by Nancy Isaak
Jude shook her head. “Nope. But we found a couple of cigarette butts right at the place where we’d seen the light, so there was definitely somebody there.”
“I’ll bet Tray and Orla put someone on every place they thought we might go,” I suggested. “I thought I had hidden all the files. Maybe I missed one.”
“Sophia was helping them organize,” Jay reminded me. “She probably put her address down on one of those forms she was always having us fill out. That would have made it easy for them to put a watcher on the apartment.”
“Is there any chance that whoever was watching you followed you down to the Point?” asked Jacob.
“I don’t think so,” said Jude. “After that we were pretty paranoid. It’s also one of the reasons that it took us so long to get down here. Instead of traveling along the 101, we headed across the mountains, up into Simi Valley. Then, we followed the back of the hills, up through Moorpark and then down around Camarillo.”
“Did you, by any chance, see any signs of adults anywhere—or kids younger than Lily?” asked Jay.
“No one,” said Jude. “After we left Thousand Oaks, we didn’t even see any Crazies. If there was anyone out there, we didn’t see them. Of course, we were also traveling at night, so they could have been shut up in some house somewhere.”
“What about lights?” asked Jacob. “See anything like that?”
They both shook their heads. “All dark…everywhere.”
* * * *
Jude and Peyton came across their first Local checkpoint at Point Mugu—some miles north of Malibu along the Pacific Coast Highway. Jacob had stationed guys at the Point, to control the northern access into Malibu.
Upon seeing the checkpoint in the distance, Jude and Peyton had bypassed it by climbing up Mugu Peak—just across the highway from Point Mugu—and walking along the crestline.
By following the mountains, they made it all the way to Encinal Canyon without being seen. Unbeknownst to them, however, an Alpha Team picked up their trail at that point, following them right up to the entrance to Point Dume.
Which was where they were caught.
* * * *
“Stupid boy-soldiers had us dead to right,” murmured Jude. “The rest, you guys already know.”
“Except for one thing,” said Peyton, looking up. “Fricking ruined my Jimmy Choo’s!” She lifted up one foot, showing us the oversized army boot she was wearing. “Stupid generic brands.”
Jude reached out and whacked her gently across the head, “Ignore the princess,” she told us. “I guarantee you she was happy to have those clodhoppers when we were climbing those hills.”
Peyton sniffed. “Says you, man-girl.”
* * * *
While Jay heated up water for Peyton’s bath, Cammie escorted Jude up to the second floor, showing her where she would be sleeping. Meanwhile, I accompanied Jacob and Porter to the front gate.
As we neared it, Porter said, “I’ll wait for you down the road a bit, Jacob.” Then, he climbed over the fence easily and disappeared into the dark. As he did, armed guards materialized from the bushes nearby, flanking him on each side.
Jacob turned to me, taking hold of my hand. “It’s been quite a Thanksgiving.”
“I still can’t believe that Jude and Peyton are here.”
“You know, this really does change things—if we’re living past eighteen.”
I smiled, happy. “It means that we have a future now.”
“We’ve always had a future,” murmured Jacob, reaching out to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. “We both knew that.”
“Yes, we did,” I whispered, suddenly feeling very shy.
Jacob bent down then, his eyes closing, and touched his lips to mine. In a world without electricity, I felt sparks suddenly shoot throughout my body.
The kiss was gentle—barely there—yet, I felt weak behind my knees.
I think I must have moaned because Jacob reached out, holding me steady—kissing me harder. My lips opened and I felt the barest touch of his tongue, sensed his breath on my lips.
When he finally drew back, there was a sense of loss. I didn’t want him to stop; kissing Jacob was an amazing new sensation, one I already desperately wanted to continue.
“I’ll see you at Council tomorrow,” Jacob told me.
Unprepared for speech, I merely nodded my agreement.
Then, Jacob turned and walked toward the gate. He climbed to the top of the adjoining wall, then one leg over the side—turned back to me. “I want you living with me, Kaylee. I know that you want to be with the girls and I’ll respect that. But I also want you to know that I want you with me—always.”
Then—he disappeared down the other side of the wall.
Absolutely, hands down—best Thanksgiving ever!
* * * *
When I returned to the house and walked up to the second floor, I could hear singing from one of the guest bathrooms. Moving as silently as I was able, I eavesdropped through the closed door as Peyton lounged in the bathtub, singing a Taylor Swift tune from a now-disappeared world.
Next, I moved on down to the room that I knew had been given to Jude. The door was slightly ajar and I peeked inside. From the weak light of a flickering candle, I could see my friend, lying on her back in a bed next to the window. She had one arm underneath the blankets, the other one splayed out above her head.
Tiptoeing in, I stood over Jude, looking down at her fondly. I stayed like that for about a minute, happy beyond words that she was still alive.
“Dude, you’re creeping me out.” Jude opened her eyes and frowned at me. “Like don’t you have someone else to go and stalk or something?”
“No one like you,” I said. Then, leaning over, I forced her to endure an over-enthusiastic hug.
* * * *
Breakfast the next morning was a riotous affair—full of laughter and stories as we girls caught up on what had happened to each of us after we left Agoura Hills.
Jude told us of Peyton, crawling through the woods while the Crazies searched nearby—her skirt in the air, her Jimmy Choo’s squelching in the mud.
“Yeah, very funny,” scowled Peyton. “That was probably where those invisible demons ate the crap out of me,” she said, scratching away at her bug bites.
“Everybody loves a blond,” teased Jude. She held out her arms for all of us to see. “Not a single mark,” she crowed. “Princess kept the little buggers occupied.”
Hannah reached out and touched the scratch on Jude’s face. “How did you get this one, Jude?”
“I gave it to her,” said Peyton.
Jude nodded. “She pushed me down a hill. Got caught up on a yucca plant. Lucky I didn’t lose an eye.”
Peyton shrugged. “You shouldn’t have been so annoying.”
* * * *
Later, Peyton sat with Hannah and me in the living room, drinking tea and talking quietly while the other girls showed Jude around the backyard. Peyton seemed incredibly fatigued, struggling to keep her eyes open.
“You should go back to bed,” I suggested. “Get some more rest.”
Peyton ran a hand through her golden hair. “What I need is a day at the spa.”
“Sorry,” I shrugged. “Think spas have gone the way of the smartphone.”
“I miss my phone,” sighed Peyton. She looked around the living room, giving it the once-over. “How come you never let anyone know about this, Kaylee?”
“Know about what?” I asked, confused.
Peyton waved her arms around the room. “About all this…about your dad being rich.”
“Why? Would it have made a difference?”
She looked at me, astonished. “Well, of course, it would have. You could have been a Fox.”
“Then, that’s why,” I said. “That’s exactly why I never mentioned it.”
“I don’t understand girls like you,” Peyton said, yawning. “You’re too holy for me.”
“And I don’t understand girls who want to be Fox
es,” I admitted. “So, I guess that makes us kind of even that way.”
“I’ll be a Fox!” squeaked Hannah. She was sitting next to Peyton, obviously enamored by the pretty girl.
Peyton looked down at her frowning. “No.”
“Why not?” asked Hannah, a little hurt. “Is it ‘cause I’m not pretty?”
Surprising me, Peyton reached out and pulled Hannah closer to her. “No, sweetie,” she said, beginning to braid Hannah’s hair. “It’s because you are holy.”
DECEMBER
JACOB
Over the next week, I saw little of Kaylee, except at Council meetings. Like the rest of the girls, she preferred to stay close to her house—helping Jude and Peyton recover from their long journey.
While I understood that the girls had been through a lot together, I found myself jealous of their closeness. I missed Kaylee—not being around her made me impatient and snappish, frustrated by our time apart.
* * * *
One afternoon, I cornered Kaylee just as she entered the mansion. Erroll (her guard) was with her and I waved him away, saying that I would escort Kaylee upstairs to the Council meeting myself. I must have been more abrupt than I had intended because Kaylee turned to me the moment Erroll had disappeared around the corner and asked, “You okay?”
“Of course, I’m okay!” I snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“It’s just that you seem…well, kind of angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
We reached the top of the staircase. Instead of turning to the right, where the meeting room was—I steered Kaylee to the left—to a quiet alcove with a window that looked out over the Pacific Ocean.
“Can we take a moment, please?” I asked her. “Just sit here and talk.”
Nodding, she sat down on the padded bench beneath the window. I took a seat next to her, sighing as I rubbed my hands through my hair in frustration.
“Jacob,” she asked, worried. “What’s wrong…seriously?”
“I’m just…it’s just.” I didn’t quite know how to put it into words. Instead, I just looked at her—staring into her amazing green eyes—wanting to touch her, to kiss her, but also wanting to respect her at the same time.
“Oh,” she said, in a quiet voice—as if she understood what I was trying to express. Then, she leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. At her touch, I felt a pressure down in my—well, you can figure it out—an increasing sensation that I knew was about to become very uncomfortable.
“We need to be together,” she said, pulling back, smiling.
I nodded, relieved that she understood. “We need to be together.”
“Just give me some time with the girls. I just have to make sure that they’ll all be okay.”
There were footsteps nearby, no doubt one of the guys coming up the stairs to attend the Council meeting. I leaned in quickly and kissed Kaylee…hard.
* * * *
It was a long Council meeting that day, lasting well into the late afternoon.
We were getting more reports from our sentries about small groups of Crazies gathering along the edges of Local territory. Whether they were simply testing our defenses or planning an attack, nobody was certain. What we did know, however, was that we needed to prepare for either eventuality.
“The first thing we have to do is find out for certain who’s leading them,” I told the others. “According to Peyton, both of the Foxes had their eighteenth birthdays this month. And we already know that Brandon will turn eighteen on December 24th. We need to know if they’ve all made it to eighteen and if they’re leading the Crazies together—or if it’s just one of them.”
Besides Kaylee and me, Porter, Kieran, Josh, and Connor were seated around the table in the meeting room. We’d been there an hour already, trying to decide our next move.
“If they didn’t make it,” said Josh, “then maybe Mateo is leading the Crazies.”
“Which actually might be better for us,” said Kieran. “Mateo is a complete psycho, but he’s also stupider than Brandon. He might be easier to defend against.”
“If Brandon and the Foxes are working together like Jude and Peyton said they were,” I said, “that could be disastrous.”
“Especially if we’re trying to mount a rescue of the slaves,” said Porter. “I don’t know Orla well from school but, what little I do know, she’s a master manipulator.”
“She’s really smart at controlling people,” Kaylee agreed. “And Tray is just evil.”
Kieran reached out for one of the pastries in the middle of the table. He bit into it, saying, “Brandon used to tell me stories of Tray. I won’t go into too much detail because we’ve got a girl here but…let’s just say she likes to draw blood.”
“And then you have Brandon,” I said. “Kid’s got so much bloodlust inside of him right now, it’s scary.”
“So, we need to find out for sure,” Porter said. “If the Foxes made it past their eighteenth birthdays…if Brandon makes it past his…if they’re leading the Crazies as a team…and if they’re coming to take us out.”
“Then, we’ll be able to figure out how to best defend ourselves against them,” Kieran said.
“And rescue the girls and the slaves,” added Kaylee.
“I don’t like where this is going,” I said, shaking my head. “I know we have to do it, but I really don’t like the idea.”
“What is it?” asked Kaylee. “What’s the plan?”
“Nate,” I sighed. “We have to send him back up into Crazy-Town.”
* * * *
We debated the idea for a while longer but—eventually—we all agreed that Nate heading into the Valley was the best way to proceed. Plus, we needed to re-establish contact with Brent and the Stars.
“Nate’s the only one of us who can travel freely between the two tribes,” I said. “And the Crazies already think of him as one of their own. They’re used to seeing him in Agoura Hills.”
“But what if he doesn’t want to go?” asked Connor.
“We’ll make it his decision,” I said. “I’m certainly not going to order him to go. If he doesn’t want to, we’ll figure out something else.”
“He’ll go,” said Kieran.
“How can you be so sure?” asked Kaylee.
My brother grinned at her. “Because Jacob carried him into the ocean.”
Kaylee looked over at me, confused. I shook my head at her, embarrassed. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Well, if Nate agrees to go,” said Kieran, “should we send someone else up with him?”
“That will have to be Nate’s decision,” I said. “Whatever will make him feel safer. In any case, anybody that goes up with him will have to agree to be tattooed. It’ll be the only safe way to get by the roadblocks.”
Kieran reached out for another pastry. “Well, if Nate wants someone to go with him, I volunteer Pauly,” he joked.
“Getting rid of the competition?” asked Josh.
“Heck, yeah,” he said. “Guy’s gotta’ keep his girl’s attention where it should be.”
I turned and looked at Kaylee. She wouldn’t meet my eye; instead she stared down at the table, grinning.
* * * *
“They need to be brought to the girls’ house,” insisted Kaylee. “If they want to live here in the Local’s compound after that, no problem—but they have to go to our house first. It just makes sense.”
We were discussing what to do when and if other girls were found coming into our tribe’s territory. Kaylee was concerned what might happen if some of the guys came upon the girls without rules first being established.
“You know that I think that most of the Locals are good guys,” she insisted. “But all it takes is one bad one. At least, if we have rules set up—what to do when a girl is found, where to take her—it lessens the chance that something might happen.”
“I agree,” said Porter. “Kaylee’s right. There’s already been some grumbling around camp about th
ere not being enough girls. It’s just talk right now, but I have been worried about what might happen if some of the guys found a girl out on the Point by herself.”
“This frustrates me,” I said. “I mean, I know that you guys are right. If anything, what’s happening to the girls up in Crazy-Town proves what can happen. But, still it frustrates me that we can’t trust our guys to do the right thing.”
“There just needs to be one bad apple,” noted Kieran. “I’m with Kaylee, by the way. Any girl that’s found gets a one-way ticket straight to the girls’ house. After that, let the girls figure it out.”
“Agreed,” I nodded. “But let me—once again—put it on the table that it would be so much easier to protect the girls if they moved into the mansion.”
“Understood,” said Kaylee, trying not to smile. “And—moving on—I’d also like to suggest that we start self-defense classes for the girls, especially the younger and smaller ones like Hannah and Jay. The more we know about defending ourselves, the better it will be for everybody. Plus, it will help to have us trained if the Crazies attack the Point.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “Porter, don’t we have a couple of the new guys who are trained in the martial arts? Maybe they could do the classes.”
Porter nodded. “If I remember right, we’ve got at least three guys with martial arts skills. One is a yellow belt, but the other two—one has a purple and the other has a blue belt. Plus we got that new kid—the Israeli who came down from Sherman Oaks. He knows Krav Maga. That’d be really good for the girls to know.”
Kieran stuck up his hand. “I volunteer to get the training started. I’m figuring that we use the house next to the girls—the one where Brandon and I set up the gym. It’s already got a lot of equipment there and more than enough space for sparring. Also, we can bring over some of the mats from that gym over on the highway.”
