Chapter 6 – Breathe

Margot’s POV

The air beneath the bus was thick with the scent of rubber and gasoline, a stale, cloying mix that clung to the back of my throat as Cara and I squeezed ourselves into the farthest corner of the luggage compartment.

The space was cramped, barely wide enough for us to stretch out fully due to the masses of bags and random cardboard boxes, but the surrounding suitcases and duffel bags provided just enough cover to keep us out of sight, which was the main thing.

I shifted, adjusting my position between two large hard-shell suitcases, pressing my back against the cool metal frame of the bus. My pulse was still racing from the sheer nerve of what we were doing—sneaking onto a damn bus like we were criminals on the run.

Cara settled in beside me, her knees drawn up to her chest as she wedged herself between a few oversized travel bags. She let out a shaky breath before turning to me, a slow grin creeping across her face.

“I gotta say, Margot,” she whispered, nudging me with her elbow. “I didn’t think you had this kind of rebellion in you.”

I scoffed, though I couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah, well, desperate times and all that.”

“Desperate and ballsy as hell,” she added. “I mean, I’m usually the one coming up with the crazy ideas. But this? This was all you, girl – I’m proud.” Cara commended me, and I felt somewhat accomplished.

The pride in her voice sent a strange warmth through my chest. I wasn’t the reckless one, not usually. That was always Cara—Cara who took risks, who lived without thinking too much about the consequences. But this time, it had been me. I had thought of this plan. I had taken the risk.

And now, here we were, successfully on our way to Meadowbank for free!

The bus gave a sudden jolt, and my stomach flipped as the engine roared to life. The vibration of it rumbled through the metal floor beneath us, making the walls tremble slightly as the vehicle eased into motion. My fingers curled into the fabric of my hoodie, my breath hitching as the realization hit.

We were doing it. We were actually on our way to embark on some fucked up prisoner experiment—neither of us fully knowing what that even meant!

Cara let out a quiet laugh from beside me, the sound barely audible over the steady hum of the moving bus. “Holy shit,” she murmured. “We’re actually pulling this off; we’re gonna get that damn money.”

“Yeah, but what exactly do you think we’ll need to do to get it? Do you think we’ll have to visit them regularly? Probably just chat to them, right?” I suggested, as Cara chewed her lip in thought.

“Well, for that money… surely there’s more to it than just chats? I guess we will find out when we arrive…” Cara added, making my anxiety spike.

What exactly was this experiment?

What did they expect from us?

“The main thing is, we’ve done it!” Cara nodded firmly, happy enough to be here on the bus.

“For now,” I reminded her. “We still have to make it all the way to Meadowbank without getting caught—don’t rush ahead.”

She exhaled, rolling her head against the soft duffel bag she was using as a pillow. “Right. Which is why we need to keep count of how many stops we hit, or else we’ll miss the damn place.”

I nodded, my mind sharpening as I focused on the task ahead. “You said six stops before Meadowbank, right?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “It’s gonna take hours to get there, though, but every time this compartment opens, it means we’ve reached a new terminal. We count six, and then we know it’s our turn to get off.”

“Got it,” I said, though a flicker of concern tightened in my chest. “We just have to make sure we don’t fall asleep and lose track of how many we’ve passed.”

Cara hummed in agreement. “We should take shifts. One of us stays awake while the other rests. That way, at least one of us is keeping count the whole time.”

“Good idea.” I adjusted my position again, wincing as my elbow bumped against the sharp edge of a suitcase. “I’ll take the first shift – I’m too excited and nervous to sleep right now.”

She raised a brow. “You sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You said earlier that you had barely slept last night, too. Plus, you did all the talking back at the terminal trying to convince that guy—I’ll hold down the fort for now.”

She didn’t argue after that, which told me just how exhausted she really was. Instead, she shifted around, turning onto her side and using the strap of a duffel bag as an impromptu pillow. “Wake me when we’re at stop three, and we can switch,” she murmured, already starting to relax.

“Yeah, yeah, sweet dreams!” I muttered with a wave, though I knew there was no way I’d wake her if I felt she was getting a good rest…

Silence stretched between us as the steady motion of the bus rocked us gently. Outside, the muffled sounds of traffic faded into the background, replaced by the low rumble of the tires against the road.

At least we were warm down here from the heat of the engine; making it somewhat bearable…

I hugged my knees in to my chest, my eyes fixed on the sliver of dim light that seeped through the cracks of the compartment door.

The weight of what we were doing, what we had already done thus far, settled over me like a heavy blanket. We were fugitives in our own way, sneaking out of town without a word, without looking back.

And yet, despite the discomfort, despite the uncertainty, I felt something I don’t quite think I had ever felt…

Freedom…

A reckless, breathless kind of freedom that made my heart pound with a thrill I couldn’t quite name.

I didn’t know what Meadowbank would hold for us. I didn’t know if we’d even make it there without being thrown off this bus and dragged back to the place we were so desperate to escape from.

But for now, at least, we were moving forward.

And that was enough hope for me.