We peeled out of the parking lot, squealing away from the ruined IMRA building. I wanted to put as much distance between us and them, as fast as possible. On the busy streets of the city, I had to force myself to slow down. I would only draw more attention to us if I drove like a maniac.
At least the van was nondescript, rather plain and uninteresting. There were no big markers or obvious identifiers. We could be seen by a million people, and with Athos hidden safely in the back, no one would bat an eye.
My hope was that no one had paid attention to our departure in the parking lot. If they hadn’t even seen the vehicle, they had no idea what to look for. But the explosion had drawn a lot of attention, distracting everyone from us.
IMRA wasn’t stupid, of course. Eventually, they’d be able to trace this van back to me and Athos. But with any luck, we’d be on the other side of the country by then.
It was hard to control my lead foot as I drove us out of the city. The traffic helped slow me down a little, leaving me with no other choice. But I was in the mood to fly. I felt drunk on the rush of adrenaline. I had never felt better in my life. My endorphins were high, making my body sing.
It wasn’t just the physical rush. For once, my brain knew that it was doing the right thing. Those two things combined left me feeling giddy, beside myself with excitement. I’d won, in the most genuine sense of the word. Athos was back. I had saved us both from IMRA. We were finally free. Everything was just as it was supposed to be.
I drummed my fingers against the wheel, full of energy that had nowhere to go. It felt almost dizzying as everything hit a crescendo and then began to seep away from me. Now that the immediate threat was over, my body was trying to put itself back to normal, but I couldn’t quite shake the buzz.
I didn’t care that my life, as I knew it, was over. It turned out that almost none of it was worth saving, anyway. My job, my colleagues – all of it was trash. I didn’t mind the challenge of burning it all down and starting anew. The demands of my job at IMRA meant I hadn’t had much of a life outside of work. It was hard to make friends when you had to worry that you couldn’t talk freely, because you worked for a company that had signed you to secrecy. Any sign of what I did for a living put me at risk, and it was just easier to keep to myself.
The same problem came up with men, limiting my dating options significantly. Because my social circles were so small, they were basically non-existent. The notion that I would never see anyone from my old life didn’t trouble me at all.
And even though I had lived in this town for several years, I still felt like an outsider. My job had required me to drop everything at the snap of a finger, always on call if they needed me. I left my apartment for weeks at a time. Even when I was there, it felt more like it was just a place to stay in between trips. Like a hotel that I returned to. Not my home.
What had I lost? A crummy apartment? A job working for evil people? Having to pal around with a bunch of misogynistic guys who made me work twice as hard to prove myself? No, I wasn’t going to miss any of that. And the rush of freedom that flooded me now was exhilarating.
I had run home before freeing Athos to pack the few things I needed to take with me. Again, after my epiphany, I had realized most of it was trash. But I did gather the personal items that held sentimental value, along with some necessities. The basics like clothes, food, and hygiene items.
Luckily, my previous life as an alien monster hunter meant that I was used to packing light and surviving with very little. I was proficient at knowing what had survival value. Most of my essentials were already stored in various go bags, portioned out for virtually any emergency.
I also packed all my books, even the ones that weren’t particularly important to me. I knew that Athos would value each one, and it was something that we could share. I’d been in a rush, and didn’t get to look at them closely, just dumping them into a box as fast as I could. But a few made me smile as I thought about how much he’d enjoy them.
I’d already disposed of any electronics that could be used to trace me. My cell phone, my computer – all of it was gone. I had wiped the memory and unceremoniously dumped it into my full bathtub, ensuring an untimely demise. When I was done with that, I tossed everything into a dumpster behind the mall. With no markers to link it back to me, even IMRA wouldn’t be able to tell that I’d ditched my stuff. If they came to my apartment looking for me, I’d left most things set up just the way they had always been.
Even my old cell phone, which had been stuffed into a junk drawer for the last two years, was sitting on my coffee table, making it seem on the surface that I still lived there. The keys to my car hung on the wall.
It would take some digging and a few visits before they could tell with certainty that I’d skipped town. And by then, we’d be too far gone for it to matter. My landlord would, sooner or later, confiscate all my stuff when I didn’t pay the rent. But I had the few things I cared about, and that was all that mattered.
I didn’t want to leave IMRA any clues. I had no doubt that they’d come looking for us, but I wasn’t going to do them any favors. I wanted to buy as much time as possible and create enough confusion that they really had to work for it.
The only thing that I held any regret about was skipping town without paying my landlord or giving him notice. I had a nagging shred of guilt, feeling as though I had shirked my obligation.
But I knew that would go away in time. These were unusual circumstances, and it wasn’t like the guy didn’t have other renters. He would survive without a month’s rent from me. Besides, I’d left the guy an apartment full of stuff. Sure, a lot of it was just personal junk, but he’d probably be able to sell some of the furniture, and the TV. That alone would be enough to cover my share, so it wasn’t like I really stole anything.
The city traffic and congestion were finally beginning to clear, as we got out of the main part of town. It was an off time of day, so there weren’t as many cars on the road, but still too many to zip along as fast as I wanted.
My nerves started to pick up as we lingered on the road, worried that someone would see us. I knew that the odds were they’d never pay us a second glance – who would just assume that I had an alien hiding in the back? But I still would’ve liked a bit more space and privacy. When I saw the interstate approaching, it was a welcome relief.
I clicked the turn signal, making my way to the on-ramp.
“Where are we going?” Athos asked from the back of the van.
I grinned with excitement, glancing into the mirror to watch for traffic.
“Deep into the mountains. Even deeper than where you used to live. That way, no one will find us.”
I had picked out a secluded mountain range on the other side of the continent. If IMRA wanted to find us, they’d have to search every nook and cranny.
I finished merging onto the interstate, careful to watch my speed. The last thing we could afford was getting pulled over by the police. Now that we were on a long, clear stretch of highway, there wasn’t as much to focus on. With one hand, I reached for a folded paper map on the seat beside me, then gave it to Athos.
“Take a look for yourself. I marked the route,” I explained, looking in the rearview mirror at Athos. “We’ll be so far in the middle of nowhere that even bears won’t know we’re there. We’ll be able to grow the biggest garden you’ve ever seen.”
He smiled at first, but then it faded to a wistful expression. “I just wish I had my herbs. My books, medicines, and herbs from Yakeron are irreplaceable. Once I leave them behind, I’ll never get them back, and it’s all I have from my home planet.”