“She wouldn’t do that,” Ryder said.
“I’ve seen him grab her,” Shawn said. “He’s not doing that with anyone else in the camp.”
Charlie crossed her arms. “That’s hardly proof.”
“No, it’s not,” Shawn turned to her. “I don’t know if we’ll get anything more than what we have.”
“She says she doesn’t want my help,” I said with a soft exhale. “But I think she’s terrified to ask for it. She said she was worried things would get worse.”
Charlie was shaking her head. “There’s no way he’d get away with anything like what you guys are implying with Tina in charge. Nothing gets past her.”
I glanced at Shawn. Charlie was right, which is why I had my suspicions about the whole thing. I didn’t know why, but I suspected Tina was aware of what was going on. Why she wasn’t doing anything about it, I couldn’t figure out.
“This is all insane. I’m going to sleep,” Charlie said, laying back down on the ground.
“So, what do you want us to do about it?” Ryder asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure yet, but I do know that after I figure it out, and I help her, I’m leaving this place. You guys can all stay if you want, but I’m done. This,” I said waving my hand wildly around the area, “is not for me.”
“I’ll be right by your side, whatever you need,” Shawn said.
Ryder’s eyes jerked toward him for a split second, but I didn’t miss it.
“Me too,” Ryder said. “I’ll help her any way I can.”
“Same,” Logan said.
Charlie’s body squirmed on the ground. I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine the sour look she was most likely wearing.
“Count me out,” Charlie said. “You guys are going to get yourselves killed.”
Ryder stared at her back, but he didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t know what to say.
“If I can convince her….” I hesitated. “I think I’m going to ask her to come with me.”
Ryder and Logan both looked at me as if I’d lost my marbles. I always talked about being alone, doing everything alone… maybe I was losing my mind. But if terrible things were happening to her, she didn’t deserve them. What if I was the only person who could help her get away?
“Are you sure about that?” Ryder asked.
“If Tina caught wind of you trying to take her people she might not think too kindly of it,” Logan warned.
“Well, she won’t know. I’m only telling you guys. Besides,” I said with a shrug, “what choice do I have? The only way to help her is to get her away from all this right? I can’t just help her and then send her off on her own.”
Shawn waved his hand. “Lay down!”
I put my head down. My eyes scanned the area to see if I could figure out what had drawn Shawn’s attention.
I heard their feet moving somewhere behind me. It didn’t take long to see a small group being led away from the area.
Ross turned back, looking at our group specifically. My eyes were closed before his eyes reached me. The same must have been true for the others because I could hear the ground squishing underneath their feet. They hadn’t stopped moving.
When I couldn’t hear them any longer, I opened my eyes to narrow slits. Ross was leading the small group away from our campsite. Tina and the other two people patrolling the area ignored them.
He led them so far, I couldn’t see anything but small black shadows moving in the darkness. They stopped near a tree that had been mostly ripped out of the ground. A big root stretched up toward the sky like a hand reaching out for help.
“What is going on?” I whispered.
Shawn’s eyes were wide, glowing orbs in the darkness. He tapped his finger against his lips.
My heartbeat pulsed so hard it felt as though it was shaking my body. When I heard someone cry out, I bit my lip.
Shawn inched his way slightly closer and wrapped his arm around my middle. It was as if he was afraid I might run off and take Ross on by myself.
There were long pauses between each cry, and each one sounded like a different person. I shivered with each one.
Charlie rolled on to her side, facing the rest of us. Her lower lip was quivering ever so slightly.
“This seems normal to you?” I whispered.
She didn’t answer. She didn’t move.
“It’s not,” Ryder answered for her.
I couldn’t sleep. All I could do was lay there and wait for the next cry.
It seemed to go on forever until eventually, it stopped. Not long after, I could hear the ground squishing again.
It sounded different.
It sounded like just one person.
And it sounded as though they’d stopped.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ross standing over Charlie, looking down at her. My body jerked back into Shawn, and Ross caught my eye.
“Sorry to wake you,” Ross said. The icy look in his eyes was colder than the air. He took a step closer to me and crouched down. “I heard a couple of our group sneaked away last night to partake in some of our more potent supplies.”
I nodded. Fear was holding my mouth shut.
“They put the whole group at risk.” He looked me up and down. “Kind of like that stunt you guys pulled today. Tina decided to let that go.”
“We’re very sorry,” Shawn said. “It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t,” Ross said, tapping me on the side of my head with two fingers. “Tina prefers obedience, but in rare instances, sometimes folks need a reminder how important it is to stay in line.”
Ross glanced over at Ryder and Logan. He smiled as he pointed at them.
“No doubt they’re why you two are even still alive, huh?” Ross said with a chuckle. He tapped my head again. “You mute all of a sudden?”
My hand twitched, but Shawn held it tighter. It didn’t seem as though Ross had noticed.
“No sir,” I said biting my cheek.
“We’re all just tired,” Shawn said. He desperately wanted to say whatever would send Ross away without incident.
“Yeah.” Ross stood and looked up at the sky. “I bet you are. Get some sleep then.” I could hear him walking away. “Remember what I said.”
I blinked rapidly trying to clear the hazy fog that had filled my vision. When my sight cleared, I saw Tina standing with her hands on her hips staring at us.
Ross met up with her, and they both looked over at us. She nodded, and they walked out of sight.
I turned to face Shawn. “We gotta get out of here.”
He nodded and soundlessly kissed my forehead. “Try to get some sleep.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“I’ll stay awake.”
I blew out a puff of air. “As long as we’re here, I won’t be able to sleep.”
“You need to. We’ll have to take turns. We’ll need to be rested for whatever is to come.” Shawn rubbed my back. “Now, close your eyes. Get some rest.”
“We’ll take turns,” I repeated squeezing my eyes shut.
It didn’t feel like much time had gone by when Shawn was shaking me awake. He was crouched down, rocking my body.
“Emery! Wake up!” Shawn said, his voice filled with urgency.
I rubbed my eyes. The sun was inching over the horizon.
“What’s going on?” I asked, sitting up.
Shawn stood and reached out his hand. “We have visitors.”
Chapter 18
Ross, Benny, and Tina were face to face with a small group of marked-up men. There were six of them, at least that I could see. Three of Tina’s men stood behind them as if they’d herded them over to her.
“Stay behind us,” Ryder said locking eyes with Shawn. “Keep your face down. If they see you—”
“I know,” Shawn said, taking a slow step behind Ryder and Logan.
Nearly all the renegades were holding knives behind their backs. Guess they were armed after a
ll. The Evolved on the other hand weren’t bothering to hide their weapons. They brandished them proudly. One man held a baseball bat, while another had a long sword, but the remaining four had smaller knives similar to what the renegades had.
“Looks like your numbers are dwindling,” The Evolved standing in front of his group said. He appeared to be the leader.
“Could say the same to you,” Tina said.
The Evolved leader laughed. “We just don’t need many to take out our enemies.”
“And you dumb renegades like to trap yourself in basements making it even easier to take you out,” a man with marks all over his cheeks said.
“We ain’t underground,” Tina said, adjusting her grip on her blade.
“No, you ain’t,” the leader said mockingly. “But your friends up north were.”
The leader’s sidekick let out a high-pitched laugh. “Sitting ducks. We took out several groups. Completely wiped your friends out. Bet that makes you wanna cry.”
Tina snorted. “Makes me want to get revenge.”
“They just sat there, in their basement cowering in fear. Set half of them on fire and the other half,” the sidekick said as he dragged his finger across his neck, “slit their throats.”
“God dammit,” Ryder said swallowing hard as he turned to Logan. “Is he talking about our people?”
The muscles in Logan’s arms bulged. “How many northern renegades are there? Not a lot.”
Ryder stepped forward. “How long ago was that?”
“What?” the leader asked eyeing Ryder.
“That you supposedly took out the northern renegades,” Ryder asked. Tina glanced at him over her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to mind the question. Maybe she wanted to know the answer too.
“A while ago. What’s it to you?” the leader asked.
“I’m from the north,” Ryder said taking another step forward. His hands were wrapped around the club so tightly his knuckles were white.
The leader clicked his tongue. “Aw man, I’m sorry. They’re all gone.”
“How do I know you aren’t lying? Describe the place,” Ryder said.
“The first place had several rooms underground. A pretty big group in fact. Nice set up with a kitchen and lots of supplies. Sleeping quarters at the back. They had a hairy man in charge.” The leader tapped his lip several times. “But he’s dead now.”
There were probably several renegade groups that would fit that description. Ryder pulled his shoulders back. I could tell he was already suspecting the leader of The Evolved group was referring to Jacob’s crew.
“I talked to him,” the leader said staring into Ryder’s eyes. “Jack? Justin? Jacob? Can’t remember. He put up a really good fight though.”
“Lots of blood,” the sidekick said with a smirk.
Ryder looked at Tina, her expression was unreadable. He turned his back toward The Evolved for a second before spinning back around and slamming the leader in the face with Charlie’s club.
Blood splattered all over the sidekick's face. The smirk he’d been wearing dripped down his face along with the blood of his friend.
He held up his sword, but before he could do anything, Ryder kicked him square in the stomach knocking him back several feet.
The leader dropped down on the ground, his hand reaching upward for help, but Ross knelt down next to him and rammed his blade into the side of his neck.
The renegades shouted as they attacked what was left of the small group of The Evolved. A stubby-legged man tried to run away, but Benny chased him and caught him with ease. He jumped on his back, jabbing a small knife into him again and again until they both crashed down to the ground.
I stood there with my mouth hanging open. What the hell just happened?
Tina walked over and kicked the leader. His body barely moved before settling back into place. There was no doubt about it, he was dead. They all were.
Tina threw her fist into the air and cheered. The others copied her, celebrating their victory.
Ryder’s hand went to his mouth and slowly slid down his face, dropping heavily down to his side. Ross patted him on the back, but Ryder didn’t seem to even notice.
He made his way back over to us, his shoulders slumped down.
“I can’t believe they’re all dead,” Ryder said.
“Maybe he was lying,” Charlie said, but there was a tear dripping down her cheek.
Logan placed his hand on Ryder’s shoulder and squeezed. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he pressed his lips together as if he couldn’t find any words.
My stomach turned. It didn’t matter who was lying on the ground dead or why. The bloodshed. The fighting. The war. I hadn’t wanted any part of this, yet somehow, I was trapped in the middle of it.
“We gotta get out of here,” I whispered.
“The bad guys are dead,” Charlie said glaring at me. “A few less of them to worry about.”
Ryder looked like he hadn’t felt any better about it than I did. He looked into my eyes, and I could see the sadness filling them. Ryder was mourning his people. All of them… they were like family to him. And all of them were gone.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my words softer than the air. They floated up and away barely touching his ears. I didn’t have the right words to make him feel better.
“No, I’m sorry,” Ryder said, looking down at his boots.
“For what?” Charlie said pushing at Ryder’s chest.
“We wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for me,” Ryder said.
My eyes darted over to Charlie. She met my gaze but quickly looked away.
“I’ll get us out of here,” Ryder said, not noticing Abby walking by our group.
She stepped in closer and looked around. “It wasn’t that long ago,” she said, her eyes darting up again, “that someone wanted to leave.”
We all stared at her waiting for her to continue. Abby swallowed hard.
“He didn’t make it far. Knife in his back,” she said quickly moving away from us and over to Benny.
My lips felt as though they’d been glued shut. I didn’t know what to say.
Ryder let out a sharp breath and closed his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair.
“Fuck,” Ryder said looking over his shoulder at Tina.
“So much for letting people go that don’t want to be here,” Logan said.
“Well, I still want to be here,” Charlie said pressing her boot into the ground. “We don’t know anything—”
“Jesus, Charlie!” I said taking a bold step toward her. “She just told us they killed someone because they wanted to leave. What is it going to take to get it through your thick skull?”
Charlie cocked her head to the side. “She’s still here.”
“That’s because she can’t leave without getting a knife in her back!” I said noticing Shawn moving his hands in the corner of my eyes.
“Shh!” Shawn said.
I coughed and drew in a deep breath. No one seemed to have noticed my outburst. They were all too busy being pleased with taking out The Evolved.
“I’m sick of this same conversation. Stay if you want, Charlie. It’s your life,” I said turning away before she could say anything.
My mind was buzzing so loudly with anger that I hadn’t heard anyone behind me until I stopped near the row of carts. I turned, and Shawn pulled me into his arms.
“We’ll figure this out,” Shawn said, and I couldn’t stop myself from pressing my face against his chest. It was the only way I could think of to block out the world.
“Charlie’s insane,” I muttered.
“Charlie’s scared,” Shawn said, rubbing his hand up and down my back.
I pulled back from him and straightened my shoulders. Tina and Ross were winding down the celebration and rounding up the others.
Before everyone gathered around their carts, Shawn, Logan, and Charlie came up to Shawn and I. Ryder had his arm around Charlie’s shoulders.
Logan’s head bobbed slowly. Charlie kept her eyes on her feet. She still didn’t seem convinced.
“What about Abby?” I asked.
“All we can do is ask her to come with us,” Ryder said.
Charlie shrugged out of Ryder’s arms. “No. I won’t do it. I’m staying.”
She stormed off with her head down. It was less than ten steps before she walked right into Ross.
“Whoa, there girly. Where ya off to?” Ross said grinning at her like a snake who just found its dinner.
“Nowhere. Nothing,” Charlie said.
Ross’ arm slithered around her shoulders as he led her further from us. He was dividing us.
“I’ll try talking to her,” Ryder said.
“It’s not going to work,” I said. “She’s made up her mind.”
Tina waved her arm over her head and whistled. “Let’s move out!”
Abby stood in front of Ryder and Logan’s cart, but Charlie didn’t come back to join her.
“Ross and Tina want to teach her some things,” Abby said over her shoulder without making any eye contact.
The line started moving. We were back on our way to the renegade camp. A camp that I was afraid of seeing because if I didn’t leave this group before we arrived, I worried that I’d be trapped forever.
“Abby,” I whispered. She turned slightly. “We’re going to escape, and I want you to come with us.”
She faced forward again. Her hand went up to her face, but all I could see was the back of her head.
Her shoulders rose up and then sank back down with a heavy exhale.
“OK,” she said. “When?”
Chapter 19
At the next break, I watched as Ryder and Logan tried to talk to Charlie. Ryder’s face was red with frustration. It looked like at any minute he could explode.
After a few minutes, he threw his hands into the air and stomped back over toward Shawn and me. I chewed my fingernail as he approached.
“She doesn’t care,” he said through his teeth as he walked past me. “She’s done running. There’s nothing we can do to convince her.”
Ravaged Land: Divided Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Books 1-3 Page 25
