by Scott McCord
“Make them fall back,” Jack whispers. “Ben is down there somewhere. Can you see him?”
I swallow hard and put on my toughest façade. The hobbled Scorpion is inching toward the girl. When he gets the child, he’ll leave, and this will be over long enough for me to rethink the plans for my friends. They can have the girl, but I can’t let that gimpy Scorpion get any closer than he already is. Will is yelling at me as I scan the lower brush for Ben.
“Can you see him?” Jack asks again.
I don’t.
“I asked you a question,” Will shouts from below, but he’s only background noise now.
If Ben is down there, he’ll be near the girl.
The crippled Scorpion isn’t backing off. Will has two more men taking cover behind him. I try to keep an eye on all of them while I look for Ben. I don’t want to give anything away. If they realize a Utugi is down there, they’ll go right for him. Damn, that stupid kid. Will is doing all he can to distract me while his Scorpion closes in.
I squeeze the grip of my bow—Scorpion one, Scorpion two, Will, gimp, girl, scan the brush—not too long or they’ll know I’m looking for something. Again, my eyes dart among the intruders as Will pries me for where I’ve been. —Scorpion one, Scorpion two, Will, gimp, girl, scan the brush and…nothing—
“There’s a lot more happening than you know,” I say, continuing my search.
“Anything?” Jack asks.
I shake my head.
“Are you a Slitter?” Will yells.
—Scorpion one, Scorpion two, Will, gimp, girl, scan the brush and…Ben, crouching in the thicket no more than six feet away from the Community girl’s position. She doesn’t see him, but the crippled Scorpion will if he gets any nearer. I have to take control.
“Stop right there, hop-along. I don’t want to hurt you. Now move back and stand next to Will,” I say. I glance at Jack. He’s got Jeremy by the wrist. “I see him,” I whisper. “He’s close. I’m going to back them off.”
“We want the girl,” Will says.
“You can have her, but right now tell the two men with you to stand where I can see them.” Will hesitates. “Do it. There are a lot more of us than there are of you,” I lie.
Will gives a signal and two Scorpions rise from the brush.
“What now, Mim?” Will asks.
“Take your Scorpions and get to your side of Middle Ground.”
“We’re not leaving without Jeni.”
“Quit stalling. You don’t give a rat’s butt about that child, otherwise she wouldn’t be here.”
The crippled Scorpion isn’t following my orders. He continues to inch toward Jeni—where Ben is hiding a few feet away. I don’t want the girl, but I need the gimp to move back so I can let her go to him. If he keeps pressing forward, he’ll see Ben, and if that happens, options for how this ends dwindle considerably. These assholes shouldn’t even be here.
“Is that my knife?”
“It is,” I say.
“That came from my parents’ tent,” Will says.
“It did,” I say.
“What kind of monster are you?” Will screams. His accusation and all the pain dialed inside surprises me. I cut my eyes to him. Will isn’t lying about his parents.
“Slitter!” someone yells.
The gimp draws his bow and lets an arrow fly just above Jeni’s shoulder into the thicket beyond.
The forest fades into an amalgam of greens and browns as the kill-shot moves like tree sap, finding no limb or fluttering leaf to alter its course. I watch, paralyzed in a dream, as Ben rises up from his hiding spot in a spew of bright red raining across the underbrush. He’s barely tall enough to stand above the branches. He gags, holding his throat, as life runs through his fingers and soaks the front of his shirt. Jeni screams and the crippled Scorpion dives for her.
“Noooo, Ben!” my voice echoes hollow down the cliff, as I draw an arrow and send it streaking down through the side of the Scorpion’s head. He falls to the ground like a sack of rotten fruit, sprawled dead at the little girl’s feet. Jack scrambles to the top of the boulder to support my play.
---
Fast and unprovoked, the whole forest spins around me, blurring details and blending grays with browns. I drop to a crouch and ready my bow. The red spring seeping around the shaft in Thatcher’s head is the only color that’s alive. It’s hard not to watch. Jeni is wailing. The Slitters went for the girl, and when Thatcher tried to protect her, Mim killed him. She shot him down like a stinking Lopper. Knox sends an arrow meant for Mim whistling over my head.
---
An arrow cracks on the rock beside me. Jack returns fire, and a Scorpion catches it through the heart. He goes down, dropping his bow and spilling his quiver.
---
Knox is hit! They’re coming over the rocks. I take a bead on the shooter and drop him with a headshot. We have to get Jeni.
---
Jack topples backward off the boulder with an arrow in his face. I look down. Will is breaking for the girl. I duck behind the rock. Jeremy is trembling, sitting with his knees tucked under his arms.
“That shit got me in the cheekbone,” Jack gurgles. His mouth is full of blood and his right pupil has disappeared in a pool of solid red. He spits. “Don’t worry, it looks worse than it is. Break the shaft off. It’ll be hard to do much with an arrow in my face.”
I’m horrified, but I do as Jack asks and then help him sit up. Jeremy crawls over and buries his head in the big man’s chest. Jack pats him on the back and strokes his hair.
“Jeremy,” Jack chokes, “I’m going to need you to look after Mary and Rosie for me, do you understand.”
“I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving you or Ben,” Jeremy weeps.
“Ben isn’t here anymore, buddy, and I have to stay so you and Mim can get away safe.” He looks at me and I shake my head telling him I’m not going either. “Because, I’m in charge,” he continues, “and I need you and Mim to look after each other, get home and warn our people. I don’t know how many Scorpions will be coming. Everyone is counting on you now.”
I don’t have time to cry, but the tears find a way out just the same. “I’m sorry, Jack, I am so sorry.”
“Don’t fret, princess, this isn’t your fault. This was always coming.” He spits a mouthful of bright red, and it drips down his chin. “Now, I have a helluva headache, and I don’t want to pass out until you two are long gone, so get me to my feet and hand me a bow.”
“But I love you, Jack,” Jeremy sobs.
“I love you too, buddy. When I tell you to go, you run like the wind straight that way. Mim will take care of you. Don’t go to the camp until you’re sure no one is following.”
“Yes sir,” Jeremy whimpers.
I stare into Jack’s face—one clear eye and one the color of blood—and nod that I’ll do what he says. We help him to his feet.
“Everyone needs you, Mim,” he says. “Now go.” And we do, breaking for the Edge with Jeremy running like a jackrabbit out front.
---
I move in to get Jeni before any more arrows fly. She wraps her arms around my neck, and I set her behind a big oak where she can’t see Knox or Thatcher.
“Why did Mim do that?” she asks, but I have no answer.
“You stay put. If I let something happen to you, Thatch will be furious with me in heaven”
She forces a smile. A slow tear runs down her cheek. “I’ll stay put,” she whispers.
I brush a few strands of hair from her face and step over with Figg to check Knox’s body. Shot right through the heart—dead the moment the Slitter released the bowstring. Thatcher and Knox both…they were good guys, not like most of the assholes I work with.
“Do you think they’re done, or are they coming for the girl?” Figg asks.
“Shhh, hear that? Sounds like someone running away.”
“Going for reinforcements?”
“I don’t know. You take Jeni home, and I’ll fo
llow them. We might be able to salvage this after all.”
A silent arrow cuts down from the rocks above, piercing the earth inches from Figg’s left foot.
“Dammit,” Figg exclaims. We dive for cover, rolling up to spot the shooter.
Up in the rocks, a blood covered Slitter staggers, fumbling with his bow. He’s not much of a threat, but I have two dead friends, so he gets no pass from me. While the Slitter fumbles to seat another arrow, I draw my bow and put one through his heart, the same as he did to Knox. The scumbag doesn’t make a sound. He leans back, wedges himself between two boulders and hangs there. It’s hard to tell if the big, bloody man is dead or just resting, so I put another arrow in him to make sure.
“Get the girl home,” I say to Figg, “and tell Ven I’ll be back as soon as I find the nest.”
I sprint down along the foot of the bluff to a place where the bank isn’t so steep and scramble to the top. I know it’s Mim. She’s moving too fast to cover her tracks, but not so fast I can’t catch up. She’s not wounded, but she’s running with someone scared…and that someone is leaving a trail a blind man can follow. Mim lied about having men in the woods, and I know she’s not stupid enough to lead me to the Slitter camp. I’ll have to take her, and whoever she’s with—whoever she’s protecting—will be my leverage to make her talk. Mim will tell me everything, and then she’ll answer for Thatcher and Knox…I don’t care who she used to be. My knife on her hip is all I need to know she’s not that person anymore. I pick up the pace heading south. The Edge will be coming up soon, and I’ll have them trapped against Outside.
Mim
Jeremy is running reckless, tearing through the trees and leaving a trail a mile wide. He ricochets through the woods like a wild arrow, suffocating in the death of his brother and the man he adores. Everything around him is obscured in tears, sobbing as he runs, working to breathe. I stay on his heels.
Puddles in my own eyes make it difficult to see, and I can’t hear anything but Jeremy crying. I don’t know if anyone is following, but we’re coming up on the Edge, so we’ll stop there, collect our emotions, and disappear before we’re found. Jeremy can do it. I’ve seen him do it before. That’s the plan. I’ll sort out the rest after we’re safe.
We run, it seems like forever, we run, until finally we’re at the southern border of the Ark, and Outside is no more than ten paces away. Jeremy senses it too. He’s been sprinting ahead of me since we left the rock, but now he’s trapped, and he won’t be able to go any farther. We’ll rest here a moment, bandage our feelings, and get home.
I trot to a stop and put my hands on my knees to get a better breath.
“Hold up,” I say, but Jeremy doesn’t. He bolts right over the Edge and keeps going.
“Wait,” I call.
Jack says Jeremy isn’t conditioned, but if he can travel beyond the Ark, even for a little while, my whole escape plan becomes much easier. I take another sip of air as Jeremy disappears around a stand of Outside thicket. Maybe Jack exaggerated Jeremy’s condition to scare me…or maybe that little shit is just as impulsive as his brother. Crap! I have to catch him.
Thump! An arrow slams into a tree inches from my head. Its shaft vibrates with the sudden stop. I hesitate—two steps from the Edge.
“That’s far enough, Mim,” Will says. “Drop your bow and turn around.” He sounds mean.
I briefly consider pulling an arrow and trying to get off a shot, but that would be a pride move, and being killed today wouldn’t be good for anybody.
“You’re not that fast, Mim. I’ll put one through your skull before you get the first arrow free of your quiver. Now, drop the bow and turn around. You’re hemmed against the Edge, so you’re not going anywhere I don’t let you.”
His smugness pisses me off. I turn back, but I do not drop my bow.
Will
I have her, and now I’ll get some answers. There’s terribleness in her eyes. Mim is dangerous, and she hasn’t dropped her weapon. I keep my bowstring taut and an arrow ready to fly. If I miss, she’ll kill me.
“Where have you been,” I ask. She doesn’t answer. “What were you going to do with the girl?”
“You mean your bait,” she snarls. “What kind of man are you, bringing a child into the woods?”
“You don’t know shit, Mim. I don’t answer to you. I’d do the same thing any day, every day, if it meant saving Group 14 from a bunch of cutthroat Slitters…one life for many…besides nothing was going to happen to that kid. I wouldn’t let it.”
“What about the boy your Scorpion shot down in the bushes.”
“All I saw was a Slitter trying to abduct a Community child, and then I saw an arrow go through a good man’s head.”
“Me too. You have no idea what you’ve done, Will. You’re the one who doesn’t know shit.”
“For killing the guy who killed my friend? Are you deluded? This is your fault. You should have come home. Now, I asked you a question and I want the answer. Where have you been?”
My arm is tiring, but I keep my bow drawn anyway. Mim is fast, and I’m not sure what she’ll do if she gets the chance.
“If I have to ask again, I’ll put one in your leg,” I threaten.
“With my father,” she answers.
“He’s dead.”
She shakes her head.
“I don’t believe you.”
“You’re past the point of believing anything, Will. What happened to you?”
“Ellie died and you left. I was fine going through the motions, doing my job, trying to make peace with everything I’d lost, but then my parents happened…and there was nothing else but vengeance…justice. So here I am—a devoted Scorpion, and there you are, a murdering Slitter.”
“We didn’t hurt your parents.”
“The knife on your hip says different. It was in my dad’s tent. He took it back when I became a Scorpion.”
A hot, angry tear rolls down along my nose. The bowstring strains against my grip and sweat is turning my fingers slippery. I won’t be able to keep the bow pulled much longer, but it is too dangerous to let Mim out from under my arrow. Maybe I should put one in her shoulder and carry her back to Community.
“Put your weapons on the ground, or so help me, I’ll shoot you down where you stand.” I make the threat as cold and definite as I can, so she’ll believe. “I’m getting tired, and I’m not going to relax this bow until you’re unarmed or dead.”
Slam! My neck whips and my teeth snap together as I’m struck from the side. My arrow flies wild, and the bow sails from my hand. I tumble to the ground but recover quickly, rolling to my feet, and pulling my knife to engage my attacker, but the assailant doesn’t press his advantage. He halts, frozen, staring at Mim as she stares back over a nocked arrow.
“Hello, Mim,” Tommy says. “I’ve missed you.”
“Are you part of this?” I step toward Tommy. Mim draws back on her bowstring, putting the arrow on me. I stop.
“Come on, Mim, don’t make me save two friends today. You’re not going to shoot Will, so lower the bow, please,” Tommy says. “I’ve been out here a few days now. I’ve surveyed your camp. There are things you, me, and Will need to talk about before the shit really starts flying. There are pieces that have to be put together, and I can’t figure out how they fit.”
Mim says nothing. She only glares at me while Tommy talks, waiting for an excuse to shoot me down. I keep my eyes on hers for any hint of what she’s thinking.
“You’re over Middle Ground. You’ve broken the treaty, so this is all on your head. I had something I needed to tell you, but I was looking for Will 14, not an ass-wipe Scorpion. You were my friend, but if you come at me again, or anyone I care about, I will put you in the ground without thinking twice.” Our eyes stay locked as she speaks. She won’t kill me today…her mistake. “Tommy, I’ve missed you too. Thanks for the assist.”
“No problem, but we have to talk.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your mom,” M
im continues as she backs toward the Edge.
“Whoa, whoa. What are you doing? You know where you are?” Tommy warns.
“Thanks again.” Mim relaxes her bow and slides the arrow into the quiver on her back. “Don’t forget what I said, Will.” She glances at Tommy, then turns and sprints over the Edge. In astonishment, we watch her go.
“Did you see that?” Tommy asks.
I gulp at the sight of my former friend loping out where no human can follow. Where no one has ever been able to go without dropping dead. When she’s gone, I have to convince myself several times over what I saw was real.
“What is she? What have they done to her?” I turn to Tommy. “Did you know Slitters were amphibious?”
He shakes his head no, and we stand there a few minutes more, staring out into the empty forest, not fully understanding what just happened.
“Tommy…” I finally say, “…you’re under arrest.”
33
Mim
Ben—dead. Jack—dead. Will’s parents, Tommy’s mother—murdered. The location of the Utugi camp—compromised. My mind reels as I trot, looking for signs of Jeremy. I need to get back and warn Cassandra, but I have to find the boy first. After all that’s happened, I can’t lose him too.
I pick up his trail easily. He was running fast and then slowed because of the thin air. He stumbled, fell, got up, fell again, and dragged himself into those bushes, not more than thirty yards from the Ark.
“Jeremy,” I call, but get no answer. “Jeremy, we have to go. Come on, I’ll help you.” I wade into the bushes where he is hiding. “You can come out. Those butt-heads can’t follow us out here.” I push through the branches and spot him curled up, sound asleep on the forest floor. “Let’s go buddy, you can catch a nap later.”
I nudge him with my toe. He doesn’t wake. There’s a bluish hue in his face. I plunge into the brush and drag him out by his ankles. He doesn’t move. I kneel, lightly tapping his cheek.