Chapter 26 Ana
Ana
Ellis, Jade, and Jax were waiting by the road sign. They were in a conspiratorial cluster, next to an old upside-down tractor, looking shifty. Probably plotting the next person’s demise.
“I thought you might chicken out,” Ellis said as Ana, Raya, and Alex ran up. He eyeballed them suspiciously. “Where have you been hiding all this time?” His contempt was open-faced. There was no place for niceties in a war zone.
“Not hiding, Ellis. We’ve been trying to get us home. All of us,” Ana added. “Raya found something.”
It took a few minutes to explain. About the microphone and the gas cans, about the air vent leading underground, below the outbuildings. They finally had what they needed—physical proof that someone could be hiding right under their feet, and a place to start looking for them.
Ellis questioned every statement, verifying facts and challenging assumptions.
When they’d finished, there was a long silence.
It wasn’t the reaction Ana had expected.
Had she not explained it right? Why wasn’t everyone excited?
Whoever the cowboys were, they were safely out of reach beyond the line.
But if someone was inside the line—inside the motel with them, then they could get to them, which meant they could stop them. They had a chance.
Ellis turned his back on them and started pacing, agonizingly slowly, up and down the white line. He stroked his chin pensively, precious moments falling away as he took his sweet time.
Was he really going to argue about this? This wasn’t a game. It was the best lead they had—the only lead. Ana’s eyes found the upturned tractor, the long loop of rope stretching out across the line—the upturned barrel. She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. What was he up to?
Abruptly, Ellis stopped pacing and turned to face his captive audience.
“Not good enough.”
“What the hell, Ellis?” Raya said, her face reddening. “Haven’t you heard anything we said? We might be able to get out of here, or at the very least try. What is your freaking problem?”
“It’s too risky.”
“Risky? What’s riskier than dying on the line?” Raya was shouting, incredulous. She threw her hands up and turned away from him in disgust.
If they weren’t together on this, there was only one way forward. In less than fifteen minutes, another one of them would have to die.
Jax was filming everything, right up in everyone’s faces, pulling his stupid expressions for an unseen audience. Constant. Like a buzzing fly.
“Let me be clear,” Ellis said, pointing his finger in their direction.
“You’re asking us to waste the little time we have left searching the motel because of a half-baked theory that the person doing all this might be hiding inside?
Do you know how naive you all sound? What if we don’t find Bates?
Clearly, he doesn’t want to be found, and we have minutes left.
Where’s the margin for error before we’re all blown to hell and back?
Even assuming we do miraculously find Bates in time, what are we going to do then?
I think it’s safe to assume he’ll be armed and fucking dangerous. ”
Raya stood her ground.
“Well, then, let’s spread out and wait for Bates. He’s going to have to come out of hiding if he’s going to shoot one of us when the hour’s up. We can catch him by surprise.”
“Jesus Christ, Raya. He’s probably already outside waiting for us.
He might be watching right now. Besides, who’s to say he doesn’t have several hidey-holes, or a whole underground network of tunnels?
We’ve been here since last night and no one has seen him yet.
We’ve got little to no chance we’ll just happen to catch him wandering around before the hour’s up.
Stop being so fucking ridiculous. You’ll get us all killed. ”
Ridiculous?
Enough. Ana felt an uncharacteristic wave of anger. Ellis couldn’t just stand there and dictate their future, insult Raya, and send another one of them over the line to die. He did not have the right.
She stepped forward.
“You want to know what’s ridiculous, Ellis?
” The words flowed easily, as though someone had raised a creaky locked-down floodgate deep inside her.
“What’s ridiculous is having a chance to get out of here alive and not even trying to make it happen.
What’s ridiculous is throwing another one of us over the line—executing one of us, just to buy yourself more time.
” She looked pointedly at the tractor and rope.
Ellis stormed up to her, towering over her small frame. His powerful athleticism was wound up dangerously tight, and for a moment, Ana thought he might take a swing at her.
“You like my death machine, do you? What—you thought I was going to happily throw someone over the line every time another one of your plans fucked up?” Ellis spat the words with barely controlled anger.
“Who the fuck do you think you are? No one gives a shit about what you have to say. You’re not your brother.
You’re not Danny. Not even close.” He shook his head, raw contempt in his cold gray eyes.
Dismissed. Taken down. Ana’s thoughts faltered. There was the familiar crack inside her. The crack that had become a chasm since Danny died. Insecurity and self-doubt reared up to fill the void. The thing was…he was right. She wasn’t Danny. She wasn’t even close.
Ellis was watching her. It was as though he could see the crack inside her, sense her weakness. He would stick his fist into it and rip her open if she made him.
Her eyes dropped. It was the smallest of movements, but it was enough.
Ellis nodded and turned away from her. Dismissively. Victoriously.
“We vote. Now. If it’s a split vote, we toss a coin. One of us goes and we live past the hour. End of discussion.”
Jax circled him slowly, catching a flattering upward angle. The hero. The leader. The MVP.
Who made him the boss? Ana thought angrily.
Why did he hold so much power? He was just another seventeen-year-old boy, not to mention an arrogant, self-serving jerk who would sell his own grandmother to get what he wanted.
Why him? Why was he a leader when he so clearly didn’t care about anyone other than himself?
Maybe Ellis was right. Their plan was weak, there were holes. They might be wrong, and, yes, they could be making a terrible, fatal mistake. But at least they had a plan. At least they had hope. Right now, that was all any of them had.
It came in a wave: fiery, bitter anger. Pure and unrelenting. This day’s fear and grief closed in around her. She was done. She was over this. Over Ellis. Over the white line. Over constantly being afraid and sad and hopeless. She was done being a victim.
Without noticing it, Ana stood taller, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.
“No.” Her voice was clear, all doubt gone.
Ellis looked at her again, surprise and irritation vying for space in his dark expression.
“No?” he said patronizingly.
“You heard me. I said no. I might not be my brother, but I know this much: no one else needs to die today. We’ll find where Bates is hiding.
If he’s there, we’ll fight him. If he’s not, we’ll take over his hiding place.
It won’t be rigged to explode, and if he’s in contact with those cowboys, he must have a way to call out of this place.
We’ll barricade ourselves in and wait to be rescued.
We have a chance now—all of us here. Maybe it’s a small one, but that’s a risk we have to take. ”
Ellis fixed her with a powerful stare. Ana stood her ground, meeting his eyes squarely. For the first time all day, she felt utterly calm. She knew what needed to be done and was going to do it.
It was clear that Ellis was reevaluating her threat level.
Moving her up the pile, from Danny’s nobody sister, to something else—something much more dangerous.
There was a look on his face that hadn’t been there before.
Respect? Fear? She couldn’t place it, but she knew what it meant. He would be coming for her next.
She smiled at him.
Bring it.
Jax was circling the two of them, wedging his phone into the center of the confrontation. He had a talent for sniffing out cinematic moments, she had to give him that. But this time, he flew too close to the sun, and Ellis smacked him away.
“Get the fuck out of my face, Jax.”
“Jeez.” Jax rolled his eyes and retreated to Jade’s side. He started filming himself and Jade, mouthing, “WTF,” dramatically and pouting.
“Oh my god. Seriously?” Jade pushed him away. “Just stop filming me, Jax. Stop it! STOP IT!”
The focus had shifted. Ana felt the tension of the moment release, though she kept Ellis in her peripheral vision, just in case he decided to grab someone and throw them over the ever-present white line while they were all distracted by The Jade and Jax Show.
“Babe. C’mon,” Jax said, holding his phone up as though this made everything okay. “We talked about this. Filming stuff makes me feel better, y’know?”
“I DON’T CARE!” Jade was losing it. Her face had turned red. “I don’t want to be filmed. Don’t you get it, Jax? This is not good. We don’t want anyone to see this, ever. Even if we…”
Jade stopped, catching the word in the air before she could say it. Her arms folded defensively across her chest. She looked imploringly up at Jax.
“I don’t want…I don’t want to be remembered like this. Oh, god…” She broke off, pushing her fist into the corner of her eye, trying to hold the tears inside.
“Aww, babe,” Jax said, putting his arms gently around her. She snuffled into his shoulder.
Off to the side, Ana noticed a movement. Ellis had sat down on the old tractor and was watching the show, a laconic smile on his face. All he needed was some popcorn.
Jax was kissing Jade on the top of her blonde head. They stood wrapped together, a genuine warmth between them.
Briefly.
“SERIOUSLY?” Jade pulled herself away, hands planted on her hips with all the ferocity she could muster. Jax grinned sheepishly, lowering his phone. He had been filming their tender moment.
“You look really hot?” he offered tentatively.
Jade seemed like she was about to burst. Her mouth dropped open, fury pouring off her. Ellis was grinning now. The entertainment had just got good.
Jade was taking violently deep cleansing breaths, glaring hard at Jax all the while. He withered a little, flashing her a weak version of his kilowatt smile, cocking his head cutely on one side.
It fell flat. Jade took two steps towards Jax and, quick as a whip, snatched his phone from his hand.
Before Jax could stop her, she swung around and flung the phone across the white line. It landed with a sickening crunch a good fifteen feet from the line.
There was a long silence as all eyes turned back to Jax.
“Why did you do that?” Jax turned to Jade, shock and betrayal written deeply on his face. “How could you do that to me? Everything I have is on that phone. My whole life is on it. Jesus, Jade. How could you?”
He walked up to the line, his toes on the edge as he stared longingly at the small black rectangle. So near and yet so far.
Jade folded her arms again and raised her chin defiantly.
“Look, I’m sorry, but if you had just stopped filming us when—”
“Don’t you get it? When I post the footage from this place, can you imagine what’s going to happen? I’ll blow up. I’ll get over a million followers. Easy. I’ll get sponsorships, collabs, and money. So much money…”
He was talking to the phone. His voice as loving and affectionate as he’d ever sounded talking to Jade. His toes pushed forward into the white spray paint.
There was something in his manner, his body language. Ana felt a jolt of nerves run along her spine. Jax wasn’t that stupid, was he?
“I thought you understood, babe.”
“I do. It’s just so irritating. You’re always on your phone, always filming.”
Jax had turned back to stare at his phone.
“I think it’s only ten, maybe twelve feet.”
Jade looked like roadkill. Her mouth was open again and her eyes had grown rounder. The realization of what was going down hit her firmly. She panicked.
“Wait. Jax, what do you mean? It’s just a phone. Okay? Look, we’ll follow Ana’s plan. We’ll find Bates and get out of here and I’ll buy you a new phone. Just come here. Come away from the line.” Her voice was tinged with desperation.
“It’s not the phone, Jade. I need the footage.
I’ve got everything on there. The voting, the deaths, it’s all there.
It’s gold.” Jax had turned back and was staring at the black rectangle again.
“If I wait, it’ll be fried; there’ll be nothing salvageable.
Looks like ten feet to me. Yeah. I’m fast. I can do this. ”
“No! Jax, please. It’s just a phone.”
“Why don’t you get it? Why? It’s not just a phone. That’s my whole life out there. My future.”
Jax’s whole body leaned forward, his weight over the line, his feet still firmly planted on the white dust. Ana held her breath, half expecting a shot to ring out.
“You’ve got me,” Jade said. Her words hung in the baking air for a moment. Jax paused, his forward momentum stopped. “Don’t do it, Jax. Please. I love you.”
Jax’s head dropped to one side as he listened, his eyes still locked on his phone.
They all stood frozen in place, watching things play out before them. A cricket struck up a loud whirring from somewhere beyond the line. The death machine creaked as the rusty metal expanded in the harsh heat.
Ana didn’t breathe, her heart was beating hard and fast, she could feel her pulse in her fingers. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
Jax straightened, turning to face Jade. He smiled, his beautiful face lit up with his perfect white teeth, his achingly deep dimples.
“Love you too, babe,” he said, cocking his head a little. “But I got this.”
He was off. It happened so fast that Ana barely registered he’d gone. Sprinting forward, he cleared the distance in seconds, skidding to a stop in the red dust as he bent down for his phone. His fingers scrabbled in the dirt, trying to find a hold on the small black object.
He caught it, his feet behind him, stretching out, trying to stop his momentum and send him back across the line.
He never stood back up.
The first crack dropped him loosely to his knees. He looked across the line, his eyes searching for Jade.
The second crack propelled him face forward into the dirt. Everything seemed to soften and fall as he sank into himself on the desert floor. In an instant, Jax was gone, leaving behind an empty dark outline.
Only one thing remained defined. His right hand, wrapped around his shiny black phone. Still clinging to it: his whole life, his future, gripped tightly as everything else faded away.