Don't Look Back (Warders of Earth)

by S. E. GILCHRIST

  Em slammed the car door shut and sat, with her arms folded over her chest.

  After starting the car, I pulled out onto the road and increased speed. The silence inside the car thickened. I wanted to say something but had no idea what so I kept my mouth shut.

  When we reached the next intersection I slowed down then stopped. I checked the road for any oncoming traffic then gaped in amazement.

  Forgetting my guilt, I pointed. “Bloody hell! Look at that.”

  We watched as a convoy of what looked like army trucks rumbled down the main street.

  Once they’d rolled past, I turned and met Em’s wide eyes. “What do you think they’re doing here?”

  But for once my chatterbox friend had nothing to say.

  ***

  I rose at six am and headed for the garden where I spent the next two hours working hard wanting to free my mind of the craziness that had recently taken up residence.

  Sweat beaded on my forehead and upper lip. I lifted the bottom of my tee and wiped my face before bending again to my task. Already small shoots of green were forcing their way through the turned earth. Satisfaction swelled at this obvious result of my labours: late lettuce; potatoes; carrots; leeks; broccoli and zucchini. I carefully examined the plants for signs of disease and removed a couple of bugs.

  This was what I loved, working the earth, smelling the richness of dirt, manure and the sight of new life blooming.

  The first stanza of a popular heavy rock song blared from my mobile.

  Finally.

  Wiping my dirty fingers over my shorts, I fished my mobile from my pocket and answered. “Dad.”

  “Hey kiddo.”

  “Did you get my text and the email I sent you?”

  “Yep. Where’d that info come from?”

  I looked around checking to see if I was alone, then felt stupid. Still I lowered my voice. “I copied it from a USB stick some guys gave Mr Andrews yesterday. Is it important?”

  “Yep. Has your mother spoken to you yet?”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “Do you mean about you and her and your jobs?”

  “Exactly. How much did she tell you?”

  I knew it! “You mean there’s more?” My voice rose as my blood pressure spiked. I attempted to focus. “I guessed there may be, we were interrupted. According to Mum, we’re on the run because you snitched us when we were babies. Oh and the final pearler? We’re freaks,” I added bitterly.

  My father’s laughter boomed out.

  I flinched, shifting the mobile away from my ear. The tightness in my chest lessened and unexpected tears stung my eyes.

  “Never, kiddo. Never refer to yourself or your brother like that, do you hear?”

  “Yes, Dad.” His endearment for me, made me smile.

  “That’s my girl. Listen. Does anyone else know about this info?”

  I shrugged. “Emma. She was with me when we broke into her adoptive father’s house last night.”

  “Adoptive father?”

  “Long story.”

  “Mmm.”

  “Oh, and have you heard her adoptive mother is missing? Em and Mr Andrews seem to think she’s off to some spa but I don’t think that’s true. You see Dad, last night at Em’s house the cat was there. Mrs Andrews never leaves him. She’s always taken him with her when she goes to that resort because it has some up-market pet accommodation there too.”

  “What are they doing about her disappearance?”

  “Nothing. I guess that’s why I didn’t mention to Em what I saw in those files.”

  “What?”

  I hesitated, raising my gaze from the ground to stare round at the garden, taking in the way the sunlight dappled the ground, the rustle of grass as a little gecko lizard darted out and scurried into the garden, the heat beating down on my shoulders and hair. Everything was familiar, I’d seen it a million times before and yet, it was if now I saw it for the first time.

  Or the last.

  “It’s something I’ve always seen. Stuff that isn’t or shouldn’t be there, messages or diagrams hidden in ordinary words that no one else can see. I read the word ‘Warder’ in a tattoo Alex has on the back of his neck and yet it looks like a pattern of squiggles. Is this...” I gulped. “Dad, is this what I was bred to do?” Yeah, bred in a laboratory like a rodent.

  “Aw sweetie. I’m so sorry.” He sighed. “But this is bigger than any of us and I can’t explain over the phone. Can you remember any of it?”

  “I’ve never forgotten anything I’ve seen.” My voice shook.

  “Thank God. Tara, don’t mention this to anyone, do you hear? Be careful who you trust. As soon as I learned about the meteors I reached out to the Warders and I’m bloody glad I did.”

  “And they’re the good guys?”

  “They’re here to protect you and your brother.”

  Then Alex and his father were on our side, whatever that meant. I couldn’t believe how relieved I felt. But it still didn’t answer all the questions I had, especially about Alex’s dad. And I hadn’t Dad’s warning. “This sounds...shit, I don’t know what this sounds like. Like our lives are in danger!”

  “That’s right, kiddo. Don’t go taking any chances.”

  “But now that the army is in town, we’ll be fine.”

  “What army?” The sudden tension in his voice vibrated through the phone.

  “Army trucks came through the town last night, Dad. Em and I both saw them.”

  “Are you sure they were the army?”

  “Who else would they be?” I said.

  “I don’t like the sound of this, Tara. I’ll call you soon.” Then he was gone.

  Damnit. I’d forgotten to tell him I couldn’t contact Marnie. And I never mentioned Mum had a thing for Bob. If he was a Warder then how much of that was real or just part of a protection plan? But what if he were a phoney? Both Alex and his dad could be pretending to be Warders in an attempt to do what exactly?

  I still couldn’t get past that conversation in the car.

  Could he be responsible for Mrs Andrews’ disappearance? Or was the ‘mother’ he’d mentioned, my mum not Em’s?

  I shivered, remembering the feel of Alex’s arms around me.

  What a pity the one guy I was interested in had a totally different agenda.

  And was off limits.

  Go figure.

  Shaking my head I went inside to shower and change. The sound of sobbing coming from my bedroom had me backtracking. I pushed open the door and peeped round to find Em lying face down on the camp bed crying.

  Immediately, I rushed over to sit beside her.

  “Bad news, Em?” I asked, hoping it had nothing to do with the dance.

  Em sat up, scrubbing at her face with the backs of her hands. “No, I just felt overwhelmed, what with everything that has happened.”

  I rose from the bed, found the tissue box and handed it over. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not really. I’m so glad you’re my best friend,” whispered Em, plucking a handful of tissues from the box and blowing her nose.

  “Best friends forever,” I quipped. “I’ve got a great idea. As it’s so stinking hot, why don’t we spend the afternoon at the pool?”

  We could worry about the end of the world later.

  “Count me in. Although I don’t really feel like walking all that way in this heat.”

  “Mmm, your right.” The sound of a car pulling up outside drifted in through the open window. “Someone’s here. Let’s go and take a look.”

  We linked arms and walked outside to the front porch.

  “Umph! He’s back again. I wish…” I shoved hair out of my eyes with a grimy hand.

  Shoulders back, head high, Bob Garroway stood as if on parade next to the front gate. His stern face looked grimmer than normal as he spoke to my mother who looked at the house and waved us over.

  My stomach muscles tightened into a million knots. There was a stark expression in Mum’s eyes that told me l
ouder than words, shit was about to hit the fan.

  “Hi, Mum, Bob.”

  Mum clasped Bob’s hand.

  Looked like Mum had it bad. I hoped this guy was on the up and up.

  “We were thinking of heading to the pool,” I said, wanting desperately to stave off whatever crap was heading my way.

  Another sedan sped down the road and pulled up with a shower of gravel. Alex swung out from behind the wheel and his friend, Shay emerged from the passenger side. Beyond a curt nod in my direction, Alex didn’t speak as he strode round his car to lean against the side, arms folded.

  “Alex.” She pushed past me like a bullet and hastened out the gate to snuggle up against his side. Her sad face of a few seconds ago, gone.

  Alex didn’t move. Didn’t encourage her but sure as hell didn’t reject her either.

  Remembering how close I’d come to kissing him last night had me clenching my jaw and glad that I hadn’t made any moves on him. I jerked my gaze from his intense stare.

  “There’s no time for that now, Tara.” Mum turned to look up into the sky. “The meteorites have picked up speed. Impact could be a matter of hours away.”

  My gut turned to mush.

  “Shit! How is that even possible?”

  “I don’t know.” Mum wrung her hands.

  “I thought the government said we had ten days. It’s only been six.” I snapped my gaze upwards, scanning the bright blue sky. “I see them. There’s so many!”

  I clung to the gate to keep myself on my feet.

  The sky was speckled with thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of brilliant orbs of light trailing tails of fire.

  Death heading towards us.

  Bob Garroway stated, “Time is no longer on our side. I understand you obtained certain information off Mr Andrews and sent this to your father.”

  How did he know? Maybe Dad was keeping him in the loop since he was supposedly here to protect us. Irritation warred with suspicion. I didn’t like his interference. My hands went to my hips. “So?”

  Over by Alex’s car, Em gasped, holding her hands over her mouth in a theatrical gesture. “Tara, how could you?”

  Both Garroway and I ignored her as we stared each other down. The ice in the man’s eyes could have frozen the Sahara Desert.

  I remained unmoved. Hell, I was genetically modified. Who knew what I could do. He didn’t scare me. “I don’t see how anything I do is any of your business.”

  “They were my father’s private files, Tara,” wailed Em.

  Words of apology trembled on my lips as I glanced over at Em only to shrivel and die as she buried her face against Alex’s chest. His arm came around her.

  Act cool.

  Friends only.

  I jerked my gaze away to war with Bob’s commanding stare again.

  “It was burglary,” bit out Alex. “Not to mention theft. Em’s father has the right to have you charged.”

  “Whatever. It was a list of farm equipment,” I lied, sending the couple by the car another peek. “There’s no need for everyone to get so excited.”

  “I’m not excited,” Alex drawled and I had to agree that the hard look on his face was anything but excited. I suppressed a shiver as his cold grey eyes met mine. He was seriously pissed off.

  “What you and Emma did was extremely foolish and reckless. What if Mr Andrews had caught you? What if you had run into those two guys again?”

  “They’d left town.”

  “You don’t know that for certain. They looked like pretty tough customers. They would probably eat little girls like you for breakfast.”

  Okay. That did it! I almost choked over my tongue as I struggled to articulate the words seething through my brain. Little girls like me! I could take care of myself.

  “You think you know everything! Well you don’t. You’re conceited, arrogant…” I spluttered feeling even more enraged when Alex patted Em’s back.

  I wrenched my gaze away.

  My mother sighed. “Tara, please, try for a little decorum. We need to initiate our preparations.”

  “Agreed,” inserted Bob in his authoritative ‘don’t mess with me’ tone. “At twenty o hundred hours, we leave.”

  “Leave?”

  “Yes.” Bob’s stern gaze swept over me impassively.

  My insides shook. There was something dispassionate in the way he looked at me, as if I wasn’t a person, as if I was a tool he intended to use or exploit.

  He knew I was some kind of freak.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I announced. Certainly not with him or his son until I was certain they really were these ‘Warders’ sent to protect us. “We’ll be safe here. The army rolled into town last night.”

  “What army?”

  Alex’s quick question reminded me of how Dad had reacted. What other army was there?

  I shrugged. “Ours, of course. I thought they might be here to give us a hand with the cleanup after the storm or they could have been headed to the Air Force base.”

  Alex traded glances with his father who nodded and snapped, “Look into it, Alex”.

  “Yes, Sir.” Alex straightened, dislodged a clinging Em and dug out his mobile.

  Em pouted and stalked toward me. “Come on, Tara. Let’s go inside. I want to see if I’ve got any messages from my mother on my computer.”

  For some weird reason, those strange buildings on Mr Andrews’ land popped into my head. I whispered, “Em, I wonder if those trucks have anything to do with the buildings on your father’s land.”

  “Like what?” Em shrieked.

  I grimaced as Alex snapped his head round to stare at us. So much for trying to be quiet.

  In three steps he was by my side and grabbing my wrist as I turned to hurry back to the house. My scalp prickled so tight I wondered whether every hair on my head had just stood on end.

  Alex said, “Wait. What’s going on?”

  “Tara thinks there’s something sinister going on with my father’s land.” Em rolled her eyes.

  Feeling compelled to explain in the face of Alex’s heavy frown and the sudden waiting silence from Mum and Mr Garroway, I muttered, “It’s nothing really. We found military type buildings on some land Mr Andrews owns. I just thought, this might be where the army is headed. They might be using it as a base or something.”

  I mused, “I wouldn’t mind taking another look. You know, to check it out.”

  “Freakking hell. You need a leash.” Alex glared down flaring nostrils at me. “You will not go anywhere near that place. Stay here and don’t move until I get back. I’ve got work to do.”

  He dropped my arm, stalked back to his car and as soon as Shay shut his door, the car roared off down the road. Like some kind of stuffed chook, I stood gaping and staring after him.

  A hand patted my shoulder, reminding me of the present. I looked into Mum’s worried face. “Promise me, Tara, you’ll do as Alex suggested. We don’t have time anyway. You must be ready to leave tonight.”

  “I can be ready in fifteen minutes. You’ve trained us often enough.” My former irritation surfaced. “Since when did we agree to Alex and his father giving us orders?” I shrugged off Mum’s hand. “Mum, we don’t know for sure they’re Warders. What if they’re not?”

  “Who else would they be?”

  “Really, Mum?” I raised my eyebrows.

  Mum leaned close and whispered, “I know, I know. Perhaps, it’s because I want so desperately for you and your brother to be safe that I believe them.”

  “Oh, Mum.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “I thought you weren’t that certain.”

  “Tara. We need them. There’s no one else we can turn to.”

  Fear sheared into my heart at the glistening tears in my mother’s eyes. “What else aren’t you telling me, Mum?”

  Mum hesitated. Her gaze darted toward Bob Garroway. I couldn’t work out if she sought permission to speak or was afraid he’d overhear.

  Either way wasn’t g
ood.

  I hurried into the house and into my bedroom where I flung myself onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow. Wanting to hide from the world until it was all over.

  My mobile pinged. Sighing, I rolled onto my side. Three unread messages.

  All from Marnie.

  One by one I read the short texts.

  OMG! I re-read the texts three times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Marnie needed my help. Her dad had escaped from jail and was on the run from the law. At the moment, they were camped outside of town and intended to head to her grandmother’s house to pick up supplies.

  But what could I do to help?

  My gaze focused on the last message. Only part of it had come through which suggested Marnie’s battery had died. All I could make out was something about Marnie’s daughter and the end of days. It had to be serious. Marnie never mentioned the baby she’d given up for adoption when we were at school.

  Heart pounding, I leapt to my feet and paced my room for several minutes, thinking hard. Then I sent a short text in reply although I had no idea whether she’d receive it or not.

  Whatever Marnie wanted, I had no intention of turning her down.

  Next I made a call.

  “Dad. Turn on your GPS and meet me at these co-ordinates in one hour.” For five minutes, I stared blindly out the window and thought.

  I was a genetically modified freak and I was on the run from whackos.

  I was surrounded by people I didn’t know if I could trust.

  My family’s lives were at stake.

  It was time I found out the truth for myself.

  Chapter 12 – DON’T LOOK BACK

  “I hope Dad’s still there,” I shouted as I pushed the quad to go faster over the rough track that wound through the bush.

  Riding beside me, Em shouted back, “Must we go so fast? We’re already late. Your Dad has probably given up on us and gone home.”

  Mum had bailed me up at the door and spent a good half hour arguing with me before throwing her hands in the air and allowing me to leave. The encounter had left a sour taste in my mouth, like I was letting her down. I didn't want to be some kind of hero or saviour of the world. I just wanted to be like everyone else.

  But I wasn’t like everyone else and I needed to know why.