looking from the doors to his watch as he paced next to the truck. As I stared at the building, I took a steadying breath. I had my seatbelt off and my hand on the door handle, ready to run into the building if needed. I saw Everett move from the lab to the office at a run, right as the fire alarm sounded and the sprinklers started. The lab room itself had a different type of fire deterrent where the doors would lock, and all the oxygen is sucked out of the room through the ventilation system, therefore cutting off the fuel for the fire. My stomach clenched at the realization Everett had been seconds from being stuck in that room without oxygen.

Nate had stopped pacing when the alarm sounded, and I knew he was waiting to see Everett not trapped in the lab. A blaze was visible from the open office door, and Everett came running out without the gas can. He had his shirt over the bottom half of his face to block the smoke as he ran out. “Get in the truck, Nate!” he bellowed as he sprinted to the driver’s seat. Ev turned back to the lab and lifted both middle fingers to it. Nate and Ev both jumped into the truck at the same time and Nate and I both gave the building middle fingers as well, assuming cameras were watching us.

As Everett was slamming on the gas in reverse to get us away from the lab, the building exploded. I shrieked as the force rocked the truck. The sound was so loud it felt like my eardrums had burst. I knew vaguely that Nate was swearing as Everett sped us away from the decimated building. I fought back tears from the shock of it all and buckled into my seat with shaking hands.

“There was hardly any gas in that can! How’d you do that?” Nate shouted incredulously as he craned around to see the burning building.

“There were a lot of accelerants in that building. You just have to know how to use them,” Everett muttered as he maneuvered us through Cleveland traffic.

“I guess so,” Nate grumbled and buckled his seat belt.

“Wh-where are we going now?” I asked in a quiet voice after a few attempts to gather my speech.

“I need to find my brother,” Everett said.

“Wait, he’s in the-” Nate started to clarify, but Everett cut him off.

“Let’s not talk about where we’re going until we get rid of our phones,” Ev said. “Call your families and say goodbye for a little while. Then toss your phone out the window.”

“Eva, go ahead,” Nate said and reached back a hand to pat my knee.

I pulled out my phone and with still shaking hands; I pressed my dad’s contact. It rang and rang until it went to voicemail. I hiccupped a sob before swallowing it down when I heard the standard voicemail greeting. “Um, hey, dad. I uh- I think the school has tricked me. It seems like I was never actually a student there. I um- I had to leave ‌quickly because I think it wasn’t legal or ethical, but it’s okay because nobody will be able to get the samples anymore. Um, I guess this is goodbye for a little while. So, bye.”

Nate and Everett exchanged quick glances in the front seat, and I looked back down at my phone. What if he called back? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to throw my last lifeline to my dad out the window. Should I call Caleb? But what would I say to him? I sighed and rolled down the window and threw my phone down onto the road as hard as I could. I heard it shatter as we sped away.

I listened to Nate call his mom and explain quickly what happened and then throw his phone out. The call was quick, as he didn’t allow her to ask questions. He sat still and silent in the front seat, staring straight ahead. It was rare for Nate to be both quiet and unmoving, so I knew he was upset. I rubbed his shoulder over the seat, and he reached a hand back to place over mine, holding me to him.

Everett called his mom next. “Mama, there’s been a mixup at school. I’m alright, but I had to leave. They had us doing something that wasn’t right, and I needed to back out. It might be bigger than me, though. They might be after me, so I’m going to disappear- no, mama. No, I did nothing wrong. It’s why I’m leaving… I’ll see you soon. I love you,” Everett said, and threw his phone out the window instead of hanging up. I could hear his mom’s voice wailing on the other end of the phone as it sailed out the window and my heart clenched for her. She had lost contact with her oldest son before this, so this was difficult. But my heart also clenched at the absence of having someone in my own life that cared so deeply.

We drove in silence for a while as Everett sped down the highway in a direction I didn’t pay attention to. When we all settled down enough to feel more comfortable in the car, Everett reached down to turn on the radio. “I say we should drive as far as we can tonight and then stop somewhere to sleep and use a payphone to call my brother in the mountains,” Everett said as he found a station playing country music.

“Why your brother? I thought you said you hadn’t had contact with him after he went crazy,” Nate said.

“He might be able to help us figure out if thiswasthe government ordering the project or if it was the college or someone else. I don’t know who else to trust with this to help us. If anything, he’ll help us hide out for a while,” Everett explained.

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