by Kay, Theresa
Even better, there might be a camping store or something. I’m sick and tired of sleeping on the ground.
“We’re headed into what used to be civilization today,” I say. He just looks at me and nods. “Might find some food. Sleeping bags. A soft place to sleep.” Still just nodding. “If we spend some extra time there we could probably find enough supplies to last us.”
“Whatever you think is best.”
How can I possibly decide what is best? The words bubble up past my lips before I can stop them. “Is it just going to continue this way? I don’t know what you want me to say and it’s exhausting.”
“I want you to believe me.”
“I do believe you.” I throw my hands up and pace in front of him. “Someone stole your ship and—”
“Not someone,” says Lir. “Your brother. And it’s not the ship I’m angry about. A good friend of mine was on that crew.”
“I’m sorry about your friend, but you’ve got to understand I can’t just accept that my brother…”
“It was him.”
“You won’t even explain to me how you know this. You don’t explain anything to me.” My steps falter and I cross my arms over my chest.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you. I only have to get you to the city. That’s what I’m going to do.” He brings his eyes up to meet mine, the stupid, emotionless tone of his voice ringing in my ears. “And nothing more.”
Tears burn at the back of my eyes. I’m torn apart with worry for Jace. I have to leave the safety of the forest. I’m hungry. I’m dirty. I haven’t had a good night’s rest in three or four days. Not only is my hopelessness coming to a head, it has been joined by loneliness. My only ally has turned his back on me and, as much as I hate to admit it, I miss him. Well, at least the boy that was my friend. This snappy, uncaring, and downright cold boy before me is nothing like the one I got to know before. I even miss that frustrating eyebrow.
I take a deep breath and open my mouth, but it’s useless to argue. Instead of the angry words festering in my throat, I simply say, “Fine.” I keep my eyes on the ground. “I think it’s best if you wait here and I go into the town. I’ll find some supplies and we’ll just spend another night here.” I don’t wait for him to respond before storming off. Maybe I just need some time alone, when the weight of my brother’s crimes doesn’t hang between us.
TWELVE
I work my way through a subdivision and head in the general direction of the big building I saw from above. The Collapse happened quickly enough, wiped enough people out, that looting wasn’t really a huge problem. Yes, a few cars litter the street and there’s some destruction, but mostly the town is quiet. Nature is creeping her way back in with overgrown yards, roots pushing up sidewalks and branches growing through power lines. I have to change directions and back track a few times, but eventually I reach what looks like a grocery store. It’s a lot bigger than I thought, but definitely a good find. I just hope it has what I need.
It’s a strain to force the doors open. Their tracks are rusted and the grating sound they make when I am able to get them to move is loud. At least it seems like no one else has been in here recently. I slip through the opening I create, just barely squeezing through. Windowless, the store is nearly pitch black, the only light coming in through the dingy glass of the doors. I flick the lighter and cup the flame with my hand to prevent it from going out. First thing to do is find a better source of light.
Alone time hasn’t really helped as much as I’d hoped. My eyes aren’t threatening tears anymore, but the back of my throat burns from holding them back. Why do I even care what he thinks of Jace? Because I care what he thinks of me. Even more aggravating. I’m not some delicate girl that needs people’s approval to function, in fact, I’d much rather not worry about other people at all. Yet, here I am worried that my alien friend is mad at me, that he won’t forgive me for something my brother did. And just a little part of me that had butterflies when Lir gave me his undivided attention is crushed.
Whatever. Once I get Jace back, I’ll never see Lir again anyway. My stomach twists at the thought, but I press on. There are much more important things for me to worry about, like food and supplies.
It’s not just a grocery store. Clothes racks line the front and there are many other sections. As much as I’d love some clean clothes, the metal edge of the lighter is starting to burn my hand, so I make my way to the back corner.
Automotive stuff. Not very helpful either right now. I turn and walk down the back of the store. Toys. Electronics. Sports. Camping Equipment. Now that’s what I need.
The first camping aisle I go down has seen better days. Hasn’t everything though? Cookware, camp stoves and a variety of utensils. The items are out of order and scattered on the shelves. At some point, they were picked through, but carefully by someone who knew what they wanted. Strange.
Further down, I find lanterns and flashlights. Batteries will be hit or miss. It’s been too long since the Collapse to rely on them even if the packages are still sealed. But butane should work just fine. I spot a butane lantern, grab it off the shelf and scan the row of fuel canisters for one that will fit. The second canister fits and I fiddle with the settings until a bright light fills the area.
Even though I picked one of the smaller ones, the lantern is still heavy and awkward. I take it to the next row over and leave it sitting on the floor. It puts off just enough light that I can see either end of the aisle. Backpacks and sleeping bags! I grin and start shuffling through the packs. Once I’ve selected two, I do the same to the sleeping bags. This town must have really been out of the way for all this stuff to be here. I know Dane sends out people to gather supplies. Even Jace and I raided a few nearby towns when we lived on our own, but we often didn’t find anything useful. This is great!
I shove a few more fuel canisters and two candle lanterns into one pack and then take the other in search of food. Anything even remotely cooler looking, I avoid. There won’t be anything useful in there, but there are at least five aisles lined with plastic packages and cans.
I pull a can of beans off the shelf in front of me. The can isn’t dented and it hasn’t expanded. Probably safe. Thank goodness it has a pull tab, because my stomach practically twists into a knot at the thought of some real food.
My fingers dig into the can and I get one bite carefully into my mouth before I give up on manners and just start shoving it all in. I don’t stop until the can is empty. A smile on my face, I slide to the floor and laugh. Who knew beans could taste so good.
For the first time in days, I relax. I’m still filthy, but at least I’m not really hungry. There’s more than enough stuff in this store to get us the rest of the way to the city and even farther if need be. Who cares if Lir is mad at me?
I’ll get my brother and then I’ll never see the alien again. Not if I can help it. All I need is my brother. Hell, I wanted an excuse to get out of Bridgelake anyway. Now, I don’t even have to worry about telling Jace I want to leave. We never have to go back again.
But I promised Emily. But Jace won’t leave Flint behind.
But I do care what Lir thinks of Jace, because I care what he thinks about me.…. And what if it’s true? My brother has always been there, protecting me, teasing me, supporting me. What if I don’t know him at all?
Six months ago I hadn’t even been able to leave the house and it’s not like he would have said, “Oh by the way, Sis, I killed a few erks today.” As far as I know he’s never thought one way or another about the E’rikon, but even Flint was calling Lir names and it only makes sense that Jace would share his friend’s mindset. And Dane? Always sending my brother off on one important errand or another… maybe one of them was the retrieval of whatever it is that has brought the E’rikon out of their city and landed my brother in their hands.
What did you do Jace? As the truth of Lir’s accusations sink in, tears form wet tracks down my cheeks and drip off my chin. I don’t even bothe
r to wipe them away.
He’s next to me before I can even rise to my feet. He puts his hand out and pulls me to my feet, pulls me into his arms. I bury my face in his chest, sobs shaking my shoulders and wetting his shirt.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Over and over again. They’re the only words I can find.
“Me too.” Lir holds me steady and rubs one hand over my back. “Me too.”
We both tense at the sound of a gun cocking. I pull my head up and I can just see them over Lir’s shoulder. Three men, two of them with guns pointed directly at us.
Lir leans forward and whispers into my ear. “Stay calm. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He pulls away from me and turns toward the men as he steps in front of me. “We mean you no harm.”
The man in front, the one without a gun pointed at us snickers. “You wouldn’t get a chance to. Stu there is a crack shot.” He jerks his head toward the man on the right. “And Dale’s not half bad either.”
“I would appreciate it if you’d lower your guns. We’re unarmed.” Lir holds his hands in front of him to demonstrate.
“I’m sure you would boy. Why don’t you bring that girl out front here?”
Lir’s throat bobs as he swallows. He keeps his hand out, but motions me forward with one of them. “Come on around, Jax.”
My hands shake, but I do as he asks, stepping forward with short slow steps until I’m beside him. I take deep breaths through my mouth and fight the urge to wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans, the beat of my heart like a drum in my ears.
“Pretty little thing isn’t she,” says Stu. He steps closer to me and I get a whiff of unwashed male and smoke. My throat closes. “You got any weapons, girl?”
“No.” I’m lying. My knife is in my boot, but I’m not telling him that.
“I told you we are unarmed.” Lir’s voice loosens my limbs slightly, his presence the only thing keeping me from losing it completely.
“You been stealing from us. How you gonna pay for all that?” asks the apparent leader of the bunch.
“I wasn’t aware this store belonged to anyone.” Lir pulls me closer until I’m pressed up against his side. He steps back. “We’ll just leave you to it and be going.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “I think that breeder camp north of here would pay pretty good for a pretty young thing like that. We’ll be keeping her. So you’ve got a decision to make, would you like to live or die today, Boy?”
Breeder camp? I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. Words and images bounce around my head. In. Out. I can’t breathe. The trembling starts at my toes and travels up my body until I have to clench my teeth to keep them from chattering.
Lir’s hand gently squeezes my arm. “She’s leaving with me.” He takes another step backwards, pulling me along with him. Another slow step back and I can open my eyes again.
The men still haven’t moved forward, but their guns are still pointed at us. Mostly at Lir actually. I’d left the lantern at the end of the aisle and each step takes us closer to its light. It can’t be this easy, of course not.
We’re so close the lantern is heating my back when there’s a sharp inhale from one of the men.
“Once the guns are off you, I want you to run,” says Lir. Off me? Where’s he going?
“Good Lord. It’s one of them.” The leader’s shout echoes through the store. The lantern just illuminated Lir.
Both men turn their guns to face Lir and he pushes me away from his side. “Go, Jax!”
Go? I can’t leave him behind and it’s not going to happen anyway. I’m frozen in place, my body too tense and on edge to take me anywhere. The leader darts forward and grabs my wrist, pulling me along with him. Once we’re halfway down the aisle, the other two men start backing away slowly, their guns still trained on Lir.
Now’s his chance, the men are distracted, he could make his escape. There’s no point in us both getting caught up in this. It won’t be so bad…I will just… just breathe in and out…block it out. Like before. I don’t have to be here. I can--
“Let go of her!” Lir’s words can only be described as a snarl. He ignores the guns pointed at him and moves forward, only to freeze when my captor caresses my cheek with a third gun he pulled from his waistband.
The cold metal glides through my tears. “One more step and her pretty little brains will be all over the floor.”
Take the step. I’d rather be dead. Eyes close.
“Take me,” says Lir. “I have to be worth more. Just leave her be. She’s been through enough.”
No. No. No. That’s not the way to do it. One of us has to get out of here.
“Oh, we’ll be taking you anyway. I was just getting the merchandise out of the way ‘cause Zach back there isn’t a very good shot.” Hot breath carries the words past my ear. Too close!
A rapid pant is the best my lungs can manage to squeeze past my constricted throat. In. Out. In. Out. In. In. No. That’s wrong.
A crackle. Lir cries out and my eyes fly open. He falls to his knees then slumps to the floor, a fourth man standing behind him with a gun.
“No!” My voice shatters the air. I pull away, fly forward, and fall to my knees beside him. He’s breathing. No blood.
My eyes latch on the man, the one that shot my friend with the jolt gun in his hands. Only a jolt gun.
Boot. Knife. Hand. I creep forward. Yelling behind me, nothing important. His hands shake. Mine do not. The first shot misses me entirely, but the second sends fire into my thigh. The fire flows up into my hands and down into my feet. I clench my fingers to keep my knife, but it’s too much. The jolt sends my fingers outward and me to the ground where I shake for a while before welcoming the darkness that overtakes me.
THIRTEEN
I have to blink my eyes a few times before I’m sure they’re actually open. The darkness around me is heavy and nearly suffocating. The ache in my leg radiates up through the rest of my body, steady but bearable. What the hell? I sit up, my hands out to either side. My left hand hits a cold, metal wall while my right hand stretches out into nothing.
“You’re awake.”
I jerk. “Lir?”
“Yes.” Another hand connects with my blindly reaching right one and his fingers wrap around mine. “Right here.”
Despite the dark, I’m not consumed with terror, no longer frozen in panic. But I have to know. “Where…”
“They’re not here.” He squeezes my hand. “It’s been quiet out there for a while.”
I swallow and take a deep breath. “They are coming back though, aren’t they?”
“I believe so, yes.” I feel him move over until his leg is touching mine and I gratefully lean into his side, a small sense of comfort settling into my chest. “We’ll figure something out.”
If only that were true. Those men didn’t seem like the type to make careless mistakes and allow valuable prisoners to escape.
“Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance?” I ask. “Now that they know what you are… it might be even worse for you.”
Lir’s hair brushes against my temple as he turns his head toward me. “I was not going to leave you with them. I’ve been cruel lately, but that is…not who I am. I—”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” I straighten, pulling away from him.
Lir’s arm circles my shoulders and he nudges me back down until I’m leaning against him again. “We won’t talk about it then,” he says.
Silence stretches out between us, different from before though. Our future is bleak and our circumstances are certainly less than ideal, but… I’m relaxed, a warm feeling of reassurance washing over me. As if maybe we can figure this out.
“Do you know where we are?” I ask.
“I’m not entirely certain. It looks like we’re in a large metal room of some sort. Almost like the place I was held while in your town.”
I glance around at the darkness around me. “How can you tell? It’s pitch black in here.”
“Oh.” A store wouldn’t have lab rooms, but it would have… “A refrigerator, or a freezer of some type. Lucky for us it’s empty otherwise the smell wouldn’t be pleasant.”
“They must have set this store up as some sort of supply depot,” he says. “Picking through for things to sell as they needed them.”
I shake my head. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice. There’s no way this store wouldn’t have been looted a long time ago and everything was still so neat… I wasn’t paying enough attention.”
“You were upset. Because of me.”
I nod.
“I let you suffer because I didn’t know how to reassure you about the rescue of my enemy or even if I could continue helping you in that quest. I let my anger at the situation get the best of me and I didn’t even explain…” He sighs. “Once the kitu has been used to establish a link, it allows us to mentally send messages, words, images, commands…”
Mental communication? Did humans ever have something like that? Probably nothing nearly as advanced, at least nothing that could communicate mind to mind. Send images mind to mind…Oh no.
My hand comes up over my mouth. “That’s how you know. About Jace I mean. Your friend…he sent you an image.”
“Yes. Through the link I was able to view Kov’s final moments.” He pauses and inhales. I can feel his jaw clench above me. “Your brother looks much like you.”
Another silence follows, but he doesn’t move away and neither do I. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for him, to watch his friend die. Did he experience it as well? Was he looking out through his friend’s eyes as it happened? A shudder works its way down my body. How very awful. He must hate us… humans, Jace, even me. I’d probably hate him if the situation were reversed, and I don’t really have any friends to lose.