The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert

gifting?”
    “I don’t know.” Cap frowns. “But if he can’t cloak you, then we’re in trouble. The quicker you get to the Rivards, the better.”
    *
    I open my eyes to a sea of green.
    Luka is staring at me. “What did Cap say?”
    I pull the ear buds from my ears.
    Link sits on a crate of pasta, his iPad out and on while Jillian bends over his shoulder. Both are looking at me, too.
    I sit up a little straighter. “They reached headquarters.”
    Jillian lets out a loud breath.
    “I guess there are rumors circulating about a really powerful Fighter on the move somewhere in Iowa. Cap thought it was me.”
    “Did you tell him what happened?” Jillian asks.
    I nod.
    “You told him everything?” Luka’s question is soaked with meaning.
    I nod again.
    “What did he say?”
    I sever eye contact. I’ve always been a lousy liar, and right now I’m positive Cap’s speculation would destroy him. “Maybe it was just a fluke.”
    Luka leans against the side of the trailer and kneads his forehead.
    “Whoa!”
    Jillian and I turn our attention to Link.
    He gapes at his iPad. “We just bumped Non and Sticks to numbers five and six on FBI’s Most Wanted list.”
    I scramble over to his side. “ Five and six ?”
    Link found a live newsfeed. It’s playing security camera footage. I watch as the four of us board the bus. Luka steals the agent’s gun. A different angle of Jillian blowing up a car. Our faces appear on the screen, along with our real names and the names we used to purchase our bus tickets. Our fake identities are shot. And Link and Jillian are definitely not in the clear.
    The camera pans to a female news anchor. “Teresa Eckhart, you will remember, escaped the Edward Brooks Facility this past January with the assistance of Luka Williams. Both are wanted for the murder of Dr. Charles Roth.”
    “ Murder ?” The word bursts out of my mouth. “His death was ruled a suicide. They can’t just change it like that.”
    Surely the public will notice the blaring inconsistency.
    “Apparently they can.” Link clicks out of the newsfeed and opens up the FBI’s website. He clicks on the Most Wanted list. Sure enough, the four of us are there, with me taking the lead. I am officially the nation’s most wanted criminal. With a quarter of a million bounty on my head.
    *
    Four hours as a stowaway with no end in sight has me regretting my second water bottle. According to Link and the compass on his iPad, we’re veering more west than south, which means we need to get off this truck as soon as possible. Preferably before my bladder explodes.
    Just when I think it might, a box of Lay’s Potato Chips slides toward my legs. The truck is finally slowing down. Brakes squeak. A gear shifts. Luka holds up his flashlight. Jillian lifts her head off Link’s shoulder and looks around with disoriented eyes.
    Everything in the back of the trailer slides left as the semi turns, accelerates a bit, then slows again, this time to a full stop. The engine goes quiet. Luka shuts off the flashlight. All I can see are three pairs of round white eyes blinking in the dark.
    A door opens and closes.
    We scramble to the very front of the trailer, as far away from the back hatch as possible and crouch out of sight behind the bananas. Seconds tick into a minute, then two, then three. The trailer remains closed.
    My fingers dig into the wooden crate. If we wait too long, we’ll miss our opportunity. I imagine being stuck back here for another five hours. My bladder won’t make it. As if reading my mind, Luka motions for us to follow him.
    When we reach the back, he presses his ear to the metal. We could be anywhere. Another gas station. A busy truck stop. Inside a Walmart warehouse. The only way to find out is to open the door. Luka inches it open the tiniest crack.
    Jillian peeks outside. “All I can see is cement.”
    The engine roars to life.
    I grab Luka’s arm.
    He opens the door wider. I don’t give myself time to second