He slid the necklace into his pocket, and my blood boiled. But I tried to hide my emotions, not wanting Dax to do anything to alert this guy to our presence. The city boy then surveyed the rest of the campsite, circling the fire, and studied the foliage. He moved toward the trees that I had squeezed through earlier that morning and disappeared into the forest.
I recognized a tracker when I saw one. This guy was tracking my moves from earlier. How the hell would he have learned to do something like that?
And why were we so important?
Dax stood slowly and motioned for me to follow him. We circled around the back side of the campsite, opposite where the mystery guy had disappeared into the trees.
The truck pulled away and continued making its way east, heading directly toward the community we’d left just the day before. I prayed Nina and Dylan would be okay. But we all knew and accepted the risks of going rogue, away from one of the established communities.
Slowly, Dax and I continued to circle the camp area. The mystery guy was gone.
Dax faced me. “He’s tracking you.” His tone came out in a harsh whisper. We’d both watched the guy studying the broken branches, the bent grass, and the impressions my feet had left in the moist dirt.
I smiled. “He can try. He won’t be able to track me very far.” I had learned long ago to cover my tracks.
Dax put his arm around me and pulled me to him in a playful hug. “That’s my girl. Let’s get our stuff and get out of here. We have to warn as many others as we can.”
chapter four
West
I swore that discovering my best friend had contracted a deadly virus was the worst day of my life. That was, until the day Mother told me she was gone—dead.
We were both twelve years old, but we had a maturity level closer to that of experienced adults. We had to.
She never cried. Not upon hearing that she had the virus. Not when she became violently ill. Or so I was told. She had to have been in excruciating pain, but a nurse—Mother’s friend—told me she had been brave all the way until the end.
The end…
I often wondered what “the end” entailed. Did she see a bright light? Was her body suddenly devoid of all pain? How much had she suffered? Were her parents there to greet her in some dream-like state? That’s if her parents were actually dead.
Part of me had hoped her parents were dead so that she wouldn’t be alone. But it seemed wrong to wish for someone’s death. Even if it was for a good reason.
The day before Christina became sick, we spent time on the roof directly above the president’s wing. That was one of the perks of Mother being elected president of New Caelum—we were permitted outside, but only on the roof.
Christina had long brown hair. Pale skin. Freckles. Her eyes were a light blue, the color of robins’ eggs. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever known. Would ever know.
She was just starting to develop a figure. I couldn’t help but notice—and like—the way her breasts were filling out. Thinking back now, she was awkward. We both were.
What I remembered most was the way her lips felt that day. It was our first kiss.
And our last.
Her lips were hot. I think she had a fever, even then. I still wondered how I didn’t contract the virus. For two weeks after that, I lived in acute fear that I would suffer through the illness that took so many of my friends, including Christina. If I was being completely honest, I would have admitted that I hoped the illness would take me, too. I found myself thinking often over the next six years that Christina had been the lucky one.
And now? Finding out she was alive somewhere? That she had fled the city years ago after surviving? That’s what Mother had said—Christina had chosen to leave.
We were in love. Even at twelve, we knew we would be together forever. We were soul mates.
That thought seemed silly and naive, now that I knew the truth. Now that I knew that she had voluntarily left New Caelum. Voluntarily left me.
I held up her necklace in front of my face. A leather beaded necklace from her parents. It still held the wooden Tree of Life I had made for her, had given her when we were forced to move into New Caelum. The charm was meant to remind her that our life would be okay as long as we remained friends and together.
I pocketed the necklace again. I would find her. She would save my sister. She owed me that.
Then I would say goodbye to her forever.
Again.
chapter five
Cricket
Dax and I arrived at Boone Blackston just before dinner.
“They’re not going to welcome us back every single time we up and desert them,” I said in a low voice behind Dax.
“Especially when they find out we allowed some elite assholes to kidnap Nina and Dylan from right under our noses.” Dax reached for my hand. The feel of his calloused fingers against my palm gave me the feeling of security I was craving. “Let’s find Caine.”
Boone Blackston was similar to an early settlement of the 1700s. The two hundred or so long-term residents of Boone had constructed a tall fence around the dwellings. Most lived inside the fence, though many of our resources—water, our extensive gardens—were located outside the fence. Everyone was required to pitch in, whether it was to grow food or to create the supplies we needed, or simply to search for items that had survived the past six years inside malls, stores, or wholesale clubs. The people of the community trusted each other, but they also looked out for each other. Though they mostly weren’t related by blood, they felt a strong sense of family.
Dax and I approached a small door to the right of the larger steel gate that protected the entrance to Boone. Predictably, the small door opened and out popped a guardsman on duty—or, in this case, a guardswoman.
“Hi, Zara. It’s so nice to see you.” My words came out clipped and lacking sincerity.
Dax squeezed my hand hard. “That won’t help,” he said through gritted teeth.
I smiled oh-so-sweetly. Zara and I were not, and never would be, friends. She had tried to have me thrown out of the community several times, but Caine wouldn’t hear of it. And she wouldn’t be able to keep me out now, either.
Dax started to walk right past Zara, but she pulled a gun from her waistband and pointed it directly at his chest.
I tried to hide my surprise. Zara wouldn’t have the nerve to hurt Dax. Me, maybe, but never Dax.
Dax stopped just short of letting the gun touch his heavy jacket. “Put the gun away, Zara.”
“Why are you two back? You’re not wanted here.”
“Why don’t I show you—” I began.
Dax squeezed my hand again, cutting me off.
“You should put a muzzle on her.” Zara wore camouflage pants and a tight-fitting black knit top. She was military, and looked every bit the part. She did everything she could to be a necessity to Caine. And she hated that I, by contrast, didn’t have to do anything to remain in his good graces. Even worse, in her eyes, I was constantly doing things to not deserve Caine’s fatherly affection—like leaving and taking his daughter with me.
“Let us through, Zara. We need to see Caine. Dylan and Nina are in trouble. Surely you don’t want me to tell Caine that you played a hand in keeping us from helping his daughter.”
Zara’s lips lifted. “Seeing as Nina arrived several hours ago with some new friends, I don’t think Caine gives a flying crap what you know. So why don’t the two of you turn around and head on back from whence you came.”
That was good news, but what did she mean by “friends”? Surely she wasn’t talking about the guys who’d tasered Dylan and stolen him and Nina from our campsite. I wasn’t about to ask. “Whence?” I laughed. “It doesn’t matter how hard you try, or what fancy words you spout, you’re still an idiot in Caine’s eyes. Now get out of our way, or I’ll move you myself.”
Zara lunged at me, her arms flying, but Dax caught her in mid-air. She continued to reach, though, and she ma
naged to grab and yank a handful of my hair.
I screamed, digging my fingernails into her arm and forcing her to let go.
“Give it a rest, you two,” Dax laughed. “At least let me get you some white t-shirts and a pool of mud before you start this shit again.” He shoved Zara backward. She was breathing hard.
My pulse didn’t rise above sixty beats per minute.
Zara huffed, but allowed us to pass. “Why did you come back, anyway?” she yelled.
“We missed you.” Dax blew her a kiss, and if we weren’t walking away from her so fast, I was sure Zara would have spit on us.
Once inside the walls, I immediately felt claustrophobic. It was small-town living at its worst. A main street divided two rows of two- and three-story buildings on either side; these buildings had served different purposes prior to Bad Sam, but our people had managed to redesign them to our needs over time. There were other settlements like this out west, all having popped up gradually in the one to three years after Bad Sam was gone, but Boone Blackston was the only settlement between New Caelum and the ocean.
“You coming?” Dax called, getting ahead of me. He stood at edge of the sidewalk, and was about to head down the stairs to Caine’s underground offices. Dr. Caine Quinton was Nina’s father; he was also the doctor who had nursed me back to health and helped me flee the city once I was well enough. He had raised me from the age of twelve on.
When we’d left the community a few days earlier, I had made it clear to Caine that I wouldn’t be back for a while. Yet here I was. “Yeah.” I jogged to catch up.
We descended the stairs. But before we had a chance to knock, the door opened and laughter spilled out.
I followed Dax inside. Sure enough, Zara was right—Dylan and Nina were there with Caine. To my surprise, the two city kids were there too: Ryder and the girl. There were smiles all around.
“What the hell, Caine?” Dax stormed over and grabbed a handful of Ryder’s shirt. “This guy tasered Dylan.”
Ryder didn’t seem the least bit bothered that a guy a third bigger than him was holding him in his fist. He looked at Dylan, and then over at Dax. “Wow, twins? How cool is it that a set of twins survived the apocalypse?”
I hated when people referred to what had happened as “the apocalypse.” It sounded so end-of-the-world and made me picture zombies.
I made eye contact with Nina, raised a brow in question.
“We’re okay,” she said, for Dax’s benefit more than mine. A vein was bulging from his neck.
“Yeah?” Dax’s face reddened further.
I glanced toward Caine, who was leaning against a work table with his hands clasped in front of him, letting the scene play out. “Caine, you want to enlighten us?” I asked.
“Oh, I guess. This is so fun, though.” He pushed off the table. Unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt, he rolled up his sleeves, one and then the other, in a slow, relaxed motion. His dark hair, in need of a haircut, lay disheveled across his forehead. His eyes were a smokier blue than Nina’s. “Dax, Cricket, this is Ryder and his friend Key. They’ve run away from New Caelum and have requested asylum.”
“Run away,” I deadpanned. “Why?”
“What Cricket means,” Dax said, tightening his grip on Ryder, “is why would you leave your elite bubble and risk contamination from the likes of scum like us?”
“Let him go, Dax.” Caine laid a gentle hand on Dax’s shoulder. After a few seconds, Dax finally released Ryder. “Your questions will be answered in time. Their Tasers have been handed over to us. Their truck confiscated. We welcome visitors. Until they prove otherwise, we accept them as new friends.”
Ryder and Key traded glances. Lines formed across Key’s forehead as she opened her mouth to speak. “We have another friend. He chose to walk here after we found Dylan and Nina.”
“Your friend will be welcomed as well,” Caine said.
Dax chuckled under his breath and shook his head. It was clear that he wasn’t going to be joining the welcoming committee any time soon.
“Thank you.” Key moved closer to Ryder. She wore a silky, royal blue blouse, tucked into royal blue tight-fitting pants, and Ryder wore all black. They both had an air of polished sophistication about them. I couldn’t tell if they were just friends or if they were a couple. It was funny that I’d thought she was a boy at first, because now that I saw her up close—her high cheekbones, her naturally pink-tinted lips, and her dark eyelashes—I had no idea how I could ever have mistaken her for anything other than a girl, and a striking one at that.
I also wondered why Caine was accepting these two into our community without further questioning. He’d always been very accepting of newcomers, but this was the first time any of those newcomers had come from New Caelum.
And would he be so accepting when he discovered that the virus might be back? Though Ryder and Key appeared innocent enough now, they had tasered Dylan, and they’d exited the city right on the heels of some kind of pre-dawn hazmat operation. Something didn’t add up. I suspected they hadn’t simply run away.
Nothing was ever that simple.
chapter six
West
Ryder and Key had successfully infiltrated the settlement where Mother claimed I was likely to discover Christina. Somehow, my friends played the role of “victims of the evil city” perfectly, and they had won the trust of the two outsiders we found camping in the woods.
I had yet to lay eyes on Christina, but according to Mother, I’d find her near Dr. Caine Quinton. I was skeptical. If Christina was so angry at age twelve that she ran from the protection of New Caelum, why would she remain this close? Especially if she had any idea that she might be hunted down one day if the virus were to ever surface again.
And who had taken care of her? She was only a child at the time. Had this Dr. Quinton nursed her back to health? Or was she already cured before she left New Caelum? I suddenly realized how little I knew .
I’d spent the day following the guy with a chip on his shoulder and the small blond-haired girl who looked angry at the world. They led me to the exact settlement Mom spoke about, the only one she thought existed east of New Caelum.
At the gate, it had been quite comical to see the tiny blonde engage in an argument with the butch-looking chick. This girl was twice her size and all muscle; she could have squashed the little one easily had Mr. Chip not protected her.
Now, in a tree half a mile from the settlement, I used my monocular to watch Ryder and Key. They emerged from the building they’d disappeared into over an hour ago—the same building Mr. Chip and Miss Blonde had run to the minute they arrived at the compound.
The air was cool and crisp and darkness was descending. I’d freeze if I didn’t enter the compound soon, but I was hoping that Ryder and Key would tell me they’d found Christina before I made my presence known. What if she ran when she saw me? What if it was me she’d been running from all along? It seemed silly to think that I was the reason she ran from the city when we were only twelve, but I couldn’t take that chance. I had to find Christina and take her back to New Caelum to help my sister. According to Mom, the antibodies living in Christina’s blood were Willow’s only hope for survival.
The girl they called Nina was showing Ryder and Key around. The three of them disappeared into a small house. I jerked the monocular away from my face, slamming it into my thigh. “Come on, Ryder.” I needed them to call me on their PulsePoint, but I had no idea if they still even had their PulsePoints on them. Were they taken when they relinquished the Taser? Did they leave them inside the truck?
After a while, I decided to give up on Ryder and Key for the night. I’d have to find a spot where I could stay warm until morning. If I still hadn’t heard from Ryder by then, I’d enter the compound.
I hadn’t seen anyone on the hike out of the mountains or on the deserted roads near the settlement, so I assumed I was mostly safe out here. I climbed out of the tree and decided to go in search of an abandoned building or
some sort of shelter that would protect me from the cold wind.
I had only gone about a hundred feet when I heard what sounded like mild cursing. Under the cover of trees, I searched through the dark, thick shadows and barely made out the outline of a female form—it was the angry blonde I had been following all day, walking fast along the road. My luck had changed.
“Cricket,” a male voice called out from the direction of the compound. “Cricket” didn’t look back, and if anything, quickened her pace. It would appear that she didn’t wish to be found.
I looked back in the direction of the voice; it was Mr. Chip, the guy who had hung close to Cricket all day. “You’re going to freeze,” he warned, then with a wave of the hand, he turned and headed back inside the compound. I was really starting to dislike him.
Cricket darted away from where I was hiding. I decided to follow.
She walked at a good clip. I found it difficult to keep up as it got darker out—especially since I had no idea where I was going, and I was trying to stay far enough back so as not to be heard.
More than a dozen turns later, not only did I have no idea where I was, but I realized I had totally lost sight of Cricket. I peered through my monocular, turned to night vision, but all I saw was the dead end of a gravel road. Overgrown shrubs lined one side of the road, and a crumbling stone wall the other.
I heard the sound of a howling dog in the distance, and in my mind it sounded very much like a hungry wolf. Leaves blew in the cold breeze, and limbs knocked together with an eerie crackling. I was growing colder. This had been a stupid idea.
Using my night vision monocular, I searched for Cricket again. She had vanished. How was that possible? Just as I was about to give up, I felt a hard jab in my ribs from behind. “Don’t turn around,” Cricket said with a low, but very girly, voice. “Who are you? Why are you following me?”
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