The More Things Change

by Emily Holloway

  Valerie clutches at Dominic's hand. "So what are we going to do?"

  "The same thing we've been doing," Maya says. "Stay hidden, stay safe."

  Valerie nods, but she looks around at the ruins of the motel and seems skeptical. Maya tries not to scowl because she knows it isn't Valerie's fault.

  "Actually," Jackie says, and lets out a breath, "I think I've figured out a way to get us out of here."

  Maya looks at her in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to. I thought you wanted to stay until…" Her gaze darts between Jackie and Valerie, not sure of what she can and can't say.

  Jackie nods a little, and she's quiet. "For a long time…getting revenge for my parents was the only thing that really mattered to me. I thought that I wouldn't be able to do anything else, wouldn't be able to live, until it was done. But I thought about it a lot today, after…what happened last night. The truth is, I guess I've known a way out for a while. But I didn't want you guys to leave until I was ready to come with you. I thought I had to stay until Mitchell was killed. After what you said about wanting revenge not just for them but for the person I could have been…I realized that I was wrong." She wipes her eyes. "Because I know that my parents wouldn't want this for me. They would want their killer brought to justice, yes, but…not at so much expense. Even if I found a way to get to him—and I haven't yet—I'd have to take huge risks. There's a pretty good chance I'd get myself killed. And they wouldn't want that. What my parents would want more than anything else would be for me to be happy. I know that somehow." She swallows hard and continues, "So if we find a way out, I think we should take it. I care more about making sure you guys are safe than I do about killing Mitchell."

  Silence falls for a long minute. "So, uh…I take it that Mitchell killed your parents?" Jared finally asks.

  "Yeah. I don't have a lot of details on why, so don't ask." Jackie shrugs. "He thinks I don't know, but he's putting pieces together. We need to get out while we still can."

  Maya reaches out and squeezes Jackie's hand. "So what's your plan?"

  Jackie takes a deep breath. "The key is in Leo's supply runs." She pulls out of Maya's arms and rummages around in the backpack she's wearing, then plunks down a map of Cold Creek and the surrounding forest. "See, Mitchell has snipers in the forest. I know that, but I can't find out where they're stationed. But what I did manage to find out is that he pulls them back when Leo comes in with supplies. A lot of people have tried attacking the convoy over the years. Plus he has added security for distribution because sometimes people get really upset when they find out that their monthly allotment is nothing but canned beans and a couple rolls of toilet paper." Jackie glances at Valerie, but she says nothing. "So for about an hour, from when Leo reaches the gate to when distribution is complete, the militia's presence on the perimeter is scaled way, way back. And if we can manage to somehow tip him off that someone is planning to attack the convoy—I think Solomon will be able to get that done for us—then he'll pull everyone back to cover it."

  Everyone is nodding, and Maya's eyes are bright like she's just seen hope for the first time in years. "That could actually work." She glances over at Ryan to get his opinion, and sees that her brother is frowning faintly. But when he sees Maya looking at him, he gives a slight nod, indicating his approval of the plan.

  "It won't be easy," Jackie warns them. "We're talking about maybe a thirty or forty mile hike through the wilderness afterwards, with minimal supplies. And of course, we have absolutely no idea what the conditions on the outside are like."

  "What if it really is as bad as Mitchell says?" Siobhan asks. "What if it's a war zone?"

  "Then we'll have to fight for a new place," Maya says, and squeezes her hand. "We'll do it together."

  "I'll get as many supplies as I can," Jackie says, "but I have to be careful if I don't want to be caught. It'll be about two weeks to Leo's next run. So we have time to work it out. But I need to know how many people are going."

  Jared looks around and then says, "My mom will want to come."

  Maya just nods. "Dominic, Marcus?"

  Dominic shakes his head. "My mom is doing okay here. I won't risk dragging her through the forest and into the mountains."

  "Same," Marcus says, with a note of regret in his voice. "I love my family, and I'll miss them, but they're human. They're safer here."

  "Just remember, there might not be any coming back," Jackie says, and they both nod.

  "I'm coming," Valerie says, squeezing Dominic's hand.

  "Valerie…" Jackie says.

  Valerie doesn't flinch. "Everything my family has ever told me was a lie. Most of what they've done has hurt people. Some of them were people I cared about, and a lot of them were people you cared about. I won't stay here with them."

  Jackie meets her gaze and holds it for a moment, then nods. "Okay. Let's do it."

  *~*~*

  One benefit of the motel is that people can at least have some privacy. The walls aren't exactly soundproof, but they can get out of each other's faces and have private discussions. Dominic brings Valerie to a room down the hall and busies himself getting a fire started. Valerie sits cross-legged on the floor in silence while he works.

  "So…how are you?" she finally asks.

  Dominic sits down across from her and gives her a wan smile. "Tired. Hungry, a lot of the time. Not so much today, since you just got us all that stuff. But…okay. How are you?"

  "Scared. Sad. I don't know." Valerie shakes her head. "I'm so happy to see you, but…everything is changing so fast, and I feel bad about how long I was just…so completely ignorant about everything around me."

  "That isn't your fault, Val. A lot of people worked really hard to keep you that way."

  Valerie sniffles and nods. "I'm trying to learn, but it's a lot, you know?"

  "I know. Believe me, I know." Dominic scoots closer and laces his fingers through hers. "You want to learn about magic?"

  "Yeah," Valerie says, and manages a smile. "Tell me about magic."

  "Magic's all about possibilities, right?" Dominic says. "And the less likely something is, the harder the magic to conjure the possibility will be. So, looking around here…" He glances around, coming up with something that won't actually harm them or hinder Valerie's trip back. "Okay, see that rat in the corner?"

  Valerie squeaks. "Well, I do now!"

  Dominic laughs. "It's fine, he won't hurt us. He might come say hi. Or he might not. He might crawl back into that hole in the wall, or go out the window."

  "Out the window, please," Valerie says, hiding her face in Dominic's shirt. Dominic focuses on the rat, on seeing where the rat might go. A minute later, it skitters across the room, jumps up onto the window sill, and vanishes into the night. "Wow. Can you do that with people?"

  "Ehhhh." Dominic waves his hand in a see-saw gesture. "It depends. If it's something that's not out of their nature, sure. Mostly what I've been focused on is the possibility that the militia patrols won't see us. I'm actually getting pretty good at it."

  "That's good." Valerie relaxes a little. "Anything to help keep you safe."

  Dominic nods. "It's the present stuff that I'm still terrible at," he adds, and Valerie gives him a questioning look. "Okay, so, the other day we were in this house looking for food, right. I'm standing there focusing on the possibility that there will be a lot of stuff in the fridge. But I keep tripping up on it, because I feel like whatever's in the fridge is already there, and I can't change it. But until I open the door, I don't know what's there."

  "Like Schrödinger's cat!" Valerie says.

  "Yeah, exactly that," Dominic says. "I didn't understand it in physics and I don't understand it now. You know what was there when I opened the fridge? A half-empty jar of mustard and nothing else."

  Valerie laughs and leans against his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make fun of you."

  "It's fine." Dominic leans over and kisses her. "God, I've missed you so much. I wanted more than anything just
to at least get a message to you, to-to let you know that I never would have left you if I'd had any choice."

  "I missed you too." Valerie twines her fingers through his. "But we're together again. Nobody's going to separate us. We'll get out of here, we'll build a new life somewhere."

  "You're really okay leaving your family?" Dominic asks. "Your dad?"

  "I don't know." Valerie looks away. "Not yet. But I guess I'll have to be eventually." She shakes her head. "Let's talk about something else. Tell me about the others. Tell me about Maya and Jackie's epic romance."

  Dominic grins. "Okay," he says, "as long as you understand that our romance is more epic than theirs."

  "We'll see."

  *~*~*

  Ryan can hear Maya climbing up onto the roof, and he hopes that his aura of strong disinterest will keep Maya from trying to talk to him. It doesn't. Maya walks over and sits down beside him. "Valerie seems okay," she says, her tone reserved. Ryan doesn't say anything in response, so Maya prompts, "What do you think?"

  "About Valerie?" Ryan asks.

  "No, about the price of beans in Peru," Maya replies, rolling her eyes. "Yes, about Valerie. Do you think it's safe? Her knowing where we are?"

  Ryan sighs. He knows that this isn't really what Maya wants to talk about. But he answers the question anyway. "Her reaction to Dominic was genuine. And I think that we can trust Jackie's judgment."

  "Okay." Maya looks out over the street. "So, we're finally going to get out of here."

  "So it would seem."

  "And you're okay with that?"

  Ryan pretends that he doesn't have any idea what Maya is talking about. "Can you think of a reason why I wouldn't be?"

  Predictably, Maya gets sick of subtlety quickly. "Let me think. Six foot two, impressively muscled, father of the two people we were just discussing?"

  Ryan sighs. "If you think that I would find Nick Donovan a compelling reason to stay in this hellhole, you've got another think coming. Which you probably wouldn't use."

  "Could you try not being an asshole for two minutes?" Maya growls. "I'm trying to help you here, okay? I mean, you helped me. What you said about Jackie. You were the one who made me see that pushing her away was only hurting me more."

  "The situations are hardly anything like," Ryan says. "You and Jackie weren't already in a relationship. It wasn't already ruined for you. Nick and I are never going to…" He stops himself and pinches the bridge of his nose, willing Maya to go away. "He gave up what we could have had a long time ago."

  "But did you?" Maya challenges. "Are you just going to give up and walk away? You? All your life, you've taken what you wanted. But when it comes to Nick, it's like you just let how he feels control everything. Why should you let him do that to you?"

  "You know, I don't recall asking for your opinion on this situation," Ryan says, mouth tightening into a snarl.

  "You never ask my opinion on anything," Maya says. "Even on decisions that by all rights I should be the one making. You've never asked for anyone's opinion because you think you're some sort of God damned genius. But I'm pretty sure that you have a Nick Donovan shaped blind spot. I'm pretty sure that I understand what's happened between the two of you better than you do."

  "I'm pretty sure that's untrue," Ryan says. "Because if you really understood this, you would know damned well why I'm willing to just walk away."

  "If you would just—"

  "No!" Ryan loses his temper. "No, I won't. I won't do anything. Because I'm tired of always being the one who has to chase after him. For once in his God damned life, if he wants to be with me, if he really wants that, he's going to have to be the one to do something about it."

  Maya sits in silence for a minute. "Nick doesn't know we're leaving. It might be different if he did."

  "I could have left any time in the last five years after the others died." Ryan stands up. "If that didn't matter to him then, I can't imagine why it would matter now."

  He turns to walk away. Maya calls after him, "I just don't want you to have any regrets, Ryan."

  "I won't," Ryan says. "Don't you worry about me."

  *~*~*

  The days, which had slowly been sliding by, start to streak past. Maya has the entire pack gathering supplies. They're taking more risks than they ever would have before, because she knows that they have to be the ones who get what they'll need. They can't rely on Jackie. Not if she wants to be able to maintain her cover and find out exactly when the next supply run is going to be.

  So it's up to the pack. Ideally, the hike to whatever civilization they find should only take a week, but she wants to be prepared for a month, two months, a year. They don't know if they'll find civilization at all. She wants to take as much as they can carry.

  Before the war, the closest town to Cold Creek had been about thirty miles to the north. But they can't go north, because that's where the mountains are. They have to head south, which means a fifty mile hike. Even on smoother terrain, that will take a few days, and to be honest none of them are conditioned for endurance except Jackie. The werewolves might have the advantage of lycanthropy, but they have a much stronger disadvantage of years of lean rations and poor sleep. None of them are in great shape.

  In preparation for the hike, then, it's not just about finding supplies to bring. Maya wants to get her pack in better shape. She wants to find food. Protein, specifically.

  In a way, telling Kyra that they're finally going to get chickens and watching her eyes light up is almost worth it. Telling Dominic and Siobhan that they'll have to eat it raw doesn't get quite the same reaction. Werewolves can handle raw meat. Humans can't. Dominic and Siobhan, then, will get the eggs. Boiling water is safe; roasting chickens is not.

  When the proverbial foxes break into the literal hen house, all hell breaks loose. It's kept by several men in town, and although it's guarded, nobody's tried to break into it in a long time. So they're slow to react, and by the time they get organized, Maya and each of the wolves have had far more than their fair share and Dominic has made off with several dozen eggs.

  Maya doesn't like being a thief, but by this point in her life, she's beyond caring. The people in Cold Creek will, for the most part, get their things replaced.

  But they have to be careful. A rise in werewolves breaking into houses will get attention. So they eke out supplies a handful at a time. Break into a house and steal one cup of rice and a single potato. Break into another for one orange and a can of beans. Steal matches and water purifier tablets two or three at a time. Pairs of socks. A tarp. A coil of rope. Every household in Cold Creek is contributing to their supplies.

  It's ridiculous, but it works. With nine people in the pack, they can split into pairs and cover a lot of ground. And the abandoned motel that Solomon had recommended seems safe enough. She wouldn't stay there more than a couple weeks under normal circumstances, but with freedom on the horizon and a ton of supplies to store, she'll risk it. She leaves two pack members there all the time, taking shifts to protect their supplies.

  The pack doesn't mind the work because they're all visibly excited about the possibility of escape. Marcus and Dominic go to spend one last day with their families. Maya knows that what's going to happen will depend a lot on what's on the outside. If Mitchell had one set of lies for the townspeople and one set of lies for the supernatural inhabitants of Cold Creek, is it possible that he has one for the outside authorities too? If the world has settled down, and Mitchell has simply convinced important people that there's nothing left of Cold Creek, they might be able to come back for their families. Maya's not holding out a lot of hope, and she doesn't say anything to the pack members who are leaving their family members behind. There's no point in upsetting them. But the possibility is still there.

  Jackie comes by once every few days with the bits and pieces she's managed to scrounge. Maya is glad they have the motel, instead of the places they've stayed before, the warehouses or ruined buildings, because it gives them some small modic
um of privacy. She can take Jackie to one of the other rooms and make love to her without anyone intruding. Every time Jackie shows up, she throws herself into Maya's arms, and it's like a little of the world has returned to its proper order.

  Only this time, Jackie shows up and says, "Hey, I—" and then cuts off because Maya has taken matters into her own hands. Specifically, she's taken Jackie into her hands, or more specifically her arms, and is kissing her. Jackie enjoys it for a few moments, then pulls away. "Supply run is going to be in four daaayyyyyys," she says, moaning out the last word as Maya starts biting at the skin of her neck.

  "Great," Maya says, lifting Jackie up and carrying her into the room across the hall. "We can talk about that in a bit."

  They barely make it through the door before they're pulling each other's clothes off, and conversation is suspended. Well, mostly. Jackie talks a lot during sex, and Maya thinks it should be annoying but it's so Jackie that it isn't. She just rambles on about how good things feel and how lucky she is and how amazing Maya's various body parts are.

  "I'm the lucky one, you know," Maya says, nuzzling into the crook of Jackie's shoulder. "I didn't think I would ever…be able to be with anyone. After I lost so much."

  They've never talked about her family, and they don't talk about it now. Jackie rolls onto her side and says, "You deserve someone. And for some reason you picked me. Who am I to argue?"

  Maya snorts. "Smug little brat."

  "Oh yeah." Jackie sits up and pulls her shirt back on. Maya growls in mock protest, but she knows that Jackie can't stay long. "Four days until Leo leaves. So five until he comes back. Solomon's going to drop the tip tomorrow, or one of his friends is doing it. Are you guys going to be ready?"

  "As ready as we'll ever be, I think," Maya says. "We have enough supplies to camp for two weeks if we have to. And we've been eating better. Bulking up a bit."

  "Yeah, I see that," Jackie says, giving Maya's arm an affectionate squeeze. "We're going to need to do at least ten miles on the first day if we want to be sure we're out of range of all the perimeter patrols. Do you think Dominic and Dr. Cooper will be up for that?"