Dead Dreams ((Young Adult Paranormal Romance) ( Dead Dreams Trilogy)) (35 page)

As the load increased
they search
ed
for top of the range back packs to put everything in and finding expensive heavy duty sleeping bags
was
high on
Adam’s list of must haves
.
Summe
r brightened
up a little as she carried
her spoils, happy to have found some new underwear and socks to go
with her new sneakers so she could
ditch the broken sandals.
It was
now just a
simple case
of getting out of the store
,
unnoticed.

“
This is it now we’ll know if we’re totally invisible.
”
Adam said his eyes darting everywhere looking
out
for security.

Summer was
much more confident,
“
I’m not worried let’s go and so what if we get charged have you’ve got previous?
”

“
Yeh
the truth now, possession
?
”

“
I’ve got
pos
session as well
.
”

Would
this make a difference between ditching everything and walking out or
,
testing the the
ory and taking a risk? They had heaps of stuff they could
barely carry, things they so desperately need
ed and
sleeping bag
s
meant
no
t
having to search for a bed or getting waylaid by weirdo’s and losers
with sinister
agendas.

“
May
be I should come back in for a
tent.
I
can’t carry everything at once.
”
Adam suggested.

“
Yep, that’s a plan, I’ll wait outside.
”

Taking a deep breath and hanging o
n tight to his bundle Adam looked
straight
to
the door,

“
Are you ready?
”
He said.

“
Ready as I’ll ever be.
”

“
When I say run, you run as fast as you can okay?
”

“
Yeh
I’ve got it let’s go!
”

The doors
were
open on account of it being a warm day so there was nothing to hold them up.
Summer
stood still piled up high with goods
waiting
for Adam’s final command.

“
Run!
”
He yelled.

Running as fast as they could out through the open door
being careful not to drop anything they pushed
past people coming in
and turned
left into an alley. T
hey hear
d
nothing
,
no shouts from security
,
no footste
ps on their trail but still taking no chances they didn’t
stop until they
’d
reach the next block sure they’re out of sight.
Slumping
by a wall, their adrenalin running high
they were filled with relief.

“
We did it
,
we got away with it awesome!
”
Summer
said delighted as she jumped
around dropping her sneakers on the sidewalk.

“
I’d better go back for the tent, stay here.
”

“
I will, I’ll wait right here promise.

Adam returned to the store to see noth
ing was out of
place;
there was no sign of
staff running around looking for shoplifters
,
no cops arriving to take a description and no store manager chastising security.  He calmly picked up the tent of choice and instead of running walked
confidently
back
outside picking up
two
pair
s
of sunglasses and
a
baseball cap along the way.

When he returned Summer had begun the job of
putting
everything in the backpacks.

“
Now we’re gonna look like backpackers on
vacation
.
”
She told him proudly.
“
I’ve never in my whole life had such great stuff. Sneakers like these would only be a dream.
”

“
We should get
something nice to eat
,
cause
now
we
just help ourselves right?
”

“
That’ll be cool, we can eat anything we want for free!
”

“
I want to know something. D
id you really pay for the food, I mean where did you go?
”

“
I dunno,
Devon
told me to wait and took off, she came back with the food and change, go figure!
”

Both
of them had decided to stop
wondering
how they managed to steal so
much stuff and get away with it.
No
longer concerned that they appear
ed
invisible to m
ost of the population they’d
set their sights on finding
a more permanent place to sleep. S
omewhere
to
bed down every night under the stars
with a tent and
enough food
.
Adam was certain he’d learned his lesson to keep a
careful distance from the f
ew advantage takers that saw them and
,
hoped
that
Summer felt the same. She was
so
happy to be able to change her clothes and was
willing to
foll
ow Adam wherever he chose to go, seeing him as her saviour.

“
Let’s
find someplace
to eat and sleep, I guess it’s
just the two of us now.
We’re tight now
Adam
,
aren’t we?
”

“
Yeh we’re
tight
let’s go find what we need.
”

It felt
good to have backpacks and sleeping bags to carry having been so l
ong with nothing but their wits
and hope.
O
ptimism
had been thin on the ground,
now;
in spite of all the set-backs since leaving home and the parallel universe he
found himself in he was
happy for the fi
rst time in
years.

They’re luck was
in
when they passed
by a large buffet restaurant
. It was
the answer to their food desires
. They no
longer
had
to forage or
grab a pastry
to share, they could
now
walk in
anywhere and
pick out anything they desire
d and it was
warm food
they were after. S
omething they weren’t used
to having.

“
I bet they’ve got fried chicken that’s my favourite,
”
Summer
said salivating at the mere thought.
“
I’
m so hungry I could eat a G
od damm horse!
”

C
onf
idence since the store heist had
grown considerably as they saunter
ed into the busy restaurant
without a care in the world
. Taking their time they walked
around the vast array of food on offer picking out what they want
ed
eating as
they
went
along and saving extra’s in the plastic food box
es
they
’d
grabbed on the
shopping spree.

“
Ar
e you kids camping?
”
Adam heard
the voice but ignore
d it while
Summer
was
too engrossed with eating to have heard anything.

“
I said are you kids camping?
”

They turned to see
a middle-aged cou
ple each holding plates of food.
Adam gave
Summer a n
udge.
“
These people can see us, let’s get out of here.
”

“
Yeh we’re camping what about it?
”
Summer replied in a friendly tone.