Page 81 of Marks of Rebellion

"Agreed," Ryker backs me up. "You're natural beauties."

Vanessa pats my cheek. "Aww. Aren't you sweet."

"You, too," Julieta tells Ryker.

He grunts but has his perma-grin back on his face. But who am I to judge? I'm sure I'm wearing mine. "Better get back on the road."

We drive for another few hours. When we get closer to the border, Julieta has us veer away from the water and go more inland.

Vanessa's breathing becomes shallower.

Crap. It's not safe for us to stop here. The gas station alone was a risk. She can't have another attack right now.

I breathe with her and rub the knots out of her neck and back. I even attempt to sing a song that comes on the radio.

Anything to try to keep her mind off wherever it's going, I'll do.

Morning turns into the afternoon. We eat lunch on the road. Julieta made sandwiches and also packed fruit and snacks before we left.

We arrive at a banana farm. "Go through that track," Julieta instructs Ryker.

He turns and after several feet stops. "This is pretty narrow."

"Yeah. It's the only place to get the Jeep across the river. We can't cross the border without getting over it."

"All right. Sit on the console and pull my blanket out of my bag. I don't want the branches scraping you."

She obeys, and I move to the middle and put Vanessa on my lap and take out our blanket. I cover her body, including her face.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not letting your face get hurt."

"I need air. I can't stay under there."

"Put your cheek on my chest, then."

Vanessa does, and I position my body, so it's in front of her.

"Isn't this a little overkill?"

"No, it's not. Those sticks are going to hurt if they touch you."

Ryker circles his arm around Julieta so her head is on his chest as well. He drives slowly, and the bang and scrape of the wood against the car remind me of someone running their nails down a chalkboard. A bunch of bananas catch under the roof and separate from the tree, but I catch it before it hits Vanessa's body.

It's a slow and painful ten minutes. Vanessa and Julieta both cover their ears and are visibly shaking. Ryker and I keep constant surveillance of what's coming inside the car and ensuring the women are covered. At the end of the journey, Ryker's and my arms are bleeding from the damage. Ryker's forehead has a gash, and my cheek has blood oozing from it.

Julieta and Vanessa make a big deal about it, so we stop and get out our first aid kits and let them attend to our wounds. After they clean us up, Julieta directs Ryker where to go.

We head straight toward the river.

Vanessa sits up straighter. "How are we getting across that?"

Julieta turns toward us. "We drive across."

"That looks deep."

"We should pick up anything on the floor, just to be safe."