The Roar (The Roar Series Book 1)

by A. M. White

  The wind began to blow harder, whipping my hair around my face. A strange rumbling shook the ground. It wasn’t a roar, but more like a small earthquake. The sand began to shift beneath me so I plunged out into the water. I turned to the beach and hands were emerging from the sand. In shock, I walked backwards to move away from them.

  The hands grabbed at the sand. The arms and then heads of a thousand people rose from the ground. All of them with pitch black eyes fixed on me. I ran further out into the waves that now dragged me toward the shore. I fought the waves; I swam against them as hard as I could, but the waves were winning. The people now waited for me to be delivered to them. A line of figures stood down the beach as far as I could see.

  I was shaken awake, gasping for air. Timothy had a finger on my lips. “We are here. It’s ok,” he soothed and laid me on a board above the ground.

  My eyes focused on my new surroundings. I saw that we were in a cave. A small fire flickered from the opposite side with the smoke venting through a small hole in the rock above. Cara poked at the fire, her back to me.

  “Is she alright?” Cara asked.

  Timothy answered for me, “I think she is a little shook up.”

  Cara looked at me, “I am glad. Just don’t pull that wandering off crap again.”

  “I won’t, promise.” I sat up and yawned. “Trust me, I learned my lesson.”

  Cara groaned at the sight of the torn sequin dress, “Really? Who has something lying around like that?”

  “Apparently a creep that likes playing king of the world,” I replied.

  She threw her sack to me. “Well, I had hoped to surprise you in a couple of days with these, but I think you need them now,” Cara teased.

  I opened it to find a long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, and a red hoodie. I almost cried. I checked the sizes and they would fit.

  “You sleep pretty hard,” she shrugged.

  “Thank you,” I clung to the clothes.

  “I have an extra pair of boots that might be a little on the small side, but they will work till we get to some where we can get you a pair,” she offered. Every once in a while she let her softer side show and it made me smile.

  “You have no idea how happy I will be to get out of this ridiculous thing,” I smirked.

  “I have to ask,” Timothy said and sat next to me. He put a finger in the hole at my ribs.

  “Mira told me that the last girl Elijah had dinner with displeased him,” I said scornfully. “I guess that jerk will have to find a new dress and a new girl.”

  The thought of Elijah parading girls in his presence bothered me. I’m not even sure why I made the joke.

  “Everyone kept saying how he doesn’t like his girls all marked-up. I’m glad he didn’t get a look at this,” I pulled the dress over my knee to expose my scar. Both of them took a good look at the mark down my leg. Timothy knelt to have a closer look.

  “Mira, that wench, she had something to do with this?” She boiled with anger. Cara hardly paid attention to anything past Mira. She wasn’t concerned with my scar at the moment. Cara distracted me from the anger of Elijah and redirected it to Mira.

  I brushed Timothy off and shook my head at him. I didn’t want the attention on me right now.

  “Yes, but can we wait till tomorrow for me to tell you about it? I really want to change and sort out the day in my own head,” I asked exhausted.

  Both of them nodded. I could tell Cara held onto her anger though. She huffed and sighed a few times as I put on the new clothes. In the end, she tossed an extra pair of socks at me.

  She pursed her lips and snarled, “I have to say it, or I’ll explode, if I ever see Elijah again-.”

  “Cara,” Timothy interrupted, “not tonight.”

  She pouted by the flames. Timothy made his way over to the wooden bed. It was big enough for all of us. I was glad we would be sleeping on it for the warmth and security. Timothy motioned for me to scoot over and I did.

  His closeness made my senses peak. Every time we were close, we seemed to be in survival mode. Now that he was close and I had time to really feel his warmth, it was nice. I could smell him; the earthy smell was sweeter than before. I wished he would hold me.

  Today had been terrifying. Elijah was a monster. I remembered the irony in Sadie saying that my companions were monsters.

  I stopped my thoughts from wandering too far into the events of the day. Revisiting the situation only allowed the fear back inside of my head. I locked the pain and fear away. I was safe for now.

  “Don’t stay awake too much longer. We will be leaving at sunrise,” he told Cara.

  He nuzzled into my back. I felt safe because of them; the thought made me smile. They were rough around the edges, but there was no one else I’d rather be out here with. Timothy had come back for me. He had shown me he cared many times over by the things he not only said, but also the things he did.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Morning came way too fast. Timothy moved first, yawning and stretching beside me. Cara was snuggled against my front. Her breathing was still slow and steady with sleep. I wondered how long she had sulked before going to sleep.

  Timothy walked softly to the embers left from the fire and kicked dirt over it. He left the cave briefly. I noticed his hesitation before going out into the open. He returned and saw that I had turned and was awake.

  He crouched next to me. “I know you said it last night, but I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me again. Tell me that you won’t ever leave without one of us again,” he put his hand around my shoulder.

  “I promise,” I said earnestly. “I am so sorry for all of the problems I caused.” My eyes filled with tears.

  He kissed me on the head, “You have no idea how badly I wanted to attack everyone in the room when you made the switch for me. I was so afraid I wouldn’t get back to you in time. Cara made me promise to wait until dark because we both knew the advantages I would have then.”

  “I know you did what you had to,” I whispered. I felt Cara move and waited to see if we woke her. I continued, “Cara made a good point. She said you two had a better chance of saving me than we had of rescuing you.”

  He nodded, “Cara doesn’t always show the way she feels about people very well. She does care about you. I also think she cares about you, because she knows I do,” he admitted.

  “I know you do; I wouldn’t have traded myself for you if I didn’t care about you,” I said.

  It sounded dumb and awkward as soon as I said it, but I meant it. The two of them were my only friends in this world. I loved them both for that.

  Cara grumbled, “Are you two done with all that mushy junk so I can stop pretending to be asleep?”

  We all laughed at ourselves and began to get our act together. Cara handed out a dried biscuit and some dried berries to each of us for breakfast. At least the stop at the village had paid off, some.

  “Miss Princess must’ve had a decent meal last night,” she poked at me.

  “It was good, once I got over the fear of possibly being poisoned,” I relented.

  Timothy gave her a look of warning. I put my hand on his arm to show it was ok.

  We used a mix Cara bought to brush our teeth with our fingers. It felt amazing to wipe the grime from my teeth.

  “I can’t believe that with the all of the technology your people had they haven’t figured out how to bring back toothbrushes,” Cara pointed out.

  “When we get home, that is what we should do,” Timothy laughed. “We can stop being fetchers and make toothbrushes for a living.”

  “Hey, if it will keep you guys around-,” I stopped. It wasn’t fair of me to even wish them to stay with me.

  Timothy started pooling our supplies together. I had hoped he kept the sword from last night but I didn’t see it anywhere. I had thought it would make a good weapon for me. Learning to fight was a priority for me. I wouldn’t be caught unable to defend myself again.

  The boots Cara gave me squished my
toes. I knew I would have blisters by the end of the day but there would be no complaints. I would earn my keep today after all the trouble I had caused.

  The morning sun shone through the trees. We could see our breath in the air but it seemed a little warmer today. Maybe they were wrong and it was closer to spring than they predicted.

  Our eyes scanned the landscape to make sure no one from the village had followed us out this far. It was unlikely, but not impossible. We kept quiet just in case.

  Cara spotted a squirrel on the ground ahead of us. It was digging up acorns that were buried before winter. She put a finger to her lips and held up a hand for us to stop.

  Cara walked softly to where she could get a good shot at the squirrel. Her knife flipped in the air and landed in the squirrel. Cara pulled her knife from the animal and draped it over her shoulder. The dead squirrel bounced limply as she walked.

  A while later, I decided it was safe enough to talk. “Elijah told me about his arrangement with your people,” I revealed.

  Timothy and Cara looked at each other. “One more reason why we should have never trusted him,” Cara said scornfully.

  I told them about my time in Elijah’s house. I began describing the isolation cell, my experience of the bath, and then dinner. It turned out that Timothy was held in the same space as I was. He had met the guard with no tongue.

  Unfortunately, Elijah didn’t have the same concern about marking up his male guests as much as he did his female ones. Timothy had endured a beating and a couple broken ribs as a result. Luckily, Cara had some of the healing medicine for him. That was part of the reason she made him wait to come for me. He had needed the time for his bones to mend.

  “How much further do we have before we make it home?” I asked.

  “As long as we don’t run in to any trouble, it should be maybe three or four days. Most of the time we will be heading east, toward the coast,” Timothy explained.

  A smile spread across my lips, “The coast?”

  Timothy smiled back and nodded.

  Cara spotted another squirrel ahead. This time she waved me to her. She took out her knife. “Hold it by the handle and throw it like this,” she explained. She showed me how and handed it to me.

  Cara took my bundle so that I could move more quietly. I tried to walk the same way that Cara had earlier while hunting. When the time came, I threw the knife and surprisingly it struck the squirrel. It had not been as clean of a kill, though. Cara ran ahead to finish the job so that the poor thing wouldn’t suffer more than needed.

  “Not bad for your first time,” Timothy put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

  Around midday, we found a spot that was out of the way to sit and eat. Cara divided our rations and we rested for a bit.

  “Timothy, why are you so strong? I mean, if Cara is your sister, shouldn’t she be too?” I dared to ask.

  “Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head, I’m strong enough if I need to be,” Cara narrowed her eyes at me. I held up my hands in surrender.

  Timothy popped her in the arm. “Calm down there, you know what she means,” he rubbed his eyes. “Cara and I are siblings, but only half. New generations are bred down there for purpose. We share the same mother and different fathers. She was bred and trained to be a healer. I was bred and trained for strength.”

  “So, did you grow up together?” I questioned.

  “No, children are taken from their mothers on their third birthday to be trained. From then on, we live among our specialty groups,” Cara spoke softly. I saw pain in her eyes as she spoke. “I only know Timothy is my brother because he got hurt and was my patient. A blood sample came back from the scientists with his genetic background showing our link to the same woman.”

  “Wow,” I shook my head. “I can’t even imagine.”

  “It is what it is,” Cara dismissed. She loaded herself up and headed off.

  Timothy watched her with sympathy. “She is still very angry at our people. They told us lies so that we would work toward enslaving and destroying humanity. I am sure many people would have simply chosen to leave if they had known that some things are worth saving up here.”

  He took my hand and helped me stand. “Honestly, since we left the compound, I haven’t met too many humans worth saving,” I said, dejected.

  “I met one,” he winked at me. I blushed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Timothy and I lagged behind Cara. She needed some space, but not too much that we couldn’t keep an eye out for her. She kept her head low and appeared to be looking for more small game.

  Timothy had shown me types of plants that could be eaten. He continued to point out others that could be used for medicinal purposes. Some were better used for building or weaving. I tried to make note of a few of the ones that sounded important in case I needed them one day.

  Timothy bent down to show me a plant called squirrel tail that can be used for excessive bleeding. I squat next to him and carefully pulled the plant out of the ground, roots, and all. I handed it to Timothy and he stuffed it into my pack.

  We looked ahead to follow Cara. She wasn’t there. Maybe she was hidden behind a tree waiting to scare us. I recalled the night I first met her when she jumped out of a tree and almost scared us to death. Cara had thought she was funny, but it gave me a jolt I hadn’t forgotten.

  I saw the fear in Timothy’s eyes and I took his hand. I signaled him to stay quiet. He read the mischievous look on my face and we crept to the next thick tree. We split and peeked around it. No Cara.

  “Get your hands up and don’t make any quick movements,” a voice boomed from behind us.

  I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Timothy raise his hands and take a step away from the trunk. I copied his movements. I leaned my head back. I was getting tired of these stupid human games. Everyone wanted something, human or mole. I rolled my eyes.

  “Darn it, I think we got two of them on Elijah’s list,” a hardened female voice said.

  “Where’s the other one?” the man asked.

  Timothy shrugged,” I don’t know, she disappeared.”

  “I don’t like that Billy. I don’t like it at all. She might have dug herself under the ground or something,” the woman’s voice waivered.

  “You better call for her, boy! I am not out here messing around,” Billy walked up behind Timothy and put a gun to his head.

  He poked the gun into Timothy’s skull. He wore a faded flannel shirt and baggy jeans held up by a cinched belt. He was sickeningly skinny, his eyes, and cheek bones sunken.

  “Cara! Cara! Better, come out here. This guy has a gun pointed at my head,” he yelled.

  Billy kicked Timothy in the heel. Timothy fell to the ground. I tried to remain calm.

  “Dang it, son,” he shouted. “You shouldn’t have said anything about the gun,” he stood over Timothy. “You call her.” He waved the gun at me.

  “Cara, please!” I pleaded.

  We all waited for noise or for her to come out. She didn’t and I hoped she had some kind of a plan.

  Billy yanked Timothy up by his hood. “Obviously, one of your little girlfriends doesn’t care too much for you. Jean, get that girl over here. You need to cover her.”

  The woman approached me and wrapped an arm around my neck. She smelled rotten and her frame was like Billy’s.

  “You better not try a thing,” she snapped and held a knife out for me to see. It looked strange in her bony hand.

  “Let’s get these two tied up and see if we can persuade our girl to come out,” Billy decided.

  Jean tied a rope around my hands and tethered it to Timothy’s wrists. Timothy looked worried, which didn’t help me trying to keep my composure. They sat us on the ground beside one another. Jean was in front and Billy at our backs.

  “Girl, you come out now, ya hears? I don’t want to get desperate, but I am not leaving you out there! Elijah wants all of you. He ain’t going to settle for some,” Billy urged.


  Billy reached over us and held out his hand to Jean. She gave him the blade.

  “Alright now, I tried to be civil about this. Now you’re going to make me do bad things to your people,” Billy yelled. He held the knife between us. “Are we going to start with the boy or girl?” He said loudly.

  “You remember it can be seen.”

  Timothy squirmed a bit at that. “Aw, look at that,” Billy teased, “The mole don’t like the thought of his girl getting marked up, neither.”

  “I say you start with the boy, that way we hopefully don’t have to do much to her,” Jean said.

  “As you wish my dear,” Billy agreed. He slid the blade along Timothy’s forearm.

  Timothy groaned when the cut was made. I couldn’t help myself and screamed at the sight of his blood spreading across his arm and dripping onto the ground.

  “If you kill him, Elijah will be pissed,” I blurted. “You know what he does to people that make him mad?”

  “Shut up!” Jean slapped me across the face. My lip quivered. Timothy hunched over and swayed a bit. The muscles in his jaw clenched in pain.

  “Is that enough, you disgusting mole?” Billy hollered.

  Still there was no answer from Cara. I searched the woods in front of me for a sign that she was there. I saw nothing but a few leaves trickle from different trees.

  “I told you I don’t like this, Billy. I feel like she is watching us. It gives me the creeps,” Jean shivered.

  “You got no stomach for this stuff woman. I knew I shouldn’t bring you along,” he scolded.

  “I can say, you can’t cut that boy as bad next time or he isn’t going to make it back,” she motioned at Timothy.

  Billy moved behind me now. “I’m going to ask you again; get out here or I’m cutting the girl!”

  Jean gave him a warning glance. I started to breathe shallower and began to shake.

  Timothy looked up at Billy. “I would suggest you do that,” he said roughly.

  Billy huffed and quickly swiped the blade across my back. I cried out and fell forward. Timothy growled deep from the bottom of his chest. His hands slipped from the rope. He sprang upon Billy; blood sprayed all over. I couldn’t tell the difference between the warm feeling spreading across my back and his blood on me.