The Water Wars - Cameron Stracher [37]
“Wherever he is,” I said, “we’ve got to find him.”
“We’ve got to get out of here is what we’ve got to do.”
“Not without Kai.”
Will sat up on one elbow and drew his good leg beneath him. “Listen, Vera. We don’t know where he is, or who took him, or even if he’s gone. It was stupid to go chasing after him in the first place. Now if we don’t get out of here, the environmentalists are going to sell us—or worse.”
I blushed, feeling chastened by my brother’s words. But I refused to be cowed into agreement. “The pirates know where he is.”
“They’re dead. You said so yourself.”
“We don’t know for sure. Some are dead, but some may have survived.”
Will was a fighter. He would never give up—not when there was still a chance. He would lead his troops into battle and fight to his last breath. That’s why I couldn’t believe it when he said, “It’s hopeless.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re in Canada, Vera. We’re prisoners in the country of our enemies. Even if we could find Kai, we can’t save him. How could we? Be realistic. We’re just two kids without any weapons, and we’ll be lucky to get out of here with our own lives.”
“No, Will. Don’t say that!”
“It’s true. Look at me. My leg is infected. I need a doctor. Our parents probably think we’re dead. We have to forget about Kai and the river. We have to get home!”
When other kids couldn’t raise another bucket, Will kept lifting. When they thought the condensers were emptied, Will found the last drop. He was always the first to volunteer and the last to leave. Yes, he was injured, and our situation was desperate, but we were not so far gone that all hope was lost.
“Kai is our friend,” I said. “You can try to get home—if you want—but I’m going to stay here until I find him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re locked in the back of a truck.”
“I don’t care! I’m going to get out.” I walked to the rear doors of the carrier and banged on the handles as hard as I could. They wouldn’t budge. Even if I could force the doors open, the carrier was traveling at hundreds of kilometers an hour, and the fall to the ground would surely kill me. But the only thing that mattered right then was getting out. I tried prying at the bars that covered two small windows on each side of the truck, but the metal was cold and unyielding. I stamped my feet on the floor as hard as I could.
“Open the doors!” I shouted. It made me angry that people could simply kill other people, take what they wanted, and ignore the cries of the sick and hungry. The world wasn’t like that—or it shouldn’t be like that—even though I hadn’t seen enough of the world to know what it was really like. I pounded at the fortified steel until my wrists felt like breaking. “Open the doors!” I shouted again. “This is wrong! You are wrong! Open the doors!”
Suddenly Will was beside me, leaning on my shoulder for support. “Stop, Vera. Stop. I’ll help you.”
I looked at my brother, and I could see how much it pained him to stand. But he stood; and though his face was pale, his grip was strong. “I’ll help you,” he said again.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Do you really think we can get out of here?”
“I do.”
If we were going to escape, however, we would have to wait until the environmentalists stopped to refuel or sleep. Anything else would mean certain death. So while the carrier raced eastward, we searched the cargo hold. Shiny electronics, unwrapped and gleaming, lined the shelves. Dried food in airtight boxes and water in sealed containers were crammed in next to them. Although there were dozens of weapons, we couldn’t find any ammunition or fuses for the grenades. I didn’t see any of the explosives used to blow up the dam, but I figured they had either been detonated or stored in another carrier. Nasri was smart enough to keep them