We trade blows and I try to immobilize her to salvage my plan, but the other guard snatches the gun again and jams it against my right side. I raise my hands in the air. Back to square one.
“I admire your courage, Mr. Gilmore, I really do,” Irons says, strands of her usually combed hair falling over her face. At least she’s out of breath. “But think about your actions for a moment. You’re clearly outnumbered and outgunned. If I give you Maria back, what will you do? There’s no way to leave this place unless it’s inside a body bag.”
“I don’t get it. Why would you hurt someone like Maria? She’s only trying to help.”
“And she did, but now we don’t need her help anymore. Luckily for you, we still need yours, Mr. Gilmore.”
THE GIRL IN THE MIDDLE XII
January 24th, Sunday, 11 am
So, Jacob’s daughter is scary. After taking care of Jacob’s gunshot wound, she goes outside and boils snow using one of our pots and a controlled fire in a corner of the cabin. We share a few drops before she uses the rest to clean the wound and uses Jacob’s alcohol to disinfect a needle. She stitches his skin closed in record time. His leg is still swollen and purplish, but at least it doesn’t look like it went through a meat grinder anymore.
Still, Lily’s scary. Her eyes are sharp and cold, barely blinking while focused on the task. She’s quick and sure of herself, getting to work even after spending who knows how long exposed to the cold. I stay in a corner and watch as she carries Jacob to one of the benches by the wall, folds one of his jackets under his head, and constructs a support from a pair of jeans tied to a chair to elevate his leg.
While she hangs the outer layer of her clothes near the fire, I search the main desk for anything useful between piles of paper and small brochures. Turns out the cabin was a ticket booth for a bird sanctuary at a nearby island, but since every piece of furniture is covered in dust I don’t think it was a really popular tourist destination. I take one of the brochures and open my mouth to tell Lily this, but something stops me cold.
Well, not something. Someone. To tell the truth, I’m scared of Lily because she knows. I don’t remember her, but she knows I was in Redwood. She knows what I did.
I keep expecting her to throw me out or threaten me with a painful death, and the longer she doesn’t, the more afraid I become. Is she waiting for Jacob to wake up to tell him too? Why won’t she talk to me? Why won’t she ask?
It’s driving me nuts.
“Your clothes.”
I jump at the sound of her voice, especially since it’s directed at me. “What?”
“You were out too; your clothes are wet. Give them to me. Your jacket, at least.” She extends her hand in my direction and sighs when I don’t move. “Don’t you have spare clothes in that bag?”
“Y-yeah.” I blink, but stay still.
Lily rolls her eyes before picking up my bag and taking out a clean T-shirt. She tosses it in my direction, but I just let it fall by my feet, awkwardly picking it up from the floor after a few seconds of total brain fart.
“Now take the jacket off.”
“Aren’t you mad at me?” I hope she understands what I’m trying to say. I don’t really want to admit out loud that I killed someone.
“He’s alive.”
I open my mouth, then close it like a dumb fish out of water. “He... He is?”
“No thanks to you, but yes. He’s my friend, by the way, and he’s alive. So, no. I’m not mad at you. You’re just a dumb kid.”
I frown at the insult, feeling my cheeks get hot. “I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. You shot Danny when we were trying to help you. I defended you despite—even knowing you could’ve been trouble, I helped you. Do you realize that?” She shakes her head as if trying to control herself. “And you leave my father alone with this injury? How is that not dumb?”
Sure, I screwed up in Redwood, but Jacob? That’s all on her. I take a brave step forward and place my hands on my hips. “I didn’t want to leave him! He made me. He kept trying to get to you like a crazy person! And that’s because of you, not me.”
Lily sucks her cheeks in, eyes narrow. Crap, now she’s definitely mad. “Give me the jacket.”
“No.”
She strides over to me and grabs my arm, using her free hand to unzip my damaged winter coat. “Give me the damn jacket.”
“Let go! I don’t wanna! Stop it.” I flail my arms around to stop her from taking it off, but she’s stronger and ends up spinning me around to steal it away.
I pout and cross my arms over my now-freezing, less-covered chest. I’ve changed my mind: Lily isn’t scary, she’s plain evil. I refuse to dress with the clean T-shirt and jump on a stool. Lily leaves the cabin for a brief moment and comes back with a pot filled with snow. She ignores me completely while melting it.
“You lied. You’re mad at me,” I mumble.
“Nice one, Sherlock.”
I bite my lip at her answer and stare at Jacob’s pale, extra-frowny and bushy face. “He called me that too.”
She soaks a piece of ripped clothing in warm water and applies it to Jacob’s forehead with her head down, but I can see a small smile forming on her lips. “He would. He doesn’t like smartasses.”
“Stating the obvious isn’t being smart.”
“Guess not. Then he doesn’t like dumbasses.”
I wrinkle my nose at her, but decide to be the better person and just swivel my seat around. After a few seconds of silence, I whisper, “Well, he likes me.”
This time Lily snorts while shaking her head. I hate her. “You’re cute.”
“No, I’m not!”
“I think I like being unconscious better. Don’t know what’s worse: the pain or the yapping.”
We both jump at Jacob’s voice, rushing to his side. Lily gets there first. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I need another elephant-sized dose of painkillers. There are a few in my backpack.”
Before Lily can even register his words, I’m already offering him the pills and a water canister. “I got it.”
After a lot of coughing he swallows the pills. Lily checks his temperature, and by her frown, I figure he’s still got a fever. Sweat shines on his wrinkled forehead.
“Did you tell her about the doctor? About what happened to him?” he asks me after a few scary seconds with his eyes closed.
I nod. “She said she doesn’t care.”
“No, I didn’t say that. What I said was—”
“What’s your plan?” Jacob interrupts us. “Whoever these guys are, they know what they’re doing and have the advantage, so—”
“You aren’t going to tell me to leave Roger and Danny behind?” She raises her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Won’t matter if I do. Besides, I owe Roger.” He tries to adjust his position, only to wince at the pain. “So what’s the plan?”
“I go back waving a white flag, then I tell them I just want my friends and we leave. After that, I’ll bring Maria to look after you.”
After a brief pause, both Hunters chuckle at this while I stare at them, confused. This family is crazy.
“Their solar panels are exposed. The bird sanctuary is actually a cover for the power station. So, I figure blowing it up might draw Irons’s attention enough for me to sneak in, warn Roger, and rescue Danny. They think I’m dead, so I’m probably not even on their radar.”
“What about their patrols? They must have those.”
She nods. “That’s where Tigh comes in. He traveled with me, so I trust him. I’m going to intercept his patrol and tell him everything.”
“You think he’s going to believe you?”
Lily shrugs. “If he doesn’t, I take him out of the equation. Maria, Roger, and Danny are the priority.”
Jacob nods at this, then takes a deep, pained breath. Just talking is tiring him out. His face is covered in sweat. “All you’re missing is an exit plan. Do they have any vehicles you can steal?”
“Yeah. Won’t be that difficult. Timing is the problem. If Tigh doesn’t believe me, I’ll need to pull this off in a very short time. But I think I can do it.”
“You should take Laurie with you.”
Lily glances at me with a frown. “I don’t think so. I can handle it on my own.”
I roll my eyes. Like I wanted to go anyway.
“She knows how to shoot. I taught her.” He wheezes and coughs. “She’s pretty smart and even a little cold-blooded. You two will make a good team.”
Neither of us know how to respond to that, so we just stare at each other awkwardly.
“What about you?” I finally say. “We can’t leave you alone.”
Jacob’s answer doesn’t comfort me at all. “You did all you could for me.”
The conversation dies quickly after that, and ten minutes later he falls asleep again. For a good hour we just watch him sleep, then Lily makes dinner. We eat the gooey scrub she prepared in complete silence. Part of me wants to ask her more about her friend; the rest of me doesn’t want to poke a sleeping bear.
In the end, she’s the one who starts the conversation. “How old are you?”
“Thirteen.” I finish the bowl of pasty white scrub. “Why?”
“You look older.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
More silence. I hit the small bowl with my spoon. Once. Twice.
“So...” Lily twirls her spoon between her fingers, eyes briefly meeting my own. “Where are your parents?”
My voice is low, hesitant. “Dead.”
“Sorry.” Dead silence. Again. After clearing her throat, she points at Jacob. “He taught you how to shoot, did he?” I nod. A small smile appears on her face. “I guess he also told you all those horror stories about guns? What was that one...? The one with the boy that—”
“Shot his butt cheeks off with a shotgun? Or the one who lost three fingers and half of his jaw after a dumb bet?”
“Gave me nightmares the first time I heard them.”
I shrug. “Didn’t scare me.”
Lily looks at me for a few seconds before going back to her soup. “Yeah, well... You probably saw worse things out there. When I was your age, the scariest thing I ever saw was a deer carcass hanging upside down. Father skinned it in front of me just to add fuel to the nightmare. I remember the eyeballs sticking out by the nerves.” She places two of her fingers in front of her eyes and shakes them.
Remembering my own experience with the rabbit, I stick my tongue out. “Ugh. That’s gross.”
She laughs. “I guess you aren’t all that tough, then.”
“I am.”
Lily stands and offers to take my bowl. I let her. “Are you sure? Coming with me means seeing and doing things that are messy and violent. And dangerous. You can’t choke up. You can’t freeze. Or jump the gun. You could hurt people again, like you did with Danny.”
I lower my head and stare at the floor. “Please don’t tell Jacob. I’m sorry about your friend. I really am. I didn’t mean to.”
“Being sorry doesn’t change anything. If you want to make things better, then help me.”
After a big gulp, I say, “How?”
“By staying with my father and taking care of him. No matter what he says.”
I frown. “But—”
“I can take care of myself. But I can’t worry about him. I need to focus on the others.”
With a quick look at Jacob to make sure he’s still asleep, I nod. “Okay.”
“And don’t worry, I won’t tell him. Not that it will matter.”
I can’t really fall asleep, unsure what she meant, so I spend most of the night with my hands over my ears to block the noise of the howling wind crashing against the windows, even louder than Jacob’s snores. The whole cabin shakes, the walls cracking and whining like they’re about to be ripped straight off the ground. Lily turns one of our camp lanterns on, but after a few hours the light starts to flicker until the batteries finally die. The snowstorm outside lasts the whole night and even the next morning with no sign of losing strength.
By then my jacket is dry. It feels good to be wearing it again, like having a protective shield around me. Lily paces around the cabin, hands at her sides and a frown stuck on her face. We take turns checking on Jacob, but I can see she’s getting restless to leave. Jacob does too, so he tries to distract her with theories about the CDC base.
“Worst-case scenario. Tell me.”
She recites the dangers as if they were items on a grocery list. “They’re all dead already. I get there and it’s a trap. The cure is fake. I get captured.”
“And the backup plan for that?”
“I kill as many people as I can before they take me down.”
Jacob sighs. “I think you should include your survival in your plans. That’s what I trained you to do.”
“Fine. I take someone important hostage, force my way out. Destroy the base, if possible.”
They keep doing this again and again and it’s totally boring, so I try to distract myself with the brochures and old calendars. After a while, they become silent, and perhaps out of boredom or thanks to the effects of the pills, Jacob falls asleep. Finally, late in the day, the blizzard stops.
Lily stirs in her corner, stretching her arms, then standing to check the windows. “The storm is over. I should go.”
I blink, trying to keep my eyes open as she prepares to leave, watching her fill her backpack with supplies. “What about your dad? You should say goodbye. What if—”
“I don’t like goodbyes. Neither does he. So this works fine. Just...” She sighs. “Just take care of him.”
Lily picks up one of Jacob’s hunting knives and stashes it inside her white uniform. She moves toward the door, but not before giving me a stare, her jaw set. “Thanks for saving my life back there.”
I open my mouth to answer, but Jacob is quicker.
“Take the SIG.”
Lily freezes at the sound of her father’s voice. We both turn to find him awake, eyes half-open.
“My SIG?” She points at me. “She took it back at Redwood.”
I blink. “What? I did? What’s a SIG?”
“The silver gun. It’s hers.” I open my eyes wide while he smiles at me. “It’s okay, I knew you lied about it.”
So does that mean he knew about the guy I shot all along? I shake my head as my cheeks burn. “It’s in my backpack.”
Lily nods and reaches for it. She stores it inside her now-dry jacket and, after a brief moment of hesitation, places a hand on the doorknob. “Dad? Thanks for following us. For... Thanks for not leaving me.”
And just like that, she’s gone. Jacob doesn’t talk for a long, long time. He only stares at the door.
THE HUNTRESS XVII
January 26th, Tuesday, 5 pm
After days of pacing around like a caged animal, discussing plans, and watching as my father’s condition slowly worsens, the blizzard holding me back finally ends.
Armed with my SIG, I leave, determined to reach the island as fast I can without dying in the process. I would hike back to the truck, but by now it’s probably completely buried in snow. It’ll take me three hours to get there and who knows how long to dig it out. I don’t have the time. I took care of Father’s gunshot wound as best I could, cleaning it, disinfecting it and stitching it up, but I’m not a doctor. It might not be enough. He’s lost a lot of blood and has a high fever. His best shot is stronger antibiotics and a blood transfusion, which is why I need Dr. Paz. And I’m pretty sure Irons won’t surrender any of those things, not after she tried, and failed, to kill me.
Fighting back the urge to rush, I carefully make my way over the sea of ice, so as not to sweat and lose body heat. I use Father’s compass to guide me north. It will be a long ten-hour hike on foot, spent mostly kicking myself for being so stupid. I can’t believe I fell for Irons’s trap. I let my insecurities get the better of me and she knew it. She saw how useless and powerless
I felt, so she gave me a mission and a gun. If I didn’t die on my way to the probably fake mines, then Lancaster would make sure I wouldn’t come back anyway. She wanted me out of the base fast, which means whatever they’re planning is happening now.
Lips pressed together and jaw set, I decide to use my regret and shame to fuel my anger. I was wrong, but so was Irons. She thought I was an easy kill. Well, she’s about to learn that a Hunter always survives to get revenge.
When I arrive at the island, breathless and aching, the sun does its best to pierce the mist, barely revealing the lonely dark gray spot in the middle of an icy wasteland. I avoid the garage’s entrance, instead climbing the rocky shore on its opposite side. Hunkered down, I wait and watch for a patrol truck. I know Tigh has a shift in the early hours of the morning, so hopefully he’ll be out soon.
After my legs fall asleep waiting, the garage door opens and I use Dad’s binoculars to identify the people inside the truck leaving the base. Guard Orwell drives the vehicle and I sigh in relief when I see Tigh sitting next to him. This is my chance.
I take Dad’s flare gun and shoot it upward, red penetrating the gray fog above. After a few minutes of anticipation, I hear the truck approaching. I load the SIG and lightly touch the spot where I’m keeping the knife below my jacket.
They stop a few feet from me. Four men, including Simon and Tigh, step out of the truck. I wave at them with my free hand, doing my best to act harmless.
“Is that...?” Orwell calls, eyes narrowed.
“Lily. That’s Lily!” Tigh sprints toward me, leaving the others behind. He grabs me by the shoulders and quickly scans me for injuries. “You’re one tough girl. How did you survive the storm?”
I shake my head and slowly raise the gun next to my chest so only he can see it. With hushed whispers, I tell him, “Later. They aren’t CDC, and whatever they’re after, they were willing to kill the real staff and possibly the Army to get it. Irons set me up. Her mission was a trap. They tried to kill me.”
Those Who Remain (Book 3) Page 23