“Don’t forget the rest of the snow.” I bend down and grab the bark with the remaining snow, holding it out to him.
He takes two long strides and snags the bark out of my hands, tossing that to him too. My hands find their perch on my hips, silently protesting his carelessness. He’s only giving it to him because I asked, which says something. I don’t want to disturb the balance we’ve established.
“Thank you,” the man says, looking at me.
Jeff turns on him, teeth bared. “No.” He steps in front of me, blocking the man’s line of sight, seconds away from attacking.
I rush toward them quickly. “Don’t hurt him. He saved me.” My leg snaps out from under me before I can reach them, my chain pulling short. The ground comes fast and hard as I slam into it.
I hear snickers a couple beds over. The lifeless girl next to her infected is laughing openly at me, even after her infected inflicts an elbow.
Jeff glares, effectively quieting her. The previous confrontation ceases when Jeff moves to help me up. He’s not harsh when he picks me up off the floor, but he’s not nice either, as he grabs me by the upper arm. He drags me over to the bearskin and drops me haphazardly onto its coarse fur. Sitting up, I rub my wrists, daring a glance over the fire.
The room’s focus is on us, and Jeff’s pacing informs me that I’m pushing him too far. Even his pack is looking at us with confusion. I sneak a peek at the man next to us. He’s digging into his food and eating snow as if it’s been days since he’s had either. A nudging inclination tells me I may be right.
The man senses my stare and looks up, glancing at Jeff, and then back to me. He mouths the words, “Thank you” as he takes another bite of fish. I close my eyes, letting him know that I’ve heard his silent words.
Jeff calms down eventually and comes to rest next to me on the pallet. My body tightens, always waiting for the moment we’ll fight, but still it doesn’t come. He closes his eyes and his breathing turns heavy, signaling his slumber. Tilting my head, I study his sleeping form.
He remains a complete enigma. I’ve encountered Jeff only a handful of times—none leaving good impressions—from the moment we arrived at the cave. My internal warning system is causing nerves to dance across my skin each time we come into contact. Watching him now, that anxiety of warning is absent. I’m scared as hell he’ll wake up in the next second and decide to do away with me, but the driving caution to stay clear of him isn’t present, even after he attacked me. It sounds insane, but he seems like a completely different person…or infected. He was violent when he took me, drug me across the falling snow to this cave, but then tended to my wounds. He also brought me food, made me a warm bed and a fire. Kept another human alive, simply because I asked him to. I don’t understand this infected Jeff. He still possesses some of his humanity; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken care of my back, but he’s infected enough to remain unpredictable and violent.
I’m lost in thought, deciphering the puzzle I became a pawn in, when growling outside rousts Jeff from sleep. He’s alert within seconds, scenting the air. He glances at me and then rises to his feet, fast and fluid. Others around the room follow suit and stand, growling.
Jeff turns to me again before leading the entire pack out of the cave. This is the first time they’ve all left the cave at once.
Immediately, I turn to the man on my left. “What’s going on? Where are we?” I keep my voice low, attempting to collect as much information as possible.
He glances toward the exit. “We’re in a cave, close to a lake. They brought us in unconscious and don’t let us wander. I’ve been outside a couple time, but don’t know our location.”
“The other group is back,” the older women to my right states.
“Another group?” Dread crawls up my spine with the realization. There’re more.
“You’re so clueless. You should’ve let your infected kill her, Asher,” the girl to Asher’s left grumbles.
He glares at her. “Keep to yourself, Abbey.”
“Keep your voice down or they’ll hear you,” the older woman cautions.
He lowers his voice but continues. “They brought me here in spring, now winter’s come. Abbey’s been here the longest.”
“Don’t talk about me, especially to that traitor.”
Traitor? The word she uses to describe me, confuses me. She sees the look on my face and elaborates.
“You’re cooking his food, cuddling up with him when you sleep. You’re awfully cozy with him to be a captive.”
“I want to go home to my family. If playing nice gets me there, you can bet your ass I’ll do it.” My words silence Abbey. She curls in on herself, slowly rocking back and forth. Her ratty hair wraps around her waist, protecting her like a shield. She’s about my age if I had to guess. Held captive for quite some time, if her appearance reflects her sentence. Her accusation surprises me. Glancing around the room, no one else finds her behavior disturbing.
“She doesn’t mean any harm, dear,” the older lady informs me. “I’m Wendy. You’ve met Abbey and Asher. The quiet one on my right here is Greg. They’ve had Abbey the longest, coming up on three winters this year. Asher came at the beginning of spring, and Greg over there came during summer, both this year. They took me two falls ago. You’re our newest addition. The leader is quite smitten with you, so you’ll last a while. He’s new to the group but has asserted his dominance quickly.” She sits and relaxes back on her bed, as if the information she relays is normal.
“Where did they go? They’re not worried about us escaping?”
Greg breaks the silence and chuckles. “Haven’t you noticed the chain attached to your ankle? They don’t have to worry about us escaping because we can’t, short of cutting off your own foot.”
I shift my attention to each of their ankles, confirming what I already knew as true. If the infected left us here today, we would die of starvation, chains shackling us to a boulder. My heart flutters. “What’s going on? Why would they all leave?”
“They’ll be back,” Asher says, sounding sure.
“How do you know?” I ask, even though the infected could come back at any moment. There’s clearly a ‘no talking’ rule in place, creating an internal frenzy to collect as much information as possible.
“There’s another group that’s been hanging around lately. The infected that has you is friendly with their female leader. They come and stay occasionally. This is normally what precedes their entrance. This group goes out to show force, then escorts them in.”
Jeff marches back in the cave moments after Asher finishes his explanation. He moves with purpose straight to me, his black eyes staring me down when he stops. My hackles are rising. This is it.
He steps around me, picking up the heavy boulder that secures my chain. “Come,” he demands.
My only choice is to move quickly, to keep the length of my chain within reach. He sets the boulder down, as if it were a pebble. I stand next to the large rock, confusion playing on my features. Jeff returns to my side moments later, laying down a bearskin on Asher’s bed. He then turns to me, picking me up with ease, and places me on the bed. He lays the next layer on top of me, partially covering my face.
“Sleep,” he orders, and turns to Asher.
“Watch.” He points at me. “No touch,” he snarls, deep and threatening.
Asher doesn’t speak, he just nods. Sitting down next to the bed without touching me, he takes his orders seriously. I watch as Jeff stokes the fire slowly, continuously watching me through the flames. I have no idea what’s going on.
When the fire is to his liking, he leaves the cave again.
This time when he returns, he’s not alone.
Chapter 5
Ian
Mason and Luke have been out since dawn, searching.
My entire room floor is one giant mattress. James brought his in yesterday, and Azami drug her small bed down closer to us. She doesn’t stay in her own bed long before climbing in wit
h me.
Night closes in on us quickly as I wait for the search party to return. James stares at the ceiling from his bed, anxious, wondering what they’ll discover. Azami’s snores break up the quiet in the softly lit room.
“Do you feel her anywhere or see her in your dreams?” I ask, because their gifts are similar.
His arm’s tucked under his head. “No…you?”
“Only the one in the snow. I’m sure that was real. I wish I knew how to control them, then we could track her.”
James scrunches his eyebrows down in thought. “I’ll try tonight, see if I can force myself. You should try too, and maybe Deagon. They met in a dream walk.” He’s sitting up now, his voice animated.
“I’ve tried since day one, and I’ll keep trying,” I assure.
“Me too,” James concludes, closing his eyes.
“Get some sleep, little brother. I’ll wake you when they return.” Sleep isn’t in the cards for me tonight.
Footsteps sound in the hallway, seconds before his emotions hit me. James and Azami are both sound asleep for the first time in days. Movement at the curtain draws my attention from Azami’s sleeping form. Mason peeks in the room, and when he sees that I’m awake, he enters completely. I glance behind him, looking for Luke. Mason shakes his head, signaling he’s not coming. His face is void of a smile. They didn’t find her.
Mason confirms my suspicions when he states, “We didn’t find her.” He lets that sink in before continuing. “We searched every cave in a five-mile radius. If they have her in a cave, its farther away than we thought.”
“Where’s Luke?” I choke out through the emotion in my throat.
“Cleaning up. He’ll be down in a few.”
I nod, then look over at James. He’s sleeping so well, I hate to wake him, but he has the right to know. “James,” I whisper.
His eyes snap open, as if he were wide awake. “Did you find her?”
Luke enters quietly behind Mason. “No. I’m sorry, James, we didn’t.”
James closes his eyes against the pain that’s crushing his chest, the same pain radiating through me. I’m seconds away from exploding, but have nowhere to vent. I have a sleeping toddler in the crook of my arm, an entire cave of sleeping people, and all I want to do is break something. Fuck! I can’t even get out of bed to do it.
“We’re going out again. We’re not giving up.” Determination is set in Luke’s voice.
“Thank you.” Staying outside without gear is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but I’d do it again if I thought I had a chance of catching them.
After they leave our room, sleep continues to elude me. My mind is tracing every nook and cranny this mountainside possesses, struggling to figure out where they’re keeping her. They’re much faster than us, traveling greater distances. Luke and Deagon are searching a wider perimeter tomorrow. All I can do is hope they find a clue to her location.
~~~~~
The weeks crawl by. Each passing day that they return empty-handed, shreds another piece of my heart. I’m still laid up, the remaining blisters on my hands and feet finally peeling off, leaving behind dead, blackened scabs. Michael thinks minimal damage will remain, but it’ll still take several more weeks before we’ll know for sure. Meanwhile, I still can’t walk or leave the cave to assist with Lillie’s search. Michael’s reiterated that I’ll sustain permanent damage or fractures if I’m careless. I already screwed up once by staying out in the snow too long, and doing anything else to hinder my healing would only set me back. I’ll abide by all of Michael’s rules, at least until I’m healed, then there’s no stopping me. I’ll find her. Sitting around on my ass is getting me nowhere. I’m growing more impatient with each passing day.
Azami crawled out of bed earlier this morning when Jen came to get her for their class session today. They’re learning a new book of numbers and letters. She’s brought it home with her every night this week so we can read it together. She’ll be reading before I know it, her pronunciations improving by the day.
James disrupts my thoughts, opening the curtain to my room, returning with the bucket I use to piss in. He empties it several times a day. I turn my head in shame, not watching him as he sets it down next to me.
“Quit that shit,” he snaps.
I glare up at him. “Watch your mouth.”
“You can’t rush this. It takes time to heal. A search party goes out every day, but with the amount of snow out there, there’s nothing else we can do. If they spend too much time out there, they’ll come back looking like that.” He points at my feet.
I swallow my pride. “I’m helpless. All I can do is lay around.”
“Don’t!” he shouts. “You sound like you’re giving up. It takes time. Your feet have to heal and then you can help. She needs you.” He looks away.
He’s hiding something, I can feel it in his emotions. “What aren’t you telling me?” I prop myself up better to listen.
“I told you I’d try to see her in my dreams…” He pauses for a moment. “She’s alive. The dream I had didn’t allow me to talk with her, but she’s okay. You’ll save her.” He gives me a moment to let that sink in.
“What do you mean, I save her? I’m stuck here.” I gesture to my injuries.
“We’ll get her back.” I open my mouth to ask a thousand other questions, when he holds his hand up to stop me. “Before you ask, I don’t know where she is, only that we’ll find her. She’s alive, that’s what’s important right now.” He glances away again, unable to hold my stare.
There’s something else. “What aren’t you telling me?” I ask cautiously. “Give me the details.”
He sits on the small chair next to my bed. “After you heal, you’ll be able to start searching. Mason, Jere, Luke, you, and I will find her. The background is a blur, but I know we’re in the forest because I can smell the trees. You both hit the peak of a hillside and collide, seeming to sense one another.” He pauses again, as if debating with himself.
“What?”
“They’re chasing her. We’ll only have seconds before they’re on us.”
“Is she hurt?” My heart sinks as the question leaves my lips. Why else would he hesitate to tell me?
“Her clothes are dirty and worn, but she’s unharmed.”
Tilting my head, I try to get a better read on his emotions. I know I’m missing a vital piece of information. “How do you know this is real and not wishful thinking?” A knot of hope is forming in my gut.
“I can tell the difference between my dreams and premonitions. This’ll happen,” he assures me.
“When?” The word cracks with my voice.
“I’m not exactly sure. The trees didn’t have snow on them, and wild flowers covered the hillside. I think it’s springtime,” James whispers, knowing spring is months away. “Concentrate on getting better. She’ll come home.”
I open my mouth to ask more questions, when Azami’s screech catches me off guard. “Daddy!” Azami whips into the room, lighting the area around us, bringing the sun everywhere she goes. “Uncle James!” she shouts even louder, catapulting herself onto the bed. Weeks of practice bracing myself for her spunkiness has me ready for the jarring. My wounds are healing, but still sensitive. The black scabs on my hands and feet cover new, very sensitive skin.
I laugh. “Easy, love. Remember, Daddy’s hurt.”
She settles next to me on the mattress, placing her small hand on my chest, acting as if she’s cuddling. I rehearse filtering my thoughts, only allowing positive ones through. She’s too young to worry. She’s also too young to realize what I’m doing. Eventually, she’ll have questions or her gift with strengthen, and blocking her will no longer be an option.
James moves to sit at the end of the bed. “How was class, Az?”
We like to listen to her tell us about her day. She’ll talk forever, her tiny voice recalling every detail. Listening to her settles my nerves. James leans back against the cave wall, his emotions hovering calmly in
the air around us.
She begins with her morning as she helped in the kitchen. Jen always starts their day with Sarah baking bread. By the time they’re done, they sit to eat breakfast, and then wash up for their lessons. Jen focuses on one aspect at a time. During the summer, she taught all the kids about edible plants and berries in the forest. Right now, she only has Azami and they’re concentrating on her ABCs, as she points out when she recites the entire alphabet for us. “XYZeeee… Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you siiiing wiiiith meeeeeee.” She giggles when she finishes. “I sing pwetty, huh, Daddy?”
I chuckle. “Yes, you do, Pumpkin.”
“I can count to thirteen too!” She exclaims, beginning to count her numbers.
We’re all laughing by the time she’s done. “Sounds like you had a lot of fun today,” James says.
“I did!” She claps.
“Do you mind if I take her to the gardens before dinner?” James turns to her. “That is, if you still want to go, Az?”
“Yes!” She jumps up and onto his lap.
Balancing her wiggling form, he turns back to me “You going to take a nap?”
Some days Azami joins me for an afternoon nap, and other times, she’s like the energizer bunny. Watching her bouncing form, I know she’s not winding down any time soon. I chuckle at her big blue eyes, begging me to let her go. “That’s fine, but I want to have dinner with the two of you tonight. Grab our food and come down here.” They eat with me often, but I try to keep Azami social. She gets stir-crazy if she’s in the bedroom for extended periods of time. I let her venture out with others in the cave when they come looking for her.
“Sounds good, bro,” James says.
“Knock, knock.” Michael pulls the curtain aside to the room. Once he enters, Azami smiles at him, waving. “Hey, Az.” His voice is soft. “What are you all up to?”
“They’re on their way to the garden to dig up potatoes,” I explain.
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