No Shelter Trilogy (Omnibus, Books 1-3)

by T. S. Welti

  Like Undine’s daughter, no one has ever known me because I don’t even know myself.

  My nose is so frozen it’s giving me a headache. I pull the blanket over my face so only my eyes are exposed.

  “You’re cold. Get in the bag,” Daedric orders me, as he stands.

  I lay the blanket over Eve and Elysia then I climb into Daedric’s sleeping bag.

  “Scoot over,” Daedric says before he slides in next to me.

  “What about the book?” Elysia asks.

  “We’ll finish chapter three tomorrow, sis. It’s time to rest now.”

  “But I’m not tired yet.”

  “Go to sleep or I’ll tell Nada about the time we went to the Statue of Liberty. Remember what you did at the top?”

  Elysia gasps. “That’s mean!” she cries.

  “Then go to sleep.”

  Elysia grunts before she turns around and succumbs to the silence of the forest.

  I can feel Daedric’s chest moving with every breath he takes behind me, but I don’t have the courage to turn around. I lay still as the dead trying to ignore the pain of realizing how disposable I am. Finally, Daedric places his hand on my elbow.

  We lie like this forever… or at least until I realize Isaac and Mary have been gone more than two hours. I want to ask Daedric if he thinks they may have gotten lost in the darkness, but it’s such a stupid question. Isaac and Mary have been lost in the darkness for ages.

  I was lost in there with them, but the sunlight is finally slipping beneath the hidden door.

  CHAPTER 13

  I take a deep breath, breathing in the indifference of the icy forest. “Should somebody check on them?” I whisper to Daedric.

  The words sound obscene coming from my lips. It takes every bit of strength in me not to vomit.

  Daedric is silent. He’s not the type of person to say I told you so.

  “Let’s wait a little longer before we start worrying,” he replies.

  The sense of defeat is heavy, so heavy I should be sinking into the earth… like Qiana. Like Eve’s mother. Like Isaac’s brother. Like Lara.

  I turn around to face Daedric. He stares into my eyes, his gaze never wavering.

  “I meant it when I said congratulations,” he whispers.

  “I know,” I reply.

  That’s what made it so hurtful.

  “Why did you leave Isaac and me behind?” I ask him.

  When Daedric chose to leave Isaac and me behind five weeks ago, he changed the course of our lives forever. If he had never left, I probably never would have slept with Isaac.

  He clenches his jaw as he thinks of his answer. “It was a test,” he replies. “I followed you to the base and I was going to meet up with you there, but… I saw it happening. I saw you being pulled away from me… You didn’t stand a chance. Either did I. So I hung back and followed you all to the cabin.”

  I didn’t stand a chance against Isaac’s charms. Daedric’s ability to see what I’m so pitifully unaware of scares me.

  He unties my hood and pushes it back. My hair falls into my face, a black veil across my vision. He brushes it away. His hand is so warm I can’t help but lean into it.

  “I’m going to check on them,” he says, as he holds my face in his hands.

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, you stay here.”

  “Daedric, you should know me better than that by now.”

  He smiles reluctantly. “Don’t let go of my hand.”

  “I won’t make that mistake again.”

  He leans his face toward me and I close my eyes and hold my breath. He plants a quick kiss on my cheek and I wait a moment longer before I open my eyes.

  He smiles as if he knows I feel cheated by this friendly gesture. I slip my hand behind his neck to pull his face toward me. Our lips almost touch when a shrill scream splits the night in half.

  It takes a millisecond for me to know. This is the moment that has lurked behind us for hundreds of miles, dogging our every footstep, waiting to assault us. This is the decision I have been staring down for six months finally being thrust upon me. This is a new beginning or this is the end.

  Daedric throws the sleeping bag open. “Get up!” he shouts at Elysia.

  Eve and Elysia pop out of their sleeping bag and Eve begins to roll it up.

  “We don’t have time for that!” he shouts at her.

  I pull my backpack on and for the first time since we left the cabin I realize the load Isaac has been carrying for me. Daedric sees the strained look on my face and he tears the backpack off my shoulders and heaves it onto the snow.

  “We don’t need it,” he says then he turns to Eve. “Take Mary’s backpack. We need the knives more than the traps.”

  I feel empty-handed until I realize I have the heaviest load to carry. My breath stutters in my chest as I grab Elysia’s hand and glimpse the expression of terror on her face.

  “It’s going to be all right,” I say to her. “But you have to run as fast as you can. Okay?”

  She doesn’t nod or say a word.

  “Let’s go,” Daedric says and we race toward the city of the unknown.

  We’ve only taken a few steps when a gunshot sets my nerves on fire. The blast reverberates painfully through my bones. This time we left Isaac and Mary behind.

  I squeeze Elysia’s hand as we charge forward out of the sparse forest and into the open tundra. Another gunshot, much fainter than the last, rings out across the darkness and Elysia falls to the ground taking me down with her.

  CHAPTER 14

  Elysia squats on the snow and screams as she covers her ears.

  “Are you hurt?” I shout.

  Daedric kneels in front of us. “Lysi, get up!” he shouts. “We can’t stay here. Get up!”

  Her screams make my skin prickle. “Please, Elysia!” I cry. “Please get up!”

  “They’re coming!” Eve shouts.

  Across the frozen ground I spot movement in the forest.

  “Give me your pack. You carry Elysia,” I say to Daedric.

  He hands me the backpack before he scoops Elysia into his arms. We scurry across the tundra like mice across a barren floor. Are we running toward safety or is this just another trap?

  Daedric’s pace slows as we descend a small hill toward a snowy plain before the highway. He’s going to have to put Elysia down if we have any hope of making it out of this alive. If we can make it beyond the highway, we’ll be less than a mile from Grantsville: a town just outside Salt Lake City.

  “You have to put her down!” I shout to Daedric.

  It takes him a moment before he stops and sets Elysia on the snow. She doesn’t let go of his neck.

  “Don’t leave me behind,” she cries.

  I grab her hand and she finally lets go. “We’ll never leave you behind,” I tell her, as Daedric slips his backpack off my back.

  I try to ignore the sobbing coming from Eve as we continue toward the highway. A gunshot rings out and squeals past my head. I’m trying so hard not to panic, but my head is getting heavier by the second.

  I squeeze Elysia’s hand, but this time it’s for support. My mother’s face is creeping into my vision. I have to push it aside. Isaac’s face comes next and a sudden spurt of energy propels me forward.

  Another shot blasts off and Daedric is knocked over by the impact.

  He stands immediately, but the look of pain on his face makes the blood rush to my head. I grab Eve’s shoulder so I don’t faint.

  “I’m not shot!” he shouts. “We have to keep going!”

  He stumbles forward a few steps before he breaks into a run. We follow closely behind him. Through the darkness I don’t glimpse any blood on his back, especially not through his backpack, which now displays a gaping hole from the gunshot. I reach up and yank his backpack off.

  The back of his jacket is fully intact.

  I blink with disbelief as Daedric notices the hole in his backpack and kicks it aside. He takes Mar
y’s backpack from Eve and we dart toward the highway, which is just a few hundred yards away now.

  Another shot blasts off and Eve screams as it whizzes past her head. How many shots has that been? Five? Six? Whatever the number, it’s certainly less than I would expect from a bunch of Guardians. Is Vic alone? Is it even Vic after us?

  Elysia’s pace is beginning to slow, so I glance behind me. No one’s there.

  CHAPTER 15

  The instinct to look both ways as we cross the highway is strong, but there’s nothing out here. Nothing behind us and nothing on the left or right of us. What lies before us is still unknown.

  “Why aren’t you shot?” I ask Daedric once we’re across the asphalt, as if this stretch of road is a wall that will keep his secret safe from whoever pursues us.

  He shakes his head. “I don’t know. It must have been my steel canteen,” he replies. “They were pretty far back. It must have gotten lodged in there.”

  “But there wasn’t any water coming from your backpack,” Eve remarks.

  “The canteen was empty. We left in a hurry. I didn’t have a chance to refill it.”

  He looks as stunned by this explanation as Eve and I.

  “You saved my life,” he says. “You made me put her down. If I hadn’t been wearing my backpack…”

  “It’s just a coincidence,” I reply. “Let’s not make it into something more than it is.”

  He grabs Elysia’s other hand. “You okay, sis?”

  She nods but she obviously shaken.

  “We have to find somewhere to hide out so we can rest,” I say.

  No sooner than I speak these words a large building, a concrete behemoth, appears across the highway—and the lights are on inside.

  “What’s that, Daedric?” Elysia asks.

  “I don’t know, but we can’t just walk in there. We need a plan,” he replies. “Eve, do we have anything you can use to make a trap?”

  “What about me?” I ask, not wanting to be relegated to babysitting duty again.

  He turns to me with a very serious expression. “How are your neck-breaking skills these days?”

  Daedric and I approach the back of the building alone. Eve and Elysia are hiding behind a large generator in the parking lot. The building was once used as a large distribution center for a supermarket. Giant roll-up doors mark the bays where trucks were once loaded with billions of pounds of food. The truck bays line three sides of the building. The lot behind the building slants down toward the bays, which will make it more difficult for us to escape, should we need to.

  We descend the slanted concrete driveway toward a single door between two truck bays. Six concrete steps lead up to the door, which emits a soft glow of light from a square window just big enough for a pair of eyes to look out. We crouch low enough not to be spotted as we stand just outside the door.

  Daedric hands me the snare Eve created for us by twisting Mary’s scarf into a rope. Other than the snare, the only weapons we have are Mary’s knives. Daedric holds her machete. I hold the end of the snare while Mary’s pocketknife sits in my back pocket.

  “Remember: If the snare doesn’t work, feel free to ditch it and go primal on them,” Daedric says with a smile.

  “Got it,” I reply.

  “And one more thing,” he says, as he leans toward me and whispers in my ear. “I love you.”

  He kisses me softly on my temple and now I’m ready. The fact that Daedric trusts me to help him with this mission fills me with joy.

  “I love you,” I whisper before I knock on the door.

  CHAPTER 16

  The silence that follows this knock on the door charges my bones with anticipation. I grip the scarf snare so tight my knuckles ache. My steamy breath escapes in puffs, which mesmerize me as we wait.

  Daedric knocks a second time and finally I hear movement beyond this steel slab. I peek at the tiny window in the door from where I crouch, but I can’t see anything from down here. The lock clicks in the door and I get ready to spring my trap.

  A large boot steps out of the door, part of it stepping over the snare. If I don’t pull the snare now, he’ll find us in two seconds. This isn’t the ideal position, but I have no choice. I yank the snare with all my might.

  The scarf rope slides over his foot, tightens around his ankle, and his body crashes onto the concrete steps. He begins to slide down the stairs, but I plant my feet and Daedric jumps onto the step below to stop his momentum.

  Daedric gets him in a headlock and holds the machete to his throat. He’s young and tall with broad shoulders, but he’s thinner than Daedric. He doesn’t struggle with the blade at his jugular.

  “Are you a Guardian?” Daedric demands. “Who else is in there?”

  Daedric’s arm is pressed too hard against his throat.

  “He can’t talk,” I say.

  Daedric loosens his chokehold and the guy goes into a coughing fit before he responds.

  “Jessie! It’s Guardians?” the guy shouts in a raspy voice. “Hurry up!”

  This guy thinks we’re Guardians?

  “We’re not Guardians!” I shout.

  A large girl with short hair and a fire extinguisher appears in the doorway.

  “WE’RE NOT GUARDIANS!” Daedric and I shout.

  Daedric releases his grip on the guy and drops the machete. “We’re not Guardians. We’re from the West,” he says. “We’re running from the Guardians. We need help.”

  The guy glares at me as he removes the snare from his ankle.

  “Please,” I plead. “They already took two of us… We have a child with us. Please help us.”

  “Two children,” Daedric corrects me.

  “Well, threatening to kill someone isn’t exactly the best way to make friends,” the guy says before he holds out his hand to Daedric. “I’m Troy Williams. This is Jessie Caruso.”

  Daedric shakes his hand. “Daedric Greenwood.”

  Jessie holds out her hand to me.

  I shake it firmly. “I’m Nada.”

  “Nada… what?” Jessie responds. “We use last names here. It builds trust.”

  “Nada Ch—” I stop myself before I speak my father’s name.

  My father left when I was seven. Am I still obligated to bear his last name? My fingers reach for the S-shaped charm on my necklace. Sara Brennan was my mother’s maiden name.

  “Nada Brennan,” I say, and just like that I have a name.

  “Nada Brennan,” Daedric repeats with a smile.

  He knows my father’s name. He asked me about my last name months ago. It’s Isaac Faulk who never cared enough to know the real me.

  “Well, Nada Brennan and Daedric Greenwood,” Troy says. “How about you go get those kids and bring them inside before they freeze to death.”

  I’ve never seen so much food in one building. The stocked auditorium at Whitmore High School was nothing compared to this place. This is like two hundred auditoriums.

  I turn to Elysia to catch her reaction and her hollow face is alight with the prospect of a full belly.

  “Welcome to the Northern Sector,” Jessie says as she extends her arms toward the three-story high tower of breakfast cereal.

  “Just like that?” Daedric says uneasily. “Welcome? You’re not going to question us or take us to your leader or something?”

  Jessie and Troy look at each other before Troy answers.

  “Well, other than the fact that I only see one kid with you instead of two, I don’t see any reason to question you,” he replies. “You’re obviously not Guardians and we don’t have a leader. If we did, they’d be asleep. It’s almost midnight.”

  When Troy smiles, the overhead lights shine on his smooth brown skin as if he’s glowing. I’m mesmerized by their kindness until I hear a soft whimpering.

  Elysia is crying. I pull her into my arms.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “Is she hungry?” Jessie asks, with genuine concern.

  “I miss my mom,” El
ysia replies, as she buries her face in my chest.

  I stroke her hair to comfort her.

  “What happened to her mom?” Jessie asks.

  Daedric glances at me before he answers. “She died… a long time ago. Her dad… Her dad was President Kane.”

  Troy and Jessie’s eyes fly wide open. For the first time since we arrived they appear apprehensive.

  “Is that why you’re on the run?” Troy asks.

  “That and one of the friends we lost had some information the Guardians wanted,” I reply, trying not to think of where Isaac and Mary may be and what they might be doing at this moment. “He knew the location of a secret entrance into Umbra.”

  Troy and Jessie smile before they break into full-on laughter. Eve and I look at each other in confusion.

  “I’m sorry,” Troy says through his laughter. “Really… I’m sorry… It’s just… Umbra is a bit of a joke around here.”

  “Oh, man…” Jessie says, as she catches her breath. “We’re really sorry. You probably think we’re crazy.”

  “I don’t get it,” I say. “Why is Umbra a joke?”

  Troy shakes his head as he tries to put on a straight face. “Umbra is a joke because… Why would anyone want to live in a place where you only get to see the sun on a timed schedule? Why would you want to live somewhere where your mate is chosen based on available living space and a personality questionnaire? It’s ridiculous that people think Umbra is some kind of utopia. It’s so… artificial.”

  “Hey, man, I’m all about science. I’m an engineer,” Jessie adds. “But Umbra is science gone bad. You can’t manage human desire.”

  It’s as if Jessie has taken every fear I had about Umbra and vocalized it in a single sentence. Elysia extracts her face from my jacket and wipes her eyes as she gazes at the pallets of food.

  “I’m hungry,” she proclaims in a small voice.

  Troy takes Elysia and I to a large industrial kitchen across the hall from the food warehouse.

  “Have a seat,” Troy says, pointing at two silver stools next to a steel table. “You guys want eggs or bacon or both?”