"That's your sister?" Ginger asked.
Elton nodded. "It doesn't look like she's moved since I went to get you."
"Let's fill up our canteens," Gray said with a meaningful look at Maeve. "Then we'll go have a look at her ankle."
Maeve quickly knelt and filled her canteen. She stood as she twisted the cap back on, then said to Elton, "OK. Let's go."
They made their way around the pool of water to where the girl sat. Never shy, Emery was the first to greet Shalara.
"Hi! I'm Emery. Elton told us all about your ankle and how you escaped the plague." She pointed at Maeve. "Maeve's a nurse, so she can help with the ankle."
Shalara looked a bit bewildered at Emery's friendliness, and Maeve saw Ginger grit her teeth as Emery plopped down on the ground next to Shalara.
"Hi," Shalara said with a shy smile and a mellow voice. "I'm Shalara. I'm so glad you've come."
Ginger hastily moved to stand close to Emery and Shalara with her gun held down at her side. Shalara's eyes widened at Ginger's gun, but she didn't say anything. Maeve knelt near Shalara's legs and opened her pack.
"I'm Maeve. Like Emery said, I'm a nurse. Can I look at your ankle?"
Shalara nodded but remained silent. She pressed her lips into a small line as Maeve turned back her wide pant leg and touched her ankle. She looked up from the girl's ankle to see her hands digging into the sand.
"Hurts, huh?"
Shalara nodded and gave a little cough.
"I think it's broken," Maeve said. "I don't know whether I can set it or not. Ankles can be tricky since you have to get the joint aligned. I'll do the best I can, but it's going to hurt. A lot. I don't have anything to numb it with."
"You can hold my hand," Emery said.
Maeve looked at Elton, Tristan and Gray. "I'm going to need two of you to hold her down and one of you to help me set the bone."
Tristan and Gray exchanged another look of silent communication. Maeve wondered if it was something they taught them in the military − how to exchange information without talking.
Gray said, "I'll help you." He set his rifle nearby then knelt next to Maeve. Quietly, so only she could hear, he said, "You know I have no idea what I'm doing, right?"
"I'm not sure I know that much more," Maeve said. "I've only been a full-fledged nurse for a month. We'll just have to do the best we can."
Shalara was shaking her head and whispering fiercely to Elton.
"She doesn't want us to hold her down," Elton said.
Maeve leaned back on her heels. "Shalara, there's no way you'll be able to stay still while we do this. Not because you don't want to but because it hurts so much. There's no other way to do it."
Shalara shook her head so hard that she began coughing again. Elton knelt and whispered to her again. Maeve couldn't hear what they were saying, but after a short time Shalara nodded and waved her hand toward Maeve in a clear gesture to begin. Tristan and Elton knelt on either side of Shalara and gripped her legs, holding them still. Emery picked up the girl's hand and nodded to Maeve. Maeve took a deep breath, filling her lungs until they felt as if they would burst, then slowly blew the breath out.
"OK," she said to Gray. "You're going to pull on her foot to shift her ankle in place while I move her leg. It's going to hurt her. You have to block out the fact that you're causing pain. Can you do that?"
Gray nodded.
Maeve directed Gray to pull as she shifted Shalara's leg and braced herself for a scream, but the only sound she heard was a whimper. She spared a glance at Shalara's face and found her eyes closed, sweat beading on her forehead. Emery grimaced in pain as Shalara squeezed her hand with all her might, but only small whimpers escaped Shalara's firmly clamped lips.
Standing above her, Ginger's face had taken on a green cast, and she turned her gaze out toward the desert.
Maeve and Gray worked steadily for 10 minutes, shifting the bones until Maeve was satisfied with their placement. Maeve stood and broke two sturdy twigs off a nearby tree and carried them back to Shalara. She quickly splinted the ankle with the twigs and some bandages from her pack. With a sigh, she sat back on her heels and wiped the perspiration from her face with the bottom of her T-shirt.
She nodded to Tristan and Elton. "You can let her up now."
Sometime during the procedure, Emery had shifted from holding Shalara's hand to hugging her around her shaking shoulders. Shalara's head rested on Emery's shoulder and her face and shoulders were drenched in sweat. Shalara lifted her head, and Maeve could see tear tracks through the accumulated desert dust on her face. She shifted her legs and grimaced but gave Maeve a wan smile.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"You're welcome," Maeve said. "I'm sorry it hurt so much."
Shalara waved aside her apology. "It needed to be done. Elton." She turned to her brother. "We should offer them a chance to clean up and eat."
"Shalara is right. We don't have much, but what we do have is yours."
"We have our own food," Tristan said quickly. "But we would love a chance to wash up. Gray, you and Maeve go ahead, and Ginger, Emery and I will take our turn when you're done."
Elton gave Tristan a steady look, clearly understanding that Tristan was taking no chances at leaving him and Shalara alone, then shrugged. "That works for us. We can eat when you're done."
After everyone had washed, they gathered in a circle under one of the trees. Night had fallen, and Elton had lit a fire to ward off the chill of the desert at night. As hot as it had been during the day, as soon as the sun had slipped below the horizon in a blaze of orange and red, the temperature had dropped. Maeve shivered and moved closer to the fire. Gray dug in his pack and handed her a sweatshirt. She gave him a grateful smile and pulled it over head.
"What's your story?" Elton asked when they had finished eating. "Why were you out wandering in the desert?"
Maeve's gaze traveled across her friends' faces. She could almost see the wheels spinning in their minds as they tried to decide how much to tell Elton, but before any of them could make a decision, Emery started talking.
"We're trying to find a group of survivors from your city," she said from her place next to Shalara. Emery had been glued to the girl's side since Maeve had set her ankle, fetching things for her and keeping her company. "A patrol found them in the desert, and we sent a group out to find them. Have you seen them?"
"Emery," Ginger said in a warning tone.
"What?" Emery asked. "I just answered his question. It seems only fair that they know something about us since we know everything about them."
Ginger shook her head in exasperation, then gave Maeve, Tristan and Gray an apologetic shrug.
"It's OK," Maeve said. "We're all out here together, and what we're doing isn't really a secret."
Gray eyed Maeve but said nothing. She could feel the tension rolling off of him and had already noted that he kept both their packs near him and his gun always within reach. When she glanced over at Tristan, she saw he had Emery’s, Ginger’s and his packs nearby, and his gun sat at his feet.
The arrangement didn't escape Elton's notice either. "You guys can set your guns aside, you know. We're not armed."
"We'll just keep them nearby, thanks," Tristan said lightly. "You never know what's out there." He tipped his head toward the desert just outside the ring of light created by the fire.
Elton waved his hand toward Maeve. "How come you don't carry a gun?"
Maeve shrugged. "It's not really my thing. Doesn't mean I'm helpless, though."
Elton held up a hand. "I never implied you were. Just curious."
"Where are you from?" Shalara asked.
Ginger gave her a confused look. "We're from Palumbra. Surely you've figured that out."
Shalara shook her head. "I didn't know there was anything beyond the borders of Bellus until we fled. What is it like there?"
Ginger ignored the question and turned to Elton. "Did you know about Palumbra?"
Elton
nodded. "I pay more attention in history class than she does. I knew Palumbra was the winner in the wars, and it was assumed there was nothing left of Bellus."
"How much is left of Bellus?" Gray asked.
It was Shalara's turn to look confused. She drew her eyebrows together, the flickering firelight illuminating her face and giving it an almost heavenly glow. Maeve was struck again by her fragile beauty and wondered how two siblings could look so different. Shalara had blonde, almost white, hair and a thin, almost skeletal, frame. Her facial features reminded Maeve of a doll she had once seen in a book. She transferred her gaze to Elton who was as dark as his sister was light. While her skin was pale, Elton's had more of an olive tone that set off dark eyes and midnight black hair. His facial features were broader and flatter than Shalara's but no less beautiful. Where Shalara's hair hung in straight lines around her face, Elton's curled uncontrollably. For a fleeting moment, Maeve wondered if they were really siblings but quickly shook the thought off. Siblings could look different, and the difference could easily be explained if they were half-siblings. She returned her attention to the conversation where Elton was expounding on the greatness of Bellus.
"But why haven't we been able to find any sign of Bellus?" Gray asked. "We patrol near where it should be, but we haven't seen any sign of it."
Shalara started to speak, but Elton cut her off. "That's weird. Maybe you're looking in the wrong place."
Gray shrugged and said, "Maybe," but Maeve could hear the skepticism in his voice.
Something didn't add up. Elton had definitely stopped Shalara from speaking, but Maeve didn't push the issue because Gray was also not revealing the World Government's plot last year to destroy Bellus. It probably wouldn't help their relationship with Elton and Shalara to announce that the WG had created a grand plot to kill them and everyone around them just a few months before.
Elton continued with his description of Bellus. "It's the greatest city in the world," he said with a far-off look in his eyes. "The buildings shine in the sun as they reach to the sky. Outside the city, there are rolling hills covered in trees. A lumber factory turns those trees into usable wood to create houses and furniture. Beyond the trees are the farms where food is grown − enough for everyone." Elton looked at the meager handful of nuts in his hand. He shook his head as if snapping himself back to the present.
"But it's all gone now," he said sadly.
"How do you know the disease hit everyone outside the city?" Gray asked.
Elton shrugged. "Maybe it didn't get everyone, but it got most people. When we fled, we first headed toward the farms, thinking that at least we would have food. But when we got there, everyone was dead. We headed for the desert because I thought we might be able to make it to Palumbra."
"But your sister didn't even know about Palumbra. Why didn't you tell her?" Ginger asked.
Elton's eyes widened as if surprised by Ginger's comment, but he said, "I didn't know she hadn't paid attention in history class. I assumed she knew where we were going."
Maeve thought it was odd that Shalara hadn't known and even odder that Elton had cut her off the one time she had tried to speak during their conversation. She looked across the fire to Shalara and noted the tired circles under her eyes and the lines of strain on her forehead, sure signs that she was in pain. She swept aside her concerns, chalking Shalara's silence up to her not even listening to the conversation as she tried to mask her pain. Maeve rose, wiping her hands on her pant legs.
"Shalara, let me look at your ankle again. Then, let's find you some place more comfortable to sleep."
Maeve took a step toward Shalara when an unfamiliar voice said, "Stay where you are. No one is going anywhere."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Maeve froze where she stood. In the dimness beyond where the fire's light could reach, she could just make out several figures. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gray inching his hand toward his gun, but before he could grab it, a man stepped into the pool of light provided by the fire.
The man was small, shorter than Maeve by several inches, but the gun he pointed at Gray was not. "Don't try it," the man said in a gravelly voice that Maeve would have associated with someone much older than he appeared to be. She wondered if something had damaged his vocal cords.
Gray had stopped moving his hand toward his gun on the man's command. Several other people stepped into the circle of light around the fire, all with guns pointed at Maeve’s group. In the flickering light of the fire, the people looked as if they had stepped off another planet. Dressed identically in pants and shirts made of some kind of shiny, silver fabric, the newcomers, both men and women, all sported the same close-cropped hair. Maeve noted the hoods with clear plastic face shields that hung down their backs.
Slowly, Tristan raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "No need for guns," he said calmly. "We're not dangerous."
"Gather up their guns," the leader said in his gravelly voice. A younger woman hurried to obey. She gathered guns from Ginger, Tristan and Gray but stopped when she came to Maeve. "Where's yours?" she asked. Maeve shook her head.
"I don't have one."
The girl raised her eyebrows over eyes that shimmered with disbelief. She frisked Maeve. Satisfied she wasn't hiding a gun, the girl cocked her head and gave her a quizzical look. "You're with them, right?"
Maeve nodded.
"So why don't you have a gun?" She gestured toward Gray, Tristan and Ginger with the end of her rifle. "They all have guns."
"I'm not really a fan," Maeve said.
The girl cocked her head to the side and gave Maeve a quizzical look. "So you don't carry a weapon? Are you nuts?" Maeve shrugged and gave silent thanks that her knife was hidden on the ground under her canteen.
The girl shook her head and stepped back, handing the guns to a young man who was lingering at the back of the group.
"Everyone, over there," the man with the gravelly voice said, pointing to where Shalara was sitting. They complied and formed a horseshoe behind Shalara, Elton and Emery. Ginger and Tristan had placed themselves on either side of Emery, and Maeve saw them share a look that clearly indicated if things went south, one of them should grab Emery and run.
Gray edged closer to Maeve and gave her hand a quick squeeze. She was grateful for the reassurance.
"Who are you?" Elton ventured in a timid voice.
"Survivors," the man answered curtly.
"Survivors of what?" Tristan asked.
"The plague, boy. What else? Where are you from anyway?"
No one answered.
"The silent game, huh?" the man asked. "No matter. We don't need to know where you came from. We just need your provisions." He motioned to some of the people behind him to gather up their packs and begin rifling through them.
"Where did you come from?" Elton asked. "We escaped Bellus when the plague hit." He motioned toward Shalara but managed to encompass all of them in his wave.
"We did, too," the man said. "Ran into a little trouble with a group from Palumbra, though."
Maeve heard Gray suck in a sharp breath, but he remained quiet.
"Really?" Elton said. "What happened?"
"We thought they were going to help us, but what they wanted to do was quarantine us in some caves and study us. We're not lab rats." He shrugged. "We took care of it."
Maeve could feel Gray stiffen next to her. When she glanced down, she saw his hands were fisted at his sides. "How did you take care of it?" he asked in a slightly strained voice.
"Let's just say the vultures got a little extra dinner last night."
Emery let out a small whimper, and Maeve quickly coughed to cover up the sound. The man spun on his heel toward her, pointing the end of his gun just inches from her face.
"You sick?" he barked.
Maeve shook her head. "No. Not sick. Just a tickle in my throat from walking through the desert all day. I'm not used to all the dust."
The man studied her intently then lowered his
gun from her face but still kept it trained on them. "Can I have some water?" Maeve asked, motioning toward her canteen. She gave another cough for good measure.
The man relented and started to pick up her canteen. "Can I get it myself?" Maeve almost sprinted to where her canteen sat. "The cap is kind of tricky, and it leaks a lot. I wouldn't want you to get all wet." She prayed her explanation was plausible because it sounded stupid to her.
"Let me see that canteen." The man held out his hand. Maeve crouched down with her back to the man and quickly sloshed a little water out of the canteen as she picked up her knife and slid it up the sleeve of the sweatshirt Gray had given her earlier. She turned and handed the canteen to the man, then pulled her sleeves down over her shaking hands, hoping the man would think she was simply cold.
The man examined the canteen and handed it back to her then motioned for her to return to the others as he wiped his now wet hand on his pant leg. The shiny fabric crackled when he touched it. "Get back over there, and don't move again unless I tell you to."
"Sarge," shouted one of the men rifling through their packs. "I've found something."
"Don't move," the man said, giving Maeve an extra-long stare as she hurried back to stand next to Gray. The man spoke softly to one of the other men guarding them, then strode over to where the others in his group had begun to make piles from the things in their packs. Maeve saw a stack of food and a stack of clothing. The young man who had summoned "Sarge" held Emery's computer in his hands. Maeve groaned internally and grabbed Gray's hand. Tristan leaned down to whisper in Emery's ear. Emery nodded.
"No talking," said the man in charge of guarding them.
Sarge strode back over to where they sat near the fire. Despite his short stature, his legs ate up the ground and his broad chest gave the impression that he was much taller than he was.
The Lost City: The Palumbra Chronicles: Book Two Page 6