No, she clenched her teeth, putting the arrow back in its holder. She slung the pack over her shoulder again.
“Come on, let’s go,” Gabi said, using her most commanding voice.
Diego bounced to his feet and was at her side in an instant. Aidan slowly got up and stretched. He reached for his pack, but Marya grabbed his wrist. Her sunken eyes burned with the crimson fire of the setting sun.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Yes you can. Here, give me your arm.” Aidan knelt next to his sister, curling his arm over his shoulder again. Gabi took position on the other side. Marya tried to pull her arm away, but the illness had sapped all of her strength. Even with Gabi so fatigued, the older girl could not resist.
Slowly they trudged alongside the creek, following it downstream. Smoky haze before them confirmed Gabi’s suspicion that they were on the correct track. The trip turned silent again. Marya had no barbs left for her. Aidan had mostly returned to his reclusive ways, and Gabi’s solitary focus was finding this town, proving that both she and Will were right. That focus took her attention away from Diego long enough for him to slip out of their sight.
She had been in her own world for several minutes when she felt a tingle in the back of her neck, almost like a hot wind. It was something she attributed to instinct, and the instant she felt it, her eyes were scanning for what her subconscious was trying to say was amiss.
“Diego?” she bellowed when she finally realized he was gone.
Wind rustling through treetops answered her. The three companions stopped in their tracks. Sensing that Gabi was about to bolt, Aidan took Marya’s weight off of her, gently bringing his sister to the ground.
“Diego?” Gabi repeated, taking a few steps and scanning the brushline.
“Gabi,” Aidan said softly.
She ignored him, repeating her call. Panic began to creep in; even when Diego had wandered off before, normally he would have responded or come back if she had called to him.
“Gabi,” Aidan urged, grabbing her wrist.
“What?” she spun around, snarling and yanking free of his gentle grasp.
Aidan cradled his sister’s head in his lap, stroking her long, brown hair. Her eyes had nearly rolled into the back of her head, and she wheezed in shallow, erratic breaths. “Gabi, she’s not going to make it,” he choked.
Damn it, she cursed mentally.
Gabi knew that Aidan was going to stay put with Marya for the night, regardless of what Gabi wanted. Darkness was encroaching, and Diego had disappeared thanks to her inattentiveness. He couldn’t survive a night in the wild without her. He didn’t have any more survival skills than when Gabi was first dropped on Demeter. A faint recollection of her first terrifying night on the planet crossed her mind, followed quickly by despair.
He could be anywhere, she thought. And I’m not Haruka.
Her legs reacted before her mind fully formulated her plan. Aidan called out to her as she dashed away, but she ignored his pleas. Gabi crashed through undergrowth and catapulted her body as fast as she could in the direction of the settlement. There was a steep cut on the near bank just before the creek meandered to the left, so she hurtled up the slope. After rounding the bend, paralleling the stream channel, she came to a skidding halt. Though her vantage point was only a few feet higher than the surrounding terrain, she could see the trees thinning out abruptly, stumps littering the ground beyond. In the distance, lights flickered, and she could barely make out the dark forms of buildings. Her heart raced as she took in the sight.
We were right!
Gabi had no time to revel in her achievement. She barreled along toward the settlement, ignoring the scrapes and stings dealt by her reckless headlong plunge. As she neared the line of the clear cut, she realized that two of the lights were moving toward her. She stopped a moment to catch her breath and examine the source of the light. They bobbed up and down, swaying ever so slightly side to side. Shadows accompanied them—five that she could see. Four were very tall, but the one in the center was short, perhaps half the height of the others.
Then they moved close enough for Gabi to see their faces. She instantly dropped to her knees and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Diego!”
Two of the taller shadows, accompanied by one of the lights, broke off in a run, headed directly toward her. Gabi fumbled at her shoulder, trying to ready her bow. But her fingers were so heavy and numb that she dropped it instead. By the time she picked it up, the men were on her. She fell on her rear, hands trembling as the two strangers towered over her.
One man shone a lantern at her, blinding her for a moment. “This must be one of the kid’s friends,” he said.
“Where are your friends?” the second man said in a deep, booming voice.
Gabi threw up her hand, trying to shield her eyes from the light and catch a glimpse of the men. The one with the lantern was solid and rugged looking; he reminded her of Will, only a little taller and older. His companion was an absolute giant by comparison, his wide, bare chest rippling with muscles.
“Jake, you’re blinding her. Give me that thing,” the larger man said as he snatched the lantern from his partner. He turned a knob on the side. The flame flickered for a moment, then settled at a tolerable level.
Jake stretched out his hand to Gabi. “Your friend said you and your friends were in trouble.” He waited for a moment before beckoning again. “Come on, we’re here to help.”
By this time Diego and the other men had caught up. Diego squealed and jumped into Gabi’s arms. She fell back, hitting her head on the ground solidly. There was a moment of pain, but her relief in seeing her brother safe quickly made her forget.
“Where’s your sister, Diego?” asked a tall, blond man with a scraggly beard.
“This is my sister!” he exclaimed excitedly, hugging Gabi again.
The four strangers exchanged confused glances for a moment.
“Where are the others?” Jake asked.
“B-back up the creek, maybe a few hundred feet,” Gabi stammered.
The barrel-chested giant nodded, then jerked his head into the darkness. “Rigger, Devon,” he spit out sharply. The blond man and his companion disappeared into the woods, leaving Jake and the giant with the Serranos.
“You’re safe now,” the giant said in a soft voice. “I can’t say we were expecting visitors tonight, but visitors are always welcome.”
Gabi stood up and collected her bow, which she slung over her shoulder while eyeing the two men. The giant turned and walked toward the settlement, cranking up the lantern again to cast more light ahead of them. They wove their way through a sea of tree stumps, which abruptly stopped a few hundred feet away from the edge of the town. Jake took the lead at that point, careful to lead them down dirt paths between rows of the farm’s plants. Based on what she could see of the town as they approached, Gabi was disappointed. Her initial elation at finding the settlement was erased when could see the buildings up close. While some were bigger than the Palm Palace, there were only about half as many buildings as Camp Eight had at its height.
They were led to the largest building and ushered inside. The rough-hewn timber walls were adorned with worn out tools, hunting trophies, and even a colorful quilt. A small but cheerful fire crackled in a stone hearth. An iron pot was suspended over the coals, and she salivated as soon as she walked in and was hit with the smell of the fresh cooked meal. The center of the room was dominated by a massive table, around which sat thirty chairs.
Jake hung the lantern from an iron hook driven into the wall next to the door. He offered to take their packs and Gabi’s bow, but she refused. His brow furrowed slightly, but he moved on to offer them a seat at the table. Gabi did so, shedding her equipment at the foot of her chair. Diego hopped happily into the chair next to her and sat down. The giant served them bowls of steaming hot soup from the pot. Diego tried to eat as soon as the food was laid in front of him, then burst into tears when he singed hi
s tongue. Gabi immediately gave him water from her canteen and soothed him until he stopped crying.
The two men conversed briefly by the door. Jake left the building, and the giant took a seat across from Gabi. He could almost touch the walls with his fingertips as he leaned back and stretched. He then knitted his fingers together in front of him, and began to stare at them.
Gabi tried to sit calmly and cool down her soup, but his piercing stare began to unsettle her. “So where are we?” she finally asked, hoping that conversation would ease her nerves.
“Rust Creek,” he replied. “My own little slice of heaven. My name’s Norris. I know your brother is Diego. What’s your name?”
“Gabi.”
“Where are you from, Gabi?”
“Camp Eight,” she muttered, blowing on her soup.
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s not there anymore.”
Norris nodded slowly. “That’s too bad. Are there more of you coming?”
She shrugged indifferently. Her eyes closed as she savored a bite of the soup, which had chunks of chicken and carrots, and spices she could only recall in her most distant memories.
“Please, Gabi, I have to know. If your ship crashed or you have people that need help, just tell me,” he insisted.
Gabi dropped her spoon into her bowl, leveling a harsh gaze at her host. “You’re way too late to help.”
Norris turned his palms upward, pleading with her. “I’ve heard about the ships. The ones that Young and Benedict gave away the plans for. I know that they’re not designed for long-term survival. They’re supposed to land near the town so their refugees can live in the colony.”
She shook her head, furrowing her brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Look, I know it was hard on Earth after we left, but it’s not the same here. You can trust me.”
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger on his lip as he thought. “Did your ship have a name? Maybe Young knows something about it.”
Gabi glanced up at him from her bowl. With her mouth still full, she muttered, “Raphael.”
Norris’s face went ghost white, and he nearly fell out of his chair. “Did you say Raphael?”
“Yeah.”
“No,” he sputtered. “No, it’s impossible.”
“Something like that,” Gabi said, turning her attention back to the fresh meal.
Their host’s eyes darted rapidly between Gabi and Diego, growing wide as revelation hit him. “Was he born on this planet?”
“Yup.”
Jake burst through the door, slamming it against the wall. The lantern flickered with the sudden disruption of the air. Both Norris and Diego startled, with the young boy nearly spilling his soup all over himself. Jake covered the distance to Norris’s side in five long strides.
“Norris! I was talking with the two other kids we found in the woods. You’re never going to believe this. They’re from…”
“Raphael,” the giant man finished his sentence. “After all these years, there are survivors!”
“How’s that even possible?”
The two men launched into a debate. Gabi rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the meal. She hunched over, sipping the savory broth. As the level of the liquid lowered, chunks native vegetables poked through the surface like tiny islands. The archipelago in her bowl didn’t last long against her voracious appetite. As she finished, she couldn’t help but feel that the adults’ boring conversation had taken a turn. There was an eerie silence, and she suddenly became aware that the two men were staring at her.
“Gabi?” Jake asked excitedly.
“What?”
“How many survivors are there? Do you know?”
“Just us.”
“Just the four of you? How is that possible? How did you get here? Where did you come from?”
“We came on a boat,” Diego interjected cheerfully. “Will and Gabi and Caleb and Marya sailed it!”
“Shh, Diego,” she hissed.
Norris’s brows arched in curiosity. “So there were others, then?”
Gabi nodded. “Yeah. Most of them died along the way.”
Norris leaned back and bit his lip, nodding slowly. “I’m sorry. That’s a shame.”
“Everyone dies. Sometimes it’s a shitty, useless death. But sometimes they make a difference.”
The men’s eyes bulged wide; Norris’s looked as if they were about to pop out of his skull at any moment. Jake stammered, looking for the words to refute her.
“What kind of talk is that?” Norris grumbled in disgust. “You’re just a little girl, what do you know about the meaning of death?”
“More than you ever will, old man,” she retorted, meeting his scornful gaze head-on.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t tell me what I know.”
Norris rose, his square shoulders towering over the table. He shook his head and sighed. “You must be tired from your journey. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. If you’d like to go to town at some point, I’ll have someone take you there.”
“I can find my way around,” Gabi replied, rolling her eyes. “This place isn’t so big.”
“This?” Jake interrupted. “This isn’t the town, we’re just a little village here. Mining and timber for Concordia.”
Gabi bolted upright in her seat. “There’s a bigger town?”
“Of course. A little less than two days’ walk from here, down by the big river.”
The river! Maybe Will was right after all. If this isn’t the big town…
“Good, we’ll leave tomorrow,” Gabi declared.
Norris coughed, choking on the drink he had just poured and put to his lips. He recovered then said, “You just got here. And Jake says that your friend is too sick to travel. Just stick around a while and rest. You look like you could use it.”
“Marya and Aidan can do whatever they want. Our deal with them is finished. We just need food and water, maybe some arrows, and we’ll be on our way.”
Jake and Norris exchanged glances, with the larger man frowning and shaking his head.
“You can use my bedroom in the back for tonight,” Norris sighed as he walked toward the exit. “I’ll be back in the morning for breakfast and to check on you.” He stepped through the door into the night.
Diego softly asked for more soup, which Jake retrieved for him. The man also refilled Gabi’s bowl. She wanted to protest, but her stomach quieted her. Jake took a seat across the table, next to where Norris had sat earlier. He leaned back, studying the Serranos closely.
“You know, I think my boys are about the same age as you two,” he noted. “They’re in bed by now, but you can meet them tomorrow. I’m sure they’d be happy to show you around the village.”
“We’re moving on in the morning.”
Jake picked at some imaginary imperfection on his pant leg and smiled sharply. “Of course you are. Unless we lock you up.”
Gabi set her spoon in her bowl, dropping her arm below the table. She leaned forward, discreetly reaching for the tomahawk looped to the side of her pack. “Lock us up? That’s not very nice.”
“Relax, it’s an expression. My point is that we’d have to force you to stay. I know you’re going to go tomorrow, no matter what I say. I don’t know you, but that much I do know.”
“Yeah?” she mocked. “How do you know that?”
“Well, first you’ve been talking nonstop about leaving in the morning. And second, Aidan told me about how you abandoned your friends. What were their names? Will, Kris, Karina, and Daphne?”
Gabi found herself lost for speech. Aidan barely spoke with anyone but his sister, but had opened up to this man. And for what?
“You’ve already left behind one young child,” Jake continued, “and you’re about to abandon two more of your friends. One who is almost dead. So what is it? Why d
o you need to get to Concordia so badly?”
“It’s none of your business,” Gabi growled.
“Important and secret. Something so critical that it can’t wait a day or two for you to get your strength back. Or is it?” Jake stood slowly and stretched. “Have a good night, you two. Don’t forget to turn off the lanterns before you go to bed.”
Jake slipped into the night, closing the door quietly behind him. Gabi cast her stare at the dying fire in the hearth.
Is it really that important? What’s another day? It’s safer here than anywhere else you’ve been.
Calvin McLaughlin
24 July, 6 yal, 11:04
Fairweather River, approx. 10 miles west of Concordia
“This truly is a beautiful spot,” Alan remarked. His hands were on his hips, his chest puffing visibly as he took a big breath. As he exhaled, his lips broadened into a wide smile. “There’s some truly remarkable scenery around here.”
Cal regarded him silently. He had no interest in engaging his captor in conversation about Demeter’s sights, or any other subject for that matter. There was no reasoning or pleading with him, and despite the grim task that his employer had given him, Alan had been disturbingly chipper ever since they slipped from Mercy. Even the early hour of their departure, in the predawn darkness, hadn’t dampened the man’s spirits.
On the other hand, Cal was exhausted. His feet throbbed and pulsed, and his back and shoulders ached from sleeping on the ground. The world seemed to sway gently from one side to the other, and his eyelids felt as though they were about to lose their struggle against gravity. He was mentally taxed as well, burned out from having to listen to Alan’s pointless yammering for almost two days. Despite all this, Cal could only think of one thing; a question that had been endlessly repeating in his mind for the last hour.
Why are we on the road?
It was a valid question, one that neither he nor Jerk could answer. Since Cal had been marched from Mercy’s belly, Alan had been very careful to keep their distance from any established form of civilization. Understandable given the directive to murder Cal. Yet inexplicably, his captor had suddenly guided them onto Rust Creek Road, marching directly toward the tiny satellite community. Cal racked his brain on the question, trying to determine if it was a mistake, a calculated risk, or an act of sheer arrogance on the part of Alan. Even more puzzling was why Alan had stopped in the middle of the road and started spouting off about scenery like some demented tourist.
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