Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction

Chapter 129 The Highway Patrol

I existed from all eternity and,
behold,
I am here.
And I shall exist 'till the end of time,
For my being has no end.

-Kahlil Gibran

Burns

Nate's driving slow. The car is at the speed limit, as any Soul would drive, but it's still too slow for me.

How is that? A Soul like me wanting to race around, breaking the rules.

But I just want to find Emma.

And Arashi.

My eyes search the landscape frantically, even though I know it's unlikely they would follow the road back.

"Arashi will keep her safe, Burns," Nate pulls me from my thoughts, "and don't underestimate Emma. She's a tough one."

A sigh escapes my lips. "I've already lost her once," I say, "How likely is it she'll be as lucky as she was last time? Maybe the next Soul they'll put inside her will be stronger than Sky and subdue her. What if this time she won't come back?"

"They won't take her that easily this time."

That's what worries me. I know Nate means well and that he's trying to comfort me, but the only other option for Emma not to be taken is Emma being dead.

We haven't been able to track the truck yet. We can't exactly ask around either. We've crossed one or two small towns. There's a hundred ways the truck could have gone. I'm starting to think we'll never find it. This is a needle in a haystack. This is blue ice on the Mist Planet.

I remember the days I would spend, trying to find the rarest of ice, the blue colored crystals. But we don't have days. We only have hours. And maybe not even that.

Suddenly Nate hits the brake. I gasp as I'm being slammed forward and then pulled back by my seatbelt. My eyes fly around. To the road. To the side. Even back. But I don't see anything that warrants stopping. "Nate?" I ask.

Nate checks his mirrors and gets out of the car. He walks towards a thorn bush at the side of the road and kneels down.

I follow him and stare at the piece of fabric that is tied to the bush.

"It's from Arashi's shirt," Nate clarifies.

"What does that mean?" I ask concerned. Were they taken after all? Was there a struggle?

"They jumped here," Nate says, "he left it as a sign."

"How do you know they weren't discovered and had to run?" I ask, "Arashi could have torn his shirt while escaping."

Nate shakes his head. "If that had been the case, it wouldn't be tied so neatly. No, they're alright. Or they were when they jumped off the truck."

There's one thing I don't understand though. Nate told me they have a protocol when things like this happens. Normally they wouldn't have followed if someone had been taken. Why would Arashi feel the need to leave a sign?

When I ask, Nate chuckles lightly. "I suppose he knows you a bit by now." He takes the fabric from the bush and stands up. "Arashi will have cut across country to return," he says, "it's unlikely that we spot them from the road. It's best if we return to where we left Gail's car. That's where they'll be headed."

"Not to the truck stop?" I ask.

"No," Nate says, "Arashi knows that's too risky. He knows I would have told the others to go back to where we met. That's where he'll go first. In case we're not there anymore, he'll find his way back to the hide-out."