Untamed Series, #1

by Madeline Dyer

  But Three does. I stare at him, my mouth open, as he follows Esther and Kayden.

  “Good man,” Rahn says, but the way he says it is more like he’s talking to a child, not a man who’s only twenty years younger than he himself is.

  Rahn turns back to Corin and me. Then he moves his left arm slightly. I inhale sharply, my eyes widening as I see the Glock in Rahn’s hand. He’s concealing it slightly, behind his own body. You only see it when you’re in the direct firing line. I gulp. Rahn wouldn’t shoot us, would he? But I don’t know the answer; that’s what scares me.

  “You’re forcing us?” Corin’s voice isn’t as confident as before. I know he also has a gun in his belt, but he doesn’t move to draw it out.

  Rahn nods firmly. “I am. Leaders have to use whatever means necessary in order to protect their people. Now, go and collect what you can.”

  And, just like that, Corin walks off, his head held high in the air. I’m left standing with Rahn aiming a gun at my head. So I do what any sensible person would: I step forward into the village.

  Rahn walks close behind me. Ahead, Corin’s walking fast, going for the heart of the village. I can’t see Esther or Three.

  “You take these ones.” Rahn indicates a row of shabby huts to the right. They’re on the outskirts of the village.

  I nod. Dividing up is always the quickest strategy—and the most productive.

  Rahn grunts and turns away. “I’ll be nearby.” The way he says it almost sounds like a warning; I shiver.

  The first house I enter is the smelliest house I’ve ever been in. A pile of rotting flesh sits in the corner of the main room. I’m sure it’s the remains of a person—or maybe two—so I refuse to let myself look at it.

  Swarms of flies buzz, and I can’t even hear myself think. I step over something decomposing on the floor, then duck under a huge cobweb. I try to hold my breath, but I feel light-headed. I take a deeper gulp of the pungent air and regret it. Coughing and choking and spluttering, I look around.

  There’s a bowl on the table, so I pick it up. There are a few fabric drapes folded over by one wall, but I’m sure there’s something wrapped in them that’s decaying as well. I’ve already looked for the obvious things like weapons and uncontaminated food, but there aren’t any. There’s just death, and I cannot wait to leave.

  In the end, I grab another bowl, even though it’s cracked, and duck under the drape by the entrance. Being outside, in the fresh air—even though it isn’t that clean—is beautiful. I take a huge breath, reveling in it. Freedom, at last—

  I hear the footsteps a fraction of a second before a hand clamps over my mouth.

  I swear into the leathery skin, cursing Rahn over and over again as he drags me backward. Dust billows around me as I kick out. Rahn’s stronger than I expected, and he tilts my head up, so all I can see is sky. The sun’s bright, and its flashes sting my eyes. I stumble, trip, but he doesn’t let me fall. I smell a strong liquor and feel metal against my head—his gun?

  A drape slides over my arm. A new hut.

  “There, there, my little one.”

  I’m forced to face him, and—

  It’s not Rahn.

  It’s Raleigh. Again.

  I turn, looking behind me, my eyes searching the darkest corners and the shadows. He’s not going to be working alone. They always work in a pack. That’s what Rahn’s taught us all, and that’s what I’ve found to be true. But I can’t see any movement. No other Enhanced reveal themselves.

  Raleigh smiles slowly. It’s dark in the hut, but his eyes still manage to capture some light and throw it back at me.

  “Get away from me,” I say.

  I raise my balled fist slightly. In my other hand, I still hold the bowls, but they won’t be much use. Especially against a gun. I eye the firearm warily. A semi-automatic pistol, with a silencer attached.

  “Shania, please, listen to me.” The emotion in his face is deceptive.

  “My name is Seven.” I back away from him, deeper into the hut, a hand over my mouth. This one smells worse than the last.

  “You’re hurt,” he says, scanning my body. His gaze rests on my hip for a little too long. “I can fix that,” he says, and he puts the gun into his belt. “I won’t hurt you.”

  I flick my head back as I look around. The window is behind him, as is the door. He’s backed me into a corner. I can’t get out. Not easily. I need to swap positions with him, then run. But my hip… I swear under my breath.

  Maybe I should just entertain him for as long as possible, until Three comes looking for me. Unless he’s in a similar situation as well. No. I need to get out of here on my own.

  “Join us, Shania. We won’t let them take you from us again. You’ll be my top priority. And I can tell you about your mother.”

  I flinch, and he smiles; he knows he has me, I’m sure.

  “I can take you to her. A reunion. She asks about you all the time, Shania, she wants her baby back. All she talks about is you—”

  “Stop it! You’re lying.” My voice wobbles.

  “Am I?”

  I nod, feeling a lump like coal slide down my throat. He has to be. It’s a trick.

  But he’s talking about my mother.

  And what if it’s true? What if I could see her again? And I’d have food and water and shelter….

  No. I need to stay Untamed. I take a deep breath. I’m a Seer. The spirits and the Gods and Goddesses have chosen me. I can’t let them down, they’re always right. If they’ve chosen me to be a Seer, it’s because being Untamed is the right thing to be.

  Raleigh smiles. “She always talks about you. Where’s my little Shania, Raleigh? she says.”

  “No. She wouldn’t. My name is Seven. She named me.”

  “All she wants is her baby girl.”

  For the first time he looks away from me, and I take that moment to scream. I try to spin around, but my hip stops me.

  Raleigh lunges for me; I knee him between the legs. He crumples up, moaning.

  I jump over him, ignoring the pain in my hip, and I try to run. But his hand snakes around my ankle. I scream as I fall, landing heavily next to him, my shoulder crashing into his body. I roll over, trying to get away, but his hand is on me, and his fingers are strong.

  “Be quiet, Shania,” Raleigh hisses. His hand presses down on my mouth as he scrambles up, kneels over me. He moves forward, a knee either side of my body.

  I’m not being quiet. I’m screaming as loudly as I can into his hand. Shouting for help. “Three!”

  Raleigh holds me down. I scream and kick out at him. I miss. I fumble for something that I can use as a weapon, but there’s nothing here. My blood rushes to my ears, my skin’s clammy, and my heart gets faster. He’s going to get the pistol out, any second now.

  “Stop it!” Raleigh screams. “Shania, I—”

  He’s cut off by a growl. A very loud and familiar growl.

  “Dog!” I shout.

  My terrier, my beautiful little terrier, appears. I watch, almost gleeful, as my dog tears a chunk out of Raleigh’s arm. The man screams, showering me with spit, but his weight doesn’t leave me.

  I yell for my brother again, but Raleigh hits me hard across the chest. Fresh pain washes over me.

  The dog barks at Raleigh, his teeth bared. Raleigh rolls himself off me, kneeing me hard in the stomach. I shriek. The dog growls, then leaps at Raleigh, who’s now standing.

  “Get it away from me!” Raleigh tries to brush my dog off his ankle. But the terrier isn’t giving up. Neither am I.

  I try to get up, but Raleigh steps nearer. He plants his foot over my stomach, and blood drips from his arm onto me.

  “I don’t think so,” he says. “This is your last chance, Shania. Your very last chance. Use it wisely.”

  “I am Untamed!” I shout, and the words reverberate within me, setting off a new type of power, of determination. My hands scramble about on the floor, looking for anything I can use as a weapon…a stone,
anything! But there’s nothing. His foot presses down harder. The dog’s going crazy.

  Then we hear footsteps. Raleigh looks pleased.

  “They’re here,” he whispers, apparently now oblivious to my dog gnawing at his leg. “Come on, Shania. We’ll get you home.”

  And the footsteps get nearer…nearer…nearer… The terrier goes quiet, and I cannot see him.

  Raleigh places a hand on my shoulder. “Come on. Stand up.”

  I do. I’m not stupid. I can’t fight him and his men. Raleigh puts his uninjured arm around my shoulders, holding me close against his body. I try not to breathe.

  An unknown hand moves the drape in front of the hut’s entrance. I look away. I don’t want to see them.

  “Get your hands off her.”

  My gaze snaps upward. Corin and Three stand in the doorway. Rahn is behind them, with Kayden and Esther.

  For a second, Raleigh freezes, then he pushes me forward. My body’s his shield, and he presses me against him until I can feel every detail of his body.

  “I said, get your hands off her. And I mean now.” Corin steps forward, his gun in his hand.

  “Let us out of here,” Raleigh says. He presses a hand down on my shoulder, and I feel blood trickle down my back. His blood. I hear a slight scraping noise, maybe his pistol? “I am taking with me what is mine.”

  “She is not yours,” Rahn says. He points his Glock at us, its barrel is shiny. “She is part of my group.”

  Raleigh laughs, and I feel his body shake. “I never knew the Untamed were so accommodating to ones we’ve tainted these days… Well, I suppose you have to be, given how few your number is.” He squeezes my shoulder, then lifts his gun up. I can see its barrel by the side of my face, too close. “Shania is one of us. She has developed a taste for the augmenters, and they are still in her system, even if her eyes say they are not. She needs augmenters to survive. Would you really want to cause her death simply by keeping her with you?”

  “That is a lie,” Rahn says, his voice deep. “Seven doesn’t need them.”

  Raleigh pauses. “You’re sure about that? Because I know what she’s feeling. She wants the augmenters. It’s painful for her, the need to have them. She’s trying to be strong, to prove she’s still one of you. But she’s not. She’s one of us. You cannot change what has happened. I have been sent to claim back what belongs to—”

  “She is not an object!” Three shouts, then he’s right in front of us. He’s got the rifle, and it’s level with Raleigh’s eyes. “I will shoot you dead right now, right here. I mean it, old man. Let go of my sister.”

  Raleigh doesn’t move.

  They deserve to die. Each and every one of them.

  I want to scream, but I can’t…maybe because Raleigh doesn’t deserve to die… But he’s an Enhanced….

  But no one deserves to die, do they?

  “I mean it.” Three positions the rifle by his shoulder. Behind him, Corin and Rahn step nearer, their weapons already raised.

  “You don’t,” Raleigh says. He stoops. His mouth is behind my neck, and his breath is hot against my skin. “You won’t shoot me, not when there’s a chance of Shania being shot—”

  Three pulls the trigger.

  I shriek. Momentary darkness. Shouting. Blood splatters everywhere.

  “Not a chance, eh?” Three laughs.

  His gun is still pointed at Raleigh, whose hand has fallen from my shoulder. I turn and look at the Enhanced man. For a second, Raleigh doesn’t move. He just stares at my brother. Then he falls, gasping. The bullet is in his leg. Not meant to kill, just in case Three’s aim wasn’t true. Then I see the blood. Red. Everywhere. There’s too much of it.

  I scream. I run.

  “Seven!” Esther grabs me and pulls me out of the hut. She wraps me up in a hug. Raleigh’s blood covers both of us. “Let’s get you away from here,” she says.

  Esther leads me away. My terrier shadows us.

  Another gunshot echoes through the landscape.

  “He’s not dead,” is the first thing Three tells Esther and me when the others emerge from the hut. I can’t see whether they’ve got Raleigh’s gun with them, but I expect they must have. They’re not stupid.

  We’re sitting not too far off, sorting through the items we scavenged from the dead village. It doesn’t feel right, taking them, but Rahn’s right—they have no other use.

  Corin looks annoyed. He’s lighting up, though he struggles with his lighter for a few seconds. There isn’t much fluid left, but he’ll probably have another one, even though we have practically no resources.

  “Our bullets aren’t enough to kill him. He’s super-Enhanced. But he’s not going to be moving from that hut for a long time.” Corin glances at me, but doesn’t say anything. Rahn is just behind him.

  “And that is why we should have got Seven back through reasonin’ with him. Our ammunition’s goin’ to run out, if we ain’t careful. Violence is not always the answer, especially when we’re against the perfect Enhanced.”

  I raise my eyebrows. Violence is not always the answer. Rahn sounds like the Enhanced.

  Now, the leader turns on me. “And don’t you go gettin’ yourself into any more situations like that.”

  “Hey! That was not Seven’s fault,” Three says. He has a coil of wire hanging around his neck. “The fact is they’re going to be after her. We already knew that. So we’ve got to protect her. Work together, not against each other.”

  “Protect her?” Rahn looks at me, then back at Three. “She’s seventeen. Not a child. She doesn’t need protectin’. She’s practically an adult—”

  “Then treat her like one,” Three says. “I’ve seen the way you speak to her. You too, Eriksen. And, it is no different to how you treated our mother. Or how you treat the majority of my family. Just what the hell is your problem?”

  There’s a long pause.

  “Problem?” Rahn says. He shakes his head. “I don’t have a problem with you. But your sister? The fact is, she’s a Seer. And my previous experiences with Seers ain’t been good. Seers ain’t trustworthy. They keep secrets.” He looks down his hooked nose at me, his dark glasses glinting. “They deceive us. They pretend to be on our side. But they’re not. So, yeah, actually I do have a problem with Seven. She’s a Seer. Before her Seer powers were discovered, we had none of this. We still had our homes, our food, our resources, our people. This is her fault.”

  There’s a startled silence. I gulp and look across at Corin. He’s tapping the ash off the end of his cigarette, intent on it. Surely he can’t blame me too? It’s not my fault we had to leave people behind… But I was the one who drove the truck away from them all. I was the one who left my father and sister behind. My stomach twists into a tight knot. I was the one who left them to become Enhanced, or killed. I start to choke.

  Three stands up and flicks his hands out. “You can’t blame her for all that. If she hadn’t seen it coming, we’d all be dead too. And you, Rahn, you were the one who told her to drive away.”

  “Well maybe dead is better than what we are now,” Rahn says. He looks at me with such an expression of utter disgust that I can almost feel my blood curdling. “She’s a liability. She’s a Seer, she ain’t trustworthy. And, so long as she’s with us, we’ve got the Enhanced after us.”

  “We are a group,” Three says slowly. There’s a warning note in his tone. “And we always have the Enhanced after us.”

  A long, long silence follows.

  “Right, we need to get a move on.” Rahn’s voice is sharp as he turns away. “If one Enhanced is here, there’ll be more on their way. We’ll divide our salvage between us, then get goin’.”

  That’s what we do. There’s only one tarpaulin bag that’s good enough to use, so all the little objects get piled into it until the seams are bursting. Corin—being the strongest—takes the bag, lugging it over his shoulder. Esther and I both have curtains and drapes over our arms, and Kayden has an old bow that he found. There are
no arrows but he says he’ll whittle them from the legs of a chair. Three and Rahn are carrying containers, skins, and buckets. They’re empty at the moment, but when we find water we’ll fill them up.

  The six of us set off. For a long time, no one speaks. The terrier keeps close to my heels, and I keep having to look at him, just to check that he is still there—and that he is real and not a figment of my imagination. I can’t believe he’s here. It’s almost like a dream. I never thought I’d see him again.

  After a while, the six of us fall into our usual walking formation: Corin, Kayden, and Rahn at the front, Esther, Three, and myself at the back. The sun is high in the sky: it’s getting hotter. The dusty ground feels harder, my feet hurt. In the distance, some hyenas run away.

  A couple of hours later we reach a spring, and we all greedily drink. For the first time in my life, I’m not excessively worried about the bacteria in the water, because it’s water.

  It won’t do any harm, I tell myself over and over as I swallow. It’s the only water available. I bite my lip, trying hard not to think of the Enhanced compound. There was water there: clean, fresh water. Would it really be so bad to live there and not be at risk of infection and disease, even if it means losing our emotions, becoming Enhanced? I push that thought away quickly. I can’t afford to think like that.

  Rahn and Three fill up the containers, skins, and buckets, and we set off again. Three takes the tarpaulin bag, and Corin has one of the water containers. We walk in silence. I can’t get rid of the feeling of Raleigh’s hands on my shoulders or his hot breath on my neck, no matter how hard I try. Just thinking about it is enough to make me shudder.

  And he’s still out there. He’s not dead. He’s alive. He’s after me. And something within me—that little voice of reason—tells me that he won’t be giving up until he’s got me.

  Or until I’m dead.

  The next day, by about noon—when heat pounds down the hardest, bathing us in sweat—we reach the outskirts of New Zsai, one of the Enhanced Ones’ towns. Well, all towns and cities nowadays are theirs.