Alexander starts flipping switches on the small control panel for the motor and slowly but surely the boat inches along silently in the water. I glance across the water and see that Cinder is doing something similar to Alexander.
I look out at the ocean and can hardly believe that I am on a boat. I think back to mine and Alexander’s first night together in the forest and remember talking about going to Libertas together. After a week of fighting Paylon, finding Zavy, and meeting my brother again we are finally doing it. We actually made it to the ocean and are on our way to Libertas. To freedom.
I look back to Sard and watch the moonlight dance across the tall metal buildings, and in my head, I beg that no officers see us as we leave.
Chapter 23
After what seems like an hour or so, I turn and glance back in the direction of Sard. It’s only a small glowing light off in the distance.
“All right, we’ll turn on the motors now,” Mio says, breaking the cool silence as he walks to the back of the boat. Alexander flips a switch and the motor comes to life with a low hum. He relaxes and moves to sit on the edge of the upper level, hanging his legs over the side.
The group falls silent again, except for the sounds coming from the motors of both boats. I look into the horizon, letting the wind flip pieces of my hair around my head and blow a light mist of seawater on my face. I can barely make out hints of sunlight breaking through the night sky, signaling a new day is arriving.
“We’ll have two people stay on watch while the rest of us get some sleep,” Mio says.
“What are we watching for?” Molly’s little voice says almost humorously as she lets out a large yawn. She’s taking this abrupt leave awfully well. I assume she doesn’t really understand the caliber of King Renon’s forces that are looking for us. Even all the way out here in the middle of the ocean I feel the need to glance over my shoulder every once in a while.
Mio drops his voice and says, “Creatures lurk in the depths of these waters. You can never be too safe, Molly.” He gives a low chuckle, and Molly sinks deeper into her seat.
“That’s not funny,” I mumble, shooting him a glare. We’re quiet for a moment until I say, “I’ll keep watch.”
“Great, we can keep each other company,” Mio says.
“No, I’ll keep watch with Adaline. You should get some rest, Mio,” Cooper says.
“You both should get some rest, you’ve done too much for us as it is,” Alexander speaks up.
“Well, I’m not going to say no to sleep,” Mio says as we rearrange ourselves.
“You wake me up when you want to switch,” Cooper says, meeting Alexander’s gaze.
I join Alexander on the perch of the boat and we take our seats along its back edge. I watch as everyone else spreads out from lying on the side benches to the floor with the clean blankets and pillows from our backpacks.
Alexander and I sit with our backs pressing against each other so we can each watch a side of the ocean. On my side, there is an infinite stretch of calm seawater. On Alexander’s side is Cinder’s boat, and it looks like Cassandra and Essie are taking their first watch. We sit like this, soaking in the ocean breeze and silence until it seems like everyone has fallen back to sleep.
“What’s your favorite color?” I ask Alexander.
I hear him huff a small laugh before responding, “Blue. What’s yours?”
“Yellow,” I say simply.
“What’s your favorite animal?” Alexander asks.
“When I was growing up, I had a book of all these animals that lived in the world before the asteroid shower. The red panda was my favorite,” I say, and the thought of the old book makes my chest feel heavy. I wonder if it’s still buried deep in the drawers of my bedroom nightstand.
“So specific,” he responds, and I feel his laugh shake against my back.
A smile falls across my face, and I can’t help but laugh too, “You’ll find that with me even the little things have a very specific and deeper meaning.”
“So then why’s your favorite color yellow?” he asks.
“Because my mother would always pick the yellow flowers around our house, and she would keep them in a vase inside. Yellow was her favorite color,” I say, reliving the happy memories. “Why blue?” I ask him, wondering if he has a reason behind his favorite color as well.
“Because whenever life got hard, I’d always just look up into the sky and remind myself there was more out there than the awful cards I was dealt,” he says.
We’re quiet for a moment before I ask, trying to keep the conversation going, “So you like light blue?”
“Yes, light blue like the sky,” he says.
“And what’s your favorite animal?” I ask him.
“Birds,” he says shortly.
“Any specific type of bird?” I ask, curious.
“Every once in a while I’d see a red cardinal fly by my bedroom window. Cardinals are my favorite because on this exotic island they seemed so out of place. The only explanation is that they’ve traveled here from another place on Earth. So, there is hope that there’s more than just Garth on this planet,” he explains. I shake my head. We’re lucky these islands survived the asteroid shower, he shouldn’t be hoping for the impossible. I’ve found though, with Alexander, he seems to always be hoping for the impossible.
“So then a lot of what you like has to tie into the fact that you just want
