by Kimberly Afe
Kurt’s nodding his head, a cautious smile playing across his lips, like he’s afraid to be too vainglorious about it. But he has every right to be. He tried to save us both. I pegged him wrong. I’m not the only prisoner that desperately wanted my freedom and it isn’t right to hold that against him. I face him with a smile to show my appreciation, and I can’t help it when the tears begin to swell like twin lakes in my eyes. “Thank you.” It comes out hoarse and crackly, but he acknowledges it with a nod.
“Third,” continues McCoy and I can’t believe there’s more. “Gavin, or G, rather, G is his actual name, was set up.”
Kurt interjects. “Yeah, when they brought us back to the prison, I saw Gavin hollering at a one-armed man at the platform, saying he was the one that cut him up in Millers Creek and scarred his hand.”
“I put two and two together and realized it was a set up,” says McCoy, “after seeing the one-armed man and hearing King’s tall tale at the beginning of the race.”
“We’re all still trying to figure out why King needed a decoy in the first place,” adds Boom.
Now this makes me wonder if that’s why Gavin, or G, I mean, was speechless for a minute when we said we were going to Water Junction. He probably knew the men that jumped him were from here. “What happened to G?” I ask and start coughing. Speaking may be too much for me right now, but I have too many questions not to.
Boom hands me another cup of water and I remember he’s my uncle. But I don’t want to waste my words on questioning him now. I’ll wait until my throat heals.
“G was sentenced to life in prison,” says Zita.
I’m not surprised. It does make sense that G was a set up because nothing about him seemed right. What bothers me though, is not knowing what happened to Gavin. Where is he? How will I ever find out the truth about my mother? Will I ever learn the truth?
McCoy squeezes my hand again, but just once this time. “There’s one more thing,” he says and I don’t like the way it comes out all guarded and everyone is completely hushed. “We heard rumors that King didn’t die. That he’s going to make it.”
I close my eyes, feeling like I’ve just been crushed by a slab of cement from the upper level and every piece of me is breaking into bits. I ran a death race to accomplish three things.
Kill King.
Kill Gavin.
Win my freedom.
It makes me wonder why I did it. Why did I put myself through it? Why did I leave Zita? I achieved none of my goals.
Not one.
Maybe I achieved something else. You don’t always get what you want, Avene. Just means you’ve got to work harder at it next time. I’m not sure I can ever let Verla go completely, but I think I can better manage her wisdom.
All at once a flurry of memories and thoughts and King’s last words slice at me like the blades of a thousand knives.
“I know … why King … has the decoy.” It’s hard to speak, but I’ve got to tell them what King said to me.
They all wait. Quiet. In suspense.
I gulp. It’s painful. I look at McCoy. “Did you hear King … when he said … when he said we weren’t supposed to make it back?”
“I did but I just thought he meant you.”
“He … did … mean me,” I say, holding my neck as if that will ease the pain and help me speak. “And every other prisoner.”
“I don’t get it,” says Zita.
“Me neither,” adds Kurt.
I swallow again. Take another drink of water. I’ve got to get this out because I know what this race is all about now. “King’s last words to me … after I sent my knife into his chest, were … we made a deal with the cannibals.”
I see Boom’s eyes light up when the weight of my words registers.
The annual Headhunters Race began three years ago, after the cannibal attacks stopped in Water Junction. It’s why townspeople are sentenced to a life in prison for petty infractions, or no reason at all. The race is the only chance we have to regain our freedom. It all makes sense. King saying we weren’t supposed to make it back. Telling me about the deal. Saying that he wished there were twenty more prisoners for the race, but fifty would do. Sending us through the nearest cannibal territory.
The race has nothing to do with Gavin. It never did. The race is all about the deal the Governor made with the cannibals.
There are many people to thank for helping me get to this point. Many critique friends and partners have provided feedback for me on this book since November of 2011. Some of you read a few chapters, some the entire thing, some the entire thing twice. It amazed me when a couple of you offered to read it again—it meant the world to me. Thank you all for your wise and helpful comments and your encouragement. Special thanks to these wonderful partners, Jess, Cathie, Tamara, Kathleen, and Dallas, my fabulous daughter. All of you had a hand in helping me shape it into the novel it is today. Thank you to my fabulous editor, Mandy. Your editing skills rock into the universe. I hope I don’t have any typo/grammar issues in these last three sentences (or any of the sentences I changed after you did your final proofread). Thank you to my cover designer, Lisa. I still can’t stop staring at it.
Special thanks to my family, Joe, Dallas, Nick, and Tank, who helped me brainstorm this entire book the summer of 2011 after a Zelda commercial inspired me to write an adventure. I’ve been writing and revising this novel ever since. Thank you for your support, for letting me have my time and space to work on it, for listening to me talk about it all the time, for allowing me to trick you into car rides so that I had a captive audience to bounce ideas off of or get you to help me work out a problem. You, my family, mean the world to me.
Thank you to my sister, Dana, who read it so fast I was in shock! Thank you for your enthusiasm and for cheering me on.
And to my sister, Debbie, who has always encouraged me throughout the years with her wise words and wisdom and support. Thank you for always reading my novels and for always believing in me.
Kimberly is the mother of two awesome kids, wife of the nicest man in the world, and her dog’s best friend. She works by day and writes middle grade and young adult science fiction and fantasy novels in her spare time. She lives with her family in the beautiful Sonoran Desert. You can visit her online at www.kimberlyafebooks.com.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter ONE
Chapter TWO
Chapter THREE
Chapter FOUR
Chapter FIVE
Chapter SIX
Chapter SEVEN
Chapter EIGHT
Chapter NINE
Chapter TEN
Chapter ELEVEN
Chapter TWELVE
Chapter THIRTEEN
Chapter FOURTEEN
Chapter FIFTEEN
Chapter SIXTEEN
Chapter SEVENTEEN
Chapter EIGHTEEN
Chapter NINETEEN
Chapter TWENTY
Chapter TWENTY-ONE
Chapter TWENTY-TWO
Chapter TWENTY-THREE
Chapter TWENTY-FOUR
Chapter TWENTY-FIVE
Chapter TWENTY-SIX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR