It doesn’t take me long to reach the hunting stand and climb the footholds. I settle down on the stool and let the silence settle over me like a blanket. My eyes are on the boiling grey and black clouds in the sky as I let the memories of sun, laughter and happiness flood over me. I think about Mom and Dad and the life we had before the bombs. I make up fake memories of how my life would have gone if they had never dropped and I start to find peace. Mom and I are shopping for my first formal dress. I can see every detail of the perfect princess cut gown when it all goes away at AIRIA’s words from my waist.
“Skylar, movement detected.”
Everything freezes in that instant. All the memories and unfulfilled moments scatter like leaves in the wind and what replaces it is that I promised Ben I’d come back and the image of a bullet hole in my Dad’s back. I shoot to my feet and frantically search the forest for movement but don’t see anything.
My voice is a harsh whisper when I ask,
“Where, where are they? How many?”
“Skylar, four life forms detected. They have crossed the perimeter south of your location.”
South, south is the direction of the door. Can I make it back without them seeing me? If they see me go in then they’ll know where we live. Even if they can’t get in they’ll know where we are.
“AIRIA, can I make it back to the door before they do? Will they see me?”
“Skylar, detection would be seventy-eight percent probable based on their current location and speed to yours.”
I can’t take the chance. I have to protect Benny and the location of the door. I have to hide. I scan the forest under me for a place to run to before I realise I’m already hidden. They have no reason to look up if I don’t give them one, so I drop down onto my belly and rest my cheek against the frozen wood with my rifle lying beside me, ready if I need it. I reach down and mute the volume so AIRIA won’t give me away at the wrong moment and then, then I wait.
Chapter Eighteen … Rex
I kick an empty windshield wiper fluid bottle out of my way as I make my way back to the hotel. It’s been another disappointing morning of not finding a new base. Marsh and I have been looking for a week now, me in the morning and him in the afternoon. It’s frustrating and just getting worse as the days go by and the tension gets thicker. Moving to the hotel was a definite mistake. The girls and Matty never leave the rooms because there always seems to be one of Ted’s men hanging around the doors to our wing. It’s almost like they’re guarding us and every time Marsh and I leave they ask where we’re going. They never get an answer from us, making them more and more hostile every day. We’ve taken to going out of our way and backtracking our route to make sure were not being followed. I’m starting to think there will be a fight when and if we do try and move somewhere else.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Belle so stressed out before and Sasha is driving me nuts. She’s bugging me every day to go with me on my searches. I know she has a crush on me and I should tell her it’s never going to happen but it feels like I’d be kicking a puppy if I do. Marsh doesn’t help matters the way he’s constantly razzing me about it. The rest of the time he’s looking at Sasha the way she’s looking at me. Uggg! If she’d just turn her head and look at Marsh, she’d see the way he feels about her and maybe leave me alone.
We don’t need this crap right now with all that’s going on, especially now that Lance is gone for a few days. Ted sent some of his men to scout out the ski resort group to try and find out if they were planning on making a move on the hotel. He insisted that Lance goes with them because he’s the only one with a military background.
We've got to get out of that hotel! I can only pray that Marsh has more luck this afternoon. I scan the parking lot of the fast food place I’ve been meeting Marsh at to switch off and give him the search map we use to not overlap each other but there’s no sign of him. I give him ten minutes and then head towards the hotel. The temperature has been dropping for the past hour and my hands feel like ice bricks in my gloves. I’m so sick of this cold, barren world. I miss the sun and how it used to feel on my face.
I’m almost at the hotel parking lot and I keep expecting to see Marsh heading my way but he’s nowhere in sight. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this when I hear the sound of a metal door bang open and then close. That’s probably him heading my way now, but my stomach clenches as I pass the last building that blocks my sight of the hotel parking lot and I see Matty running towards me. My body goes colder than it already is but with fear, not the air temperature. I take off in a run to meet him halfway but after only a few strides I’m slowing down in confusion because he’s seen me and he’s grinning.
“Matty, what are you doing out here?” I yell across the last few yards making his grin slip slightly.
“Rex! Ethan sent for Marsh to go down and help him with a patient so I ran down here to tell you so you wouldn’t be waiting for him!”
I take a deep breath and chant to myself, “don’t yell, don’t yell” but I yell anyways.
“Matty, you’re not supposed to BE out here! What were you thinking?”
The kid’s grin is gone and a scowl fills his cute face.
“I’m not a BABY! I’m eight and a half, Rex. I can help out sometimes, you know! I was trying to be nice so you weren’t waiting around out here in the cold! Jeeze!!!”
I'm mad, but only because I’m terrified something might happen to him so I start nodding.
“I know you want to help and it was nice of you to think of me but listen, Matty, things around here are…umff!”
Out of nowhere, something dark and smelly is thrown over my head and what feels like steel bands clamp down on my arms. It takes me a minute to shake off the dumb confusion of what’s happening. Matty’s choked off scream of fear is like a dagger stabbing me with part fear, part fury, and I start thrashing with all I’ve got until a sharp pain in the back of my head takes me away.
My head is pounding like someone’s using it for a drum and my stomach is aching like I took a punch to it. I try and stay still cuz I feel like any movement's going to make me puke. What the heck happened? The last thing I remember, I was in the parking lot looking for Marsh when…Matty! My eyes fly open but there’s something covering my face and I can’t see anything but dim light through a cloth. My hands automatically reach to pull it off but they’re stuck behind me tied up with rope. Something shifts against me and I realize someone’s leaning against me. I stay as still as possible and listen hard. There, it’s muffled through the cloth but I can hear breathing that hitches in silent sobs.
“Matty?” I whisper.
“Shh!” He shushes me and relief floods through me that he’s here with me. “Listen, they’re fighting.”
I try and get my breathing under control cuz it sounds so loud under the fabric and then I can just faintly hear them.
“…such an idiot! He’s going to be so pissed! You two were supposed to grab both the teenagers. Now, what are we…” The angry voice fades out and I miss what it says next but I can put two and two together. They were supposed to grab me and Marsh but Matty was out in the lot instead. I strain harder and hear, “take him anyway. Get going and get back here quick.” I try and process what’s happening through the pain in my head. What do they want with us? They have to know our people will come looking for us, right? Who took us? Is it people from the ski resort or Ted’s guys?
Before I can think of anything else I hear footsteps heading towards us and feel Matty tense against me. Seconds later the bag is yanked off my head and I blink to clear my eyes. A snarl of rage slips out of my mouth when I see two of Ted’s men standing over us. The men are like night and day. One of them is very tall and broad across the shoulders and he’s scowling down at me. The other one is medium height but skinny like he hasn’t had a decent meal in years. He’s looking nervously at Matty and wringing his hands in worry. The big guy barks out a command at me.
“Get up!”
&n
bsp; When I just sit there looking up at him, his lips compress tightly and he reaches down and hauls me to my feet. The other guy is gentler as he helps Matty up. We both have our hands tied behind us making it hard to stay balanced when big guy shoves me forward to start walking. I take a good look around to see where we are as I walk but there’s nothing except dead trees and the mountains in front of me. I almost face plant when I crane my head around to check that Matty’s behind me and look past him trying to see if anything’s familiar. I lose my balance and stagger to the side, coming down hard on one knee. White hot pain shoots through my leg as I feel a sharp rock dig into my bone and I let out a gasp of pain.
“Get up!” growls big guy.
I try and struggle to my feet as involuntary tears start leaking from my eyes but I end up falling on my side. Matty drops to his knees beside me and starts crying when he sees my tears.
“Rex, are you ok? Rex, are you hurt?”
I shake my head at him and try and push the nausea back from the pain in my knee. I have to stay strong for the kid but he surprises me when his face goes all angry and he yells at the two men.
“He can’t get up! You have to untie him so he can walk you, you, asshat!”
Even through the pain and fear a jolt of shocked amusement flares up in me. I’ve never heard Matty swear before and hearing Marsh's and my favorite term come from him is funny. Little guy must find it funny too because he lets out a snort but quickly holds up a hand as big guy takes a menacing step towards him.
“Whoa, Bo! The kid’s right about their hands. We’re never going to make it back here by dark like this. Let’s tie them in front so they can have better balance.”
Big guy’s name must be Bo. He glares at little guy before grunting and hauling me to my feet. Minutes later, with our hands tied in front of us we start walking again. I shoot a wink at Matty to let him know I’m good and he did a good job. Then focus on the path ahead of us and try not to step down too hard on my throbbing leg. When I had looked back before I fell, I had seen town in the distance and the distinctive peaks behind it so I now know we’re headed north. The ski resort that Lance went to scout is west of town so I don’t know where we’re going. I ask question after question but all I get in return is a few cuffs to the head from Bo, so I just keep my eyes peeled for any chance Matty and I can use to escape.
The first hour passes with us walking on pavement as I plot and scheme with no results. In the second hour, we start walking off road through trees and dead bushes. We’re walking uphill and it’s getting steeper and harder to walk with our hands tied. The cold is really starting to set in and I’m worried about Matty. This is probably the longest he’s been outside since the bombs dropped. We’re both dressed in full snowsuits with scarves, toques and gloves but it feels like the cold is deepening by the minute. Winter gear is something we have a lot of, with the town once being a hub for skiers, there was plenty of snow gear to scavenge at the beginning. The only thing that gives me comfort is how little guy keeps helping Matty over rough spots and steadying him when he loses his balance. I still don’t know where they’re taking us but I can’t imagine little guy being so nice to my brother if he plans on hurting him.
By the time we’ve been walking for two hours my limp is more of a stagger from the damage I did to my knee. I can feel that it’s swollen up and it’s almost impossible to bend. I’m slowing everyone down and every time Bo has to haul me forward his face gets a little more mean until he’s practically dragging me. I let out an agonized roar when he gives a yank on my arm and I step into a depression and wrench my bad leg further. Bo’s growling at me as he pulls me to my feet but that leg is done and I collapse as soon as he lets me go.
Matty throws himself down beside me on the ground in panic. “Rex, you ok? What’s wrong, Rex?”
I groan and roll over and try and straighten out my damaged leg. My whole body is rock hard tense as it tries to deal with the pain and my teeth are clenched so tightly I can’t get words out to calm him down.
Little guy steps in between me and Bo who looks like he going to strangle me with hands he’s made into claws and bends down to feel my leg. When he feels just how swollen the knee is under the snow pants he leans back and lets out a tired sigh.
“Well Bo, unless you want to carry this kid over your shoulder, we aren’t going any further.
Bo throws his hands up in the air in frustration. “Mickey said we have to go further so their people won’t find them! We’re still too close!”
All the blood drains from my face at Bo’s words causing little guy to look away from me and stand up. This can’t be happening. Are these guys really planning on killing a little kid and hiding his body? Matty starts to cry so I pull him closer and loop my tied hands over his head so I can hug him. I don’t know what to do! My leg’s not going to get us far if we try and run. Even if we do get away, we have no food or water to stay hidden until it heals enough to get back to town. The only thing I can think to do is make Matty run now. Little guy and Bo have stepped away and they’re arguing.
“Matty, you have to go. You need to run right now while they’re distracted. Try and get back to town and get Marsh and Ethan to come rescue me. You have to be strong and go!”
Matty buries his head deeper against my neck and shakes it hard. His words are muffled, “NO, I’m not leaving you!”
I try and think of the right words to convince him to go and save himself, but a wave of despair washes over me. It’s too late. They’re done arguing. Bo comes over to us and pulls my arms up so little guy can pull Matty off of me. I’m trying to fight Bo off and get to my brother cuz he’s thrashing around bawling in terror but the big guy just pins my arms to me and hauls me up and over his shoulder like I’m as light as a feather. I can’t see anything as my face smashes into his rock hard back but he only takes about ten steps before he flips me back over and I hit the frozen ground hard on my butt. The back of my head slams into the frozen bark of a tree making my vision swim. I’m dazed for the few minutes it takes them to tie me to the tree that my head hit, but I can hear Matty’s cries right behind me so he must be tied to the same tree on the opposite side. I give my head a shake to try and clear my vision and look down at the rope that’s wrapped around me five or six times pinning my arms and body to the tree.
Bo and little guy step around the tree in front of me and I look up at them through tear filled eyes. Bo’s just standing there with his arms crossed looking pissed but little guy frowns down at me sadly before he speaks.
“Look, kid, I’m sorry this had to happen but that’s just the cards we were all dealt. Hey, I’m no kid killer. I was an accountant before all this, but I’ve got my own family I have to take care of so I follow orders.” He swallows hard and looks away from me for a minute before his tone softens. “It won’t hurt. The cold will just make you sleepy. You’ll both just go to sleep and all this…hell…we now live in will go away.” He shakes his head one more time and turns and walks away.
Bo looks down at me with complete indifference before grunting, “Night-night.” Then he walks away too.
I just sit there stunned for a few minutes. This isn’t really happening, is it? They’re not just going to leave us out here all alone to die, right? It takes a bit for the denial screaming in my head to fade before I accept that we’re on our own and I start working on the rope. I rock back and forth and try and bounce up and down to loosen it but the cold has made it rock solid and there’s hardly any give to it. I try and ignore Matty’s cries every time I jerk my body against the rope. I know it’s pulling against him when I move but I can’t just sit here and do nothing. His crying gets louder and louder until I just can’t take it anymore.
“Matty, hey, hey squirt! Listen, listen to me!” I yell over his cries until he calms down to just hitching sons. “It’s ok, buddy. We’re going to get out of here. I need you to calm down and work with me. We can do this but we have to work together. Ok, ok, Matty? See if you can slide arou
nd the tree a bit. Try and work your way closer to me!”
I feel the ropes bite into my arms and chest as he struggles to move but I know he’s not going anywhere with how tight the rope is against us. It doesn’t take long for him to give up and his tiny lost voice breaks something in me.
“Rex, I’m cold and, and I’m scared! Why’d those guys leave us here Rex?”
My head drops forward in resignation. I’m not going to win this one. I failed. After so many years of working to survive and keep Matty safe, I’ve failed and we’re going to die. Man, I’m tired. I feel like I’ve been fighting for so long and maybe now it’s time to rest. I lean my head back against the cold bark of the tree and close my eyes to better remember.
“Hey Matty, did I ever tell you that you have Mom’s laugh? It was so awesome. When she laughed it came from her whole body and you couldn’t not smile it was so great, just like yours. She would have laughed a lot with you.”
I paused and remembered how pretty she was. How her green eyes looked just like mine and Matty’s and how they sparkled when she was happy. Even after all these years, I miss her so badly. Matty echoes my thoughts when his sad little voice speaks.
“I miss her, Rex, even though I can’t remember her or what she looks like. I miss her. I wish she was here.”
I swallowed the tears that want to choke me. “She’s here Matty! She’s been with us every day, watching over us. She…she’s waiting for us buddy.”
A muffled sob that doesn’t come from Matty has my head whipping up and to my right. What was that? Someone, someone’s here…where, where did that come from? I’m about to call out, beg whoever’s out there to help us when I hear something I haven’t heard in seven years. An alarm screams through the forest, an electronic one.
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 13
