Just as I was gathering my helmet and stretching my body, preparing myself for the next few hours of riding, Eagle’s phone began to ring. He snatched it out of his pocket, checking the caller ID with a confused frown.
I stopped walking, Leo, who was in step beside him pulling up as well and looking over his shoulder. “It’s Jake,” Eagle told him with a serious look.
I couldn’t see Leo’s face, but I noticed his shoulders stiffen. “They’re meant to be in a blackout right now,” Leo replied, fishing around in his pocket for his own phone.
“You go on without us,” Eagle said. “We’ll catch up.” He flicked the answer button and held it to his ear. I could see the worry on his face, and his eyes met mine for a brief second, making my heart leap into my throat before he turned away.
Leo walked over to me, his mind apparently lost elsewhere. I reached out and touched his arm, his body jerked in surprise, confirming my suspicions. “Is everything okay?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself, thrown off by Eagle’s concern.
Leo noted the way I was looking over at Eagle’s retreating form with concern and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure, it’s his brother.” His answer did nothing but confuse me even more, and when he realized this, he continued to elaborate. “Our little brothers are both deployed together as part of a special op’s team. We weren’t meant to hear from them for another few weeks, which either means the operation was completed early… or something bad happened.”
My stomach twisted at his words and I held my breath.
That didn’t sound good.
“I want to wait around, but I’m the one who planned the route, so I’m riding up front with Op,” he said, looking between me and Eagle who was sitting on a bench outside the diner with his elbows braced on his knees. “Can you tell him to let me know ASAP if something is wrong? I’ll tell Hadley to keep hold of my phone. Eagle knows the way. Just look out for him, okay?”
I nodded quickly. “Of course.”
The rest of the club had already mounted their bikes and motors were beginning to roar to life around us. Leo jogged over and leaped on his beast with one easy swoop, Hadley gracefully climbing on the back. I didn’t miss the gentle squeeze she gave him, obviously feeling the emotions racing through his mind. He talked to her over his shoulder, and her head bobbed in understanding before Leo started his bike and rolled slowly forward to meet Op.
I watched as they all moved out of the parking lot and onto the desolate road, the loud roar that almost deafened me as they took off, slowly turned into a low hum as they rode into the distance without us.
Looking over to Eagle, and seeing him in the same position, I decided to make myself comfortable and boosted myself up onto the brick wall that separated the parking lot and diner from the surrounding farmland.
Bumfuck nowhere all right.
The clouds had settled in since we rode in less than forty minutes ago, they were bright and fluffy, the sun behind them managing to break through in a few weak spots, shining sharp beams of light downward from the heavens.
They had no rhyme or reason, just random and beautiful events that happened naturally. I’d spent the last few years studying science, mostly chemistry, but I would read basically everything, and anything that I could get my hands on that explained the natural phenomena that the world around us produced.
Science was not allowed within the Colony.
Hell no.
They would never let their people think that nature produced these events and they were not signs from a higher being, it was complete blasphemy. And that was why I fell so hard in love with science because it reminded me I wasn’t crazy, that I wasn’t going to be damned for walking away from a place they claimed would raise them up to heaven. Yet, the place itself was so much like the depths of hell.
Science reminded me that I’d done the right thing, and it made the hole in my heart a little smaller, and the guilt that I felt deep in my gut just that little more bearable.
I had no hatred toward religion or people’s beliefs. I’d met Christians since I left the Colony who were beautiful and kind people, who never forced their views on you or made you feel like you were any less for not feeling the way they did. What I despised with all my soul, were the lies and the way the Colony used them to control their people and strike fear into the hearts of good men, women, and children who just wanted to know there was going to be someplace beautiful waiting for them when they died.
The crunch of stones underfoot alerted me to Eagle’s approach. I stayed sitting on the concrete wall, waiting for his lead, wondering if he would want to talk about what happened before we got on the road.
I guess I probably should have known better.
“Can we get the fuck out of here already?” Eagle snapped, throwing my helmet with force and hitting me directly in the stomach, forcing the air from my lungs for a second. I held on tightly to the offending object, squeezing my eyes tightly shut to try and block out the pain for those few seconds until it finally subsided. I took a few deep breaths before jumping down to the ground, refusing to look at Eagle when I knew I still had tears glistening in my eyes.
He cleared his throat. “You all right?” Not an apology, more like my pain was an inconvenience.
“Fine,” I growled through my teeth, still refusing to look at him as I jammed the helmet on my head and did up the strap. While I could have gladly gone the next four hours without speaking to the fucking moody bastard, I had told Leo that I’d relay his message. Given his brother could be hurt, I couldn’t say nothing. “Leo said to call him if it was something important.”
“His brother will call him, it’s not urgent,” he replied as he tightened his helmet and started the bike, effectively ending the conversation. I could tell even though he said it wasn’t urgent, that it was still important, or at least had affected him. His body was hard and rigid, and when I climbed on the back and wrapped myself around him, he didn’t freak out, and his breathing didn’t change like it had the time before.
He could just be getting used to me being there, or whatever had happened, was playing on his mind so much that everything else was a blur. Eagle pulled out of the diner parking lot like the hounds of hell were snapping at our heels. I squeaked and gripped on tighter, hiding my face behind his shoulders until I felt my heart settle back into my chest.
I was trying not to curse the fucking bastard out in my head, reminding myself that he was obviously going through a hard time and that something had happened. During stressful times, people could be fucking assholes. I just wished I wasn’t the one he was taking it out on. I didn’t deserve that shit, and I was just starting to crack his shell, see the guy beneath the cold, hard exterior.
Now though, the walls were back up and stronger than before.