“How do we know what direction is east?” Hadwin asks.
“Toward the rising sun,” I tell him, not waiting for Aamon to answer. I put out the fire, preparing to leave. “Let’s get some water before we go, just in case.” It may be a while before we get to Securus. I do not want to get as dehydrated as we were yesterday.
The others get up to follow. Radek unbinds Aamon’s ankles despite the annoyed look from Sayda. We would all prefer him tied up, but he has to be able to walk on his own. We cannot put extra effort into helping him, especially since my legs feel like they were rusted in place overnight. I am sure the others feel similar. With each step, the soreness loosens up some, leaving only the fatigue to hamper me.
I ignore the discomfort as we return to the stream. The brief trip is relatively simple because the landmarks near it are distinctive and the sound of the water is unmistakable. This time, no animals are near the water. We hurry up, wanting to leave this area before any of them appear. The frigid morning water sends a chill through me, eliciting a shiver.
As we walk back up the trail leading away from the stream, I think more about our direction. While we may be leery in trusting Aamon’s direction, it does give us more to go on. More importantly, he has little to gain in deceiving us. Where else could he lead us besides Securus or deeper into the forest? The other facilities and remnants of the old world are hundreds of miles away. Even though Aamon does have an incentive to avoid the Detention Center, and despite his brief outburst yesterday, I doubt he would invite a slow death from hunger or dehydration. Knowing his irrational confidence, he likely has already convinced himself he can form another escape plan later.
Either way, his motives do not matter right now. Whether he is lying or not, I am intent on getting back to Securus and, more importantly, back to Talia. Aamon did give me an idea though. Whatever direction we take, the Sun is the best marker we have to keep our path. We will use it to avoid repeating yesterday’s mistake. Looking up, even in the window this clearing gives to the sky, the exact direction of the Sun is obscured. If we are to be sure of our direction, we need to be precise.
“I’m gonna climb up one of these trees to get our direction,” I tell the others. They do not like the idea, but no one has another suggestion.
The tree in front of me has many branches so climbing it should be relatively simple, except the lowest limbs are out of my reach. Radek and Hadwin both boost me up to one of them so I can ascend. These lower branches are thick, easily holding me. Still, I am careful to test each one before putting my full weight on it. The higher I go the less sturdy they become. My eyes look downward. Suddenly, I am all too aware of how high my position is. This tree rises much higher than it looks from the ground. I take a deep breath, focusing on the branches in front of me while continuing to climb. The intensity of the Sun has increases, making my shadow on the tree become defined.
I slowly shift my feet to turn around, staying careful to keep a tight grip on the branch above me for stability. When facing outward, a magnificent view appears before me. The sparse clouds above are highlighted from below by the rising Sun on the distant horizon. Its glow morphs into red and orange tones, creating a fiery ocean in the sky. A flock of birds are off in the distance, flying in formation, free of the troubles plaguing us. For all the dangers in this forest, it is impossible not to be amazed by its beauty. This is how we were meant to live. Free to explore this wondrous planet, not to be hidden away beneath its surface.
“Kagen, you okay up there, or did you catch your underwear on a branch?” Hadwin chides, reminding me we have no time for sightseeing.
“The Sun’s that way,” I tell them, pointing toward the right of the clearing.
The direction is different than I anticipated. If we went the way our instincts told us to yesterday, we would be moving almost due north. I look for any other landmarks in the forest to guide us, but there are none. In front of me are only endless tree tops with scattered areas of thinning vegetation. I may have to climb again to confirm our direction later.
Ready to get back to the ground, I look down to plan my path. The reminder of the tree’s height makes my vision spin. The way down causes a lot more anxiety than going up did. I extend my foot out to the next limb and lower myself. As my weight transfers, I feel crunch followed by a deafening snap. My feet slip as the limb breaks. I panic, feeling my body falling. A sudden jerk stops my motion. My right hand locked onto another branch, leaving me dangling from it. But with my body’s full weight, my grip is slipping. I swing my other hand up to stabilize myself. My left hand locks onto the branch, but the movement stresses the limb too far.
There is another snap. This time I am definitely falling. My stomach jumps into my throat with the weightless sensation of the fall. The tree pummels me on my way down. My hands reach out for anything to grip, but every time they find something, it breaks. Even though my fall is slowed by the flailing movements and each branch I crash through, it continues. Things move so fast I cannot see anything but flashes of green and brown.
Then, suddenly, I am still. A spike of pain overwhelms me, nearly shutting down my consciousness. I landed on one of the bigger limbs, catching myself on the inner thigh. The pain shoots through my thigh, morphing into a deep spasm. I muffle the painful grunts while reaching down to support my leg. It feels broken. There is too much pain to move. So I stay in place, thinking of what to do next. How can I get the rest of the way down this tree with a broken leg?
“Did you land on your solar tower?” Hadwin asks, suddenly appearing next to me. His voice surprises me. I did not hear him coming, but then again I was a bit distracted.
“No, I landed on my inner thigh. I think my leg’s broken.”
“Well, I shoulda known. The other part’s probably too small a target to hit.” Hadwin raises an eyebrow and pauses, waiting for me to agree. I almost laugh, but the pain stops me. He is trying to make me feel better by poking fun at my situation, classic Hadwin. “You managed to make it halfway down. Can you go the rest of the way, or should I have Sayda lay Aamon out for you to land on?”
“I don’t know, let me try to move it,” I tell him, reexamining the stability of my leg.
Even through my clothes, the swelling is easily palpable. I press on the bone near my knee. To my surprise, it does not cause pain. With fragile hope, I lean over to another branch, standing on my good leg. As soon as I put pressure on the injured one, the pain spikes. Instead of determining if it really is broken, I need to concentrate on getting down. The limbs here are thick and sturdy, so they should support my awkward movements. Hadwin stays just below me as we carefully make our way down. Radek helps us both descend from the lowest branch. We are again safely on the ground.
“If only you missed that one branch, you could’ve been down so much faster,” Aamon says with a smile. Without warning Sayda punches him right in the soft spot in his upper stomach. He falls to the floor, gasping for breath.
“What was that? I can’t hear you.” I taunt him. Satisfied that Sayda has shut him up, I turn my attention back to my leg, forcing my full weight on it. Despite the ache, it holds me upright. “I think I’ll be okay to walk on it, but it’s gonna suck.”
“Last chance to change our minds,” Sayda tells us. “Do we go in the same direction as yesterday or listen to Aamon?”
“We already failed going that way, so heading east sounds as reasonable as anything else,” I say.
Hadwin only shrugs, letting us decide.
“I vote for going east,” Radek adds.
“Sayda?” I ask.
“East it is,” she finally says.
I limp over to stare Aamon in the eye. “If you’re lying to us, I promise you will not live long enough to regret it. Understood?”
He nods at me, not yet recovered from Sayda’s assault. We start off into the forest, heading east. Even if Aamon is leading us in the wrong direction, the worst that could happen is we spend a few hours on a detour and have to turn arou
nd. But at least we will be marking our trail, so retracing our steps should be simple if necessary. The concerning part with wasted time is the lack of food. But as long as we have water, we should be okay for a while. We will have to make due with less energy.
The trail we make looks exactly like the path we chose yesterday. There are trees everywhere with scattered low lying vegetation and no distinctive landmarks. The bite of the cold air from the night has not yet dissipated, but now that we are hiking, it feels soothing. I have taken a position in front with Hadwin reluctantly following right behind. He wanted to stay in the back with Sayda, who refuses to let Aamon out of her sight. That was not an option since Radek demanded to cover us from the back since he has the last working gun.
Though it slows us down, I repeatedly bend or break low branches as we walk to mark our path. As time passes, the pain in my leg lessens. I am relatively certain my femur is not cracked or broken, but it will be sore for a while.
“I don’t see any tracks or footprints from the mountain lions,” Hadwin says cheerfully as we hike.
“You always could find the bright side of things, Haddie,” Sayda tells him. Her words give him a little more energy in his step and put a smile on his face. Her nickname for him is something Radek does not have. I think that gives him hope.
This hike has turned out to be nothing like the times I have dreamed of roaming the surface. Instead of care-free exploring, we are all tired, hungry, and annoyed by the constant reminder of Aamon’s presence. Small insects constantly hover around, irritating us even further. Even worse is the tragic loss of Nyree and Edric. Our trek remains devoid of any fun or joy. The only emotion we feel right now is the stubborn determination to survive long enough to return to the safety of Securus. I find it ironic that lately my thoughts have been consumed by figuring out a way to break our forced dependence on that place and now find myself wanting nothing more than to return to it.
Despite the circumstances, time passes rapidly. Soon the Sun shines directly above us. I keep thinking at any time we will see the Solar Panel fields in front of us, but all we find are more trees. It can’t be much further. Our detour didn’t take us that much farther away, I think to myself. The lone positive sign is while we may have not reached our destination yet, at least we have not rediscovered the stream again.
“I think we should rest for a while,” I tell the others, knowing they are all weakened from the exhaustive hiking combined with lack of food. “We’ll start again when the Sun moves a bit to guide our direction.”
“Let’s find a good tree. I’ll check for landmarks,” Hadwin suggests.
“I’ll watch him while you guys do that,” I say, wanting to rest my throbbing leg.
Radek balks at leaving me alone with Aamon. Right now, I feel too tired to be dangerous. When seeing he has not moved, Sayda gives Radek a tug on the arm. He reluctantly follows.
The unlikely trio disappears, leaving me and Aamon here to wait. I sit on the ground, leaning against a tree with Aamon directly in front of me. There are many insects crawling around. I chose this spot because it has the least amount of activity. The spot Aamon has picked, however, has many crawling creatures just under the thick layer of leaves. I do not warn him. He will find out soon enough. The fatigue makes it hard for me to concentrate, but at least it keeps me from thinking about Nyree. A lump forms in my throat and tears swell in my eyes every time I think of what happened to her.
Thankfully, this time Aamon sits in silence. After a few minutes he begins to fidget. By the time he realizes his mistake, ants crawl all over him. He wildly slaps himself, brushing off the attacking insects while I watch with mild amusement. My entertainment is interrupted by the return of the others. They look excited.
“What happened to him?” Sayda asks, pointing at Aamon. He no longer tries to get the ants off him, but he furiously scratches at the red welts forming on his exposed skin.
“He didn’t pay attention to where he sat down,” I answer.
“You would think even insects would be repulsed by such a rancid meal,” Hadwin says. “Anyway, I could see the Solar Panels in the distance. It’s still kind of far, but we’re going in the right direction.”
“We wandered a lot farther from Securus than we thought,” Radek says as he sits down to rest. “I’m just glad we’ll get back soon.”
I force a smile at the news. The progress is good, but dealing with the loss of another friend is difficult. Not to mention how hard it will be to tell Nyree’s family what happened. I do notice the news caught Aamon’s attention. When hearing it, a smirk stains his annoying face. He taunts me, reminding me he is the one saving all of us. Except I know he is only trying to save himself.
After a short rest, we get back up to finish the hike. Hadwin said the fields are down a slope in the direction we are headed. Both the distance and noticeable slope in the terrain seem weird. I do not remember much uphill climbs during this trip, but then again, we were focused on the traitors when we first left. Either way, it would be impossible to mistake the Solar Panels for anything else. Their distinctive appearance is not mimicked by anything in nature, and no other panels were constructed in this forest.
Our pace is more relaxed now that we know we will not need to spend another night in the forest. I am barely even limping anymore, now that the spasms in my leg have subsided. It hurts, but the pain from the deep contusion is manageable. This part of the forest is so thick it almost feels like we are back underground with a solid ceiling above us. The biggest difference is even with the cover, light permeates everything, and the freshness of the air helps fuel our weakened bodies.
The farther we go, the more my mood continues to sour. The haunting faces of Merrick and Varian have now found new company with Nyree and Edric. They remind me we have no time for the fatigue slowing me now. We need to get back to Securus and fight even harder to free our people from Caelum. Only then will I be able to face their memory knowing their sacrifices were not wasted.
After a few more hours of hiking, I begin to question Hadwin’s vision. We should have been there a long time ago, but there are still no signs of our progress. Though the others remain silent, the confused look on Sayda’s face tells me I am not the only one wondering what Hadwin really saw.
Chapter 27
As we continue our march, the vegetation becomes much thicker than I remember. Other than that, everything else looks the same. Still, something bothers me. I am not sure what it is, something just feels wrong.
“Maybe we should recheck our position,” I say, hinting at Hadwin. Even with my leg feeling somewhat better, it is not strong enough to climb. Realizing my intention, he lets out a sigh before agreeing.
“Remember this the next time you try to deny my superior climbing skills,” he tells me. We used to make fun of Hadwin for being the slowest climber of our group in The Caves. Now we are depending on him. I am sure if he were not so tired, he would be having a lot more fun with reminding me of that fact. With the trees being so closely clustered, he will have to climb higher in this tree than the others, which makes Sayda nervous.
“Take your time, Haddie,” she tells him while he scouts for a good tree.
“Yeah, I don’t want to have to carry you back,” Radek adds.
Hadwin ignores the comment and climbs. He meticulously checks each branch as he steadily goes higher. My hands nervously rub together while watching. I feel more nervous now than when it was me climbing. Soon, he has gone so high we can barely see him. From the tree top he shouts back to us. “We’re close, I see the Panels!”
“Okay, come down then,” Sayda urges him, anxiously watching his movements. He carefully retraces his path back down the tree and safely to the ground. When he does, the proud look in his face immediately dissolves. Hadwin freezes in place.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, worrying even more when the color in his skin drains away.
He only points behind us. I am almost too afraid to look. Slowly, I turn to see what
has him so petrified. Behind us in the forest, a brown hulk lurks among the trees. At first look I think it could be a large pile of fallen wood, but the shape is not right. When the massive pile of fur moves, a memory floods back, revealing what it is. I have seen that thick coat of brown fur, monstrous claws, and beady eyes before. Like the first time I encountered this colossal anomaly, its eyes watch us with curiosity. The beast has not yet decided what to make of us.
“You gotta be kidding me,” I whisper more to myself than to the others.
“What is that?” Radek asks, with his gun out and ready.
“It’s a gigantic bear,” I tell them. “Stay still. Hopefully it’ll pass by.”
“You expect me to stay here with that thing so close?” Aamon says, breaking his long lasting silence.
“If we run, the movement will trigger it to chase us,” I tell him. “So by all means, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”
Aamon does not take my offer. Instead, he slithers behind us. It would have been nice if he ran and took the bear with him. Unfortunately, he is not that stupid, and we are not that lucky. The enormous animal moves again, meandering toward us. The deep thuds of its footsteps are the same as those that stalk my nightmares.
“Are we close enough to reach Securus before it could catch us?” I ask Hadwin, knowing the answer but hoping to hear something different.
“I wouldn’t risk it. Maybe we should climb the tree. That thing’s way too big to come up after us,” he suggests.
It may work, but the bear is getting too close. We would not have enough time to get high enough to be past its reach. It now stands in full view only twenty yards away. The bear stands upright on its back legs sniffing the air and displaying its immense size. It lets loose a deafening roar that shakes the ground beneath us. Even worse than the menacing roar is the vicious fangs revealed by it. There is no escaping this. I position myself next to Hadwin and Radek. Each of them had the same idea, and push Sayda behind us. For once she does not protest.
The Controller (The Securus Trilogy Book 2) Page 26