8. Retaliation

                                    

                                          
She paused for a moment as my words processed.
                          
"Shit!" she exclaimed, turning around in her seat. "They're following us!"
                          
Sure enough, the group we had just passed were scrambling into a silver truck that they'd had parked just behind the broken one, out of sight. 
                          
"I'm surprised that it took them this long," I said, glancing in the rear-view mirror. Within a few minutes, they were in their car and trailing close behind. I should have expected something like it sooner or later. I should have expected the changing weather would make them desperate for anything they could get their hands on.
                          
"What do they even want from us?" she asked.
                          
It was a valid question for the situation we found ourselves in, but it was one I didn't have the answer to. 
                          
"Fuck knows," I answered. "Zach must be getting desperate."
                          
"What about the agreement?"
                          
After the fight between Carnelian and Dawn Hill, Will had requested a meeting with Zach. He'd been skeptical at first, but it didn't take long for him to agree to no further conflict occurring to protect the people that had survived. Even after everything, Zach needed time to prove himself. He wasn't used to making decisions on his own and I was sure he didn't like being instructed by Will, someone who Liz had always despised. 
                          
"Clearly that means nothing to him now," I replied. "This doesn't exactly count as their territory... Or ours for that matter."
                          
"Can we lose them?" she asked, her stare focused on the gaining vehicle behind us.
                          
"It's a straight road," I waved a hand ahead of me, flickering my attention between the mirror and the road. "There's nowhere to turn." 
                          
"What are we supposed to do?" she cried, not looking anywhere but the back window. 
                          
"Let me think!" I said, louder.
                          
The frustration had begun to take over. I didn't want to find out what Zach had been planning all this time or what he had in store for Carnelian. My fingers clenched around the steering wheel, turning my knuckles a paler shade. My senses were on high alert and I knew Em's were too; every colour brighter, every noise louder, causing my heart to beat harder in my chest. Where a silence fell between us within the truck, the only sounds were the roars of the two engines competing against each other, a fight of which could hold out the longest. 
                          
"Turn around," I ordered, looking over to her before returning my stare to the road. 
                          
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, sitting back in her seat and facing the windshield.
                          
"You're going to drive."
                          
I pressed the red button on my seatbelt and unclipped it as Em seemed frozen beneath her own. 
                          
"Are you sure?" she said. "I mean, I had a few lessons but I never took my test. I don't have a license."  
                          
"Neither do I," I retorted. "Lucky for you, I don't think there's any chance we'll be arrested... Now, take the wheel."
                          
She seemed reluctant at first as her eyes began to widen. "This is insane," she muttered as she took control with one hand. I began loosening my grip, making sure she had control first.
                          
"Insane might save our lives right now," I scoffed, dropping my hands from the wheel. "You need to climb over and take the pedals. Don't even think about it. Just do it."
                          
"I don't even know if I remember how-"
                          
"It'll come back to you," I pushed, fearing we were wasting time.