“I like the one with the black hair.”
“There are two with black hair.”
“The one with the red tie.”
I looked at him closer. “He’s not awful to look at.”
She elbowed me. Hard. “Stop that.”
“What? I’m being truthful.”
“You have to pick one of his friends. Remember the plan.”
“Yes. The plan.” Her plan. The plan I’d never agreed to.
“Really, I can even pick for you. It won’t be hard.”
“It sounds like you are discussing what clothes to wear. Or what food to eat.”
“Isn’t it pretty much the same thing?”
I gasped before I could stop myself.
She laughed. “I only mean the choices we make are all about preference. Just as this is.”
“But it’s a much more far-reaching decision.” At least it should have been.
“Yes, but then again if I pick the wrong food—let’s say spoilt meat— and die, that’s a far-reaching decision too.”
“What about the wrong clothes?”
“Well, if you wear a summer dress in the dead of winter and no coat…”
“Okay. That’s enough. Next thing I know you will be waxing poetic about the importance of the way you get out of bed in the morning.”
“On the right side, of course.”
“Is that a pun? As in any side is the right side?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer.
“My favorite sisters.” Mimi pushed between us, separating our arms, and linking hers with ours instead.
“You mean cousins.” I was well aware that she knew this fact; she simply liked annoying us.
“You look like sisters. I call you sisters.”
“Can we help you with anything?” Bailey asked in a much softer tone than I’d just used.
“This is going to be easier if us girls stick together.” She pulled us closer with her arms. “We should remain a team.”
Bailey and I were already sticking together. But I didn’t say that. “Meaning what exactly?” I looked into her grey eyes, searching for her motivation. Was it fear? Was she somehow trying to hurt our chances—which really meant hurting Bailey since I didn’t care about the outcome- with the men?
“Meaning we should approach them together. Stay unified. None of them can have any of us unless we are all picked.”
“And you think that’s going to be a problem?” I untangled my arm from her. “The percentages are still way in our favor.”
“Yes, but there are always hold-outs. Those waiting for the best of the best.” She glanced over at the men then away quickly as if she didn’t want them to know she was looking.
“Then be the best of the best. Why should anyone else decide that?” It’s not that I cared whether Mimi found a match, but I hated that she thought the power should somehow be in the guys’ hands.
“Oh, Faith. Sweet, innocent Faith.” She patted my shoulder.
“I’m not sweet, and I’m not innocent.”
Bailey laughed.
“Did I say something funny?” Mimi spun to look at her.
“Yes. Yes, you did.” Bailey pulled her arm away.
Sometimes I loved Bailey so much I could barely take it.
“You two don’t get it. You don’t get anything.” She wrung her hands at her sides.
“If we are so hopeless, then why are you over here with us?” Bailey smoothed out some of my hair that must have been messed up when I detangled myself from Mimi.
“I already told you. We have to stay together. We have no choice.”
“Just admit it.” I put a hand on my hip.
“Admit what?” She raised her chin.
“You are afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.” She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing scares me.”
“Then why not go talk to the men yourselves?” I pointed in their direction. Unlike her, I didn’t care if they knew I’d been looking.
“Because we need to stick together. It’s the right way of things.”
“And what if we want to same one?” I couldn’t help it. I struggled to drop things even when it was the easier course of action. “Will we still stick together? Because it’s the right way of things?”
“Come on, Faith. Do you even want one? We all know you are only here for Bailey.”
“Then why not say that from the start?” I noticed one of the men watching me with a smirk. It was almost as if he could hear us even though there was no way considering how far away he was.
“Because you two never go anywhere without each other. You are glued to each other. I said you probably don’t want a match, but that doesn’t mean you won’t take one. You will do anything to stay with Bailey.”
“And you say it like that’s a bad thing. Like having a bond with my cousin is bad.”
“It’s not fair. You two have always had each other. I’ve never had anyone.” She brushed something nonexistent off her dress.
“And we’ve tried to keep you out?” Bailey asked. “What about all those times we asked you to join us? When we invited your company?”
“You didn’t mean it.” Mimi put a hand on her hip.
“How would you know?” I noticed the man with the smirk was still watching me.
“It doesn’t matter. The past is the past. We need to look toward the future. And the future involves us getting out of the Glen. Finally.”
“Things won’t be perfect out there either. Resettling won’t be easy.”
“But it has to be better than this. Anything has to be better than this.” Mimi spread her arms out.
“Do you remember anything of your life before?” Bailey’s voice fell to barely a whisper. “Before the Glen?”
Mimi shook her head. “No. I was way too young to remember.”
“I remember bits and pieces.” Bailey moistened her lips. I held my breath. Bailey never talked about this stuff. “I remember fear. I remember knowing that I would never be safe. I remember pain. I remember my mother. And I choose to focus on that final thing—on memories of my mother—because to focus on anything else hurts too much.”
“Yet you are the one who wants to get out of here more than anything.”
“Because I need to believe there is something more. That our lives have more meaning than this.”
“I understand.” And I did. I understood more than I’d ever understood anything before.
Mason
We walked for hours. None of us had any real idea of where we were going, but moving forward seemed like the only answer. Turning around would bring us right back to where we started—with no chance for a future.
The dirt was more like sand now. A never-ending desert with no shelter in sight. The sun beat down on us mercilessly.
“Had I known where we were going I would dressed for it.” Isin wiped sweat off his brow.
“Oh. You do have a sense of humor.” Addison’s lips twisted into a faint smile.
He moved a little closer to her as he continued to walk. “You say that as if you are surprised.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I just didn’t think you had that kind of sense of humor. That’s all.”
“Well, I do.” He raised his chin.
“Good to know.” She smiled wider.
He glanced over at her. “Why are you out here?”
“Uh, the same reason you are. To find out what’s really going on over on this side of the wall.”
“I know that. I mean why are you out here in the first place? Why didn’t you stay back?”
I could have answered that question, but it wasn’t my place to answer for her.
“Oh.” Addison paused. “Because I couldn’t sit back. Because I had to see things for myself. My whole life I’ve had to sit back and let men make the decisions for me. I’m done with that.”
“I hear you.” Isin nodded. “I mean I can’t relate exactly, but I understand.”
“I knew what you meant.” Addison dug the toe of her boot into the sand as she continued forward.
Isin kept pace at her side. “Where were you before…?”
“A camp.” She was keeping her answers short. To the point. Maybe she didn’t want to share more than she had to. I knew that feeling.
“And before that?” His voice was gentle, but he didn’t hide his curiosity.
“A club.” She looked away, off into the distance.
Isin looked at me. “Was it your club?”
I nodded. “Not sure how you guessed…”
“The way you are protective of her, I guess.”
I nodded. That made sense.
Addison turned back to look at Isin. “He saved me from a far worse life.”
Isin’s face fell. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“That you’ve had to live in this world.” He put his hands into his pockets.
“We’ve all had to live in this world,” Addison whispered. “None of us deserve this.”
“Yeah, but it’s worse for you.”
“Does that really matter?” She wrapped her arms over her chest. “Does one’s suffering have to be compared to another?”
This was atypically analytical for Addison, and I needed to stop her from going into some depressive spiral. “Are we sure we’re going to find anyone?” I didn’t want to complain or hurt anyone’s spirit, but I was sure everyone was feeling that way.
Thomas rubbed the back of his neck. “No. It’s entirely possible they are all dead.”
“Because that’s not depressing…” Addison trailed off.
“It is depressing; this whole thing is depressing.” Thomas pressed forward.
We all followed. I gave him a few moments with himself before I caught up to walk beside him. “At what point do we call it quits and turn around?”
“Call it quits?” Thomas looked over at me. “Do you have any other ideas aside from this one?”
“Not at the moment,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t mean one won’t come to me when we return.”
“I’ve tried everything. This is it. I’m not going back without something. They’ve suffered enough.” He looked straight ahead. I followed his gaze but saw nothing.
“They? Your sisters?” From what Kayla had told me the siblings were all very close.
“My sisters and every other woman, every girl. Hell, every one of us that’s our generation and younger. We’ve done nothing wrong, yet we’ve all been punished.” His hands rolled into fists at his sides.
“But what if there is nothing here to find? What if we are wasting our time?” I eyed the sand at our feet. There was a real possibility that sand was the only thing we were going to find.
“There’s something here. Maybe there are no people, but there will be a clue of some sort. We just have to find it.” Thomas pressed on.
“Why did everyone lie?” Addison matched my pace. “We all heard the same rumors. That things were okay out here.”
“And they may be okay in general but not here. We can’t judge a nation based on the desert.” I was just as worried as her, but something in Thomas’ determination rubbed off on me.
“True. But shouldn’t there be border control? And why all those dead people?” Addison asked good questions. Questions with no clear answers.
“Who knows. The survivors could be in hiding. They may have decided to conserve resources and only use part of their land.” Benji joined us. “And the dead? It’s hard to tell.”
“And where are the others who we know went over the wall?” Addison directed that question to me. She was specifically thinking of Denver.
I knew who she was referring to, but I wouldn’t call her out on it. “Those are even more questions we need to get to the bottom of.”
“So, we keep walking.” Addison nodded. “Eventually we’ll find something.”
“We keep walking.” I echoed. It seemed like the right thing to say. Hopefully Thomas was right, and the answers to our problems would show themselves if we only continued moving forward.
No one else said anything. We just continued on. After our second water break I saw something in the distance. It was just an outline—a box type shape- but it was something. “Do you think that’s real?” I asked no one in particular. First thing I needed to do is see if anyone else could see what I saw. I purposely hadn’t drank too much of the water, and I knew I might be getting close to dehydration.
“Well, it’s something.” Thomas’s sight line matched mine. “Are you thinking it’s a building?”
“I hope it is.” Benji crouched down, as if to view it from a different angle.
“Me too.” Addison put her hands on her knees. “It’s hot out here. I’m not sure how much longer we can go on like this.”
“Only one way to find out.” I was as tired as the rest of them, but I was determined to hold onto this shred of hope. It was the first glimmer we had.
“Do we assume they are friend or foe?” Isin asked. “Or is assuming anything dangerous?”
“What you’re asking is should we have our weapons out when we get there?” At least that’s what was running through my head. As to his second question, yes, assuming anything was always dangerous.
“Yes. I mean we have to protect ourselves, but if we come in guns blazing we know we aren’t going to get a warm welcome.” He shrugged. “Right?”
“I say we play it by ear.” I may not have been the official designated leader. That was Thomas. But that didn’t mean I would refrain from making suggestions. I wasn’t good at sitting back and letting others determine my fate. At least not anymore.
Thomas nodded. “Yes. But we need to be prepared. If we can see that building, then anyone who might be in there would be able to see us.”
“I’m not sure if I want there to be anyone there or not.” A red-haired man who’d yet to open his mouth prior to this spoke. “I’m too tired to fight.”
“But I want all this work to be for something.” Addison’s eyes blazed.
“It will be for something.” Thomas pulled out a canteen. “I don’t believe I ran into you two by accident.”
“Meaning what?” Addison accepted the canteen from Thomas and took a sip.
“Meaning fate.” Thomas took the canteen back.
“You believe in fate?” I searched his weathered face.
“My mother believed in it.” He took a sip of water.
“I know.” I almost felt as if I knew their mother from the stories Kayla had told me. “I’m sure you miss her.”
“I was young when she died, but yes. That was the first wound. Now I’ve experienced so many more.” He held out the canteen to me.
I took a long swig and gave it back to him.
“Loss never gets easier. You may be numb, but you can still feel the sting of the blade.” Benji adjusted the weapons on his belt.
“That’s a good way to put it.”
We continued. My confidence that the building was just that, a building and not my imagination, grew stronger the closer we got.
“Still no sign of life,” Benji pointed out.
“No, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.” If they were anything like us, they lived most of their life inside.
“Do you think they might be there?” Addison asked.
“Maybe.” Once again I didn’t use Denver’s name. It seemed cruel. Just because I liked to talk of Kayla didn’t mean Addison felt the same way about discussing the one she cared about.
“Who are they?” Isin raised an eyebrow.
“Friends of ours. They went over the wall before us.” Addison looked away as she spoke.
“And they weren’t any of those others we saw I hope?” Isin asked.
“No. None of those.” Not that we could really tell by what was left of them, but at least it wasn’t the last wave. Not Denver. “Plus, they wouldn’t have been wearing those uniforms.”
“Unless
they were undercover,” Benji added.
“Just stop. Don’t.” Addison held her hands out to both sides.
“Okay. Point taken.”
We fell into silence. The kind of silence when you could hear the crunch that boots made in the sand. When if you listened close enough you could hear heartbeats.
And then we saw him.
“Is that…?” Isin pointed ahead.
“Yes.” I looked at the young boy standing several feet away in the sand.
“Let me handle this.” Addison gestured for us to stay back. “He won’t be as afraid of me.” She let out a slow breath. “I hope.” She took a few steps toward the boy. “Hi.”
“Hi,” the boy replied.
“Do you live near here?”
The boy nodded. “Yes.”
“We aren’t here to hurt you. We are looking for some friends and trying to find out who is here.” Addison kept her voice gentle and calm. She was handling this better than I’d have been able to.
The boy nodded. “There are hardly any left.”
“Hardly any what left?” Addison took another step forward.
“Ones like you.”
“Women?” She put a hand to her chest.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Are you out here all alone?”
He shook his head. “No. But I was the only one brave enough to come see you.”
“Where are the others?”
He turned around and spread out his arms. Little by little children spilled out of the building and ran toward us.
Kayla
I didn’t like this one bit. Not at all. All I wanted to do was take the girls and run, but that wasn’t an option. There was nowhere to run to that wouldn’t result in us being cornered or worse, killed. I had a responsibility to my daughter and niece, and I intended to honor it even if it meant ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Because sometimes walking into danger was the only choice.
I held Faith closer and stepped through the large doors inside the welcome house. The room was dark as the only illumination came from a few sconces on the walls. As a result, much of the room was left in deep, dark shadows.
The door slammed behind us. I jumped, but I hoped it hadn’t been too obvious. I didn’t want to tip Darla off that I was nervous.
The Corded Saga Page 39