I stepped out and walked around the wagons. A small one for our supplies, the larger one for our tent. We’d be crowded like sardines. If our group grew, some would have to sleep under the trailer. They’d still be kept safe from rain.
Turning, I gazed across the cleared courtyard, evidence of years of hard work by Stalkers. Now, here I was, an eighteen-year-old, believing I could lead a ragtag team across this cement jungle full of monsters. I turned my attention to the mountain. No plume of smoke rose in the distance today. Perhaps the fire had been set by scouts skirting the edges of this once mighty metropolis.
How long until we ran into them? Would they be friendly or want to take what was ours?
“You aren’t handling this alone,” Fawke said. “We’re all in this together.”
“We could all die together.” I glanced over my shoulder.
“Then we die. But,” he gave a crooked grin, “we die fighting.”
“Small consolation.” I returned his smile, despite the fear churning in my gut. The fact I’d taken to a life of fighting so easily scared me. This place changed a person. Maybe not for the best.
“You’re a good leader, Crynn. Don’t doubt yourself. If you do, there are some here that will lose respect and not follow your lead.”
Ezra. I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Let’s get some rest. I want to leave right after breakfast.”
“What’s the plan?” Moses glanced up from darning a sock. “This won’t be a walk in the park.”
“Who here has seen a park?” Gage asked. “How do you know? Before I came here, all I knew was concrete. Here…concrete and fires.”
“There’s trees on the mountain,” Jolt added. “Probably spindly ones, but at least there’s trees.”
I mended a few of my own items of clothing as the others dreamed of how life on the mountain might be different from where we were. I didn’t want to dwell on what ifs. Instinct told me the life here was going to feel like a piece of chocolate, smooth and sweet, over what awaited us out there.
“Have you seen the trees?” Gage arched a brow.
“No, but mountains have trees. I saw a picture in a book.” Jolt gave a one shoulder shrug. “Don’t dash my dreams, Miss Blue.”
She laughed. “Only fools have dreams.”
“I have a dream,” Dante said softly. “When my time is up, I’m going to get married and have kids. I’ll be living a life of luxury. Why not share it with someone? I’ve only got a year left.”
“Must be nice,” Kira muttered.
“I guess you shouldn’t have killed someone.” Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“Some people don’t deserve to live.”
“Sexual assault,” Moses whispered to me. “Attempted. Poor idiot didn’t get a second chance.”
“I would have killed him, too.” I tied the string in a knot and bit off the end, tossing the pair of stockings back in my pack. I did a quick inventory of my few personal belongings, then zipped the bag closed and leaned back against it. All I owned could be worn or carried on my body at one time if needed. It was still more than I’d owned back home.
“What’s your dream, Crynn?” Fawke smiled my way.
“To make it out of here alive.”
“Hear, hear,” the others cheered, raising mock glasses.
“That’s the best dream.” Fawke poked at the fire with a steel rod. Embers rose on a slight breeze smelling of death and decay.
“I used to tell my children scary stories of creatures that lived in the city,” Lara said. “I thought it all just that. A story. Then I jumped off that plane. When I heard them, then saw them, I almost dropped dead. All my dreams have been shattered.” She wrapped her arms around her bent knees. “I could care less if I live to see tomorrow.”
Shane put his arm around her. “You still have me.”
She leaned her head against him. “For now.”
I knew I had to get her to want to live, to fight. I needed her to realize how valuable each and every one of us was, but she wouldn’t hear me. She needed time to grieve. Tomorrow was a good enough time for me to set her straight. This life left no room for self-pity.
The next morning, Kira served us all a bowl of watery gray oats and weak tea. “It’s not much, but it’s hot. We’ve a long day ahead of us.”
“Everything goes on the wagons.” I dug into my meal. “We need our hands free and to be light on our feet. There’s hard work and a lot of fighting to be done. Moses and Ezra will pull the sleeping trailer. It’s big, but won’t have anything on it but the tent. Shane and Lara will pull the supply trailer. The rest of us will stand guard, ready for attack. Questions?”
When none came, I finished eating and rinsed my bowl. The others followed suit, then tossed their packs on the trailer. Since Dante had dug up the hole we stored our supplies in the day before, all we had to do was load what little there was.
I took a deep breath and glanced around the place I’d called home for almost a month. Would we find water? Would Sharon keep her word at dropping our weekly supplies? Worry filled my mind like rocks pebbled the landscape.
My chin quivered. No tears! Alga’s words rang out.
Squaring my shoulders, I gripped my gun and left the safety of the building. The others followed, taking up the positions I’d laid out for them.
A new chapter. One that would be harder than the last. I hadn’t thought anything worse than being dropped outside
