by S. J. West
“It wasn’t by choice,” Ash replied, not seeming to take Zoe’s anger to heart.
“Where did you go?” I asked.
“You mean when,” Ash said, pulling his now drenched foot out of the bucket. “I went back to my first day of kindergarten. My mom was dropping me off and trying to give me pointers on how to make friends.”
“Did you happen to bring anything back?” I asked.
“No.” Ash looked confused. “Should I have?”
“Bringing back some supplies for your kids would have been a smart thing to do,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Well, I’m sorry, your highness,” Ash said with a mocking bow. “I don’t exactly have this time traveling thing down yet. Next time, I’ll try to make sure I materialize near a Walmart.”
And with those parting words, Ash disappeared again.
“Hope he remembers to go to Walmart,” I said dryly.
I heard Zoe bust out laughing. I looked over at her and couldn’t prevent myself from smiling a little. Even in the face of everything she had been through that day, she could still find a way to laugh. Human behavior was odd and unexplainable sometimes.
After she stopped laughing, Zoe wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at me.
“Skye, I’m hungry,” she said simply.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Go catch a fish in the river with my bare hands?”
Zoe giggled. “No. But it’s probably safer for you to go find food than it is for me to try and find it. You’re like a god now, right? Nothing can hurt you.”
Nothing but having my head chopped off by a bunch of angry humans, I thought to myself.
“All right. You stay put and try to keep the babies quiet while I’m gone. I’m not sure what’s going on out there right now, but if the human’s blew up the Queen’s house, there’s no telling what else they’ve done.”
Zoe cocked her head and looked at me like I had suddenly grown horns on the top of my head.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You called Lucena the Queen, not your mother. It’s the first time you’ve done that since I’ve seen you.”
“Slip of the tongue,” I said with a shrug. “She’s both.”
“No,” Zoe said a light of hope in her eyes. “No, you’re starting to think about her differently.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes …”
“Stop!” I said, becoming frustrated. “We’re not five years old, Zoe. I said it was a mistake. Leave it at that.”
Zoe shrugged. “You can say what you want, and I’ll think what I want.”
I growled in annoyance. “Why are you so stubborn?”
“I’m only stubborn if I know I’m right,” she said before pointing her index finger at me. “And you know I’m right. You just don’t want to admit it to yourself, yet.”
I held my hands up, fingers splayed to act as a wall against Zoe’s self-righteousness.
“Think what you want,” I said, turning toward the door. “I’ll be back when I can.”
I locked and closed the door to the boathouse behind me, telling Zoe not to open it for anyone but me.
I started to walk back through the woods the way we came but decided to veer off to the right in hopes of finding a house with some food in it. I was vaguely aware I was avoiding the sensible thing to do, which would be to go back to the Queen’s home. The Queen was probably there by now, but I wasn’t certain yet what I planned to do about Zoe and her babies. This brought a question to mind. Why did I care what happened to them? I should be running to the Queen and proudly handing over her triumph in genetic manipulation, but I wasn’t. I was holding them secret from her, which didn’t seem right, but it didn’t seem wrong either. I knew I couldn’t keep them hidden forever and that I would have to make a decision one way or the other soon.
As I reached the edge of the wooded area, I heard the unmistakable sounds of gunfire. The sky was made even cloudier with smoke from what had to be a multitude of burning buildings. Considering the breadth of the human uprising, I could only assume it had been planned for months if not years in advance. The events at the hospital seemed to have spurred the rioters into action. Perhaps they no longer cared about what the Queen might do because they knew she could have them killed and/or harvested at any moment of her choosing. That was the beauty and fault of her power. She could in fact kill anyone she wanted with the tiniest twitch of her finger, but by doing that she instilled in humans a hatred so deep it was able to overcome their natural instinct to survive and simply thirst for revenge.
I walked out into a small, quiet cul-de-sac. Only one of the homes was set on fire, leaving the others to fend off the flames of their neighbor or eventually succumb to the blaze over time. I hoped the people living in the homes had either joined in the fighting or left for their own safety. One small yellow house, which reminded me of the one I once shared with my parents, had its front door wide open. I dashed from my hiding place in the woods and into the house.
The house appeared empty. It was sparsely decorated, which made me wonder if anyone lived here at all. I found the small kitchen easily and quickly discovered what remained of the food supply. A few cans of soup and a loaf of bread in the cupboard and a small container of milk in the refrigerator was all that was left. Either the people who lived here had taken most of the food with them, or the Queen wasn’t giving her subjects much to survive on these days. Considering the fact she was feeding them recycled meat and the bareness of the cupboards in the home, led me to the conclusion that the Queen’s food supply might be running out. Could that be one of the reasons for the human riot? Starvation had been the cause of more than one war in history. Perhaps the humans figured they had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I found a canvas bag in one of the drawers of the kitchen and quickly deposited the food into it. As I walked out onto the front porch of the house, I heard the distinct click of a shotgun being drawn back and loaded.
“Don’t move,” I heard a man say to the left of me. “Put the bag down and slowly turn to face me.”
I did as he said and found myself staring into the eyes of not a man but a frightened teenage boy. His arms were shaking as he pointed the barrel of the shotgun at my head.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked him.
He looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened and his breathing came faster.
I heard more than saw him begin to pull the trigger. Without thinking, I lunged forward grabbing the barrel of the shotgun with my right hand and tearing it out of the boy’s grip just as he pulled the trigger.
I held the gun at my side and looked back at the boy.
If he had been frightened before, he was terrified now.
“Go ahead,” he said with more bravado than I thought he would be able to muster. “Shoot me and get it over with.”
“Are you so ready to die?” I asked.
“At least I’ll die on my own terms.”
“I won’t kill you if you answer some questions for me.”
Distrust entered his eyes, but I also saw a flicker of hope.
“What do you want to know?”
“Do you know what’s up the river?”
The boy looked confused by my question but finally answered, “I’ve only gone up near the fence there. Not sure what’s past it.”
“No one’s tried to escape that way?”
“It’s an electrified fence over water,” the boy said. “What do you think?”
He had a point.
“Ok, thanks for the info,” I said before hitting him in the head with the butt of the shotgun.
He slumped onto the porch without making a peep.
I picked up my bag of provisions and decided to keep the shotgun with me, just in case.
It didn’t take me long to make my way back to the boathouse, but when I got there, I heard two distinct voi
ces coming from the inside.
One was of course Zoe’s, but the other one belonged to someone I had almost completely forgotten about: Lawrence.
I ran for the door of the boathouse and slung the door open.
Lawrence was standing over Zoe, holding one of the babies in his arms. He looked up at me, not at all surprised by my sudden appearance.
“Skye,” he said with a pleased smile, “your mother sent me to look for you. She’ll be happy to know you’re safe.”
I trusted Lawrence about as much as I would trust a snake slithering between my legs. His manic devotion to the Queen indicated to me he had a few screws loose.
“Where is she now?” I asked, walking in and laying down the bag and shotgun against the wall by the door.
“The Queen is putting an end to the human rebellion. She should have it in hand soon.” Lawrence looked down at the baby he held. “She’ll be glad to know you took care of Zoe and the babies. She’s been waiting for their birth. Have they shown any signs of having powers yet?”
“No,” I said, meeting Zoe’s frightened eyes, “they haven’t but they’re less than an hour old.”
“I noticed one was defective,” Lawrence said, looking down at Hope at his feet like she was a bug on the floor who should be stomped out of existence.
“She just needs a doctor,” I said.
“Your mother doesn’t like imperfection.” Lawrence looked over at me. “It would be better to just get rid of it now and not bother her with having to dispose of it herself.”
“Skye …” Zoe said, a desperate plea in her voice.
“I’ll handle it Lawrence,” I said, taking on the tone of superiority I had heard the Queen use with her subordinates. “Why don’t you go tell the Queen I’m safe and intend to keep Zoe here for the time being? As soon as she has the human’s under control again, ask her to send someone to help me move them all.”
“If that’s what you want to do,” Lawrence said, walking toward me still holding the baby in his arms.
“Give me the baby,” I told him in no uncertain terms.
“The Queen ordered me to bring at least one of them back to her if Zoe had given birth.”
“And I’m telling you to give the baby to me.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, certain in his resolve.
“You’re not leaving here until you give me the baby.”
Lawrence made to dash out the door past me, but I was faster. I grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the door frame. Slowly, I began to squeeze his throat while he made choking sounds, trying to gasp for even the smallest sliver of air. With my other hand, I easily took the baby he held and saw that it was Rose he had almost left with.
I heard more than saw Zoe come up behind me and take Rose out of my arms.
“Skye, you’re killing him,” she warned.
“No,” I said. “If I were going to kill him, I’d rip his head off.”
“What are you going to do with him?” she asked in a small voice. “What are you going to do with us?”
I knew then what my choice would be.
I slammed Lawrence’s head against the doorjamb as hard as I could. The distinct sound of cracking bone told me I had crushed the backside of his skull. His eyelids drooped as he fell unconscious.
“Skye!” Zoe said in alarm. “I thought you said you weren’t going to kill him.”
“He’s not dead,” I replied, throwing Lawrence’s limp body in the corner of the room. “He’ll heal. I just hope he doesn’t regain consciousness until we’re gone.”
“Gone?” Zoe said, uncertainty in her voice. “Where are we going, Skye?”
“Up the river. We need to find a way to get you and the babies to Jace’s people.”
“Skye …” Zoe put her hand on my arm.
I shrugged it off.
“Don’t,” I told her. “Don’t touch me. Don’t thank me. Don’t do anything but help me get the babies to the boat.”
“But …” she began.
I never let her finish the thought. I had one hand clamped against her lips and the other behind her head to make sure she was looking at me.
“Just do what I say before I change my mind,” I said slowly. “Do you understand? Because if you don’t, I swear I will take you to the Queen before you can take another breath. Do we have an understanding?”
Zoe nodded.
Zoe carried Rose to the boat while I carried the other two babies. After I got them settled in the cabin of the boat, I went back to get the bag of food and the shotgun from the boathouse.
I bent down over Lawrence to check the wound on the back of his head and found that it was already starting to heal. Not wanting him to run to the Queen too soon, I banged his head against the wooden boards of the floor. Feeling satisfied that he would be out for a while, I stood back up only to hear the sound of the shotgun being drawn again for the second time that night.
“Don’t move, or I’ll blow your damn head off.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I recognized the man’s voice but couldn’t quite place where I knew him from.
“Turn around slowly with your hands in the air,” he ordered gruffly.
I raised my hands and turned to see who had the shotgun this time.
To my surprise, it was Jackson, the boy who the Queen had locked up in the basement of the Biltmore Estate. I remembered he had the power to manipulate electricity, a fact which made me smile.
“What are you grinnin’ at?” he asked harshly.
“I’m just glad to see you, Jackson. You might find it hard to believe, but you’re exactly who I need right now.”
Jackson raised the butt of the shotgun to his shoulder and wrapped his finger around the trigger like he was preparing to shoot.
“Wait!” I said. “I can get you out of here.”
Jackson eased his finger away from the trigger.
“How?” he asked skeptically.
“By taking the boat out there up the river.”
“Isn’t there a fence around this joint?”
“Yes, an electrified one. But if you can absorb the electricity running through the fence, I can use my strength to make a hole large enough for us to get through it.”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed on me. “How do I know this isn’t just some trap? Aren’t you a Harvester now? At least that’s what I was told.”
“Yes, I’m a Harvester.”
“Then why would you want to help me?”
“It’s not you I’m trying to help,” I said honestly, “but your power will make it easier to get past the fence.”
“Why are you trying to leave? I thought you’d become that bitch’s right hand around this joint.”
“I have to get a friend out of here before it’s too late,” I said, only then fully realizing why I was doing what I was doing.
Zoe needed my help. The babies needed my protection. The fact that I was betraying the Queen seemed inconsequential for some reason.
“So where is this friend?”
“She and her children are already on the boat waiting for me.” I let my hands fall to my side. “By helping them escape, you get a free ride out of here too.”
“Well, I need you to help me get a friend out too.” Jackson took two steps backwards and looked to his right while still holding the gun on me. “Ava, come on. We might have a way out of this joint after all.”
Ava, the girl who could make plants grow, stepped into the doorway.
“You sure we can trust her?” she asked, looking me up and down like I might attack her at any moment.
“Hell no,” Jackson said. “But I’ll keep an eye on her. I’ve got the gun.”
I smiled. They didn’t seem to like it.
“What the hell are you smiling at this time?” Jackson said, his finger easing back toward the trigger.
“I find it amusing you think that gun is what’s protecting you.”
“Let’s see how funny you think it is if I ha
ve to shoot you.”
“You won’t,” I said. “I need you. And as long as you help me, I won’t let anything or anyone harm you.”
“And I’m just supposed to take your word on that?” Jackson scoffed. “I’m supposed to believe you and just trust you’ll do what you promise?”
“Well, like you said, you have the gun. Keep it aimed in my direction all you want. It doesn’t make any difference to me. Just don’t get in my way, and I’ll stay out of yours. We’ll use each other until we get out. Then we can go our separate ways.”
“We don’t have anything to lose at this point,” Ava pointed out to Jackson.
Jackson lowered the gun, but held it close to his side.
“Let’s go then,” Jackson said.
“Hold on a sec.” I turned to Lawrence and kicked him in the head, seeing the indentation of the tip of my shoe smash his skull inward.
When I looked up at Jackson and Ava, they both looked stunned by my unexpected action.
“Just want to make sure he doesn’t wake up anytime soon,” I explained before grabbing the canvas bag with the food and walking past them out the door.
Before Jackson would even let me on the boat, he asked Ava to search the cabin, presumably to double check my story about Zoe and the babies. The cry of the babies could be heard clearly as she opened the door to the cabin.
“Close the door unless you want every Harvester within a half mile radius coming to investigate,” I told her.
Ava closed the door quickly, cutting off the cries.
“I’ll drive the boat,” Jackson said, actually sounding excited about it. “My dad used to have one of these before the war. We’d take it out almost every weekend.”
“So, what? You were like five or six?” I said, remembering that Jackson had been born around the same time as me. “How can you even remember how to do it now?”
“You don’t forget the good stuff,” he said. “Why don’t you go down and help your friend with the babies? Sounds like she’s got her hands full. Ava and I can handle the boat.”
I shrugged. “Just make sure you keep an eye out for the fence. I don’t want to be roasted alive.”
I went down into the cabin and quickly shut the door. Whatever was wrong with the babies, they were being very vocal about it.