He rolls his eyes, his lips forming that perfect smile again as he shakes his head. “No more hiding, love. But first, you both need to change.”
?
Cayden leads me out to a car from before the world fell apart. It’s much smaller than an SUV and the doors open up instead of to the side. “It’s a sports car, love. Don’t worry, they are still common on this side of town, it’s not suspicious. It’s more suspicious to be in your Academy SUV than this.”
“Sports car?”
He grins widely, opening the door for me offering me the driver’s side.
“I don’t know how to drive,” I protest immediately, but Cayden doesn’t listen, getting into the passenger side and sitting down. Hesitantly I sit in the driver’s seat, realising I can barely reach the pedals.
“I don’t fit…” I make a point to point my tiptoes at the pedals, and he laughs before pressing a button that moves the chair forward.
“Oh, thanks.” Well there goes my one excuse.
Cayden reaches over, grabbing the seatbelt and pulling it over me. I feel his breath on my neck, and that tingly sensation in my stomach returns. Close, he’s too close. But then he pulls away, clicking the seatbelt in and pressing the engine button. And then I hear the engine of the car. Oh.
“The left pedal is the brake, the right is the gas.”
“No pressure, just both our lives in my hands.”
“I thought you could do anything? If I was wrong I’ll happily—”
I move the control into reverse and step on the gas, albeit a bit too much, but I get us out of the carpark in one piece before changing into drive and taking off down the driveway.
I feel the hum of the engine on my fingers from the vibrations on the wheel, the engine only getting louder every time I press on the gas. We speed down a few roads before I finally get used to the force needed to speed up smoothly. When we get to the end of the road, I press down on the brake, pressing a little too hard on the pedal and throwing us both forward, making Cayden laugh.
“Trying to give me whiplash, love?”
I roll my eyes, stepping on the gas again and speeding down the road before I finally realise I have no clue where we’re supposed to be going. “Cut me some slack and tell me where to go.”
“Eyes on the road, love. Don’t worry, I’m watching.”
With that reassurance, I take off down the road again, waiting for any directions, but he doesn’t give any. Cayden lets me drive around freely until finally he warns me, “Slow down a bit, love. You want to take the next left, then the first right after that.” I nod, following his instruction and ending up on a highway leading into the citizen zones.
“Where are we going?”
“Zone Two, love.”
“The guards…there’s guards in every Zone stop. Won’t they know who I am?”
“Why do you think you changed your clothes?” I force myself not to panic. If I’m panicking, it’s obvious I don’t belong.
I try to focus on the road, the lights passing us by, the broken white lines on either side of us fading into one solid line. It’s a thrill to drive, to be so in control, so free, able to go anywhere I want. I could escape right now, and no one would ever find me if I was careful, but Bella is in the car behind me and I’m sure Cayden would stop me if I tried.
“Let me do the talking, love.”
Nodding again, I slow down as we approach the Zone Three checkpoint. Seeing it myself for the first time only makes me realise how flawed they are. There’s a single barrier stopping a car from driving through with a single armed guard. If someone was going fast enough, they could break it instantly, and the guard wouldn’t have enough time to stop them.
The new order must trust our citizens a lot.
“Hey Cayden, who’s the chick?” the guard asks from his post, walking up to the car and bending down to see through the window Cayden made me put down.
“My new driver, figured it was time to give myself a few minutes to relax.” The guard chuckles softly, shaking his head in disbelief.
“About time! Nice to meet you, new girl.” And with that, the barrier goes up, letting us through. Gently, I push the car forward and we take off again, now in Zone Three.
“You did well, darling. Keep going, you can do this.”
