Resistance Is Useless

I jumped at the sound of things moving around. I shrieked when I realized who it was.
“Alex?” I asked, not believing he was actually back. “Alex.” I wanted to hear myself say it again. He was back like he promised.
“Kari,” He sighed.
I threw the blanket off of me and ran across the room to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I pressed my face against his chest. The thoughts of what could have happened made my eyes water.
“What happened? What’d they do?” I asked. “When did you get back? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Calm down, breathe,” He told me, rubbing my back. “I… they just wanted to talk. We have to leave. I’m sorry.”
“Leave where?” I looked up at him.

“Leave here. We have to go somewhere else. I’m so sorry I fucked up. I told you I wouldn’t--”
“Alex, we can’t just leave! What about everyone?” I said, letting go of him.
“They’ll come with us,” He said. “If one of us gets caught, we all do.”

“What am I supposed to tell my mom, Alex? I’m a fucking fugitive in hiding? I can’t just leave her, I’m all she has!” I yelled. “The feds will be on us ten times if we run. You said you had everything planned out!”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do, Karina?!” Alex yelled at me, shutting me up. “You tell me what the fuck to do and I’ll fucking do it! You think I wanted us to get caught? That wasn’t on the fucking agenda. I’m trying to fucking protect you, not me or the guys. You, because you don’t deserve for anything to happen to you. You don’t want to leave, fine. I know what I did, and I’m going to pay for it.”
I stood there and stared at him. He never yelled at me like that before. He scared me. I never wanted to see the other side of him in private. I didn’t want him to be mad at me.
“I, well,” I stuttered. “I was just… If you think it’s better for us to leave, then whatever.”
“Kari, I didn’t mean to you,” He said softly. “I’m only trying to protect you.”
“I know,” I said, sniffling. I wiped my eyes quickly when I realized I was crying. “Sorry.”
“You don’t understand the pressure,” He said, leaning against the wall. “I’m literally under the fucking gun with this. The guys have nothing to worry about. I do. I can’t let anything happen to you. I knew it was a bad idea. I should’ve let you go. I’m sorry I even got you involved.”

“Alex, please don’t say that,” I said quietly. I could tell he was sincere with what he was saying. “I will never blame you for this. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
“You’d be on the other side,” He scoffed.
“I don’t care, I just want to be with you right now,” I said truthfully.
“You’re not going to be saying that soon if we stay here,” He muttered sarcastically.
“Then let’s go,” I said. “Let’s leave and get away from here.”

-

It seemed like we’d been packing for days when it was only a day and a half. We’d gotten most of the important things packed up in coxes. I did most of the light packing while Alex moved the heavy stuff. Alex spent most of the day planning on where to go and when with the guys. They had for the most part, agreed to move with Alex and I. I had no clue if Rian informed Kara of us leaving or not. Alex didn’t bother keeping most of the furniture and stuff. If there was something we needed, we’d buy it.
He’d packed some of the money in the boxes inconspicuously with linen and utensils. He packed some in stashes around the house for the mean time until we leave. He carried some pocket cash for me and him, too.

“We have to find a road they’re not going to look at,” I heard Alex on the phone in the living room. “No, we can’t take the bridge. That’ll be closed within minutes. Yeah… Okay. Send me and it and I’ll see…. Alright, later, dude.”
I continued packing things from the kitchen into boxes.
“Everything okay?” I asked, looking up as Alex walked in.
“Yeah, I guess,” He groaned, ruffling his hair. He sat down at the table and I could tell he was frustrated. I hated that he felt like this over me.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly even though he didn’t hear me. I decided to take a break. I turned around and leaned against the counter. I wished I could do something to help. “Just relax.”
“Karina, how am I supposed to fucking relax?” He snapped, glaring at the table to avoid sending it my way.
“I don’t know, just calm down,” I said. “I know you’re tired, you should get some rest.”
Alex turned his gaze to me, sadly. “I don’t know. I honestly have a bad feeling about this. I’m thinking we should leave tonight, while we still can…”
“I can’t, not tonight,” I said quietly. “We will leave, but I have to talk to my mom first.”
I’d come up with a plan to go visit my mom, tell her I’m going on a trip for a few weeks, and discretely leave some money there. I never thought I’d have to leave her. I didn’t want to, but if Alex said it was for the best then I guessed it was.
“Why can’t you see her tonight?” He asked.
“Because,” I said, “Because I’m not ready. Can we just stay for one more night? Please?”
I held my breath while Alex looked down at his phone deliberating. He looked deep in thought while he tapped away on his phone. He looked back up.

“Okay, but literally one night. We have to leave tomorrow.”