“I second that,” Magi says.
“We need to find out how he knows who we are,” I add, “and what he wants from us.”
“It’s creepy,” Zac says, with a slight shiver.
Magi and I walk over to Morimoto and begin untying him so we can bind the stranger.
“Where is Samantha?” I whisper to Magi.
Deep down I feel like she most likely took off, not caring what happened to any of us, taking the file with the war plans with her. After all, she had left us before
I really do need to give her the benefit of the doubt, though.
“She went to the man’s truck to get it running and find out what or who this guy is,” Shawn answers.
“So, this guy is the new Morimoto now!” I try a laugh.
“Guess so,” Mar smiles.
We all take note of our surroundings and carefully and slowly make our way back towards the road. Eli, Shawn, and Jake haul the unconscious man behind us while Magi and I take point looking for anything and anyone that might stand in our way.
Sure enough, as soon as we hit the road, Samantha has made it to the truck. It has been started and is running well.
“He was almost out of gas, so I siphoned gas from the utility vehicle to fill this one,” Samantha says with a smile as we walk up. “Oh yeah, and I got this for you.”
She hands me my bag, and I return her smile.
“Thanks,” I say.
“It’s nothing,” Samantha remarks.
We throw our nameless friend into the bed of the truck and decide to have a meeting before we leave the safety of the trees.
“Did you find anything, Sam?” Jake asks.
“Really?” Samantha remarks frustratedly; she hates being called Sam. He knows that though, that’s why he does it. “The only thing I saw was the sign on the side of the truck.”
“What does it say?” Leah asks.
Samantha pulls out a piece of scrap paper from her pocket and a pencil about an inch long.
“IOUSC,” she starts to read.
“What does that mean?” Jake asks.
“Give me time to talk,” Samantha remarks in her usual sarcastic tone.
“Proceed,” Jake replies with the same tone while swirling his hand in the air.
“IOUSC stands for Inspectors of United States Conspiracies, and don’t ask me what that means, because I have no idea. He had a paper in the truck that stated the acronym and had all of our names on it in list form.”
“That’s it?” Zac asks.
“Yep!” Samantha says, sure of herself.
“Thanks, Samantha,” Jake says.
“Now all we must do is wait for the stranger to wake up and ask him what this all means and what he is doing looking for us, or how he knows our names,” I say, puzzled.
“Nothing that I have ever seen coming to or from The Force,” Magi begins, “other than textbooks that is, has ever said The United States on it.”
“What can this all mean?” Eli asks, sounding exhausted.
“I don’t know,” I say,
“But I plan to find out,” Jake finishes.
We climb into the truck, noticing the sun going down in the sky. Again, we are in a strange vehicle with a strange man, trying to make our way to a place that none of us have ever seen, hoping everything and everyone will remain safe and alive.
Chapter Five
With the sun making its way down and stars appearing in the night sky, we know it is important to find a place to stop for the night. We could have slept in the wooded area we had just left, but the transmission fluid, abandoned vehicle, and loud gun shots were sure to have given us away.
We creep at a slower pace down the road. Jake decides it is best to travel with our headlights off to avoid being spotted, but that means not being able to see two feet ahead of us in this lightless terrain. After about two hours of creeping along this lifeless road, we agree it is time to stop for the night. “I will try to drive into the tree line a bit,” Jake announces. “But we will have to hike in further in case the truck is spotted.”
“What about this guy?” Samantha asks, thumbing towards the stranger in the back of the truck.
“We have to take him with us,” Jake responds. Samantha groans in protest.
“There is no telling what he will do when he wakes up,” Mar says.
“If he wakes up,” Magi responds with a frown on her face.
“He’ll wake up,” I say.
“How are you so sure?” Samantha asks.
“He has a bullet proof vest under his shirt,” I respond. “He pulled the bullet Jake put into his shoulder out without even flinching. The vest caught enough of the bullet it didn’t fully penetrate his skin.”
“Magi, do you think you can remove the one in his back?” Jake asks.
“Sure,” she responds. “I will do it as soon as we make camp.”
“That’s settled then,” Jake agrees. “Magi will take the bullet out, I will reload our weapons, and we are going to have to rotate watch… Who’s first?”
“Me!” Zac offers.
“You are a bit too young,” Mar answers automatically.
Zac protests greatly without persuading her or Eli. I think he would do an excellent job if he were paired with one of us, after all, he was the one that put the bullet into the strangers back. I didn’t think he had it in him to harm another person, but I am glad he did. He is turning out to be a great young man.
A few minutes later we have the
