by Nancy Isaak
“Well, if the council is in agreement, I’d like to take the lead on that—make it my project.”
“I don’t think anybody is going to object. It just makes good sense.” Jacob reached out and took my hand. “Listen, Kaylee…have you girls given any more thought about moving into the compound with us?”
“We talk about it all the time,” I answered, honestly. “I guess—with the Victor thing and everything—we’re still not feeling completely safe about moving here.”
“Have the guys been bothering you?”
“Other than Victor—not really,” I admitted. “Some of them still stare, though. And there are a few that seem a little—well, not exactly aggressive—but forward. Like they brush up against us or get in our way, so that we have to move around them.”
“You willing to give names?”
“Not, yet,” I said. “We girls kind of want to work it out ourselves. I mean, we’ve agreed that if we come up against another Victor, we’ll tell you guys. Until then, we want to find our own way into the tribe.”
“You already are Locals,” he insisted.
“And we feel like it now,” I said. “But we also want to feel safe going anywhere by ourselves. We want to know that we don’t need guards watching our every step. And right now—that means we have to live on our own.”
“It’s just that I’m worried that the attack up at Trancas was more than just a one-off. I’m thinking that it might have been a way to test our defenses.”
“You think the Crazies are coming here?”
“I think it’s a possibility.”
“Which means more than ever that we need to get those bonfires set along the coastline.”
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you girls will still be alone out in that house of yours.”
“We’re not that far away and you’ve got soldiers all over the Point.”
“All it takes is for one Crazy to get through.” Jacob picked up a pebble, tossing it over the edge of the cliff. He waited until he heard it land far below before he spoke again. “And I’m worried that, if they come, they’re going to make the attack personal.”
“What do you mean?”
“The guys we just buried—Michael and the others—somebody peed all over them.”
“Which was disgusting, but I don’t see how you can see that as personal,” I said, confused.
“Well…when I was up in the cage, I peed on one of their guys. The juvie I told you about—Mateo—the one with the scar on his cheek. He was standing with his back toward me and I—well, I let it rip.”
My mouth dropped open—stunned and more than a little amused. “And you’re thinking that what happened to the bodies—that it was a personal message to you?”
He nodded. “Which means that—even if Brandon didn’t make it past his 18th birthday—Mateo did. And, either way—they’re both very dangerous enemies.”
I sighed. “No promises…but I’ll talk to the girls.”
“You know, I could simply order you to move into the compound.”
“Silly boy,” I grinned, pushing at him with my shoulder. “Don’t you know by now that ordering a girl around is probably the very worst thing you could ever do?”
He grinned back. “Yeah…my mom would kick me in the ass if I ever tried.”
“Me, too.”
* * * *
The next day, Josh, Jacob, Kieran, Connor, and I were sitting in the Council room, discussing the placement of the bonfires, when the door burst open and Porter rushed in.
“Sorry for being late,” he said, “but I wanted to bring some guests.”
He stepped to one side and Cherry, Nate, and Pauly—looking dirty and very tired—came walking around the door jamb, smiling.
“You’re back!” I screeched.
And then there were hugs—lots of them.
* * * *
“Making it into the Conejo Valley was easy,” said Cherry, a few minutes later. “There was a message at the Lindero water tower, telling us which checkpoint had Stars manning it. We just followed their instructions.”
“They even gave us the gear we needed to be authentic,” said Pauly.
Cherry reached out and gave him a whack; Pauly just grinned.
“What gear?” asked Jacob.
“He’s talking about my chains,” said Cherry. She pulled down the collar of her shirt. Around her neck was a red, raw wound—about two inches in width.
“Ohmigod!” I whispered, horrified.
“It was the only way for me to travel freely,” said Cherry. “They’re getting so paranoid about the tattoo-thing that I didn’t want to get caught having to pull up my shirt for any White Shirt, you know what I mean. By making me Nate’s slave, I was basically protected. I could go anywhere he went.”
“Not that she’d do anything I said,” Nate grumbled.
Pauly laughed. “Cherry might have been wearing the jewelry, but Nate was really the one under lock and key.”
Cherry shrugged. “Girl’s gotta’ have a little fun.”
“Where did you guys stay?” asked Jacob.
“Brent and Han met up with us just outside of Agoura Hills. They have a safe house there that they put us up in,” Cherry explained.
“Did they give you drawings of the tattoos that we needed?” I asked.
“Kind of,” Cherry said. “I mean, they had the basics, but I really needed to see the tattoos in person to get the shading and detail right.”
She pulled a large binder out of her backpack and placed it on the desk. Opening it, she began to page through the colored drawings inside. They were all of tattoos—different shapes and sizes—and very intricate.
“I can see what you’re talking about,” I said. “Those are amazing.”
Cherry nodded. “Real artistry here. The guy who’s doing these has some chops, no doubt.”
“Are we going to be able to replicate those?” asked Jacob, concerned. “I mean, do we even have those colors?”
“I’ll have to talk to Wyatt,” said Cherry. “If he doesn’t have the colors, we’ll have to make a trip into the Valley or maybe Oxnard to get what we need.”
“But you think Wyatt can do these?” I asked. “I mean, the kid is only fifteen.”
“I think so,” Cherry said. “The kid’s good and I can help him get the shading right.”
“Then, our next step is to find our volunteers,” said Jacob. “We need spies to go up there, set themselves up in the tribe, and be ready to act when we need them.”
“Just don’t look at me,” said Cherry, touching the red marks around her neck. “I had enough time in those chains.”
“I think you’ve done more than enough,” I told her. “Besides, I don’t think Shawnee or Wester will let you out of their sights for the next couple of months.”
Cherry sighed. “I really missed the brats.”
* * * *
Even though we knew that they were tired, we spent the next hour talking with Cherry, Nate, and Pauly—finding out everything they’d discovered about the Crazies. Because of the assault on the sentries, Jacob felt the debriefing was essential—still worried about another attack.
“We heard about what happened to the guys down at Trancas,” said Nate. “There was this big celebration the day after it went down—lots of drinking and fighting in the Arena.”
“That’s when we decided to get out,” added Cherry. “I had finished most of the work on copying the tattoos, and Brent and Han had filled us in on what they knew about the Crazy defenses. It just seemed smart to get out of there while they were busy being foolish.”
“So, you think that no one other than the Stars realized that you were there?” asked Jacob.
They all shook their heads—then, they grinned at each other.
“What?” asked Jacob.
“Well,” said Pauly, “we did almost get caught once. Just after we got there. Dudes have, like a market over near the hardware store—people go there to trade wh
atever they have.”
“Including girls,” glowered Cherry.
“Figured it would be a good place to catch the tattoos, you know what I mean,” continued Pauly. “Man, it was crowded. I mean, there had to have been over a hundred guys there—at least.”
“That many?” asked Jacob, shocked. “How many are in their tribe now?”
Pauly shook his head. “They’re big, man. I mean, the girls are mostly slaves and so are some of the younger guys. But there are still a lot of guys. We saw one Arena…man, they had to have at least two hundred dudes in it.”
Jacob looked as disturbed as I felt. “That means their numbers are almost double ours.”
Nate nodded. “And they’re stocking up on weapons. We saw that everywhere we went. I don’t know where they’re getting them all—if it’s out of houses or from some gun store somewhere—but they’ve got a lot.”
“There are a lot of wagons coming along the 101 Freeway from the L.A. direction,” said Cherry. “Maybe they’re bringing them up from there.”
“So, what happened at the market?” I asked.
“Like there’s this big commotion,” began Pauly, waving his hands. “Everybody getting all excited—guys climbing up on tables to look over the crowd. Then, suddenly, it’s like everyone just parts—like making a way for these guys on horses to go by.”
“Who was it?”
“Who do you think?” said Cherry, frowning. “Just the biggest ass-hats of them all.”
“It was like their Council,” continued Pauly. “There was the beautiful black chick and the red-headed girl.”
“And Brandon and that Hispanic guy, Mateo,” added Nate. “They were there, too.”
My heart dropped. “So, they all survived.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” said Cherry. “And now they travel with this kind of entourage. They’ve got guards and slaves. Oh, and some of the 12th grade girls are still there. We saw Alice and Rowena—they were riding horses and had guns. Sue was on a horse, too, but she had a slave’s collar on and wasn’t looking too happy so—guess you can figure that one out.”
“I wonder what happened to her sister,” I said.
Cherry shrugged. “Didn’t see her.”
Nate nudged Cherry, looking embarrassed. “Tell them about first night.”
“You tell them,” said Cherry. “Be a big boy—you can do it.”
“What happened the first night?” asked Jacob.
“It’s not what happened the ‘first night’,” said Pauly, rescuing Nate. “It’s something new that Brandon and your Fox chicks have cooked up. They call it the “right of first night” and it means that they can take your slave and use them for one night—however they want.”
Horrified, I looked to Cherry for confirmation.
She nodded. “They say it’s based on old British law or something like that. Now, that they’ve decided to make themselves kind of like Kings and Queens, they have this “prima noctum/first night” thing—which basically means that if they see a slave they want, they can take her and give her back in the morning.”
“That’s disgusting!” growled Jacob.
“Isn’t it, though?” said Cherry. “But it’s not like anyone is going to disagree with them. They’re the ones with the most weapons and all the soldiers.”
“Plus, they’ve still got the Arena to put guys in,” said Nate. “Anyone says something against them, they get cut down on the football field.”
“And eaten,” murmured Pauly.
“That Mateo dude has set up these teams of guys,” Cherry said. “Like they wear white t-shirts and carry whips and they search for people who might be against Brandon and the Foxes. They pulled this one guy out of the market just because he laughed when one of them tripped. The dudes said the poor guy was a dissenter and then they took him away to be whipped.”
“Kid got off easy,” said Pauly. “At least, he wasn’t going into the Arena.”
“I’m so glad you guys are out of there,” I said.
“So, are we,” said Cherry. “When we saw Brandon and the Foxes coming, I figured we were in trouble. There were so many people there that we were pushed right to the front. I mean, there was no way we could hide. When they rode by—if they had looked to the side—they definitely would have seen us.”
“It was scary,” added Nate.
“Luckily, they may think they’re Kings and Queens now,” continued Cherry, “but they’re still the same old snooty kids from high school. Had their noses up in the air, looking straight forward all the time as if we plebes weren’t worth their time. That’s what saved us.”
“Bunch of dumbasses,” grumbled Pauly.
“But there is something that you have to know,” said Cherry. “Something else weird happened while we were in the market.”
“The chick on the horse,” Pauly nodded, remembering. “That was weird.”
“It was after the Foxes and their entourage went by,” Cherry told us. “About fifteen, twenty minutes later. We came around this table and there was Alice.”
“Brady Bob!” I hissed.
“Exactly,” confirmed Cherry. “She was sitting on this horse, just watching everybody in the market—like she was looking for someone.”
“Do you think it was you guys?”
“Not sure—and as soon as we saw her, we turned and went the other way. But, get this,” Cherry said, holding up her hand and touching the webbing between her thumb and pointer. “Bitch has a star.”
“Is it possible you could have been mistaken?” I asked. “Like maybe it was a tattoo of something else.”
“It was a star,” said Nate. “We all saw it.”
Pauly nodded. “Just like Brent’s.”
“And what did Brent have to say about it?” asked Jacob. “Did he say that Alice is a Star now?”
Cherry shrugged. “Brent doesn’t know.”
“How could he not know?!”
“The Stars are doing this thing now—like they’re dividing up into little soldier cells. One of the guys read about it in a war book. Apparently, it was a way of keeping the Resistance safe back in World War II. If you have your fighters in small groups of four or five people who don’t know each other—then, if something happens and one group gets taken down, the rest of the cells remain safe.”
“So, Alice might actually be a Star, but nobody really knows for sure?” I didn’t know what to think about that.
“If she is,” said Pauly, “only the members of her cell would know.”
“Do you know what this means?” I said, becoming excited. “If Alice really is a member of the Stars now, we’ll have access to the Foxes and Brandon. And—if we can get close enough to them—we might be able to take them out.”
“You mean, kill them?” Jacob looked surprised by my suggestion.
“I mean, take them prisoner, put them in a boat and shove them out to sea…or kill them. Whatever it takes to free the slaves and stop this insanity—I’m willing to be part of it.”
* * * *
We didn’t talk for much longer—just enough for Cherry, Nate, and Pauly to tell the Council about the latest security feature the Crazies had implemented.
“It’s whistle codes,” said Pauly. “You know—three short, three long, rinse and repeat—danger, danger. Other ones like that.”
“Brent gave us a list,” said Nate. “They’re pretty easy to learn, but you need them now to approach the checkpoints.”
“Plus, they change from time-to-time,” added Pauly. “Brent said he’d make sure to write down any changes and put them under the water tower.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Jacob said. “We’ll just have to make certain that whoever goes up has the up-to-date codes.”
Cherry pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Jacob. “Speaking of codes, the Stars want us to start using a password that’s just us and them—so we can recognize each other. We’ll alternate each month which tribe creates the new password and plac
es it at the water tower for the other tribe.”
Jacob looked down at the paper, reading. “Hush puppy?”
“Guess it means something to someone,” Cherry shrugged. “We weren’t told. But that password is good until January 31st. Then, it’s our turn to choose. So—no matter what—we need to have a new password up at the water tower before the 1st of February.”
* * * *
As we all rose up to leave, Cherry grabbed me by the elbow, holding me back. “Kaylee, those girls up there…they have no rights at all. The things those Crazies are doing to them are barbaric.”
“I know, Cherry…and we’re going to do everything we can to stop it.”
“When I walked behind Nate—with the chain around my neck—there were guys who would stop us. They’d try to buy me from Nate—offered him chickens and guns. If Pauly hadn’t been with us, holding onto his rifle—I can’t imagine what they would have done.”
Reaching out, I pulled her in for a quick hug. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through all that.”
She pulled back, looking me very seriously in the eyes. “As long as you promise that you will do everything in your power to help stop this…then everything I went through will be more than worth it.”
I put my hand over my heart. “No doubt—I promise.”
* * * *
There was a crowd waiting outside of the Council room. As Nate, Pauly, and Cherry exited, kids came forward, pulling them in for hugs, slapping them on the back in congratulations; others simply grinned and clapped.
Shawnee and Wester, however, threw themselves at their older sister—practically knocking her over in their exuberance.
“About time!” screeched Shawnee. “Where were you?!”
“Taking a 3-hour tour of purgatory,” said Cherry. “Where the heck do you think I’ve been?”
Wester ran a finger along the red band on Cherry’s neck. “What happened, Cher? Did you get hurt?”
