“Pussies,” I muttered, kicking the scorpion to the side so Remy could get out.
She grasped me in a hug. “My hero!”
“That thing could’ve killed somebody,” Devon said. “I ain’t sleeping on that ground no more. I call the backseat of the van.”
“Scorpion stings are like bee stings,” I said. “They’re not going to kill you.”
Still, they all looked skeptical. I turned to Texas Harry. “Don’t you have scorpions in Texas?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “But I use ’em for target practice. Didn’t think the little lady would take kindly to me shooting by her feet.”
“Thanks for that,” Remy said.
“It’s rattlesnakes you need to watch out for,” I told the group at large. “I don’t have any antivenom, so if you get bitten you’re screwed. That really could kill you, or do major damage.”
“I call passenger seat in the van,” New York Josh said.
“Or,” I said over everyone’s sudden chatter. “The other tent will be free tonight. Four of you can fit in there. Remy and Tater will be back in the other tent with me and Ry.”
Remy pushed her hair behind her ear and looked down as several guys chuckled. A pink blush spread across her face.
“You’re such a mean camp Mama,” Short Matt said. “Taking the fun out of everything.” He gave me a green-eyed wink.
I winked back. “Don’t forget it.” I looked around at their miserable faces and slumping bodies. “And in the meantime, Mean Mama will make you something to eat. After this, you’re on your own.”
The plan that evening was to return to the DRI “Safe House” area to do more recon. We needed to figure out exactly where we would set off a fire, and where our people needed to be stationed during it, and how to best get to those areas without detection.
“I’m going this time,” I said during our early dinner. We were down to two meals a day: a late breakfast and an early dinner, with no snacks in between.
“I’m not staying here alone,” Remy told me.
“Then come with us,” I said.
She peered down at her salty square cracker, and I could tell she didn’t want to come, but her fear of being here alone was greater. A strand of her hair fell and brushed her arm. Remy jumped and slapped her arm, then relaxed when she saw it was just her hair. I had to giggle. She glared at me, but eventually broke into a smile. She’d been freaked out about the scorpion all day.
“Man, I haven’t shit in two days,” Tater blurted out of nowhere.
“Right?” New York Josh said to Tater. The others nodded.
Remy crinkled her nose. “TMI.”
“Your body needs everything you’re intaking,” I said.
“What are you, a doctor?” New York Josh asked. I was starting to be able to read him. He always sounded like an asshole, but he wasn’t trying to be. He was just naturally a hardass with dry wit.
“She’s an RN,” Rylen said. “A paramedic.”
New York Josh gave me an appreciative once-over. “All right. That explains the fearlessness.”
My chest heated at the compliment and his lingering look. Remy was right—he was good looking with those Italian features.
“Hella good to have a nurse on hand,” Tall Mark said.
Texas Harry slapped the back of his head.
I savored my last cracker and brushed my hands off. It was time to get ready to go. I was excited to finally have a hand in the scouting and planning.
We cleaned up and got ourselves ready, gathering all the gear we’d need. Remy and I both put our hair up in ponytails. I saw her hands trembling, and took her fingers in mine. “Everything will be fine,” I told her. “We’re just looking tonight, ‘kay?”
“Okay,” she whispered. Her eyes drifted from my face over my shoulder and stopped. I turned to see Tater approaching and felt Remy’s hand tighten around mine.
Tater kept his gaze firmly on me. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” I waited for him to acknowledge Remy too. When he didn’t, I said, “
We’re
ready.”
He gave me a nod and left to join the guys. Remy’s face fell.
“He hasn’t looked at me or talked to me all day.”
Shit, shit, shit. He’d taken my advice not to lead her on, but blatantly ignoring her was going to cause problems too.
“I don’t know what to say about him, Rem. Last night you guys were having fun. Today, he’s focused on trying to break our families out. Don’t take offense, ‘kay?”
She continued to frown. “’kay.”
We took two vehicles: the guys’ minivan, and Mom’s sedan. Tater and Rylen sat in front with Tater driving. Remy held my hand in the backseat the whole way. I had to admit, I shared in her fears now. The moment we’d left state park land, a sudden vulnerability overtook us. I found myself staring out of the window, watching for any sign of other cars or people or life, in general. The others seemed to be doing the same.
The sun drooped behind distant mountains, blanketing us in cool dimness. We drove slowly, trying not to kick up too much dust. Tater and Texas Harry parked behind a hill with a few scraggly evergreens, hidden from the main road, but within walking distance of the gas station. We all got out, closing doors behind us with care.
My heart picked up and leveled off at a quick thump that forced my breaths to become shallow. We weren’t safe out here. My flight or fight instinct was begging me to flee, but not alone. I needed all of my loved ones to flee with me, away from this evil sense of dread. A strong hand enveloped my shoulder and I looked up at Rylen.
“It’s all right,” he said.
I took a deep breath and shook my arms out. The darkness would not leave me.
A longing deep and powerful hit me right in the gut, stopping my breath—it was a longing for my parents, for Abuela. I closed my eyes and years of unconditional love filled me. The longing stretched into a bone-deep need for my family to be one again. My jaw was clenched tight. Icy fear for them hit me in a rush, making my eyes burst open. A violent shudder overtook me and I hated, absolutely
hated
, the DRI for making me feel this way.
Rylen, Tater, and Remy were watching me.
“Amber, calm down,” Tater said. “Everything’s okay.”
“No,” I whispered. “We need to get them out of there.”
“I know,” he said. “And we will. If we can get all the info we need tonight, we’ll be able to break them out tomorrow or the next day.”
I forced another deep breath. I had to shake away the bad feelings or I would only be a hindrance. “Okay. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Tater bent his knees to come eye-to-eye with me and said, “You’re solid. Gimme some.” He stuck out his fist and I bumped it with mine. Remy shifted next to us, her arms wrapping around her waist. Tater looked at her and hesitated, like he wanted to bump knuckles with her, too, but instead he just gave an awkward half-smile and turned away to jog to the other guys.
Remy frowned. “What the hell? I have cooties now?”
“He doesn’t know how to act,” Rylen said. He gave Remy an apologetic look. “Let’s go.”
The night was filled with a lot of walking and hiking, most of it spent hunched over and trying to be as small and stealthy as possible while we sweated out every drop we’d had to drink that day. If we’d tried to do this in the daytime with the sun shining, I’m afraid some of our group would have passed out.
We finally worked our way pretty close. I felt worthless, not knowing a lot of the military lingo they used as they chose coordinates of the best places to station themselves and who would go where. All I could do was stare down at the camp in the valley, which looked so small from where we were.
A full moon shone above us, along with a clear sky of twinkling stars. It gave us just enough light to make out the maps.
“That hill, right there,” Matt said, “would be perfect for the fire.”
“It’s too far,” Mark countered. “This one’s better.”
“That’s too close—”
All at once we lifted our heads and listened. A sound was coming from far off, like wind or a whirring whistle.
Rylen whispered, “Jet. Get down.”
Everyone scuttled, trying to find trees or rocks or bushes to anchor ourselves near. And sure enough, within a minute a plane flew over and it was so low, so loud, that it shook the ground beneath us.
“Fucking hell, it’s Air Force!” Rylen said. “Two fighters!”
Mark started to jump up and holler, but Matt grabbed him and yanked him back down. “Stay put, brah. Wait and see what they do.”
The Air Force! Absolute unadulterated joy poured through me and I nearly laughed. The Air Force was here to stop the DRI!
From my vantage point I could see the camp. To my glee, Drips and Derps were running for the camp gates. They exited and locked the gate behind them. They rushed toward the white vans outside.
“They’re leaving!” I whispered loudly.
Mere seconds after they’d piled into the vans and sped away, loud sounds came from the camp. Abruptly, a sea of people poured forth from the building, like they’d broken out of it, and they were all screaming, running for the gates.
“Oh, my God, everyone is freaking out,” I said. Our group rushed over to see. “They’re going to trample each other!” Remy said. “We have to go down there!”
To my surprise, nobody objected. As a group, we came out over our hill and began rushing down the steep decline. I heard the whir of the jets coming back. This time we all cheered when we saw them getting closer. They’d chased away the Drips and Derps. Now we could get these people out and find out exactly what the hell was going on with this country.
We were still a good distance away, sprinting, but even from afar it was clear there was panic at the camp gates. Some were trying to climb over, but the tops were circled in barbed wire. I wanted to yell for them to wait a damn second and we’d be there to help, but they wouldn’t have been able to hear us.
As the jets neared, hovering lower enough to get a good look, I fought the urge to cover my ears against the noise of them. But then I wished I had. And I wished I’d covered my eyes too.
The flash of light hit first, and it seemed like forever before the sound blasted us backward onto our asses. Heat came next, rolling over us, mixed with dust and dirt and rocks. I covered my head and rolled to my stomach. A sudden flashback of the hospital bombing caught me in a giant, tight fist.
But this could not be a bombing. The U.S. Air Force was here. Had the DRI set off bombs within the camp?
The camp . . . holy fucking shit.
I pushed to my knees and tried to open my eyes, but it was like a windstorm. I couldn’t see a thing. I forced myself upward, keeping an arm across my face, and moved in the direction we’d been going. At least, I was pretty sure it was the right direction.
I heard coughing behind me, and moans.
“Amber?” I heard Remy say, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t go back. She was alive and okay, but the camp . . .
“Amber!” she screamed.
“I’m fine!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Stay here.”
“I got you,” I heard Tater say to her.
Once I knew I was moving in the right direction, I picked up my pace. I pulled my T-shirt up over my nose so I could breathe, and I jogged. Seconds later I heard feet hitting the dirt to my right, then my left, then behind me.
“They dropped a bomb,” I heard Rylen say to my left. “They dropped a fucking bomb on camp.”
“Are you sure?” I yelled.
“I saw it fall, too,” Texas Harry shouted.
Oh, my God. No. I dropped my shirt and flat out ran. Sand whipped my face, but I couldn’t feel it.
Please God.
Not this.
Not my family.
No. NO.
I refused to let it be true.
My eyes burned from the sand. Tears streamed down and I coughed as I ran. My foot hit something hard and I stumbled, going to one knee. Rylen hiked me back up by the arm and I kept running.
“Whoa, whoa!” Texas Harry yelled from in front of us. “Hot metal! Watch your step. I think it’s the gates, but it’s all twisted. Just burnt my fuckin’ shin.”
I slowed and could make out bits of what he meant. It looked nothing like a gate, just twisted chunks of silver debris. My stomach plummeted and my soul cried out in agony. If this was what was left of the gate, and all those people had been gathered at it . . .
I grabbed my knees, coughing. My parents might not have been at the gate. They weren’t easily panicked. What if they’d stayed in the building? I pushed forward, making my way around the debris.
Rylen was at my side. “Pepper . . .”
“Have to find that building,” I said.
“Pepper, look.” His voice was so sad. I shook my head. I didn’t want to hear that.
“No, they’re hiding somewhere.”
“Pepper,
look
.” He came up behind me and took me by the shoulders, pointing me in the direction of the building. Through a swirl of dust and smoke, I could make out the remnants of one partial wall. “It’s gone.”
“No!” I yelled, and broke away at a sprint. I fell twice over rocks or ruins, but never saw a single body. When I got to where the metal wall stood, it gave a creaking shudder and fell to the earth with a
whoosh
. There was nothing. Chunks of stuff that was probably cots or something. And my skin was so hot. The ground was hot, like it was on fire. All I could smell was char and cinder.
“We have to get out of here—”
“They’re here!” My head pivoted from side to side. Each wisp of smoke was like Mom walking toward me, Abuela reaching out her arms for me, Dad waving to let me know he was fine. I was numb to the burning of my skin.
Rylen bent and scooped me into his arms.
I struggled and push against his chest. “I need to find them!” He ran, ignoring me, and I pounded my fists against his shoulders. “Damn you, stop!” Sobs rose and I nearly choked as I cried and screamed. “Put me down!” Still, he held tight, and ran.
“Rylen, please, please,” I begged through tears. “I need to get them. They’re somewhere. Oh, my God . . .” My face fell against his shoulder and I bawled against his neck. “
Oh, my God
. . .” My hands tightened, fisting his shirt in my palms, holding him like a lifeline as my mind threatened to shatter into unfixable pieces.
He never said a word. Just ran.