Wait a minute. Gun? My eyes flew to where I’d set Malik’s weapon on the wheel while I searched inside the ship. It was gone.
“I’m sorry.” I grabbed Malik’s arm.
He shifted away from me. “The weapon, Riley. Give it over.”
I gaped at the others. Why didn’t someone come over and use peer pressure to make Riley relent? Tiff slept in the sand with the younger kids flaked out beside her. Kalani dozed, as well. I wasn’t sure where everyone else had gone.
Riley patted the side-arm he’d tucked through a loop on his waist. “I’m in command. It’s only right I have control of our sole weapon. You sure as hell don’t need it.”
Malik leaped at Riley.
The taller man twisted and jumped sideways, moving easier on his bum leg than I’d expect. He pulled the gun and thrust it into Malik’s face. “Back off, asshole.”
Malik stalled, his face a tight mask. “Give me my gun.”
My heart cringed behind my lungs, hoping to hide.
“Take it from me if you want it,” Riley sneered. “You’re not so tough now you’ve lost your weapon, are you? I pegged you right. You’re a boy.”
This was my fault. Riley with a weapon was enough to make my knees cave.
“You’re the one who wants me to play guard,” Malik said. “How do you think I’m going to do that without a weapon?”
“Use your hands. Or a stick, like Trey did with the hatch.” Riley spun on his heel and strode away.
“Fuck,” Malik said, echoing my thoughts.
I slapped my hands on my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I only set it down for a second.”
“It’s okay.” Malik tilted my face up with both hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks. “Who’d think someone would steal it? We should be able to trust each other.”
My eyes burned, but I tightened my shoulders. “We’ll get it back.”
“Damn right we will,” he said. “Until then, it’s time to break out your surprise.”
“My…?”
He strode to the metal box I’d found inside the forward hold. “You discovered the real treasure.” Stooping down in the sand, he lifted the touchpad cover.
Trey joined us. Too bad he hadn’t been around a second ago. He would have helped with Riley, for sure. “Cool box. What’s inside?”
“You know the code?” I asked. If he didn’t, we’d have to break the lock.
Malik’s hand paused on the box. “Sam and I knew the access codes to almost everything on the ship.” He popped open the lid and straightened. Sadness for Sam lingered in his eyes. “Your find, so this one’s all yours.”
With a frown, I knelt in front of the box and pulled back the nylatec sheathing, uncovering a set of pistol crossbows.
“Whoa.” Trey whistled. “Amazing.”
Malik reached inside and unclipped and pulled one out. A little longer than my forearm, the weapon had a pouch of arrows fastened to the body. He handed it to me.
I blinked at it before handing it back. “You take it. It’s not a gun, but maybe it’ll be a decent stand-in.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course. What am I going to do with it? I assume you know how to use it.”
“I do.”
I pushed it toward him when he would have handed it back. “Take it.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Standing, Malik clipped a strap to the shaft and swung it onto his back, wiggling his shoulders to test the feel.
“What a rush.” Trey stared at the second crossbow still lying in the case. “We talked about these back on Earth. Seeing the real thing is like…unbelievable. It’s a classic weapon.”
I pulled the other one from the case. “What should I do with this one?”
Creases formed on Malik’s brow as he scrutinized the survivors as if he weighed each person’s merit. Some of us had lost hair in the fire. Soot covered our faces and hands. Our clothing was torn and tattered. All said, we were a scruffy lot. None appeared crossbow-worthy.
“I think…” he said. “You should take it.” He nodded solemnly. “Next time you take on a beastie, this will work better than that little knife of yours.”
A giddy feeling swept through my limbs. “I don’t know how to fire it.”
Malik ran his fingertip across the weapon. “I’ll teach you.”
I slid my finger down the stock and fiddled with the trigger mechanism.
Lifting it, I sighted down the shaft at Riley.
The playing field had just been leveled.
Chapter Fourteen
Malik handed out some food and water he’d located. “I’ll put the rest inside the hull.”
“There’s no need to do something stupid like this,” Riley said. “We’ll be rescued within hours.” He stared at the few bars he’d been given before lifting his gaze to the pile Malik was stuffing into a bag.
Malik’s hands stilled, but he didn’t look up. “You don’t know that. It could be days before someone arrives.”
Sweat trickled down Riley’s neck and ran under his collar. “There you go again, making everyone feel like we’re stuck here forever. This just proves why you’re not in charge.” His face twisted.
“Oh, is that why?” Malik shook his head and zipped up the bag with a wry smile.
Riley glared. “We need someone with vision.” His arms rose like a ReGreen recruiter, revealing dark circles in his pits. “Someone who understands the public’s needs. Someone who can keep hope alive.”
He went on and on as if he ran for political office. Didn’t he know? Stuff like that carried no weight on Eris, where equality ruled. Or, where it should rule.
Malik took my thoughts one step further. He clapped the second Riley paused. I wanted to join in, but Riley cut an angry gaze my way.
“I’m just saying,” Malik said. “If they don’t come soon, we’ll go hungry.”
The amount of food and water he’d found was rather bleak. If we each ate two of the six hundred calorie bars a day, with one-and-a-half for the small kids, we’d have enough for eight days. Twelve hundred calories a day wouldn’t maintain an adult for long, but it beat no food. We had water for five days if we each drank a liter a day. Nowhere near enough in this heat. My mouth felt drier than sawdust already, and I kept dreaming about Joe and my monthly treat back on Earth, a shared bottle of sugary Spacepop. A tart-sweet mix of lime and grapefruit flavorings. Icy cold. Dew trickling down the sides of the bottle. I’d almost kill for one now.
Grumbles from Colin confirmed he swung in Riley’s direction, but the rest of us had been swayed by Malik.
Judging by the kink in his neck, Riley must have realized he’d have to give on this round, because he grumbled and clamped his jaw shut.
I turned my back on him to face everyone else. “We should reduce activity to conserve calories and moisture.” I used my best doctor’s voice. Not that anyone planned to hike across the dunes. Even a short bathroom break in this heat was enough to stifle anyone’s ambition.
People melted away with their bars and water, most settling in the shade on survival blankets to wait for the colonists.
Leaving my crossbow with Tiff, I walked over to the edge of the shade created by the ship overhead and peered out into the desert, hoping, praying I’d see movement that would mean they were coming for us.
The crushing sensation I’d lived with since Mom died filled me all over again, and I rubbed my chest. Back on Earth, I’d thought my only challenge was holding things together for me and Joe until we reached Eris. Then I could step back and let the adults deal with whatever came next.
Dad. Where are you?
Joe came over and stood with me. “He’s coming,” he said with only conviction in his voice. “And he’s gonna rescue us. I know it.”
I put my arm around his shoulders and didn’t miss the subtle shake of his body.
“You’re right, Joe,” I said, shoving strength into my voice. But I didn’t feel it, not inside where it mattered. What the hell was I going to do?
I had to keep my brother safe, no matter what.
Neither of us spoke aloud, but the words burned inside us. What if Dad didn’t come?
Stop it. I needed to focus on the positive. “I think you’re right, kiddo. The colonists will be here soon and Dad will be riding in the lead hover car with a huge grin on his face. Do you remember his smile?” Maybe. Joe had been three when Dad boarded the ship to Eris.
Joe nodded. “I do. I see him in my dreams all the time. He’s happy. He can’t wait to see us.”
“Dad will leap from the car and stride over to us. Get ready. He’s gonna say you’ve grown so big.”
Joe’s lips twitched up before smoothing. “I have. I’m really big now. Almost a man.”
I held back my laugh. “Then he’ll sweep us both off our feet with his strong arms and whirl us around.” Like he’d done so many times before he left us.
“We’ll laugh.”
Our first real laugh in too long.
“Yup.” Then we’d share the sadness of Mom’s passing, but we’d finally be together again, a fractured family closing up the gaps that had stretched between us during the five years since Dad left to help set up the colony.
“I hope it happens soon,” Joe said with longing. “I can’t…”
Do not ask. I knew what he’d say. He’d speak the words I bit back all the time. I can’t imagine what will happen if he doesn’t come.
Joe leaned into my side. “Just…just wait. It’s gonna happen soon.” The hope in his voice was my undoing. My eyes teared, but I brushed them away.
“What’s the first thing you want to do when we reach the colony?” I asked, trying to distract him—and me—from the uncertainty facing us.
“I want to sleep without being afraid.”
That hit me square in the chest. My eyes watered, but I refused to let precious moisture leak down my face. Damn freakin’ tears. They were useless.
Talking about this wasn’t cheering up Joe. I needed to give him some of the hope I could barely find for myself.
“You know you’re safe here,” I said.
He tipped his head back to watch my face. Did he see the fear that kept ripping through me? I was barely holding myself together. “Are we?”
He’d said it.
No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t lie. That wouldn’t be fair and if nothing else was clear about the past six months since Mom died, we’d always been truthful with each other.
“I want to believe we are,” I said.
“So do I but we should be ready for anything.”
So wise for only eight-years-old but my brother had seen things kids should never have to deal with. Me, too.
“Malik’s doing all he can,” I said.
“Not Riley.” Joe’s brow scrunched together. “I don’t like him.”
“You and me both. But don’t worry.” I touched my knife through the pocket of my durasuit, making sure it was still there. “We—I—can handle Riley.”
“I’ll kick him if you want?” He sounded so excited I worried he’d run over to Riley and do it now.
“Thanks, but Riley’s like a hornet’s nest. If you mess with him, he’ll sting.”
“Tell me when you want me to do it.”
For a moment, I could picture my brother all grown up and protecting me. No, we’d protect each other, like we always had. Because while I might not be able to drag up enough hope to give him, he had some he was willing to share with me.
“I’m gonna go look around,” he said.
“Don’t go far from the ship. Don’t go inside the ship. And stay within shouting distance.”
His lips twisted. “I know that. I’m not a baby. Jeez, Lesha.”
It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. “You’re not a baby, that’s true, but do it for me, okay?”
“Okay.” Turning, he trudged toward the back of the ship.
Throughout the afternoon, I sat with Jay. He wasn’t doing well, and it scared me because I didn’t know how to help him. His burns seeped thick, creamy fluid. Bright red stained his cheeks. And he kept moaning and clutching his belly. After a spell of delirium, he lapsed into what I diagnosed with my limited expertise as a coma since he didn’t twitch when I shook his shoulders.
Malik leaned against the ship’s wheel, his face tight.
Joe skipped by with a red durasuit tied to his shoulders for a cape, bringing a brief smile to my face.
“You won’t get away from me, Dark Avenger,” he shouted, waving a stick. Dark Avenger was Superboy’s arch-rival. I was happy he’d found a way to have fun, even in our tough situation.
Jay’s body jerked, and his eyes burst open, drawing my attention. “It’s too late.”
I rubbed his arm. “Lie still. Everything’s okay.”
He was delirious. When I checked, his pulse raged well over one hundred. Sweat drizzled down his face. His wounds continued to seep, only the fluid had thickened.
“Riley,” I called, hating to speak to him when I’d rather hide, but he was a paramedic. He’d know how to help Jay.
Rolling over to face me, Riley propped himself up on one elbow. “What’s up?”
“I’m worried Jay’s getting septic. From his wounds or the bite.”
“Doubt it. He’s got an immunity implant.” He smacked his arm. We all had them, implanted back on Earth.
“Why isn’t the implant working, then?” I asked. What was the point of it if it couldn’t make him better?
With a shrug, Riley flopped back onto the ground. “Maybe it needs more time.”
Spit dribbled down Jay’s chin, and he turned dull eyes my way. “I feel horrible, Lesha. I think I’m going to die.”
Not if I could help it. Although, there wasn’t much I could do if he did die except bury him. I was getting too good at that, lately. I patted his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
Malik settled on his heels beside me. “How is he?”
I stood and cricked my finger for him to follow. We stopped by Tiff and Trey, who sat on a survival blanket near the end of the ship. Bits of wire, metal, and a few disassembled electronic devices lay scattered around them, a bunch of scorched computer parts Trey had hauled from the ship earlier.
A stifling breeze skirted around the back of the ship. I closed my eyes, hoping it would bring relief along with it, but it slapped my face like a musty blanket.
“I’m worried Jay’s going to die from the bite,” I told Malik.
“You think it was poisonous?”
I shrugged. “A slow-acting one, but yeah. His burns look bad, but not enough to kill him. Not this fast.”
“Anything we can do?”
“Keep him cool, which is nearly impossible. Give him water if he’ll drink it. And pray his booster cures whatever made him sick.”
Malik rubbed my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know you’re doing everything you can.”
I was. But was it enough?
Malik gestured to the parts Trey and Tiff had spread out on the blanket. “Getting anywhere with this stuff?”
“I think we’ll have a communicator up and running soon,” Tiff said. She frowned at the black device she held.
Malik dropped down beside them. “What if you—”
I left them to discuss electronics, not a stimulating topic on any day for me, and joined Nikolai, who stood guard by the wheel with a stick in his hand.
“See anything?” I asked.
“Not a single snake,” he said with a heavy accent.
A small mound of leaves sat on the ground near his feet. “Ah, I saw those earlier.” They grew on a low bush and were first on my list to test. During training in preparation for Eris, we’d been taught how to identify possible edible plants. Since we’d be facing a brand new world, they’d wanted us to be able to acclimate as soon as possible.
“I collected them as we walked to the ship. I enjoyed the discussions in plant lore during orientation. This one is edible.” He placed it in my hand. “Try.”
He cleared his throat. “It is safe. I have eaten some today already and plan to collect more.”
“Thanks.” I popped it into my mouth and left the shelter of the ship, walking out into the sunshine. The plant tasted like I imagined grass would, and I chewed the fibrous leaf for a while before swallowing it. It went down scratchy, but I wouldn’t complain as it made a nice alternative to MRBs. Since we could eat them, I’d collect some on my walk.
Heat shimmered in the distance, waves flooding a stark, rocky shore, but the mirage wouldn’t drag me under its spell. It couldn’t be real water. That would be too easy.
I bumped into Kalani, who looked like she’d come from the desert if the bits of sand clinging to her durasuit legs were any indication. Cringing, I realized I’d have to visit the sandbox bathroom soon, too.
“Oh, hey,” she said, pausing beside me.
I opened my mouth to fill her in on a few details she really needed to know about Riley but snapped it shut when she spoke.
“About you and Riley,” she said.
“There is no me and Riley.”
“That’s not how it looks to me.” No jealousy in her voice. In fact, it sounded flat, like she spoke through a trance. Her attention focused beyond my shoulder to something underneath the hull. Not something, someone. “It’s funny…” Furrowing her brow, she huffed out a breath, making her bangs flip up into the air.
“What?”
“It’s strange.” She settled glazed eyes on me. “Whenever I’m with him, I’d just about kill to have him. I want him to love me.”
Love? As far as I knew, they barely knew each other. But she’d nailed it. This was strange. I lifted my eyebrows, hoping she’d end the conversation before it went further because I really wasn’t interested in intimate details about Riley.
She grunted. “But when I was in the desert a few minutes ago, well…” Frowning, she stared in that direction before facing me. “I couldn’t care less if I ever saw him again.”
And that was the weirdest part about all this. “I don’t understand.”
Phoenix Arise: YA Sci-fi Thriller (From the Ashes Book 1) Page 11
