Olivia’s pale face is now red with anger. “Get out of here. The guard outside the door will escort you back to your room.”
“I wish you would believe me,” I say, standing.
“I want to believe you,” she says, “but I cannot. You are too far off base. But don’t worry. You’ve told me enough. I know now that I’ve got to be extra cautious.”
The more she speaks to me, the more I realize that she doesn’t get it. She can do anything she wants to prepare, but that won’t stop what’s coming. She may be extra cautious, but that doesn’t keep Jeremiah from breaking through the door. The only way to change the future I just saw would be to investigate it and find out why there are greyskins within the compound, and why Jeremiah and I will be coming after Shadowface.
Of course I’m not going to tell her this. By the time the greyskins get here I will be long gone. The only future I care about is tonight’s. I don’t know what the end result will be, but hopefully I’ll be far away from here.
I don’t know what time it is, but it’s dark and everyone is in bed. Well, not everyone. I heard footsteps only a few seconds ago, but they stopped. I’m pretty sure they came from Scott and Derek’s room from the other end of the hall. More than likely it was Ray getting up to pee, but I can’t be sure.
I close my eyes and travel through the house until I reach Scott and Derek’s room. It is silent, and I almost abandon them until a hear another footstep, this time much more loudly. It’s not the sound of a soft sock or bare skin against the wood floor, but something more hardened like the sole of a boot. Since I doubt either of them would normally like to sleep in their boots, suspicion takes over me. I try not to make too much noise as I crawl out of bed. In anticipation of having to get up like this, I left all my normal clothes on except for my shoes—which I left at the end of the bed—and my coat that hangs on a hook next to the door. The bedsprings squeak as I stand from the mattress, but I don’t think anyone other than myself would have ever noticed. I try to maintain my hearing focus with my eyes open as I tiptoe toward my door and slip into my jacket. There is still some shuffling around in their room, and I’m pretty sure one of them is getting his shoes on. I freeze when I hear one of them whisper. It’s Derek.
“Have you got your gun?”
“Yes,” Scott whispers back. “Let’s go.”
I can hear him grab the doorknob and twist, the door squeaking too loudly for their comfort, no doubt. I listen for them as they take light steps down the hall toward the front door. I’m relieved to know that they are leaving the house instead of going to my room or one of the others, but my curiosity still gets the best of me. Once I hear the front door close softly behind them, I reach for my pistol that rests on the dresser and tuck it behind my belt. I then grab my shoes at the end of the bed and carry them with me to the door. Thankfully, my door doesn’t squeak and I’m able to reach the front of the house with almost no noise. When I reach the door, I slip my shoes on. I look around me to make sure no one is watching from the end of the hallway. I don’t really want Gabe to come with me right now, and Ray and Nancy would only make a big fuss about it.
I open the front door and the cold night air rushes in and nearly takes my breath way. I shut the door behind me as quietly as I can and step out onto the porch. The moon is bright tonight, and I can make out two shadows walking up the street in the direction of the mechanic shop and the barn. I know they left their truck up there earlier in the day—something wrong with the engine, I guess—but what reason could they have for going to take a look at it in the middle of the night? Were they leaving so no one would notice? They will still have to either break through the front gate or pick the lock.
Not that that would be a hard task,
I think to myself.
I keep a safe distance away and watch them as they go into the mechanic shop. There isn’t a house connected to it, and no one stays there in the middle of the night. Maybe these two are just looking to see what they can steal. Maybe they’re just trying to get away for the sake of private conversation. Either way, they are up to no good.
I grab the gun at my belt when I get nearer to the shop. They don’t turn on any lights, but I can hear them moving around. They talk above whispers now, more confident that no one can overhear them. When I get to the building, I duck low underneath the front window. The cold steel in my hands is all the protection I need. I make sure it’s cocked and ready in case one of them sees me and decides to come at me. I listen to them as they open the door to their truck and grab something.
“How’s the battery?” Scott asks.
“It’s fine.”
I dare to peek through the bottom of the window, and I can see the two of them with their backs to me.
“Boss, this is Derek, can you read me?”
Derek brings his arm down and I can finally see what they have come for.
A radio.
He brings it to his mouth again. “Boss, this is Derek, over.”
“Go ahead,”
the voice from the radio says.
It’s a man’s voice, but it wouldn’t be the first time Shadowface sounded like a man. Though, this time it doesn’t seem like an electronic voice mask, instead it sounds organic like an actual man. I guess it could be her righthand person, Samuel. My heart starts to beat faster as I think about what these two might be about to tell the person on the other end. I know I’m not overly important to Shadowface, but if she was informed of my presence here, then others would be in trouble.
“We’ve done our run with Orick,” Derek says. “Frankly I’m surprised it hasn’t been wiped out by a herd of greyskins already.”
“Would it be a good place to set up before the attack?”
the voice asks.
“Could we get some volunteers to help us?”
“They are pretty open to visitors,” Derek answers. “I’m not too sure there are many that would be willing to die for the cause, though we know you can be convincing.”
My heart skips a beat. What are they talking about?
“Good,”
the voice calls out over the radio.
“We will need a place like Orick to prepare.”
I grip my pistol tighter and go for the door. It slams open and the two of them jerk their heads toward me, both of them reaching for a gun, but they freeze when they see mine pointed at them.
“Set your guns and the radio on the ground,” I command. Both Derek and Scott glance at each other and slowly set their guns on the ground.
“Derek are you there?”
the radio blares. Derek sets the radio on the ground as well.
“What do you want?” Derek asks.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I say. I point the gun at Scott and motion toward a couple of chairs in the corner of the room. “You two have a seat.”
I look around the shop. It smells like oil and is stacked to the roof with tools that haven’t been used in ages. Dirty workbenches, nuts, and bolts are scattered all around. I walk toward the two as they both sit next to each other on the chairs, never lowering my gun.
“What are you two doing here?” I ask.
“Just passing through,” Derek says.
“You’re lying.”
Scott shakes his head. “All we wanted was some help with the truck and a night’s sleep.”
“You’re evaluating the town, aren’t you?” I ask. “For Shadowface?”
They look at each other again. When they look at me, they offer no answer. The voice from the radio calls out again.
“Derek, what happened? Do you copy?”
“Who’s that on the radio?” I ask.
Again, silence.
I point the gun at Scott’s head. “I’m not afraid to kill you. I think most people would have killed you already out of suspicion, but these people are just too nice.”
“We’re just passing through,” Derek repeats.
I clench my jaws, wondering if I will actually have the guts to pull the trigger. If these two are working for Shadowface, that means I might be able to get some information about my sister. If they aren’t, then they are potentially even more dangerous for this town. Raiders often find somewhere they like and completely wipe out the population just to have a place to prop their feet up for a while. Either way, these guys are no good for Orick.
I look left to right, searching for something to tie them up with. Finally, on one of the workbenches, I spot a dusty pack of zip ties. I grab a few of them and toss them to Scott.
I motion with the gun toward Derek. “Tie his hands behind his back.”
Scott does so without argument. When he’s finished, I instruct him to tie Derek’s legs and then to move his seat further away from Derek and sit. When he does, I walk behind him and fasten a couple of zip ties so his wrists are bound to the chair behind his back. Then I tie his legs to the chair as well. The two of them are securely fastened and are going nowhere.
“Now that I don’t have to worry about you doing something stupid, I want some answers. Who is that on the radio?”
I take a step forward and press the barrel of the pistol against Derek’s kneecap. I’ve never done anything like this, but it seemed to work in those old cop movies. I can hear Scott breathing hard out of nervousness, but Derek remains steady.
“You’re not going to shoot me,” he says. “By the time I’m coherent enough to answer you after the shot, you’ll have the entire town on you. They’ll kick us all out.”
“I’m a lot less worried about getting kicked out of here than I am of you destroying these people’s lives,” I say. “Do you work for Shadowface?”
“We work for ourselves,” Scott says.
My eyes don’t leave Derek’s. “Who is on the radio?”
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” he says.
I shake my head at him and take a deep breath. I look to my right and see a large wrench on the workbench. I hold the gun in my left hand and with my right, I grab the wrench. Without any hesitation, I rear back and slam the wrench into the side of Derek’s knee.
Derek lets out a short scream and I can’t help but shush him, though the gesture goes ignored.
“Who is on the radio?” I say again.
“You call this an interrogation?” Derek asks. “You’re going to have to do better than that. I might not want a bruised knee, but I can live with it.”
My eyes narrow at him. Why is he testing me? “I’m not a cold-blooded killer,” I say. “If you tell me, I will let both of you go.”
“Which means you won’t kill either of us anyway,” Derek says with a smile.
I rear back and hit him in the same spot on his knee, and all he does is grimace at the pain. The grimace soon turns into a smile, and Derek starts laughing. “Whenever you’re finished with your little
questioning
tactics, I would appreciate it if you let me go about my business.”
His taunts only make me boil with anger. I know these two are up to something bad, and I have to find out what. I scan the room again and spot a small pocketknife on one of the work benches. I walk over to it and set the gun behind my belt again. I grab the knife and unfold it to reveal a sharp edge that is about three inches long. I turn my head to look at Derek and his eyes are on fire. He swallows as I approach him.
“I’m not kidding around,” I say. “I’ve been with these people for a month now. They are good people. I would like to make sure they stay alive.”
“We’re just travelers,” Derek says. Scott nods at me in a agreement.
“Most people don’t really know about Shadowface,” I say. “How do you know about her?”
“Word is getting out,” Derek says.
I grip the knife in my fist, the blade pointing downward. “I want the truth out of you, Derek.”
He stares up at me, a trickle of sweat drops down the side of his face despite the cold air. I look from the knife to his face, wondering to myself if I can actually do more than just scare him. I’m not really the type to torture someone for information. But if he really is working for Shadowface, then it’s important that I find out what he’s doing. He could be my link to finding Waverly.
“Why are you here, and who are you working for?” I repeat.
Derek shakes his head at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do you think I’m bluffing?” I ask, taking a step closer to him. “I’m not afraid to hurt you.” It’s a lie. Of course I am.
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he just stares at the ground, defiant. I take another step forward and now I’m only a few inches away from him. I hope he is tied securely enough.
“So, what if I was working with Shadowface?” Derek asks. “What’s it to you?”
“If you were, then I would try to get more information out of you,” I say. “Shadowface is directly responsible for a lot of people’s death. She needs to answer for her crimes.”
Derek shakes his head.
Something within me snaps. I bring my hand back, knife firm in my grip. A brief look of shock spreads across Derek’s face just before I swing down and embed the knife deeply into his thigh. A shot of blood squirts onto my sleeve and his scream hurts my ears.
“Shut up!” I yell at him, pulling out my gun and pointing it at his face. The knife stands firmly out of the top of his leg. “Who sent you here?”
Derek is shaking, his jaw shivering. He closes his eyes for a moment as tears and sweat trickle down his face. With my pistol in my left hand, I reach for the knife with my right and pull it out sharply. He lets out another brief scream and I hold the knife up, threatening to do it again. Blood sticks to the skin between my fingers and an extremely firm grip is all that keeps me from shaking too.