by Amy Cross
She stares at me for a moment, before taking a step back. “Congratulations, Asher. You set up your own little town. You even gave it a name. And guess what? As soon as Vargas and the others get here, your stupid wooden sign is gonna get crushed into the mud, and they're gonna laugh at the name Steadfall while they pick your bones clean over dinner! You have to know which fights to pick and which ones to walk away from, and right now you're getting it all wrong!”
As she walks away, I continue to stare at the sign. I know I'm being dumb and sentimental, but I also know that it's a long time since I dared to care for anything. By giving the town this name, I know there's zero chance that I'll turn and run when things get tough. For better or for worse, I'm going to defend the Steadfall with my life.
Chapter Fifty-one
Iris
They're coming.
Spotting movement in the distance, I turn and see half a dozen people making their way through the forest, headed right this way. Before I can react, I realize there are more a little further off, as if the entire cannibal town is coming this way.
I turn to run, but Deckard grabs my arm.
“Stay strong,” he hisses. “If you try to make a break for it, they'll catch you. You're safer here, with us.”
I know he's right, but as I see Vargas getting closer, I feel a shiver run through my chest. I swear, the mere sight of that woman chills my blood. Even from this distance, I can see she's already got her eyes fixed on me. She looks hungry.
Chapter Fifty-two
Asher
“You're an insanely dumb bitch sometimes,” Jude whispers as I watch twenty or so people making their way through the forest, headed right this way with a tall, tough-looking woman at their head. “Do you really want to get into this fight? Over someone you don't even know?”
“You're welcome to run,” I tell her. “I doubt they'd bother coming after you. I'm the one who's pissed them off.”
“For no reason!” she hisses. “You're acting like you think you can actually take them on!”
“What's wrong?” I ask. “Got no faith?”
“That must be Vargas,” she continues with a hint of awe in her voice, as the gang of cannibals gets closer. “Asher, you've got to give this up! It's not like you to be so confrontational! You usually avoid this kind of thing!”
“Yeah, well...” I take a deep breath. “That shows how much you really know about me, doesn't it? I let myself get crushed a long time ago, but I'm sick of staying down.”
Before she can reply, I push past her and make my way across the clearing. Up ahead, most of the crowd has stopped at the treeline but the larger woman is still coming, with her dark eyes fixed on me. There's a knife in her right hand and as she stops just a few feet away, I can almost smell her confidence.
I once swore I'd never get into another fight. Maybe I should have stuck to that rule.
“You got something of mine?” she asks, tilting her head slightly like an inquisitive dog. She stops just a few feet from me.
“I don't think so,” I tell her, somehow managing to keep the fear from cracking my voice. “From what I see, there's none of your property anywhere around here.”
“We can talk about this,” Jude says, hurrying over to join me. “We don't want a fight.”
“Then give me what's mine,” the woman replies. “It's a pretty simple deal.”
“You're Vargas, aren't you?” Jude asks, stepping forward. “We've heard about you. We respect you a great deal and we'd never try to go against you.”
“My name travels, huh?” Vargas says with her grin, keeping her eyes fixed on me. “I've heard a little about you two. Apparently the shorter, mousy one likes her meat, but the taller one with the pissy face is something of a trouble-maker. Does that sound about right?”
“You're not taking her,” I say firmly. “That girl isn't your property.”
“What's it to you?” she asks.
“I came to the island to get away from a world where people are treated like possessions,” I tell her. “I really, really don't intend to see that kind of thing replicated here.”
“And what do you think you can do to stop me?” Vargas asks with a smirk. “I want her, and I have the means to take her. The only question is how much of a fight you put up, and whether I'm gonna kill you anyway for making me come all the way out here.” She looks around for a moment, before letting out a sniff of derision. “Looks like you're fixing to set up a place of your own. I don't...” She pauses, as if she's considering the matter, and then finally she shakes her head. “No, I don't think that's gonna be allowed. This is my land and I'm not gonna let you build anything on it.”
“This isn't your land,” I tell her.
“I claimed it.”
“You claimed as far as the ridge.”
“And now I'm claiming further,” she says with a smile. “In fact, I'm claiming from here all the way to the cliff.”
I take a deep breath. “No.”
“No?”
“You don't own this land,” I tell her, “and you don't own that girl, and you don't scare anyone here so -”
“Is that right?” she asks, taking a step toward me until we're almost chest-to-chest.
I flinch, but I don't step back.
“You're confident,” she continues, lowering her voice a little, “I'll give you that, but the truth is, I can't afford to let challenges like this go unpunished. The people you see behind me, the people who live in my settlement, respect me because I'm strong, and if I ever lose that image I'll be challenged. So it's too late for you to back down now, do you understand? Even if you drop to your knees and beg for mercy, we've crossed a line and I can't go back, not without your blood running down my chin. I figure we'll dispense with weapons, though. I like to kill my meals with my bare hands.”
“You sound pretty confident too,” I tell her, maintaining eye contact.
“I'm not a cruel woman, though,” she continues, “so I'll offer an olive branch. If either of your two friends here, the mousy girl or the guy, want to come join me and my friends at the town, they're welcome to do so. My problem is with you, not with them. I'm always willing to let new people join the group, if they can accept my terms.”
“Why would anyone want to join you?” I ask. “You're a bunch of -”
Before I can finish, I hear footsteps next to me, and I turn just in time to see Jude stepping behind Vargas and then turning to face me.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“I'm sorry,” she replies, with tears in her eyes, “but I've got to do what's right for me, and right now that means joining people who are stronger. People who actually have a future, and who aren't about to get crushed down into the mud.”
“You're leaving?” I stammer, stunned by her betrayal.
“It's not my fault,” she replies, “you're forcing me to do this. You're acting irrationally. Besides, you're gonna be dead real soon. Kinda makes sense when you think about it.”
“Go join the others,” Vargas tells her with a smile, setting a hand on Jude's shoulder. “I appreciate you putting your trust in me, and if you're a good worker I promise we'll find a place for you at our table. We'll find a plate for you, too.”
“Thank you,” she replies, before glancing at me again. “Sorry, Asher. It was fun while it lasted but everything has to end, right?” She pauses, as if she's going to say something else, and then she turns and hurries to the treeline to join the rest of Vargas's friends.
“What about you?” Vargas asks, turning to Deckard. “Got a brain in that head of yours, or are you gonna stick with this dumb-ass?”
“I don't befriend bullies,” he replies, even though there's a hint of fear in his voice.
“Huh.” She stares at him for a moment, before turning back to me. “I respect you for making a stand,” she explains, “so I'm gonna make this quick. Can't afford to waste the meat, though, so I'll have to drag your corpse back so one of my butchers can carve you up. D
on't worry, though, they're real artists. You'll be nicely seasoned and cured, and cut into the finest pieces imaginable.”
I wait for her to make her move, but after a moment I realize she seems to be sniffing the air between us.
“I have a rule,” I tell her. “I never strike first.”
She smiles.
Suddenly she slams her knee into my gut with enough force to knock me back, while grabbing my head and twisting me around. Before I have time to react, she slams me down into the mud and smashes her right heel against my neck, almost crushing my windpipe. I roll to one side, gasping for air, but she's already reaching down to grab me again so I lunge at her, throwing all my weight against her chest and then butting my head against her face, breaking her nose with a satisfying crunch. Without giving her time to hit back, I punch her jaw as hard as I can manage and then I kick her legs out from under her, sending her down into a crumpled heat and causing her to spew blood from her mouth.
Out of breath, I take a step back.
“Ready to stop?” I ask. “You got a jump on me that time, but it won't happen again.”
Clearly in pain, she struggles to her feet.
“You've got some fight in you,” she stammers, before spitting out a couple of teeth. “That's good, I like that.”
She runs at me, but this time I'm more than ready for her. Stepping to one side, I grab her neck and shove her past, before crashing my elbow into the back of her neck, just like I was taught in training years ago. She drops immediately, landing face-first in the dirt, and again I step back as she lets out a cry of anger.
“Where did you learn that?” she hisses. “How does a streak of piss girl fight like a pro?”
“If I told you,” I reply, even more breathless than before, “I'd have to kill you.”
Once again, she struggles to get up, and I can tell that she's already tiring. Honestly, I've dealt with much bigger, much tougher bitches over the years, especially before I came to the island. Glancing over at the treeline, I can see the look of surprise on Jude's face. I guess she had no reason to suspect that I had this in me.
As soon as Vargas lunges at me again, I counter with a knee to her face. I feel something break beneath her flesh, maybe her cheek or an eye socket, and I quickly grab her by the throat and pull her closer before raining three hard punches down against her forehead in quick succession. The triple-hammer move, that's what they called it at the academy. I feel her body going limp, but I know I need to finish this as quickly as possible so I spin her around and shove her to the ground before grabbing her arm and twisting it back until I can feel the bone starting to bend.
“Don't make me kill you,” I whisper into her ear. “I only fight in self-defense these days.”
“Where...” she gasps, before letting out a grunt of pain. “How did you...”
“You're going to walk away,” I continue, applying a little more pressure to her arm. Any more, and it'll snap like a twig. “You're going to stay away. Is that clear?”
“Go to -”
“Is that clear?” I hiss.
She lets out another gasp, but it's close enough to “Yes” so I let go of her arm and step back. As she starts crawling away, I look over at Jude again and see that her eyes are wide with admiration. I guess she never thought I had a chance.
“Okay,” Vargas stammers, standing slowly and stiffly as she clutches her arm. “I get it. You're tougher than you look.”
“I'm glad I got that message across,” I tell her. “Now get out of here.” With that, I turn to walk away.
A fraction of a second later, I hear her coming for me again. Instinctively I spin around and swing a punch, connecting with her neck just as she makes a snarling lunge for my face. This move was tagged as the Guttermeyer punch, after my academy instructor, and it's almost always fatal. As soon as I feel the bones shatter beneath her flesh, I know it's over, and she stumbles past clutching her throat, while letting go of the knife she'd tried to use after all. Dropping to the ground, she starts coughing up blood, but I broke her spine just below the base of her skull and she can barely move at all. Stepping over to her, I can see the terror in her eyes as she tries to spit out more teeth, but she's drowning in blood and spinal fluid and the only thing I can do for her now is to end her misery. Reaching down, I take the knife from my belt and drive it into her chest, piercing her heart.
It's been a while since I killed someone like this.
Her eyes open wide, fixed on me, and I watch as she dies.
Once she's done, I get to my feet and turn to see Deckard staring at me with an expression of shock, while Iris is nowhere to be seen. Finally I look over at the far treeline and see that the cannibals are already retreating, clearly shocked by what just happened.
Jude stares at me for a moment, before turning and hurrying after them.
I look around, before realizing that someone's missing.
“Where's Iris?” I ask, turning to Deckard. “Where did she go?”
Chapter Fifty-three
Iris
Racing between the trees, I suddenly trip on an exposed root and tumble down, landing hard and rolling several feet until I come to a stop. As soon as I try to get up, I feel a sharp pain in my ankle and I realize I've twisted it or maybe even worse. I know I have to keep running in case that Vargas woman comes after me, but I'm too breathless and finally I slump down against the bed of leaves.
And that's when I realize the truth. I'm on an island. No matter how far I run, I can never get far enough away.
Chapter Fifty-four
Asher
“I tried to stop her,” Deckard explains, watching me as I work on improving the fence. “I guess pure fear just took hold of her and she couldn't help herself. She bolted.”
“I understand why,” I mutter, pulling some canopy cord tight around two of the logs. “We're going to need more material if we want to get this town up and running.”
“Town?”
“A few buildings for now,” I add, “but... Steadfall needs to grow if it's going to survive.” I tie the cord and then grab some more logs, ready to strengthen the fence.
“So where did you learn those moves?” he asks suddenly.
“What moves?”
“Vargas was taller and bigger than you,” he continues, “and you had her down without breaking a sweat. Seems to me, you obviously had some training some time, most likely before you came to the island.”
“It doesn't matter.”
I keep working, but I can tell he's not going to leave this alone.
“What aren't you telling me?” he asks finally.
Turning to him, I can see that he's genuinely curious. “I don't talk about my life before the island,” I say after a moment. “I'm sorry if you find that frustrating, but it's my rule and I'm sticking to it. You're just going to have to trust me when I say that I have a good reason for that decision. I totally get it if you feel you can't trust me, and there won't be any hard feelings if you decide to walk away.”
“Walk away?” He pauses, but I can already see the answer in his eyes. “Where would I go? At least here there's a hint of the beginning of something worthwhile. I just feel like, if we're going to be the only two idiots here, I'd like to know a little more about you.”
I set the next log in place and attach a section of cord, before stepping back and taking a look at my handiwork. It's not too bad for a beginner, and it's definitely better than my first fence. Finally, I turn to Deckard. “We should get back to work on that wall,” I tell him. “Before night falls.”
“Just tell me if -”
“Don't ask,” I reply, pushing past him. “Never ask again.”
***
I've never been any good at sleeping. Even as a little kid, back in my parents' home, I used to stay awake for hours at night, just staring at the ceiling and thinking about the world. I guess back then I already knew, deep down, that I had to keep my defenses up all the time. It's hard to believe that such a scar
ed, timid little girl could end up doing the things I did, or coming to the island, or beating someone like Vargas in a straight fight.
Sometimes I feel as if I truly have become a completely different person.
If only.
Deckard is snoring, which makes it even harder for me to get to sleep. I keep listening for any hint of movement out in the forest, just in case a bunch of those cannibals decide to come this way again, but I'm pretty sure they'll be wary. After all, they saw how quickly and easily I defeated Vargas, and they don't know that I only meant to hurt her, that actually killing her was an accident. Reputations matter in this kind of situation, and hopefully now they'll keep well away.
If they come back, though, I'll have to deal with them.
As I finally start drifting into sleep, I realize I can feel the first whispers of a familiar dream. I used to hate anything that reminded me of my old life, but lately I've been having the same dream over and over, and I've come to the conclusion that the more I push my memories out of my waking world, the more they seep into my thoughts when I'm asleep. Rather than fighting that phenomenon, I figure I'll just let it happen. After all, dreams can't hurt anyone.
For a moment, I see myself at the top of a dark flight of stairs, face to face with a thorn-headed man and -
Suddenly I open my eyes, aware that I heard the faintest hint of movement nearby. Turning, I half expect to see figures approaching through the forest, but there's no sign of anyone. I sit up and look around, barely able to see anything despite the moonlight bathing the trees in patches of dark blue, but a moment later I turn and spot a solitary figure up on the high ground, making her way toward the cliff overlooking the sea.
From the silhouette alone, I recognize her immediately.
Jude.
Getting to my feet, I head across the clearing, while glancing around just in case this is a trap. I'm pretty sure I'd have picked up on any other visitors by now, however, and besides...
