Free Empty Streets by Jessica Cotter Page B

ran to keep up with him. They both ran because it felt like freedom. The muscles in her legs screamed with delight at their use, stretching and pulling against her bones. Her lungs filled with night air and her chest hurt with the desire for more, purer oxygen.
    After several minutes of running, they reached the end of the alley and emerged into total darkness. Bodhi turned, pushing her back into the alley.
    "Okay, first, a couple of things," he whispered, panting quietly, small beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. She tried to take deep breaths as she bent over, hands on her knees. Running was wonderful. She looked at him, awaiting explanation.
    Bodhi continued. "We are a couple of blocks from the main rows of houses where people live. This area is pretty much completely deserted, which means less chance of running into the street cleaners. If you do hear a car coming: don't run. I need you to promise me."
    She was not sure she could stop herself from running. "What do we do if we don't run?"
    Bodhi smiled. "I was getting to that. We are going to look at something very large. If you hear a car coming, we can hide inside it. It is thick and made of metal. It will hide our body heat temporarily."
    Eri nodded. "Okay. I promise not to run."
    Bodhi pulled something small out of his pocket. "My parents loaned me this. It is a small blue light, like the E-savvies, but it fits over your hand so you can tap it on and then close your hand if you need it to go off instantly." She watched as he placed a stretchy band around his hand, positioning a rubbery ball in the palm of his hand. He closed his hand and then opened it. The small ball emitted a faint blue light. He closed his hand and instantly the light was gone.
    She smiled up at him. "That is pretty sweet. A modern, sneaky flashlight."
    "Totally," he nodded. "I'm not going to turn it on until we get where we are going, so stay close behind me and be quiet. P.S., you aren't as quiet as you think you are. I could hear you leaving your parents' house from a block away."
    Eri cringed. She vowed to do better.

Chapter 9
    Transportation
    They walked several miles in the darkness. Eri held Bodhi's hand as they snaked through alleys and darted across parking lots. They reached the end of an alley and Bodhi stopped. Eri stopped short, this time avoiding a collision, and peered around his tall, thin frame. There was a severely neglected road in front of them and then a field of overgrown vegetation. She could see the remnants of old housing, some decimated to stone foundations. In front of one of the old stone piles was a large object, taller than Bodhi, and long. She furrowed her eyebrows and squinted, trying to see it clearly. She leaned forward, sticking her head out of the alley.
    Bodhi laughed softly before tugging her by the arm back into the alley.
    "Okay, let's review." He put on a serious face. The moonlight allowed her to see the gentle curve of his mouth and a small twitch at its corner.
    "What? Are you laughing at me?" Eri crossed her arms over her chest.
    "No," Bodhi whispered. "I am just waiting for the moment where something we do freaks you out or where you at least look nervous. You never seem scared."
    "I don't feel scared. Should I be?" She was curious and excited when she was outside-not afraid. Her self-preservation instinct didn't seem very strong.
    Bodhi didn't answer her question, just squeezed his lips together and looked at her hard. "Okay, so if you hear a noise? Street cleaners?"
    "Don't run, they will see us, hide inside…whatever it is we are going to look at." She repeated his words from earlier in a bored whisper. Her eyes caught a gleam on the thing they were about to look at and she leaned slightly to her left to see around him.
    He laughed. "I can see your curiosity is piqued. Let's go." He walked ahead of her and she jogged a little to catch his hand. He looked down at her and smiled an almost unnoticeable smile.
    "Is this your typical second