She sighs and I hate the sound of it, “You know Jake brought their guitars with him. I guess Will leaves them at the retreat. They’re too cumbersome to carry all the way here, but Jake brought them. He’s had them strung over his back the whole walk. He did it ‘cause he wants to get back to what him and Will used to be. They were best friends. Will was his hero. Two goofy brothers who spent their days playing and laughing.”
I frown, “I never even noticed them on his back.”
She laughs, “You never stopped for more than two minutes. We aren’t like you.”
I feel those words.
She nudges me, “You were made to survive this world, Em. We weren’t. You and Star were made to live through the bad and the worse, and now the new regime. That’s what Will calls it, a regime.”
I shake my head, “Maybe I can be like that fiery crow and burn up and be reborn from the ashes as one of you.”
“Why would you want to?”
I don’t have an answer. Not one I’m willing to say aloud.
I sigh and look at the pile of arrows. She smirks, “See, you are made for this.”
My pile is huge to her tiny one. The branches she brought are gone too. I shake my head, “I feel just as lost as everyone else.”
I see a tear slide down her cheek, in my peripheral. She smiles and starts filling my quiver with the arrows, “But you aren’t lost. Something is calling you all over these woods. Something is telling you what to do next to make it all end. You’ve been in the right place and the right time for everything so far. Maybe it’s like Meg says, maybe it’s God. Maybe he sees what your dad did and he knows your heart is good.”
I look up into the dark-green canopy, “Maybe.” The image of Jesus in the room with me, floods my mind. I haven’t thought about him much since.
She stands and offers me her hand. I look at the dark-brown of her skin and place mine in it. She wraps her hand around mine. Our skin almost blends, it's so dark. We look the same on the outside. I lift my bow and quiver and sling them over my back. Leo stretches and follows us back to the camp. Star comes up. Anna sighs but I smile at Star, “Hey.”
Star gives me a look. I think she trusts Anna’s scowl more than my attempt at being civil. “What’s going on?” she asks dubiously.
"Nothing. Just wondering what the story is with Marshall."
She presses her lips together and looks back.
“Just level with me about this whole Marshall thing.”
She nods, “Okay.” I see a blush on her cheeks as she turns and points to a group of men, “They said that Marshall left with about twenty people. Mostly men. They knew we’d abandoned Bern’s house and decided they could fortify it and take it over. It’s self-sustaining. He fed the people here a bunch of lies about creating the work farm commune there. Said they would send word when it was ready for these poor saps. They actually believe him too. So we’re good to fight twenty men?”
I nod, “I am. No one else fights.”
She gives me a look, “I’ll fight with you. Marshall trashed my brother’s house.” She grins, “Our brother’s house.”
I look at Anna, “I can't worry about Jake and Bernie. I know Will will be okay but I can't risk it. Putting them in harm’s way, makes me sick. Can you just stay here and cover for her and me, so we can get down the mountain to a truck?”
Anna gives me a look and shakes her head, “I have a better idea.”
I hate the look in her eyes.
It’s ambitious.
Chapter Two
I knew I hated the look in her eyes. She’s a scheming brat. I snarl and grumble as we make our run for it. Will and Jake were singing, and Jack, the real pain in the ass, was passed out. Anna had used guilt to get them to sing for the campfire. Bernie was chatting up another nerd about some crap to do with satellites. I don’t think he even noticed the sun went down. I sure did.
We run as fast as we can in the dim light of the rising moon. It’s brighter, not by much though, than the other night. Star can run like me, and Anna is too damned stubborn, not to run like us. We make it past the guards in the trees. I can hear Leo doing his running circles around us. We take turns tripping and stumbling but we finally make it to the road.
With hands on our hips and rapid heartbeats we start the trek to Bernie’s house. Every one of us is out of breath and nearly dead. The run was brutal.
We jog lightly for a while before we hear it. I glance at Anna. She nods. I veer off into the woods. Star does the same but the other side of the hill. She has a handgun she managed to steal before we left. She could only hide one.
Anna slows her pace. When the headlights hit her, she breaks into a run. The truck comes to a stop. The men hop out and run her down too easily. They’re too dumb to realize that. She lets them take her and doesn’t fight. She makes a sniffle. It’s the only sound I hear until my arrow breaks through the neck of one of them. He screams and Anna kicks his feet out from under him. She pulls the arrow out and stabs him in the eye with it.
Star shoots the other guy. The driver leaps out and I drop him. Anna runs around back; Leo is there with her. She opens the back as Star rounds the side of the van. She fires a single shot into the van. Screams fill the night air.
I run down to the van, stopping when I see what it is. It’s not what I expect at all. A man lies dead with a gun in his hand. Behind him are small children. Lots of them. Star gives me a look. I shake my head, “I don’t know.”
“Where are you from?” she asks.
They narrow their gaze at us.
I mutter, “Gen babies.”
She nods. Anna sighs.
I climb inside with Leo, “This wolf eats little kids.” They scramble back into each other. I look at the disapproving looks from Star and Anna. I point, “Hurry up. Drive, Star, you know the way.”
She points, “What about them?”
I shrug, “Is there a town along the way?”
She nods, “Yeah, it’s a cross-town.”
I shrug, “Supply towns have to have people willing to help a group of kids.”
She gives me a look and slams the door. I hear her cussing. We sit in the dark.
I don’t talk to them. I don’t have anything to say. I don’t know how to talk to kids. They’re all little and scowling.
“I have to pee,” a small voice finally breaks the silence.
I think it’s a trap and then I remember they’re five-years old. “Bang on the wall behind you all. She’ll stop the truck.”
One of them thumps and the truck skids to a stop. I hear the driver's door and then squint as the light blinds me. It makes me scared when I see the light. Bad memories flood my mind. Instead of terror and survival staring me in the face, I see Star giving me a shitty look.
“They gotta pee.”
She rolls her eyes, “Let’s go, make it fast.” She clearly likes kids as much as I do. I like one kid in the whole world. One little blonde.
Star points at them when they don’t budge, “We saved you from the bad guys. We’re going to free you so you can find your moms again.”
One kid makes a snarl-like cat noise. It's almost like a hiss. I climb out and pat my hand against my thigh. Leo follows me out and then they leave, hesitantly.
I give her a grim look, “Forgot I told them he eats kids.”
She laughs, “Oh yeah.”
They run into the bushes. We stand there until we hear the passenger door. Anna gives us a look. I frown, “What?”
She walks over and points at the bushes, “They ran away—seriously. You going to stand here all day?”
I look at the woods, confused, “Well, I guess that was probably what I woulda done.”
Star nods, “Yup.”
I don’t know what to do. They’re little kids alone in the woods. I glance at Star, “Should we go get them?”
She shrugs, “I don’t know.”
We wait a few minutes and I shake my head, “Let’s go. We won't be doing them any favors if we go drag them from the woods.” I take the lazy, coward’s path. I don’t want a dozen children to take care of.
Star nods but Anna looks confused, "Leave them?"
"Yes!" I climb back into the back of the truck and close the doors again. I hear Star start it and then we drive for what feels like forever. I’m passed out in the back, leaning on Leo, when the truck makes a weird stop. Anna opens the door, “Out of gas,” she whispers.
I yawn and grab my bow and quiver. We stretch and sit on the back of the truck, eating the dried meats we stole.
“You worried about this?” I ask.
Star looks at the road and sighs, “Nope.”
Anna gives me a cautionary look.
“Why not?”
She grins over at me, “Because Bern has a giant weapons store for just this moment. It’s in the woods, down the bomb path.”
“The bomb path?”
She laughs, “I know the way through.”
That doesn’t make me feel better.
We walk until I feel sick. I can't imagine how Anna feels. I pull an arrow, “Go find some water to refill the skins and I’ll find some dinner. Anna, make a fire and a spit.”
They leave in opposite directions. They will never like each other. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable it was in the front seat. I’m grateful I sat in the back with the weird little kids. Leo and I hike for a few minutes before I find a good tree. I press my body against it and wait. I close my eyes to listen.
I hear a branch break. It doesn’t sound huge, but when I look for the animal, I'm excited to see a massive hare. I haven’t had hare since Jake dang near killed us by under cooking it.
I pull back the arrow, lining it up. I feel the wind on my face and take a breath. When I release the arrow, it misses. I frown and pull another as the hare tries to hop away. I hit him in the neck. Leo pounces, grabbing him and giving him the death shake. I skin and gut him quick, wondering if the gutless cleaning works on hares too?