Authors: Patti Larsen
“You didn’t have to do that,” she says.
“I know.” Reid gets to his feet and offers his hand. “But we should be getting back to the others.”
As they make their way through the trees, Reid notices something odd. He’s become so in tune with the outdoors he can feel the night aging, the coming dawn now so tied into his internal clock he is pretty sure he could predict the moment the sun will come up.
He and Leila find the rest of the group huddled in a miserable clump. They watch him with hurt and frightened eyes, more a pack of wild animals than kids, jumping at the slightest sound, looking far older than they really are, as though the chase has aged them. For all he knows it has, the stress on their bodies so powerful he wonders if some of the weaker ones would recover completely, given the chance. That’s the thing, the rub. Given the chance. Reid knows the likely hood of them finding out is almost none.
His empathy rises up again, unbidden and despite his need to keep them out of his heart for his own protection, the side of him his father instilled, the side that took care of those in need, won’t let him stay angry. It reminds Reid none of this is their fault. And he knows if he can get them out too, he will.
For some reason that makes him feel a whole lot better. Like a giant knotted hate inside him has eased, the one fed by fear and rage, and the knowledge that someone did this to them on purpose.
When he goes looking for Drew and Milo, he feels a thrill of fear. Neither boy is present. But before he can ask about them, a small kid in ragged jeans speaks up.
“They’re gonna know. And they’re gonna come after us.” His voice shakes so much Reid can barely make out what the boy is saying, but even without catching every word the message is obvious. Now that Joel is gone and the arrangement undone, the hunters will be coming.
They need a plan.
“They’ll kill us all if they catch us.” That was the little girl Joel stripped of her food. She is so emaciated she’s a walking skeleton. Her fear radiates out of her like her body is unable to hold it in anymore.
It almost makes Reid sick to his stomach to look at her. He wishes he stopped Joel from stealing her food. They have to run again and there’s no way this little thing, all that remains of a normal girl, is going to be able to keep up.
There’s one shot and he knows it. Reid is about to tell them about the fence when Drew puffs his way through the trees and stops next to Leila.
“I found something.”
Reid doesn’t get to inquire. Marcus makes himself known, pushing his way to his feet and through the kids, already talking.
“We need to offer a sacrifice.”
Reid thought he felt sick before. The very idea twists his insides and makes him want to scream. It disgusts him, almost as much as the weakness in Marcus for even suggesting it. He can feel the other guy’s fear, has been there himself, but never once considered doing what the rest of the forlorn pack is now nodding in agreement over.
“Never,” Reid says. “You heard what I said.”
“We have to do something.” Marcus paces back but doesn’t quit, face a sullen mask. He’s not exactly challenging Reid physically. But Reid can feel the pack swaying in his favor. “Or we all die.”
“Not that,” Reid says. “Never again.”
“We didn’t make this situation.” Marcus looks around at the others, courage feeding from their growing support. “We didn’t ask to be brought here. And it’s not our fault Joel made that agreement with the hunters. But it’s kept us alive so far. It can again, at least until we figure something else out.”
Reid is on Marcus so fast the other guy doesn’t have a chance to react until it’s too late. Reid can feel the hardness of Marcus’s muscles under his shirt and wonders why he is such a coward, why he let Joel push him around. “I said no. And I meant it.” He shoves Marcus away, not bothering to watch the other guy stagger, but catching the glare he levels at Reid. “We are in this together or we go our own way and you do what you want to each other. Pick one. But you can’t have both. I won’t allow it.”
They are silent long enough for Drew to speak up again.
“Did you want to know what I found or not?” Reid spins to look at his friend and almost laughs at the disgusted look on the boy’s face.
“Sorry,” Reid says. “Tell or show?”
“Oh, just come on.” Drew gestures at Reid and turns, going back into the trees.
Everyone follows, even Marcus, though he stays on the edge of the pack, ghosting through the forest on his own. Reid keeps his distance as well, not trusting the other guy at all. Or his own temper. But now he knows Leila is right. These kids, this group of starving animals, have been taught to sell each other out over and over again. Forced to witness the loss of friends, being told it was for the good of the rest.
How many of them are so twisted up inside they don’t understand right from wrong anymore? He’s not even sure if there is a way to teach them otherwise now, not out here with the hunters on their trail. It’s amazing to him what they made themselves get used to. Their survival has come at the price of the deaths of others and they have grown comfortable with that.
Reid wonders how comfortable Marcus would be if
he
were chosen to be the sacrifice. Not very. In fact, he’s pretty sure there would be an almost instantaneous nomination of someone else. The sad part is, Reid is certain the kids would let him get away with it as long as they got to survive.
He finds himself thinking about Joel, how horrible his life must have been that he found it so easy to make such a bargain. How very little the bully valued other lives. Reid’s mind drifts, putting himself in that position, and he has to fight the tightening in his throat as he chokes up at the thought. Who would he choose if it was him? Who would he send as a sacrifice? He looks around him, at Leila, Milo, even Marcus, while his eyes drift over the small, filthy faces of the ones he has yet to get to know. If it was the only way, could he send one of those terrified faces to their deaths?
Reid shudders and jerks himself out of that train of thought. No, of course not. Never.
As a distraction, Reid catches up with Drew. “What did you find?”
“Caves, I think.” Drew grins up at him. Reid still finds it hard to believe his friend can be so happy. “I left Milo there to explore. We can hide for a bit, gather some food, find water maybe? Leave the others here while we look for the fence?” He shrugs. “Could be it’s a bad idea, but it’s something.”
Reid punches him lightly on the shoulder. “Good job.”
Drew adjusts his glasses, cheeks flushing as he hitches his pants. Reid notices the rope that holds them up is loose again. “Thanks.”
Only then does Reid realize the sky is brighter, his friend’s face clear. So much for his internal clock warning him about the sunrise. He shrugs it off with a grin of his own. He’s been a little too busy to sit around waiting for the sun to come up.
Reid spots the black opening through the trees before he clears them and has an instant moment of recognition.
“A mine.”
“What?” Drew glances at him, then at the hole. And face palms. “Of course,” he groans. “I’m such an idiot. It’s an old mineshaft. Sorry, guess I’m tired.”
The mouth is damaged, rough around the edges, so Reid understands how the weary Drew missed the connection in the dark. “How far does it go?”
“Don’t know for sure,” Drew says. He waves at Milo, who emerges from the hole. Milo waves back, jumping up and down in his excitement. Reid runs to him, the others trailing behind, though when he stops next to the vibrating kid, Leila, Drew and Marcus are right there with him.
“It’s awesome!” Milo jerks his thumb back over his shoulder. “Goes on a long way. And there’s electricity in there! Lights!”
Reid frowns at that and shares a look with Drew.
“That’s not right,” Reid says.
“Shouldn’t be power,” Drew agrees.
“I found something else.” Milo seizes Reid’s hand and drags him along into the tunnel. “You have to see!”
Reid follows him, hesitant. The opening is dark but the moment he passes over the threshold he sees a glow ahead, faint, but there. After a minute or so walking and stumbling over rocks, he comes to a weak bulb flickering in the darkness. Milo lets go of his hand and points down where a pile of loose dirt and rubble blocks part of the path, casting long shadows back the way they came.
“Think we could use these?”
Drew crouches next to Reid and whistles. A small wooden box lies open, the old slats crushed to splinters. Inside are six slim rods, faded and dusty with age, long buried in the mine. But Reid knows dynamite when he sees it.
“Wow.” Drew squints up into the light. “Yes, yes we can. If...”
“If what?” Marcus hovers over them and Reid resents it, but lets it be for the time being.
“If the compound hasn’t be compromised. There’s no way of telling how old this stuff is.” He doesn’t touch it, just looks closer. When Milo reaches for a stick of it, Drew slaps his hand away. “I wouldn’t. Not just yet. It could blow up in your face.”
Milo snorts like Drew is full of crap, but Reid notices the boy backs off to a healthy distance.
“Wicks are still attached. And the casings look undamaged.” Drew grins at Reid. “They could be okay.”
“For what?” Marcus hasn’t backed off. Reid thinks it’s time he did and stands abruptly, spinning on the other guy and forcing him back just by walking toward him, his shadow retreating with him. Marcus withdraws two steps, but doesn’t look happy about it.
“We’re just about to talk that over,” Reid says. “If you’ll excuse us.”
“I’m part of this too,” Marcus says, but his argument is as weak as his position and from the look on his face, he knows it.
“We’ll let you know what we decide.” Reid stands his ground. Leila joins him, Milo and Drew backing him up. The crowd of kids behind Marcus instantly retreats, accustomed to being told what to do, not making decisions of their own, leaving him alone. He snarls something under his breath full of so much bitterness Reid wonders about pushing him so hard. Still, Marcus follows the others and for now, that’s all Reid cares about.
He watches him go, fading back into the tunnel, until he’s no longer visible in the dark. Reid listens, to be sure no one is eavesdropping out there in the black, but is reasonably certain they are alone. Why it’s so important he’s not sure, except his level of trust is still bottomed out, especially where Marcus is concerned.
Reid turns back to the others.
“Plan?”
“Set a trap for the hunters and blow the crap out of them.” Milo’s voice is low and fierce, gritted teeth a flash in the low light, thin shoulders hunched forward as though that is the only thing keeping his built-up anxiety in.
“Agreed.” Even Leila is turning savage on him. Reid has a moment of heat, rushing through him in a wave of attraction. She is so fiercely beautiful at that moment his heart wants him to kiss her.
Out of the question, of course it’s out of the question. What is wrong with him? The moment passes because he makes it pass, and he is grateful the light is so dim because he is sure his face is flaming.
“Okay,” Reid says, driving his mind back to the important matter of
survival
. “Good plan and I’m with you. There’s nothing I want more than to have some payback. And blowing these bastards up would do the job nicely.” Everyone grins at him. No, it isn’t funny, not really. But he understands it. Is grinning himself, in fact. Can’t help it. There is a certain joy in plotting the death of the hunters that shouldn’t give him such satisfaction, but does.
Of course, dreaming about it and doing it are two different things. Reid hates to drag them down, but he needs them to think rationally. “Only one problem I can think of.” He points down at the dynamite, all innocent there in the dirt, incognito to its ultimate purpose. “How do we light them?”
Milo’s face falls while Leila lets out a little sigh of regret. But Drew snorts. “Got that covered. I have a lighter.” He produces it from his front right pocket, the silver sides glinting in the light of the bulb between his filthy fingers.
Reid stares for a long time while Milo gapes and Leila’s lips curve upward. Finally, Reid cuffs Drew on the back of the head very gently.
“Of course you do,” he says.
“Sorry,” Drew grins. “Didn’t I mention that little tidbit before?”
***
Chapter Twenty Three
They have a long and heated conversation by the light of that flickering bulb. Reid tries not to focus on the tight space, the stone and clay walls closing in around him, but on the argument at hand—how best to use the gift they’ve been given.
At first blowing up a few hunters is the consensus.
Until Drew points out one thing. “We still don’t know if there’s any bang in those things. What happens if we get a hunter in range and the damned stuff duds out?”
“Can’t we test one?” Milo shivers, hopping up and down from one foot to the other, his eyes wandering over the ceiling. Reid realizes he isn’t the only one who doesn’t like it in the mine.
“And show our hand?” Drew shakes his head. He turns to look further into the tunnel. “We haven’t explored this yet, either.”
Reid is about to say a resounding no to that idea when Leila speaks up. “Why is there power in here? Doesn’t that mean the hunters know about it?”
“For all we know it’s their freaking home base.” Milo’s old attitude is returning, but Reid knows it’s just stress and lets it go.
“Unlikely.” Drew adjusts his glasses as he thinks. There are hollows in his cheeks where he was chubby before and his hands are lined, no longer plump. Reid takes a moment to admire his friend’s courage and ability to keep up. And the brilliant mind behind the glasses. “I really think we should explore in here.”
Reid agrees, but hates to admit it. “There’s probably another way out,” he says. “And might be a water source somewhere down here.”
“But if the hunters catch us in here we’re trapped.” Milo shudders.
Leila slides one slim arm around the boy’s shoulder and hugs him. “It’s okay,” she whispers. “Just think of it like a carnival funhouse.”