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Heck On The Highway | Shook Chapter 25
After hearing sirens, Dyan looked out the window to see a police car speeding towards them, with more not too far behind.
Azure leaned next to Dyan. “Uh-oh,”
“Oh great. Now we’re fugitives.” said Navy, putting a fist on his cheek and slumping to his knees.
“What’s a few-ji-tive?” asked True.
“People who run from their parents AND the law,” Navy said, blowing a sputter of air out of his closed lips.
“Oh, no, they’ll catch us and we'll be in so much trouble!” Royal slid to the back of the top bunk and stayed out of the light from the windows.
Baby Teal, who was in her arms at the moment, began to cry, her face getting all wrinkly.
“No, no, don’t cry!” Royal pleaded and looked at her little sister’s face.
“If only we had her playpen, then she’d stop crying,” Wild Yonder said aloud.
“The inflatable boat! We can pump up the boat and use it as her play pen! Somebody pull out the boat and air pump!” Maya yelled from up front.
And so Royal pulled out the boat and air pump that was stuffed in her bookbag and handed it to Dyan, who had to get up and move out the way to set it down. She looked at the wrinkly flat boat, and then Maya.
“Are you sure this is gonna stop Teal from crying!?” Dyan yelled over the baby’s whining and the police sirens.
“No, but it has to work! It’s the only thing we can do!”
And so, with her heart still beating fast, Dyan pushed the air pump pedal and filled the boat with air.
When she finished, Teal was placed into the puffy plastic boat. She continued to whine until she picked up a black belt strap attached to the boat and stretched it. Her face straightened up and the tears stopped streaming down her face. That’s Progress, Dyan thought.
Dyan was no longer sure about this plan. If the police were on their tail, there was no doubt they would be caught. What’s eight kids verses a heard of police cars!? She looked at everyone else for signs of hope. She found that everyone else was looking at her or somebody else, each looking unsure about this hole thing.
“I think we should pull over, Maya,” said Wild Yonder.
“Yeah, I don’t want fugitive to be a word associated with my name when I grow older,” Navy said, glancing at the police cars.
“We can’t give up!” Maya yelled. “If Mom and Dad catch us now, we’ll be in trouble ‘til we're adults! We just need to lose them! I heard highway police can’t enter cities, so once we find the next city, we’ll be safe! No one’s gonna catch and separate the Free Blues again, who’s with me!?” she raised on fist in the air.
“Free Blues!” the kids yelled, building their courage again.
Maya pushed hard on the gas pedal, surging them forward as she narrowly passed a tiny car on the road below.
The leading police car wouldn’t get lost that easily. They sped up, cars parting ways to let the police by. The police arranged themselves two lanes across from the truck.
The window unrolled and a police woman with a megaphone leaned out of the car, moving some stray strands of orange hair out of her face.
She yelled “ATTENTION UNDER-AGE DRIVER, PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A GAME, AND SPEEDING WILL ONLY GET YOU INTO MORE TROUBLE!”
“They're not talking to us, right?” Dyan prayed aloud.
“No, they're talking to the kid driver up the street. Of course they talkin’ ‘bout us!” Wild Yonder yelled at her with a look of frustration.
Maya quietly surged forward, narrowing all her thoughts on keeping this huge vehicle steady as she avoided crushing the last car in front of her. Now she was at the front of the herd of highway cars! She could go as fast as she wanted! She sped up so fast most of the children leaned back and grabbed onto something.
Meanwhile, Mr. Blue was using this time to speed up, switching lanes to pass as many cars as he could to get close to his truck. Now he was only a car behind the police cars, which were surrounding the truck!
“We’re catching up!” Mrs. Blue swatted Mr. Blue’s shoulder twice, her eyes stuck to the blue truck in front of them.
Dyan was beyond scared when she saw a police helicopter fly by, But it flew past them. She was relieved and confused. Why had it flown past them?
Find out what happens next in the next part!
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