We stop five miles before the toll plaza, and Cal goes around and double-checks that everyone is prepared and still ready and willing to do this. He holds his gaze on me especially, and I nod.
“All right.” He grabs a strand of rope, like the kind we used on theboat back in the Keys. “Hop out, Liam’s swapping places with you. You’ll be in the cab with us the rest of the way.”
I jump out of the truck, and Liam moves behind me as Cal tells me to hold out my hands. He starts tying a knot.
“One thing I didn’t tell you about the plan,” he says.
My stomach tightens along with the knot around my wrist. This feels like a trap. I have no idea what Cal could want that Fort Caroline would give, but it could all be a ruse, a way to get some kind of reward for turning me in.
“What’s that?” I ask.
Cal sighs. “We gotta make it look real. You understand what I’m saying?”
My eyes drop to the rope around my wrists, then up to Cal. He cracks his knuckles and then I understand. I’ve only been in a fight once, in fourth grade, and it wasn’t even a real fight. It was one punch that I threw and an elbow to my face, and that was it before the recess aide ran over with her whistle. After that, I got a stern talking-to from my mom about fighting. And of course all the horror stories about people who thought they’d be fine throwing one punch and then that one punch hit just right and killed the person.
“It’ll be quick. Liam’ll hold you steady.”
Liam grabs my arms tightly and I close my eyes so I can’t anticipate the hit. It comes less than a second later, right in the center of my face. I feel my nose crack and blood flows instantly.
I cry out and my knees buckle, but Liam holds me steady.
“Hey!” Niki shouts from the back of the truck.
“One more,” Cal says.
Christ. I brace myself and the second hit comes, this one right intothe side of my mouth. My lip splits and I bite my tongue as my jaw snaps shut. I spit out the blood and open my eyes. Cal is looking at my face as though he’s studying a painting in the Philly Museum of Art. I blink away tears as he nods.
“I think we’re good to go.”
“Wonderful.” I spit out more blood and glance back to see Niki still standing in the truck bed, looking concerned. I give her a quick nod as Liam helps me into the truck cab before climbing into the bed.
Now my head is pounding, and my stomach is still roiling with anxiety. I try to wipe my bloody nose on the rope, but it keeps dripping anyway.
“Tilt your head back,” the woman next to me says. I do it, but I feel the blood running down the back of my throat and it makes me gag. I try plugging the nostrils with my fingers and wince.
“I think my nose is broken,” I say.
“It’ll be fine,” Cal says.
“Right.”
We arrive at the toll plaza just after sundown. Cal slows the truck and the RV behind us follows suit.
“Denton said there’d be people here,” Kevin says from the passenger seat.
“Maybe there’s a shift change?” Cal says.
I lean over to look out the windshield. There’s no one at the toll booth. When Denton drove Andrew and me through last July, there were people with rifles stationed here.
“Something feels off,” Kevin says. “Let’s get Denton. The last thing we need is to drive into this place unannounced and get shot up.”
Cal puts the car in park and unbuckles his seat belt. “Yeah.”
Everyone gets out, and Cal even helps me out as well. He gets to the RV as Denton comes down the steps, but I hear Niki’s voice from the truck behind me.
“Look.” She’s pointing in the direction of Fort Caroline.
I turn and see several pillars of black smoke floating up from over the leafless trees.
