“I’m not,” Coraset remarked as she reached for the satchel near the door. She shoved the gun in the bag and settled it on her shoulder.
Rudy threw the strap of his bag across his chest, and he waited for Coraset at the door.
“Where are you going?” Dewey looked to Coraset, to Rudy, and then back at her.
She walked out without answering his question.
Rudy said, “There is plenty to eat and drink in here. You should be good until the next bus arrives.”
“When will that be?” He asked in a panicked voice.
“I don’t know,” Rudy remarked.
“Don’t leave me here by myself! Untie me! HEEEY!” Dewey yelled and wiggled around to try and get up.
Rudy didn’t want to hear the screaming. He rushed out the door to catch up with Coraset. She was already a good distance up the road, and he had to run to catch up with her. They walked at a fast pace following the cleared road. The sun was beginning to set to their right side, creating hues of blues, from the lightest of sapphire to the darkest of navy.
As the night approached, Rudy became much more aware and fearful. Coraset didn’t speak of the sounds they heard, the eerie shuffling in the blackness, the howls of coyotes, and other unseen life of the desert. She never slowed her stride, and Rudy was becoming tired the more they walked. He wanted to take a breather, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stand still and be a victim of the hidden dangers of the desert. Coraset slowed down a little, knowing he needed somewhat of a break.
Rudy didn’t like the silence. The distant landscape was scary. He stated hoping to get his mind off of the sights and sounds, “You wanted to know how I ended up in prison?”
“You stole a point card,” Coraset reminded him.
“I was bored. I was trying to go against the grain, push against the rules, you know.”
“So, how did you do it?”
“I was going home from work. I saw a woman walking in front of me, and I decided to snatch her purse.”
“Rudy, that’s horrible,” Coraset remarked.
“It felt so good at the time to push back against Erato’s norm. By the time I got home, the police was waiting for me. I was arrested and was on trial the exact same day. They sentenced me to jail for a year. Can you believe that?”
“You’re lucky. They could have put you in jail for five years,” Coraset commented.
“Yeah, I know. When they told me I was going to the Mojave Prison, I nearly craped my pants.”
“I hope you really didn’t,” she said as she cringed at the thought.
“No, I didn’t, but I was scared out of my mind. Pushing against the rules seemed like a good idea when I first did it.”
“Now and days you could end up dead,” Coraset said.
Rudy agreed silently. His thoughts immediately went back to Dewey. He wondered why Coraset helped him. Why she didn’t leave him in the desert? He did try to kill her, and Rudy had no doubts Dewey would have tried to kill him, too.
He asked, “Coraset, why did you help Dewey before we left?”
“Old habits,” she admitted.
“But he tried to kill you.”
“I know, but I wasn’t going to leave him in the heat. At least, in the shed he’s a little cooler, and he has food.”
“You’re like an oxymoron, Coraset.”
“I don’t like insults, Rudy.” She warned.
“It’s not a real insult.”
“You call me an ox and a moron.”
“That does sound bad, huh?” Unable to contain his laughter, Rudy explained, “I’m just saying, you helped the guy that tried to kill you, and you shot him, too.”
Coraset thought about his statement and nodded in agreement. “Sometimes you have to be the better person, Rudy.”
That one statement said it all, and Rudy took in the advice with a new found respect for Coraset. She was hard when she had to be, but she was compassionate, too. He resolved there wasn’t anything difficult about her.
They continued walking the sandy road. Their backdrop was the unknown desert, and they felt exhilarated. Their destination was closer with each step, with each moment, and they walked all night.
CHAPTER SIX
The Mojave Prison set against the background of a yellow colored landscape to the east. The sun was barely up behind the huge structure. Coraset and Rudy were tired from the long night trek, but Coraset knew they weren’t even close to where they wanted to be. Her determination was still set to leave the desolate landscape, and Rudy was just as determined to keep up with her.
They jogged out of eyesight of the guard towers; a good distance from the main road that went passed the prison. Coraset wanted to get a least a mile away from the prison before going back to the road. She knew there was a caravan of vehicles transporting the prison guards within the hour, but usually a few people drove by themselves early in the morning. She wanted to catch one of them, but she had to move fast.
Finally, they found a spot to wait and to catch their breaths. Coraset kept her attention up the road. Rudy rest his hands on his knees, and he dipped his head feeling utterly tired. After a few minutes, the distant headlights of the caravan could be seen from the south. The road was paved, but still some dust could be seen.
Rudy took off his bag and sat down on it. That’s all he wanted was a bath and a bed. Every part of his muscles hurt. Sometimes it was even hard to focus. Rudy knew it wasn’t time to rest.
He asked Coraset to keep himself awake, “You remember what you told me yesterday?”
“We talked about a lot of things.” Coraset squatted down when she saw the caravan was getting closer.
“You were going to tell me how you learned everything.”
“Oh,” Coraset got down on one knee for comfort and continued. “Well, I used to travel around the world making sure the aid got to the right people. Sometimes entire shipments would be stolen or simply taken right out of our hands at the airport. It could be a seriously dangerous job, Rudy. Have you ever heard of Darfur?”
“No,” Rudy listened with heightened interest.
“Darfur used to be in the continent of Africa. They went through a brutal civil war, and we wanted to get the aid to the refugees. We got into the country. After my employees left the airport in Al Fashir, their caravan was stopped. Our stuff was seized immediately. One of my constituents tried to stop them, but-” Coraset shook her head.
The caravan suddenly reached them, and they ducked down.
Once the vehicles passed, Coraset continued, “They shot one of my staff members, they took a woman, and they took the cargo. I was still in Al Fashir when I heard about the kidnapping and high jacking. We never found Nancy, and we couldn’t find the truck, either. I decided at that point it was time to learn self-defense, and I trained on different weapons, as well. I took it very seriously. With all the good I tried to do in the world there were equally bad things that wanted to stop me. I just made sure I was prepared for the battle, that’s all.”
Rudy took in her story and stated, “I’m impressed with you.”
Distant headlights and a dust cloud snatched Coraset’s attention away before she could reply. She stepped towards the road, but stopped short a few of yards away. She tossed her bag on the ground, unzipped it, and started undressing leaving her white undershirt and underwear on. Rudy was shocked to see her half naked. He didn’t know what to say.
She tossed her orange jumpsuit into the bag, and released her long hair. Coraset bent down to get her gun,
