“What? Why would we…oh!” She started to run.
Sean knew she’d figured out the same thing. If that was the Truther’s last contribution to the tithe, then the boat could only be going to one place…the settlement.
They followed the boat until they were forced to stop by nightfall. They couldn’t risk stumbling into the Truther settlement unprepared. They picked their way carefully along the cliff in the darkness seeking a suitable campsite.
“Stop, Sean!” Sara said, pulling him down into a crouch beside her. She peered into the darkness. “I thought I saw something move.”
She leaned forward and he tugged her back. “Sara, if you saw something, we should go the other way.”
“It wasn’t moving right, Sean. Whatever it is, it’s injured.”
Sean yanked off his gloves as he followed her, glad that his engineered fighting staff didn’t get cold in the frigid air. They moved slowly, stopping to listen. At their second stop, he heard it too. Heavy breathing. If he squinted, he could almost make out a dark shape piled against the base of a tree about thirty feet away. They began inching forward again, the cold ground crunching slightly as they shifted weight. The silence was pierced by a low moan and they dropped to the ground.
“It’s definitely not an animal, Sara. What if it’s a Lobo?”
“Then we’ll do the kind thing,” she said.
He cringed, though he knew she was kidding. Sort of. “We’re close now, Sara. Let’s get a little closer and then blind him with our flashlight. We should have the element of surprise in our favor.”
“Sounds like a plan, Sean. You blind, I’ll cover.”
“Deal.” He counted to three and then leapt up, flipping on his flashlight as Sara popped up beside him. “Holy shit!” he cried, staring at the crumpled, shivering man. “Darryl?”
Darryl blinked into the glare, his eyes bleary. “ S-S-S-Sean?” His teeth clattered. “S-S-Sean S-Skillman?”
“Darryl!” Sean grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. “ Darryl, are you hurt? How did you get here? Where are the others? Where are they, Darryl?”
“Sean,” Sara said, pulling his hands away. “He’s half-dead. Give him a second.” She pulled of her mittens and pressed her palm to his cheek. “Jesus Christ, he’s freezing! We need to make a fire.”
“Sara, we can’t,” Sean said. “We’re too close to the Truthers.”
“H-h-h-he’s r-r-right,” Darryl chattered.
“We’ll keep it small.” She whipped the flashlight around until she found a grey tumble of shadows. “There! See those rocks? We’ll go back there. It’ll keep us out of the wind anyway.” She shoved her mittens onto Darryl’s hands, pulling an extra scarf from her pocket and winding it around his neck. “If we don’t make a fire,” she said, staring into his eyes, “you’re gonna die, Darryl.”
“I sh-sh-should d-d-die, S-S-Sara.”
“Shhhhhh. You’re not feeling well. We have to warm you up.”
It took nearly three hours for them to get Darryl’s body to stop shivering. Sara had been right, he’d come very close to dying of hypothermia. As it was, several of his fingertips and toes didn’t look that great. Of course, they were better than the slash through his bicep where the bullet had grazed him. Sara had taken charge of cleaning and tightly bandaging that wound before climbing into the sleeping bag with Darryl (fully clothed, of course) to help him warm up.
When his teeth stopped chattering, he was finally able to tell them what had happened. Up until that point he’d only managed to choke out, “I m-m-made a m-m-mistake,” repeatedly.
“What happened, Darryl? Why are you out here?” Sean worked the fire, stirring the white-hot coals.
“I’m out here because of my big mouth,” Darryl said.
Sara patted his hand as she slid out of his bag and sat beside Sean. “Carter brought me in to question me. I’m assuming his plan was to make a public example of me, because of the whole immortality thing.”
Sean exchanged a glance with Sara. They’d wondered if the Truthers had listened to the broadcast of Asher’s book. Obviously, they had.
“When he tried to make me feel guilty, I fired back at him.” Darryl sat up, his bag wrapped around him. “I was so angry. You can’t imagine what it was like, being marched hundreds of miles with those animals at our backs. We were terrified for the kids.”
Sara gripped his arm. The thought of their parents and sisters being forced to march, afraid for their lives… His nails dug into his palms inside his mittens.
“I wanted him to know that we knew he was a liar,” Darryl said. “I didn’t mean to put anyone at risk.”
Sean froze. “What do you mean?”
“I told him that we knew the truth…that he was from Diaspora. I thought that he’d have to let us go because we knew the truth. But I underestimated him.” Darryl hung his head. “He made me tell him who knew the truth. I tried to lie and say that we all did, but he had his head goon, ah, convince me.” He lifted his limp left arm with his right. “I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated.”
Sara covered a small cry. “Darryl, why didn’t you tell me about that? You need a sling.”
“It doesn’t really matter, Sara. Nothing that happens to me matters now. I deserve what I get.”
“C’mon,” she chided him. “What else were you supposed to do?”
“That’s easy to say, but I wish I hadn’t done it now. I wish I had made him kill me there, where he’d have to explain it to his people. Instead I wrote down the names and then he banished me. He must have told Silas…” he stopped, shuddering. “That’s the name of his head guy. Silas. On the march we called him ‘The Ghost.’”
Darryl paused for a minute, his eyes trained on the dying fire. An icy finger of wind whistled over the rocks, whipping the flames. Sean shivered, but Darryl didn’t even seem to notice. The light danced across his hollow eyes. “Turns out I was the one supposed to be a ghost by now,” he said.
“I can’t believe Carter told him to kill you,” Sean said, shaking his head. They’d underestimated this guy’s desire for payback in a huge way.
“Well, he told Silas to make sure he never saw me again, so I guess it was open to interpretation.” Darryl’s voice was bitter. “The only reason I survived was because I fell into a ditch, of all things. And because you found me.”
Sean’s mind raced, calculating time and distances, his focus snapped back to the colonists. This couldn’t have happened today or else he and Sara would have heard the gunshots. “When was this, Darryl? How far away are we? Is everyone all right?”
“So far,” Darryl said, focusing at last on the most important question. “At least, the ones whose names I didn’t write down should be ok. I don’t know what he’ll do to the ones...” He paused, biting his lip. “…The ones who know his secret. The others are basically safe. We didn’t get to see the whole settlement. They kept us away from the rest of the Truthers. But you know what’s really crazy?” He shook his head. “The place is…was…a goddamned summer camp. You know, like with screened wood cabins and everything? Except that ‘Camp Truth’ has watchtowers and barbed wire around it.”
Sara choked and Sean felt the lump in his own throat. “So it’s a prison then, is what you’re saying. Are they feeding them?”
“Yes, but the rations are really meager. Of course, that doesn’t matter given the timeline.”
“What timeline?” Sara asked, frowning.
“We’ve only got sixty days before he kicks them all out. If they don’t convert, he’s gonna scatter them into the Dead Zones without any supplies.”
Camp Truth
------------- Sean ---------------
The three hid through the better part of the next day, waiting for dusk. They set out as the sun slipped beneath the leaden clouds, turning them red-hot before the fires cooled.
They followed Darryl’s lead. Sean watched with interest as the little man strode forward, his eyes burning and his jaw clenched. This was a Da
rryl he’d never met. The old Darryl would never have walked headfirst into danger. The metamorphosis was as irreversible as it was inevitable, Sean thought sadly, the transformation of man from prey to predator.
After a rather short hike, Darryl halted. “It’s only a mile or so upriver to the settlement.” Sara pulled her daggers and Darryl startled and then nodded. “It’s heavily guarded.”
Sean pulled out his compass and examined their surroundings. Their position on the southern bank of the river was still nearly two stories above the northern bank, but here and there the opposite shore rose in awkward pillars and steps. The white stone was bathed in the fading crimson light, and Sean’s mind flew back to a memory of pink cliffs. “Sara, do you remember this? We’ve been here before. This is the Ohio river.”
Sara narrowed her eyes. “The first Seed, right? That must be why the Ohio stations were attacked first. They were the closest.”
Hope fluttered in Sean’s chest. He knew exactly where they were! When they reached a stand of boulders just beyond the settlement, the hope died. In the distance he could see shadowy forms hovering between the trees. There were so many it seemed like there were more forms than trees. In their arms rested long, dark weapons — automatic weapons. Stolen from Eden, he thought, gritting his teeth.
“The prison camp is that way,” Darryl said, pointing to the south. “It’s in the center of a Dead Zone, so we can’t get close until the light is completely gone. It’s not ringed with ‘Angels’ like the settlement, but there are guards in the watchtowers.”
“So what’s that way?” Sean gestured toward the Lobo guards in the distance.
“That’s the main settlement. I didn’t get to see much of it. They marched me in and marched me right back out pretty quickly. I think the entire thing runs along the cliff side, but I’m not sure. The only thing I do know is that they have a LOT of guards, and they’re all pigs.” He spat.
Now that they were so close, it was torture to wait for the last of the daylight to fade. Sean’s fingers drummed on his knees, subconsciously marking the time. Once darkness fell they snuck down the hill to the edge of the forest, where the Dead Zone began. A lake separated the forest from the Dead Zone, stars glittering in its half-frozen surface. A dock and sliding board peeked from the ice, and the shoreline was littered with a cluster of wooden cabins. “Wow, you weren’t kidding, Darryl,” Sean whispered. “It’s a freaking summer camp.”
“Was.” Sara growled, her eyes locked on the barbed wire fences and looming watchtowers.
Sean’s mind flew back to the prison the Seeders had found that first summer. How scared they’d been once they saw that the criminals had escaped. Here the criminals are the only ones free.
They made their way from shadow to shadow until they were huddled behind the cabin that was closest to the fence. Sara used the utility knife to clip the wires at ground level. She pulled them back and Sean wriggled beneath.
“Just shut it!” A voice growled from above.
Sean froze, still only halfway through, his heart pounding. There was gruff laughter from the nearest watchtower and he saw two Lobos shoving each other, distracted. He scuttled under the fence, with Sara and Darryl close behind. They tiptoed up the stairs of the nearest cabin and slipped in the door.
All was quiet. The colonists were sleeping in rows of bunk beds and a single candle guttered on a table beside the door. A woman sat up in bed and started to scream, and then clapped her hand over her open mouth
“Shhhhhhh!” Sean whispered, Sara echoing him.
Heads popped up from beneath their blankets like prairie dogs, their eyes wide. The woman slid from the bed, rushing to them, and Sean’s heart surged. It was his mother.
Lucy pinched the candle, plunging them into darkness. She choked back a sob as she embraced him. “Sean! You’re alive! And Sara!” She pulled Sara in with her free arm. “Darryl! Where have you been?”
Sean’s heart leapt as the rest of the Skillmans slid from their beds to greet them. He fought tears when his father wrapped him in a bear hug, slapping him on the back like a man. “’S good to see ya, kid,” John choked.
“We knew you would find us,” Lucy added, wiping her tears. “We knew you wouldn’t stop until you did.” Her eyes darted beyond them, searching, and Sean knew she wondered why it was only the two of them.
He pulled back from their embrace and saw that the entire cabin had risen. They watched the reunion with glimmering eyes. “Where’s Kiara?” he asked.
“Here, Uncle Sean.” Little hands reached for his. “Where’s Fi?”
Sean’s heart twisted and he knelt. “She’s fine, Kiara. She’s safe. Her only worry was that something happened to you.” He felt tears of relief and anger prick at his eyes. “That something had happened to all of you.”
“Why isn’t she with you?” Kiara whimpered. “Where’s Ash?”
“They’re still at Eden, Kiara. Fi couldn’t come. She…she had a baby.”
“What?” Lucy gasped.
“It’s true,” Sara said. “ She was eight months along when we got to Eden. The shock sent her into labor.”
Frightened murmurs rippled through the cabin.
“No, she’s all right,” Sara added. “She delivered a healthy boy. They named him Luke.”
“Oh, God, thank God.” Lucy’s hand rested on her heart. “Jesus, you’ve all been through too much.”
“Us?” Sean swiped at his eyes with his coat sleeve. “What about all of you?”
“We’re ok,” Lucy murmured. “But none of us knows what to do. They have one guardian ‘Angel’ for every three of us. And we’re not fighters. We were all so afraid for the kids that we didn’t fight. When we did, they…” She stopped, her hand flying to her mouth.
Her eyes squeezed shut and she shook her head. Her hand was shaking…she was shaking. Time slowed as Sean’s rage turned milliseconds to eons. “They did what, Mom?”
His youngest sister, Zoe, pressed her face into Lucy’s leg, her free hand wrapped tightly in Kiara’s. His mother shook her head. Sean turned to his father.
John dropped his head. It was the first time in the dim light that Sean really saw the fatigue and starvation that was etched on all their faces. Post-Famine, everyone was thin, but he hadn’t seen his father’s eyes so hollow since…since he’d carried Sean’s other little sister Rachel on his back for fifty miles.
“There were a few warning shots, that’s all,” he said.
Lucy choked.
“And some…beatings.”
Sean’s jaw set as his gaze traveled over the exhausted colonists. “Don’t worry,” he said, addressing all of them. “We’re going to get you the hell out of here.”
“But there are only the two of you,” Lucy protested. “How can you possibly get us out?”
“I don’t know, Mom,” he said, managing a weak smile. No matter how bad the situation, his heart soared at being here, with his family. They were alive. “We’ll just have to think of something.”
“Sean,” Sara whispered, tugging his sleeve. “I gotta go.”
He nodded, grabbing her into a quick kiss before she slipped away to find her family. The rest of the evening was spent trading information. Sean brought those in his cabin up to date on the summer Seed, including Sara’s kidnapping and Fi’s prescience in realizing that the Truthers had hired Lobos as mercenaries. “I couldn’t imagine it,” he said. “That Carter would go this far.”
“I know,” Lucy agreed. “We couldn’t believe it either. Most of the colonists had barely given him a thought all this time because we assumed we were safe, and that he was just…”
“…a crackpot.” Sean finished. “Unfortunately he’s not so crazy that he’s stupid. He must’ve been planning this for a while.”
From the corner, Darryl cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but I can’t wait any longer. What did Lawson do with…the ones I named?”
Lucy dropped her head. “Honestly, Darryl, we’re not sure. We just kn
ow that he took them away.”
“Dammit!” He smacked his fist against his palm.
“At the time, none of us even knew why,” Lucy added. “We were just frozen stiff. Louis kept yelling, ‘Where are you taking us?’ Lizzie’s been like a ghost ever since. The only good thing is they took them away with our security, so wherever they are, we think they’re probably together. At least, we hope they are.”
Darryl bit back a cry and slid to the floor, head in hands.
Lucy eyed Sean. “But you’re saying all this is because this guy is really…a scientist?”
“Not just a scientist, Mom. He was one of the original Diaspora participants. We have no idea why he was cut from his final spot or how he found out, but we’re pretty sure he’s the reason that Diaspora I failed.”
The listeners gasped.
John sat up. “Seriously? Do you mean…”
“…sabotage, Dad. Yeah, that’s what we think. We think he slipped into Diaspora I before it was sealed and then blew the seals to scatter the residents.”
“Oh, God, those poor people.” Lucy murmured, frowning. “ So why didn’t the Council tell us he was this dangerous? Why didn’t we take more precaution?”
Sean sighed. “I know, Mom. We made a mistake. We underestimated him. It’s like you said, we thought he was just a crackpot…maybe with a few followers, but we didn’t think he’d ever find Eden. And we really never imagined he’d have a force capable of taking it over.”
John snorted. “Well, he does. He’s got at least a hundred of these ‘Angels’ and that’s just a rough estimate based on the ones who rounded us up and marched us all down here.”
The door to the cabin cracked and Sara slipped back inside. She settled beside Sean on the bunk and gave him a quick kiss just as he was overtaken by a yawn. It was time to rest.
He squeezed beneath the thin blanket with Sara, Lucy, and his sister Rachel in one bunk. Despite the cold, his limbs transformed from concrete to jelly as the adrenaline relented. He yawned again, a real face-cracker this time. Man, he was tired.
Emergence (Eden's Root Trilogy Book 3) Page 8
