“Please, Karine, tread lightly. We can’t escape if they kill us all for being bitches,” Blue pleaded, grabbing my arm a bit too tightly.
“That’s right, Blue Bell. Be a dead, quiet bitch. That’ll teach them. Your grandmother would roll in her fricking grave,” I said, pushing her hand off my skin.
“There’s nothing to teach them. There’s no one here to save us. We are stuck. These people have us. We aren’t getting away anytime soon. Be angry, be cruel but be smart and shut up.” Blue was right, I wasn’t being smart, I needed to think.
I took a personal inventory of everything on my body. The new hat would save my pink skin from peeling, but it also let me take out an earring and drop it unseen. Crumbs like in the myth of Hansel and Gretel as they marked their way to the house made of candy.
The rock walls of the valley were jagged and sharp. I walked close to the sides and scraped my jacket on the rocks. Material that shouldn’t be in the area might give a search party some direction.
After hours of walking, we reached a low point in the old seafloor. A large dark-brown transport vehicle was waiting. We were loaded into the back and given food and water. Noah made a point to sit far from me, and I made a point to glare at him.
“Eat and get comfortable,” One of the young men cheerfully offered. “No one is going to hurt you. You can sleep if you like. Everything is going to be fine. We will be home in a few hours, and we will explain everything to you then.” The young man sounded sincere and had a pleasant smile.
I was exhausted and getting cold but determined to stay awake. Noah carefully moved from seat to seat until he settled in the space next to me.
“You’re shivering.” Noah retrieved a thick woven piece of cloth from his pack and draped it over my shoulders.
“They will assume you have killed us by now, and we will all be dead by rocket fire by daybreak. I wasn’t kidding the motto of better dead than with a red is a staple in my society,” I said, pulling the soft cloth over my arms. “Shivering is not my top concern at the moment.”
“Who is they, and why would they spend so much effort on four young women?” Noah offered me a square of chocolate and a few pieces of orange fleshy fruit. “Apricots, they were dried last week,” he noted quietly.
“Hmm, my mother would love a pit for her research.” I put my hand on my chest. “See, I’m a Fuller, and that weepy, stupid, blonde girl sitting over there is a Tilley.” I pointed lazily. “You people have taken from the two most affluent original families we have in our sector.”
“We are saving you from those people,” Noah’s tone was quiet, exasperation tinging his words. “If you knew what was coming, you would be grateful for my help.” Noah believed what he was saying. Coupled with the warning from Dredge, I believed him. Noah’s eyes looked bloodshot, he was tired, and this would make him weak.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I understand exactly what’s coming for us. If my fiancé was killed, they won’t stop until all of you are dead—all of you, everywhere, not just this sector. You think you were doing something good, but it won’t matter.” I popped the chocolate square in my mouth. “You have killed everyone in your settlement with your stupidity.” I smiled at my dark-haired captor. Noah looked back at me with bewilderment and anger.
I rested my head back on the transport wall. Blue Bell winced wrinkling her face in disgust and put her hand to her throat. My newly forming bruises were visible to everyone nearby. The silence and judgment in the other young men’s eyes around me was noticeable. Noah crossed a line the other young men with us in the transport found unacceptable.
I leaned closer to Noah and bared my neck. “You want to finish what you started?”
Noah leaned in very close to my face, his breath on my cheek, and growled the words be quiet.
I looked up into his deep blue eyes and smiled. “I don’t mind dying, everybody dies, but I want my fricken cake first.” Noah looked at me with a confused expression.
Blue Bell’s light eyes widened and filled with tears. She was right, we were stuck. With no cover from the elements, any ill-planned escape was suicide by sunshine. I needed to calm my mind and think of a more elaborate escape.
MISS CONCEPTION
We arrived at the Red camp shortly before dawn. Our captors parked their transport on a hill overlooking a sea of tents. Tall brown and gray octagons sat spaced evenly in groups of five. The large tents didn't look like they could be torn down quickly, and I wondered how long this village occupied the area.
The colors of the tents, and their segregation by shape designated something I couldn't readily understand. Huge, beige tents with pointed rooftops sat in the distance. Perhaps these were public spaces or large living areas?
The young men took each of us by the arm and led us toward a gathering of people waiting at what looked like their village entrance. Eight silhouettes watched as we approached. I counted three women and four men. Two of the people were incredibly old and frail-looking. Noah went straight to one of the older looking men. They stepped aside and talked with their backs to all of us.
The rest of the welcome committee people smiled and surveyed our group of four as if they were buying a pallet of solar panels. Smiles and nods of acceptance passed between the people quietly, they all appeared pleased.
An older looking woman held a box of cloth pouches filled with pink sugar cookies and white cheese chunks. She
