The Roar (The Roar Series Book 1)

by A. M. White

  Finally, the time came for all of us to head back to our shacks. The shovel felt heavier than usual. Being out in the open, waiting I could feel my body becoming tense. I hoped he would be inconspicuous upon his arrival. I wanted to get in to the safety of my own space.

  My routine continued until I was in my bed. Every noise sent an alert signal to my brain. Still the was no sign of him. I was beginning to wonder if he would come back.

  Had he been caught? Was this some kind of test? I cursed myself for allowing hope creep into my life, even if it was short lived.

  I lay on the scratchy cot and stared at the boards. Sleep escaped me because I couldn’t shut off my self-loathing for wanting it all to be true. I imagined running through the woods alongside the man. Each person that could be on the other side wanting me to join them, flashed through my head. I saw family members that could have escaped. I come from strong stock, people that know how to survive. That was what crushed me the most about seeing the burned bodies in my home. They should’ve known better than to cling to each other in an emergency like that.

  At some point, I saw movement between the slats in the boards. It halted my day dreaming and I got goosebumps, was it him? The shadows moved low trying to situate between them.

  “Alex”, a ragged whisper broke through the darkness, “Alex?” I sat up and put my hand against a crack close the shadow.

  “Until your feet touch the ground, they can’t hear you, just whisper. Have you made up your mind?” The voice spoke.

  I nodded. “Who wants me to come with you?”

  “I can’t tell you, you just have to decide”, his shadow on the other side crouched even further. “I need an answer, now.”

  “Yes,” I croaked.

  “Then run. Run to me, I will carry you from here,” his urgency told me to go now and I did.

  My feet hit the floor, sprinting to the door; he was standing there waiting for me. He swung me onto his back.

  Immediately, we were moving at a speed that I could not comprehend. He moved in such and animalistic way, passing the back of the shack, over the barbed wire fence, and then into the trees that lined our sector. I was wrapped around him and held on for dear life.

  No one had ever made it past the fence. I heard people try to climb it. The clinking sound was unmistakable, but was always followed with a roar. Then, the mutilated bodies of the attempted escapees were dragged into the field and put on display to deter the rest of us from trying to escape.

  I clung to him; he had complete control and I had to trust him with my life. I had decided that even before I agreed to go either I would die or live; it was a fifty/ fifty chance with him. By leaving, that choice was better than the hundred percent that I would die if I stayed.

  At times, he leaned forward and moved on all fours. We reached a fallen tree where he grabbed my legs around his middle to make sure I was secure before effortlessly bounding over it. Everything was silent except the pounding of his feet. It was apparent that he had transported people like this before.

  The trees whizzed by; every now and again, a branch would clip my arms. Each hit was a surprise because of the darkness. It hurt terribly; I bit down on my lip to keep from making noise due to the pain.

  The roar did come, but too late. I could hear it but I no longer felt it. I was beyond its reach either because of our distance or that my feet didn’t touch the ground. I looked over my shoulder and no longer saw any sign of the compound.

  “It won’t be much longer till we can take a break. We aren’t totally in the clear just yet”, he paused to shift my weight.

  His muscles contracted with each movement and I realized how strong he was. I wondered if his abnormal strength and the color of his eyes had something to do with each other.

  There was the sound of rushing water ahead. When we met the source, my stomach dropped. The river in front of us swirled around jagged rocks, daring anything to test its force. The water looked alive in the silver moonlight.

  We stopped and he readjusted me. “On the other side we will be able to rest a minute. I need you to stay quiet and hold on till we get over there, ok?” He urged.

  I nodded and sunk into his back.

  “I can make it on the rocks”, he panted.

  He took a few steps back to get a running start. My breath lodged in my throat. He shot off toward the bank. The moment his feet left the ground my eyes locked shut. Each rock landing jarred my bones and shoved the air out of me a little more. I squeezed him hard enough that it hurt. The final landing was slightly more graceful and he lifted me from his back to set me on the ground. My knees wobbled, my body threatened to crumple.

  “You ok?” He steadied me.

  I stumbled to the nearest bush and dry heaved. My body convulsed and I sank to the ground.

  “Good Lord, Alex, I thought I was better at this stuff than that.” He stood over me, black eyes ominous.

  “I’m sorry. I-I thought I was tougher than that,” I looked up at him.

  He laughed and produced a water bladder from beneath his shirt. “Here, you need to drink some and I need to refill this while we are here.”

  I crawled to a tree and leaned against it. The water was cool and felt amazing in my throat. I watched him crouch by the water and fill a spare bladder.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Timothy.” He took the bag from me and returned to the river. “Don’t ask about my eyes or how I move the way I do. I won’t answer you, at least not yet. We have a few days trek ahead of us and that discussion won’t help either of us right now.”

  He helped me to my feet.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Home, someone there contracted me to find you,” he answered.

  Timothy paced the edges of the path.

  “Someone paid you to find me?” My heart skipped a beat.

  “Someone paid me very well to find you,” he noted.

  “Who did?” I breathed.

  “I don’t know. I never do business directly with the hire. It’s better for everyone that way.” He pointed to his eyes as if that explained why.

  Timothy rummaged in a bush nearby and produced a pair of boots and a jacket for each of us. He dropped the boots and black leather jacket in front of me. “These should fit. I’m glad you forgot your own; it would have meant lost time for us. You have to wear these boots any time your feet are on the ground.”

  “Why,” I asked, pulling the boots on quickly. I noticed they were heavier than the ones from camp.

  “Let’s just say they can’t see you through the ground with them on; luckily they can’t reach you with their messages either. See, I have a pair too.”

  He looked down. “I don’t really need them like you do, but better safe than sorry. Once we get home, it won’t really matter because their machines don’t reach that far.”

  He pulled on his jacket. It was red, but faded from wear. Our eyes met and he explained the red. “Our enemies can’t see red but our friends can. The color will signal that we are friendly so they won’t kill us.”

  My lips pursed.

  “You people never talk much at first. I hope you become a better travel partner than this.” A smirk crossed his face.

  Timothy walked to the other side of the path and lifted a rock. In one fluid motion, he tucked a gun down the back of his pants.

  “There isn’t one for you, I don’t want you to decide I’m not a good travel partner and decide to off me. We have to move; it’s not good to stay anywhere too long this close to the compound”, he stated.

  Timothy turned and began walking through the trees. I was glad he didn’t expect me to be able to keep up with his prior pace. That would be impossible.

  Chapter Seven

  I learned quickly that I sounded like a bull in a China shop out here. I smiled, that was something my mom would say about me. “Miss Grace”, she called me, on account for my clumsiness.

  Instantly, I learned to follow his ste
ps. Timothy made absolutely no noise and moved with ease.

  Eventually, we came to an area where the pines turned into more leafy trees. He lifted a hand for me to stop. His head turned, listening in every direction.

  A shadowy figured dropped to the ground in front of us. Timothy’s hand went to the gun at his back.

  “Hey,” a small voice announced. I hid behind Timothy.

  “Seriously, Cara, I told you not to freaking do that!” Timothy scolded.

  She shoved past him. “So this is her?” She looked me up and down, “She better be worth the trouble.” The frail girl eyed me; her stark, midnight eyes lifted to mine when she stood on tippy toes. I took a step back. She was the girl that had accompanied him the first time digging in the trench.

  “I’m glad to see you didn’t tell her, this time. Last time it was such a mess,” she poked at him. I noticed the knife at her side. She also wore a red hoodie.

  He grumbled, “Nice to see you, too”, he turned to me, “Don’t worry about Cara, she lacks social skills.”

  Cara was small in frame but she made up for it in gumption. She turned and punched Timothy in the arm.

  “No, I just don’t care for this business like you,” Cara grumbled. She walked ahead.

  “She is my partner, “he explained. “She’s a pain in the neck but a good person to have on your side.”

  Timothy followed in the direction Cara had gone. I sighed and went along.

  I knew my place; I am at the mercy of these people. Both of my chaperones were armed and I had nothing. Both had on red, which apparently flagged them as safe to others. My black jacket made me question what I would be seen as to strangers.

  I wasn’t too thrilled that it seemed Cara wasn’t fully on board with the deal that was struck. I hoped that whoever was paying them really did pay enough for her to not hand me over, if it came to that. Sizing up my situation wasn’t exactly calming.

  The forest made noises around us. It wasn’t like at the sector where I had never seen a bird or heard anything but the sounds of other people and the roar, of course. A crack of wood in the distance would make us all stop and bend low, waiting to see if it was a natural noise.

  We walked for what seemed an hour. Finally, we came to a huge tree with low branches. Cara began climbing right away.

  Timothy grabbed my arm. He explained, “We are sleeping here tonight. There is a platform up there.”

  “Ok,” I squeaked, remembering his comment about people like me not talking much.

  “You first,” he whispered.

  I grabbed the nearest branch and pulled myself up. The limbs were like a ladder. I was thankful for the upper body strength I had acquired from digging. I thought it was funny how you can be thankful for things like that. I was glad it was still dark, so I couldn’t see how far up the tree I had climbed. I never was particularly fond of heights.

  When I reached the platform, Cara was already sitting and drinking from a bladder of her own. I crawled forward and leaned against the trunk. Timothy leapt to us from a few branches below, landing on his feet.

  Cara gave him a nasty look. “Show off,” she muttered.

  Timothy looked unfazed.

  “You will probably want to sleep right where you are. We can’t afford you falling during the night,” Cara pointed at me. She curled up on the boards.

  “Here.” Timothy handed me a water bladder. “Hold on to this from now on.”

  He sat between Cara and me. He looked me over. I am sure he saw fear in my eyes.

  “I always mean what I say; I am sure this is overwhelming to you but I promise to deliver you. I have lost people before that couldn’t handle life out here. You are going to be stronger than that, right?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

  Cara piped up, “You better not lose her, and she is worth a good bit, Timothy”.

  He sighed, “You better try and get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us.” He settled on his back.

  I looked up at the sky and tried to get comfortable.

  Chapter Eight

  It seemed that I had just fallen asleep when a hand clamped over my mouth. My eyes shot open; my breath ragged from alarm. It was still night and hard to make out shapes. Timothy was on me; his finger signaling me to be quiet. He pointed below, a crackling of footsteps on dried leaves answered. Flashlight beams danced around the canopy above.

  He kept his hand pressed to my lips while shifting over me to lay face down on the boards beside me. He was looking beneath the slats trying to get a better look at our unwelcome visitors. My eyes caught Cara in the same position making fast hand signals to Timothy.

  He leaned in to my ear and whispered no louder than a breath, “They don’t see us.”

  I nodded even though it didn’t make sense. How did they not see the platform this close?

  The crunching of leaves and sticks continued to move away from us. I relaxed a little and strained to listen to the sounds below. There were probably four people moving slowly in a grid like pattern through the forest. I could only guess they were the search committee sent to find me. Eventually, their sounds faded in the distance.

  Cara grumbled and curled back in to sleep. Timothy scooted away from me, releasing his hand from my mouth.

  “They were looking for me weren’t they?” I shook with fear.

  “No, they were looking for us.” He turned his back to me.

  The reality and fear I felt gripped me. A single tear rolled down my check and ran into my hair. Fear began to channel into anger. I was angry at myself that I wanted to cry. I was angry that I was hiding in a tree from something I had never seen. Heat flushed my skin. I made the decision then for no more tears, one was too many.

  Morning came leaving us all stiff and still exhausted. I think we all slept with one eye open after the search party came through.

  “How did they not see us?” I asked.

  They both looked at me because my voice sounded strange even to me.

  Timothy explained, “There were people sent out here to find you. People usually don’t try too hard to find their own kind. There is a part of them that is glad you got out. They will probably have a meal withheld since they didn’t recover you, not a big deal.”

  Cara handed out dry biscuits for breakfast. We all sat in silence, inhaling the food. When we finished, we descended from the tree.

  “If we move at a decent pace, we might just make it to a nicer spot to sleep tonight.” Timothy tried to sound hopeful.

  Cara moaned, “A place we can bathe”, she pointed at me. “Alex, you are going to keep up with us today because I am going to take a bath tonight.”

  I eagerly nodded. An actual place I could fully wash myself? That sounded heavenly. I didn’t think that I would have any problem keeping pep in my step for that.

  The walk was pleasant; the morning light seemed to make everything glow. Winter had set in and it was growing cooler as the days passed. Light frost was sprinkled around the forest floor. After a while, animals began to wake and join in the chorus of life.

  The sun gave me a chance to finally get my bearings. We were moving south. Considering I had no idea where we were or where we came from, this knowledge gave me back my sense of direction.

  When the world had ended, I had been relocated to my sector. There had been no explanation as to my new whereabouts.

  I reached forward and tugged on Timothy. “Where are we?” I asked.

  He paused, “Well, this was near the Georgia-Carolina border”, he answered. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and waited to see my reaction.

  “Wow,” I muttered. I had been transported a few hundred miles to dig trenches.

  Timothy pulled my arm so that I moved in sync with him.

  “They always move people. That way nothing seems familiar and it makes people more afraid to escape,” he stated.

  Watching my steps, I replied, “That makes sense.”

  “Most of what they do makes sense. I mean, if you are trying to
enslave a species and suck their world dry and all,” he sneered.

  He looked at my face.

  “Do you mean they aren’t human?”

  I already had my suspicions.

  “I think you are a smart girl and have already figured that one out,” he said. The edge of his mouth twitched.

  “I think you are right, but I’m not sure I’m ready to face that”, I regarded.

  Some questions were being answered, but each answer seemed to create more questions.

  Cara walked in front, as usual. She seemed completely uninterested in our conversation. I couldn’t really blame her for being rude. Here she was risking her life to free a stranger, even if she was getting paid. I was still a stranger that knew nothing about how the world had changed.

  “Until I can get a grip on everything, I am only going to ask questions that I can deal with knowing the answer to, okay?” I added.

  I raised an eyebrow. There was too much to comprehend and I knew I was fragile at the moment.

  “That makes perfect sense. From my side, I will only answer questions I think you can handle for now,” he held his hand out to me.

  I shook his hand, “Deal”.

  Cara screamed and disappeared instantly in front of us. We stopped dead in our tracks. I looked to Timothy for how to react. He sprang forward, pulling the gun from his pants and holding it at his side. At the spot she disappeared, there was a narrow slice in the ground.

  “Cara? Cara!” He yelled.

  Timothy panicked, trying to see her. There was no answer. He yanked off his jacket and belt.

  “I’ve got to get down there, quickly. This is a trap, see the branches and leaves?” He nodded at the brush used to camouflage the hole.

  I grabbed his shoulder and said, “The opening is too narrow for you. I have to go down.”

  He looked at me and at the mouth of the hole, calculating. I could see the struggle in his mind.

  “It won’t do anyone any good if you get stuck in there,” I reasoned.