Worst of all was what they’d done to the people. The older Turrow boy was beaten nearly senseless. And he wasn’t the only one. Clara’s ward was full to overflowing with the injured. Even worse, one of the Marines caught one of the teenage girls down by the well. What he’d done to her had been beyond horrific. Rain had made sure she got a good description of him from the girl. That was one Marine who wouldn’t see another winter.
“Micah’s almost recovered. He can help us fight them.”
“Fight them? Are you insane? We can’t fight them. They’ll kill us all. No,” Elan shook his head. “I’m sorry Rain, but the only way Sanctuary is going to survive is if the two of you leave. If you’re seen somewhere else, the Marines will leave us alone.”
“So, we’re to be a distraction. Bait.” Her voice was cold as ice.
“For the good of our people. We’ll all die if you stay.”
In that moment Rain hated Elan more than she’d hated anyone in her life, including the Marines. Only she knew he was right. Even with the training Micah had given them, these people weren’t fighters. There was no way they would survive an all-out war with the Marines.
“Fine. We leave at first light. Now fuck off so I can finish my job.”
“Rain, I’m sorry...”
“I said, fuck off. I do not want to see your face again. Ever.” She turned her back on him. Finally, she heard him walk away, his footsteps fading. She swiped a hand across her face, glad she hadn’t let him see her cry.
“I’M SORRY, RAIN. THIS is my fault. If it weren’t for me ...”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They were looking for me, too. You know they were. If El had any balls...” She sighed as she took a long, last look at the place that had been her home for as long as she could remember. “It doesn’t matter. He was right. Whatever he may or may not owe me, his responsibility is to the compound. And right now, we are a danger.”
She hated that she’d had to leave her books behind. The only one she’d taken was the book of poetry by Whittier. And Micah’s picture. Not that she needed it anymore. She had the real thing walking beside her.
They turned and headed north along the dusty road. Or what had once been a road. It was cracked beyond repair and weeds grew up through every break in the surface. It was only marginally easier than walking on the bare ground.
“What did you mean by Elan owing you?” Micah matched his stride to her shorter one, angling his body close enough so she could feel his warmth.
She sighed. “I saved his life once.”
“Tell me,” he urged.
They had nothing better to do and it was a long trek to Fossil. She shrugged. “It started a little over ten years ago. I was just seventeen.”
THE WOMAN WAS THE FIRST new arrival to the compound in at least five years. They’d pretty much given up on the rest of the world by then. There was the compound and the Marines and the drags. That was their world.
And as far as Rain was concerned, her own world was Elan and Sutter. They were like her big brothers and they meant everything to her. The only other person she had any use for was Padre Pedro.
At seventeen, Rain was already the best Tracker on the compound. Better even than Sutter. Her life was almost magical. During the day, she and Sutter tracked together. At night they sat with Elan and Padre Pedro and swapped stories and jokes and sipped home brew. When necessary they fought drags or hid from the Marines. That was life and life was good.
Then she came.
Rain and Sutter were prepping for a track when the lookout yelled down, “Incoming!”
Rain glanced up through the open gates of Sanctuary. The sun was in her eyes so she had to squint. The minute she saw the woman walking toward the gates, her heart filled with dread.
She walked right into the compound out of nowhere with only the clothes on her back. She had no explanation for where she’d been or why she was there. She claimed to remember nothing. Nothing but her first name: Megan.
She wasn’t a tall woman, but she had curves in all the right places. Her skin was pale and dashed with freckles. Her eyes were the blue of the summer sky, and her hair the fiery hue of sunset. She was almost as beautiful as the women in the magazines from the Before.
Rain hated her instantly.
Unfortunately, neither Sutter nor Elan shared Rain’s antipathy. Both of them were instantly smitten. Sutter even called off the track, claiming the newcomer was a more important source of information than anything they’d find on a track.
“I don’t trust her,” Rain’s tone was mulish as she toiled in the garden next to Padre Pedro a few days after Megan arrived. “I don’t trust her one bit.”
He sighed. “Nor do I, but we have no proof that she is other than she claims. A lost soul seeking shelter from the desert.”
“Please,” Rain snorted. “Does it look like she’s been wandering in the desert?”
He admitted it didn’t look that way. Megan’s pale skin wasn’t even pink, let alone tanned. Her hands and feet were free of scars and calluses. It was as though she’d never seen the sun, nor worked a day in her life. And she continued to shy away from work of any kind, always with some excuse. She spoke little but watched everything. Rain had found her hanging around near one of the weapons stores. When Rain confronted her, Megan’s feeble excuse was that she was lost.
“We must continue to keep a close watch on her,” Padre Pedro agreed, returning to his weeding. “We must behave as though nothing is amiss. As if we trust her. But we must
