Free Minds

Chapter 87.

   Dark, cloudy skies greeted Rav, Dorian, Camila and me as we stepped out of the motel into the late afternoon of the day.

   And by the day, I meant the day.

   We were currently preparing for our journey to Zavlon.

"Well, this is ominous at all," Aarav, who looked up to see the clouds, said.

"Keep talking and your driving allowances will be revoked," Cami warned.

   As Rav and Camila began bickering over the significance of the "no backsies" rule, Dorian and I trooped down to the basement for the last set of the weapons to be placed in the rented van that Landon had ordered earlier and gone to pick up.

   We were almost out of the basement when Dorian suddenly dropped his side of the bag carrying the weapons.

"Dorian, I'm tired too. But–" I stopped, wincing at the ache that shot through my arms almost on cue. "This is our last bag. We can rest after."

   Dorian, who had begun walking toward me while I spoke, didn't say a word as he got closer. Pretty soon, the bag was long forgotten as his arms found themselves around my waist and I found myself leaning toward him with the equal urgency he did.

   This kiss, like every other one we'd shared, had its own uniqueness. His lips moved against mine with a slow, unfamiliar yet pleasant pace, going deeper each time. Dorian seemed to be savouring every second, just as I was.

   It took a while for me to catch my breath when he finally pulled away, something I was still yet to get used to.

"I want–" Dorian hesitated before carrying on, "When everything goes back to normal, like when we are no longer fighting Yunies and searching for hidden labs and saving our schoolmates and–"

"Dorian." As hilarious as it was to see him of all people rambling, we kind of had lots of lives to save.

"Right, sorry." he grimaced, slapping his forehead. "I just... I want there to still be an us if everything goes back to normal. If we go back to Zavlon as everyday students. I want us to sit next to each other at lunch and wait by each other's lockers and walk each other to class. I want to walk you to the bus stop when school ends or drive you home and stay over sometimes. I want us to go on more dates and do other couple things which I find insanely annoying but I also know will be less annoying because I'm doing it with you."

   My cheeks began to hurt from grinning so hard. "Me too."

   He ambushed me with one quick kiss before reverting to his position at his side of the weapons bag we'd been carrying.

   Dorian took hold of his end of the bag. "Good."

   And I grabbed mine, "Good."

   By the time Landon arrived with the van and we set off, the winds began to pick up as drizzles from the thick, dark clouds were light taps on the roof of the vehicle. As Rav drove away, the sound of my pounding heart wouldn't stop echoing in my ears as the motel became smaller and smaller from the van's tinted windows.

   When it was finally out of sight, I turned my attention back to the van, just in time to listen to Rav reminding us of the characteristics of the Yunies he'd mentioned while we reviewed the plan two days ago, as well as some never-before mentioned info.

   Based on his prior knowledge from his Alien Studies class and the reading done during this period, the Yunies were known for:

1. Having eight times the weight and strength of the average human.