The Unforgiven (The Propagation Project Book 1)

by Callie Bishop

  “What are we supposed to do after we get out of here?” Netty says.

  “Find a place to hide,” Luka says.

  We come to a part of the wall where ivy has taken over most of the area. Jasco feels through the greenery, and we all pick an area and do the same. My hands brush through the glossy leaves and feel the cool scratchy concrete underneath. I desperately move my fingers along the wall until I reach the solid iron gate.

  “Over here!” I say as I try to brush away the folds of ivy. I turn the huge latch only to find that it’s locked.

  “There’s a combination.” Jasco punches the code into a small keypad embedded in the wall, and the subtle sound of a latch unlocking fills my heart with joy.

  When everyone is through the gate, Jasco locks it behind us. “Good luck.” He vanishes into the night before we can thank him.

  Jackals snarl in the distance.

  “We need to keep moving,” Luka says.

  “We need a way out of here,” I say frustrated that we’ve hit a dead end. The wind has brought a rainstorm and thunder rolls as I feel the light sprinkle of raindrops.

  In the distance, I see a pair of headlights of a vehicle driving down the desolate road. In an act of desperation, I grab the gun from Luka’s waist and run to the middle of the road. The rain pours so hard I’m not even sure the vehicle will be able to see me in the street.

  Hazel…what the hell are you doing?” Luka asks as he runs to my side.

  “Finding us a ride out of here,” I say as I cock the gun and wait for the headlights to come closer.

  It’s an Official delivery truck, and it beeps its horn several times, beckoning me to get out of the way. I stand my ground as Luka pleads with me to move. He tries to pull me from the road, but my adrenaline won’t allow him to budge me one inch. I stand firm as the truck comes to a streaking halt, hydroplaning in the puddles made by the rapid onset of the torrential downpour. The driver gets out to investigate this strange couple standing in the middle of the road.

  “What do you two think you’re doing?” he asks as he walks around the truck door. I can see from the interior light that he has no passengers.

  I point the gun toward him, making sure to keep my finger just off the trigger.

  “I’m taking this vehicle,” I say in a tone of voice that surprises even me.

  Among the heavy rain, it takes the driver a few minutes to realize I have a gun pointed at his chest. He raises his arms in surrender.

  “Move away and find a seat over there.” I gesture over to the side of the road. “Get in,” I say to Luka and Netty.

  Luka seems confused about whether he’s proud of me or a little scared.

  “What should we do with him?” I ask, making sure to keep the gun pointed at my target. I envision red circles around his chest, the bullseye hitting him right in the heart. Except if I shoot this time, it’ll be at more than just a paper target.

  “Leave him on the side of the road. By the time they find him, we’ll be long gone,” Luka says.

  I maintain my aim, hoping the Pigeon doesn’t give me a reason to shoot him.

  When he’s done, Luka grabs the gun from me and tucks it back into his waist.

  “I think I just fell in love,” he says.

  I climb into the passenger side as Luka hops in to drive.

  “Where to?” Netty asks. She’s tucked in the back, sitting down on the floor. She holds a half-eaten bread roll in one hand. The driver must have been making a late-night food delivery.

  “Ward One,” Luka says as he starts to drive.

  I lie back in the seat, close my eyes, and exhale a sigh of temporary relief.

  “Oh Shit!” Netty says. It’s followed by an agonizing scream. “I think my water just broke!”

  She drops the bread roll and clenches her stomach in pain.

  I look over to Luka as the blood drains from his face. My temporary relief lasts a whole three minutes when the realization that a baby is about to be delivered in the back of this truck hits me like a ton of bricks.

  Chapter 14

  “Keep driving,” I say to Luka as he navigates through the heavy rain.

  It’s coming down in sheets and the windshield wipers can barely keep up. I help Netty lie down before opening the back doors to unload some of the cargo to make more room. Luka throws the backpack at me.

  “Might be something in there that can help,” he says.

  I shake my head. “Unless there’s a doctor in there, I doubt it.”

  I remove Netty’s bottoms that are wet with amniotic fluid.

  The back of the van is humid, and I yell at Luka to crack a window. The bumpy ride jolts everything off the floor.

  Netty’s face is clammy and gray. She withers in pain as the baby inside of her makes its way out.

  “We have to pull over somewhere!” Luka yells in a panic.

  “No!” Netty says in between contractions. “We can’t stop here.”

  I see Luka’s eyes rapidly shift in the rear-view mirror between the road and what’s going on in the back. The head is crowning. I will have to deliver this baby in the back of this dirty, unsanitary, Official truck. I guess it could have been worse. She could have gone into labor an hour ago. But that thought doesn’t make me feel any better.

  “Follow my breathing,” I say as I rummage through my bag for a first aid kit, which unfortunately doesn’t really contain the necessary items for delivering a baby. Thankfully, the driver was delivering a fresh stack of table linens, so I grab a few and tuck them under Netty. She lets out a guttural scream, and I feel the panic rise in my throat. Did I make the wrong decision taking her with me?

  “Netty,” I say. “I can see the baby’s head.” I need to stay calm and focused, the total opposite of what I’m feeling.

  “I wanna push!” Netty pants.

  I wipe the sweat from her face with a cloth napkin and smooth back her hair. Her shoulders heave up and down in between the brief minutes she has a contraction, and then her whole-body locks in pain. This isn’t what she deserves. This shouldn’t be her life. This beautiful moment I’m sharing with my sister is corrupted forever.

  “Just keep breathing in and out.” I mimic long, controlled breaths. “The baby’s head is coming out!”

  Netty closes her eyes.

  “It’s almost over,” I say. “Just a few more minutes.” She grabs at my leg and squeezes. I want this baby out as badly as she does.

  “Here it comes!” I reach in between Netty’s legs to support the baby’s head and neck.

  She refuses to open her eyes. She has one more contraction before the baby’s shoulders are free, and it slips into my grip. I see the instant release of tension in Netty’s body.

  “It’s a girl!” I proclaim.

  I hold the baby up for Netty to see, but her eyes are still clenched.

  “It’s not crying,” Luka says.

  I wrap the baby in a table linen. When Netty was about five, she’d found a kitten in the backyard. She’d held it out to me with fat tears in her eyes as the kitten lay motionless. We rushed the kitten to Mom, who wrapped it in a warm towel and rubbed it back to life.

  I give the baby a good rub and wipe the fluid from her nose and mouth. The baby begins to cry, and I breathe a sigh of relief. It isn’t pleasant to the ears, but I relish in every wail. It isn’t a sound you here too often these days.

  Netty opens her eyes slowly at the sound. I lay the baby on her chest after I prop her up to a more comfortable position.

  “I have to cut the cord,” I say. There is a small utility knife in the bag. I pray that it’s clean enough.

  Netty gazes down at her baby. She smiles and laughs gently at the wiggling sight. She strokes the baby’s dark black hair and traces the outline of her tiny hand with her finger. The baby grabs hold and Netty laughs. I smile and take a mental snapshot of the moment. I want to remember the beauty in it, despite the ugliness it’s cocooned in. Netty is a mother. And I have a new life to protect
.

  “What’s her name?” Luka says.

  Netty doesn’t take her eyes off the baby. “How about Catherine?” Netty looks at me for approval.

  “I think that’s a perfect name,” I say.

  The rain has subsided to a light sprinkle. I clean the mess of fluid and blood as best I can. Netty is still bleeding, and I don’t know if that's normal. I tuck more clean linens under her as she attempts to get comfortable with Catherine. Netty pulls up her shirt and raises Catherine to her breast. On instinct the baby latches on. My sister’s face has taken on a new maturity seemingly within minutes. The roundness of her cheeks has sharpened. She speaks not with the tone of a little girl, but of a woman. A mother.

  I sit next to Luka in the front seat.

  “That could have been a lot worse,” he says.

  I nod as I look out my window. I’m so tired my eyes burn.

  “I don’t know if we’ll be able to drive the whole way without stopping,” Luka says. “The gas tank is just about full, but we’re a long way off.”

  I look in the back and see Netty and the baby have fallen asleep.

  “Let’s just make it out of this Ward, and then we’ll take it from there.” I need time to formulate some kind of plan in the hopes of preventing this from becoming a complete suicide mission.

  Out the window, there’s nothing but country road.

  “You should get some rest,” he says to me as I let a yawn slip.

  “Not a chance,” I say. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep in here no matter how tired I am.

  I know Luka is sleep deprived as well, and it’s not safe for him to be driving all night without any sleep. “I have an idea.”

  Luka looks at me as though he knows I’m about to say something he’s not going to like. “Not a chance,” he says mocking my tone from before.

  “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

  “I told you before,” he continues. “It’s not safe at your house, Hazel. What if they come looking for you there?”

  “We need to rest somewhere out of sight.” I think for a minute about where that place could be. I rack my brain until the idea hits me like a whammy shock.

  I see the exit for East Point.

  “Make the turn!” I exclaim as I grab for the steering wheel.

  Luka finishes the turn as the wheels scream against the pavement.

  “Are you nuts?” he asks me, raising his eyebrows high. “We can’t go.”

  “We’re not going to my house,” I say. “I got a better idea.”

  Chapter 15

  The road into Razor Pointe sends us bouncing in our seats. The baby is the only one unfazed by the shaking and remains asleep on Netty’s chest. Luka looks at me, probably not convinced I know what I’m doing.

  “Just a little farther,” I say as the headlights cut through the thick, overgrown forest. It feels so long since I’ve been here. It looks strange in the blackness of night. There are a few dilapidated cabins just beyond the clearing near the tree line. I’ve never been inside of them or have any idea what kind of condition they’re in now. We enter the clearing, and Luka parks the truck in the shadow of a large tree.

  “Now what?” he says.

  “I’ll go and check out the cabins. See what kind of condition they’re in.” I open the truck door. “Sit tight for a few more minutes.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Luka is out of the truck and halfway to the cabins before I can even get my door closed.

  There are five small cabins each made of pine logs. All five doors are locked, and the windows are so overtaken with weeds and dirt it’s impossible to see through them. Luka gives the door of the first cabin a few good kicks, and it opens widely in a cloud of dust. We carefully navigate our way in. We find two small bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combination kitchenette/living room. Years of dust covers the furniture.

  “This’ll work,” Luka says. He walks into the kitchen and opens the small refrigerator. He yelps and closes it again.

  “What is it?” I ask, stifling a chuckle.

  “Do. Not. Open this. Ever.”

  We check the next cabin and find that it’s in the same condition. We go back to the truck and let Netty know it’s okay to stay. Luka grabs the backpacks while I help Netty and the baby get situated inside the first cabin. I rummage through what remains of the food delivery that didn’t end up on the highway and bring it back to the cabin. Dinner rolls are on the menu.

  Netty settles into the small cabin bed and nurses the baby one more time before they both fall asleep. Luka and I sit outside beneath a starry canopy.

  I hear the lake quietly lapping in the distance and a light breeze spreads goosebumps on my arms. The dampened earth emits the smell of fresh grass and pine, and the memories of being here with my mom flood my soul. I know I should get some sleep, but my mind is racing and I can’t seem to flick the switch off.

  “Want to go for a swim?” Luka says.

  Just a few months ago, I was on this exact porch, sitting with Shane after swimming in the lake and laughing so hard it hurt.

  I smile at the thought, and the ache of guilt and disappointment stabs at me. I need to wash it away.

  “That’s a great idea.” I walk toward the lake.

  Luka’s mouth hangs open, his eyes watching me peel off my shirt. I feel the air on my skin, and it invigorates me. I crave the feeling of being outside and free.

  I tug my pants off, shedding one pant leg at a time.

  “Hazel, stop joking. That water is probably freezing cold.”

  I ignore his objections and continue toward the water in just my Antioch-issued bra and underwear.

  “Are you coming or not?” I ask him, dipping my toe into the water.

  Brrr.

  “Not,” Luka says as he finally starts to walk toward the water. “Stop playing around!”

  “Baby!” I yell as I make a run for it. The water is so cold it hits me like a million tiny needles. It knocks the wind out of me, and I gasp for air. I plunge down until my whole head is submerged, and I feel my hair whipping in the water. After the initial shock of the temperature wears away, I break back to the surface. I let my body float, and the weightlessness is heavenly.

  Luka stands on the shore, his hands planted on his hips. He shakes his head. “I cannot believe you just did that.”

  “You should give it a try.”

  “I can’t.”

  “The water is not that bad after a while,” I say in my most convincing tone.

  “No. I mean I can’t…swim.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing.” I look up at the sky and pick out the different constellations my mother used to tell me stories about. My ears are underwater. I close my eyes and submerge into a muted darkness.

  When I open my eyes again and lift my head from the water, Luka is flicking off his uniform. He runs full force into the water in his underwear. He makes a fuss when he hits the cold water, and I swim to meet him halfway.

  “Not too far out,” I warn him. “I’ve had enough adventures for one night.”

  “I can’t feel my body anymore,” he says with a smile, his teeth chattering away.

  “Move around a bit. You’ll warm up.” I teasingly make dramatic movements with my arms and legs before he grabs at me and draws me in close.

  “Ahh, that’s much better,” he says as we hug in the water. “Best thing to do when hypothermia is imminent.”

  “Where did you learn that from?” I ask.

  “Not sure exactly. I might have made it up.”

  “Well, it’s only September, so I don’t think you have to worry about hypothermia.” I splash water his way as I attempt to tear away from him.

  Luka smooths the hair from my face and gently touches the skin on my neck.

  “You’re bruising here,” he says.

  I haven’t seen what I look like in a mirror, but I’m sure it isn’t pretty.

  Luka plants soft kisses o
ver the line of bruising on my neck. A rush of blood floods my limbs, and the warmth of the feeling makes me forget about the icy water for a few moments. He traces his finger along my jawline, and I look away, out toward the lake.

  “Why do you always look away?” he asks me.

  I fix my gaze back on his face, unsure how to answer him. It takes every bit of strength not to give in to him, and I’m not sure why I’m holding back.

  “I don’t always look away,” I respond.

  His water-beaded skin twinkles under the moonlight. His stomach and chest are covered in ink. A tattoo scribed across his collarbone reads “Only Fear God” in elaborate script.

  “You believe?” I ask him.

  “Mom does,” he says. “She’d say God will protect us.” He looks to the sky. “I think she was right.”

  I smile at Luka reassuringly, even though deep down I’m not sure I’m so convinced.

  We stare at each other, quietly observing. The goosebumps rise again, and I suggest we head in for the night.

  Luka grabs one more table linen for us to dry off with.

  We crawl in the meek bed of the next empty cabin. I tuck myself under Luka’s arm. Our combined body heat warms the sheets.

  I’m at the threshold of sleep when I hear my name fall from Luka’s lips.

  “Hazel,” he says to me in a whisper.

  “Hmmm?” I reply, barely awake.

  “I love you.”

  I think I’m already dreaming and let myself fall further into sleep.

  Chapter 16

  I wake up in bed alone. The cabin is quiet. Netty and Catherine still sleep. The sunlight is blinding. Luka is sitting on the edge of the lake, throwing a rock in every once in a while. I sit down cross-legged. Although he smiles at me, I can tell he’s absorbed with the thoughts in his head.

  “I wonder what time it is,” I say.

  “Not sure exactly. Sun hasn’t been out that long.”

  “How long have you been up?” I ask.

  Circles shadow his weary eyes.