Double Helix Ch. 08

"Would your uncle turn us in?"

Stansy shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you. He was always nice to me, but most people's sentiments towards genemods changed a lot after the Rot."

"For what it's worth, I think it's our best shot," Tilly said.

I sighed. "I agree, which probably doesn't say a lot for our chances."

"By the way," Mike interrupted. "What phone did you call me on?"

I got my cell phone out and showed it to him.

"Who holds that account?"

"It's in my name," I said. "Well, my alias, anyway."

"Norm, you'd better let me have that. Those police might be able to match your appearance to your fake identity."

I hesitated a moment, but then handed it over. "I wouldn't want to use it after tonight, then."

"I'll make sure it is disposed of, and I'll try to get the record of your call to me erased."

We cleaned up and I helped Mike dress Stan's wound and set up a saline IV. "Ideally, I'd want to give him a pint of blood," Mike said, "but I don't want to keep you here any longer. His system should be able to make up the shortfall of blood as long as he gets plenty of fluid. I would let him sleep off the anesthetic. He should awaken normally in about nine to ten hours."

"I owe you one, Mike," I said, shaking his hand.

"Me too," Stansy said, and she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I can't thank you enough."

Mike loaned us a stretcher to carry Stan out. Once more, I wondered about the medical equipment, the guns and the drafting equipment, but I kept my mouth shut. Mike wished us luck and drove off

We loaded Stan into the truck, and Tilly turned to me. "Can I ride with you up front?" she asked.

"If we go through a National Guard checkpoint-"

"Then they'll check the cargo area," Tilly interrupted. "It won't go any better for us, then."

"Right."

"We should stay off the main highways to avoid those. Until we get out of Seattle, we just hope for the best, right?"

"Yeah," I said grudgingly. "Stansy, where are we headed?"

"Just go south to Corvallis. I don't remember the address. Let me know when we get there and I'll look it up on the GPS."

Tilly climbed into the cab next to me, and I drove out of the lot and headed south. I waited for Tilly to break the silence, but she just stared out her window at the city passing by. "I've been cooped up for so long," she said at last. "If we're going to be caught tonight, I didn't want my last memories of freedom to be of the back of this truck."

"We won't get caught," I said.

"You don't know that."

"What was that about hoping for the best?"

"It was what the others needed to hear. But you and I know better, don't we? What are we going to do when we hit a checkpoint?"

"You're getting into my head again." The bitterness in my own voice surprised me.

"I can't help it. It's part of what I was made to do."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, it just makes me uncomfortable." I hesitated, remembered that it was pointless to hold back, and went on. "Sometimes it feels like an invasion."

"I wish that there was something I could do to change that."

I shook my head. "No, don't think like that. What you can do is a gift. I'm the one with the problem."

She shrugged, "Regardless, it will be a little harder for me now to speak up when I think you're hiding, knowing that it upsets you."

She was talking about what I thought of as her happiness drive. Her mental model of me had just been tweaked. "What does that feel like, going against your drive?"

Tilly grimaced. "It's uncomfortable. Like telling a lie. My heart rate jumps and my mouth feels a little dry. I know I'm doing something wrong."

"Like telling a lie," I repeated. "So, back on topic, we need to have a plan for when we hit a checkpoint." I pulled out the wad of bills that I had taken from Sasha's desk drawer. "Count that, please."

Tilly thumbed through the cash. "Three-thousand dollars," she said. "You think we can bribe them?"

"Maybe. The agency moves an awful lot of food between cities and across state lines. They couldn't do that without bribery and corruption. Any other ideas?"

"One that doesn't involve violence?"

"Of course."

She leaned back in the seat. "Distraction. Deception. Persuasion."

I looked at her and grinned. "All three?"

She grinned back. "Can't hurt. We'll just have to think on our feet."

"Okay, well we're almost to Tacoma. We can get off I-5 there and skirt around Olympia . . ." The words died in my mouth as the road ahead came into view. Barriers blocked off the shoulders of the road and directed traffic down to one lane. A military vehicle was parked off the road and a pair of men stood to either side of the lane as a car pulled up between them. Would they be looking for us? A good ninety minutes had passed since we had left Sasha's house in Bellevue. How long before our descriptions made it up the chain from local law enforcement to federal agencies?

I slowed the truck, looking for an exit, but of course, there was no way off the highway. I pulled up to the back of the line, about eight cars back from the front, then blew out a breath and tried to relax.

"Best hide the money until we need it," Tilly said. "And don't offer the whole thing if we can help it."

I grabbed the cash, counted out a few bills from the total, and stuffed the rest back into my front pocket. I also took a moment to check my gun, still concealed under my shirt and jeans on my right hip. Tilly flipped down the passenger mirror and fussed with her hair and clothing a bit. The others were probably wondering why we had stopped moving, but I trusted that they had the good sense to keep the door closed and stay quiet.

We sat in silence as the National Guardsmen searched the trunk of the car at the front of the line. After a minute, they apparently found nothing and waved the driver on. I sensed movement next to me, and Tilly's hand touched mine where it rested on the gear shift. She took my hand in hers, clasping it firmly, telling me without words that I had her support and her trust.

The remaining cars moved quickly on, and I pulled forward to bring my door even with the guardsman at the highway's median. He was unarmed, but the soldier on the left held an M4, muzzle down. He motioned with his hand and I quickly rolled down the window. "Good evening, sir," he said. "State your name and destination, please."

"Hi," I said, forcing myself to breathe and to speak slowly. "Mark Winston. I'm heading to Portland."

"Are you carrying any cargo, sir?"

"No, no cargo."

"Thank you, sir. Can you please step out of the vehicle and open the back?"

"Uh, listen," I said, "I'm in a big hurry. I'd really appreciate it if you would just let me through." I grabbed the five hundred dollars I had stashed next to me on the seat and held it out for him. My hand shook slightly.

He grinned at me, shaking his head slightly. "God damn, son. What do you think this is?"

"It's a bribe, you prick," Tilly said without missing a beat, giving the man a smoky glare. "You boys suddenly grow some integrity? I thought my people had an understanding with you. Mark here's new, so he doesn't know all the ropes yet. So why don't you just tell him how much money it's going to take to get you fine upstanding gentlemen to let us through."

The guardsmen glanced over his hood as his companion, who shrugged. "Well, uh," he said. "I didn't realize you were with. . . uh, yeah. You're supposed to give us eight hundred. That's the deal."

"You heard him," Tilly said.

I reached into my pocket and lifted three bills from the bundle to add to the five in my hand. He palmed the cash and tucked it surreptitiously in a pocket of his combat fatigues. "Next time try to give us some warning before bringing a newbie through, will ya?" Tilly gave him a smirk and he returned a mock salute.

I put the truck into gear and started forward, all the time watching him for signs of betrayal. We cleared the barriers, but I kept glancing in my rear view mirror for signs of pursuit. After a minute or so, the checkpoint vanished behind a rise.

Tilly gave a dramatic sigh and flopped against the seat, tilting her head back. "Oh, my God. I almost pissed myself."

"Me too," I said, and we both started laughing, more from the relief, I think, than from any humor in it.

"Our exit!" Tilly said.

I quickly slowed and swerved into the exit lane while trying to catch my breath. At the bottom of the off-ramp, I merged onto the street and then quickly turned off into a parking lot. I put the truck in park but left it running. My heart was still beating fast in my chest. I needed a minute to settle my nerves. "So, back there, how did you do that?"

"The man on my side was pleased by the prospect of a bribe, but the one on your side was suspicious. I didn't sense any real surprise though. From that, I deduced that they are used to receiving bribes, so I tried to deflect his nervousness by projecting confidence. I let him fill in the gaps of who we were."

"That was amazing," I said, still giddy from the event. "Tilly, you were incredible. Just fucking incredible." That was a mistake. Immediately, my mind conjured up an image of Tilly looming above me, eyes closed and lips parted in ecstasy as she rode me towards climax.

The force of my desire shocked me and I turned towards Tilly. She looked at me with wide eyes, chest heaving in quick, shallow breaths. Without warning, she released her buckle and closed the distance between us. She mashed her lips to mine and I found myself responding without thought, my arms going around her slim body. Her lips parted and her tongue touched my own lips. I closed my eyes as a wash of dizzy pleasure went through me, as I let her inside, returning the kiss with equal fervor. I fidgeted in my seat as my cock grew hard, pressing uncomfortably against my clothes.

"I want you," she whispered, breaking our kiss to breathe the words into my ear. I shuddered with heat and pleasure and she kissed her way down my neck. My seat belt came free and she pressed the attack, popping the button on my jeans and unfastening my belt. My hand went to her breast and she gave a little gasp. "Yes, Norm, yes. I need this."

I cupped and stroked the deliciously soft firmness of one breast, reveling in the little gasps and mews of pleasure coming from her. She pulled back slightly with a sigh and reached down to undo my zipper and reach inside. I groaned as her hand found my cock and brought it out. She encircled it in her fingers, studying it intently the whole time. Her tongue actually traced along her bottom lip. She scooted backward on the seat and leaned down. I could feel her breath, warm on my cock. She gave the tip a tentative lick

I sighed with pleasure at the touch, echoed an instant later by Tilly. "That felt good," she said, "let's try this." Her lips closed around the head of my cock, enveloping it in liquid warmth. I gasped at the sudden surge of sensation, and she shuddered and moaned in response.

She began to move, using her fingers, her lips, and her tongue. My hands came to rest at the back of her neck, gently stroking, encouraging. She began to bob her head up and down and relinquished her grip so that she could take me as deeply as possible. I could hear her moaning and at each thrust, as though she were giving herself just as much pleasure in the act as she was giving me. I didn't attempt to stop her or warn her as my orgasm approached. I was too hot with lust, too lost in pleasure, out of my mind with desire.

I sucked in a breath between clenched teeth and let it out in a long groan as I climaxed, pulsing into Tilly's mouth. She trembled and shuddered, then went still. My cock suddenly popped free as she threw her head back to let out a strangled cry. She sucked in a breath and moaned in ecstasy, her body shaking. Her orgasm went on several seconds after mine had stopped, ending with her lying on her side, her head on my leg, and her cheek resting against my cock. "I didn't know it would be like that," she said.

For a few moments, my mind blissfully unaware of anything but the pleasure. She had come right along with me, and I hadn't even touched her body. She was still fully clothed. Then the full import of what had just happened came crashing down on me in a wave of shock and guilt. "Tilly," I said, "get up."

She moved herself lazily off me and I quickly refastened my pants. "Get buckled in," I said, "it's time to get going." I put the truck in gear and returned to the road.

Tilly did as I told her, watching me the whole while. "Norm?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Norm, you're hurting."

I clenched my jaw. "We shouldn't have done that."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," she said. "What we were feeling. I've never felt anything like that before. I wasn't thinking. I couldn't think past what we were feeling."

"It's not your fault," I said, swallowing down the lump that tried to form in my throat. "It was the danger, the arousal of our fight or flight response. Humans-" I swallowed, forcing down the guilt and regret. "People sometimes mistake the arousal of fear for sexual arousal. That's all it was. You can't tell Nissi. Please promise me that."

Tilly didn't answer. When I looked over at her, she was staring out her window and up ahead at the buildings passing by. Tears glistened in the light of the street lamps. I wished I knew what to say to make it better. I drove in silence for a few miles and turned into a Fred Meyer and parked in the nearly empty lot.

"What are we doing?" Tilly asked.

"Getting some supplies. Stay with the truck." Using some of Sasha's cash, I bought pillows and blankets, flashlights, some inflatable mattresses, and a case of bottled water.

"Oh, thank God," Stansy said, when she saw what I had brought. I nodded, pushing the items under the door to her. "Too exposed here," I said, apologetically, and closed the door quickly again before I had to look Nissi in the eyes.

We stayed off the main highways for the most of the night. I returned to I-5 for a short jaunt south of Olympia, but headed west about thirty miles outside of Portland, following the coastline south to highway 20, then back inland again. The strategy worked, or we were very lucky, because we didn't see another checkpoint that night

Tilly fell asleep at some point, her head leaning against the window. The stars in the eastern sky ahead were slowly giving way to the deep violet of predawn as the city of Corvallis hove into view. I pulled off the highway into a hardware store parking lot. I parked the truck in a back corner of the lot where the store hid us from view of the road. I left Tilly to sleep and went around to the back to unlock the door and slide it up a few feet.

A bleary-eyed Wendy and Stansy sat up and peered at me from their spot on a mattress next to the door. The two girls had slept huddled together with Stan for warmth. Nissi had shared a bed with Nonna. Nock, as always, had little need for sleep, and sat on the last mattress with his back against the side of the truck. His eyes gleamed yellow-green in the semi-dark as he peered at me, the rest of his face concealed by shadow.

Nissi, looking none the worse for abruptly waking, dropped out of the truck and locked me in an embrace. "Something wrong?" she murmured.

I realized that I was holding her stiffly and made myself relax. "Sorry, rough night. Is everyone okay? How is Stan?"

"He seems fine," Wendy said. I climbed into the truck to give him my own examination. His pulse and breathing seemed normal, but it would take a few more hours for the anesthesia to wear off so that we could know for sure.

"We're just outside Corvallis," I said. "Highway 20."

Stansy went around to the driver's side and climbed in. She spoke commands to the GPS for a few minutes to find and set our destination. Tilly woke during the process but went right back to sleep.

"Okay, we're all set," Stansy said. "There's a barn not far from the house. Maybe park us around the side, out of sight of the road?"

"Yeah, sure," I agreed. I went to the back with Stansy to shut and latch the door, then got back on the road. The GPS took me through town and across the Willamette River. I turned off the highway and headed south, passing through miles of dusty fields. Hardy scrub brush had slowly begun to encroach on the old farms and pastures. If left to go another generation, they would likely fill the land from one horizon to the other.

Approaching Stansy's family farm was at once an exciting and harrowing experience. There was the farmhouse, just as she had depicted in the painting that had hung next to the table for over a month, there the apple, pear and plum trees in the orchard in the distance. But the fields were filled with brown, cracked mud rather than grain. The barn was just down the road from the house, a two-story structure with a hay loft. The paint was cracked and peeling, and a chain and padlock hung from the big double doors. I pulled around to the side, away from the road, as Stansy had instructed.

When I opened the door, Wendy leaped to the ground immediately and ran to the front of the barn to take in the view. Ingrid paused at the edge, looking down warily, but then leaped to the ground and chased after her. "I can't believe we're actually here," Wendy called, running back. "Stansy, you got it perfect."

Nissi and I helped Nonna get down. Stansy and Tilly carried Stan again, but with Nock's help this time. Wendy and Nonna went just ahead of them, leaving me to walk behind with Nissi. The shadow of what had happened last night with Tilly hung over me, tainting what should otherwise be a moment of peaceful intimacy. Nissi either didn't notice my discomfort, or chose to ignore it. She took my hand in hers and we walked together in silence.

"The doors are all locked," Wendy said from the front porch. "Is there a key hidden?"

Stansy sighed and grimaced. "I don't know of one. Looks like we'll have to break in. Here, I'll do it." She picked up a rock big enough to fill her palm and walked over to the front door. She gave one the door's multicolored glass panels a sharp rap near the bottom edge, cracking it, then struck it a few more times to clear the glass enough to reach a hand through and unlock it. "Let's put him in the guest bedroom," she said. "Wendy, can you go make sure the bed is all ready? Go past the kitchen and turn right. It's near the stairs."

Wendy ran on ahead while the other three carried Stan inside. "It's dusty as hell in here," Wendy called. "Give me a sec."

The dust that had apparently settled on the bed's comforter now hung in the air as the others carried Stan into the room and laid him carefully down. "Huh," Stansy said. "Guess Uncle Bill hasn't been out here in a while, or he forgot to clean."

I flipped on the light switch, but nothing happened. "Try the main breaker," Stansy said. "It's in the laundry room at the back of the house."

I found the breakers and flipped the main one to on, and was rewarded with the faint sounds of appliances powering up. I wondered about that, as I checked to make sure that all of the breakers were on. What would Stansy's uncle do when he noticed that we were running up the utility bill?

"Hey."

I whirled at the voice at my back. "Jesus, Nock. You almost gave me a coronary."

He shrugged. "Come out back. We need to talk."

"I really should go check on Stan."

"Stan's fine," Nock said. "Come on outside." There was a door at the end of the laundry room that opened onto a back patio. I unlocked it and we stepped outside. There was an old swinging chair there, the metal rusty and the seat stained with mildew. Nock gave the seat a disgusted look and gestured towards the distant trees. "Let's take a walk."

The cracked ground crunched beneath our feet as we walked. When the house was a good forty yards behind us, Nock spoke. "Last night, after we went through the checkpoint, you pulled off the highway and stopped. I heard everything that happened, Norm. Now, under other circumstances, I would mind my own business, but not when we're on the run and depending on you for our lives. What's going on between you and Tilly?"