by Shade Owens
Leaves crunched and twigs snapped as the two Night Watchers outside the front gates came running toward us.
“Brone!” the tallest one said. “What happened?”
I couldn’t see their faces with the lit sconces behind their heads, but it was obvious they were concerned.
“Take her to the Medical cabin, and wake Iskra and Zofia,” I whispered. “She needs immediate help.”
If there were two people I trusted most in the world to care for Coin, it was Iskra and Zofia. By working together, these two brilliant doctors had managed several successful minor surgeries and had even set up a station for blood transfusion which we’d used four times now, following severe animal attacks. I was confident they could save Coin and, with any luck, her leg.
The Night Watcher hesitated, no doubt taken aback by the sound of my voice. “Just go,” I said, waving a hand in the air. I wasn’t in the mood to explain to them everything that had happened.
Together, the two Night Watchers scooped Coin off the ground, and behind them, the large wooden gates opened.
“Keep quiet about all of this,” I said. “I want all the sconces out. All of them. As soon as—”
I stumbled forward and Biggie caught me.
“When morning comes, we’ll deal with this,” I continued with Biggie’s arm around my shoulders. “No one leaves the Village. Are we clear?”
With Coin in their arms, the Night Watchers nodded.
“Go,” I ordered, and they hurried across the Village and toward the Medical cabin.
The moment they disappeared from sight, Biggie squeezed my shoulder. “Girl, you need to rest.”
“We all do,” I breathed.
“Are we going to be safe overnight?” Rocket asked, walking through the gates.
“I highly doubt he kept up with us,” I said. “That buys us time. And so long as we stay inside the gates, we’re safe. Bullets might penetrate wood, but he’ll be killed before anything happens. We couldn’t do anything now even if we wanted to. It’s the middle of the night and everyone’s sleeping. Besides, none of us are in any condition—” I coughed and winced at the same time. “Go sleep. Recover. Tomorrow, we’ll get ready for battle.”
CHAPTER 9
The cabin door creaked as I opened it, and Ellie turned in her sleep. It was so dark that it was like I’d gone blind, but I knew every inch of this cabin, and every sound made by Ellie and Robin. Any second now, Ellie would wake up and ask me what had happened.
She was a light sleeper, and ever since Robin had come into the picture, she barely slept at all.
Still, hoping that I might allow her a few more restful hours of sleep, I snuck inside, shoulders slouched even though it made no difference whatsoever to the weight of my body on the wooden floorboards.
Another creak.
“Brone?” Ellie whispered.
“Hey,” I said.
She shifted again, the bed groaning a little with her movement.
“Brone, what happened? Why do you sound like that?” she whispered.
“It’s a lot to explain,” I said, removing my clothes.
I snuck under the cotton sheet and inched my body against the warmth of Ellie’s skin. Wrapping my arm around her soft waist, I let out a breath so long it felt like I’d been holding it all day.
“You’re so warm,” I breathed into her neck.
“Please tell me what happened,” she said.
“A lot happened, Ellie. We found the plane. We also found a guy—”
“A guy?”
I nodded, my grimy forehead sliding against her chin. She’d likely bathed, smelling like coconut and pineapple, and there I was, smelling like three-week-old sweat, blood, and stomach acid.
“Yeah,” I said, talking into her neck to prevent my rancid breath from climbing into her nostrils. “From one of the other penal islands.”
She pulled away, but I held on. “Stay here,” I said. “You’ll wake Robin.”
Resting a hand on my arm, she remained quiet, which I knew meant, Go on.
“He got to the island on a raft. I saved his life. Turns out the son of a bitch knew how to fly a plane. He manipulated us, and we led him straight to it. We almost left the island, Ellie.” I paused, remembering how close I’d come to being forced to leave Ellie and Robin behind.
“Left? How?” she asked.
Although I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was hurt. I hadn’t yet explained the whole story to her, and she was probably thinking I’d considered leaving with the strange man.
What she didn’t know was that I’d never leave her behind.
Kissing her neck, I pulled her in tighter. “I gave him shit. Told him to turn off the engines. Otherwise, he’d attract people to us. He wouldn’t listen, and the next thing I knew, he was going full speed, preparing to take off.”
“You should have gone,” she said.
Taken aback, I pulled away. “Why would you say something like that?”
“It would have killed me,” she said, “but you could have gotten your freedom, Brone. Why didn’t you go?”
I scoffed, infuriated that she would even suggest such a thing. “First of all, there’s no telling whether or not we’d have even survived the flight. And even if we had, what was I supposed to do? Stick my fucking thumb out at oncoming traffic and ask someone to drive me to my mom’s? Then what? I’m a criminal, Ellie—”
“Brone, relax,” she said. “I’m just saying I would have understood if you’d gone—”
“Well, stop it,” I said. “I almost died fighting him off so I could come back to you and my people, and this is what I get? You telling me I should have left?”
“Brone, that’s not what I meant.”
Fuming inside, I held on to the fact that I was beyond exhausted and likely misinterpreting the intention of her words. The last person I wanted to fight with was Ellie, so instead of continuing the fight, I said, “Look, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that there’s another guy with a rifle.”
When she didn’t respond, I said, “Ellie?”
“I heard you,” she said. “I—I don’t know what to say or think. Was he from the plane?”
“I think so.”
“He shot at you?”
“All of us, yeah,” I said. “He got Coin.”
“Oh my God. Is she okay?”
“She’s with Iskra and Zofia. He got her leg, which is better than anywhere else. I don’t get it. He was coming at us like he wanted us dead. It wasn’t like we instigated it. We didn’t even have our weapons on us. I was really careful not to look like a threat. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Did he follow you?” she asked.
I hesitated, then said, “I don’t think so.”
Deep down, I knew it was a possibility, but I’d somehow convinced myself that this man didn’t know the jungle, and there was little chance he’d managed to keep up with us through the denseness of the forest. It was easy to get lost in the trees, so how could a man from the outside possibly track down women who’d been living off the land for years?
“You’re sure?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted. I couldn’t lie to Ellie. “That’s why we’re taking precautions. The fires are out, and first thing tomorrow, I’ll assign guards to watch the towers. I want this son of a bitch dead before he steps anywhere near the Village.”
“I can’t believe this.” She shook her head. “What are the chances—”
She kept talking, but her voice became distant and tunnel-like. I was so tired that within seconds, everything faded.
CHAPTER 10
I woke up to an empty cabin and a sound that made my stomach sink—women fighting.
Jolting upright, I grimaced. Every inch of my body was killing me, including my neck, which no doubt looked like wet cotton candy—deep blue, pink, and purple.
Throwing on my blood-stained clothes from the night before, I stormed out into the Village. At the very center, around the breakfast fire, w
ere four women yelling at Rocket and Biggie, pointing fingers and throwing fists in the air.
Then, one of them stepped forward and grabbed Rocket by the hair. Biggie wasn’t having it—with a swing of an arm, she slapped the woman upside the head, making her stumble backward and fall flat on her ass.
“What the fuck is going on?” I snapped, though it came out sounding more like a growl.
At once, everyone froze, and angry eyes rolled my way.
“Why aren’t we allowed to leave?” one woman said. “We aren’t prisoners!”
Feeling defensive, I almost said, “Technically, you are,” but kept my mouth shut. Most of these women had suffered at the hands of the Northers—the last thing they wanted was to be confined within the walls of the Village.
“These two bitches ain’t tellin’ us what’s going on,” another woman said, pointing at Biggie and Rocket.
At the same time, both Biggie and Rocket raised their hands on either side of their faces and shrugged as if to say, Hey, we’re only doing our jobs.
Poor Biggie and Rocket. I knew why they were being heckled—they didn’t feel it was their place to tell everyone in the Village what had happened the day before. They were likely waiting for me to make that announcement, and all they could tell the people was that they couldn’t leave the Village.
How were the women going to handle the news?
“What’s going on?”
“Yeah, why are we stuck here? Are we in danger?”
One woman scoffed. “You aren’t stuck. If you want out that bad, sneak out through the shit door at the back like everyone else did.”
“What did you say?” I said.
The woman who’d delivered that last comment sealed her lips and looked away.
Was it true? Had women left through the back door? Why the fuck had the guards not assigned someone to watch the door? I’d told them not to let anyone out. Why hadn’t Ellie woken me? As the rage started to build inside, I reminded myself that exploding on these women wouldn’t solve our problem. This was on me.
I hadn’t ordered anyone to watch the back door. I’d been too tired to think about it.
These women needed a calm, level-headed leader. Not someone who was unable to maintain their cool in the face of danger or someone so easily capable of placing blame rather than finding solutions.
“What happened to you?” one woman asked, pointing at my throat.
I knew precisely what she was thinking—who could have done this? We’d defeated our enemy, so who could have possibly attacked us?
“The Village is on lockdown!” I tried to shout. It didn’t come out loudly at all, but with how silent everyone was, my voice carried far enough. “Everyone in your tents until further notice!”
Voices exploded all around me—some angry, but most panicked.
What had I expected? They had no idea what was going on. Nobody moved as instructed. Instead, they stood around, rubbing their necks and bickering back and forth.
The idea had been to limit the amount of information they had to avoid chaos, but ever since earning my position as leader, I’d made a point to be open and honest about everything.
Keeping things confidential wouldn’t get me very far.
“All right, listen up!” I said, and the entire Village went so quiet children’s feet could be heard stomping in the grass. “I’m going to tell everyone exactly what happened out there, but I need you all to remain calm.”
Everyone shifted in their stances, no doubt fighting the urge to freak out.
“We’re going to be okay as long as everyone stays calm, quiet, and follows my instructions. Can you all do that for me?”
The women nodded and remained quiet.
“We found the plane. It was a private jet. We weren’t able to talk to anyone because we were attacked.” I didn’t bother going into the details of Number 73. The last thing I wanted was to spread additional panic by introducing the possibility of a new threat—male convicts from nearby penal islands. We had enough on our plate as it was, and we needed to deal with one issue at a time.
As women opened their mouths to begin protesting, I raised my hand, palm facing out. “We don’t know who this man is—”
“Man?” shouted a woman. “How’s that possible?”
One stern look was enough to have her retreat into the crowd.
“He had a rifle,” I said.
Gasps filled the air, so I quickly added, “We have no idea what this person is after. All we know is that he wants us dead. Listen, guys, I wish we could talk this out, but if my suspicions are right, he’s out there looking for the Village. I need everyone to remain silent until further notice. We don’t want to draw him toward us. Anyone who’s trained to use a weapon, follow me. And no one else leaves the Village, either. Get inside your tents and stay there.” I turned sideways to find Rocket standing next to me, arms crossed over her chest and an expression so serious she didn’t even look like herself. How was she still physically able to fight? It was a miracle we’d made it back to the Village in one day given how far we’d traveled to find the plane. “I’m going to head to the Working Grounds to gather the stray women there,” I continued. “Once we’re all inside the Village, no one leaves.”
Women nodded all around me.
Eliot stepped out from within the crowd and women moved aside to let him through. With a puffed chest and clenched fists, he said, “How can I help?”
Although I was tempted to ask him to arm up, he was the only father these children knew, and it wasn’t like we’d stumble across another one. We needed Eliot alive.
“Stay with the kids,” I said.
Without a word, he bowed his head and turned away.
At once, everyone scattered, some rushing to their children, others straight into their tents. The women moved about so silently that it was a bit eerie.
Not once had the Village ever been this quiet.
“What can I do?” came Murk’s voice.
Looking into her soft eyes, I sighed. “Spread the word. Let everyone know what’s going on and make sure the women stay inside their tents. I don’t want to see anyone standing in plain sight.”
Murk nodded, gave me a look that said, You got it, I’ll handle this, and stepped away.
Behind me, several dozen eager women stood confidently with heaved chests and angry scowls. They waited like trained soldiers, prepared to obey any command.
“Go see Hammer,” I said. “Tell her I told you to grab any weapon you can. Throwable weapons are preferred.”
“Um, Brone?” came one woman’s voice. She stepped out in front of the crowd, her broad shoulders brushing against several others. “No disrespect, but Hammer’s a bit, well, hardheaded. She won’t believe us. She’ll think we’re rioting.”
Sighing, I waved a hand toward the Tools tent. “Tell her I’m a monkey’s ass.”
A few women smirked, but their friends elbowed them until they stopped.
“It’s our emergency code word,” I said, walking away. “It’ll work.”
While it sounded idiotic, Hammer and I had chosen it together because we both knew no one in the Village would ever dare call me a monkey’s ass.
Biggie, Rocket, and Elektra followed me outside of the Village and down the path toward the Working Grounds. Although beyond exhausted, I felt as if I’d been injected with a heavy dose of caffeine, and by the way my women carried themselves, it was obvious they weren’t thinking about their pain or fatigue, either.
When this was all over, we’d likely collapse and sleep for three days straight. But until then, we needed to remain on high alert.
“The sooner we get those women out of the Working Grounds, the sooner we can seal the Village,” I said, jogging down the muddy path.
In the distance, the waterfall’s heavy flow became louder and louder, as did the voices inside the Working Grounds.
I turned around midjog, prepared to tell the others to spread out as soon as we entered the Worki
ng Grounds, when a nauseating sound filled the air around us—the sound of women screaming.
CHAPTER 11
The screaming was followed by a loud gunshot.
“Fuck!” I hissed, loading my bow.
Another shot was fired, and then another, and another.
All this did was amplify the sound of chaos—women shrieked and footsteps scattered. The moment we arrived at the Working Grounds, however, I couldn’t see any of the chaos. A massive cloud of white smoke spilled out of the Working Grounds and around the jungle trees.
Throwing a hand over my mouth and nose, I took a step back.
“A goddamn smoke grenade?” Rocket said. “Fuck that.”
She darted toward it, but I grabbed her by the back of her shirt, causing the seams to snap around her collar.
“Not so fast,” I said. “Let’s all go in at the same time. Whatever you do, don’t breathe it in. There’s no telling how toxic it is.”
Sucking in a lungful of clean air, I bolted straight forward, entering the expanding cloud of white smoke.
The moment it touched my eyes, I squinted away tears. I ran until the smoke became less dense and I found myself standing inside the Working Grounds with light smoke slithering around my ankles.
At the same time, Biggie and Rocket came jogging behind me, slapping the air in front of their red, blotchy eyes.
Although I may have only stood there for a few seconds to take in the gruesome scene before me, it felt like an eternity. A man wearing a gas mask walked at a rapid pace in the distance, taking aim every time he saw movement in the Working Grounds’ bay of water.
