Chapter 39

Six entered there meeting room,where everyone had gathered.Six with slight frustration told everyone"We missed them,but the place was still hot.So they only moved a while ago."

She then called out,Alex's AI E.V.E "Eve,I want you search for any possible security camera footages in that area."

E.V.E spoke up"I am working on it,Four's Cepan did a good work shutting down any CCTV camera's in area to avoid detection,but I was able to get one in the outer area."

A hologram spawned infront of everyone.They looked at it, E.V.E displayed a grainy footage of Four and Henri in a car,E.V.E spoke up"The image is not very clear,I am making it more visible."

Alex's fingers started dancing across his holographic keyboard as he scanned through video stills from a security camera.He slowed down when the time stamp on the video neared the time of the incident report. For a few hours there was absolutely no activity.

Then he froze the tape on an image of a car and said"We found fours car,it's description matched with the one, they had before."

Alex shuttled through the video of them moving past a security camera.Then he with a wave of his hand, he sped the video forward until he got a perfect image and with have of a hand,the image froze.

The black-and-white image was taken at night and was grainy, but there was no mistaking what they saw.

Alex then said"They match the description of Fours Cepan, Brandon."

Katrina nodded and said"That's him."

Alex immediately called out to the others. "It seems they are heading towards Paradise,Ohio."

Malcom immediately stood up and said"He is probably looking for me."

Alex nodded and said"We may have to visit too, but it is best to keep a distance.Since Mogs probably watching everyone of Malcoms contacts."

Malcolm in a worried tone muttered"My wife and son."

Sandor frowned and said"Henri is making a mistake."

Hilde sighed and muttered"He is getting desperate, since four is next."

Conrad said"All of us have been there before, we can't blame him."

Everyone nodded,they could understand Henri or Brandon's feelings.After all they are also attached to their respective Garde's.

Dante was still having flashback of Three looking at him horror and he looked so hopeless.

E.V.E told everyone"It is confirmed they are now stopping by a gas station and road forward is heading towards Paradise,ohio."

She then brought up a holographic video of a CCTV with Henri and Four's car in gas station.

Just minutes ago with Four and Henri pulled off for food and gas and new phones. We go to a truck stop, where we eat meat loaf and macaroni and cheese, which is one of the few things Henri acknowledges as being superior to anything we had on Lorien. As we eat, he creates new documents on his laptop, using our new names. He'l print them when we arrive, and as far as anyone wil know, we'l be who we say we are.

Four saw the name with doubt questioned"You're sure about John Smith?"

Henri simply replies"Yeah.You were born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama."

Four laughed and asked"How did you come up with that?"

Henri smiles and motions towards two women sitting a few booths away. Both of them are extremely hot. One of them is wearing a T-shirt that reads WE DO IT BETTER IN TUSCALOOSA.

Henri added"And that's where we're going next."

Four then snarked"As weird as it may sound, I hope we stay in Ohio for a long time."

Henri curious and asked"Really. You like the idea of Ohio?"

Four frowned and replied"I like the idea of making some friends, of going to the same school for more than a few months, of maybe actually having a life. I started to do it in Florida. It was sort of great, and for the first time since we've been on Earth, I felt almost normal. I want to find somewhere and stay somewhere."

Henri looks thoughtful and asked"Have you looked at your scars today?"

Four confused and asked"No, why?"

Henri with slight seriousness and anger replied"Because this isn't about you. This is about the survival of our race, which was almost entirely obliterated, and about keeping you alive. Every time one of us dies--every time one of you, the Garde, dies--our chances diminish. You're Number Four; you're next in line. You have an entire race of vicious murderers hunting you. We're leaving at the first sign of trouble, and I'm not going to debate it with you."

Henri drives the entire time. Between breaks and the creation of the new documents, it takes about thirty hours.Four spend most of the time napping or playing video games.As time passed quickly and the clock on the dash reads 7:58.

Four yawned and asked"How much farther?"

Henri says"We're almost there,"

It is dark out, but there is a pale glow to the west. We pass by farms with horses and cattle, then barren fields, and beyond those, it's trees as far as the eye can see. This is exactly what Henri wanted, a quiet place to go unnoticed. Once a week he scours the internet for six, seven, eight hours at a time to update a list of available homes around the country that fit his criteria: isolated, rural, immediate availability. He told Four it took four tries--one cal to South Dakota, one to New Mexico, one to Arkansas--until he had the rental where they going to live now. A few minutes later we see scattered lights that announce the town.They pass a sign that reads: WELCOME TO PARADISE, OHIO POPULATION 5,243