by Holly Hook
I lift my hand up and wave.
He waves back.
I approach. The guy's about twenty-one or so, old enough to have escaped from the mines himself. He's a dark man with shaggy, curly hair that needs to be cut. But he smiles. I'm glad for that.
"You the new girl?" he asks.
"Yeah." I look down at my clothes. "Lucky guess." He's wearing faded jeans under a leather tunic. It looks kind of funny. "Weslie said you're the guy who came up with the way to make those clay bowls?"
He walks up to me and shakes my hand. "I am," he says. "I'm Antoine. Nice to meet you."
"Elaine."
"I'm the weird guy," he says.
"Sometimes that's cool," I say. He reminds me of the kids in the science club who made that robot last year and showed it off at that competition. I was there for that, right beside Shawn and Talia. I could never build anything. I imagine someone as smart as him must have really helped this town survive. He must be well respected. "So you experiment with Flamestone?"
"I do. Learned a lot about it."
"All I know is that it starts fires and the Dwellers eat it.”
“They do. I've seen it happen. They need it to survive."
I look at the sun. It's getting close to the horizon. The other people must be inside the town gates by now, gathering around the fire for dinner. Jaden's probably waiting for me to show him how to read and write.
"The Dwellers don't have the same chemical makeup we do," he says. He shifts and I spot a weak flame in the shallow cave behind him. It's a torch on the wall. He has to speak over the roar of the waterfall. "They didn't evolve like we did. And I don't know what exactly Flamestone is made of, but it sure has some interesting properties."
I might have woken up a monster. I'm not sure. This guy's got that gleam in his eye. He's obsessed.
"Like what?" I ask. "I figured out that it makes a good Dweller trap." I glance at the shallow cave behind him but I can't see very far in. Maybe it's not such a shallow cave after all. I can see lots of cracks in the walls and the torch is lodged into one.
"It does," he said. "I've trapped a lot of Dwellers myself and experimented on a few. They're more like insects than animals. I've even dissected some of them." He must see the expression on my face. "Don't worry. They were dead and they deserved it. I've learned so much about them. They can only live in the sun for a few minutes before the light shocks their systems. They don't have eyelids. And they swarm, like insects do. I still don't know what their squeaks mean or how the Flamestone Society even manages to communicate with them. I'm guessing that those flame tattoos have something to do with it."
"That's interesting," I say. "I heard someone say that having that tattoo binds you to the Dwellers. I...I heard one of the men mention it underground. Something about the tattoos burning people who spill the Society's secrets.”
"I've heard that, too," Antoine says. "I'm not sure how it works. It's like the Flamestone is magical or something. There are other ores here that you can't find on Earth. I can think of at least four more. You've seen the green streaks underground, right? We call that Slimestone. I think Dwellers evolved out of that stuff, or something. It's just like the slime they're made out of."
"I've seen those," I say, glad I didn't spill too much about Garrett and his relation to me. Glad I didn't spill anything, in fact. "And some red and blue dots in the rock. Those must be the other ores, right? I've never seen those anywhere else."
"I don't even have names for those yet, and I don't know what those two ores do," he says. "I've only had access to Flamestone and Slimestone. The red and blue ores, I think, are rare. I've only seen them far underground, so it's kind of hard for me to gather any of it and experiment. I would love to, however," he says. He faces the sun and a look of disappointment comes over his face. "We'll have to get inside the gates soon.”
I look through the dusk. Jaden and the other men are returning, some animal hanging off a branch between them. It's one of the deer with the yellow spots, one of the same ones I saw when I first got here. A pang shoots through me. It's one of the few things that didn't try to kill me, and now one of them is dead.
But at the same time, we have to eat.
And we can't eat anything made out of that green slime stuff, that's for sure.
"Let's go," Antoine says. "I think the deer will be tomorrow's breakfast. We'll probably just have cheese and veggies for dinner, but that's better than nothing. Come hang out tomorrow if you can. I'll show you lots of cool Flamestone stuff."
Chapter Three
Charge
“That's an A. Now write that.”
Jaden takes my pen and copies the letter I've made. My notebook's in his lap and the firelight gives us enough light to work with. Others still sit around the fire, having low conversations. No one laughs at Jaden. My clay plate sits next to me, empty. Antoine was right that we had cheese and some kind of veggie that looked like lettuce. They still have to roast the deer for morning. I'm still a bit hungry, but it's not very bad.
“Now write the next letter. B.”
“B,” he repeats, copying me.
The little girl walks around, gathering the plates. I wonder how they're going to wash them. It's all dark outside and not safe to venture to the river. Maybe these people have to wash them in the morning before everyone gets up.
“Now write C.”
Jaden does. We slowly go through the alphabet until we reach the end.
“Now make the sound of the letter I point at.” I yawn. I'm tired from all the work today. This is still better than being out in the wilderness. Way better.
“Oh....Ah...”
“You were right the first time,” I say. “O actually has a few different ways you can say it.”
“Do all of these letters have three or four sounds each?” Jaden slaps his forehead to his hand.
“Some of them. Sorry. I know it's confusing.”
“What are you doing?”
It's Ned.
My heart leaps and I look up at him. He stands there with his hands behind his back. The fangs hanging around his neck look even sharper than they did last night.
“Teaching Jaden how to read,” I say. “And write.”
“And why are you bothering with that?” Ned smiles. I hate that smile.
“For when I find a way back to Earth,” Jaden tells him. “I don't want to look like an idiot. Almost everyone reads there. It's what my mother told me.”
“You're wasting time and energy,” Ned says. “Neither one of you is ever going to see Earth again.”
He turns and walks away, stalking off into the night.
* * * * *
I lie in my bed. Pit's here again, sniffing at the floor. At least he's not whimpering now. He must have found something to eat when he went out with the hunters.
I still don't have an official door yet. The fur hangs down over the entrance, blocking most of the fire from sight. The air smells of thin smoke. Safety. Somewhere, someone laughs. Ned says something to someone else, something about watching the meat cook tonight. He's still up and going. The man must have loads of energy if he's always patrolling around.
And I'm still alive.
I turn over in bed.
Now that I have more energy, I can't sleep.
Thoughts swirl through my head. Shawn, swinging a pickaxe with sweat dripping off his forehead. Talia collapsing with exhaustion. Even Travis, pushing a cart full of Flamestone to hungry Dwellers.
I have to do something. Anything.
Instead, I fall into a dream where I'm kissing Shawn at the movie theater. It was our first kiss. Talia was there and so was Travis. Shawn linked his hand with mine and offered to drive me home. Talia pulled me aside and asked me how it was the next day at school.
I wish I was back there.
I wish things were back to normal, even if most of the people here in Wompitt are nice.
I drift into darkness and my own thoughts and into sleep.
; * * * * *
"Pour it again!"
I turn over. There must be some wild drinking party outside. Something that I don't have the energy right now to be a part of and something that I don't really care about.
Pit whimpers and nudges me.
"Again!"
"I can't believe this!"
Ned's shouting. "I mean it, people. Hold them back!"
I spring awake and forget where I am for a second. The cabin. The fire still burns and I catch a glimpse of a someone out there, stoking the flames, trying to keep it going. Others stand around the fire as if for protection. Pit's pacing on the floor. He's excited about something. He whimpers at me and nuzzles my leg. Get out of bed, he's saying. Now.
I do.
I get my shirt and jeans back on and throw the blanket on the floor. Something's happening. Something terrible.
I part the fur curtain away from my door.
"Get over here!" Weslie yells at me, waving me closer to the fire. She doesn't dare move from her spot. The whole town's standing in the light of the flames, facing the inferno. It's a tight ring of bodies.
I do. Pit follows but he's facing the direction of the front gate.
"What's going on?" I ask, heart pounding. I wonder if this is some kind of drill.
"The Dwellers are trying to get in. Thousands of them."
My heart falls. That explains why everyone is out here, huddled around the light.
And then I hear the familiar sound.
The soft thunder of thousands of little feet. The skittering. I glance at the wall of the town, to where two men stand on the catwalk, overlooking the darkness below. They're both wearing fur blindfolds, trying to avoid the gazes of the Dwellers. And they're both holding large fur sacks that drip with water. Is the water purplish? One of the men's hands are red like it's irritated from the juice. They're literally pouring burnberry juice over the edge of the wall and right on the Dwellers. Ned paces back and forth on the ground, hands behind his back.
“Again!” he shouts.
"Will that hold them back?" I ask.
Weslie shakes her head. "I don't know. We've never had to do this before."
I look at her. My eyes must be huge. “I led them here after all. Didn't I? It was a mistake. I swear!”
Weslie says nothing. She's scared. Maybe in her terror, she doesn't believe me after all.
Ned's gong to murder me if they do manage to keep the Dwellers back. That's the thought getting bigger and bigger right now. He's going to blame me and he might even kill me. I feel horrible for even thinking that when everyone here is in danger. The small boy is crying on the other side of the fire and his mother holds him close, tense and ready to run. We could all die tonight, even the little kids. The Dwellers won't want little kids as laborers—right? They might chuck him into some underground chasm for not being good enough. Or just starve him to death.
The two men lift the fur sack and pour more water over the edge. There's a roar and a splash. Another two men bring a third bag full of water from a house behind the kitchen. It drips and leaves a dark trail on the soil. They're using tomorrow's coat of burnberry paste.
Tons of squeals and squeaks sound off. The Dwellers are in pain. The sound makes me reach up and cover my ears for a second.
"They might not get in," I say. Pit rubs on my leg.
But then there's another charge of tiny feet. The Dwellers are making another attempt on the front gate. They're desperate to get in here. Why are they trying so hard?
Is it me?
Does Garrett want me back so badly? If he just wants to work me to death now, why bother with all this?
Weslie shrinks back, almost right into the flames. I grab her and pull her away.
"A Dweller!" she says, slumping against me. "They're in!"
Everyone shifts and screams. Weslie's passing out. Pit growls. My heart leaps as I lower her into a sitting position, safely away from the fire. I don't dare turn my head and look. Weslie closes her eyes and slumps down. A man next to me falls as well. That's all the Dwellers have to do, even if they can't come into the light. Make everyone pass out with those disgusting eyes and wait for the fire to burn down. Then they'll grab us. Take us away. I look at the wall and away from where Weslie was pointing. Ned's still pacing back and forth, yelling at the guards. They're pouring another sack of burnberry juice over the edge.
"Where?" I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye.
“Weslie!” Antoine's there, shaking her. He's freaking out.
I spot green and red and yellow just outside the ring of light. About a dozen pointed heads. A wave of sickness washes over me and I close my eyes before it gets any worse. Pit gets between me and them. Growls again.
They're between my cabin and the neighboring one, in a dark alley and right on the edge of light. I can't risk looking at them.
“Don't look over there,” I warn Antoine. “She'll wake up soon.” I pat Weslie on the shoulder. I know what I have to do. I have to figure out where they're coming in and stop them.
If I look right at the Dwellers, I'm down. The fire's casting enough glow for me to make out their forms. I turn to Pit. I know what I have to do. "Pit—eat up."
He seems to get it. I watch from the corner of my eye. He bounds at the Dwellers, who must be stunned by the light. He grabs one with his jaws and makes a loud crunching sound.
The creatures scatter. Their squeals mix with the others outside as their little feet patter away. I charge, keeping my gaze to the night sky. I'm much bigger and there aren't many of them. I take my foot and bring it down, not knowing if I'm aiming right.
Crunch.
And squish.
Two down.
How did they get in? There must be a hole in the fence.
Pit joins me. He gets behind me and nudges me forward. I have something to show you, he says.
I glance back. No one else moves away from the fire. Why don't these people try to defend themselves? Everyone keeps their gaze on the flames. Weslie still lies there, Antoine kneeling over her. I'm not going to stand by and let these things into the place where I should be safe. I'm angry. My pulse throbs. The Dwellers are taking my safety and my one little shard of sanity. They took Shawn and Talia and Travis and even my family, in a way. They took away my life.
"Get OUT of here!" I dare to look down a bit. Another Dweller flees Pit's jaws. It's facing away and I only catch the edges of its eyes. I kick. It flies into my cabin with another sickening crunch, flops down, and remains still.
Pit bites down on a second one. The others have fled by now and there are none to replace them.
"Pit," I say. He looks at me with those orange eyes, questioning. I point to the fence behind my cabin. Does he understand?
He does. He bounds towards it and starts to sniff around.
"Someone bring some light over here!" I shout. “The Dwellers are gone.”
I don't get a response at first.
"Light!" I shout again. "I need to see something."
At last, Antoine responds. He's holding a torch wrapped in moss and giving off a weak flame. It's enough to illuminate the logs that make up the fence. "Are you sure they're gone?"
“Sure.”
“Really sure? Weslie's still out cold.”
"I want to see how those Dwellers got in here. It wasn't through the front gate.”
He joins me, staying close. Pit sniffs the wall and lets out a yip. I've found something.
Outside, the skittering fades as the Dwellers retreat. One of the guards lets out a whoop of victory. I wonder if the juice will melt their huge eyes or something.
Antoine and I walk along the fence.
There's a hole in it, right at the bottom. Right behind my house.
"Look!" I shout.
No one seems to hear me except for Pit and Antoine. He leans to where I'm pointing.
It's not a big hole—just a foot high and marked with splinters. Some of the splinters jab in from outside. They're purple.
Someone's cut a hole for the Dwellers to come through. They might have all poured through this if it hadn't been for the guards. The ones who got here were the ones who dodged the burning water.
"What if the meaning of this?" Ned shouts. He's approaching and my chest tightens.
He's going to suspect me. This is right behind my house. I have to get out there and defend myself before he makes that thought. If I'm gone and he's asking around, it's going to look very bad.
I run out towards the bonfire. Jaden's leaning over Weslie now and Antoine rushes over to her, practically pushing him out of the way. She groans. The man who also got a doze of Dweller gaze sits up, too. Only now are people daring to move away from the intense light of the flames. The two guards—a pair of young men—climb down from the catwalk, large, empty bags in tow. They drip with purplish liquid. One of the guys has a very red hand. I know what that feels like.
And Ned faces me. He suspects me, all right.
“I have to tell you something,” I say.
“One thing at a time, please!” He holds up one hand and faces the guards. “Which way did the Dwellers come from?”
The guy with the red hand shakes his head. "I don't know," he says. "They seemed to come from everywhere at once. It's too dark to see out there. There were more than I've seen in my life. They rushed right for the wall and tried to climb over even though the dye was hurting them."
"Thank you,” Ned says. He has his fists balled. “The two of you did a good job holding them off. Unfortunately, we are without fresh stain for the next couple of days. We had better hope that it doesn't rain.”
"They got in here!" the small boy shouts.
Ned turns towards the fire. "They shouldn't have," he says. "I inspect the walls every single day and today was no exception. No Dweller should be able to get in. Unless, of course--"
"Someone tampered with the wall behind my house," I tell him.
Everyone goes silent and stares at me. I'm in the spotlight now. My pulse hammers in my throat. Ned turns and stares at me. He's scowling. This is no better than the look Garrett gave me out there after I stabbed him. When he changed his mind about taking me home. When he told me I was worthless.
