Spencer pushed down on the gas pedal, urging the ancient sedan to bounce a little faster along the rudimentary road. Alex had warned him not to drive too fast, given the condition of the car and the road, but Spencer was anxious to get to Falls Rock. He didn't want to get caught out here all by himself.
And, truth be told, he wanted to be rid of the device as soon as possible.
Spencer didn't have a lot of experience driving, and didn't imagine he was terribly good at it, but he thought he was managing all right, all things considered. He had only skidded twice, and once it was because the road had veered sharply left in a way Spencer thought was very unfair.
Falls Rock had appeared on the horizon, and was rising every moment. Spencer thought he could be there in less than ten minutes.
After the rally, Alex had pulled him aside. Spencer thought it was to tell him that he, Spencer, would not be involved in the big event. That Alex needed him to keep an eye on something. Alex would have had a sad look in his eye, like he was disappointing Spencer, and would have kindly if disingenuously explained that his job was even more important. That would have been fine with Spencer. In Spencer's experience, explosions were things to be avoided.
Instead, Alex had put his hand on Spencer's shoulder, looked him in the eye, and asked him a question.
"How do I start every speech?"
"Who do you trust?" Spencer had answered, confused.
"Exactly. And my answer to that question is you, buddy," Alex said, reaching out to ruffle Spencer's hair.
"Really?" Spencer had asked with some skepticism.
"Absolutely. In fairness, I do employ a lot of weirdos. But Spencer, of all the times I ever asked you to do something, have you ever let me down?" Alex asked.
"I don't think so," Spencer answered.
"You would know if you had. But you haven't. Not ever. You're as reliable as sepsis, and that's why you're my number one guy. And that's why I have a special job to give you, the kind that's reserved for someone with number one guy status. Can I do that Spencer? Can I trust you with a job like that?" Alex asked.
In that moment, Spencer would have agreed to do just about anything.
Alex knew that if today came down to a fight, his forces might lose. He couldn't afford for the goal not to be achieved, even if that happened. For the reason, the device wasn't in the rig, it was in the briefcase on the passenger seat next to Spencer.
Spencer had gone to Broken Bear the day before, and his job was to watch. If there was no fight, or if the Bad Enders won, he would just leave it in the street to detonate, and no one would ever know the difference.
If the fight was lost, as it had been, Spencer was to drive to Falls Rock, and leave it there. As Alex explained, they had never promised which town was going to be excised, so it would still be fair.
Alex and Mr. Timothy had shown Spencer how it worked. You had to spin the numbers on the outside of the case until they read 4117. After that, you just dropped it straight to the ground. That would activate the mechanism inside. Once that was done, there was no going back. You had just about seven minutes before the thing exploded.
Alex had assured him that seven minutes was enough to get out of range of the blast, even if you were on foot. If you were on foot, it was just barely enough time, and you better not trip.
Spencer screamed when something large and black hit the hood of the car. The large black thing stood up, and Spencer realized it was a girl in a long black coat. She had blonde hair that cascaded out from beneath a wide dark hat. Spencer's fourteen year old brain couldn't help itself, and took the time to inform him that the girl was pretty hot.
She was shouting something at him, although Spencer couldn't hear what it was. There was also the matter of the gun barrel pointing at him through the windshield. Spencer looked at her closely, and decided he was pretty sure she wasn't the type to shoot a kid in the face when she couldn't know exactly was the situation was. He was also pretty sure she was having trouble staying on the hood.
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Spencer pressed even harder on the gas pedal.
There was a hard bump over his head. It meant there was another Hunter on top of the car. Spencer didn't scream this time, but he was growing concerned. He needed to start assessing his options, as Alex would say.
A third Hunter appeared on the road in front of the car. Spencer was lucky to see her past the billowing coat of the girl on the hood. The new girl was pointing a bow at the car, and Spencer decided that this girl would shoot. She'd shoot the car at the very least, and Spencer didn't want to find out what would happen to the briefcase if it got hit with that blue stuff.
He slammed on the brakes, which sent the girl with the gun flying off the hood. The Hunter with the bow never moved. The one top of the car jumped off, and appeared near the driver's side window. She was carrying a large hammer.
Spencer assessed his options. He couldn't win a fight. He couldn't drive away. He couldn't go back to Alex and say it hadn't worked.
He cut the engine. The girl with the bow spoke to him.
"Out," she said.
Spencer pulled the briefcase onto his lap, quickly spinning the numbers to 4117 as he did. He got out of the car, clutching it tightly to his chest.
The girl from the hood was back now, looking dusty and angry. She pointed her gun at him as she spoke.
"Where you going in such a hurry, little buddy?" she was smiling she asked the question, but Hot Hood Girl wasn't in a good mood.
"Nowhere," said Spencer, clutching the briefcase tighter to his body.
"What's the case?" asked the little blonde with the hammer. Spencer thought she looked concerned.
"Nothing." Even tighter now. He was trying to look as small and vulnerable as possible. Spencer shifted so he was more or less facing the little one. He thought she was his best hope here.
"It's the stuff isn't it?" asked the serious girl with the bow. "The explosive stuff. Alex had a briefcase just like it."
Alex had told Spencer once that nine times out of ten, if you asked a woman for help, she would say yes, even if you thought there was no chance. Alex said it had something to do with motherhood. He said it was in their DNA, a phrase which Spencer didn't understand.
He hoped Alex was right. Hot Hood Girl sure didn't look very motherly.
Spencer held out the case, his arms shaking, and dropped it straight to the ground. Then he started blubbering.
"I don't know what it is, I swear. Alex gave it to me and said that after the fight started I had to drive it to Falls Rock and spin the numbers to 9389. I don't know what it is, but he said it was important, and he made me say goodbye to my mother, and he said if I didn't do it he would kill all of my sisters, and I just need help, and I don't know what to do, and now you're going to kill me!" he said, his voice rising and cracking at the end.
Spencer buried his face in his hands. In the back of his mind, he started counting.
"It's ok. We're not going to—" Best Hope Girl started.
"You're going to kill me!" he yelled, face still in his hands, and managed a sob.
She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
"We're not going to kill you," she said firmly. "It's going to be all right."
Serious Bow Girl crouched down and looked at the case. She nodded, like she was satisfied, and stood up with the case.
"What are you doing?" asked Hot Hood Girl.
"The numbers don't match. I think we're all right," said Serious Bow Girl.
"We need to get it out of here. We're too close to Falls Rock," said Best Hope Girl, eyeing the case like it was filled with poisonous snakes.
"We should take it back home," said Serious Bow Girl. "The Engineers can figure out how to neutralize it."
"Have you lost your mind?" asked Hot Hood Girl, almost shouting. "You want to take it back to the Abbey?"
"Do you want to tell Max we just left out here for anybody to find?" asked Serious Bow Girl.
Hot Hood Girl sighed. Spencer wished they would hurry up.
"Whatever we're doing, can we just do it fast? That thing makes me nervous," Best Hope Girl said.
"We'll take the car. We'll be there in five minutes," said Serious Bow Girl.
Best Hope Girl turned her attention back to Spencer. He let out another sob, for good measure.
"We're gonna take this nasty thing away, ok?" she asked.
Spencer nodded gratefully.
He liked Best Hope Girl. It was too bad she was probably going to die.
"We have to take the car. Do you want to come with us?" she asked.
"That's all right, ma'am. They may not all be as nice as you," he said, glaring over at Hot Hood Girl.
The small blonde let out a little laugh.
"You'll be ok? You're sure?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll manage. Thank you. Thank you so much,"
The girls argued about who was going to drive for a moment, the clock in Spencer's head sending bolts of panic straight to his stomach. Finally, Serious Bow Girl slid in behind the wheel and started the car.
Spencer watched it drive off, toward the large pale building in the distance, just past the town. The one people called the Sandcastle.
Spencer waited another thirty seconds, as long as he dared, before he took off running in the other direction.
When the blast went off behind him, it knocked Spencer off his feet.