“I’m sure.” Kayla held Faith close. “But that is what we are.”
The man nodded. “It is an old way of life, but we will respect your choices.”
I knew what Kayla was doing. Protecting us. I hoped Bolton and Maverick played along. Maybe if this man, and whoever else he lived with, assumed Bolton and Maverick were the fathers of the girls they’d leave us be.
“It is late, most of the Glen is already asleep.” Belk shut off the motor after we reached the dock. “But someone will be up to help you find everything you need.”
“All we need is some water.” Kayla rose to her feet. “We can take care of the rest.”
“You need blankets. Clothes. Food.”
Bailey’s stomach grumbled.
The man laughed. “See, even the child knows she needs food.”
Bailey buried her face in my chest.
I said nothing. No one said anything as Belk tied the boat to the dock.
“Okay, follow me. I’ll take you to the living sector.”
“Living sector?” Bolton held out his hand to help me off. I accepted it. We silently agreed on a temporary truce.
“Yes. We have distinct areas of the Glen reserved for different things. The living sector is for what it sounds like. Living.”
We followed him up and away from the dock.
“Sounds a lot like the place we just left.” I made small talk even though I didn’t want to. I was cold and afraid. I wanted to be back at the camp. Maybe it was a false sense of security there, but it was security at least.
“Trust me, the Glen is different. It’s different from anything you have ever known.”
The night was silent aside from the incessant chirping of insects. The sky was dark—only the tiniest sliver of the moon led our way. I held onto Bailey tightly, hoping I wouldn’t trip and hurt us both. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.
“I would turn on my lantern but that might attract company we don’t want,” Belk explained.
“What kind of company?” I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I asked anyway. More information was better than less.
“The animal kind.”
Slight relief hit me. We weren’t talking traders or Central. Not that being ripped apart by an animal would be pleasant, but it would be a different kind of trouble. Of course, this man might be a trader or Central. People went to great levels in order to deceive.
“We will be at the welcome building soon.”
“The welcome building?” Kayla and I exchanged looks.
“Yes.” Belk glanced at us over his shoulder. “The place where newcomers can spend their time before finding out where they will live.”
“We won’t be living here. And we don’t need beds or anything. Just water.” The whole situation felt wrong. Normally I was the one all about finding a safe place to land, but this place didn’t feel safe.
“A good night sleep has never hurt anyone.” He smiled before turning forward again. The smile unnerved me.
Sure it has. Falling asleep made you vulnerable. We couldn’t afford to let that happen.
“I assume you understand we all need to stay together.” Maverick’s voice left little room to argue.
“Of course. For this evening, we have a room large enough for all of you.”
Kayla fell back to walk beside me. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither,” I spoke in only the barest hint of a whisper. “At all.” I especially didn’t like him adding that for evening part to what he told Maverick. What about after this? Was it going to be difficult to leave?
“Are you ready to tell me where it is you’re headed?” Belk started to climb a steep hill. For a moment I felt as if we were back at the camp.
“We are meeting up with some friends,” Bolton hurriedly replied.
“Where?” Belk slowed. “Where are you meeting them?”
“It’s hard to explain.” Bolton hung back a little, staying close to us.
“I am sure I can follow.” Belk stopped.
“I don’t see how it is any of your business.” Kayla didn’t mince words.
Belk turned to look at us. “It isn’t strictly my business, but as you are guests here, I see no reason why we cannot participate in polite conversation.”
“We only need to refill supplies, then we will be on our way. We will send repayment back to you as soon as possible.” Kayla moved Faith to her other hip again.
There was something about the set of her jaw at that moment, the tone of her voice that made me once again think about what she’d gone through to save me. She’d told me very little about her time at the club and her journey there, but I knew it hadn’t been easy. She’d risked everything for Bailey and me, and I knew that I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for her and Faith. I’d always loved my sister, but something had changed in me. I was no longer afraid. I was willing to fight.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Belk still stood frozen most of the way up the hill. It left the rest of us at the midpoint of the incline, a very uncomfortable place to be waiting. “These friends of yours won’t wait?”
“We like to stay together. Splitting up was hard. No reason to make it last longer.” I found myself answering before anyone else.
“Right.” Belk nodded. “I apologize if I am being pushy. It is not often that we get surprise newcomers. Especially not ones by the likes of you.”
Newcomers. The likes of us. Women and children. He could say all he wanted, but our gender would play a role in what was to come. I was wary. We had no clue who this man was or where we were, but I think all of us knew we didn’t have other options. Getting on that boat had been the only choice we had, and now we would have to follow through. We would leave as soon as we could.
“This isn’t going to be like the camp…” I whispered to Kayla once Belk resumed his walk.
“Not at all.” Kayla’s shoulder brushed against mine.
“That was so different. Denver brought us… and it wasn’t so… weird.” Weird wasn’t the right word, but I didn’t know what the right one was. Creepy didn’t say enough either.
“I know. We stay together. Understand? We do not separate from each other no matter what. Even if they make us leave the men.”
“We stay together. Of course.” She didn’t need to tell me that. There was no chance I was separating from my sister again. Nothing about our situation was easy, but it was made manageable because I had my sister.
“Do you think we’ll be allowed to leave in the morning?” I was afraid to ask the question, yet I needed to.
“I hope so.” There was no confidence in Kayla’s voice.
Off in the distance I noticed a faint light.
“Is that where we’re headed?” Bolton called up to Belk.
“Uh huh.” Belk turned and watched us climb the rest of the way up the hill. “The welcome building. Someone will be on call.”
“You rarely have surprise newcomers, yet someone is always on call?” Bolton reached the crest.
“Think of it as part of the night watch.”
“And you are part of it too?” I asked. I took a moment to catch my breath. Bailey was getting heavy.
“Yes. Every so often someone shows up the way you did.”
“Is there anyone in the newcomer building now?” Kayla watched the light in the distance.
“No. It is empty. We have plenty of space for you.”
“When was the last time someone showed up?” I shook my head when Maverick offered to take Bailey again. I wasn’t letting her get an inch away from me.
“Ah, at least a year ago now I’d say.”
“That long?” I wasn’t sure what to make of that info.
“There aren’t all that many of us left now.”
“No.” The population was thinning out more and more. First, it was the decline in reproduction, but as time went on it was also the dwindling food supplies and medicine.
We walked the rest of the way in sile
nce. I took in the large white brick building as we moved closer. It was far bigger than I had been expecting—and more permanent. I was expecting more of the cabins, like from the camp.
Belk walked up the porch and knocked on one of the double doors. It was pulled open.
A woman with her dark hair pulled into a tight bun stepped out onto the porch.
“We have newcomers, Darla.”
She nodded, her eyes barely moving over us. “I will see to their needs.”
“Thank you.” Belk moved to the side and gestured for us to go through the doorway.
Kayla and I exchanged looks. Walking through the doorway was the last thing either of us wanted to do.
Mason
The climb up the wall was easy enough. We were all watching—waiting for the force field to turn back on, or for something to shoot us out of the sky. The higher we climbed, the warier I was. Someone had to be watching. Someone was always watching. Central had eyes and ears everywhere. Even when they couldn’t infiltrate themselves, they paid someone else to do it.
Yet we made it to the top unscathed. I steadied myself as I stopped on the top of the wall and looked down. I blinked. Over and over again.
“But that’s impossible,” Isin spoke out loud what we were all thinking as we looked out over the wasteland below. All we saw for as far as the eye could see was dirt, dirt littered with bodies and trash.
“Maybe it’s just near the wall.” Addison stood right beside me. “Maybe the population has moved somewhere else. Or maybe they never lived in this area to begin with”
“Maybe.” I didn’t want to take away her hope. Not after we’d come this far. Another thought struck me. “Or maybe the same switch that was triggered on our side of the wall happened here.”
“Now that’s an interesting possibility.” Benji stood on my other side.
“I’m not sure interesting is the word you are looking for.” Nothing about our situation was interesting. Awful, stressful, confusing. Those were all possible choices. Not interesting.
“Sure, it is.” Benji patted my arm. “It’s interesting.”
“We have to climb down, and we have to explore. We can’t give up now.” Addison sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
“No one said anything about giving up.” Thomas took a seat a small way down the wall. “But we do need to reassess whether we all go. We have no idea what this journey is going to involve.”
“And we knew anything more before we climbed the wall?’ Addison removed her jacket. “Nothing has changed. Nothing. What did we want to find? A giant military base? We all knew we weren’t going to find rainbows and unicorns over here.”
Isin laughed. “You have a delightful imagination. First cockroaches and now rainbows and unicorns.”
“I think I’d use the term twisted. Not delightful,” I teased.
“Why did you leave her?” Isin took a seat on the wall next to Thomas. “Or rather how? If you had a beautiful woman, why leave her?”
“Because I was needed. Because it was the right thing to do.” Yet it had been a mistake. Suddenly getting back to Kayla seemed insurmountable.
“There is no right thing to do anymore.” Thomas pulled his long legs up to sit cross-legged. It was a gutsy thing to do considering how small our perch was. “That’s the truth of the matter. No matter how urgent and important something is, it may actually be of little consequence. But that changes nothing. We still have to follow our instincts. I’d rather die trying to make a difference than spend the rest of my life suffering in the shadows or being forced to be part of a system I abhor.”
“I feel the same way.” Addison retied her hair. “Exactly the same way.”
“Then let’s do this.” I pushed away my regretful thoughts. They weren’t going to help anything. “Let’s jump off this wall and get down to business.”
“I’m not sure jumping off is the best idea,” Isin stood up.
“I didn’t mean literally.” This time I was the one with the improper word choice.
“Sure, you didn’t.” Benji winked.
We went to work on the ropes again and repelled our way down the wall. Once again, I expected trouble the second our backs were turned. But there was nothing. Nothing but a near-deafening silence.
Before long our boots were in the dirt below.
“It wasn’t an illusion.” Addison put a hand over her mouth and nose.
I didn’t blame her. The stench was almost unbearable.
I held my breath as I examined the closest corpse. It was mostly bones, with just the smallest amount of flesh clinging to them.
“These weren’t soldiers.” Arnold, another of the men, joined me. “These were civilians. You can tell by the clothes.”
“And they died well before the soldiers on the other side,” Benji added.
“Yes. Much earlier. So, couldn’t have been the same switch,” Thomas spoke so quietly, I wondered if he was talking to himself.
“Technically it could be the same switch, but it was activated earlier,” Isin pointed out.
“Weeks earlier.” Arnold studied the rotting corpse before standing and walking over to another one. “And I don’t see any sign of a wound. These people weren’t shot. Could have been poison though.”
“Were you a medic?” Addison asked.
“I am a medic now. I was a forensic scientist.”
“Oh. So, you studied crimes?” She stepped back from the corpses. I didn’t blame her.
“Yes. And my specialty was dealing with murder.”
“I’m sure that was a rewarding job.” I let the words fall. He could interpret them any way he wanted.
Arnold laughed. “I suppose it was in its own way.”
“Did you work for Central?” It didn’t matter. Nothing from our pasts mattered, yet I still asked. Somehow, I wanted to know more about these men we were risking our lives with.
He studied the clothing, looking at it from all angles. “In the end yes.”
“Until they asked you to do something that was too much.” I remembered my own moment of snapping. Of realizing I had my limits.
“Yes. It was a child… and I knew the death wasn’t accidental.”
I hated Central with everything I had in me. We would find a way to bring them down. “We all have our tipping point.”
“Yes, we do. That’s just part of life.”
A large, grey vulture swooped down right over us and landed on one of the corpses. It took a look at the bones and took off again. Not enough there to warrant its attention.
“Even the scavengers are abandoning this area.” I pointed to the departing bird.
“There have to be people somewhere.” Addison turned all around in a circle. “I mean people who are alive.”
I wondered if she was thinking about Denver. Was he alive somewhere? He was the most resourceful person I knew. I knew he wouldn’t go down without a fight, yet he wasn’t immortal.
“We should have enough supplies to last us for a few weeks. After that we will have to reassess.” Benji adjusted a sack on his back.
“Hopefully this doesn’t take a few weeks.” Addison put her jacket on.
“Hopefully we aren’t dead within a few hours. We all know that is a real possibility.” Thomas started off across the dirt.
Benji followed right behind. More of the men followed them. “When isn’t death a possibility? Even in the old days, before the changes, people had to worry about death. Death has always been just a part of life.”
“But it’s really part of our life now.” Isin shrugged.
“It is our life now.” Addison shivered before hurrying after them.
I followed, trying to ignore the words about death. For much of my life death didn’t scare me, but it did now. I needed to get back to Kayla, and I would. Even if it was the last thing I ever did.
Faith
The manor house didn’t look all that different. Sure, there were flowers and more lanterns than usual, but
otherwise, it was the same place. It was a lot like me. Someone could put a dress on me and pretty up my hair, but that didn’t make me any sort of princess. I was still the same girl. The large room at the manor house was still the same stale meeting place it had always been. It still represented so much I hated and so much I would never have.
I took a few deep breaths as we walked further into the room.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Bailey cooed beside me. Her eyes were wide as she took in the same walls that I did. I wondered, not for the first time, how two people could see the world in such different ways. But this was extreme even for her. I gave her a sidelong glance. She may have been prone to wearing rose-colored glasses, but usually she could still manage to see the truth in things. All her logic was clouded over though when a ball or romance was so much as mentioned.
I sighed. There was nothing I could do to stop her. Bailey was probably about to make a huge mistake, but it was hers to make. We are all entitled to make our own choices. At least we should have been. “Sure. Beautiful.”
“You could lay off the sarcasm a little bit you know. Maybe just for today?” She ran her teeth over her bottom lip, and I realized she was nervous.
“Who says I am being sarcastic?”
“Faith, really?” Bailey slipped her arm through mine. “You act as though I don’t know you.”
And she did know me. Better than anyone. Sometimes I questioned whether she knew me better than myself. It was easier to pretend with myself than it was with Bailey. She saw straight through me, right down into my soul.
“Over there. Look,” she whispered.
I followed her line of sight to see a group of young men talking in the corner. They were each dressed in dark suits with dark shoes. And they were all watching us.
I did my best to hide my discomfort. What did I care if they were looking at us? I’d spent my whole life under a figurative microscope. “Yes. I see them.”
She nudged me with her shoulder. “Aren’t they handsome?”
“As in the whole group, or one in particular?” I tried to look away, but I couldn’t. My curiosity and nerves got the best of me.
The Corded Saga Page 38
