Chapter 212

#Chapter 212 – The End of the Road The next day dawns bright and, fueled with a cup of perhaps too-strong coffee – Stephen winced when he drank it – we are off on the road as soon as we can.

The boys’ interest in road life is renewed, luckily, when they discover a set of bingo cards that allows them to win by looking for disgusting things on the side of the road.

“I saw a flat dead frog! I did! I saw it!”

Alvin’s yell makes me wince, but I don’t stop him. Leaning against Victor in our usual spot, I let the boy’s eagerness suffuse my tired limbs, make me stronger.

“You did not!” Ian argues back, pointing vehemently at the window. “It wasn’t a dead frog! It was just a gross old sock!”

“Oh…” Alvin’s face falls as he considers this possibility. “Wait, no! I’ve got that too!”

He draws a vehement red X on his board and stares eagerly out the window again, looking for more.

“This game is gross,” Victor murmurs in my ear, but I can feel him smiling.

“You bought it,” I murmur back. “I didn’t even know this RV existed, so I can’t be blamed.”

“Sneaky squirrel,” he whispers to me, “you probably snuck it in. Such an Evelyn move, planting it and blaming the Alpha.” I snap my gaze back behind me and laugh at him as he dramatically rolls his eyes.

He’s right, actually. The boys got it for Christmas, but it got tucked away amongst their games before he had seen it when he came to see us that Christmas evening. I snuck it into the RV yesterday morning in one of the boy’s bags.

I don’t admit that he called it right, but we both know. And I’m pleased to think that he knows me this well. I’ll just have to get trickier as time passes.

We’re off the highway today, which means we must be getting close. Stephen winds the RV through roads that pass through forests and woods, heading for the rock formation that marks the beginning of the trail.

Apparently, it’s more complicated than following map instructions on a phone, which is how I drive pretty much anywhere. Stephen has a live connection to the Beta base at home on an iPad connected securely to the dashboard. He is feeding them a live stream of our location and getting instructions from them about how to proceed.

We’re getting quite close, and I can feel it, my anxiety growing. I slip my hand into Victor’s and take comfort from the tight squeeze he gives me. But mostly, we sit quietly and wait.

Eventually, the RV slows to a roll and then, finally, achingly, comes to a stop.

Beta Stephen puts it in park and then turns to us.

“Okay,” he says, a little smile turning up the corner of his lips. “This is as far as I can go.”

“All right then,” I say, doing my best to give him a cheerful smile in return. But it doesn’t quite make it convincingly to my face, and I know that he can tell.

Still, I slap my hands onto my thighs and stand up, determined to be cheerful.

This was going to work, damn it. It was going to work.

But the way my bones ache as I move through the RV, getting things packed up, getting the boys organized…

It will be work, I know, to make my body match my mind’s determination.

Ian and Alvin sling backpacks across their shoulders, filled with a few changes of clothes and one or two carefully selected toys each. No electronics make the cut, besides essentials like flashlights and cell phones.

I follow my boys as they climb out of the RV. Victor is already outside, helping Stephen pull two light packs from the storage area beneath the RV. These, I know, are filled with the essentials for Victor and I as well as some food, water, and a tent.

I see Victor wince as he raises the pack onto his shoulder. He hadn’t done that yesterday. The Betas had worked so hard, too, trying to lighten the packs, do everything they could to give us nearly-

weightless materials. But even that hadn’t been enough.

Still, he meets my eyes and nods, settling it over his shoulders. We don’t have a choice.

I walk over to Stephen and Victor with the boys, who are eagerly looking towards the overgrown trail head. Stephen looks at me, though, his face worried.

“Good luck, Luna,” he says, offering his hand.

I take it warmly, giving him a smile. “Thank you, Stephen. We’ll keep in touch as much as we can but,” I look down at the backpack, where I know there are only a few chargers. “If we lose touch…”

“I’ll wait,” Stephen says, shrugging. “What else do I have going on?”

Victor nods and shakes Stephen’s hand as well.

Then, I get down to one knee in front of my boys.

“Alvin, Ian,” I say, drawing their attention to me. Their faces move to seriousness when they how see how solemn mine is. “You have an important choice to make now.”

As one, they c**k their heads to the side, curious, and I have to stop myself from smiling at my twins.

Damnit, they’re cute. But I have to stay stern to convey to them to the true gravity of the situation.

“What choice, mama?” Alvin asks, hooking his thumbs behind the straps of his backpack.

“The choice of whether to come with us into the woods,” I say quietly. “Or to stay here, safe with Stephen.”

Ian opens his mouth to answer immediately but I hold up a hand, asking for his patience. Slowly, he closes his mouth, willing to listen.

“Now normally, I would insist that you stay here with Stephen. We don’t know what is in those woods and you will almost certainly be safer and more comfortable here in the RV. But, you two have proven yourselves to be brave and capable boys in the past few months.”

I look up at Victor, then, letting him finish.

“Your mother and I decided, together,” Victor says slowly, “that the choice will be up to you. And we want you to think about it. This is not an adventure, though it might feel like it. This is very serious, and dangerous, and…we anticipate that it will be hard.”

I see Ian bite his lip, considering the prospect, but Alvin just slowly shakes his head.

Victor and I both turn our attention to him as he speaks for both.

“It’s okay, mama, papa,” he says softly. “We already know all that.” Alvin looks at Ian then, who nods.

“We know that it is serious. We know that you are both sick.”

I pale at this and curse inwardly. Damn it, I thought we had done such a good job of hiding it from them.

“But,” Ian continues, taking up the thread of the conversation seamlessly. “We think we can help.”

“Yes,” Alvin adds. “We’re coming along. You need us. We want to be there.”

“Okay, babies,” I say, realizing as I say it how little it matches them anymore. They’re growing into such fine little boys; no longer my babies. It makes me sad to think it, but I’m also so, so proud to see who they have become.

“Packs up, then,” Victor says, being strong for me when I feel myself growing emotional. “Shoes tied?”

The boys look down at their little hiking boots, checking, and then grin up at their father, nodding enthusiastically.

I stand up then, taking my own pack with me as I go. As I thought it might be, it’s heavier than I remember. Still, I sling it over my shoulders, knowing we need every bit of it.

“Good luck,” Stephen says as we turn to him. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Victor puts out a silent hand for Stephen to shake, which he does.

Then, as a family, the four of us turn towards the trail head and head into the woods, my eyes lingering on the twisted rock formation that marks the head of the trail. As I stare at it, it feels almost as if it pulls me towards it.

Beckoning me in.