It was something his mother told him once, about the waterfalls and luck. She'd never seen one herself, but he didn't want to think about that now, or anything else that would let any sadness seep into this moment. So he watched the water, and when everyone else was done with it, walked into the wall of it and stood there with his eyes closed for a long time, and when he came out, he knew he was smiling.
They stayed there for a long time after that, running in and out of it, taking turns to wash their clothes and then waiting for it all to dry, and when they finally left the waterfall, they didn't have enough time to make it to the campsite Stan mapped out for them, so they slept on their blankets under the trees because it was too dark to put up the tents, and they didn't make the fire because they were all too tired to collect the wood for it, so they ate cold dried meat and bread and drank cold tea.
Afterwards, when everyone was quiet, asleep quiet, he laid on his side, looking at Ams, watching her sleep as has become his habit, and she reached over and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. So close he felt the warmth of her against him, and he was suddenly afraid of the way she was looking at him, the look he couldn't read, one he had never seen on her before.
She seemed to read the fear in his eyes, but instead of letting him go, she just whispered at him, so softly he read it on her lips more than heard it, "I think I love you, Riley," and then she leaned in with her face and put her lips on his, but not softly like he did with hers, and she kept at it for a long time, making him feel like his insides weren't his anymore, and the heat between them unbearable, and when he knew for sure he couldn't take it anymore, she let go, and he couldn't sleep for the longest time after that, tasting her kiss, remembering the look in her eyes, reading the words on her lips.
It made him smile now thinking about it. She must have seen it on his face, for he got another one of those jabs in the ribs, and he had to try really hard to make his face look like his old face now, the one from before the kiss and the words. When he finally thought he got it right, he saw Drake running towards him, something being not right written all over his face, so they stopped, but it was too late for Drake to tell them what it was. He saw the smoke already, and, looking at it through the trees, he could tell that it was a large fire, much larger than the ones they made.
"Everyone backtrack, don't make noise if you can help it," he whispered, hoping they saw it on time, hoping they were still safe.
He got down on the ground while everyone else stopped just a bit behind him, realizing that not moving at all was quieter than anything else they could do, and he watched as a group of young boys arranged themselves in a circle around the fire, fair headed boys, not Zorin. They were waiting for something or someone, and then he saw him, a somewhat taller, older, light haired boy wearing a soldier's uniform walking into the circle, his face to the fire so he couldn't see him, the younger ones watching him. He must have been saying something, but Riley couldn't hear what it was, just knew he must have been talking because he was moving his arms, gesturing as he spoke, and the way he moved seemed strangely familiar, but he couldn't place it.
This taller boy was pacing now, back and forth, and then he turned, putting the fire behind him for just a fraction of a second, and he knew, even with only seeing half of his face, he knew with every cell of his body who this boy was, and that they were indeed safe. This boy standing there was the safest place of all.
He got up and, without bothering to shake the dirt or the leaves off himself, ran to the fire, weaving through the trees, screaming the name he'd carried with him for so many years now like a talisman, the name he kept closest to his heart, "Brody!", screaming it over and over again.
Excerpt from Book II, The Cross (The Pact)
Riley, May 6, 2236, Woods Outside of Reston
He was grinning like an idiot, running out towards the big fire, screaming "Brody!" at the top of his lungs, and he didn't care. Brody, his Brody was alive after all. He always hoped he was, but when Janet told him about tracking Brody to that hotel, where he supposedly put a bullet in his head, and then his tracks disappearing altogether, it fit all the rumors in Waller. He had to let him go then, and reluctantly he did. But there he was, a few meters in front of him, staring at him now with a strange look on his face. He heard the others following behind him, but slowly, carefully through the dark.
The younger boys lined up flanking Brody, guns drawn. He put his hands up, so they wouldn't accidentally shoot him.
"Stand down."
The guns were lowered immediately. So he was right. Brody was in charge here. And then Brody pointed his own gun straight at his head, "That's far enough, Zoriner. Bruner, search him, thoroughly, for anything he can use as a weapon." One of the larger boys walked over to him and patted him down. He took his screens out of his pocket, and a small knife. That's all he had on him. Everything else, including his gun, he stupidly left in his backpack in the woods.
He was standing only a few steps away from being able to put Brody into a headlock, few steps from being able to hug him for all the years he thought he was dead. He was staring at his best friend in the world, who was still pointing a gun at him, not finding any words now. He heard the rest of his group coming out of the woods, and the boys running to them, guns drawn again.
"Search them for weapons and bring them all here."
The stun guns, Ella's knife and med kit were dropped in a pile behind the fire. He watched as the boys moved Ams and Laurel away from Ella. He couldn't see Drake anywhere. The girls were holding hands, fear written all over their faces. He flinched when they put a slave band on Ella, Brody not looking at any of it, staring at him, gun still pointing at the middle of his head.
"On your knees, Zoriner," and he walked the few steps to him, so the cold metal of the gun was pressing into his forehead. This wasn't a stun gun, but an old school weapon, ones that made holes in you, instead of just stopping your heart. He remembered Brody's uncle, Andy, restoring these back in Waller. He used them to barter for moonshine and food. They were thought of as valuable, when they worked. He was pretty sure this one worked.
"No," he shook his head, looking Brody in the eyes. There was no way he was going to die like this, by the hand of his best friend, and on his knees. If Brody wanted to shoot him, he would have to do it looking him in the eyes. Brody clicked the safety off with his thumb, and he saw Ams running towards him, screaming something. He was shaking his head at her, begging her with his eyes to stop, but it was too late.
"Grab her and tie her up at this tree, hands and feet. I don't want her moving at all," Brody barked at the boys. They dragged Ams to the tree just to the right of where he was, he guessed so she could see whatever Brody would do to him, and tied her up. They couldn't hurt her. They had to know what she was. She didn't protest or scream at them. She was staring at Brody as if he had just kicked a dead body.
"On your knees!" and he pressed the barrel of the gun harder into his skin.
"No, Brody. You'll just have to do it like this," he said quietly, so only Brody would hear him. Without any warning, Brody pointed the gun at where Ams was tied up and pulled the trigger. He saw a spray of dirt and leaves just at her feet. She screamed.
"This is the only warning you'll get, Zoriner. I only miss on purpose. On your knees."
He dropped to his knees then, hands laced behind his head, looking up at Brody, trying to find something of the boy he had known his whole life in his face, "You win, Brody. You can do with me what you want. Please, let her go. I am begging you, as someone who used to be your friend. Let her go."
"I've no idea who this Brody is, Zoriner. I don't have your kind as friends. Bruner! Tie him up over there, same as the girl," and he pointed to a tree just opposite of where Ams was.
He could see her face more clearly now in the firelight. He mouthed "I am sorry, Ams," hoping she could read his lips. She looked angry, and afraid, but there were no tears. He had to save her. He hoped he could save her. The one calle
d Bruner tied his hands and feet to the tree, pulling so roughly on his arms he thought he would break something. He couldn't move anything but his head now. And he couldn't move that enough to not see Brody and Ams.
"Take the slave girl and the Replenisher to Astor. I'll deal with these two. Go. I'll send the memos myself. No comms. ECH only. Dismissed."
One of the boys stepped forward, timidly, "Sir, there are two of them. Protocol calls for at least two." The boy looked uncomfortable.
Brody just nodded to him, "Anders, I need you over here. You're with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
He didn't even turn around to see if the boys were doing what they were told, as if he was so accustomed to being obeyed that he didn't need to. The one called Anders stood by the fire, gun drawn, unmoving. Brody was going through all the screens they took from everyone, and scanning the last bits, it seemed. He'd know that Drake was supposed to be with them. Where the hell was Drake? He hoped the giant tripped on something and was now hiding in the woods, waiting for the right moment to save them.
Brody got up from the pile he was digging through, walked over to him and punched him in the stomach, hard. He couldn't breathe for a bit after that, couldn't speak either.
"You are making me wish you had put a bullet through your head, Brody," he finally spat at him. He knew it was the worst kind of thing he could say to him. It didn't matter anymore. He meant it. Needed him to know that he meant it. Brody blanched and turned away from him. So he did know who he was.
"I think one of your group is missing. Drake, wherever you are, I know you can hear me. Here is what's going to happen. Anders here will keep hitting this boy till his insides turn liquid, until you come out with your hands up, unarmed, and walk over to the fire." He nodded to Anders and stepped away from them, watching Anders. After the first few punches he wished it was Brody hitting him. This kid whaled on him hard, not even giving him enough time to breathe. After a few more punches, he felt one of his ribs crack. Brody turned away then. At least he had the decency not to enjoy it.
He was coughing up blood, could taste it, and his vision was going blurry at the edges. He heard Ams screaming, but it seemed too far away, softer, too soft to make sense with how close her face was. He knew he was going to black out, could feel it coming, and tried his best to hold on, and then the punching stopped. He saw Anders slump to the ground at his feet, and then Drake shooting Brody and he was down too, Drake, looking paler than he'd ever seen him, still pointing the buzzing stun gun at the prone form. Not for the first time he was grateful that this giant of a man moved like a ghost. He could close his eyes now, so he did.
He woke up to the gentle touch of Ams' small hands smoothing the hair out of his face. He felt the bandages around his ribs, restricting his breathing. He registered the fire, and tried to stand up. Ams was holding him, and he knew he'd fall if she let go of him now, so he sat down, slowly, carefully, and finally his head was clear enough to remember all that had happened since he ran out of the woods so carelessly, so stupidly, risking everybody. Ran out to Brody. He scanned the camp looking for Brody and Drake. Brody was probably dead, of course. He remembered Drake shooting him.
"Where are they, Ams?" It hurt to talk.
Ams handed him a thermos of warm tea, "I'll go get them. Drake took that boy away from the fire for a bit. He didn't want you to see him when you woke up. He thought you might kill him, and I think you should. But we need him to get Ella and Laurel back, that's what Drake said. The other one, Anders, he is dead, Riley. Drake killed him, only I don't think he meant to, because he seemed sad about it afterwards. Nice friends you have."
So Brody wasn't dead then. That was okay. He could fix that.
"Try not to move, Riley. I'll be right back." And she was gone, light steps running into the woods.
He closed his eyes and tried to picture his old Brody, the one who cried telling him about Samson, the one who always got him in trouble in school, and the one who tried to get his father to whip him with that belt instead of Riley. The boy he spent every day with after Ella was gone. And he could see him like that, as a little kid at first and then a bit older, stealing Andy's moonshine. And he saw him looking at Trina, as if she were made of magic, and later, still, sobbing into his hands at Janet's house after he thought he would cast him out like the rest of Waller did when the feed of his parents' treason came out, looking very much ashamed after that. And Brody, pressing the gun to his head, forcing him to kneel, punching him.
He opened his eyes, watching the three shapes moving towards him. Brody looked unharmed, not a scratch on him, less some redness on the side of his face. His hands were tied behind his back. Drake shoved him right up to where he was sitting and pushed him to his knees in front of him. He looked angry when he did it, nothing of the gentle giant in him. The redness on his face was probably from Drake then. He couldn't blame him for that. Brody sat up as straight as he could and looked up at him, face hard. And he thought then that maybe Brody really did want him gone, dead gone. For knowing the real Brody, Zoriner Brody, someone he seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble trying to forget.
"Untie him, Drake." He didn't know how to explain it to Drake or to Ams that he needed to do it this way. That he needed to know for sure who this boy was more than he needed to be safe, and that if he was right about Brody wanting him dead, he could use it to get Ella and Laurel back. Drake was shaking his head at him, sadness written all over his face. He probably thought he would try to fight him.
"Stand him up and untie him, please. You can point your gun at him. And Ams, please help me up."
She did, and he was standing, swaying lightly at first, staring at Brody's face.
"Drake, give me your gun please, and a few minutes of privacy with him. I promise I won't kill him." Reluctantly, Drake handed the buzzing weapon over and took Ams back towards the woods.
He waited for them to be completely out of earshot, and not taking his eyes off Brody's handed him the gun, handle first.
"Finish what you started," he said flatly, quietly. Brody shook his head at him, not reaching for the gun.
"Do it, Brody. Finish it. I know why you think you need to. I am the last of them who knew you then, truly knew you. No more shame after this. I am okay with it, Brody. I just need your word that you and your crew will let everyone else go, that all four of them will be safe. I need your word, Brody. I still believe you will keep your word."
Brody just kept shaking his head at him, "I can't, Riley. I can't get everyone out. I wish I could, but I can't. You shouldn't have run out to me like that. I can't fix this now, not for any of us."
He switched the gun off and threw it on the ground, Brody watching him, his jaw working hard. He put his hands out in front of him, but there wasn't anything to tie them with. It didn't matter, not after what he just said. He didn't think he would run. He could have done that when he offered him the bloody gun easily enough. The gun was still lying lifelessly on the ground, so he kicked it away towards the backpacks, not knowing what to do or say now. Brody hadn't moved.
"There are slave bands and ties in the pile by the bags. I won't run," his voice strained, quiet.
He walked over and found a slave band, but it felt wrong to put that on Brody even now, so he settled on one of the old ties, plastic, not metal. He tightened it around Brody's wrists, hard enough to bite into the skin to hurt, enough for him to know he was a prisoner now. He still didn't move, didn't even flinch at the pain, just stood looking at him.
"Go ahead, Riley. Hit me. Beat the shit out of me. You can't possibly not want to now. Do it."
But he couldn't do it, and strangely, didn't want to. He shook his head and dropped down on the log by the fire, Brody looking at him as if he were disappointed that he didn't beat him.
"Riley! We found us a cave!" Ams voice caught him off guard. She was smiling at him. Ams had probably never seen a cave before, not even in those old library books. Of course she'd be excited. And a cave would be a bette
r place to hide than out in the open.
He let Ams and Drake move all the backpacks to the cave. It was larger than he expected, when they finally all settled there, the ceiling tall enough to where even Drake didn't have to bend down to stand. Brody sat against the far wall, his tied hands in fists in front of him, not speaking, and refusing anything to drink or eat that was offered him. He seemed entirely uninterested in what they would do to him.
After a small supper, Drake and Ams moved into one of the inner chambers, away from them, as if sensing that he and Brody weren't done with whatever they needed to work out. He heard them wrestling with the blankets and making another fire to keep themselves warm. They'd be asleep soon enough. Something he couldn't possibly do now.
He sat there staring at his friend through the fire, not saying anything, hoping he'd find the words soon enough. Hoping, too, that Ella and Laurel could be saved, and that Brody would help save them. Something in the way he was looking back at him told him that he couldn't make him help them. That something terrible happened to this boy and there was nothing at all he could promise him or threaten him with.
"I am sorry I let Anders hurt you, Riley. I wanted you dead, not hurt. I still do. It would make things easier for me, but I couldn't do it. Couldn't lie to you about the girls. I would have killed you if I could. I want you to know that."
He believed him. There was no reason for him to lie now, he knew. It hurt knowing that he wished him dead, but he understood it too. And he remembered the last time he ever saw him, when he chased after him down that street in Waller, but Brody wouldn't stop, and then Brody just shaking his head at him. He remembered that now, couldn't help remembering it, and knew that he wanted him gone even then, that he couldn't bear take anything from that life where he was going.
Escape (Alliance Book 1) Page 18