Outpost

by Kellee L. Greene

  “Is it morning?” I asked.

  “Think it’s more like midday,” Hayes said. “Storm just stopped a bit ago. They wait awhile to make sure it’s really done before heading out.”

  Grayson nodded. “Mister Paul said they went out too soon one time and the hatch blew right off its hinges.”

  “Oh,” I said rubbing my eyes with my fingertips to help them get used to the change in lighting.

  “Did you sleep well?” Hayes asked.

  “I guess somehow, I did,” I said looking at the hard floor.

  Grayson stretched his arms over his head. “Me too. Must have been all that walking. Wore me out.”

  “And now we’re heading back out to do more walking,” Hayes said as he turned away from me. “I doubt there will be more places like this out there.”

  “There won’t be,” Mister Paul said as he waved us over to the ladder. “As far as I know, this is the only camp they have.”

  I didn’t say anything but there had to be other underground places like the tunnel that had been built under our city. It was old and gross and it seemed as though it had been there forever and definitely not something that those that had built our city had constructed.

  “Do you know what is out there?” I asked.

  “Lots and lots of nothing,” Mister Paul said gazing toward the fence. “But I haven’t gone that far. I have seen others out there, though. You need to steer clear of those people.”

  “People?” I asked.

  Mister Paul stared at me for a long moment. He was probably wondering how long I would survive out in the world outside the wall.

  “They call themselves natives. We had one brief encounter but now if we don’t bother them, they don’t bother us,” Mister Paul said.

  “How will we know a native when we see one?” I asked.

  Paul shook his head. “They're all that’s out there as far as I know.”

  “Where do they live?” I asked.

  “They move about, I think,” Mister Paul said scratching the back of his neck. “I really don’t know much about them. I never leave this place.”

  Mister Paul held up his nearly empty bottle for a second before walking us over to the gate. He hadn’t stopped drinking since the moment we met him.

  “Just avoid people and you’ll be fine. Oh, and hide from the storms as best as you can and one more thing,” he said holding up a finger. “The beasts, stay away from the beasts.”

  “So, basically, what you’re saying is that we’re screwed,” Hayes muttered.

  Mister Paul chuckled. “You guys seem smart… ish. I mean not too smart since you’re out here but I’m going to assume since you were banished you didn’t have a lot of choices in the matter.”

  He held up a finger and walked over to a nearby shed. He came back carrying a long stick with what looked like a knife wrapped tightly to the end.

  “Take this,” he said handing the spear to Grayson. “I can’t spare anymore but this should help you with those beasts as long as you don’t run into a pack of them.”

  “Thank you,” I said as Grayson twisted the spear in his hand.

  Mister Paul nodded. “When you stab them, aim to kill them. Don’t miss and whatever you do, don’t eat them.”

  “Why not?” I asked even though I had no intention of eating one of the beasts we’d heard horror stories about ever since we were little.

  Mister Paul’s eyes widened. “Their meat will poison you. Doesn’t even take much. It’ll eat you from the inside out. Pus. Bubbling wounds. And it’ll make you crazy. Horrible, horrible creatures.

  The way Mister Paul talked about them was far scarier than any story I’d ever heard when I was younger. Or maybe it wasn’t how he talked about them at all, maybe it had to do with the fact that I’d seen them. I’d been close and I knew that they were real.

  We thanked them for the shelter and the food. And then we walked away back into the jungle.

  Chapter Six

  The food we’d eaten with Mister Paul and the girls had been enough to fuel us for hours. We walked and walked, seeing nothing but much of the same.

  There were trees, vines, tall plants, and it all felt like it was swallowing me whole. What were we doing? The world was so big and we hadn’t even made it all that far. If we found a hill that was tall enough, I was almost sure we’d be able to see the wall in the distance.

  We weren’t used to walking. I’d seen maps and even though I wouldn’t let anything stop me, I had no idea how I’d walk the earth to find my friends.

  Even though Hayes was walking next to me, it felt like we were further apart than ever. He didn’t understand, nor did he like why we were out here but there wasn’t anything I could do that would send him back to the wall.

  Even if I had been able, there is no way to know for sure what would have happened to him. He may have been caught and who knows what my father would have done to him.

  Immediately after I’d left, I should have done more to make them go back. It was fear and loneliness that had stopped me from trying harder.

  “We’re going to have to find a place to stay soon,” Grayson said.

  There hadn’t been many buildings and most that we’d seen had been nearly torn to shreds. The sky, however, was clear, which hopefully meant that for now, the storms would stay away.

  “Keep your eyes peeled,” I said as I looked around the area. I didn’t know the first thing about finding or building a safe place.

  Everything looked the same, for all I knew, we were walking in circles, except that I knew we weren’t. The sun, even though falling toward the horizon, kept us on a straight path.

  A rustling nearby drew my attention. But it was the scream that caused me to gasp and bring my hand to cover my mouth.

  Grayson was holding the spear out in front of him, ready to thrust it into whatever danger would come our way. Hayes was reaching inside my pack for the knife.

  I stood there, staring blankly. I had no idea what we should do.

  The sounds weren’t far off but I couldn’t see any movement in the foliage around us. It was the whimpers and cries that shot through the air that helped point me in the direction the trouble was coming from.

  “We should get out of here,” Grayson said.

  “It could be those natives Mister Paul mentioned,” Hayes said his eyes glued in the same direction as mine.

  We should have turned and run from the commotion but for some reason, I couldn’t. It sounded like someone needed help.

  “Come on,” I said waving them along.

  “Sadie, no,” Hayes said grabbing my arm. “It’s not safe. You know that.”

  “Someone needs help, can you really just walk away from that?” I asked with tightly narrowed eyes.

  Hayes was gripping the knife so tightly his knuckles were white. “Yeah, I think I can.”

  “Well, wait here then because I can’t,” I said locking eyes with Grayson.

  He nodded and we ducked below a low-hanging branch heading toward the sounds. Hayes reluctantly followed behind but he didn’t do anything to stop us.

  As we got closer, I could hear the growling sounds. I glanced at Grayson and the look in his eyes informed me that he had heard them too.

  We stayed low, keeping ourselves hidden and quiet. Having lived in the city, that was one thing all three of us were rather skilled at… being quiet when we needed to be.

  I took another step and could see the movement between the leaves hanging in front of us. I held out my hand to stop Grayson and Hayes from taking another step.

  Carefully, I peered out between the leaves and saw several men lying on the ground, bloodied. Torn apart. The tall grasses had been matted down.

  Straight across from where I was, there were three of the beasts with their heads down feasting on one of the bodies. To the left, something moved in behind a small shrub.

  It was a girl and she wasn’t very well hidden but hidden enough that I couldn’t see anything but her ha
ir. If she wasn’t careful and if we weren’t careful, the beasts would find all of us and destroy us like they had the other bodies on the ground.

  I picked up a rock and Hayes grabbed my wrists before I could throw it. He shook his head side to side and my hand relaxed slightly.

  “They’ll find her,” I mouthed. Could he not see the urgency? The desperation of the situation?

  His head was still shaking but I couldn’t sit there and do nothing. We had to stop the beasts before they got to the girl who wasn’t hidden all that well.

  I pulled my hand free and threw the rock at the beast on the left. I almost cheered when I hit it in the side of the head right where I’d been aiming.

  Except there wasn’t much to cheer about. The beast was knocked back but it hadn’t done much to stop it. It shook its head and turned toward the area we were hiding. It bared its teeth and a foamy drool trickled down its reddened chin. The beast’s cold eyes were narrowed and it felt like they were locked onto mine.

  “Oh, crap,” I whispered.

  The other two beasts finished chewing their bites before they too joined the bigger one and turned toward us. Grayson readied his spear as if he knew what he was doing. Before I could say anything, he stepped out into the open.

  Grayson roared like a wild animal before charging toward the beasts.

  “Grayson!” I shouted even though there wasn’t anything I could do to stop him.

  The only thing I could do was to help. I picked up another rock and looked up to see Grayson thrust the spear forward and plunged it between the beast’s eyes.

  Blood spurted out in every direction, showering the beasts next to it with red rain. Grayson pulled at the spear but he struggled to remove it from the beast’s body.

  The other two beasts growled as they lowered their heads and crept toward him. He was in trouble.

  I launched another rock, landing it in the closest beast’s body. It turned, mildly annoyed and in the second of time I bought him, Grayson yanked the spear from the dead beast.

  He turned and plunged it into the beast but the one I’d hit was already running toward the trees. Running toward me.

  Hayes turned to me and looked into my eyes. The fear that poured out of them slowed my heartbeat. His mouth opened and it seemed as though everything started to move in slow motion.

  “Ruuuuun!” Hayes shouted.

  I couldn’t move. It felt like my feet had been glued to the ground. A panic I’d never felt before set in.

  The pounding of the beast's feet against the ground echoed through my head. It felt like there was cement in my shoes as I tried to lift them off of the ground.

  It wasn’t going to matter. Because the beast was so close, I could smell its nose-wrinkling scent. I could see each clump of fur… the matted patches at the back of his legs.

  Hayes’s hands stretched out and my eyes widened as it felt like he’d pulled the rug out from underneath me. He pushed me out of the way just as the beast launched itself in my direction. I dropped to the ground watching as the beast smacked into Hayes at full speed, knocking him down.

  “No!” I shouted.

  The beast growled and I could see it through the tall grasses moving its head from side to side. I pushed the weeds out of my way as I crawled over to Hayes.

  My fingertips dragged over a cold rounded stone. Bits of dirt pressed up under my fingernails uncomfortably as I picked up the rock.

  I pushed the grasses out of the way spotting Hayes on his back, held down by the beast. The blade in his hand shifted around as he tried to find a way to stab the beast without getting bitten. It was a clumsy dance between the pointy blade and the sharp fangs of the beast.

  I got to my knees and held the rock over my head. As I was about to hit the beast on the head, it let out a cry. Blood poured out of its middle drenching Hayes.

  Grayson was standing over us, the spear through the beast’s middle. He jerked it to the side, pulling the beast off of Hayes.

  I crawled to Hayes’s side, my eyes searching to make sure he hadn’t been bitten.

  “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked but my questions almost sounded like I was begging. And maybe I was. I was begging the universe to make sure that Hayes would be okay. I couldn’t lose him. He wouldn’t be out here if it hadn’t been for me.

  He groaned and placed his hand on the back of his head. “I’m fine. I think.”

  Hayes looked down at his stained clothing and popped up to his feet. He peeled off his shirt and let it drop to the ground as if it were covered in a contagious bacterium… and maybe it was.

  Hayes started to unbutton his pants. He stopped when the sounds of something moving through the grasses behind us cut through the air.

  It was the girl that had been hiding in the small shrub. The hanging leaves hid her face but not the fact that she was shaking and hugging herself.

  She cautiously ducked down, her eyes flicking up toward us as she approached. Her mouth dropped open but after a second a word popped out from between her lips. “Sadie?”

  Chapter Seven

  Tears streamed down Gina’s cheeks as she ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. I looked at Hayes and then at Grayson because I wasn’t sure if I was imagining what was happening.

  “Sadie, y-you all saved me,” she said her shoulder rising and following with each rapid breath.

  “What are you doing out here, Gina?” I asked my voice at a throat scratching higher pitch.

  She swallowed and looked Hayes over. “Is he okay?”

  “I’m okay,” he said kicking off his shoes.

  “What is your plan exactly?” she asked as Hayes stood there in his boxers which managed not to have a speck of the beast’s blood on them.

  Hayes looked down at himself and put his shoes back on. “I’m not sure. Find some water to wash this poison out?”

  “Maybe there is something we can salvage from them,” Gina said with a heavy sniff as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

  “Gina,” I said staring at her, still not convinced she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. “What are you doing here?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not good, I’m afraid. Your father sent us to find you. All of you.”

  “He knows I’m missing?” Grayson asked seemingly surprised that anyone had noticed.

  “Yeah, you didn’t show up for work,” Gina said.

  “How much trouble are we in?” Hayes asked.

  Gina chewed her lip. “I’m guessing a lot. I don’t want to tell you but he said that if we couldn’t find you in a few days, that we needed to go back and report that you’re dead. All of you.”

  “He doesn’t even care,” I said with a chuckle.

  “I don’t know everything your father knows but he found out that you were helping level one,” Gina rubbed the back of her neck as she shot a quick glance at Hayes. “Do you want to see if we can find some clothes for you?”

  Hayes shrugged. “They’ll be all torn up.”

  “I’m not sure I want to see who is over there,” I said feeling the pit growing in my stomach.

  “I’ll check,” Grayson said.

  “This is your fiancé, huh?” Gina said looking Hayes up and down. She stuck out her hand. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Gina.”

  He looked at her like she was sprouting a second head but he shook her hand anyway. “Hayes.”

  “I imagined you with more clothes,” she said.

  “Gina, focus,” I said turning her to look at me. “What happened back at the city? Why did he let you out? How many of you are there?” I grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “What about Darlene? Is she and the kids okay?”

  Gina was breathing fast. “Darlene and her family are fine. Linus is on it. They’re being taken care of.”

  “Linus is going to get himself in a lot of trouble getting mixed up in all this,” Hayes said shaking his head.

  “This is all Ezra’s fault. He went to my father the night I had
to leave the city. I hope no one is in any trouble,” I said the sadness pulling my eyebrows down.

  “Just the three of you as far as I know,” Gina said.

  I pinched my lip. “Why are they even looking for us? What would they do? Bring us back into the city so they can re-banish us?”

  “Your father wants you to stand trial like everyone else,” Gina said. “Maybe he’s holding out hope that you're innocent?”

  “He doesn’t care one way or the other. If he did, he wouldn’t tell you to go back and tell them I’m dead,” I said as I paced. “Here’s what I want you to do when you go back—”

  “I’m not going back!” Gina said holding up her hand. “No way. No how.”

  My hands dropped heavily to my sides. “Gina, you have to. Level one needs you.”

  Hayes tried to keep his groan silent but he failed. It was something I’d have to worry about later. He probably wasn’t in the best mood, considering he almost lost his life.

  “Linus has it under control. I’d much rather your father thinks we’re all dead,” Gina said.

  Grayson was walking back with what looked like a pair of pants. He was also lugging three heavy backpacks with him.

  “How many people are out here looking for me?” I asked.

  “It was just two groups. Us and another. I have no idea what happened to the second group as they headed the opposite direction,” Gina said. “These beasts aren’t just from scary stories, huh?”

  “No, no, they’re not,” I said.

  Hayes looked over the pair of pants before trying them on. They were speckled with blood but not any more than the rest of our clothes were.

  “Besides,” Gina said. “Your dad had the tunnel sealed.”

  Hayes’s shoulders dropped. “We can’t ever go back.”

  It was like our future had finally set in. Maybe in the back of his mind, he’d imagined that one day we’d go back. Maybe he didn’t even think it would be long. He was probably just waiting for me to give up and realize I’d made a mistake.

  “We weren’t going to be able to go back anyway,” I reminded him with a frown. “I told you to go back.”