Watchers

Chapter 46: Move On Down The Road

Sasha, Daniel and Jane hoist themselves out of the dumpster and do the best they can to slough the sticky garbage off their clothes. Jane's looking nervously back toward the recycling center and asks, "Should we be running?"

"It looks like the Watchers found a bigger fish to fry. I think we're safe now," Daniel says. Then after a moment's consideration, he adds, "I don't think we should linger here, though."

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Sasha asks, nodding at the shelter.

"The other residents?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they got along okay before the Haven," Daniel says. "I'm sure they'll figure out how to carry on without the great and powerful Father Gary. If anything, they're better off now."

"Better than clothed, fed and warm?" Jane asks bitterly.

"Better than cannibalized," he says, and immediately regrets it when her lip curls under and he wonders if she's about to vomit.

He has to keep reminding himself that Jane has had about an hour to learn about the terrible things Father Gary has been doing and come to terms with it. She's probably in shock, but she regains her composure and asks, "So what now?"

"DC," Sasha says without missing a beat.

"The capital? What's in DC?" Jane asks.

"Daniel's dad," Sasha says, looking at him.

"No," he says, shaking his head. "I'm not ready for that."

"You're never going to feel ready," Sasha says. "But it's important."

"Come on," he says gruffly. "Let's get moving."

They head down the street, not walking toward anything in particular. Daniel thinks about the gas station with the unmonitored restroom where he and Sasha prepared their disguises. They can probably go back there and use the sink to try and wash off the filth of the dumpster, so he starts to steer them in that direction.

As they walk, Sasha keeps working on him.

"Don't you want to reunite with your family after everything that we just went through?" she asks. "I know I would if I had any left."

Daniel glances sidelong at her, feeling a pang of sympathy at her words. Of course she's right, and he has wanted to make amends with his father for almost as long as their fight has lasted. It's the crawling back part that's so unbearable.

"Family is very important," Jane says gently. "I don't know anything about what's going on between you and yours, but I do know what it's like to live with regret. It's even worse when you know you can never go back and make things right."

Daniel sighs and they all walk quietly for a while. The gas station restroom is just as unattended and unkempt as it was before, bits of toilet paper strewn across the floor and little dots of Daniel and Sasha's hair dye on the sink. They all take turns washing as best they can even though there's not much to be done for their clothes.

Then when they're finished, Sasha says, "I'm not just asking because I want you and your dad to reconcile. I also think he could help us take down The Elimination Game. Am I right?"

"Maybe," Daniel says. "Maybe not."

"But he has connections," Sasha says. "And people who will listen to him. What do we have?"

"Nowhere to sleep," Jane supplies, shivering as she takes a step closer to Sasha to share her body heat. All they have is the clothes on their backs - not even a winter coat to help them survive. "We'll be lucky if we make it through the night."

"You're right," he says. Then he looks at Sasha and asks, "You want to go back for them, don't you?"

He's thinking about Erica, Brody, Dustin, Alan, even Francie, who was just playing the game the best way she knew how. What he doesn't want to think about is who will be the next to go, and how many of them will be left by the time they figure out a plan to save them.

"How can we leave them there?" Sasha asks.

"Okay," Daniel says. "I don't know how my father will be able to help, but-"

He's interrupted when Sasha throws her arms around his neck, and then she pulls him into an unexpected kiss.

Her lips are warm despite the cold air and they manage to melt the rest of him, too. He wraps his arms around her and returns the kiss, aware that this is the first time their lips have met without the necessity of manipulation, secrecy or coercion.

Daniel almost forgets that Jane is there until they break out of the kiss and she's standing there with her eyebrow cocked at the two of them. Sasha blushes, her cheeks turning rose pink, and Jane asks, "What else have I missed since you left the shelter?"

"So much," Sasha says.

Daniel takes her hand and Sasha links her arm in Jane's, and they head further down the road before the gas station attendant decides to shoo them along. Washington is an awfully long walk from here and Jane's right about the cold so they'll need to figure out a better way, but for this moment Daniel is content.

He nudges Sasha and says, "You're wrong about not having any family left. We're not much but you've got me and Jane."

Then he listens as Sasha begins telling Jane about their Elimination Game ordeal. "I woke up in this bedroom with pink walls and a floral comforter. It was so specific, like they'd decorated it for me..."