by Kelli Kimble
I know that, Cole, Rolfe said. I don’t want her coming ‘round while we’re sleeping. You read the file, didn’t you?
Cole rolled his tongue around in his mouth. I read it.
Then, you know we can’t defend ourselves against her. She can burn us alive with just her thoughts.
The one I’d spoken to earlier started at that.
Rolfe laughed at the younger boy’s reaction. Looks like Froyd didn’t know what he was gettin’ into.
You know, we asked questions, Froyd said. You withheld important information.
It wasn’t important. You two boys can equal her, can’t ya? Rolfe gestured at the pair with a pocket knife he’d been using to pare his fingernails. You’ve got that power, too.
The two boys looked at each other. Froyd turned back to Rolfe. Our abilities are limited to sight. Neither of us can set things on fire.
You can do different stuff, though, right? Cole looked at the other one and narrowed his eyes. We ain’t seen what you can do, Boyd. Why don’t you demonstrate right now?
Boyd’s face flushed. My ability isn’t like Froyd’s. I can’t connect to a single person.
I’m still waiting for that demonstration.
Boyd sat on the ground, and his chest swelled with a deep breath. Then, he exhaled. A ghostly wisp of something whirled above his head and lifted slowly, until it started to take on the form of something human.
It was him.
He was out of his body, the same way I was out of my body — and I could see it, which meant it was likely he could see me.
I ducked behind a tree but peeked out just enough so that I could see them.
Is he gonna do something? Rolfe demanded.
He is doing something, Froyd answered. He’s projecting.
Projecting what? I don’t see nothing.
Froyd rolled his eyes. You can’t see his projection. His mind has left his body. His mind is floating around up there, somewhere. He can see us and hear us. Go stand behind him if you don’t believe me. Then, hold up a few fingers. When he opens his eyes, he’ll tell you how many you’re holding up without turning around.
Rolfe stalked over to stand behind Boyd, but he didn’t look convinced. You’re just gonna tell him, right? That’s a stupid kid’s game.
Okay. I’ll turn away, too. Froyd turned. Now, put up your fingers, and Boyd will tell you how many there are.
The figure above Boyd filtered back into his body, and he opened his eyes. Three fingers, Boyd said.
Ha, Rolfe said. I was holding up four.
Thumbs don’t count — unless you were gonna suck it, Boyd said. You had up three fingers and a thumb.
The others roared with the scratchy laughter of those who don’t use their voices.
Shut up! yelled Rolfe. The laughter died down. Did you see anything with this talent of yours?
Just the four of you, standing around and looking at me, Boyd said.
Don’t be fresh, boy. You know I’m asking about the girl. The girl and the woman.
Boyd shook his head. I didn’t go far. I was just above your heads. You want me to go looking for her? Right now?
Rolfe cast a look at the sky. The sun was starting to set. He grabbed Boyd by the collar and dragged him to a standing position. You go do your thing, and you make damn sure she isn’t anywhere nearby. You got it? He shook Boyd by the shirt.
Boyd dipped his head. I, uh, I got it, Rolfe.
Then, get to it. I’m not kidding. She could easily kill us all dead.
Boyd grabbed onto Rolfe’s hand, vainly trying to steady himself. He was obviously terrified of the larger man. Rolfe shook him again. I heard Boyd’s teeth snap together as his jaw clamped shut from the force. Then, Rolfe pushed Boyd’s shoulder, shoving him to the ground.
My anger rekindled, and I couldn’t help myself. I picked up a rock from the creek bed and threw it at Rolfe’s head as hard as I could.
Ow, goddammit! What was that? Rolfe clapped a hand to his temple, where the rock had struck him. He pulled it away and sneered at the blood on his palm. Rolfe threw a glare at the other men, standing around. Which one of you wankers did this?
◆◆◆
Still angry, I threw another rock. This one hit him in the back of the head. He turned and peered into the trees. A look of horror dawned on his coarse features. She’s here, watching us. She did this. He pointed at the blood dripping down his face. She’s going to kill us.
In the din above the men trying to figure out where I could be, Froyd said to me, Are you there?
Yes, I said, just to him. I’m here. Gayle says you’re here to kill us. Is that true?
Gayle’s still alive? How did she survive the cat attack?
Don’t change the subject. I asked you a question.
He sat down at the campsite, in front of the fire. Our objective is to kill Gayle and return with you.
I had to work to suppress my laughter. They thought they could take me all the way back to the city, and I wouldn’t hurt them along the way? Why would they want me?
Same reason they want me and Boyd, he said.
I glanced over at Boyd, whose essence was above his body, floating just above the heads of the men and moving around the campsite, searching for me. Did you tell him? Boyd? I asked.
Tell him what?
That you talked to me.
No.
Why not?
He shrugged.
I don’t want to hurt you. Any of you, I said.
He glanced over at Rolfe. It’s a little late to claim that.
I only did that, so he’d let go of Boyd. Is he your brother?
My twin.
Boyd was moving closer to the woods, and I moved to hide myself beneath some shrubs. I see his essence. Can you see it?
No. I can tell from the way he’s sitting that he’s not in himself. But, that’s it.
How’d you get your abilities?
A scowl passed over his face. It was an accident.
An accidental . . . experiment?
No. Just an accident. Look, what do you want from me? Why do you keep talking to me?
I fell silent. Why was I talking to him? Curiosity? Because I hoped to get him to lead them away? Or maybe . . . did I want to be near someone like me?
Are you still there?
Yeah, I said.
Boyd’s essence floated near me, and I stilled. He moved on. Look. They want to take you back to the city. They think Gayle is dead. Just surrender yourself, and they’ll take you back, and everything will be fine.
Is that a personal guarantee? That everything will be fine?
He didn’t answer. I’d caught him in a lie.
What do they want me for? I asked.
They’re afraid of you.
Then, why bring me back?
I don’t have the details, Nimisila. They’ve told me next-to-nothing. They sure as hell didn’t tell me you could kill me if you wanted to. Boyd and I are only here because they threatened my family.
Your family’s as good as dead already, I said. Just like mine.
I have to believe that isn’t true, he said. I’ll do what they ask until I know it isn’t.
I won’t go back, I said.
Let me ask you something: What were you doing when you decided to leave? Living with your aunt? Babysitting your niece?
Yeah, I said.
So, what horrible thing do you think waits for you? They were allowing you to live amongst them — even with the power you have. Why would they do anything different now?
Because the searchers kill everyone who leaves, I said.
Maybe they do. But not everyone who leaves can do the things you can.
I didn’t know what to think of that. I watched Boyd’s essence drift around, searching for me, for a few minutes. Confusion was clouding my thoughts. If they wanted me dead, they’d just as soon kill me out here. They wouldn’t want to bring me back. I’d thought there was nobody left who knew about the experiments, but Boyd and Fro
yd had come from something — even if it was only an accident.
I wanted to return to the cave to talk it over with Gayle. But her opinion was biased, too. She believed the searchers always killed those who left the city. Besides, if I went back, I’d have to explain I hadn’t killed them as she’d asked.
The sky grew darker. The men were all clustered around the fire now — except for Boyd. His essence was still drifting among the trees, looking for me, and it was starting to look more transparent. He was running out of energy and would have to return to his body soon.
Why aren’t you using your ability on me? I asked Froyd.
It takes a lot of effort. I won’t do it unless they make me.
They want me to make you better, stronger. Don’t they?
He gave a tiny shake of his head, then swatted the air with his hand, as if he were trying to shoo away a bug. We don’t have anything to do with what they want.
You can’t know that, I said.
I know enough.
After the sun sets, will you be able to get away? To talk?
Sure, he said.
Remember: I can hurt you if you’re trying to trick me.
I haven’t forgotten.
I looked through the trees. Boyd was returning to his body. When I was sure he was back inside himself, I let the tension in my own body snap me back to the cave.
Gayle hadn’t stirred much from her spot. She’d added a little bit of wood to the fire, but it was dying down again. I left it alone. Better not to give them a trail to follow.
“Well? Are they dead?” she asked.
“Not exactly,” I said.
“You said you’d kill them. Nim, they’re going to kill us.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said. “They haven’t done anything to threaten us. We don’t know they’re going to do that.”
“I know. My dad was a searcher — the best one there was — and he warned me a thousand times never to leave the city.”
“How long ago was that? Come on, Gayle. That doesn’t seem realistic at all.”
“He quit because he didn’t want to have to hunt Tabby,” she said, low and grating. “He said he understood the reasons, and he wouldn’t stand in anybody else’s way, but he couldn’t kill his own little girl — no matter how disobedient she was.”
“But they haven’t made any move at all to hurt us,” I said.
“How can they? They don’t know where we are.”
I dropped my gaze to the cave floor. “I don’t know.”
“Nimisila. What did you do? Do they know where we are?” Her voice rose in a panic.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved she was finally acting like she was alive or upset she thought I could be so stupid. “They don’t know where we are. But they could figure it out if I stay here. I’m going to go out and keep an eye on them. Okay? Can you stay here on your own?”
She crossed her arms. “For how long? You know, I can’t catch food. I can barely get water.”
“I’ll get you a rabbit before I go and stock your woodpile and get you some water. It’ll be okay, all right?”
“You’ve got to get rid of them — and I don’t just mean chase them away, Nimisila. I mean, they all need to die, and then we have to get out of here. Soon.”
“But–”
“There’s no buts about it, Nim. Honey, they want us dead. So, once they’re dead, we’ll want to get as far away from here as we can. Because more will follow.”
I didn’t argue. I set about the chores I’d said I’d do and kept my thoughts to myself. I didn’t mention they’d tracked the tablet, and I didn’t remind her they had an idea of our destination. Whether or not they’d been able to communicate where we planned to go to anyone else, I didn’t know — and I didn’t know if they’d realized why we were going to the coast.
Stubbornly, I tried to rationalize that the coast was a big place. The map wasn’t zoomed in on our actual destination because we were still too far away to bother with that kind of detail. The entire Western seaboard wasn’t a trivial place to search. Heck, we didn’t even know if where we were headed was the right place ourselves.
Sighing, I finished the last of my tasks. I left Gayle with the sleeping bag, and I put on the remaining coat. I’d need it to stay warm tonight in the woods.
The cave was dark, except for the tiny spark of fire I’d lit so that she could cook her rabbit. It was enough to illuminate her face. The light threw harsh lines over it, and when she turned her eyes up to meet mine, she became almost grotesque. “You know what needs to be done,” she said.
I gritted my teeth together. Something about this was so wrong. I couldn’t just go around killing everyone who ever said boo to me, could I? An ache in my belly started to spread through my gut. When I’d escaped with Elton, killing everything in our path had seemed like the only thing we could do to get out alive. But, was it? Had we hurt all those people out of anger?
“Nimisila?”
I clamped down on my feelings. We’d hurt those people because of our own pain and suffering. We did what we had to do to make it stop. “I know what needs to be done,” I said.
She twisted off a leg of the rabbit and held it out to me. I took it. My ability had provided us this food, and we were making good use of it. I bit into it, but it was too hot, and I yanked it from my mouth.
“Good,” she said. “Get on with it. There’s no telling if more of them are trailing behind.”
I nodded and turned to leave the cave. I knew what needed to be done.
But that didn’t mean I had to do it.
Chapter 9
After checking their campsite, I found a hollowed-out log nearby to spend the night in. I put up my hood and cinched it tight so that it would cover my mouth and forehead. I gathered dead leaves to cover my legs, and then I burrowed into the log and sat.
I left my body and went to the campsite. Cole — the one with the eyebrows — was sitting up at the fire. He was holding a pinecone, and he was pulling the scales from the cone, one by one, and tossing them into the fire. Some of them burnt as soon as they touched the flame, creating a brief burst of light before they burned out.
The shelters were zipped tight, but it didn’t matter; I passed through the wall of one and hovered above the sleeping figure inside. Someone was snoring loud enough to rival Gayle; no wonder he was sleeping alone. I moved in closer and discovered it was Rolfe. I went to the other shelter and found Froyd and Boyd there, as well as the last man, whose name I hadn’t heard yet. Boyd was curled on his side and clearly asleep. Froyd was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
Couldn’t sleep? I asked.
Not really, he said. I was starting to think you weren’t going to come.
Can you come outside? To the edge of the woods?
Yeah. He shed his bedroll and exited the shelter. I floated alongside him, secure in the belief that I was invisible.
What’re you doing up? Cole asked.
Gotta take a leak.
Cole smirked. You don’t know nothing about camping, do you? Always take care of that business before you get in your roll.
Right. I’ll remember that.
Cole loped out of the firelight and towards the woods. Best not to go far, Cole said. Remember: We’ve seen evidence of those big cats ‘round here.
Right. Cats. Got it. He went to the edge of the woods and stopped. He unzipped his pants, and I heard a hissing sound.
Are you – are you actually going to the bathroom? That was just supposed to be an excuse, I said. I turned away from him.
I don’t have long, he said. What do you want?
This gave me pause. What did I want? I didn’t have any kind of plan. Gayle wants me to kill all of you, I blurted. I don’t want to. It’s not right; you haven’t threatened us in any way.
No, we haven’t.
So, um. I was hoping we could strike a deal. Me and you, and your brother, if you want. I couldn’t imagine why he’d leave his
brother out, but I figured I’d better make it clear he could be in on it, too.
He put a hand up on the closest tree trunk and leaned forward slightly. The hissing sound had slowed to a trickle. He didn’t answer.
Froyd? Are you interested in making a deal?
What kind? He zipped his pants, then made a show of coughing something up and spitting it into the woods before he turned and walked slowly back to the fire.
The kind where me, you, Gayle, and your brother survive and walk away. Any interest in that?
You can’t convince me to walk away, he said. If I don’t return with you – if you don’t make it back to the city — my family will be turned out.
What’s that mean? ‘Turned out.’
It means they’ll lose their jobs and home and probably have to go live in the slums.
They can always come out here. With you.
His shoulders slumped. The searchers don’t usually take someone back, like they say they want to do with you. They usually kill deserters on the spot.
Then, Gayle was right about that. I noted it for later and pressed on. We can get rid of these guys. Nobody will know where to look for you and your brother. They’ll think you died, just like you thought Gayle was dead.”
He paused and looked up at the night sky. It was cloudless tonight, and the stars were brilliant.
They know I can kill all of you, I reminded him. They’ll think you’re dead.
I suppose they would. But they’d just send someone else after you. Rolfe’s been reporting our progress, sending regular updates back home. I’m sure they’ve already noted where they think you’re going. A new group from the city will just pick up where these idiots left off.
This wasn’t going how I’d hoped. I wished I’d put more thought into the plan before proposing it to him. Gayle wants me to kill you. All of you, I said again, trying to sway him.
If that’s what you wanted, we’d already be dead, he said. He nodded at Cole and ducked back into his shelter.
You’re right, I said. I don’t want to kill you. Any of you. But someone has to die. I won’t let it be Gayle, and I won’t go back to the city.
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I snapped back into my body. It was cold, and I imagined the ground around me heating up slightly, just to take the chill off.
