The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

As the bus pulled out, we saw two black SUVs race into the bus parking area. Men in suits quickly jumped out, some heading into the station and others going straight onto different buses. We’d been discovered, somehow. Although I had no proof, I suspected the good sister. I hoped I was wrong, though.

They didn’t try and stop our bus, thankfully. This was eerily like our escape from Seattle, so long ago. I hoped our arrival in New Orleans wasn’t the same as what happened in Bellingham. I doubted that they’d fall for the same ruse again.

The one thing that might be going for us was that they didn’t have any images of Eliana and Ben, that I was aware of. However, if Sister Eleanor had turned us in, they might have a description of them. With that, they could figure out all of our destinations and send people to each one.

So, the only thing really going for us was that New Orleans was so close. Maybe we could get there before they caught on to us. That was now my only hope.

“When we get to New Orleans, we need to figure out how to get out of there quickly, without any of us being seen on a camera. I think they’ll be looking for Eliana and Ben now,” I told Aliyah.

“Do you think we could make someone buy tickets for us?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried anything like that,” I told her.

“We can’t take the chance,” she said, thinking it through. “What about trying to find a tractor trailer going where we want to go?” she asked, after a lengthy pause.

“I wouldn’t know where to begin looking for one that would be going where we need to go.”

With no more ideas, we sat quietly for the slightly more than two hours it took to get to New Orleans. When the bus was pulling into the station, both of us were looking closely for any signs of police or soldiers. There were none to be seen, though. Maybe we had actually managed to beat them there.

We got off the bus and walked into the station, both of us instinctively looking for the cameras we knew would be looking for us. The only cameras we saw were monitoring the ticket counter. We walked through the station and through the exit, avoiding those few cameras that were there.

It was about lunch time and I was hungry, but I had no idea where any food was. Knowing we all needed to eat, I stopped outside on the curb and looked around. Seeing what I was searching for, I walked to a taxi and got in. The other three followed me in, curious but silent.

“Would you take us to the nearest fast food place?” I asked.

“You got money to pay?” the man asked with the weirdest accent I’d ever heard.

“How much will it be?” I asked.

“It’ll be about $15,” he replied. I showed him the cash.

“Alright then. You got Church’s chicken, Krystal, McDonalds, Rally’s and Taco Bell close enough,” he said, some of his words a little difficult to understand. “A little further you got Wendy’s and Popeyes.”

“What would y’all like?” I asked the others.

“Chicken,” Ben said before anyone else could answer. Eliana and Aliyah both nodded agreement.

“Popeyes or Church’s?” the driver asked.

“Whichever one is better,” I replied.

“Do you like spicy food?” he asked with a grin. All of us nodded.

“Popeyes is what you want then,” he said, and took off. Within maybe ten minutes, he stopped outside a mustard yellow restaurant with red awnings over the windows.

“That’ll be thirdeen-fort-four,” he said, all of the words tumbling over each other. I handed him twenty dollars and we got out.

“Thank you, sir,” I said to him.

“You are welcome, lil miss,” he replied, grinning.

“Oh, what road is that?” I asked, indicating the road we had come off of.

“Highway 90,” he said, and sped away as I closed the door.

We went inside and had a very good meal of greasy fried chicken, that was very hot, along with several different side items. We were very happy, when we were finally done.

enjoying our full stomachs, I almost missed several cars stop in a few different places along the road. They were the typical police looking cars, but without all of the words and stuff that usually were painted on them. Two men got out of every one of the cars.

“We’re in trouble,” I said.

“What’s up?” Aliyah asked.

“There are men getting out of cars all over the place. I could be wrong, but I imagine they’re here for us,” I said.

“How’d they find us?”

“I have no idea.”

“Hey kids, I might be able to help you,” a boy said to Aliyah, but slipped into the booth beside me. He was a little thin, but not horribly so. He had dark brown hair that was a little longer than normal, but it looked clean and brushed. His clothes had some definite wear on them, the jeans having a few holes in the legs and his tee shirt being a little ratty under his slightly dirty looking puffy jacket. Although I wasn’t absolutely sure, I thought he was probably about fourteen and he was kind of cute. I had no idea why that thought came to me, but it did.

“Who are you and why would we want your help?” I asked, automatically defensive, shaking off that little moment.

“Alright, if you don’t want my help, that’s okay,” he said, beginning to slide back out.

“Wait,” Aliyah said, looking at me oddly.

“Listen, I heard what you told your friend,” he said, looking at me, then out at the group of men that was still growing. Oddly, they hadn’t made a move toward the restaurant yet.

“I might be able to get you out of here, but you’ll have to trust me,” he said.

“But we don’t know you,” I replied.

“Yeah, and you don’t know them either, but you seem sure they’re here for you. I’m a kid that wants to help some kids who are in trouble,” he said, and waited a moment. “Listen, do you want help, or not?” he asked when we didn’t immediately reply. I looked back at Aliyah. She nodded.

“Good. I hate to see goons like that mess with kids. Why do they think they can control us?” he said, echoing my general feelings about the Oakmont program.

“Let’s go and just follow my lead,” he instructed us.

“Hey, Anne, can we catch a ride in the supply truck?” he asked.

“You know that’s not allowed,” a very large woman behind the counter said. He cocked his head a little and she smiled.

“Go ahead. If Jay has any problems with it, you’re on your own though,” she told him.

“Got it,” he replied.

“Jay won’t mind. He’s good,” the boy assured us.

“You guys act like you’re going to the bathroom, and I’ll let you in the employee door,” he said. Following his instructions, he opened the door for us. Once we were through the door, he led us to the back of the restaurant, where the back door was opened and had boxes stacked all around it.

“Climb in the back of the truck and I’ll explain things to Jay,” he said. We did as we were told, while he walked to the truck. A few minutes later, the boy returned and the truck was closed up. He pulled out a small flashlight, giving us some small amount of light. It was enough that I was able to easily find my lantern, giving a lot more light.

“Someone really wants you kids,” he said, once we were settled in.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You always let this kid speak for you?” he asked Aliyah.

“What do you mean?” she asked in response.

“You’re the oldest, so shouldn’t you be the leader?” he said.

“Actually, she’s the oldest,” Aliyah informed him. He looked at me with a cocked head, obviously reappraising the situation.

“Okay, so you’re the leader then,” he acknowledged, once he’d finished his mental reassessment.

“Not really. We kind of share those duties,” I corrected him.

“You kids need a clear leader. It’ll make things much easier for you,” he told us. “Whatever,” he said, when neither of us said anything else. “Listen, we’re going to my place. Several of us share it, so be cool,” he said, to which we all nodded.

“Back to what I said...someone really wants you kids. They have a helicopter. If they’re really searching for you, then they really want you bad,” he said. I looked over at Aliyah, more worried than I’d been since leaving Oakmont.

“By the way, I’m Gabe. Actually, it’s Gabriel, but everyone calls me Gabe.”

“Gabriel sounds better,” I said before I could stop myself. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I said it. What was wrong with me? He looked over at me for a second, but didn’t acknowledge my comment, which I was immensely grateful for. Thankfully, the lighting wasn’t good enough for him to see my glowing red cheeks. At least, I hoped it wasn’t.

“In case you’re wondering, I’m fourteen,” he said, still looking at me.

“I’m Aliyah, my friend is Melanie, but we call her Mel, and this is Eliana and Ben,” she said, pointing to each of us in turn.

“Me and Mel are almost thirteen. Ben and Eliana are seven,” she told him. Why did she give him that much information about us?

“I think this is our stop,” he said as the truck stopped and we heard a bang on the wall of the truck. A moment later, the back door slid up and Gabriel headed for the open door.

“Thanks Jay,” he said to the driver.

“No problem, Gabe. See ya,” the driver replied.

“Come on,” he said to us. “Follow my lead. This might seem odd, but don’t mess it up, or you’ll have to find your own place tonight,” he said. We all nodded and started walking to the house.

The house looked a little run down, but otherwise looked like a decent house. It was painted an odd shade of green, with dark green shutters. The front door was open, with a screen door closed over the entrance. The screen door was very rickety and had holes in the screen.

As we walked in, Gabe took my hand, intertwining his fingers in mine and led us all in. As much as my instinct was to pull away, I had to resist. I had to follow his instructions. Besides, although it was weird, it felt good, and there was a tingle through my body when it happened.

“Hey guys,” he said, as he entered what looked like the living room. There were several really grungy looking couches, with several kids on them in various positions. Some were laying, some sitting, some girls with their head in a boy’s lap and some boys with their head in a girl’s lap. There was rock music playing somewhere, but it wasn’t very loud.

“Who’s yer friends, Gabe? Got a new girlfriend?” a girl asked, as we all walked in what I had decided was the living room.

“Yeah. This is Melanie and her friends are Aliyah, Ben and Eliana,” he told them, since everyone was looking at him.

“At least she’s not a goth chick, this time,” someone called out, to which everyone laughed, including Gabe.

“She looks morose like one though,” an older sounding voice said.

“What does that mean, Grandpa?” a boy on the couch in front of us asked.

“It means she looks sad, or sullen, but I’m sure you don’t know what that means either,” he replied, from somewhere out of sight.

“Nope,” the boy on the couch yelled out, to which everyone laughed.

As this little exchange ended, a slightly older guy came through the archway that separated the living room from the next room back. He was dressed very colorfully and carried himself very effeminately, but was obviously the owner of the older voice. “Oh look what we have here. You four are just darling,” he said, his voice taking on the quality of a woman.

As he walked up to us, he gently touched each of us, admiring this or that about us. “It is cold, and you kids look hot. Where are you from?” he asked. None of us answered.

“No matter. I can tell you’re from someplace north, or you wouldn’t look so hot,” he said, stressing ‘hot’ in a very weird way.

“Are they staying with you, Gabe?” the man asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Come with me,” Grandpa said, and turned around, walking away. He obviously expected us to follow, since he never looked back. Gabe, still holding my hand, started forward, dragging me along.

Grandpa led us up the stairs and into a large bedroom at the back of the house. Inside was another couch, with a coffee table in front of it and a couple of armchairs across from it. There was a bed in the back corner. He sat in one of the armchairs, and indicated for us to sit down, which we did.

“Spill it Gabe,” Grandpa said, sounding more normal than he had outside, although there was still an effeminate nature to his voice.

“They were being chased by a lot of guys in suits, and a helicopter. I helped them escape,” Gabe told him.

He then looked at us, slowly moving his gaze across each of us. “Who are you running from?” he asked, the effeminate quality completely gone from his voice.

“The government,” Aliyah replied.

“So you’re the leader of these kids?”

“No, sir,” she replied.

“You seem a little young, but I think you aren’t as young as you look. Are you the leader?” he asked me, to which I shook my head.

“As cute as these two are, I’m sure they’re not the leaders. You need to determine who is the leader of your little club, or there’ll be trouble at some point,” he told us.

“Regardless, the government is a big creature with a lot of little pieces that act independently. Which part of the government is after you, and what do you need from us?” he asked.

“Before you try and use Gabe’s story, I’ve known Gabe a long time and I know you aren’t his girlfriend, although I suspect you could be, given a little time,” he said, with an odd smile. I could feel my cheeks heating up at his comment and I looked down. That was when I realized that we were still holding hands. What was weird was that I didn’t feel the urge to change that.

“Don’t be so shy about it, dear. He’s a handsome boy, and you’re a beautiful girl. It’s only natural, even if you are a little younger than him. Well, possibly a lot younger than him. I can’t really tell,” Grandpa said, seeming to understand my inner turmoil.

“She’s almost thirteen, Grandpa,” Gabe told him, to which his left eyebrow rose a little.

“Enjoy that youthful appearance, as long as it lasts, honey,” he told me, the effeminate tone back. “Now, back to my questions,” he said, returning his gaze to all of us, and his voice serious again. “You aren’t from here, and I don’t think you want or need to stay here.”

“No sir. We want to get to Savannah, Georgia, without them seeing us,” I replied.

“Whether you realize it or not, you’re the leader. You’re one of those subtle leaders, though, which is usually the best type. So, Savannah, it is. I think we can help you, but understand, nothing in life is free,” he said, and looked at me intently, letting his statement sink in.

“Gabe get them settled in, and then come see me,” Grandpa said, and although it was not said in a commanding tone, it was clearly a command. It was also clear that he let me avoid answering the other question.

“You got it, Grandpa,” Gabe replied.

“Come on,” Gabe said to us, and dragged me up from the couch, still holding my hand.

He led us to a much smaller room, toward the front of the house. Inside there were a couple of mattresses on the floor, with a few blankets on them, a small dresser kind of thing in the far corner and some dirty clothes scattered on the floor. There was almost nothing else in the room.

“This is my room. It’s not much, but it’s home,” Gabe said, seeming proud of his room. “Put your stuff in the corner over there and I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he told us, indicating the opposite corner, the one not occupied by the dresser thing. He then left, allowing us to make ourselves at home, such as it was.

“Gabe, your new friends are interesting, especially your girlfriend,” Grandpa began, when Gabe returned to him. “Don’t,” Grandpa said, before Gabe could reply.

“She’s got baggage. I don’t know what she’s been through, but you can see it in her eyes. That morose expression isn’t just a fashion thing for her. It’s real. I have the feeling that if you hurt her, or make her mad, you’re going to pay dearly for it, so be careful. Also, those kids come from money. Maybe not incredible wealth, but they live comfortably. That begs the question, why are they running, and from whom? She avoided answering that earlier, and I let her get away with it, but it’s important, I think,” Grandpa said.

“I heard them talking at Popeyes and knew they needed help, so I introduced myself. I know their names and ages, but nothing else,” Gabe told him.

“Hmm, and you said there was a helicopter in the search?” Grandpa asked, to which Gabe nodded.

“Is there a chance the cops were after someone else?” he then asked.

“I don’t know, but they seemed pretty sure the cops were after them,” Gabe replied.

“Either they’re incredibly paranoid and the cops just happened to reinforce that, or the police are using some serious money to find them. Either way, these kids look like trouble,” Grandpa said, more thinking out loud than talking to Gabe.

After a few moments, he swung his gaze back to Gabe, more serious than Gabe had ever seen him. “We’ll get them a ride to Savannah. I have a contact there, and we could arrange a trade. Let these kids carry for us. That’ll pay the debt for our favor, I think. Sorry Gabe, but you won’t be able to spend any time with the little blonde girl, other than tonight,” he said, looking apologetically at Gabe. Gabe looked disappointed, but seemed to understand.

“What really worries me is that none of that activity made the police chatter,” Grandpa mused.

“Maybe they wanted to maintain radio silence,” Gabe suggested, as if it was some kind of great spy thing.

“Describe the license plates of the vehicles,” he demanded, rather suddenly.

“I think they were all white, with a blue border. There might have been some kind of image behind the ID, but I’m not sure,” Gabe said, trying to recall what he saw.

“That sounds like federal plates, which backs her tale of being chased by the government, but why?” Grandpa said, thinking.

“Go ahead and get back to your new girlfriend. And make sure they eat dinner,” he called out, as Gabe was walking down the hall.

“Sir, we almost had them in New Orleans. We’re still trying to figure out how they slipped away, but we have a pretty good hunch,” John told Raughlin, as they began their nightly update call.

“Very good, John. You almost got the jump on them. It’s an improvement. There’s a glaring question that needs answering, above discovering how they eluded you again. Why did they go to New Orleans? They should have gone east,” Raughlin said.

“I will see what I can discover sir,” John replied, pleased with how the conversation had gone, for a change.

“Keep on them,” Raughlin commanded.

“Yes, sir,” John replied, then heard the click that signaled the call ending.

“Why would they go west, Easely,” John asked.

“There’s only one possibility I can think of, although that doesn’t mean it’s the only possibility, sir,” Easely replied.

“Go ahead,” John urged him.

“Well, sir, remember I said they would likely throw several false trails?” he asked, receiving a nod from John.

“Well, sir, this could be another. They come west to make us think they intend on going west, then double back at some point. They really didn’t go that far west, so the distance is made up very easily,” Easely explained.

John sat there, staring at the wall for a little while, thinking about what Easely had suggested. Although it was an odd way to do things, it would kind of fit the Brager girl’s way of thinking. That had to be it, which meant that they’d eventually head east again.

“And why would they go east, in the first place?” John asked, although he already knew the answer to this question, as well as where they’d likely go.

“Because they have family there, and feel that they might be able to find a safe hiding place,” he replied, to which John nodded agreement.

“Let’s leave a cleanup team to finish investigating how they eluded us and a small team to track them. Everyone else goes to Savannah. That’s where they’ll be headed,” John stated.

“Yes, sir,” Easely said, with a little more gusto than he typically had.

For once, it looked like they might finally get the jump on the girls. It was obvious that Easely thought so, and was excited, which actually rubbed off a little on John.