Fight (Book Three, the Hunted)

by Patti Larsen

The barrier swings wide to let them out. As the gate opens, Reid considers the fence. Drew told him there has to be continued connection to close the electrical circuit. So does that mean every time the gate is open the power is off?

  No such luck. He notices a thick strand of wire that never moves, attached across the top of the opening. That’s how they manage to maintain the deadly current and still get in and out.

  Reid points as the hunters and soldiers stop on the inside of the gate while it swings slowly shut behind them. The hunters turn and run off in the other direction, heading Southeast, toward the fake town. The soldiers head directly east, bypassing the highway and the kid’s hiding place.

  Reid and Marcus rise as one and follow. Now they have a target, Reid is alert and ready to act and is impressed Marcus seems to be as well. They keep a safe distance although they might as well not bother being stealthy. The soldiers talk among themselves quietly, but make enough noise they wouldn’t hear a thing if it was right next to them. They act like they are perfectly safe, as though nothing can harm them.

  Reid is so infuriated by their attitude he intends to teach them a different lesson with as much pain involved as possible.

  He’s not sure when he decides to act with only Marcus for backup. He knows it’s not smart, that he should have other kids there to help with the attack, but Reid sees how vulnerable these soldiers are despite their weapons. The last one of the three trails along with the duffle bag bouncing along the ground, like a little kid dragging a stuffed toy by the back leg.

  But when the soldiers change course and head in the direction of the pack’s resting place, Reid knows he has to act. He is about to motion to Marcus when the three soldiers simply vanish.

  Reid comes to a quick halt, Marcus beside him. Where did they go? This can’t be right. Until Marcus makes a face in the light of the half moon and leans in to whisper, “Blind.”

  Of course. A hunting blind, camouflaged, much like Mustache and Scar hid their camp on the other side of the mountain. Reid starts to shake as he realizes just how close the pack is to this particular hiding place and wonders how many more they’ve stumbled past. It ignites his anger again. How can these soldiers simply sit and watch kids hurting, starving, dying? How could anyone?

  Three shapes appear on the trail, giving Reid the right context to finally spot the edge of the blind. Like one of those odd paintings that shifts with your vision, once he knows it is there and where it starts he can see it clearly despite the low light.

  “Have a nice walk.” The low voice and the accompanying laughter follows the three soldiers, now relieved of their duty, out onto the trail and past where Reid is hiding.

  It fires him up so much he has to act. And from the look on Marcus’s face, he’s not the only one. His rage is as plain as what Reid is feeling.

  Reid points at the ground. A small pile of stones. Then at the blind. Mimes tossing. Marcus points at the disappearing soldiers but Reid shakes his head. The others will be expecting them back but the ones who just relieved them… he doesn’t know how long their turn-around time is but figures they have at least twelve hours.

  Marcus stares at the blind and suddenly nods as if he gets it. He slides away into the undergrowth. Reid bends and picks up the rocks, staying far enough away from the blind to be out of sight. And then, with great deliberateness, he starts lobbing the pebbles at the top of the blind.

  It’s not long before one of the soldiers emerges and looks around.

  “What’s going on?” Same voice. Reid’s lips curl back from his teeth in an animal snarl. Someone should teach that man to keep his mouth shut.

  “Nothing,” the one with his head poking out whispers. “Must be chipmunks or something.

  The blind edge flips back down. Reid doesn’t wait but starts again, tossing rocks. He is almost out of stones, casting his eyes around for more when he sees someone emerge from the blind.

  “God damn pests,” the man hisses. “Shoot your furry little asses.”

  Reid crouches, waits for the man to turn his back. But he doesn’t get the chance to attack.

  Marcus emerges from the underbrush, arms going around the soldier’s neck and locking in place. He pulls the man down with his full body weight, the two of them hidden perfectly in the dark. Reid hears a low grunt and a sigh. Sees Marcus poke his head out and give thumbs up.

  Reid grins. One down. He eases forward, staying low, trying to figure out how well the soldiers can see past the blind. Reid manages to keep a large tree trunk between him and the camouflage until he is almost on top of them, arriving just as one of the other two soldiers pokes his head out.

  “Sergeant?” It’s a young voice, hardly older than Reid’s. Barely out of his teens himself. Reid’s rage surges, his fist lashes out and the soldier topples to the ground without a word.

  Someone curses inside the blind, the third soldier. Reid hears scrambling, sees Marcus rush the bunker and goes after him. Another young private, his face marked with colored greasepaint not enough to disguise the shock on his face, scrambles for his handgun. But Marcus is faster. Fearless or careless, Reid doesn’t know which, Marcus tackles the kid and wrestles him to the ground, his fist putting the soldier out with one blow.

  “Nice hit,” Reid says.

  “You said I only get one shot,” Marcus answers. And smiles like it’s funny.

  Maybe it is.

  Reid sees a scrap of light and goes to it. He finds a small hooded lamp, the sides pulled down to disguise the glow and opens one of the shutters.

  He spins, fear spiking as someone comes through the edge of the curtain. Reid relaxes when he realizes it’s Kieran, dragging the first soldier, the sergeant, by his black boots. Sarah and Nishka groan their way after him, struggling with the limp body of the second one. They release him roughly, his body making a hard impact on the rocky ground.

  “I think you dropped these.” Kieran doesn’t smile, though the joke is obvious. Only Sarah smirks, planting her sneakered foot in the ribs of the soldier as hard as she can.

  “That’s for shooting at my friend.” She and Nishka high five.

  “Is he the one who did it?” Reid looks back and forth between the girls.

  Nishka shrugs and crosses her arms over her chest. “Maybe. Maybe not. They all look alike, don’t they?”

  Sarah’s head bobs. “Close enough.”

  Reid can’t help it. He laughs.

  When Marcus takes the handgun from the soldier at their feet, Reid stops, all jokes forgotten.

  “We should kill them.” Marcus handles the gun like he knows how to use it, sliding out the magazine, checking the bullets, slapping it back together before loading one in the chamber of the automatic.

  “I’d rather not.” Reid bends and starts stripping the uniform. “We’ll just tie them up and leave them out here. Gags, blindfolds. See how they like it.”

  The girls are grinning and shaking but Kieran is watching Marcus like he’s lost it.

  To distract him, Reid gets angry. “How did you find us?”

  Kieran doesn’t get angry back, just retreats on himself a little. “We followed you.”

  “Duh,” Sarah says.

  Reid scowls at her. “What the hell are you three doing here, anyway? I told you to stay with Leila.”

  “We’re not exactly used to taking orders.” Sarah gives Reid the finger.

  “Classy. Where’d you find her?” Reid rolls his eyes at Kieran who finally smiles.

  “I want to help.” Reid knows Kieran’s intent is honest. He can see it all over his face, in the brown of his earnest eyes. Still, if they are going to work together, they have to agree to not walk all over each other’s plans.

  “I’m not the boss of you or anyone else,” Reid says while Sarah makes a face and Nishka scowls at him. “I’m not. But someone has to be in charge or everything goes to hell.” He sighs. “Trust me, we know about hell.”

  “We do too, smart ass.” Sarah nudges the unconscious man at her
feet again almost absently, as if kicking him will really make her feel better. “What do you think we’ve been doing out here. Picking daisies?”

  “Sarah’s right.” Nishka gives the kid on the ground a square boot of her own. “So don’t tell us what to do.”

  Reid is worried the poor soldier will have broken ribs then shoves the concern away. Let him. Serve him right, in fact.

  “All I’m saying,” Reid says, “is we need to work together if this is going to get us anywhere.” He gestures around the blind. “Now, are we going to argue, or are we going to strip these soldiers of everything they have and leave them helpless in the woods?”

  The vote is unanimous.

  Reid holds his peace when Marcus also shoulders a rifle after changing into the soldier’s gear. He’s in his own set now, the unfamiliar feel of it heavy with the scent of the man who wore it before him. Kieran blushes the entire time he changes while the girls giggle and tease him from the corner. It makes Reid smile, really smile, a flash to something from the past, as though they are just kids again, boys in the locker room while the cheerleaders peek in for a look.

  Kieran finally finishes, glaring at them while he swings the strap of the gun over his shoulder. At least he looks like he knows how to use it. Reid takes the last one, more interested in the clear earpiece attached to the two-way at his belt. He inserts the plastic, wiggling his jaw to settle it before turning the radio on.

  “—copy that, Delta Leader. West perimeter all clear.”

  “Roger. Half hour check in, mark.”

  “Mark. Half hour check in, over.”

  Reid’s heart soars. Finally. The edge they’ve been looking for. He meets Marcus’s eyes and taps his ear.

  Marcus nods, taps his back. Then points at the two-way. “Just don’t ever hit this button.” Reid’s used one before but takes note anyway, as does Kieran. “You realize we’ve only got until the first check in before the brass figures out something’s up.”

  Reid hadn’t thought of that. So much for his twelve hour lead. He shrugs. However much time they do have, it will have to do.

  “I want one of those.” Sarah reaches for the walkie, but her tall friend holds her off.

  “When we find a soldier as short ass as you,” he says, “and a uniform that will fit your scrawny butt, then you get your own. Until then, suck it up.”

  She scowls at him but relents.

  They use their old clothing to make gags and blindfolds and find enough rope to bind the soldier's arms and legs so tight they aren’t going anywhere. The sergeant wakes long enough to start to struggle but doesn’t last long. Nishka finds a rock and hits him on the head with it. The man’s eyes roll back and he collapses again with a groan.

  “Nice!” Sarah fist-bumps her.

  “Piece of cake.” Nishka tosses the rock like it bit her and rubs her hands on her jeans.

  “How did you ever stay hidden with these two for three days?” Reid grins up at Kieran who rolls his shoulders forward into a lazy shrug.

  “They shut up,” he says. “Sometimes.”

  Both girls level a punch at him, hitting him at the same time from opposite directions.

  For a moment Reid wishes for that kind of camaraderie. For the connection these three have obviously made with each other. He could have it with his friends if he would just let them in, he’s sure of it. Could have found it with Drew.

  Reid lets that regret pass him by. Instead, he helps the others gather what food and supplies they can from the blind before heading out to rejoin the others.

  He is the last to go, taking one last look around before turning out the light.

  ***

  Chapter Eight

  They return to the others with their booty.

  Reid calls Cole over while the rest of the pack starts sorting the stuff.

  “Go with Nishka and Sarah,” he says. “I want that camo blind.”

  The girls nod once and run off with the kid while Reid mentally assembles a team of attackers.

  “We have these,” Reid taps the plug in his ear, the sound turned down so he’s just hearing gibberish. “We’ll take turns using them to preserve the batteries.”

  “I found this, too.” Kieran holds up a small black device, about the size of a smart phone. Reid peeks at it, unable to understand what he’s looking at. The screen is a green grid with moving red dots on it.

  Marcus’s laugh is like sandpaper. “GPS.”

  “On us?” Kieran almost drops the thing but Marcus takes it from him first.

  “Nope,” he says, turning it to show Reid. “If it was us, it would be one big clump, right?” He tips it, uses the pad at the bottom to scroll around. “No big clump.”

  Reid whistles softly as he understands. “The hunters.”

  Marcus looks like he just got his favorite thing ever for Christmas. “Hunters.”

  “That means we can track them.” Milo is almost jumping up and down he is so excited. “We can hunt them because—“

  “We’ll know exactly where they are.” Milo hugs Reid hard before letting go to do a little happy dance, spindly arms and legs ridiculous. Again Reid laughs, again for the right reason.

  “We need to set some priorities.” Reid gestures at the tracker Marcus holds. “We’ll have to watch the battery on that thing, too. Only use it when we’re ready to fight.” Marcus switches it off as Reid looks around at the faces watching him. He realizes for the first time how much better they all look, the skeleton thinness faded, dark circles almost gone. Besides being a bit dirty again, they actually seem healthy. Amazing what regular food and water can do.

  Now that they are able, Reid thinks each and every one of them deserves the chance to kill a hunter.

  After all, fair is fair.

  That’s when he decides a small force isn’t the way to go. It’s everyone or no one.

  “We’re all going from now on,” Reid says, liking the rightness of saying it. He remembers his fear when they found Ashley, the chance the pack could be taken down while the rest were fighting. “We act as a team, all of us.” There were a lot of them, but not unmanageable. His opinion on the matter is the one they’ve been waiting for, it seems. They all surge forward, shouldering their make shift packs, lugging along what they’ve been given to be responsible for. They look so eager to him, ready to face anything no matter what he asks.

  It’s a heavy responsibility but Reid isn’t about to let them down. He turns to Marcus.

  “Find us a group of hunters to kill.”

  If the kids could have cheered without making a sound, he knows they would have.

  Very shortly, Reid finds himself crouched in the bushes, waiting for Marcus’s signal. He turns his radio off, not wanting the chatter to interfere with his focus. He holds the rifle loosely, safety off, ready to fire. Leila huddles next to him after insisting on a crash course in hand guns. He shows her how to load it, popping one in the chamber.

  “Squeeze, don’t pull. Focus on the center of the mass. Be prepared, it has a kick to it, and it’s loud.”

  Now she holds it like it’s alive, gripped tightly in both hands. He reaches out, slides his fingers over hers. Her tension eases up and she tries a smile. Always a smile from Leila.

  Reid hears a hiss, looks at Marcus. He is gesturing toward the tail end of the trail, on Reid’s right then holds up three fingers. Reid’s own tension zings to live, ready to act as he lifts the rifle and points it toward the path.

  Sarah flies by, almost as fast as Ashley had been despite her tiny size. But she is gulping air, obviously flat out and Reid knows they have to take the hunter out before she gets to the point where she can’t run any further.

  It lopes into view, and it’s not alone. Marcus got it right, confirming the purpose of the GPS. There are three hunters in the chase, one lacing through the shadows in the rear, in and out of the woods as it runs while the other two move straight ahead.

  Reid realizes the significance of the tactic just in time. It
’s searching the undergrowth to make sure they can’t be taken from behind.

  “Now!” Reid is on his feet, aiming at the first hunter, firing the weapon. It spins on him and snarls, but too late. The bullet takes it between the eyes. The creature goes down in a powdered heap.

  He swivels and aims again but doesn’t have to bother. Three kids are on top of the second hunter, a bullet through its throat, bleeding out onto the ground while they pound its face in with rocks. It collapses, sighing into a shimmering pile of dust.

  The third is a little more evasive. Reid sees its claws strike out, take one kid in the face, sending the boy cart wheeling backward from the blow, blood flying in a crescent of droplets following the same arc. A growl of denial grows inside Reid’s chest, building into a surge of rage, but before he can fire again another gun goes off.

  Kieran is crying, rifle trembling in his hands, tears pouring down his face as the hunter dissolves in a hissing rain. Nishka runs out onto the path, crouching next to the boy while Leila presses the handgun on Reid so she can help.

  Marcus glances at the GPS and nods sharply to Reid. Safe for now. He surges forward, already knowing the outcome but, as always, needing to see it for himself.

  The boy is dead, one wide eye still intact, the other lost in a gash that still glugs sluggish blood onto the path. Reid still hasn’t had time to learn all of their names and wishes he had taken the time now. It’s worse not knowing.

  “We have to leave him.” Reid helps Leila up. Nishka shakes her head, fingers smoothing the boy’s hair back as if he were only ill and needing comfort. Sarah gasps her way back to them, coming to a halt next to her friend.

  “I’ve got this.” Sarah helps Nishka up and supports the sobbing girl as she leads her away.

  “She lost her little brother the first day,” Kieran says softly, still trembling himself but his tears have dried up. “It’s really hard on her to see other kids die.”

  Reid doesn’t say anything, thinking it’s hard on all of them, and just stares down at the dead boy. Then forces himself to ask. “Leila. His name?”