Blog 12: Erin Holbrook

Here is another minimally edited excerpt from my NaNoWriMo Novel. 

Ch 1

“3…2…1” Sal whispered in Jenine’s ear. She stepped back smiled, and then dropped all pretense of stealth.

“BOOM” She yelled recklessly. The sound of her scream was echoed by the sound of an actual explosion. Jenine looked down at her sweaty hands,still holding down a big red button. She lifted them slowly, and dried them on the front of her jeans.

“Oh my god, we actually did it.” Jenine mumbled. She looked up at her sister and grinned, then put on her latex gloves and wiped the button clean with a moist toilette. No evidence could remain once they had fled. Her eyes ran over the very un-clever label: Big Red Button, her sister’s idea of course. Jenine stood up, steadied herself, then made her way over to the edge of the roof. She could just see the flames a mile away. Sal watched her sister, worried that she might be having second thoughts. But then she spotted Jenine’s slight grin, and knew that they weren’t that unalike after all.

“Well, sister, it really has been fun, but I’m afraid it’s time to run.” Sal said carelessly, as she strolled languidly towards the door. A laugh bubbled from Jenine’s throat, and she followed. Sal pulled the door open in a sweeping motion “Apres vous.” She said, grinning widely. Jenine mimed a curtsy and then sprinted down the stairs.

In seconds Sal was passing her, sliding down the steps via the railing. “There are thirty-seven floors, little sister! Be a bit more creative.” Jenine huffed and slid down after her sister. Sal had the brains, though she didn’t act like it, and she always one upped Jenine.

“Go ahead and gloat. You may be clever but at least I got the looks.” Even that was a lie. Jenine was pretty, sure, but she spent half an hour doing her make-up each day. She wore heavy eyeliner and dark red lipstick, which brought out her green-blue eyes and clear complexion. Sal, on the other hand, hardly owned a hairbrush. She didn’t need it. Her skin was naturally clear, and her cheekbones stood out strikingly through her tan skin. Her hair was dark black and perfectly straight, while Jenine’s was a mess of curls. Sal was more than pretty, she was gorgeous, and just a little bit terrifying.

The sound of sirens broke the air as they ran out into the streets. Underneath it were delicate murmurs of fear and confusion.

“Race you” Jenine challenged, and she ran off before Sal could protest. She could hear her sister mumble “no fair” behind her, and then the sound of her footsteps thudding against the concrete. If there was one thing Jenine could do better than Sal, it was run. Jenine sprinted, faster and faster, letting the wild wind tangle her hair. She stuck to the shadows, and no one saw her face. Her heart lifted as the streets became less occupied. She was almost out.  

As the tree-line approached, Jenine noticed how heavily she breathed. Her side hurt: she must have been running longer than she realized. Sal would still be a bit behind her. She began to make her way more slowly through the trees, careful not to leave a trail that might be followed. Sal caught up with her a few minutes later, and they stalked the forest in silence until they reached base camp: just before dark.

Now that it was definitely safe to talk, Jenine punched her sister playfully on the arm.

“I cannot believe we did that!” She said, laughing. “That was beyond insane. We ought to be institutionalized.” She was nearly giddy with the adrenaline still pumping through her veins. “do you think it worked?” She asked, collapsing onto her sleeping bag and looking up at the stars.

“Of course it worked. All my plans do.” Sal said, sitting down on a log and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “They will find no evidence, but they will know it’s us. They won’t be able to catch us. And as soon as we go home, it’s a one way ticket to Taurus.” Jenine smiled, thinking for the first time that she really would be on Taurus, fighting side by side with the most brilliant soldiers.

“The soldiers of Taurus are the bravest, the strongest, and the smartest. Do you really think they’ll take us?”

“You forgot best endowed.” Sal said, smirking. She pulled out a granola bar and tossed a second to Jenine “The army of Taurus is or misfits and freaks trained to perfection. And besides, we are the bravest, strongest, and smartest. They take what they can get, and once they have a look at the technology of that bomb, they’ll be begging us to fight for them.” Jenine rolled her eyes. She hoped her sister was right. She had grown up with stories of the great and fierce army of Taurus, and how it would protect humanity against itself. The army would finally be needed soon enough. War with Ambros seemed inevitable. Ambros was the only planet equipped to save the people of planet Earth, and Ambros was going to abandon a civilization to die. Jenine became furious just thinking it. She would murder every last Utopian with her bare hands if she had to. They were monsters.

“You remembered to use a chain of three people to buy the supplies right? And the third saw only a mask and a disguised voice, yeah?” Jenine asked.

Sal sighed. “Yes. And I wiped all the prints on every part of the bomb, even the batteries. I went so far as to sell the tools I used to make it in a second hand shop. They got picked up by some boy looking for work for less than a dollar. None of that can be tracked to us. There were no security cameras on our trail today, so far as anyone knows, we've been gone since morning. Have a bit of faith.” Jenine nodded solemnly.

“What do you think it’s like, on another planet?” Sal asked “different air, different ground, different people, different sky…”

“Dad took me to Earth once. It was the same on the surface. It looked the same, except it felt wrong. And when we went outside, everything was dead or dying. It was awful. Even the sky was dying, strangled by waste. The worst part was the smell. It smelled horrible everywhere we went. There was no escaping it: a strangled, mechanic smell. I couldn’t believe people lived there until I saw them. They smelled too, and they were dead by their eyes.” Jenine shivered.

“You never told me that.” Sal said, unnerved herself.

“I didn't want to think too hard about it. It’s supposed to be even worse now, Though I can’t imagine how.”

“Yeah? Well it doesn't matter, because we are going to fix it.” Jenine smiled. They most definitely were.