by AR Colbert
Raf’s jaw tightened and Emilio looked as though he wanted to melt into his chair. But Frank remained expressionless. “Thank you for your feedback, Dax. Felix is not your concern. Nor mine, for that matter. And as for Claren...” He finally sat down with us at the table.
“I can’t give her enough credit for what she’s had to bear. There’s more to the story than you know, Dax. And I suspect the facts will continue to reveal themselves in due time. Now let’s talk about the next steps. I understand you’re supposed to be tracking us?”
“That’s right.” I nodded, grimly. I wasn’t quite ready to move on yet. I wanted to find out more about what he meant by a bigger story revealing itself. It felt cryptic, like I was barely scraping the surface when it came to my knowledge of the Outside. And I supposed that was true.
Frank was as genuine a person as I’d ever encountered. You could feel it. Even those who were not Empaths trusted him wholeheartedly. And yet, Cato’s words in his letter kept ringing in my ear. Trust no one. Did that mean Frank? He obviously wasn’t telling me everything.
Regardless, Frank was all I had. He was my best hope at getting this mess figured out.
“I have these devices that I’m supposed to place in your camps to allow the Leadership to listen in. But it’s not just words they can hear. It sounds crazy, but they’ll be able to hear what you’re thinking. No code words or silent plans will get past them. And I don’t know what to do. If I don’t place them somewhere, they’ll lose their trust in me and send someone else out to do the job. I’m not sure how we can get around it.”
Frank nodded. “I may have an idea, but I need to talk to Dave. Do you need to place them today, or do you think you can get an extra day or two for us to figure this out?”
I looked at Dax and Emilio. Dax avoided eye contact, but Emilio bit his lip, thinking the situation through.
“I think we can get another day,” Emilio said, “but there’s another problem. The amplifiers were built with tracking devices in place. Even when they’re not turned on, they’re trackable via GPS. Which means the interpreters back at the headquarters are able to see where we are with the devices even right now.”
I cringed at the thought of Georgia Hines watching my every move on some screen in the Center.
He swiped a hand through his hair. “So we don’t have to place them today, but it will look awfully suspicious if we return to the same location tomorrow.”
“And the rest of your team,” Frank leaned forward on his forearms, “are they trustworthy? We could send some guys out to intercept you on the main road and bring you to a different camp tomorrow.”
“No,” Dax said. “Absolutely not. I hate that they saw the first camp across the lake at all.”
“I have an idea,” I said, unzipping my backpack. Emilio’s eyes widened as I pulled out my stun gun. “I can leave this behind.”
“Why would you do that?” Dax asked.
“I can say I had it ready because I felt threatened. But I hid it when I realized they weren’t going to hurt me. Then I just forgot to retrieve it after we scoped out the camp.” I looked at Dax. “That sounds plausible for a dumb girl like me, doesn’t it Dax? Forgetting my gun? Anyway, I’ll need to come back and get it tomorrow.”
Dax rolled his eyes and Raf suppressed a grin.
“They’ll never let you come back for it,” Emilio said. “They’ll just give you a new one. There’s probably another one in the van, even.”
“But if the Outsiders were to find a stun gun I left, they might feel threatened and question my motives. That would prevent me from being able to locate the ‘rebel leaders’ at the other camps. I’ll tell Aiden I have to come back and get it before the Outsiders find it, or else we won’t be able to peacefully continue the mission.”
Frank nodded. “It might work. I just wish you had a more trustworthy team to begin with.”
I looked pointedly at Dax. “I do too.”
My brain was flooded with questions as we made our way back to the first camp across the lake. I wished we’d had more time. There was so much I wanted to ask Frank about. I wanted the rest of the story now, not in due time.
But we had to get going if we were going to convince the others that these camps weren’t worth the equipment. I waved goodbye to Tim and stepped back into the brush with Dax and Emilio. It didn’t take three minutes for Aiden to jump out of a tree on the path before us. Rider somehow appeared silently behind him.
“It’s about time,” Aiden said angrily. “You were supposed to radio us when you got there.”
“Sorry, man. I totally forgot. We got busy trying to check the place out.” Dax plowed ahead back to the van.
“Well did you find anything?” Aiden asked.
“No,” I said. “It was a little creepy at first, there were some men with a big bonfire.”
“Yeah, we saw the smoke all the way from over here.”
“But they’re basically just a bunch of workers. No leaders yet.” I shrugged.
“So you didn’t leave an amplifier?”
“No. Not here. But I think we’re close. They kept talking about Frank—the same guy I helped Emmaline locate before. I’m sure he’s camped out somewhere near here.”
Rider studied me as I spoke, and again, I had no idea what was going through his mind. His stare made me uneasy.
“Well let’s grab some lunch at the van and keep looking,” Aiden said. “I’m starving.”
We didn’t locate any other camps that afternoon, but the van pulled in front of Felix’s house the next morning prepared for another day of searching.
“I thought we could head out east today,” Aiden said as we pulled away from the curb. “There’s an old highway that goes east from the pond where the body was found in Morton. Maybe it will lead us to the aggressive group. We know they’re not all going to be as welcoming as the people you came across yesterday, Claren.”
“Right, about those aggressive groups...” I glanced at Dax for some encouragement, but he was turned toward the opposite window. Jerk. “I’ve actually got some bad news. When we got back to the house last night I realized I left my stun gun at the last camp yesterday.”
“That’s alright,” Aiden called out over his shoulder. “We’ve got a couple more in the back. Hey Dax, grab Claren another gun from that box under your feet, will ya?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave my other one at the camp.”
Rider fixed his eyes on me, making me feel very self-conscious as I spoke. He was analyzing every word I said. I had to make this believable.
“I got in yesterday on my brother’s name. They really think I’m on their side. If they find that gun, I’ll shatter any trust they might have in me.”
Rider’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.
“I need to sneak back in and get it,” I said too quietly. Why couldn’t I be a little more confident? I should have been focusing on Aiden, channeling his arrogance. Instead, I foolishly let Rider’s judgment get to me.
To my relief, it was convincing enough for Aiden anyway.
“Good thinking. I kind of want to see that other camp anyway. We’ll head south first, then move east.”
Aiden and Emilio made small talk up front while the back of the van remained awkwardly quiet. Dax kept his eyes on the window, and I didn’t dare look over at Rider. His silence was infuriating. I’d never known anyone who could make me feel so unsure of myself without ever saying a single word.
“There’s a back road up here that leads around to the other side of the lake.” Dax finally spoke, shouting from the back up to Aiden in the driver’s seat. “Turn up there past the gate.”
Dax began collecting his things as we moved over the bumpy back road. “I’ll hop out with Claren just to keep her safe if anything happens. You should keep moving though in case they’ve got some men watching the roads. We don’t want them to think we’ve got guys waiting to attack. We’ll call you on the walkie when we get back up
to the road and you can swing by to pick us up.”
Aiden groaned. “Ugh. You’re probably right. But I’m going to the next camp!”
“You want me to come again too?” Emilio asked.
“No, we’ll be quick,” I said. “And we won’t be using any tech. You can stay here. We’ll be back soon.”
Near a side road on the right a dirty sign read Riverside Lodge 1/2 Mile. “You can let us out here,” Dax said. “Keep your radios on. I’ll let you know when we’re finished.”
We hopped out of the van, and as soon as we were out of view behind the trees I took off into a jog.
“Why are you running?” Dax asked.
“Because I’ve got to see what Frank figured out. And I’ve got to do it quickly so Aiden doesn’t come chasing after us. We need to keep this believable.”
Dax picked up the pace behind me and we reached the camp in short time. Raf met us halfway down the sidewalk leading up to the Lodge.
“You made it.” He scanned the forest line before leading us inside. “Are you alone?”
“Yep, it’s just us. But we don’t have much time, and they know how to get here. So we’ve got to be quick or we’ll have visitors soon.”
Raf nodded and quickened his steps. “Frank’s already in the conference room waiting for you.”
CHAPTER 13
Frank stood to greet us as we joined him at the table inside. “Your plan worked. Congrats.” He flashed me a smile.
“It did, but we don’t have much time. Were you able to talk to Dave? Did you guys come up with a plan for the amplifiers?”
“Almost.” Frank sighed as he took his seat. “There have been reports from some of the other camps about attacks from people Outside who aren’t interested in creating a new civil society. They like their freedom alright, but they don’t want to play by any rules.”
“The Exiled,” I said, remembering what Sarah had mentioned the day before.
“That’s right. Some of the criminals exiled from the cities really are bad people, kicked out of society for a reason. But the Leadership was wrong when they thought it would be a death sentence. The strongest of the Exiled have found a way to survive, and many of them have ganged up together, roving over the land and looting our camps. We haven’t seen them for years, but based on word received from other camps, they’re back.”
I remembered the missing people who were unaccounted for in Morton and other boroughs and gasped. “They steal, but are they violent, too? Do they hurt people?”
“They’re more interested in what we can provide for them, but I’m certain they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt anyone who got in their way.”
We sat quietly for a moment, allowing the gravity of that to set in. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. These people were dangerous.
“So how does that help our situation? If anything, it sounds like they will only make this more difficult than we anticipated.”
“They could,” Frank said, furrowing his brows. “But if we can locate them, we might be able to solve three problems at once.”
I leaned forward in my seat. “Go on.”
“Well the Exiled make life difficult for us, and if they’re harming people within the cities now too, it sounds like we might have a common goal with the Leadership there. We need to get rid of these criminals. If you can find a way to place the amplifiers within their camps, we get the Exiled off our backs, you get to prove your value to the Leadership, and the Leadership will get the satisfaction of fighting back against the people who are really doing the damage. And as an added bonus, we may be able to go a little longer without confrontation on our end. We really don’t want to fight the Leadership. We’d much rather them see the truth peacefully.”
“It sounds great in theory, but how am I supposed to get these amplifiers into the Exiled camps if they don’t really even have camps? They’re always moving, right?”
“Right. Which complicates things, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”
Dax nodded. “It just means you’d have to get close enough to place the devices in their equipment, maybe on a weapon or with their leader’s tent. It will have to be with the things they use at every camp, things they take with them, but still hidden enough that they won’t find it.”
I closed my eyes. This wasn’t going to be easy at all.
Raf put his hand on mine. “I can help. Just let me know what to do.”
“I’m not sure that you can,” Frank said. “We need you here, and Claren’s guards won’t be thrilled to have you tagging along with them anyway. And with the trackers they’ve got on the devices, it wouldn’t be wise to leave one here with you.”
Raf looked defeated. “Well when we find the Exiled, when we locate their camps, you come find me. I’m not letting you go in there alone.” His deep brown eyes glistened with concern.
“I will.” My voice was almost a whisper. But I swallowed my fear and turned back to Frank, resolved to make this work. “So how do we find them?”
“You don’t. They find you.”
Dax and I walked back outside with a little less energy than we’d entered with. Would we be able to locate the Exiled before Aiden and the Leadership back home grew suspicious? It wasn’t likely, but we had to try.
Frank gave us a hand-drawn map with directions to the other local Ember camps. We had to keep up the ruse that we were looking for the rebel leader. And it was true, even if it wasn’t the leader Emmaline suspected. We would tell our Leadership the truth—that the rebels roamed the Outside, their leader never staying at one camp for too long. And we’d have to keep looking until we found him.
Frank included some abandoned campsites on the map as well. We could explore them with Aiden and Rider to buy us more time with the Leadership. But I knew the Exiled wouldn’t be hanging around the empty sites. We wouldn’t find them unless we were visiting the most populated, productive camps of the Embers. Those are the camps they would attack. They had the most to offer. And those were the camps I was least excited about leading Aiden and Rider into. The less information about the Embers they could bring back to the Leadership, the better.
Dax clicked on his walkie and let Aiden know we were heading back to the road. They were about fifteen minutes away, so we weren’t in too big of a rush to get up there. I considered going back in to hang out with Raf for a few more minutes, but he and Frank were already getting to work on something else when Dax and I left.
In the grass just off of what remained of the sidewalk, one of the boys from the day before was crying to his mother. I slowed just enough to see if he was hurt, but there wasn’t anything physically wrong. His mother was upset as well, but she tried to keep a brave face for her son.
“What if the Exiled got them, Mama? What if we never see them again?” The boy’s face was red, his nose blotchy and his breath visible in the cold air with every sob.
I stopped on the sidewalk, ignoring Dax’s tug on my jacket. “C’mon,” he whispered.
“Wait.” I had to hear more about the Exiled, even if it was just through the eyes of a child.
The boy’s mother squatted down low and wiped a tear from his cheek. “The Exiled haven’t been around here in ages. The chickens are fine, I’m sure of it. We’ll find them.”
“But Christian said he heard his dad talking about them. They’re back! And I bet they took our chickens!”
She pulled her son into a warm embrace, the way only a mother could. A sharp pain shot through me as I watched the scene unfold. I shouldn’t have been jealous of this small boy, but even at eighteen years old I missed my own mom. I could especially use a hug from her now. She wasn’t around to console me anymore. She couldn’t help with my problems, but maybe I could help this boy and his mom with theirs.
“Hi,” I said walking over to them. Dax groaned impatiently behind me, but he could wait. “Did you say you lost some chickens?”
The boy nodded and his mother stood, moving him instinctively behind her as I appro
ached.
“Are they brown and white? About four or five of them?”
The mother eyed me suspiciously. “Have you seen them?” she asked.
“I think so.” I turned wide-eyed back to Dax. “Remember the chickens from yesterday? I think they belong to these people. They’re lost. Will you help me find the trail we took up from the lake yesterday?”
“We don’t have time, Claren. We’ve got to get back to the van.”
“We’ll be quick. I promise!”
Dax sighed and began walking back toward the lake. The boy’s eyes were round with hope as he and his mother stepped in line behind us.
“It’s gotta be them. I’m sure of it!” the boy said. He was practically skipping with excitement. His mother didn’t look as thrilled to be in our company, but she would need us to help her carry the chickens back. I just hoped we would still be able to find them.
The ground began to slope down as we got closer to the water. “You can wait here if you want,” Dax said to the woman. “We’ll go see if they’re still there. No need for us all to hike up and down the hill.”
She nodded. “We’ll walk along the trees up here to see if we can find them up this way.”
“Good idea. We’ll be right back.”
Dax and I began our descent down the same steep path we’d taken the day before. I remembered seeing the chickens on our way in to the camp, but I was too distracted to look for them again as we were leaving. And now the landscape was running together too much for me to be certain of where exactly they huddled. It all looked the same.
“I don’t see them,” Dax said with a shrug. “We tried. But now we’ve got to get back.”
“Hang on. They can’t be too far.” I took a step off the path near the area where I thought I saw them before.
“We realllly don’t have time for this.”
“I just need another minute,” I insisted. I moved deeper into the trees, but Dax didn’t follow. I was on my own.
I took a few steps, then listened. Silence. So I took a few more. They couldn’t be too much farther. It was foolish for me to be so focused on these chickens, but I think I needed to prove to myself that I was capable of doing something good. Anything good. Because honestly, the other task that laid ahead of me seemed impossible.