“Aren't we letting her come?" I asked, watching as the big dog slowly fell behind.
“Do you really think she'd let us leave her behind?" Coal smiled.
"Is she not allowed in the truck then?" I wasn't sure how far the journey would be but maybe the powerful dog would just run the whole way.
“Watch." He pointed back at her.
We continued to pick up speed but Kaloo wasn't falling behind anymore. She was powering along, her back legs looking almost like they would overtake the front and her ears were flat against her skull.
Alicia shoved a large stick which was protruding between her and Laurie's seats and the car heaved on with even more power. We continued to accelerate but Kaloo wasn't going to be left behind and at the last moment, she sprang into the air and flew into the truck bed landing with a thump that made the whole vehicle bounce.
Alicia whooped and soon we were all cheering and laughing and Kaloo was hanging her head to the side, tongue lolling out and enjoying the wind in her face.
The truck bounced along the highway for hours. It had been exhilarating at first but that wore off with the passage of time. The view from my window didn't vary much, the trees whipped by, sometimes interrupted by small towns which looked similar to the one we’d just left behind. Beautiful birds would occasionally appear high above us to cross the channel made by the road.
The road itself was an endless stretch of grey. I had no way of knowing how far it carried on, just that it was a hell of a long way. At the sides of the highway there were rusted old cars that had been pushed aside, presumably after being abandoned at the end of the old world. They often had pieces missing from them where people had scavenged what they needed over time.
Eventually I turned my gaze from the view and looked around to find Coal watching me.
"What?" I asked.
"Sorry, it's just fascinating to watch you experience everything for the first time."
"I'll have to take you to the city some time then, see what it's like for myself."
"Perhaps," he smirked. "Are you sure you're up for this? It's not going to be easy."
"You haven't really explained why that is," I sighed. I got the feeling that I was generally regarded as next to useless when it came to fighting or anything dangerous and they were only letting me come because I’d insisted. The sad thing was that I knew they were right too.
“Well, I don't know the plan yet either," he shrugged.
“But you know something surely?" I huffed.
“Not definitely enough to bother explaining it. We'll get our orders in Franklin," Coal said infuriatingly. I was obviously going to be left in the dark for a while longer.
"What's Franklin like?" I asked, deciding I might as well change the subject.
"It's a city, though not of the kind that you're used to."
“Describe it to me," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the headrest.
Coal rolled his eyes. I got the feeling that I infuriated him at least as much as I intrigued him. "You can't just wait until we get there?"
“Nope." I grinned.
"It's not unlike the town we just left. There are roads and all the buildings have their own space. There's just more of them and a good few of them are taller, like the hospital. There are a lot more people there too," he said. "Is that a good enough description?"
“I guess. It's probably easier to just see it for my
self though."
"Great." He crossed his arms and turned to look out of his window.
“Are there others coming with us?" I smirked, pleased with my efforts at being annoying.
“I expect so, though maybe not all the way. I doubt they’d find any other people stupid enough to volunteer for that." He glanced at me from the corners of his eyes, without fully turning from the window.
"And then we'll go and find that list of names and give Baba access to the Harbour computer networks?"