“Oh God, don’t say that. It’s bad enough I’ve constantly been thinking about it since we were inside the compound. I do not need any more pressure.” And I meant it. I wasn’t sure how much more my mind or body could take. It was bad enough Cato was somehow still pushing me toward the future he had seen, but now others knew, and they all wanted the same thing. Needed the same thing, which was what I needed as well. That made it even more challenging. My mind was rambling, running away with itself before I even truly had a chance to think about any of it and think it through. To absorb it.
“Sorry,” he kissed the top of my head, “but I can’t help that. I wish I could. You have no idea.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and listened to the steady pitter-patter of his heart beating, my ear resting just over where it lay within him. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I wish this were a dream that I could just open my eyes and wake up from. I’d be back at home in my cheap apartment with my friends and Cato would still be alive. The only downside is that I wouldn’t have you.” I turned my face up to look at him, and I saw the pain in his eyes. He was distraught, and I knew it, but so was I. We all were. We had lost so much in the quest to be the same as everyone else and when we failed at that, we took everything down with us including those we loved. He smiled and kissed my forehead lightly, barely a caress of his lips. I couldn’t look at him. Refused because I couldn’t take the look of pity in his eyes every time I did.
I nuzzled into his broad chest, taking in the scent of him which was now a mixture of musk, sweat, and the forest around us. It was a heady mix, making me want to inhale it even deeper until I memorized the scent of him perfectly. One of his hands smoothed down my hair as the other stroked my sweaty lower back, the humidity making the feeling of suffocating so much worse than it already had been. Now, I was practically swimming in my own perspiration.
“Let’s get you some water. Maybe it’ll help,” he suggested, pulling away to take my hand in his and lead me toward the river where Julius and Ajax were.
I took it and followed him willingly and, as we crossed into the sunlight, my eyes burned with it. After being in the shadows of our massive companions they had to adjust, pain streaking through them and my head as I made the transition. I squinted and put my hand up to block it out, only blocking out a tiny bit of the sun that permeated the atmosphere. It did nothing to help until my eyes adjusted, which happened at a slower pace than I preferred, but once it had, I could see Julius standing beside the flowing waters. His hands were on his hips, and he seemed somewhat relaxed as he stared into the distance, pondering what information he had just been given. What he had just seen. Did he think I was a monster, but hiding the fact that he did? Did he honestly believe that I was our savior? I didn’t, but others seemed to, and that seemed to be enough for them. But I needed more than just those empty words. I needed to believe them too.
I turned my head to stare at him and as if he could sense my glance, his head swiveled around, and his eyes met mine, a knowing smile crossing his face. A smile that told me that he truly did believe in what I was destined to do for us. He had seen it through Cato’s eyes in a roundabout way, and he trusted it implicitly.
Now, if only I could.
Chapter
FOURTEEN
The water was cold, soothing my throat as I swallowed, but we couldn’t stay in one place for very long. After what felt like only seconds gulping down water, we were on our way again, and Ajax began to tell us about what some of our journey there would be like. My mother hadn’t told me anything except where we were headed, but Ajax wanted us prepared for anything that could cross our path. We had long ventured away from the river now, only following it as far as we needed to go and then splitting off from it entirely, its comforting sound drifting off into the distance.
“Alright,” he said as he pulled us into a huddle kneeling in front of a large nearby tree, “about a mile northwest we are going to come to a very small town. We have had many soldiers of the Paradigm come through here, and they have always offered us lodging, food, and clean water as well as medical attention. But we can only stay for one night. That is the stipulation. If we wait any longer, it is possible that King’s men could easily come in and tear this place apart to find us. That’s if they even suspect we’re there. They don’t know where the headquarters is, but small towns are usually known for housing people of the resistance and, well, they don’t deserve that. They are good people. So, we come in, get rested and cleaned up, get a good night’s sleep and then we head out in the morning.”
“Really? They’ll help us without anything in return?” Julius seemed skeptical, but both Ajax, and Ryder nodded to reassure him.
“We made an arrangement with these people a long time ago. Actually,” Ryder said, pausing and turning to me, “your mother worked out this deal. We stay one night, do what we need to do, and get out of dodge before anyone gets hurt.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise, skeptical of the entire thing. “And King hasn’t figured this out? I find that hard to believe.”
Ajax laughed then, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling as his eyes sparkled. “Well, darling, it’s easy to make them believe whatever you want when your factories make their weapons, isn’t it?”
“Kind of hard to argue with that,” I agreed. “And what’s the name of this place?”
“Well, it used to be called Aiken, South Carolina before King got his hands on it at all. After he took over, they renamed it King’s Forge since they make the military’s weapons. I have to say that man sure is full of himself,” Ajax explained.
“That puts us at least one-hundred-and-fifty-five miles from our destination on Kiawah Island. A lot closer than where we were, that’s for sure,” Ryder continued.
“Alright, so where were we before?” Julius responded, his voice rising in pitch.
Ajax and Ryder looked at each other uncomfortably and then looked back at us.
“We were closer to what used to be Spartanburg. Those planes go a lot faster than we’d like to think. We had only made it about fifty miles from the compound when they attacked us. When the plane crashed, we actually landed in the man-made river that leads down from the Pacolet River toward Aiken to keep the town going. It was constructed not too long after the first war that resulted in the wall,” Ryder said. “I’d say it took us another fifty before we crashed, give or take.”
“We weren’t on it that long, were we?” Julius’s voice rose in pitch in shock.
“It doesn’t take long on those because they are engineered to get from one place to another as quickly as possible, but I do have one question.” Ryder turned to Ajax. “How did you make it to us so quickly? When we found you, you were on foot? There is no way you could’ve walked that entire way.”
We all turned to him then, anxiety sprouting within me as I looked into his amber eyes that glinted in the sunlight. Now this I had to hear because things were beginning sound fishy. He pointed at the gash on his forehead.
“See this?” he asked as he pointed at the wound.
We all nodded.
“Well, they had more than one plane. They were ready for some of us to try to make a break for it, and I got picked up. Remember, I don’t have those same fancy powers you guys have.” He pointed to Julius and me. “The plane crashed in the forest not too far from where you two boys found me. It wasn’t hard to locate the river and follow it.”
“And why haven’t we encountered a single road yet? There are roads out here, aren’t there? I mean, how the Hell does anything get anywhere if they don’t use a plane?” I asked, waving my hands around like a madman. This was all very hard to believe.
“Mostly everything, since the wall was erected, has been turned into forest through here, each city along the manmade river being demolished to keep everyone as centralized as possible in larger metro cities. Mothe
r Nature took back over after that, and the only way the place gets any supplies is by plane,” Ryder answered. “You’ll start seeing more roads when we’re on our way to the coast to Kiawah Island, where headquarters is located. Everything from Aiken to the coast is easier to navigate because of government owned roads which means no more walking through the forest if we can help it.”
“And we haven’t known about this, why?” I asked, the pitch of my voice rising with disbelief.
Ajax sighed. “Let me ask you something. Have you ever traveled outside of the city you lived in? I mean, before now.”
I thought about that for a moment and, when I gazed at Julius, I saw the wheels turning in his head as well. Simple truth? Neither one of us had.
He smirked again, knowing full well what the answer was to that question. “There’s a reason for that. These are all government roads, which is why any travel is prohibited unless you have government permission to do so.”
“Oh,” I whispered as I let my gaze fall to the forest floor. “Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”
We all fell silent, no one saying a word. Now that I knew why we couldn’t travel outside of the city, a million different memories from when I was a child the age of five popped into my head. I had always heard about the city of Atlanta in the state of Georgia and wanted to go, but was told by my parents it was impossible. Always impossible. And, when I told my friends about it, they said the same thing, but I always held onto that place. I wanted to see it one day, no matter how many people told me it would never be able to happen. Now I knew why. I shook the memory away and found all three men to be staring at me, but I pushed on and ignored the various emotions crossing their faces as they watched my reaction. I didn’t need the pity, and I could feel it coming off of them like cheap cologne.
“Lead the way,” I said with a wave of my hand in the direction of the town. “There’s no use sitting here talking about it. Let’s get a move on.” I stood and adjusted my shirt that had bunched up in the back from squatting there talking, it soaked in sweat and moisture from the humidity that was rolling down my forehead as well.
All of them, instead of saying anything, just glanced at each other and nodded, coming to stand beside me. According to Ajax we only had one more mile to go before we reached King’s Forge. I wasn’t sure how long of a walk that was, but at this point I had lost complete track of time, so it didn’t really matter anymore. I started in the direction that he had pointed out, not even caring to look back at any of them, the memories of my own childhood too much to bear after everything I had been through. So many questions I had back then were being answered. Why couldn’t we visit the old city of Atlanta? Because the government had prohibited any travel that was not government related, basically, and it had made an impact.
The sun was beginning to set as we neared the edge of the forest just before the beginning of the town, sending shadows across our path in a beautiful array of pastels as well as a deep crimson over the welcoming landscape in the not too far off distance. A howl ripped through the air, causing all of us to stop in our tracks and turn toward the sound coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. I had only heard that howl once before in science class and knew it to belong to one animal and one animal alone. Now we were running on borrowed time if they weren’t following too far behind.
“Shit, wolves. Start running,” Ajax cursed.
We did what we were told, running toward salvation in the guise of King’s forgers and blacksmiths. I had never encountered a wolf before, but we had seen pictures and video and had listened to sound clips in school. They were carnivores meaning if they caught up with us, there was a possibility we wouldn’t make it past the line of trees just before us. I pulled my gun from its holster, hoping I wouldn’t have to use it as the others followed suit, turning off the safety and pointing the at the ground and gripped firmly in both hands. My palms were slick with sweat as my heart raced, beating against my chest like a rabid animal as the fear took over, causing me to look over my shoulder every few seconds even though I knew I shouldn’t.
Something moved out of the corner of my eye, my head turning to follow the movement, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. Then, without warning, a sharp growl sounded and then a massive body covered in beautiful gray fur jumped into my line of sight and slid to a stop as I took in the form of the ravenous wolf in front of me.
The creature before me was even more beautiful and terrifying in person, its body sleek and covered in thick gray fur that darkened and lightened in different areas, making the coat seem even more luxurious. Its lean muscles were bunched up underneath, ready to pounce at the most opportune moment. These animals could sense our weaknesses and smell our fear. At least, that was what they told us in school and, from watching it for only a few slow seconds, I knew without a doubt it was true. Another flash of gray to my left this time. I used only my eyes to follow it as another gray wolf slightly bigger than the first one slid to a stop at my side only about ten feet away. Just prime jumping distance once given the okay from its alpha. My eyes shifted between the two and I felt the presence of even more of them. They were surrounding us and preparing for an attack, and we all knew it. We had never been taught how to deal with wolves in the wild and had never truly seen one until now, but my instincts were screaming at me to run. Somehow I knew that wasn’t the correct course of action now.
The thought to use my powers crossed my mind, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place staring down a pack of wolves with what little was remaining of our already small group. Their energies moved around us. I could sense them along with that of Ajax, Julius, Ryder as we all stood as still as humanly possible, not wanting to give the wolves a reason to attack. The first wolf to cross my path growled again and bared its teeth, snarling and nipping at the air, its jaws making an audible snapping sound as they closed down on empty air. My heart leaped into my throat, and I attempted to swallow the fear, but it was impossible. I could feel it in the air mingling between all of us and our pursuers.
I couldn’t help but think that it was already bad enough we had human enemies, but even Mother Nature was against us, being more than content to leave our mangled carcasses to the forest floor for someone to find. Then the wolf did something I wasn’t expecting. It looked up at the sky, closed its eyes, and howled into the darkness and the moon above us. An even deeper howl replied. It wasn’t too far off. Even closer than I would’ve thought and, as I watched in horror, an even larger wolf emerged from the shadows and strutted toward me. This one wasn’t gray like the other two. It was stark black, its icy blue eyes peering from within its darkness to pierce my own. Its large body was sleek and graceful despite its size, making it even more menacing as it moved in my direction, stopping only a few feet from where I stood frozen in terror.
“Mila,” Ryder groaned from behind me.
He was warning me that something was going to happen. I felt it as my toes curled within the rough soles of my shoes and the fine hairs all over my body stood on end in warning. I heard the clicking of the gun within my hands as they shook. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and my heart raced as my muscles tensed in preparedness and my breathing grew ragged and labored. My body knew exactly what would happen next, and it would be ready. I looked into the great beast’s eyes, regretting it instantly as I saw something lingering just under the surface. It was a predator, pure and simple, and I just did something I shouldn’t have if I expected to survive this ordeal. And, like there was silent question spoken between us, an answer floated through the air in the form of a resounding and rumbling growl followed by a deep bark.
A strangled cry left my throat as the first gray wolf to make its presence known lunged at me. I turned just in time for its snapping jaws to miss me entirely, falling to the ground with the gun still firmly grasped in my hand. A male scream ripped through the night, and I barely saw one wolf, this one
brown, take Ajax’s thick ankle into its hungry mouth and shake and jerk its head back and forth to rip him apart.
“No!” I shouted as I reached out to him, knowing that this would be all of our fate if we didn’t fight back.
Julius and Ryder were both fending off their own beasts as the alpha sat back and watched the fray. I saw him out of the corner of my eye as the one gray wolf circled me, watching me carefully and studying me as it worked its way around my entire body. Tears streamed down my face now, the fear more overwhelming than any other emotion I felt at the time, leaving me too scared to do anything but watch as we all died. And it would be my fault. I would be the death of everyone I met, especially those close to me.
Then everything moved in slow motion as I gripped the gun tighter and brought it up and aimed at the wolf. It didn’t care what I did. It was stronger and faster, and it didn’t matter how much smarter I was or what tools I had to save myself, the wolves knew they had won the moment they stepped from within the trees. We were weak, and we were tired. Energy began to unfold from within me, curling out in a spiral in the center of my gut and branching out to each limb with warmth. My body was reacting to the violence around me as we all fought for our lives. It reared back and prepared to strike as the power built within me, and the wolf could sense it. It bared its teeth and nipped at the air, lunging at me as I held the gun steadily aimed in its direction.
Everything slowed down even further, seconds seemed like hours, and the power bloomed within me. It spread through my body with a snap and a jolt, shooting from within my body in a wave of energy that was unstoppable, causing a wind strong enough to send the wolf flying through the air to land at least fifteen feet away. Then the power ebbed and faded, but this seemed only to be enough to deter the wolves for the few seconds it took for them to right themselves. I attempted to call on that same power again, but nothing happened. Panic set in as the wolf made its way back to me on lithe feet, not even a little afraid of what I had just done. I wasn’t even confident it made the connection between me and it, but I surely had.
The Pursuit (The Permutation Archives Book 2) Page 15