by Leyton, Bisi
“I can wait outside if that is better,” Alba offered, but didn’t move.
“No, I am going too. Wisteria, wait and keep out of sight. Alba will take care of everything. Please?”
Biting her lip, she shook her head. “I have to go to school, Bach. Otherwise, Town Hall will cut my rations.”
“Do not worry. The schools and most workplaces are closed. That way people have more time at home to recover,” Alba continued.
“This was Didan’s idea,” Wisteria muttered.
“This is what we need. You can stay with Lara and you will not be disturbed. It is perfect,” he said enthusiastically.
“So, the factory’s not reopening?” Wisteria sought clarification.
“It will soon,” Alba assured her.
“But when the merchants come to trade with us, we may not have enough to give them.” While she was grateful having more time with her mother without the pressure of making it to school, there was less than two months before the cold of winter would really set in.
The residents had only a short window to trade for fuel and supplies from the sea merchants, as they didn’t sail much in the winter months. There was also work to do in order to get the last of the harvest in or they’d barely have enough food this winter.
“We have that sorted out,” Alba continued. “Just worry about your mother and your family here. Let us deal with the major issues.”
“We should let the Family run our lives?” Wisteria accused.
“Wisteria, why do you not understand this?” he demanded sternly.
“You know it’s funny that you’re here fighting me, when Bruno attacked me,” she protested as she pointed to her neck. “I thought you’d be wondering how I was after that.”
“Who attacked you?” He peered closely at her.
“Bruno Morel.” As she was still wearing her thick coat and scarf, he couldn’t see if she was bruised or not.
“Can I see?” He moved toward her.
“He did not attack you. You fell,” Alba countered. “I saw you when you tripped, trying to get away from him.”
“What?” Wisteria glared at the girl.
“When the man asked you to stop, you kept running,” Alba continued. “I might have been wrong. Anything’s possible.”
“Is that what happened?” he asked her.
Wisteria glanced at him. “You even have to ask?”
“No it—” Bach attempted explain.
But she’d had enough. “How did you two even get in here? And why did you think that was okay?” Waving her hands, she said, “I don’t want to know, just go.”
Bach looked over at Alba. “Can you leave us to talk alone?”
Alba nodded subtly and left the house.
“I assumed you would not mind, because your brother asked us to wait until you came back,” he said. “He went out. Where did he hurt you?”
“Forget it. I don’t need to prove anything to you or anyone.” She couldn’t believe he thought she was making it up.
“Let me see.” He slipped the green scarf from around her neck and it dropped to the floor. Gently, he tried to tilt her head back. “I do not see anything.”
“So you don’t believe me?” Pulling his hands from her skin, she stepped back. “You think I’m inventing this? Bruno might have been renewed, so he’ll do whatever those monsters want.”
“No, you were wearing a coat and scarf, so that probably helped stop you from bruising,” he replied coldly.
“But you really don’t believe me?”
“No, that is not it. I just find this frustrating.” He picked up her scarf.
“Oh.” Her getting hurt was a frustration now?
“If you had left with me like I wanted, none of this would have happened.”
“It’s my fault I got hurt because I didn’t abandon my mother to die?” Snatching her scarf away from him, she marched to the door. “While you’re here hanging out with her.”
“Alba?” He groaned and rubbed his temples.
“Listen, thanks for helping watch my mum. I’ll keep a lower profile going forward.” She tried to sound upbeat, so he wouldn’t think she was upset. “I’ll see you later.”
“Wait, wait, you are still jealous of her?”
“No, I’m not, but you two spend a lot of time together. You seem so close and it’s weird for me.”
“Weird?” Bach exclaimed. “Didan and the others expect me to help them and if I disappear, they will ask questions and those questions will eventually lead to you. So, would you rather I spend time with Didan or any of the other Famila? The actual ones who would tear you apart if they found out half of what Alba knows? Wisteria, understand this: if they do find you, you will be lucky if they just kill you. I cannot let that happen to you.”
Backing away, she felt like a six-year-old reacting the way she had. He was trying to protect her, but she hated feeling helpless, and reacted childishly. There was nothing she could do to stop the empirics. Maybe that was why she was overreacting. Wisteria wondered now if maybe Alba had just made a genuine mistake. Well, I want to believe that.
“We have a Mosroc, so you will always be closer to me than anyone. Nothing could ever happen between me and Alba, just like I know you and Steven will never…” Pausing, he seethed at the mention of his assumed rival. “I hate that boy.”
“And I don’t trust that girl with my life or yours.”
“Why? Has she done or said anything to make you feel that way?”
Telling him that the girl had compared her to a bonobo seemed overly petty and something Wisteria was ashamed to bring up again. “I don’t think she likes me. She pretends she does when you’re here. If you want me to trust you, you have to stay away from Alba.”
“That is not trust. Either you trust me or you do not.”
“I don’t trust her.”
“If she was going to betray us, she could have killed you in my den in Forrester or told Didan before he got here.”
“And maybe she has or still might.”
“Didan has no tolerance for humans and Family communing. If he knew, he would have acted long ago.”
“Unless, he’s also planning something?”
“Planning what?” Looking out through the window at Alba as she talked with Amanda, he smiled. “She is a good friend and her brother is my closest friend.”
“Felip was your friend too, and look what he did.”
“She is nothing like Felip.”
“And maybe if it was your mother’s life that was on the line you’d feel differently.”
“My mother.” He squinted angrily. “You would bring my mother into this because of a girl?”
“No—I—” she stuttered, sensing he was upset.
“You have said enough.” In seconds, he was at the door.
“Listen, Bach, I—”
“Just keep your mother safe and do not let any Thayns in.” Opening the door, he stopped and turned. “A Thayn cannot say their old name because it is burned from their minds. Anyone who cannot tell you their full name could be one. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Make sure you ask them to say their first and last name. I will talk to you later.” He walked out, shutting the door behind.
She wanted to stop him from leaving, but she couldn’t. Instead, she watched him walk off with Alba.
The Famila girl turned her head and smirked at her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Bach didn’t say much during the walk back with Alba. There was no need to tell her that Wisteria felt threatened by her presence or that she had thrown the loss of his mother in his face. No, that would not solve anything. He just hoped Didan would find what he was looking for soon and leave the Isle of Smythe, so he and Wisteria could get back to trying to figure out their lives.
“I am sorry about what she said about your mother.” Alba broke the silence. “She was talking out of anger, not because she wanted to hurt you.”
“You
were eavesdropping?”
“You were arguing so loudly, even a Terran with average hearing could have heard you.”
They continued in silence for a few paces.
“Listen, I know you are upset, but you should help her find her friend. It might help her feel better.” Alba’s smiled wearily. “I believe if her friend was here, she would be less worried about me trying to steal you.”
“It was that obvious?”
“Yes, but she is only Terran. They do get a little carried away. Donat tried to attack Enric once because he thought my brother was hurting me.”
“Huh.” Bach was sure his friend would’ve seriously injured the human as a result.
“I managed to stop Donat before Enric killed him. Look, she’s probably a mess. I heard her stepfather abandoned her, and with her mother sick, she needs something to hold on to and you cannot be there for her like you used to be.”
“Right.” He had not considered what she was going through. Finding Garfield hadn’t been his top priority, partly because Alba hadn’t been sure she’d seen him and partly because he didn’t want to leave Wisteria on the island with the empirics.
“I can take you to where we last saw the boy,” Alba offered.
“Tell me where you last saw him. I will take a look. You should stay here with the others and watch Wisteria while I am gone.”
“That is going to be hard since she does not want me around.”
“You will find a way to get her to come around.”
*****
It was just past midnight when Bach landed on the other side of the Smythe wall and swam to the shores of Norton. He could not take the bridge that led to the island because the guards who manned it would report his leaving to Didan and Sir Charles.
Once in Norton, he calculated it would take a seven hour round trip to get to where Alba said she’d last seen Garfield. Creeping through the quiet town as several of the infected staggered by him, he headed to the garage where he’d parked his car to protect it from the elements.
A boat was sailing from Smythe as he drove back through the island. Someone else had opted not to cross the bridge and avoid suspicion.
He parked and walked over to the edge of the water.
Wisteria brought her boat ashore.
“This is not what I thought we agreed,” he said.
Her eyelashes fluttered as if she was thinking about what to say, but she said nothing. Instead, she moored the boat, ignoring him. Getting out, she threw her sword and dart gun over her shoulder and unloaded a large keg of what smelt like gasoline.
“Wisteria,” he stated.
Biting her lip, she walked by him.
Quickly, he stepped around to block her. “What are you doing?”
She tried to move around him, but wasn’t fast enough to get away from him.
“Wisteria.”
“Bach.” She didn’t look at him; instead she stared directly ahead at some spot in the middle of his chest. “I need to find Garfield, and this way Didan won’t see me or anything.”
“You think this is a game? There are hundreds of biters in Norton.”
“They were part of the swarm you said was coming?”
“Yes.”
“Well, if we were still patrolling, then we’d know about this.”
“Or, you would be dead.”
Stepping back, she glared at him. “That’s why I need to find him.”
“And you are doing this because you thought I would not?”
“Bach, please, please, I don’t want to argue with you about this. I just want to try and find my friend.” Her voice broke. “I need him and right now—I’m so alone.”
“I am here for you.”
“No, you’re not… we’ll talk about this later. I’ve got to go.”
An infected man staggered toward them, growling.
Turning to the infected, he whispered to the biter, “Leave.”
The man shuffled away.
She fired her dart rifle as another infected ambled forward. A silent cyanide dart shot out, hitting the infected in the head. “If I don’t run into any trouble, I’ll be there and back in a few hours.”
“It will take you twelve hours to get to where Alba said she saw him.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think Alba saw Garfield.” She was still trying to get past him.
“Why?” He hoped this wouldn’t be about her distrust of Alba again.
“Even if Garfield had a car, he wouldn’t drive miles away from here. Where would he go? He’d try to get back,” she explained.
“But he cannot because of the swarm.”
“And he might’ve been chased by biters, desperate survivors, or any of the gangs that might be moving around. So, he’d find somewhere to hide that was secured until it was safe enough to leave,” she said.
“And where would he go?”
“I was thinking about checking the pits in Woolmer again. He’d eventually try to get back and try to wait out the swarm there.”
“So, you are saying Alba was lying?”
Probably. “Like she said, she didn’t know what he looked like, so maybe the kid she saw wasn’t Garfield.”
“If he is not there?”
“I’ll return to Smythe and you can go to wherever Alba said she saw him.”
She lugged the keg toward the nearest car.
He took the plastic keg from her, and for a moment, he thought she was not going to let go. “We will go together.” He figured it was better than letting her leave by herself.
She hesitated.
“What?” he asked.
“Are you alone?”
“Alba is not with me.” He wasn’t going to start another conversation about her.
Nodding, she trailed him to his SUV, which was now surrounded by at least three dozen biters.
He waved and they all scattered away.
She got in and he followed. “You know I would have gone after him.” He wasn’t sure himself if he was lying.
She didn’t answer.
“Why do you always have to be so difficult?” He started the engine.
“You should be happy. If I did this for Garfield, I would go to the end of the earth for you.”
Her words made him smile. Putting the car into gear, he drove out of Norton into Woolmer. They checked the three bunkers, but there was no sign of Garfield or his car. Travelling around the town, all they saw were the biters roaming around.
She hoped and hoped they’d see a light, the car, or something, but Garfield knew better than to light a candle with any biters around. They were attracted to bright lights and loud noises, as well as human flesh.
“We can check the bunkers again,” he said after a few hours.
“No, he’s not there.”
“We will go further out.”
“Wait.” She saw a sheet hanging out of a window with the word help scrawled across it.
Breaking into the house, they found Garfield locked in the basement behind a steel cage door. Obviously, the owner of this house had tried to barricade themselves in at one point.
Through the cage, she saw Garfield was lying in the middle of the floor. He was pale and out of breath. The room smelt awful, but she didn’t care, Garfield was there.
“Wisteria!” the boy choked out “What took you so long?”
She was too relieved to even answer him as she rattled the door, trying to get it open. It was locked. “Do you have the key?”
Garfield tossed it at her.
Unlocking the door, she hurried to hug him. “Garfield!”
“Ahh,” he groaned in pain.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“My leg, I think it’s broken.”
“How did that happen?”
“I was chased around by biters for a few days and just before I ran out of fuel, I was able to get back to Woolmer. The car is parked a few streets away, but the tank’s empty.”
“You’ve been down here all this
time?” she wondered. That didn’t make any sense. “How did you break your leg?”
“I fell down the stairs,” he told her.
“That is a pretty bad break for a fall down these stairs,” Bach observed.
“Oh look, here's happy!” Garfield rolled his eyes at Bach. “Honestly, I didn’t think he’d come, but then again he does everything you want.”
“Yeah, right.” If that was true, there’d be no Alba. She whispered in Garfield’s ear, “Well, he doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to carry you out of here.”
“Oh, I bet he’s going to love that.” Garfield chuckled.
“Only because I know it will cause you so much pain.” Bach stepped up to Garfield, grabbed the boy’s broken leg and squeezed.
Garfield shrieked like a five-year-old girl as Bach’s hands glowed blue.
“Bach.” She seized his hand.
“Stop!” Garfield cried, tears running down his eyes.
“You know, this is much more fun than I expected,” Bach mocked and let go. “Your leg is still broken.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Garfield swung at Bach and almost fell.
“Now it will heal in weeks, not months,” he added and stood.
“Are you sure?” Garfield asked. “Weeks? That’s still a long time.”
“I could break your other leg so you can compare the healing time,” Bach suggested calmly, and the other boy’s face went white.
Wisteria wanted to smile, as the banter between the two seemed almost friendly and reminded her of how it had been of months ago when they were all traveling together. But at the moment, it didn’t give her much comfort because parts of Garfield’s statements didn’t make much sense. The stairs he fell down were only six steps deep and couldn’t have caused that much of a break.
Bach wedged Garfield over his shoulder and they all returned to the car.
She got in behind the wheel and he gave her the keys. Once Garfield was settled in the back and Bach was next to her, she drove them back to Norton.
“You friend is lying.” Bach stated her concerns aloud.
She studied Garfield’s reflection through the rear-view mirror and he seemed to be sleeping. “Do you think he could’ve been renewed?”
