Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) (38 page)

“What was that?” I asked Miller, who was glancing from the door to us and back again.

“I don't know.” He shook his head. “Wait here.” He bolted up the steps and out of the basement, locking the door behind him.

“Great!” Susie kicked the wall. “He locked us in. We could have escaped in all the chaos.”

“No,” I said, “You still don't know the way and they would've sent people out to look for you. I have a better plan.”

“All right,” she sighed. “What is your foolproof plan?”

“That was some kind of explosion. I don't think the men have anything here that could make anything like that.” I began.

“So?” Rally asked, “Do you think it was our mothers?”

“Maybe. They know we're here because they didn't deliver medical supplies.”

“Why haven't they came in here and gotten us then?”

“Where do our daughters come from? Women need men just as much as men need them. They aren't going to risk killing every male just to get back eighteen girls!”

“So tell us your plan, Lea.” Susie was angry. “Before that boy gets back.”

“I’m going to ask Miller to take us through the village on the way back. Ask him to pick up more girls and take us directly to the bunker. It will seem logical enough to him, and he won't have time to recruit much help. Once we have a group, we'll head into the woods. Susie, when we get to the right path, you slip away. Rally, I'll need you near the front, but keep an eye out for her to leave. You need to cause a distraction. I'll be in the back, making sure the groups moves on quickly.”

Susie paced across the room. “Okay so I know how I'm going to escape, but I still don't know how to get home!”

I walked across the room, pulling my compass out of my satchel. “Take this. After we leave the village there will be two boulders on the south side of the trail. They mark a way to the hunting grounds, you'll find a fire pit surrounded by more boulders. Head straight south from there until you get to the Giant Sisters. Southwest of the Giant Sisters is the trail Rally and I used to get here; follow it until you get to the red bridge. You know where to go from there.”

“Boulders, south, fire pit, south, Giant Sisters, southwest, red bridge. Got it.” She took the compass from me and tucked it into a fold in her pants.

“Wait. That won't work.” I shrugged off my jacket and dropped it to the floor. “Here, its cold outside.” I unbuttoned my wool shirt and held it out, glancing back at Rally as I did. She had dozed off; her head leaned back against the wall.

Susie pulled on the shirt and lifted the compass to place in the breast pocket. “Thanks.”

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me. “When you get back, give this to my mother. Tell her I died and that I loved her.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean? You're not coming back? Rally won't-”

“Rally's not going to find out. She'll go along with the plan, you'll get home, and the women will find her and the other girls.” I tightened my grip. “Because if you tell her, you won't escape. I won't let you.”

“I should've known! You're working with them!” Susie yelled. “That's why that boy wanted you with him. You're a traitor!”

“Shh!” I checked Rally. She stirred, but continued dozing. Pregnancy was really taking a toll on her. I wanted to go back to her, stoke her hair and comfort her. But first, I needed to make Susie understand.

“Look. Don't trust Miller. His father is a leader here and he's dangerous. And he hates girls. If he knows you're trying to escape or finds out that you aren't pregnant, he will kill you.” I hissed.

“Really?” She crossed her arms. “He seems to like you an awful lot for someone who hates us.”

“No. He tolerates me because he thinks I'm carrying his child. He has no choice but to protect me.” I sunk down against a wall and ran my hands through my hair. I was faced with the stark realization that I had to tell her everything.

Hours of darkness spanned into hours of daylight filtering through the grimy basement window. It took quite a while to convince Susie that I was going to help her escape and in return she wouldn't tell Rally about my plans to stay. I left out any mention of my father and that there was an abandoned city. She believed I was staying because I could hunt without killing, and that the men knew this. They'd hunt me down and drag me back, killing anyone who got in their way. I let her believe that if I stayed, I might be able to stop a war. I hated myself for lying to her, giving her hope of returning to a normal life at home. It was too late for that. The war had already started.

***

“Hey. Let's go.” Miller jostled my shoulder. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. He was alone and Susie and the other girl stood at the bottom of the stairs. Rally's head was in my lap, her eyes closed tightly. I brushed loose curls from her face and whispered her name. Finally, she stretched and peeked up at me.

“Miller's here and we have to go.” I pushed her into a sitting position and clamored off the floor. As I slipped on Tanner's jacket, I inhaled into the collar. His scent was completely gone. My heart ached over missing him.

“What was the explosion?”

“You'll see.” His face was ghostly pale with dark circles around his sunken eyes. His clothes had scorch marks and his hair held streaks of ash. We followed him out of the basement. The house was eerily quiet.

Miller led us away from the trail and through a meadow. Smoke hung in the air. It smelled of wood and metal and something else, something acrid. He stopped at the top of a mound and waited on us, his expression grim. I pulled Rally to the crest of the hill and stood next to him.

The scene below was chaotic. Boys as young as seven or eight scrambled through the grass carrying out different tasks. There were chunks of metal strewn around a blackened circle. A small fire blazed near some trees. Men and boys used blankets and carried water from a stream to put it out. Red dotted the landscape. Boys with wooden crates combed through the brush, gingerly placing things I couldn't make out into them. I squinted and then gasped, and squeezed Miller's arm. The boys were picking up body parts.

“Miller.” His name was more of a moan. “Did -?” I couldn't continue my question.

“No.” He shook his head without taking his eyes off the carnage. “He was still at the house. There were ten that we know for sure. Tanner's in the village, getting a list of boys that are unaccounted. We’ll know more when he is finished.”

“Who are they?”

He looked at me with surprised eyes. “There was only one that you knew: Flynn.”

My stomach lurched. I thought of the red haired boy with serious eyes, remembered his quiet manner and his amusement at the way I regarded Miller and Tanner. A tear escaped my eye. I didn't bother to wipe it away. “I'm so sorry.”

“You should be,” he called over his shoulder as he bounded down the side of the hill. “You're women did this.”

“What? How?” I chased after him.

“We thought it was the long overdue helicopter coming with supplies and baby boys. The only thing loaded on it was explosives. As soon as the door was opened, it went off.” He carefully picked a path away from the shrapnel and gore. As we walked closer to the scene, I realized that the red litter was pieces of paper. I scooped one up as the wind carried it close. In bold letters it read:

NO MORE NEGOTIATIONS

GIVE US OUR DAUGHTERS

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS

“Miller, where are we going?” I grabbed his arm.

He spun around. “Lea please! We are in a hurry.”

“To go where?” I demanded. “What’s going to happen in twenty-four hours?”

“You’re impossible! We're going to the village to get the other girls, okay?”

“Are they going to ...” My voice trailed off. Susie had run to catch us, and left the other two slowly following behind.

Miller’s eyes flashed. “Send you back to your mothers? No.”

Susie let out a murmur of disappointment. I ignored her, keeping my eyes on Miller. “So where are we going?”

“To the bunker. Now if you’re done stalling, we have to go. It’s been eighteen hours since the explosion already.” He strode off.

“We won’t make it to the bunker in so little time! It’s almost three days away. What happens after twenty-four hours? Do you know?” I kept pace with him as best I could.

“We don’t have to make it to the bunker today, just away from the village. The Elders assume they'll hit there next. But we’re not sure.” He glared at me and Susie. “Your kind is hard to predict. Now come on, as slow as your friend is going, it will take us five hours to get to the village.”

***

The village was calm when we reached it.  There were no adults around, but little boys walked to and fro, carrying packs and tossing supplies into carts. Striker smiled a toothy grin and ran his hand over his coarse hair as we passed. He was lining up girls, all of whom I recognized from my visits to them.

The girls had confused faces. A few wore coats and boots given to them by whomever had imprisoned  them, while most had blankets wrapped around their shoulders and wore the same boots they were captured in.  They all looked tired and worn; none of them were prepared for a two day walk.

“Line up with the other girls. Striker’s going to do one last head count and then we leave,” Miller barked at us.

The three girls with us got in line without any questions. Susie was last and glanced at me before she stepped in line with the others. I gave her a quick nod and scanned the faces, looking for Beth. She wasn’t there. None of the girls kept in Anderson’s basement were there. I looked around frantically, hoping they were still on their way. There were only a few boys left, most had already pushed their carts into the woods.

“All right. We need to hurry into the forest. It’s already been twenty-four hours since the war began. Once we are in the woods, we can go slower. It may be almost winter, but the trees are thick enough to provide cover,” Miller called out. A panicked murmur swept through the crowd as they glanced at one another. It had just dawned on them that they were prisoners of war.

“Miller! Anderson’s girls aren’t here!” I shouted over the hum.

“We don’t have time now, Lea. Let’s go and I’ll send someone back to get them.” He shrugged off my hand on his elbow.