“No. That won’t happen,” she said, shaking her head. “You and Alex will be going home. You’re going to get out of this alive. Both of you. I promise.”
“You mean, all three of us? Right?” Raya said quickly, her eyes narrowing.
There was a slight pause before Ana spoke.
“Sure. All three of us.” She forced a light smile, turning her face away from Raya. She squinted as her eyes followed the tracks of the red truck, disappearing into the unreachable distance.
Last year, after the fire, she’d wished she could go back in time and do things differently. Eventually, she had accepted that life doesn’t work like that. But the future hadn’t been written yet. This was her secondchance, and this time, she wouldn’t fail.
When it came to her turn on the red truck, her two friends would be standing behind her, safe and well—insidethe line.
24
Ellis
38:18
Finally!
It had taken a solid ten minutes to throw a loop of rope over the large metal arrow at the foot of the motel sign, but Ellis had done it. He gave himself a little mental cheer, confident that few mortals could make that throw.
Time to test it out. He picked up the other end of the rope and pulled hard. It went taut, stretching out across the white line, all the way to the road sign and back. Ellis pulled even harder, throwing his full weight onto the rope. He needed to be sure it could take the weight of a person, especially one struggling against it. The rusty metal arrow creaked but held fast, welded firmly to the signpost. Nothing was going to budge it.
This was going to work. Ellis nodded to himself. When the next hour was up, things would go smoothly. Much better. Not like last time.
No. The thought of his hands on Caden’s camo shirt, the cheap sweat-stained fabric between his fingers. Caden’s voice, begging not to go… Fuck it. No way was he doing that again.It was so easy for the rest of them—the sheep. They just sat back and let him save them all, let him do their dirty work. Not again.
He flexed his hands. His fingers were stiff, probably from all the failed throws. He shook his arms out.
“Ellis!” He heard the stomping of little feet and sighed. Jade was approaching, Jax in tow. He made a mental note to be patient. He needed them on his side, for now.
“Jade. Jax.” He nodded at them. Jax did the ‘dude nod’ back. A small grunt of welcome. They looked different, flattened somehow. Their golden sheens hung like a fake veneer over their worried faces.
“So? What’s the plan? For the next vote?” Jade’s voice was carefully modulated but contrived. It was obvious she was trying to convey a kind of confidence that she just didn’t have. “You do have a plan, right?”
Ellis sighed. Here it comes—save me, Ellis.
He knew her type well—nepo babies. They weren’t bred for real life, just mild drama, like bad hair days and chipping a nail. Any hard problems and they would run away and hide behind their mommy and daddy. The Jades of the world breezed through life under the impression that everyone else was born to serve their rich, gym-toned asses.
“Of course I have a plan.” He nodded towards a large rusty tractor. He’d found it under the windmill and rolled it over. “Help me move this closer to the line.”
Obediently they followed Ellis, and the three of them dragged the ancient machine to the edge of the line.
“So, like, what is it for?” Jade asked, walking over for a better look.
“It’s… Let me show you.” It was hard to explain in words withoutsounding somehow…dastardly. “First, we flip the tractor upside down. Then we take this.” He held up the rope. “We wind it around the front axle on the tractor; maybe six or eight times should do the trick. Then we’ll have a clear loop of rope from the tractor to the sign and back.”
“Across the line?” Jade muttered, her eyes following the rope trailing in the red dust.
“Exactly!It’s a pulley. Pretty basic, but it should do the job. You turn the tractor’s front wheel and it moves the rope. We just have to tie someone onto the rope by this knot, and the pulley will drag them over the line.” He held out the pre-tied knot as if it would explain everything. Jade and Jax were both still staring vacantly across the line. At some point they’d get it, wouldn’t they?Would they?Ellis sighed and tried again, speaking slowly as though he was teaching a kindergarten class. “When the hour ends, we won’t have to push someone over the line. The pulley will do it for us. Do you get it now?” He described it calmly, not a hint in his tone that he was talking about murder. He was simply describing a game-winning play. All he needed was a whiteboard and marker.
Jade recoiled from the tractor in horror. “No…no way. No.” She shook her head violently, backing away.
So now she got it.
“Whoa! It’s a death machine!” Jax said, impressed.
Ellis gave a short laugh. It was a bit brutal, but it worked.
