Independents: Taoree Trilogy #2

by Michele Notaro

  “Of course,” he answered right away. He scooped me into his lap where I sat sideways, tucked under his chin for the rest of the night.

  I woke up, still completely squished between Wes and Orrean, but now, Orrean had an arm over my chest. I was surprised by it, but like everyone else, I knew he was feeling the stress of trying to get to the Independent camp, so I didn’t move his arm out of the way. I just laid there and waited for everyone else to wake up.

  Wes woke up before the rest and rubbed his eyes before turning his head to look at me. When he saw Orrean’s arm, he raised a brow, so I just tilted my head and shrugged. In response, he yawned in my face, making me groan at his breath.

  “Dude, go brush your teeth,” I said quietly so I didn’t wake the others.

  “Your mouth isn’t any better, J,” he said, but this time I held my breath when he opened his mouth. He poked me in the forehead, so I snaked my arm out of my sleeping bag and smacked his hand away.

  My movement must’ve woken Orrean because he snatched his arm off of me and mumbled, “Tristabao. Isib et, Eo bo zun.”

  “Sorry, buddy, I didn’t catch that.” Without thinking, I grabbed Orrean’s arm and said, “Say that again.”

  He spoke in Taoree again, but I understood him this time. “Sorry. Mean to, I did not.”

  “It’s no big deal, Orrean,” I said before letting go of him.

  Wes said, “God, you two are so fucking weird sometimes.” Then he sat up and looked around the tent.

  I followed suit and saw that Tabitha was still lying in her sleeping bag, but very much awake and staring at me with wide eyes. I half expected her to be gone, but was glad she hadn’t snuck out in the middle of the night. I offered her a small smile, but she just continued to stare. I didn’t feel the need to explain what was going on, so I just stretched my muscles and looked back at my brother. “How’s your head?” He yawned again, which made me yawn too. “Stop making me yawn.”

  He smirked at me. “My head’s not too bad.”

  I opened my mouth, but Orrean beat me to it. “If you can feel it at all, we should uanria again.”

  “We should what now?” Wes asked him.

  I surprised myself by answering, “Energy transfer is probably the closest translation.”

  Both Wes and Orrean stared at me with wide eyes, like I had three heads or something. “What?”

  Orrean’s voice was so low I could barely hear him. “You weren’t touching me that time.”

  For some reason, I looked down at my hands, even though I knew they were in my lap. I looked back at him and whispered, “That’s weird.”

  “Told ya, you two are weird,” Wes piped in.

  Orrean reached out and touched my arm, then spoke in Taoree, “New person we should not speak freely in front of. We do not know her.”

  I shocked myself again by saying, “Eo jili.”

  Both our eyes went wide when we realized I had answered him in Taoree. I had no idea how I knew what to say, but I had told him I understand in another freaking language.

  Wes had walked away and I heard him say, “Just ignore them. They always do that. Orrean’s teaching Jeremy Taoree and they’re fucking annoying once they get started.” I was stunned that my brother had so easily covered for us and sounded like he’d meant it.

  Orrean spoke again in his language, “Your skills are developing. Explore this we will, but not now.”

  “Cuito,” I answered, surprising us both again. All I had said was okay, but it was really weird that I’d said it in Taoree without even meaning to. We had tested out the whole understanding-Taoree-when-I-was-touching-Orrean thing only about a million times, and I had never before been able to say anything back… even when Orrean tried to teach me some of the simpler words.

  Orrean nodded to me before letting go of my arm again, then turning to Wes. “We should do the uanria now, Wes, before we eat. The food will replenish our energies.”

  “Yeah, okay, but I don’t feel too bad right now,” Wes said as he sat back down on top of his sleeping bag.

  “It’s easier to help you when they aren’t as bad, Wesley,” I told him. “It takes less energy.”

  He looked at me like I was insane for a moment before saying, “Fine. Go ahead, then.”

  Orrean scooted next to me and placed his hands on top of mine on Wesley’s head. We only had to send energy—or our light—into him for about fifteen seconds. I was relieved that we didn’t need to do it for longer than that. I didn’t want to start the day off already exhausted.

  Nolan sat up, saying, “I have some of that cereal we found the other day. It’s really dry, but tastes okay.” He yawned, then smiled at Tabitha, who still hadn’t said anything. “Good morning, Tabitha.”

  She finally spoke, “Good morning.”

  “Is there enough for everyone?” Mandy asked as she climbed out of Cal’s sleeping bag.

  “There should be. The box is almost full,” Nolan answered her.

  “We need to make a run today,” Cal said without sitting up. He started stretching, but remained lying down as he added, “We need even more food since we have an extra person now.”

  Tabitha finally found her voice. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”

  Cal didn’t even look at her. “Didn’t say you did, sweetheart, but we take care of each other. If you’re staying with us, you’ll just have to deal with it.” He sounded angry, mean, and rude… typical for when he first woke up.

  Mandy spoke to her brother, “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Don’t say ass,” he said automatically.

  “Stop acting like one and I won’t have to say it,” Mandy stated as she plopped down on Nolan’s sleeping bag and reached for the cereal. “Let’s eat,” she said to everyone, then to Tabitha, “They’re all idiot boys most of the time, but they aren’t bad people.” Then she shoved a handful of cereal in her mouth.

  I stifled a laugh and glanced at Tabitha, who was smiling at Mandy.

  Mandy held out the cereal box. “Want some? It’s pretty good.”

  “Sure,” Tabitha answered, getting up and walking over. “Thank you.” Tabitha sat down next to Mandy and they both ate the cereal.

  Orrean looked over at me, so I just shrugged in response, then moved a little closer to Mandy so I could reach the food. Someone placed Colt’s hat on my head. I looked over after fixing it and saw Orrean sitting next to me. He smiled at me and I nodded my thanks.

  Then I noticed his braid. After my dream last night, I couldn’t help but reach out and run my fingers down it. He shivered, just like in my dream, so I picked up his braid and held it in front of my face to examine it more closely. For the first time, I saw that it really wasn’t like human hair at all. It was several very thick strands, almost like cords or wires that were textured, making it look like hair, but each one was about as thick as my finger. I wrapped my hand around the whole braid and ran my palm down the length of it. He gasped and shivered.

  “Tristabao,” I whispered.

  “It’s okay. I do not mind,” Orrean whispered back. “You spoke in Taoree again.”

  I thought about it and realized I’d said sorry in Taoree. I shook my head and asked him, “You can feel it, huh?”

  “I can. And no, it doesn’t hurt,” he whispered.

  I smiled. “It feels good, then?”

  He blushed. “Uh, yes, it’s… nice.”

  “J, what are you guys whispering about?” Mandy asked.

  I looked over at her and noticed everyone staring at me, so I said, “Nothing.” Then I shoved a handful of food in my mouth so I wouldn’t be forced to talk. I saw Cal chuckling at me, but chose to ignore him.

  After everyone ate, we packed up, took down the tent and started on our way with Nolan leading us again. Surprisingly, Orrean seemed content to let him lead. But I was happy with that since it was better for Orrean to be near my brother in case Wes needed him. Orrean and Nolan had both been leading the way before Wes’s Qiren made themselves
known, but now Orrean was walking in the back of the group with my brother and me. Tabitha stayed up front with Nolan, and Cal was walking with Mandy right in front of us, in the middle.

  Wes kept his voice low, saying, “What was that about earlier? J, you’re speaking Taoree now, too?”

  “I guess so. It was weird, but maybe it’s just from being around Orrean and hearing it more than I had before,” I waved my hand in the air, “everything.”

  “Were you always good with languages?” Orrean asked just as quietly as Wes.

  I cringed. “No, not really.”

  Wes snorted. “I think French class was the only one Jeremy didn’t get an A in. I remember him complaining about it constantly when he lived at home.”

  I glared at my brother. “I did get an A, asshole, it was just annoying.”

  Wes laughed and held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I forgot. You and your perfect GPA.”

  I pushed his shoulder. “It was the only way to get into college, you idiot. You know how hard it was after the Taoree showed up. There weren’t many colleges left and only like five percent of high schoolers got into them.”

  Wes smiled smugly. “It wasn’t the only way to get into college.”

  I rolled my eyes and mumbled, “It’s not like I was as good at basketball as you were.”

  “Oh my god, did you just admit that I’m better than you at something?”

  “No,” I automatically said.

  “Yes, you did, I heard it. Didn’t you hear it, Orr?” Wes looked around me to Orrean on my other side.

  Orrean was smiling. “Yes, I heard it.”

  “Hey,” I said, smacking Orrean’s arm. “You’re supposed to be on my side, not his.”

  Orrean furrowed his brows and in a serious voice said, “I am on your side.”

  I heard Wes snort, but I said to Orrean, “I was joking, dude. Jesus, you take everything so seriously.”

  “No I do not,” Orrean said, “but sometimes your language or… slang confuses me.”

  Wes laughed again, but I said, “No worries.” Then I turned to my brother. “You’re an idiot.”

  “Maybe,” he mused, “but at least I can play basketball.”

  I heard Orrean chuckle next to me as I just shook my head at the pair of them.

  ***

  “There’s fifteen Ferals following us. They’re gaining on us quickly. Prepare yourselves,” Orrean announced as we made our way into a suburban area.

  “Damn, they’re on us already?” Cal asked.

  “Yes, they noticed us immediately. I fear they are starting to get more desperate,” Orrean answered him.

  “Ew, dude,” Cal said. “You mean they’re getting hungrier. Fuck.”

  I saw Orrean wrinkle his nose, so I said, “I think he was trying to say it a little more delicately, Calloway.”

  Cal flipped me off before pulling his shoian—Feral Stick—out. Then he looked over at Tabitha. “You don’t have a weapon, do you?”

  “No,” she answered, then looked at Orrean. “You call the zombies, Ferals?”

  I answered before he could, “They aren’t zombies.” She looked like she was about to argue, so I held up my hand to stop her. “I know they’re similar, but they aren’t dead. The Taoree are controlling them with, like, nano-robot things called Qiren. The Qiren melt down most of their brain to make them easier to control, then the Taoree give them commands. The Emperor Supporters, or Taoree Legion, can control the Ferals’ bodies completely. That is why they’re hard to kill, you have to disconnect the spinal cord or use a shoian,” I held up my Feral Stick, “to kill them. So they’re very much alive, but can no longer feel pain or control themselves.”

  “Oookay,” she said, “that’s just… crazy.”

  “Yes, it is, but it’s the truth.”

  She nodded and pointed at my shoian as we continued walking. “So that thing can kill a… Feral?”

  “Yes, it electrocutes the Qiren until they fry. It takes about ten seconds,” I answered.

  “Do you happen to have an extra one?” she asked.

  I was about to say no, but Orrean came up on her other side holding one in each hand and said, “Actually, I do.” He passed it to her and showed her how to use it, but I stopped walking as I watched them.

  I suddenly felt like my chest was constricting and my heart was going to explode.

  Orrean looked back at me. When he saw the look on my face, he ran over. “Jeremy, what’s wrong?”

  I felt tears filling my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “You took Colt’s weapons?”

  He grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I thought it would be better to have extra in case something happened to one of ours.” He reached out to touch my arm, but I backed away.

  “Don’t touch me,” I hissed. “You didn’t have any right to go through his stuff, Orrean. You shouldn’t have touched him.”

  His face fell, so I just turned around and walked away, past Tabitha, past Wes, Cal, Mandy, and even Nolan. I made sure to only walk about twenty feet in front of them, but I needed a little space to process the new information.

  Orrean shouldn’t have gone through Colt’s stuff… taken shit off his body. It wasn’t his place. If anyone had the right, it should have been me or Cal, but not him. Not Orrean. Especially not after what he did to Colt. He was the one who… I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew it wasn’t fair to blame him. Colt had asked him to do it, but he was still the one who killed him. In the end, he was the one who killed my boyfriend. Yes, I knew Colt wasn’t even Colt anymore, but it was Orrean who had… fuck.

  I took a deep breath and waited for the others to catch up to me. Cal was the first to reach me. He just patted my shoulder, then pushed me a little to get me to keep walking.

  Cal spoke quietly, “You know it wasn’t his fault.”

  “Knowing it doesn’t make it any easier to accept,” I stated.

  Cal knocked the rim of my hat down so it was covering my eyes. “Give him a break, J. He’s a good guy.”

  I sighed and fixed Colt’s hat on my head. “I know.”

  Before we could say anything else, Wes yelled, “Incoming.”

  Cal and I both turned and saw the fifteen Ferals coming up behind us. Cal yelled, “Form a circle around Mandy.”

  Everyone was already moving before he even finished his sentence. I found myself between Cal and Tabitha. Ten seconds later, a Feral was coming at me with a wooden chair raised above his head. It was an interesting weapon choice, but also kind of effective since it made it nearly impossible for me to reach him with my shoian.

  I ended up having to pull the metal bat out from between my back and my pack. When the Chair Feral lifted his chair above his head, I swung at his arms, hoping to make him unable to lift the damn thing. He swung it down, so I jumped back and immediately swung my bat at his head. It was a well-aimed hit and he fell to his side, twitching. I held my shoian to his chest before he had a chance to recover.

  Tabitha was holding her shoian to another Feral’s chest, but I saw a different one trying to get to her with a large knife. Luckily, I finished off my Feral in time to push the new Knife Feral back away from Tabitha and stab it in its neck with my shoian. Tabitha looked over at me with wide eyes. She obviously hadn’t seen that one coming. I was glad I was able to get it before it hurt her.

  She immediately turned for another Feral that didn’t have a weapon. I was surprised and impressed when I saw her place three punches and a kick to the kneecap before using her shoian on it. I ducked under a two-by-four that was probably three feet long. The wood swung over my head, and all I had to do was stab my shoian up to get the Feral holding the wood in the chest.

  When he fell to the ground ten seconds later, I looked around, pleasantly surprised that there weren’t any more Ferals left. Orrean and Cal were both still using their shoians on two Ferals, but the others were finished. I put my shoian in my alien utility belt, then slid my bat back between my back and bag and hooked the end
in a side pocket so it wouldn’t fall.

  I knelt down and pulled Mandy into a hug. “You okay, Peanut?”

  “I’m fine, Jeremy.” She sounded exasperated, so I released her. She looked me over. “Are you okay?”

  I smiled at her. “I’m good.”

  “You were upset before,” she stated.

  I sighed. “I was, but I’m okay now.” I stood up and grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

  She tugged my arm, so I turned and kneeled back down. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek, saying, “I love you, J.”

  I hugged her again. “I love you too, Peanut.” I stood up and started walking, holding her hand. Everyone followed behind us and soon Nolan caught up so he could lead the way.

  Tabitha walked next to me a little while later and said, “Thank you for helping me with that zom—Feral. Whatever you call it. Anyway, thanks.”

  I smiled. “No problem. Cal was right earlier, we do protect each other.”

  She nodded. “That’s nice.” She was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, so I remained quiet while she worked out whatever it was she wanted to say to me. Finally she told me, “I want to trust you guys, but I’m not there yet. Too much shit has happened for me to believe all this crap about Independents and you guys actually wanting to help me out.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t think any of us are expecting you to just trust us right away. We know we need to earn your trust, but you are more than welcome to stick with us as we walk,” I told her.

  “I appreciate that,” she said quietly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that I’m using the shoian of someone you cared about.”

  I looked at her through narrowed eyes. “He was my boyfriend.”

  Her brown eyes saddened even further and she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  I gave her a nod, then looked away from her and pushed my emotions down. If everyone would just leave me the fuck alone about it, I could just forget about this stupid day and move on.