I switched to driving with my left hand, bracing it against my thigh for support, so I could turn on the heater with my right. And then I froze.
“Hayden? Are you okay?”
I barely heard her, my mind racing. If it was getting cold inside my enclosed truck, what did it feel like under those canvas top trucks behind us? They’d grabbed wool blankets from the camp for everyone to share. But it still couldn’t be comfortable for them. Most of them didn’t even have on coats because they’d been grabbed from their homes and taken straight to the camp. The only ones with coats were the few who had been taken as they’d arrived home from work and school, or the outcasts who had been grabbed from the woods behind my house along with Tarah. Not to mention, they would all need food and water and bathroom breaks.
I checked the GPS. Still eight hours to go till we reached the safety of Sioux Falls and Grandma Letty’s, and it was only going to get colder as night fell and we traveled farther north. I swore under my breath.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s getting cold. They’ve got blankets, but they’ll need more. Not to mention more food and water and bathroom breaks. And those trucks have to be missed by now. We’ve got to stop somewhere, get some supplies and different transportation.”
She reached for the GPS unit and started tapping at its screen. "If you take the next exit, they've got a Wal-Mart and a bookstore with free WiFi."
"Okay." I threw an early blinker in warning before taking the exit. The military trucks followed. At the stop sign, Tarah told me to turn left.
Two miles down the road as promised, we crested a hill and discovered the town below with a Wal-mart and a bookstore in front of it. Once we were parked, I grabbed my laptop from the backseat and flipped it open.
"What are you doing?" she asked, staring at the laptop with wide eyes. "Can't they track us through that thing if you turn it on?"
"Probably. But they also could have tracked us through that GPS unit if they'd wanted to."
Her eyes widened even more. "Then why haven't they found us already? Isn't your dad looking for you?"
I didn't hesitate before shaking my head. "If that internment camp does have any proof that I was involved in the prison break, he's already pulled strings to get my name cleared of it. The last thing he'll ever allow is for his name to be linked to something like that." I started booting up the computer then handed it to her. “Would you mind looking up a local place to rent a bus of some kind? One that’s big enough for everybody to ride in together?”
She gave me a strange look I couldn't read, but her fingers began to fly across the keys without any further argument. “Sure. You want a school bus or a charter bus? A charter would have a bathroom on board so we wouldn’t have to stop as much.”
“Good thinking. Okay, let’s try for a charter if we can find one. Don’t worry about the cost.” When her gaze darted over to me, her eyebrows sky high, I smiled. “We’re packing Mom’s business plastic. No daily spending limits, and only Mom sees the bills.”
She frowned, opened her mouth as if to argue, then ducked her head and focused on the laptop’s screen instead. Her fingers began to fly across the keys. “I should have something for us in a few minutes. In the meantime, what will you be doing?”
“Shopping. I’ll be back in a few.” Her head popped up in surprise as I shut the driver side door.
I stopped by each of the trucks to explain the new plan. The kids all grinned with relief and excitement; the parents looked cautious, as if afraid to even hope. I knew how they felt. I also suggested they split up into small groups of two or three at a time to go to the nearby gas stations’ bathrooms so they wouldn’t be as noticeable. We could only hope no one would pay as much attention in the growing darkness to a few people climbing out of two military trucks behind a huge bookstore.
But in case anyone did, I got the shopping done as fast as the superstore’s size and my list would allow. By the time I made it out of Wal-Mart, my cart was loaded down. But I was worried pushing the cart all the way to my truck at the farthest edge of the parking lot might attract the attention of security watching on the store’s cameras. So I looped my hands through the huge haul of plastic handles, left the buggy at the nearest cart collection area, and hoofed it like an overloaded mule back to the trucks.
When I passed everything out to the group, though, it was worth it. Everyone acted like it was Christmas, their faces lighting up at the sight of the cases of bottled water, bags of apples and oranges, PB&J supplies, and coloring books and crayons for the kids.
Tarah joined me just as I got to the last items in the pile…unscented boxes of baby wipes.
Her raised eyebrows prompted me to explain. “My mother always carries these in her purse. I figured they could use them too. You know, to clean up with after they eat the fruit or PB&J or whatever.” Embarrassed, I ducked my head and focused on passing the plastic boxes to the mothers in the group.
When I snuck a glance at Tarah a few minutes later, she was staring at me with a strange smile.
Once everyone was busy with their new stuff, I handed Tarah one of the two disposable phones I’d picked up at the store to replace our old ones in case hers was being tracked.
Then I leaned in close and quietly asked her, “Any luck with the buses? Or should I go buy more blankets now?”
“I found a place one town over that rents charter buses and is open on Sundays. Their buses aren’t fancy, no DVD players or high tech stuff on board, but they come with bathrooms and plenty of seating for everyone. They’re open till eight tonight.”
I glanced at my watch. Six-thirty. “Okay, I’d better head over there now.”
She held out a slip of paper between two fingers. “I wrote down the address.”
“Thanks.” I shoved it into my front pocket, then hesitated. “I guess you’d better wait here with them till I get back. You know, in case your face is on a government most wanted list or something.” I tried to make a joke out of it to lighten the mood, but my stomach was knotting up. I didn’t like leaving her here. But the Most Wanted list was a real possibility. “Maybe you should come with me anyway. You could always lie down out of sight in the backseat while I’m inside renting the bus.”