A mixture of emotions flickered across his face. Regret, anger, fear…
I felt a pang in my heart for causing him pain, but I would not have anyone sacrifice their safety for mine just because some unknown person demanded them to.
10
I woke to the thwump thwump of helicopter blades in the distance. Hoping our tent had arrived, I jumped to my feet and joined Fawke at the entrance to our soon-to-be abandoned home.
Two people exited the chopper, a third parachute following. I turned and grabbed my weapons. “Newcomers.”
Fawke reached out to stop me. “I’ll go with you. It’s safer.”
I nodded. I’d been so excited to see more humans to join our ranks, I’d forgotten the Malignants would lie in wait for them to hit the ground. The monsters knew the sound of an arriving chopper as well as I did. “Let’s make it fast. If that’s our tent, I want to leave soon. The rest of you load the wagons.”
With Fawke leading the way, as usual, we stepped from our shelter and sprinted to the drop location. Shrieks rose around us. The monsters knew they were at risk of losing a good meal.
The newcomers, a man and a woman both dressed in leather, were deep in a battle when we arrived. The man slashed with a knife in one hand and shot a handgun with the other. The woman struggled, staying close to her companion’s side.
Having been slowed down by the package dropped with them, they’d been surrounded. I started shooting on the run, switching to my sword when we were close enough for hand-to-hand combat. The Malignants might be many and strong, but they weren’t fast or smart. The four of us were able to dispose of them easily enough.
“Crynn Dayholt. Leader.” I held out my hand. “This is Fawke Newton.”
The woman stared at the blood smeared across my skin and grimaced. “We’re Orions. I’m Lara, this is Shane. I’ll pass on the handshake for now.”
I shrugged. “Follow us, quickly. More Malignants will come. You can tell us your stories once we’re safe.”
“Our stories?” Shane snorted. “We were starving, stole a loaf of bread, and here we are.” He kicked a rock, sending it scuttering across the cracked concrete. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed one handle of the crate while Fawke took the other.
“More than a tent in here,” Fawke said. “It’s heavy.”
“Early supplies?” I arched a brow.
“Possibly. Sharon does know we’re about ready to leave on the President’s stupid quest.”
I nodded and led the way, keeping my eyes open for creatures skirting the shadows. I spotted a few, but no groups large enough to want to take on four armed humans.
Once we rejoined the others, I made the introductions and grabbed a crowbar to open the crate. “Yes!” A large water-resistant tent lay folded inside with cans of food and more water purification tablets. “We leave in the morning.”
“For where?” Shane frowned. “We just got here.”
“We’ve been assigned the task of heading to the mountains in search of other survivors.” I left everything inside the crate. “It’s going to be a long hard journey, so get your rest today.”
“Survivors?” Lara glanced around the group. “Soriah is all there is.”
“Nope.” Kira shook her head. “That’s what we all thought, too. We’ve seen the smoke in the distance.”
I studied the two newcomers. Other than the leather suits they wore, they weren’t heavily armed, and neither carried a backpack. “Were you not given access to the weapons room? Or allowed to fill packs?”
“We were chipped, then given a handgun and a knife and told to take the crate with us when we landed,” Shane said, dropping to a cross-legged sitting position next to the fire. “Good thing there’s food in there, huh? Lara and I won’t go hungry anymore.”
“How long did they send you for?” Dante asked, handing them each a tin cup of water.
“Life.” The man’s shoulders slumped. “Life in hell for a loaf of bread.”
I glanced at Fawke. The astonished expression on his face told me he felt as surprised as I did at such a harsh punishment.
“Why’d you steal?” Ezra reclined on his blanket. “You had to know the consequences of breaking the law.”
“We have two children.” Tears spilled from Lara’s eyes. “Shane wasn’t making enough to keep them fed. Now, they’re in the orphanage and we’re here.”
My heart dropped to my knees. These parents would never see their children again. The shining point was that the children wouldn’t go hungry either. “I’m sorry. Rest today.” I turned away and moved to the entrance.
Was this my fault? I’d asked for more fighters. Would Soriah send anyone who broke the law? I wanted help, but not at the expense of a family.
“What’s wrong?” Fawke put a hand on my shoulder.
I hitched my chin. “I think this is how we’ll get the fighters we need. Senseless, over-the-top, punishments.”
“We do need them. Shane looked pretty capable out there today.”
“Lara didn’t. She isn’t a fighter.”
“She’ll have to learn or Shane will lose her to.”
We stared outside in silence for a few minutes, each lost in our thoughts. “How far have you ventured from this building?” I asked.
“Maybe a mile or two. After that, traveling is difficult. Too much debris. It’s going to be hard with the wagons. We’ll have to stop a lot to clear our way.” He leaned against the wall.
“That might be why no one has ever seen any scouts. They don’t think it’s worth the trouble.” Which meant any other survivors might not know we exist.
He nodded. “There will be hordes of Malignants, too. We keep this area manageable. Unless someone has been clearing the area further on, then they’ve been allowed to thrive. They run in packs, so
