Читать книгу The Release - Tom Isbell, Tom Isbell - Страница 14

HOPE WOULD HAVE NOTHING more to do with me the rest of that day. Or the day after that. When we set up camp each evening, I put my bedroll on one arc of the circle, and she put hers directly opposite. Then she’d go off in search of food, not returning for hours.

Each evening, we huddled around our fires, pockets of muffled conversation drifting from one group to the other.

“What do you think it was like?” Flush asked out of the blue one night.

“What what was like?”

“The day the bombs fell. Omega.”

“Frightening,” an LT said.

“Confusing,” another added.

“Terrifying,” a third chimed in.

“For the living, yeah,” Twitch said.

We turned to him. His blind eyes probed the night.

“Ninety-nine percent of the earth’s population was probably eliminated in a matter of seconds. They didn’t feel a thing. They might have been the lucky ones.”

His words settled on us. The fire popped and crackled. The world had never seemed so still.

“I wonder which country started it,” Flush said.

“Why’s it matter?” Cat said, whittling a branch. “What matters is it’s left to us to pick up the pieces.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you curious?”

“Why? There’s no way we’ll ever know.”

Cat was right—we’d never find out the answer to that—but it did make me wonder about something else.

“Why do they hate us?” I asked. The question had burned within me ever since I found out we were considered Less Thans. As I spoke, I petted Argos. I could feel the ribs protruding beneath his fur.

“Who?” Flush asked.

“Everyone. Brown Shirts, Hunters, Crazies. Why do they all want us dead?”

“You know what they say,” Twitch said. “There are three reasons to hate someone. Either we have something they want.”

“Yeah, right,” Flush said sarcastically.

“Or we’re a threat.”

“Not likely.”

“Or we’re just different.”

Flush didn’t respond to that one. No one did.

“But why the Hunters?” I asked. “I mean, I can maybe understand the Crazies not liking us—they’re just crazy. And the Brown Shirts have somehow been indoctrinated to think we’re evil. But what do the Hunters have against us? What’s their deal?”

“Maybe they just like shooting defenseless people,” Cat said.

“Yeah, maybe.” But we all knew there was more to it than that.

By the fifth day after leaving Libertyville, our pace had become glacial—a combination of fatigue and lack of food. Although Hope often returned with a rabbit or a squirrel, sometimes even a porcupine, it wasn’t enough. Not to fill over seventy bellies. We were slowly starving to death.

Our rest breaks dragged out. We covered fewer miles. Each day started later and ended sooner. Although the sun brought warmth, its sharp rays bit our skin, chapped our lips, burned our cheeks red. Our eyes formed a permanent squint from staring into sunlight.

It was obvious we couldn’t go on like this.

“We need to go to the Compound,” I said on the sixth afternoon, as we were gathering wood.

“What’re you talking about?” Flush asked.

“The Compound—where we were held captive by the Skull People.”

“I know what it is.”

“We need to return there.”

Everyone around me stopped what they were doing.

“But that’s, like, miles and miles out of the way,” Flush said.

“I know.”

“The fastest way to Dodge’s is if we cut across the river and head east, not go south to the Compound. And for the sake of the sick, for the sake of all of us, we need to get to Dodge’s as soon as possible.”

“I don’t disagree.”

“Not to mention the fact that the last time we were at the Compound, the Hunters and Crazies were having a field day massacring the Skullies.”

“I remember.”

“So why do you think—”

“There might be food there.” That was the magic word: food. “You’re right, the Compound was attacked. But that place was so well stocked, there have gotta be some hidden rooms where there’s still food. Just imagine what that could do for us.”

The thought of eating smoked meats and canned vegetables made my mouth water.

“But Book, we don’t know who controls the Compound,” Twitch said.

“True, but what if the Hunters and Crazies just attacked and left? What if they’re not there anymore? Not only that”—here I hesitated—“what if there are survivors? Skull People, still alive. If so, we could bring ’em with us.”

Flush cleared his throat before speaking. “I don’t mean to sound heartless or anything, but why would you want to do that?”

“First of all, because they helped us escape.”

“After they locked us up.”

“And secondly, because they have skills. They’re smart—they can help us.”

“If you’re thinking of your little friend Miranda,” Diana said, “don’t forget she was a traitor.”

It was the first time anyone had uttered her name in months. Miranda. The girl who’d kissed my cheek as we watched the sun set. The same girl who’d been spying for her father.

“At first she was, yeah. But if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have gotten out of those caves. She created the diversion.” No one responded—not Diana, certainly not Hope—and I went on. “Listen, we’re not going to make it out of this territory unless we get some food. Like, soon. And the Compound is the only possibility I can think of.”

“But if the Crazies are still around—” Flush began.

“We take that chance. We don’t have a choice.”

The silence stretched, and it was a long time before anyone else spoke. I squinted into the distance. The setting sun erupted in an explosion of orange.

“I love it,” Sunshine said. “We’re screwed if we go, we’re screwed if we don’t. Welcome to the life of a Less Than.” He brayed like a donkey.

“What’re you thinking, Book?” Cat asked.

“It wouldn’t be everyone,” I said. “Just a small group. Whoever wants to join me. The rest of you go on to Dodge’s and we’ll meet up there. Hopefully with a whole mess of food.”

Now I needed volunteers. I shot a look to Hope, hoping she would say yes. She met my stare with narrowed eyes.

“Go,” she said. “We’ll continue on without you.”

“That’s what I’m suggesting,” I said.

“Then do it. You don’t need my permission.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

I didn’t disagree with her, but it hurt, the way she said it. Like she wanted no part of me.

“I’ll go,” Red said.

“Me too,” Flush added, although not with as much conviction.

So that was the group: Red, Flush, and me. And of course Argos. Everyone else would cross the river and head straight for Dodge’s.

“If you want, I can join you,” Cat said later on, when it was just him and me.

“No, better that you’re with the others. They need you.”

“You sure about this? You don’t have to go back there if you don’t want.”

“It’s best this way,” I said, and left it at that.

That night I had watch, peering into the dark for any sign of yellow. I wondered if the wolves were content now, if they had just wanted us to leave Libertyville so they could reclaim that part of Skeleton Ridge for themselves. Or were they trailing us across the frozen tundra, waiting for the right moment to attack?

Soon, it wasn’t wolves I was thinking about, or Skull People, or even Hope. It was my grandmother. The woman with the long black hair whose final words to me had been I haven’t been guiding you, Book. You must be listening to your heart.

But at that particular moment, I had no idea what my heart was telling me. It felt like I knew less than ever.