Broken World Read Free Page B

is soft and musical. It
breaks my heart. A tear rolls down my cheek but I’m too shaken to wipe it away.
    “Hi.” I take a small step toward her.
    “Wake up!” she screams at me, her voice
deep and masculine.
    My eyes fly open and a small sob bubbles
up in my throat. I cover my mouth with my hand as I turn my face toward the
window. My cheeks are moist from tears and I quickly wipe them away. I don’t
want Angus to think I’m weak.
    “Check point,” he says.
    He’s not looking at me. His body is
tense and he grips the steering wheel tightly as the car slows. I don’t blame
him for being nervous. He should be if his papers are fake. Hopefully they
don’t slow me down. I have to get to California.
    “Axl!” The words comes out like a growl.
    His brother shoots up in the backseat.
He sputters and makes sounds that are probably supposed to be words. They are
not.
    A road block is set up in front of us.
Four military vehicles and a group of heavily armed soldiers. The automatic
weapons in their hands make my throat tighten. It’s not the first checkpoint
I’ve gone through, but it still makes me nervous. I have too much at stake.
    Only one car is ahead of us. The tension
in the Nissan swirls around us, threatening to suffocate me. I play with the
hem of my shirt and lean forward, trying to get a better view. One soldier
stands at the driver’s side, examining a few travel papers. Four others
obstruct the road, their guns aimed at the car. After a few minutes the soldier
hands the papers back and waves to the armed men, who step aside and turn their
guns toward us. The other car speeds away.
    “Here we go,” Angus says.
    He pulls up and rolls down the window.
    “Papers!” the soldier barks.
    Angus hands them over without a word. I
reach into my purse to get mine, but they aren’t there. My heart beats against
my ribcage and little beads of sweat break out across my forehead. Where are
they? I know I put them here. When I look up, Angus grins at me with his
eyebrows raised. The soldier has three pieces of paper in his hand. Angus went
through my purse while I was asleep.
    Axl sits forward so he can see between
the driver and passenger seats, and I glance his way. Did he have anything to
do with this? His hair is messy and his eyes are hazy from sleep. He stares
back at me blankly. He doesn’t have a clue.
    “What business do you have in
California?” The solider looks through the window. His eyes sweep over the
three of us.
    “Family.” Angus sits up straighter, like
he’s trying to appear bigger.
    The soldier frowns. “You have a
different destination than the other two.” His eyes bore into me, dark brown
and intense.
    “My car broke down. They were nice
enough to offer me a ride.” I’m shaking, but not from fear. I’m furious that
Angus went through my purse.
    The soldier nods. “You will stick to
this route all the way to California, understand?”
    “Yes, sir. We are law abidin’ citizens.”
Angus’s tone is too harsh. It sounds like an order.
    The soldier’s frown deepens, becoming
exaggerated. “Route 66. That’s it.” He looks directly at Angus.
    Angus’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t like
being challenged. “We. Heard. You.”
    For a second the two men stare at each
other, not moving, but eventually the soldier sighs and hands the papers back.
“Move on.”
    Angus takes them and folds them up,
shoving them on the dashboard. He nods to the soldier then rolls the window up.
    “Asshole,” he mutters once the window is
secure. The soldier must be able to read Angus’s lips, because his face
darkens.
    “Shut up, Angus,” Axl hisses.
    Angus glares at his brother in the
rearview mirror but doesn’t respond. The second the soldiers move, he slams his
foot on the gas pedal. The tires squeal against the pavement as we speed away.
    I dig my nails into my palms so hard I’m
sure they’ll draw blood. They’re long and red, fake like the rest of me. My
body shakes. I should keep my