The Perfect Escape (The Perfect Escape #1) - Suzanne Park Page 0,60
case. Nothing in the rules and regulations said it was illegal.” He handed the stick to me. “Here, you can have it. I brought two, just in case.”
Relieved, I took it from him. “Just in case you ran into a bear or robot zombie?” I hugged him. He smelled like rotted fish that had vomited their own rotten guts out. “I didn’t bring you anything as good as this. I have Cheez-Its and cheese puffs we can share. But I don’t even have two hand sanitizers.”
He laughed. “That’s okay. After smelling that”—he swept his hand at the lifeless, undead robot—“there’s no way I can eat. Maybe even for days.” He sniffed his forearm and cringed. “There’s a river up ahead. We can wash up there, ditch some clothes, and then get going. It’ll be dark before we know it.”
Our wrist devices alerted us that sunset was in couple of hours. Behind us, the moon was already visible. “Hey, a full moon! Maybe if we’re lucky more weird shit will happen tonight.” I meant it to be a lighthearted joke, but it came out as a panicky whimper.
He punched me on the shoulder. “Now you’ve jinxed us! You know that, right?”
I totally did.
We scampered ahead as the sun started its descent along the tree line. We had no time to waste.
Chapter Twenty
Nate
We built an impressive fire. Or rather, Kate built it, and I sat there with my mouth hanging slightly open, like she was doing a magic trick. She had brought this flint striker that made fire production look effortless. Seriously, it was like she was peeling a carrot and then bam! Fire.
There was a huge risk of having a campfire, of course, but we needed warmth. The night chill descended fast, and we concluded it was better to be warm and mauled by robot zombies than freezing and mauled by robot zombies. We set up a few simple traps around us so we’d be warned if anything, or anyone, approached our campsite.
Pleasant crackles and pops filled the silence, so we ate our hermetically sealed dinners, drank our bottles of water, and stared upward at the bright moon in companionable quiet. If we were the only two people in world, would it be like this?
Kate threw a small handful of twigs into the blaze. “You think we have a chance?”
She meant winning the competition, but part of me wanted to think she was talking about us.
To answer both, I said, “We’re gonna win. K-A-T-E. That’s how we spell victory!” Oh God, why, Nate? Eyes fixed on the ground, I rubbed some dirt off my shoe, hoping she’d just ignore my mortifying cheer.
I stole a quick look at her, and she caught me midglance. My heart nearly stopped beating.
Shit.
She didn’t call me out, even though she totally should have. “When we win,” she said, pulling on her pendant, “I’m going to buy you something.”
“Really? Like a deluxe pyro flint striker?”
“Um, nooooo.” She smiled. “Your very own hand sanitizer.”
“Wow. I was going to say that next.”
Kate shivered. “After that, I’m going to New York. I’ve never been.”
“For winter break?” I asked softly.
She threw in more sticks but didn’t respond. But maybe she didn’t hear me.
“I need the money for my parents. But if I have any cash left over, I might put capital toward my business,” I said, louder this time.
“You have big dreams, Nate. I like that about you.”
I threw a broken branch into the blaze. “Well, when you’re poor, dreams are really all you’ve got.” I sighed. “I see my parents barely scraping by, and it makes me sad. There’s no way we could have afforded school without my scholarship.”
“Your parents seem happy, though,” she said. “At least, from what I know of them.”
“Yeah, but…Dad’s an IT consultant, and he’s out of work. If we win this competition, we can keep our house.”
Anguish flashed across her face. “I didn’t know finances were so tight. I’m sorry.”
I’d blathered on way more than I’d intended. But being around Kate