#Chapter 212 – The End of the Road

The next day dawns bright and, fueled with a cup of perhaps too-strong coffee – Stephen winced when he drank it – we are off on the road as soon as we can.

The boys’ interest in road life is renewed, luckily, when they discover a set of bingo cards that allows them to win by looking for disgusting things on the side of the road.

“I saw a flat dead frog! I did! I saw it!”

Alvin’s yell makes me wince, but I don’t stop him. Leaning against Victor in our usual spot, I let the boy’s eagerness suffuse my tired limbs, make me stronger.

“You did not!” Ian argues back, pointing vehemently at the window. “It wasn’t a dead frog! It was just a gross old sock!”

“Oh…” Alvin’s face falls as he considers this possibility. “Wait, no! I’ve got that too!”

He draws a vehement red X on his board and stares eagerly out the window again, looking for more.

“This game is gross,” Victor murmurs in my ear, but I can feel him smiling.

“You bought it,” I murmur back. “I didn’t even know this RV existed, so I can’t be blamed.”

“Sneaky squirrel,” he whispers to me, “you probably snuck it in. Such an Evelyn move, planting it and blaming the Alpha.” I snap my gaze back behind me and laugh at him as he dramatically rolls his eyes.

He’s right, actually. The boys got it for Christmas, but it got tucked away amongst their games before he had seen it when he came to see us that Christmas evening. I snuck it into the RV yesterday morning in one of the boy’s bags.

I don’t admit that he called it right, but we both know. And I’m pleased to think that he knows me this well. I’ll just have to get trickier as time passes.

We’re off the highway today, which means we must be getting close. Stephen winds the RV through roads that pass through forests and woods, heading for the rock formation that marks the beginning of the trail.

Apparently, it’s more complicated than following map instructions on a phone, which is how I drive pretty much anywhere. Stephen has a live connection to the Beta base at home on an iPad connected securely to the dashboard. He is feeding them a live stream of our location and getting instructions from them about how to proceed.

We’re getting quite close, and I can feel it, my anxiety growing. I slip my hand into Victor’s and take comfort from the tight squeeze he gives me. But mostly, we sit quietly and wait.

to a roll and then, finally, achingly,

Stephen puts it in park and then

little smile turning up the corner of his

cheerful smile in return. But it doesn’t quite make it convincingly to

thighs and stand up, determined to

to work, damn it. It was going to

my bones ache as I move through the RV, getting things packed up, getting the

know, to make my

changes of clothes and one or two carefully selected toys each. No electronics make the cut, besides essentials like flashlights and cell

Victor is already outside, helping Stephen pull two light packs from the storage area beneath the RV. These,

raises the pack onto his shoulder. He hadn’t done that yesterday. The Betas had worked so hard, too, trying to lighten the packs, do everything they could to give us nearly-weightless materials. But even that hadn’t

settling it over his shoulders. We

boys, who are eagerly looking towards the overgrown trail head. Stephen looks at me, though, his

he

giving him a smile. “Thank you, Stephen. We’ll keep in touch as much as we can but,” I look down at the backpack,

shrugging. “What else do I have going

shakes Stephen’s

one knee

drawing their attention to me. Their faces move to seriousness when they how see how solemn mine is. “You have

from smiling at my twins.

Alvin asks, hooking his thumbs behind the straps of

of whether to come with us into the woods,” I say quietly. “Or to stay

hand, asking for his patience. Slowly,

insist that you stay here with Stephen. We don’t know what is in those woods and you will almost certainly be

look up at Victor,

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