20: Onward

So, thank you for bearing with my really boring story for so long! >.< Twenty chapters covered… Hopefully, the next chapters will make your Logan Manchester experience more exciting, but I have to bring up some more characters before I can begin the really intense stuff. 

Casper was slumped in his seat, and when Logan looked over at him, he could see his eyes were barely open. The car drifted to the side of the road, and right before it went in the ditch, Casper’s eyes widened and he swerved back to the centre of the road.

“You need some sleep,” Ji-Ji scolded him.

“We’re almost there,” he said, cross. “Kyun’s forty-five minutes away! I don’t need to rest. Just be quiet for a bit, alright?”

Ji-Ji relaxed into the backseat, squished to the side by her snoring friends. Logan sat in the passenger’s seat, at the front, and leaned his head back. Light was dwindling, and large clouds were building. Logan wondered whether it was storm tonight.

The trip had gone relatively well. They’d been driving for three days, but Casper, the only one who knew how to drive, had only slept once, insisting that they needed to continue. “Once we get to Kyun, we’ll be well hidden. It’s a massive place, trust me,” he’d kept saying. “Bigger than Andersbad, Menoa, and Fonds combined,” he’d added, naming some of the most well-known, biggest cities.

They had been driving through suburbs for days. It was the American dream – large lots with massive backyards where any Webber barbeque could fit, and picnic tables adorned with checkered tablecloths, and lots of children laughing and playing, never seeming to get dirty, and proper, sweet wives welcoming their hardworking husbands home after a hard day of work at the law firm, or business headquarters. At least, that’s what Logan’s metaphysical speculations of the suburbs here was.

But when they reached Kyun, it was nothing like anything any of them had imagined. A low, white wall rang it, and a short line of cars trailed through on of the large gates that obstructed the divider. When Casper drove close enough to see, they could see many different sectors – the clean, tall, glassy reflections from numerous sky rises, and off to the side, what looked like a residential area. The city was either sleek, and clean, or filled with green – trees, parks, or gardens. Therefore, the prevailing colours were white stucco, leafy green, and a gleaming glassy blue.

Carter managed to get them through the gate with limited issue, and they were soon driving down the streets of Kyun. Yet, though they were in the harbour city, they could not hear the lapping of water, nor did it tint the smell air. Logan marvelled – the city must be massive, and they must be many kilometres from the shoreline still.

They drove block past block. There were so many different sectors, with so many different themes and cultures; Logan could hardly take anything in. But Casper seemed to know where to go. Soon, they pulled up in front of a small brown building. Its half-working neon sign read “The Lotus Hotel”.

Casper went inside and booked a room. He’s good at this sort of stuff, Logan realised. He can manipulate people to make everything look totally normal, and if not that, then totally insignificant. When everything was set, the Quad Squad and Casper went upstairs, and tumbled into their room. People just slept all over the place; Ji-Ji, Flo P, and Casper on the beds, Logan on the couch, and Saraha decided to lie down and fall asleep on the floor.

The next day, they went out on an expedition through Kyun. It’s either a sprawling metropolis, or peaceful neighbourhoods, but one time, Logan noticed the bus they were taking drove through something that could only be described as a slum. However, everything about Kyun was glorious, and even the dirty hovels looked fantastic. What it would be if he could live in Kyun for the rest of his life! Logan thought. Commander Brack would never find them here. It was the world’s largest city, but in that way, one of the least secure. If Logan had thought Andersbad was massive and safe, then he could only imagine what Kyun was like. And if he lived here, Logan knew he’d never ever be bored again in his life.

But it was when they were in the Japanese part of town that Flo P came running back to the group. She’d been looking for a sushi bar while the rest of the group was trying sweet pickles at a stand, and she rushed up to them, her cheeks pink from running. She grasped a paper in her right hand, and as she skidded to a halt in front of them, Ji-Ji took it immediately out of her hand.

Ji-Ji turned to her usual calculating and severe self, reading the paper quietly to the group while they hunched in a corner of an alley. “Have you seen these children? Runaways and terrorists harbouring dangerous information are wanted by the Special Defence and Reorganization Unit. Please report to local authorities upon sighting immediately.”

The poster showed a picture of Logan, Flo P, Ji-Ji, and Saraha’s faces, all looking relatively normal. With a shock, Logan realised that the Government must have obtained these from their parents! Casper was not yet listed, but it would be hours until someone realised he was travelling with them, if no one had realised already.

Logan swallowed a clenching feeling in his stomach. The name “Special Defence and Reorganization Unit” bode no good, and he shuddered to think what their job in the Government was.

“Shart, shart, shart,” Saraha said, running her hands through her hair. “This is not good!”

Flo P snorted. “Are you kidding me? It’s like the Wild West. They have Wanted posters of us!”

“We can’t stay here long,” Logan said firmly, and Ji-Ji nodded in agreement, veto-ing his decision. “We’ll have to keep moving soon. I’m sorry, and as much as I like Kyun – ” he addressed Casper directly, now “ – we can’t stay here any longer. It’d be dangerous. I hope you guys agree with me. A week at the most. We’ve got to start planning every move we make.”

“Let’s gather the supplies we need and make it back to the hotel. We want to keep as low a profile as possible,” Ji-Ji directed them.

They jumped like soldiers, and went about their tasks. Logan’s feeling of safety was gone. What is this world? He wondered. Is everyone out to get me?

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? WHAT WILL THE QUAD SQUAD’S NEXT MOVE BE? READ NEXT WEEK IN “THE SHADOW BOY”!