Page 77 of Five Survive
Oliver didn’t need to tell Arthur; he was already leaning forward, phone in hand, placing it vertically in a gap inside the pan, standing guard over the others.
“Red.” Oliver held the pan out, everyone’s eyes turning to her. She could feel them, every single one of them, like heat on her skin, too long and she might burn. Were they looking at her harder than anyone else? That wasn’t good. She reached behind her, hand dipping into the loose back pocket of her jeans, fingers alighting around the cool edges of her phone. She pulled it out and held it in front of her eyes, phone in one hand, walkie-talkie in the other. The home screen lit up. No service. 38% battery now. 3:13a.m. Strange, how she didn’t feel tired at all.
“Red.” Oliver prompted again. Not a request, remember? He was the leader and he was leading. Where to, Red didn’t want to think about. She hesitated and then slid her phone in on top of the pile.
“No one has a secret second phone, do they?”
Everyone shook their heads and Oliver nodded his.
The phones slid and shifted as he carried them away, putting the pan down on the dining table and then slotting the glass lid over the pan. But that wasn’t enough, was it? Next he grabbed the half-used roll of duct tape and pulled a long strip free, cutting it into smaller sections with Maddy’s hair scissors. He pressed the pieces of duct tape down from lid to pan, sealing their phones inside.
Then the pan was up in his hands again and he was walkingtoward the kitchen, opening the oven and sliding the pan inside. He closed the oven door with a slam that ricocheted around the RV.
He turned back and Red stiffened, catching his eyes for a second before she could blink them away. A shiver passed through her, hiding there just beneath the surface of her skin, even though it was warm in here. Too warm. Was she scared of Oliver, or just scared? Scared of this night and the man outside with a gun. It must be the second thing. She’d known Oliver all her life. A leader had to make hard decisions. He was just trying to make sure they survived. That was all, right?
“Now what?” Simon straightened up, clutching his bony hands in front of his chest, like he was protecting the parts inside. “Are you going to make us strip off our clothes, bend over and cough?”
“Simon, I’ve almost had it with you!” Oliver exploded. “I’m the only one being smart here. I am trying to make sure we survive. That’s all.”
“Really?” Simon bit back, tightening his hands. “Because it seems to me you keep avoiding the one thing that we know will get us out of here alive. The reason we’re here at all. The secret that the sniper wants.”
“Not all of us,” Maddy said, shifting uncomfortably, a shadow across her eyes. “Not all of us will get out of here alive. He said that if we give him the secret, he will let the rest of us live. Which means…”
She didn’t need to finish. Red understood. That secret, the one the sniper wanted, was a death sentence. That was what this was. But it wasn’t Red’s, it couldn’t be, that was the whole point. So, whose wasit?
“Well, why don’t we concentrate on giving him what he wants, and deal with the consequences after,” Simon said, looking at Maddy,because Oliver had started to pace behind them. “He might be bluffing about that part.”
“No,” Oliver said darkly. “We’re not doing that, not playing his game. I’m not letting him kill one of us. Any of us.”
The two sides of the RV whole again. Or Oliver didn’t want to give up his secret, the one that Reyna knew too. How bad could it be?
Red watched Reyna, her eyes playing across the floor, mouth flickering at one edge, cracking her face. Reyna’s hand was fiddling with her top, pulling it into a tight knot at her chest. Tighter, tighter. She took a breath and released her hand, the bunched material staying in place like her heart had burst free of her ribs, trapped there inside the shirt. She shook her head and pressed her lips together, looking up.
“Oliver, we have to—” she began.
“No, Reyna, you keep your mouth shut,” he barked, stopping dead still. There was a warning in his eyes. Blink and flash.
“Oliver, we have to,” Reyna replied, hardening her voice, a warning in there too. “We have to. This could be about us. About what wedid.”
The static hissed and Red wondered whether she could see it now, somehow, stippling across the back of her eyes as she tried to watch Oliver. Danger in the movement of his shoulders, in the widening of his eyes.
“Don’t say anything else!” he shouted at Reyna, his breath blowing through her black hair as he came too close. She didn’t move, didn’t react. Red didn’t either, but she had been right, they were hiding something, just like she was. That was what the last few hours had been, Red understood now: escape plan after escape plan, searching for a bug and then a mole. It was all Oliver, trying to hold on to this secret. But his time was up.
“Well, it’s too late now,” Simon said. “We all know you two have a secret. There’s no going back.”
“Oliver?” Maddy’s voice was small, confused. “What’s going on? What happened?”
He didn’t answer, because he was staring down Reyna, and she was staring back.
Simon laughed, a hollow sound. “You going around with your witch hunt, accusing one of us of being a mole. And here you are, you knew all along you were the one with the secret.”
“This is not about that,” Oliver said through gritted teeth, eyes still on Reyna.
“It could be,” she answered. “It could be his family out there—”
“Stop!”
“No, Oliver, I won’t fucking stop!” Reyna snapped, coming alive, dark hairs sticking to the sweat on her forehead. “If this is about what we did, we have to say! We’re the oldest here, we’re supposed to be looking after them. They’re just kids. He said he’d let them go if we give it up. We have to!”
