Getting out of the building itself was harder, since their encounter with Circe delayed them, and now there was military personnel all around. They managed to sneak out though, and finally left through the back door Cassiopeia used to get inside.
When they saw the military truck waiting for them they were ready to flee again, but then a familiar face received them and a smile got over Cassiopeia.
"H.R.!!"
"I think at this point, it’s ok if you call me Hayley, Cassiopeia"
Jess quickly approached the woman and saluted her.
"Thank you for helping us, Riggins"
"I should be the one thanking you three. I’m glad someone is finally doing something about this, the least I can do is helping you. I prepared this truck for you, I’m sorry I can’t go with you right now, but as soon as you find a hideout let me know and I’ll join you to see what we can do next"
After all they went through, after the cruelty and the horror, the fact that Hayley was putting her own safety at risk to help them made Cassiopeia’s heart clench. These human emotions were so hard to control, so she couldn’t help hugging the woman.
"Thank you so much, Hayley, you are a good hu… woman"
"I should be the one telling you that!" Hayley chuckled "Now you three should go, or they’ll find you!"
Only after hitting the road Jess and Cassiopeia realized they had no idea where to go next, it was then when Erwin suggested his house.
"Your house? That’s the first place they will search!"
"No way, they don’t know where I live. I change places all the time. Not even you know where I live"
That was true. Erwin and Jess met each other when the woman arrived to town fresh out of high school to join the army, and in the more than 10 years they were friends he never ever invited her to his house. He was weird about it, and he only got even weirder with time, so she had no sweet idea where he lived.
"Ok" Jess conceded "Lead the way"
They drove for a while, leaving the town and following one of the deserted roads around StrangerVille, and when Erwin pulled out and jumped off the truck Jess couldn’t help a snort.
"This is your house? An abandoned gas station…?"
"Yup"
"Ok… Just wanted to make sure…"
"I like it!" Cassiopeia declared under Erwin's adoring and watchful eyes "Reminds me to my house!"
"You freaks" Jess said under her breath.
"I’ll get the truck in the garage, you guys can get comfortable inside" Erwin said, pointing at the door "I’ll be with you in a minute"
The boy disappeared around the back of the build while Jess and Cassiopeia stepped inside. It was worse than Jess imagined when she saw the exterior. It was a complete and utter gross mess. It smelled like that too.
"Cass, don’t touch anything"
After a few minutes Erwin appeared though the door on the back of the room and signaled them.
"Follow me, I’ll show you the best part"
The best part was the basement. It looked as if a low-budget spy was living there… which to be honest was more or less what was actually happening. In the corner, behind a couple of curtains hanging questionably from the ceiling, there was a sleeping bag lying on the floor.
"This is…" Jess started.
"This is like… what do you call it…? A sleepover!" Cassiopeia completed it.
"…sure"
Finally after that crazy day the three friends got to sit down and Cassiopeia started to relate what she saw deep inside the lab.
"I knew it!" Erwin exclaimed, more excited than scared.
"So you are telling me there is a giant alien plant under the crater’s lab that the government was experimenting on, it went crazy and now it’s infecting everyone? And we have to find the way to stop it, because anybody else will do it?"
Cassiopeia didn’t like much how Jess put it, because it made Mother look like the villain, when for Cassiopeia she was actually the victim.
"Yeah… that’s the idea"
"Are you sure you want to keep going, Jess?" Erwin asked suddenly "What about your family? The government could go after them"
"I told my husband and daughter to leave the town, they must be down in Del Sol Valley with my parents right now, so don’t worry about them" She explained "There is no way I’m running away from this at this point"
"So… I guess now we wait for Hayley to contact us with news" Erwin mused after a few seconds of silence.
"Yeah, now we wait…" Jess muttered.
The three of them nodded and fell silent again, the fact that they were now on the run slowly sinking in, until Jess broke it with groan as she stretched.
"You know what? I really could use a bath right now. Raiding a military base leaves you all sweaty. Where is the shower in this place, Erwin?"
"I would love to get a bit of maintenance myself right now too!" Cassiopeia agreed.
Erwin’s eyebrow raised at the girls’ words and then he laughed as if they were ridiculous.
"Shower? This is a gas station. There are no showers"
Jess eyes opened with horror, as if she just saw Mother right in front of her.
"…WHAT!?"
The next day, while Erwin and Cassiopeia were busy spying on people with the bugs the boy put on people around town - not because what was going on right now, he had the habit of doing it as hobby way before plum broke out in StrangerVille -, Jess decided to be useful in other ways.
Luckily Erwin got the water running in the gas station, so even if they couldn’t exactly shower she could clean herself… and clean the place. Because it was more gross that she could ever express. And, as she was mopping the unidentified and sticky stains on the floor, she wondered how her family was doing right now. She wanted to call them. But of course she couldn’t.
I wish I hugged them a couple of times more before leaving… Who knows if I’ll be able to do it ever again.
Meanwhile in the basement Erwin was checking on the bug he planted on Ted Roswell.
"That’s Mr. Mayor, right?"
"Exactly, and I’m sure he’s been getting money from the government to let them experiment in StrangerVille. I finally have reasons to take him down!"
Cassiopeia had no idea what all that meant, but if this was going to help saving the town and Mother, then she approved it. And also she approved the look on Erwin’s face while he was focused on his task.
"Oh… I have something, listen!" Erwin suddenly said, stopping Cassiopeia's train of thought.
The boy connected the speakers so Cassiopeia could hear Roswell’s voice as well. She was still fascinated that humans needed devices to hear each other voices when they were not in the same space.
If the government found out what’s actually going on in the lab… Well… let’s just make sure they don’t… We have to find those three asap.
That’s all they could hear before they lost connection again. The man was talking about them, but not only that… He implied the government didn’t know about the accident that happened in the lab. This was something they could use to defend themselves against Roswell if it was needed. A huge smile took over Erwin's face.
"Gotcha!"
(↑ Click me ↑)
Since there was not much to do while they waited for news from Hayley, Cassiopeia took back exercising. Jess joined her and started to teach her how to actually fight.
And then, after around a week of waiting, Erwin finally got a message from Hayley.
"Girls, Hayley wants to meet us at the crater’s lab"
"Seriously?" Jess grimaced at Erwin's announcement "Does it need to be there? Close to the giant and dangerous alien plant?"
"That’s what she said"
"We should get going then" Cassiopeia cut them.
It was finally time to get moving.