by Patti Larsen
Not that what he thinks matters, considering the circumstances. He’s done deceiving himself, though, through lying in the face of perceived reality. This enclosure, the fence, the kidnapping, all of it leads to one thing and one thing only. He and the other kids he’s encountered are nothing more than target practice.
Reid knows it’s irrelevant who is responsible, but he longs to find out, just so he has someone to blame. It’s too hard to pin it on the hunters because he is so afraid of them. Mustering anger toward them is just too hard to sustain. He waffles back and forth between Lucy and her boss, Mr. Syracuse, but it’s really difficult to stay mad at his sister when he knows she is as much a victim as he is, and in as much trouble, if not more. He has no face to give her mysterious benefactor, so his imagination musters a cartoon-like character too ridiculous to focus his rage on either.
Reid rolls all of this around in his head as the morning light briefly cheers him. Only then does he notice the terrain has changed. His calves have ached for so long he didn’t notice the incline until he is able to see it. The ground is rocky as well, more like the edge of the ravine where he left the fence the night before last. Reid turns and looks back the way he came, worried he has somehow gotten spun around but corrects himself. Since he turned from the electric barrier, he has been moving east all along. Unless whoever dumped him here also managed to change the path of the sun.
Honestly, if someone told him at that moment he wasn’t even on Earth anymore, he wouldn’t question it. Everything around him is just too surreal.
There is a small break in the trees ahead and he peeks out to have a look before risking exposing himself, wondering if he survives this will he ever feel completely safe in the open ever again. He doubts it very much.
When Reid finally sees where he is going, his breath catches.
Ahead is a low peak, covered in soft wood trees, but almost mountainous, rolling away into the distance. To his right runs a valley with a river running through it, looking like a sliver of blue and sliver, sparkling at him, instantly triggering his thirst. To the left are more trees and the continued incline.
Reid steps back into the shadow of a clump of spruce and does some thinking. So much for some alien planet. This just looks too much like a place he’s been before. He’s known since the first night he can’t be in his native Arizona any longer, not with the forest he’s been running through. But the scene ahead looks achingly familiar and he doesn’t want to believe it. It can’t be possible he’s this far from home. Just the idea of it makes this immeasurably worse even though he can’t explain to himself why.
His father took him camping in New Hampshire once when he was ten. It looked the same as his surroundings now. His mind flashes to cool nights, a well-kept campfire, his father smiling at him. Flames reflected in his sea-green eyes the exact shade of Reid’s and on his dark hair Reid also inherited. His father used to joke they were peas in a pod and Reid loved that. Especially when they camped in the forest, only a sleeping bag and what they could carry to sustain them. His father never believed in tents, instead insisting Reid learn how to make his own shelter.
He’s very grateful, even though he hasn’t had much of a chance to take advantage of all those old lessons. He’s been too busy running.
The trouble is, if the surroundings are the ones Reid recognizes, that means he is thousands of miles from home. He finally realizes why it bothers him so much. Reid holds all of his memories of his dead father dear to him and having this place, the same kind of place, taking over his treasured time with his dad does strange and terrible things to his already aching heart.
He could be wrong. There are forests everywhere. Oregon, for example. California. Equally as far and remote. Alaska? Or Canada even. But he knows in his bones he is right. Reid shudders. The compound is somewhere in the North Eastern US. It’s June. That makes sense. It is warm enough during the day and not too cold at night although he hasn’t really stopped moving so he sort of ignored the temperature so far. But the longer he is here, the worse conditions could get. He may be forced to hide during the day if the temperatures get too hot.
He’s been lucky so far when it comes to insects, and wonders where the black flies and mosquitoes are, constant companions the last time he stayed overnight in the woods. Not that he’s complaining or anything. Being a snack for ravenous bloodsuckers while running from the hunters would just add another level of hell to his situation. But it also reminds him just how controlled this whole thing feels.
Reid glances up at the clear blue sky and wonders how long the weather could hold. Rain would also make his life more miserable than it already is, although he takes it as a good sign he is even thinking about his surroundings and not totally focused on just putting one foot in front of the other.
He considers the food he has left, wondering if he should ration it further before shrugging to himself. Now or later, he needs the energy. He polishes off the last power bar and the final swish from the water bottle. The wrapper he hides under a rock, but the empty plastic container he tucks into one of his pockets. The river he spotted below is probably fed by the stream he encountered, and that means fresh water. He will need a container to store some in just in case the hunters chased him off for the second time. His thirst demands he find a way to never go without again.
Reid moves on, keeping to the east, which means climbing. He is relieved he hasn’t heard any hunter’s howls for a while and wonders if they ever sleep. He’s not exactly feeling safe, but as the climb gets harder he admits he is dead on his feet and needs to find somewhere to rest. It’s either that or pass out where he stands and make himself a ripe target.
Easier said than done. Reid starts looking, not for pursuers but a hidey-hole he can use, even for a few hours of rest. Tucking into the shrubbery worked fine in the dark, but in daylight he’s not so sure. Besides, the undergrowth has thinned and he’s having a hard time finding a place that would conceal all of him.
Reid considers a tall tree, the lower branches just within his reach, but quickly discards the idea. He would have to climb too high to be safe and out of notice, so high that if he fell he would definitely be hurt. He doesn’t have rope or anything else to tie himself to the tree, so climbing is out.
The idea of breaking a leg or suffering a concussion is enough to drive him onward.
As for building his own shelter, Reid decides to leave that as a last resort. It would take a great deal of time and precious energy to gather the materials he needs. Even then he isn’t sure he would feel comfortable trusting something he built. Had his father been with him, with his mad survival skills handed down from his father… but Reid is on his own.
He continues for another few minutes, sneakers sliding over brown spruce needles and damp moss before he spots what looks like a gap in the rock face ahead. He is fairly high by now, the cliff he stands on allowing him a better view of the world below. He pauses, panting, and has a good look around, so self conscious about exposing himself he tucks behind a tree and only pokes out his face.
Everything is very green in the new light of day, softly hazy to the west where a thin line of fog hugs the edge of the valley. A strip of gray winds its way in the distance, sparkling objects speeding by. The interstate. He tears his eyes from it. There’s no hope there, he knows it, but at least he’s found that edge of the fence again, giving him some perspective on how far he’s come. He’s actually amazed by the distance he has covered and how high he has climbed.
The scene is so peaceful and surreal, Reid wants to scream. Under the thin veneer of evergreens there is nothing peaceful about it. And yet, to an objective observer, it is the picture of calm and serenity. Trees stretch out far below him and, in the distance, he is sure he sees the edge of the fence catching the light. Other than the odd bird drifting from canopy to canopy, nothing else moves.
Reid turns and approaches the gap. This close he realizes it’s not just a crack in the rocks, but an opening to something more.
He hoped for the tiny shelter the rocks he envisioned would provide. The idea of a full-blown cave stirs his excitement.
A sliver of fear surfaces. If he goes in, if he chooses to rest there, he might be trapped. Panic raises his blood pressure, pounds his heart. He glances around, suddenly sure the hunters lie in wait for just such an opportunity to trap a stupid kid. But he is as alone as before and so desperately tired he considers the cave mouth again.
Maybe there is a second exit. If so, he would consider it. Trouble is, there is only one way to find out. He has to go in.
Reid steps up to the entrance, noticing a small pile of broken branches draped over part of it. He hesitates. It looks like a trap all right. Those breaks are deliberate, not an accident or caused by the weather, and the pile is artful, as though carefully arranged. So it can’t be the hunters. They are too careful, too meticulous. Which means kids, maybe. Like him. Could it be someone sheltered here before him? Or even, was it possible, could still be here?
Reid rolls his shoulders forward as he shrugs to himself. If the cave is empty, but useful, he’s in luck. And if there are others, well… maybe they have answers he doesn’t. Either way, it’s worth the risk, no matter his fears.
Reid draws a steadying breath and ducks inside.
***
Chapter Fourteen
“Don’t come any further.”
It’s a girl’s voice, quavering and low. Reid can feel the fear radiating toward him, almost smell it in the cool and damp of the cave. It is so dark inside, his eyes still tuned to the sunny morning, he is forced to wait out the adjustment, all the while hating how vulnerable it makes him and refusing to back off at the same time.
There is a whisper of cloth, the sound of a shoe grinding over dirt and rock. A thin channel of light penetrates the darkness and someone glides into it. Not a girl, so she isn’t alone. This boy is small, scrawny even, his skin so dark he almost blends into the gloom around him. Reid guesses he’s about thirteen or so. His vision slowly adapts, enough he spots two more figures hiding in the cave.
“I’m Reid.” He figures it’s the best place to start. The least threatening. But the boy before him doesn’t look all that reassured. He has the same tension in him Reid saw in Monica, though less desperate and more sane.
“What do you want?” The kid’s voice shakes. Reid knows the feeling well.
“Nothing.” That much is true. Not from him or his friends. “I just saw the cave and thought I’d check it out.”
He whispers, his voice drifting in the dark. Reid isn’t sure he’ll ever speak above a whisper again. Just in case.
“Milo.” The boy says, grudging and with a scowl on his face. “This is our cave.”
Reid shrugs like he doesn’t care, even though it hurts him, this rejection from his own kind. “Nice of you to share.” He can’t help that parting shot and a part of him hopes it cuts deep.
He eases backward, ready to leave, when the girl comes into the thread of light. “It’s all right,” she whispers back. “You can come in. If you want.”
Reid hesitates. He does want to, very much. Just seeing the three of them together in that sheltered place gives him a feeling of safety. He knows it isn’t smart to let that feeling in, but he can’t help himself. He’s been running for so long.
Still, Milo’s initial rejection makes Reid pause. Pride reaches out and slaps him so hard he flinches.
“I know when I’m not welcome.”
He holds his place anyway, waiting for one more encouraging word.
Relief floods him when the girl obliges. “Please,” she says, gesturing with one hand. “We need to stick together.”
At last, someone understands. Reid thinks of Monica. If only he had gotten to her before her mind snapped and fear took her over. He slides into the cave and out of the path of the light, allowing the cool darkness to wrap around him. The scent of the earth is stronger here, and unwashed bodies. But he doesn’t mind, pretty sure he’s just as fragrant.
The girl leaves the light, Milo right beside her. She shines even in the dark, pale blonde hair almost glowing. “I’m Leila.”
Reid lets his legs buckle and slides to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees.
“This is Drew.” She introduces a second boy. There is a subtle flash, the hint of light on glass as the kid nods once.
“Wish I could say it’s nice to meet you.” Drew’s voice is almost as high as Milo’s, but with an odd accent. Reid’s mind says New England. So this kid is local.
Leila makes the first move, easing forward until she is face-to-face with Reid. She is about his age, her eyes as light as her hair, dark bruises underneath highlighting them. Even her skin is ghostly pale, thick eyelashes transparent. Reid almost laughs when his heart tells him she is beautiful.
Not the kind of thing he needs to be thinking about at a time like this.
“How long?” She sits next to him.
“This is my second sunrise,” he says.
Drew and Milo join them, Leila’s bravery obviously setting them free of their wariness.
“I’m on day three,” Milo says. His white teeth flash against his dark skin when he speaks.
“Me too,” says Drew. Glasses, braces, chubby cheeks. Pushing fourteen if Reid could guess. Drew hitches up his pants as he sits. They bag around his still-thick waist.
“I’m two days in.” Leila smiles at the boys. “They found me right away. I’m pretty lucky.”
Reid agrees. A jagged stab of jealousy takes his breath away for a moment.
“Drew found me,” Milo says. “Not like being together helps all that much.”
Drew is nodding, glasses hiding his eyes, the dark turning them into oval mirrors.
“If I ever get out of here,” he says, “I’m never running another step ever again.”
The other two laugh. Reid can’t bring himself to.
“How long have you been hiding here?” It would be nice to think the cave could be a more permanent refuge, but Leila sighs.
“Since early this morning, just before dawn. They seem to find us no matter where we go.”
Reid fights off the instinctual panic. “Is there another way out of here?”
None of them say a word. It’s answer enough.
“We tried to hide the entrance,” Drew says. “Didn’t do a good enough job, obviously.”
“Do you have any food?” Milo sounds pathetic and Reid instantly recoils from the boy’s need. He knows then, even if he had any left, he would lie and wonders what he is becoming.
“No,” Reid says. Then, reluctantly, he tells them about the cabin and what he found.
They listen to him like he is a prophet, locked onto his words.
“We should go right now!” Drew is on his feet, hands tugging at his falling jeans. “I bet we could sneak in and out and they’d never know.”
Reid reaches out and pulls the boy back down to the ground.
“They know I was there,” he says. “They’ll be watching now.”
“But we’re starving.” Reid despises the whine in Drew’s voice and resists the urge to slap it out of him. He reminds Reid of Lucy and how she used to beg their parents for the things she wanted. It makes him sick to his stomach.
“There are things in the forest we can eat.” He has been so focused on running he forgot that was true. But his father showed him what to look for. The right kinds of mushrooms. Fiddleheads. Bird nests could hold eggs. He just needed enough time to look.
Reid realizes he is still thinking in singular terms, sad he is obviously ready to abandon the others at the first sign of trouble.
“Do any of you know why we’re here?” More than food or water or shelter, Reid wants answers. But the three shake their heads all at once.
“We’ve asked ourselves the same questions.” Leila’s eyes drift toward the light coming through the entrance of the cave. They are so pale they are transparent in the glow of the sun. “But we all have the same story. I was
taken from my bed in the middle of the night by a group of men who drugged me. I woke up in the back of a van, was carried out here and dumped in the dark.” Her thin shoulders rise and fall once. “The boys found me, got me loose. Told me we had to run.” She turns back, eyes meeting Reid’s. “Do you have anything new to add?”
He shakes his head. “Sounds about right.” Reid sighs, his weariness settling around him like a blanket. If he doesn’t get up and start moving soon he knows he will pass out. “Are you foster kids too?”
All three nod. “We figure we’re easy targets.” The bitterness in Drew’s voice is nothing new to Reid. “No one will miss us, you know? The system will call us runaways so no one comes looking or gives a crap.”
“Have you seen anyone else?”
“Just other kids,” Milo says. “And not for long.” By the way he says it Reid figures those kids didn’t make it.
“Have you gotten a good look at the hunters?”
Milo’s shudder is so violent he has to hug himself. But it’s Drew that speaks.
“Why?” The boy trembles, hands rubbing across his thighs over and over.
“Just wondering.” Reid isn’t sure he wants to voice what he is thinking. He cares enough about the possibility of staying with them at this point he doesn’t want them to think he is crazy. But Drew won’t let it go. He reaches forward, chubby fingers tapping Reid’s sneaker. He pulls back before Reid can react, a frightened animal looking for attention.
“Why?” Drew repeats the question. Reid can’t tear his eyes away from his reflection in the boy’s glasses.
“Because,” he finds himself saying, “I don’t think they are human.”
No one says anything for a moment and in that time Reid berates himself for making a terrible mistake. He may have been willing to abandon them for his own safety at first, but the past few minutes have made it harder and harder to consider running by himself again.