One night after dinner, Tyler asked Brent's permission to take me for a late-night walk through the orchards. Seeing it as a romantic gesture Brent agreed, a smile spread wide across his face. When we arrived at the orchard my arm linked through Tyler's we sat down on the grass where I'd eaten lunch earlier in the day.
“You're not getting too comfortable here are you?” he asked.
“No way. Buying my time, keeping my head down.”
“Good, just checking. It's easy to get caught up in the routine of it all. I spoke to Lark today. He said you need to retrieve something and I'm the man to help you do it. He said you'd know what he's talking about,” he said.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Lark was setting our escape in motion, and he trusted Tyler enough to help us. We couldn't get the pendant back without Tyler, and if we were ever to find out the whole truth about the floating cities we needed it.
“He's talking about the pendant.” I waited to gauge his reaction.
“As in the non-existent pendant Brent has been trying to find?” he asked.
“He's still looking?” I asked.
“It's why he's relaxing the security on you guys. He's hoping one of you lead him to it.”
I'd thought he'd given up too easily. He hadn't given up at all.
“Can I trust you?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
He relaxed his shoulders and groaned. “Seriously? What more do I have to do.”
“Okay, okay.” I drew in a deep breath. “It's in the hole.”
“The hole? Where? Brent had it searched the day you got out and nothing turned up.”
“Lucky for us he didn't search it well. It's buried, but we can't escape without it.”
“Are you sure it's worth the risk? If you get caught there's no telling what Brent will do. He doesn't react well to people lying to him. If you thought the serum was bad…” Tyler looked around us.
“What?” I tried seeing what he was looking for.
“Nothing.” He shook his head sharply.
“Tyler if we're going to do this I need you to trust me.”
His gaze met mine and he sighed. “I do. I'm making sure there's no one snooping around trying to hear us. I'm worried because of my mum.”
“Your mum?” I asked.
“My dad died saving her life and with him gone she didn't believe in God or Brent being a Prophet anymore. She stopped going to church and pulled Alice and me out of school to home school us. One day, Lula turns up to talk to mum and asks me to take Alice for a walk. Mum says it's okay so I brought Alice here to the orchards. When I got home both Lula and mum were gone. Alice was crying by then so I fed her and put her down for a sleep. The following morning Lula explained they'd found my mother's body and we had to move in with them.”
“You don't think it was suicide?” I asked.
Tears welled in his eyes as he relived his mother's last day. “I've never told anybody.”
“It's safe with me. But if you're implying Lula had something to do with your mother's death then we need to be extra careful.” I reached out to place a hand on his arm.
“Lula likes to give the impression Brent's running this show, but I have a feeling she plays a bigger part than she lets on.”
“Hey, you two have been out long enough.” Seth's voice sounded through the darkness before his figure appeared at the end of the orchard. “The Prophet wants you both home.”
“I'll work it out,” Tyler promised before standing and offering me a hand up.
* * *
Two days later while I was working in the orchard, the howling wind made the shed moan and creak in protest behind me. The sky had been darkening all day as grey clouds filled the sky, and fierce gusts of wind violently shook the branches of the trees in the orchard. My skirt flapped wildly around my ankles and my hair flew across my face as I placed a handful of mandarins in a box.
The distant sound of a bell ringing caught my attention and I turned to find Samantha rushing towards us, eyes wide. “Cyclone,” she called, “cyclone on its way.”
Her shrill voice forced me to follow the others as they ran out of the orchard and through the streets towards their homes.
I screamed in fright as a firm hand grabbed my bicep and I turned to find Tyler. “This is our chance.” He grabbed my hand and led me in the opposite direction to the others.
“What about Alice?” I yelled as the roar of the wind grew louder and dirt whipped at my ankles.
“Domino and Maya are going to get her. We're getting out of here, now.”
We continued running, branches and leaves falling around us, down the gravel pathways of the camp. People rushed in and out of their dwellings carrying children and bundles of their belongings and were too preoccupied to notice us making our way to the opposite side of the camp. There was a thunderous crack followed by a scream behind us, but turning I couldn't see the source of the noise with the amount of debris flying through the air. We made it to the pathway leading towards the hole. By the time we arrived at the mouth of a cave my face stung from the wind and I was grateful to step inside.
“What about the guards?” I asked.
“Everyone's going into lockdown in the church hall. It's only us.”
He led me further inside and I blinked until my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the cave. The first few fire's mounted on the wall had been blown out by the wind wailing through the tunnel but the deeper we trekked, the more protected we were from the elements.
“What's going on?” I asked.
“A cyclone,” he said, but seeing my confused expression he continued explaining. “It's a natural disaster.”
“Like one of the disasters that wiped out the Earth?” I asked biting my lip.
“Exactly,” he replied, without turning around, and we soon arrived at the entrance to the hole.
“Here, help me lower the ladder down. You climb in and grab the necklace, I'll keep watch.”
The thought of climbing back down into the hole spread fear through my veins. If I had any doubt about Tyler this was the time to turn back. If he was working for Brent there was a chance he'd leave me down in the deep dark hole to rot.
“Earth to Aurora.” He broke my train of thought. “Grab the end of this.”
Together we lowered the wooden ladder until it landed neatly on the ground.
“You won't leave me down there?” I asked. I could trust Tyler. Lark trusted him.
“Of course not. Now quick before they realise we're all missing.” His gaze kept finding the entrance to the tunnel.
“All?” I questioned.
“Yes, us and your friends. They're going to meet us in a cave deeper in the bush. Now come on. I'll keep look out up here. You need to be quick.” Panic invaded his voice and his eyes stayed locked on the tunnel entrance.
He was worried about getting back to Alice. He'd risked so much to help me escape, and to free his sister. I had to go back into the hole. The longer I took the less chance my friends had of escaping and surviving the cyclone. I turned and placed my foot on the first rung, climbing down step by step finding it much easier with my shoulder healed. When I hit the bottom I stood below the hole I'd climbed from facing the notch in its side. Drawing in a deep breath I stepped out five steps forward then turned to my left and took ten more steps. It was difficult to make anything out in the faded light and I scratched at the dirt in an attempt to find where we'd buried the pendant. Desperate, I dug a little deeper, hoping no one had discovered it already.
“How you going?” Tyler called from the top.
“I don't know, I'm trying to…” The texture of cloth brushed my fingertips and my shoulders relaxed as I released the breath I was holding.
Digging up the lump of material I unfolded it to reveal the pendant shining silver as though it hadn't been buried at all. Unfastening it I put it around my neck and refastened it before turning back towards the ladder. “I've got it. Coming up.”
“Auror…” Tyle
r's cry was muffled and scraping and scuffling echoed from above.
“Tyler?” The thuds and grunts above me quickened my pace as I climbed the ladder and breached the surface of the hole to find Tyler and Seth wrestling on the floor.
Searching around me I grabbed a fire stick off the wall of the cave and aimed it at the two guys.
“Seth get away from him.” I stepped closer holding the flame towards them, the heat licking at my hand.
Seth stopped raising his hands before his eyes settled on the pendant resting on my chest. “I knew it!” He leapt out at me, his arms outstretched.
A loud whack was followed by the thump of Seth's limp body hitting the floor. Behind him Tyler stood with a lump of timber in his hands. His breaths were quick and he was dirty and sweaty from his struggle with Seth.
“You get it?” he puffed.
I patted the pendant against my chest enjoying having it back again. I may've had my dad back but part of me was proud to be able to bring his pendant back to him after all he'd gone through to keep it safe.
“Let's get out of here and find Alice and your friends. He won't be out for long and he'll be looking for us.”
As we ran towards the exit of the cave the wind whipped through and we had to fight our way out. The mouth of the cave was littered with branches and leaves and the strength of the gale forced trees to bend and buckle.
“Quick,” Tyler grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me over the threshold out into the brunt of the windstorm.
The sheer force almost knocked me off my feet. If it hadn't been for Tyler I would've been swept up into the air. A crunching sound came thundering behind us and Tyler pulled me to the ground as a piece of roof sheeting flew overhead. Tyler yelled something over the roar and he dragged me back up to my feet. We ran as fast as we could, ducking and weaving trying not to be hit by flying debris. We made it to the edge of the bushland and continued running as leaves rustled above us and the trees groaned and snapped.
My ear drums ached like they might burst if they had to endure anymore. Tyler pulled me into the mouth of another cave and thrust me inside before a large crack echoed through the air followed by the loud crash of a tree falling across the entrance. The wind still howled outside but as we jogged deeper into the cave the wind became quieter and the sound of our panting and footsteps echoed around us. As we travelled deeper the world around us grew black and we found ourselves bathed in darkness. My arms outstretched I held tight to Tyler's hand while running my other hand along the cold damp wall of the cave.
“Are you sure they made it?” I asked him trying to ignore the twist in my stomach the darkness brought with it.
“They had to. Otherwise I left my sister in the hands of Lula and Brent.” He squeezed my hand.
Up ahead a small glow of light appeared and we both quickened our pace. The light drew nearer until I could make out my father standing with a gas lantern. “Aurora.”
“Did everyone make it?” questioned Tyler.
“Alice is confused, but she's safe as we promised.” Dad led us towards the brightness of an opening where my friends all sat together.
The sight of them spread warmth through my chest as did the sight of Alice squealing and running to be swept up into Tyler's arms.
“Mama and Dada are going to be so cross,” she told him.
“Lula and Brent. They weren't your Mama and Dada,” he told her.
I left Tyler to explain what was happening to Alice and was greeted by the rebels group. Maya was the first to embrace me, and we all hugged and shed silent tears together.
“We thought you wouldn't make it for a minute there. The cyclone was getting wild when we escaped.” Fletcher patted the rock beside him for me to sit on.
“Seth must've followed us. He and Tyler got into a fight but Tyler managed to knock him out.” I ran my hands over my hair attempting to tame it.
“You hurt Seth?” cried Alice.
“He was trying to hurt me so I stopped him. He'll be fine I promise.” Tyler brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Alice buried her head into his shoulder and put her thumb in her mouth.
“So how long do we hang around here for?” asked Braven.
“Not long. The cyclone will finish passing in a few hours. We'll try to get some rest then we need to head to Eden. It's going to be flatter terrain but much hotter and drier than it was in the rainforest,” advised Lark.
“What about food… water?” I asked.
Vega pointed towards a haul of bags and jugs in the corner of the cave. “Benjamin had us hoarding food and water over the last few weeks and Tyler's been sneaking it out here for us.”
“It should be enough to get us to Eden, but we still don't know how we're getting up there,” said Lark.
“We got this far right? What could go wrong?” Braven laughed.
“Benjamin and I will stay up and keep watch.” Lark said. “The rest of you try to get some rest for our journey. We won't be getting much rest unless we're lucky enough to find shelter. I don't want to sit still too long in case those helicopters are around.”
Domino and Maya started handing out bed rolls and I took one from Maya's outstretched arm and hugged it to my chest. “It's so much better being back with everyone.”
“It is, isn't it? Who thought I'd end up at a place where I missed this lot?” I turned to watch Braven and Fletcher hitting each other with their bed rolls.
“Let's hope they grow up before we leave in the morning,” Vega added.
“Then who'd entertain us?” Maya gave Vega a nudge and handed her a bed roll.
“Did he say anything to you when you were stuck in the hole?” Vega asked me as we walked to the side of the cave and began rolling out our beds.
“I think you should talk to him. And soon so it's all cleared up before things get too crazy again. Because knowing us, it will.”
“I wanted to talk to you first. To say sorry.” She looked down to her feet before looking back into my eyes.
“What for?” I asked.
“Being so defensive of your dad. You were trying to process everything and I was being selfish.”
“It's okay I'm used to it.” I gave a playful shrug.
“I'm not that bad, am I?” she asked, feigning shock.
I laughed. “It's okay, I have lots of mixed emotions when it comes to him.”
“I bet. I had a talk to your dad and I've realised what I was hanging on to was what I wished I had,” she said.
I reached out and touched her arm lightly. “At least you have us now right?”
“Right,” she laughed. “This motley crew. I guess I better go talk to the craziest one of us all.”
“Fletcher is crazy,” I replied.
“Funny. You know who I mean. Wish me luck.” She left her bed making her way over to Braven.
She tapped him on the arm and he turned replying to what she said with a nod. Before they left the room for some privacy Vega gave me a thankful grin.
“Adding match maker to your list of talents are you?” asked Fletcher as he arrived beside me with his bed roll.
“I hope those two sort their crap out,” I said sitting down on my bed.
“You want me to sleep beside you? For old times' sake,” he asked.
“Why not. Although, since when are you all nostalgic and crap?”
“Since we crash landed on Earth and I've realised life is too short.” He rolled out his bed beside mine and sat down.
“See that's where I think you're wrong. Life's not short, it's unpredictable.” I got comfortable on my bedroll.
“How do you figure?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Not everyone dies young. Some people live to be one hundred. It's the unpredictability of whether you'll make it to an old age that makes you realise you need to make the most of the time you've got. It could be eighty hours or eighty minutes.”
“That's deep Miss Adams.” He smirked lop-sided.
I shrugged. “I've ha
d plenty of time to myself to think Mr. Saxby. I also had plenty of time in these horrid clothes. Please tell me I can change back in to the guard uniform now.”
“Really? I thought the floral print one suited you.” Fletcher wriggled his eyebrows at me.
“Hilarious.” I raised my voice. “Please tell me someone has some normal clothes for me.”
A round of comments stating how beautiful I looked followed by laughter filled the room before a pile of clothing landed heavily on my stomach. I rolled over to find Domino smiling at me.
“Thank you,” I said before discarding the skirt and shirt combo I was wearing and pulling on my familiar tight green singlet, long pants, socks, and boots. “That feels better.”
By the time I settled back into my bed the room had grown quiet as everyone settled down to rest. Vega and Braven hadn't returned but I assumed the conversation they needed to have would take time. Tyler gave me a small wave as he placed an already asleep Alice down onto her bed and curled up beside her. If anything made our ordeal with the Freedom Camp worthwhile, it was freeing her from their control.
“Aurora?” Fletcher pulled my attention from Alice's angelic face.
“Yeah?”
“Did you miss me?” he asked, his eyes searching mine for an answer.
I poked him in the chest. “Of course I did. I had no one to entertain me with their bad innuendos and terrible jokes.”
“Not even Tyler?” he asked.
“What? Are you serious? First Braven, now Tyler. Anyone would think you were jealous Fletch.” I laughed but his strained smile faded and my stomach fluttered. “Did you miss me?” I asked my throat tightening making my voice sound strange.
“More than you'll ever know.” He reached his hand out towards me and I took it in mine. “Night Rora.”
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