by AR Colbert
The sunlight was more filtered as the canopy overhead grew denser. How the trees were able to grow so strong on this rocky cliff was beyond me. But if they could stand here, so could I. I ignored my boots slipping and grabbed a nearby branch to steady myself. I would go just a little farther before I gave up.
Just as I was about to call it good, I heard some movement up ahead. But as quickly as I heard it, it was gone. A large boulder was blocking my path to the sound, so I grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled myself up and over the rock. It was sturdy, covered in moss from years of sitting in the same spot. But its smooth surface didn’t provide much of a foothold for me, and I found myself slipping again. Only this time there weren’t any convenient branches to grab.
I squatted low and grabbed a hold of any crevice my fingers could weasel their way into, but it was no good. I was lying belly down on the rock now, hugging it with my whole body, and still slipping down, down, down, until I dropped the final three feet or so over the edge and landed with a hard thunk on the forest floor below. I might have rolled all the way down the steep hill if it weren’t for the trees blocking my way. I rolled over to pull myself up by the tree I’d bumped up against, and realized with horror that it wasn’t a trunk I’d hit, but a strong pair of legs.
“Graceful,” Rider said with a smirk.
I quickly stood and brushed the dirt off my pants, frantically searching for Aiden and Emilio. But it was just Rider hiding in the woods. How did he get down here so quickly?
“Did you find your gun?”
“I did, yeah. I guess we can head back now.” My voice was shaky as I tried to find a clear path up the bank that wouldn’t take us directly through the camp.
“This is a strange place to hide it,” he said with a knowing look.
I turned to find him standing motionless with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He didn’t have to say more. I knew we weren’t going anywhere until I explained what I was doing.
“I actually found it up at the camp.” My cheeks flushed. He was too observant and I was too poor of a liar to make anything up on the spot. How was I going to work my way out of this?
“So why are you down here then? And why did you leave Dax? Trying to bail on us?”
Scratch, scratch.
“Shhh...” I put my finger up to my lips and Rider cocked his head to the side.
“What are you doing?” he asked as I squatted low and peeked around the edge of the boulder.
“Chickens!”
Rider followed me around to the other side of the rock. “Chickens?”
The birds were huddled together under an evergreen a few yards beyond the boulder. They must’ve gathered under the branches to keep warm.
“Yeah. Can you help me get them up the hill?”
His face wrinkled in confusion. “What is going on here?”
I stood to face him. I didn’t know how this was all going to end, but I was in too deep to go back now. “There’s a little boy up there who lost his chickens. He thought some really bad guys came in and took them, but they didn’t. The chickens are alive and well. So will you please help me get them back up there so we can make that little boy’s day?”
Rider looked uncertain, but who could say no to a little kid?
“How are you going to get them up there?”
I looked back at the birds. “I don’t know. There are only four of them. Maybe we can both carry one under each arm?”
Rider frowned, but shockingly, he nodded and stepped toward the tree. The only problem was the chickens didn’t want to be carried. They didn’t want us to touch them at all. As soon as we got close there was a flutter of activity, with fluffy little feathers flying everywhere.
“You go left,” he said. “And I’ll go around the right side of the tree. We’ll trap them in the back.”
Ha. We quickly learned you can’t trap a chicken. We must have looked like fools chasing after the squawking creatures. They were much faster than they looked, and they were way better at scaling the hill than Rider and I were.
I stopped after a few minutes, panting several yards farther up the hill from where we started, and I heard him chuckle behind me. Rider looked like a completely different person when he smiled. He was actually quite striking when he showed a little personality.
“What’s so funny?”
He raised his arms to the side, shaking his head. “All of this. What are we doing out here?”
“We’re trying to get the chickens home.”
“No, I mean this game we’re playing where you pretend you’re working for Emmaline. Where I pretend I’m protecting you from a group of people who clearly feel like you’re a part of them. What is really going on, Claren?”
Whoops.
“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”
Was this another trap? Was Rider trying to pull a confession out of me so he could turn me over to Justice Hines? Or was he actually curious? Could it be possible that he might not be so bad?
“You could try the truth.”
We froze there in a staredown. Where was Dax when I needed him?
“I’ll tell the truth if you do,” I said finally. I knew I was pushing the boundaries, but I also knew Rider wasn’t hostile. He was curious, sure, but he wasn’t angry. I didn’t feel any reason to fear for my life. Not unless he reported me back to the Leadership, anyway.
“Unlike you, I have nothing to hide,” he said.
“Okay.” I was going straight for the jugular then. “What’s the deal between you and Felix?”
He tried to look apathetic, but I felt it. There was a definite shift in his mood. “There’s no deal between us.”
“Uh-huh. Well I’ll answer just as honestly. There’s no deal between me and the Outsiders, either.”
Rider rolled his eyes. “I don’t need this. I knew something was going on. You don’t have to lay it all out for me here and now, but I’ll find out. I always do.” He huffed up ahead of me, chasing the chickens all the way to a very excited boy at the top of the hill. His mother looked equal parts terrified and ferocious, ready to attack him if he dared harm her son.
Dax finally emerged from the other side of the trail and stepped in before mama bear could do any harm. “Rider, hey,” he said with a nervous chuckle. He looked in my direction, his eyes screaming with panic. I gave a shrug and kept right on walking. Dax wasn’t developing a very good track record for being there when I needed him.
“Thank you for bringing my chickens back!” The little boy hollered at my back as I walked away.
I turned to say “you’re welcome,” and scurried off after Rider. Dax ran up to join us as well, and together we sped ahead to the road.
“Where did you come from?” Dax asked. He was still clearly terrified of what Rider may or may not have discovered.
“I’ve been here the entire time,” he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the path ahead. “Someone has to actually keep an eye on Claren.”
CHAPTER 14
I don’t think I breathed properly for the rest of the day. Aiden and Emilio were waiting for us by the road when we emerged from the trees, and I expected Rider to blast my involvement with the Outsiders as soon as the door slid open. But he didn’t.
Dax showed them the map Frank gave us, giving me big kudos for “convincing” him to hand us such a thing, and I just knew Rider was going to expose me. But again, he didn’t. I waited all afternoon, watching him and tensing any time he had an opening, but he never came out with the truth about me. Rider stayed quiet.
He was as cool and collected as he’d ever been. I, on the other hand, was a wreck. Of course I couldn’t get a read on how he was feeling after our interaction, and it drove me nuts. Who was this guy? And if he knew the situation wasn’t as it appeared, why was he here? What did he stand to gain?
Dax was no help, either. He was just as on edge as I was. Luckily for us, Aiden was too lacking in social intelligence to pick up on any of it. He was being driven by his
excitement over exploring an Outside camp.
We decided to lead them to one of the sites we knew was abandoned that afternoon. Aiden had been so gung-ho about getting to go with me, that Dax and I thought a detour for that afternoon would be best. We’d let him escort me in, get some adventure out of his system, and put him back in the driver’s seat before we went to any other real camps the next day. There was nothing to find, but Aiden was developing plenty of theories about the “roving rebel leader” that got more ludicrous as the day went on.
Spending the afternoon at an empty camp also gave us some time to think before starting our real search for the Exiled Friday morning. We knew the criminals were likely to attack the biggest Ember camps first, because they had the most supplies for the Exiled to gain. And Aiden was right about one thing, most of the bigger camps were a little further to the east of Classen City. But I hated the thought of exposing them to Aiden and especially Rider. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any other choice.
Dax pulled out the map Friday morning and directed Aiden to a point in the rolling hills east of Classen City. It was an old summer camp that sat beside the same river that flowed into the lake south of the city where Frank and Raf were staying. The terrain on this side of the city was beautiful, and I was entranced watching it pass me by through the windows as we drove. But over every hill I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. Would we find a group of Exiled, waiting to ambush our van? Would this be the end of our road?
“Alright guys, it’s showtime!” Aiden rubbed his hands together with a giant grin as he pulled to a stop at the end of a dirt road that led into the camp. “Dax and Rider can take the lead with Claren, and me and Emilio will bring up the rear.”
“Who’s going to stay with the van?” I should’ve guessed that giving Aiden a taste of exploring the camps the day before would only make it harder to keep him out of the way.
“Why would we need someone to stay here?” Aiden looked at me like I was as dense as a brick.
“In case we need a quick getaway. This looks like it will be a big site. If we get outnumbered or if they’re not as welcoming to me as the others, we’ll need you ready to sweep in and speed us out of here. I’ve never met any of these people. They didn’t know my brother, so I don’t know what to expect.”
He considered that for a moment. “Well maybe Emilio can stay. You know how to work equipment, right? You could drive us out.”
Emilio shook his head. “Understanding mechanics and having the experience necessary to drive are two very different things. They never taught me to drive. I never needed to know how.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding. Do any of you know how to drive?” Aiden looked desperately at Dax and Rider who both shook their heads. I had to suppress a smirk. Even Aiden, Dimitri’s golden boy, was getting frustrated by some of the New American laws.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But Rider’s going with you guys. And Emilio can stay here with me.”
“That’s fine,” Emilio said. “I brought a little project with me today that I need to work on anyway.” He gestured to a box in the backseat next to Dax.
“I guess it’s just the three of us, then.” Rider flashed a snarky smile at Dax and me, and I wanted to bury my face. What had I gotten us into?
We hopped out of the van and began walking down the packed dirt road, avoiding potholes as we went. The sky was overcast and a thin mist hung in the sky, matching my mood perfectly. Dax kept glancing anxiously in my direction, but I wouldn’t engage with his nerves right now. I had to focus on staying calm for myself.
Rider finally spoke as we neared the camp. “Do you want me to hang back and watch from the perimeter again, or are we ready to acknowledge that you’re friendly with these people so I can come in and help?”
Dax gaped at him, unable to believe what he’d just heard.
“Come in, I guess. But you definitely need to hide that gun better! I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know these people. We don’t want them to think we’re coming to attack.”
Rider shifted a pistol from his hip to his back, tucking it under his shirt. “You may not know them, but they definitely know you.”
I looked up to find a middle-aged woman a few yards ahead pointing in my direction as she called out to a man over her shoulder. “She’s here!”
The man jogged forward and met us at the camp entrance. Unlike the others, set in the woods, this camp had an actual fence surrounding it, complete with a rusted gate marking the entrance.
“Claren, hi. I’m Mitchell and this is my wife, Cathy. Frank told us you’d probably be coming by this week.” The man extended an arm to shake my hand.
“You know Frank?” I asked. Of course he knew Frank. Everyone knew Frank.
“We do.” Mitchell looked warily at Rider. “And we know about your mission, too. Word travels fast out here. Come on in, but excuse the mess. We’re dealing with a bit of a crisis right now.” His frown deepened. “The Exiled hit us last night.”
“Is anyone hurt?” My heart pounded against my chest. I knew we’d hear more about them, but I wasn’t expecting to come across the Exiled so soon.
“None of our people were hurt. But our animals are a different story.”
“Tell me everything you know.”
We followed Mitchell and Cathy inside, and this camp definitely had a different feel to it than the others. People were everywhere, carrying tools and supplies, cleaning up the mess left behind. I had no idea there were settlements this large in the Outside. Seeing so many people living and working together brought a tiny thrill of hope inside me.
“They came in through the south side of our property sometime in the night. We’ve got over a hundred acres out here that we farm and raise livestock on, so it’s impossible to keep an eye on everything at once. A couple heads of cattle are missing, but what’s worse is how many they left dead in the field. I can turn a blind eye to a man who needs to steal to feed his family. But I can’t forgive the kind of evil that kills innocent creatures for fun, leaving them to rot and destroying the food that I need to feed my family.”
A deep shade of red was creeping its way up Mitchell’s neck as he spoke, and Cathy came to rest a hand on his chest to calm him down. This man was livid, and he had every right to be.
“They also looted our supplies,” Cathy added. “We have a large mess hall where we can all gather for meals together. There’s an old commercial kitchen and we store canned goods and grains in there. They took or destroyed about half of it.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
“And it’s not just our camp that’s affected by this. We supply food for many of the other local camps as well. This is a major attack that we will all feel the effects of for some time.”
“I’m so sorry. How can we help?”
“Just get them. Stop them before they can do this to anyone else.”
I nodded. “Of course. Do you have any idea where they went or where they’re camping right now?”
Mitchell shook his head. “No, we haven’t gotten that far yet. We had to get to work saving what we could from the damage.”
I glanced back at Dax and Rider, who shared the same grim expression. “Well we’ve got six extra hands here to help. Let’s get this mess cleaned up and then we can work out a plan.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Cathy said.
“We want to.” Rider startled me, but there was no doubting his sincerity. Even Mitchell nodded.
“Thank you. We don’t have to get it all now, but if we can at least get the big stuff out of the way I’ll feel better. Seeing the place in shambles like this has everyone’s spirits down.”
So we set off to work, sweeping up broken glass jars and spilled flour on the ground. Dax and Rider accompanied Mitchell and some of the other men out into the fields to take care of dead or injured animals. All the people joined together as a team, working together for the real greater good of everyone, no one looking for a paycheck or a promotion. I’d neve
r seen so much unity. And the hope inside me grew again. This was what life could be like if we only got out of our own way. Of course, freedom didn’t come without its own struggles, but this was something worth fighting for.
Dax radioed in to Aiden every hour or so to let him know we were still looking for the leader. We couldn’t tell him about the Exiled or the damage, but he understood this was a large camp with many people, and thankfully he didn’t push back too much when Dax explained we had more work to do before we left. Finally, after a few hours of work we all met back up in the mess hall with Cathy and Mitchell for a quick bite to eat.
Cathy served us a big pot of chicken noodle soup with freshly baked bread. It was simple, but it was delicious.
“I’m just amazed at everything you’ve been able to do here.” I took a bite of my soup and motioned toward the facilities around us. “I mean, this is like a small town of your own. How did you build it up like this?”
“Honestly, I don’t even know where it all comes from myself. It’s only gotten really big like this in the last couple of years. We got electricity and gasoline, which has really allowed us to expand things more rapidly.” Mitchell took a bite of his bread, and Cathy picked up where he left off.
“We are truly blessed. Frank has recruited some great people from the city to join us, and one of them had some connections inside. It’s all very hush-hush though. No one really knows where it comes from but Frank. We can speculate for sure, but it’s probably better not to know about some things.”
I pondered that for a moment. “I’m not sure I agree. The more I learn, the more I want to learn. The person with the most knowledge seems to have the most power. And I don’t think we deserve to be overpowered by anyone. We should all work together as equals, like you do here.”
“Ah, but knowledge isn’t everything,” Mitchell said. “Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Ignorance is bliss?’ The truth can be very painful. And often the one with the most power, as you put it, also carries the greatest burden. We would never suggest lying to the people, but some things are best kept on a need-to-know basis—for everyone’s safety.”