“Guess the decision of whether to go or stay was made for me.” Fawke’s face darkened.
“I’m sorry.” I blinked back the tears wanting to spring forth. “I didn’t plan this.”
Gage screamed as they cut her, making things worse as she struggled. Stupid girl. If she didn’t stop fighting, she’d be cut too deep and bleed to death.
“Stop.” Fawke must have thought the same thing. “Squirming is only going to hurt you.”
“So, we’re all basically dead?” Riva frowned as one of the scouts wrapped a rag around her cut.
“Yeah.” I winced as my bandage was tightened. At least that was what I hoped Soriah would know.
Lloyd shot the radio with my gun. It flew off the wagon and lay smoldering in the weeds. “You won’t need that where we’re going.”
“Where are we going?”
“Up there. We’ve got quite a hike.” He turned and headed away from the city, leaving the others to keep my group in a tight cluster.
We should never have let our guard down. Guilt ripped a hole in my chest. I’d foolishly thought us safe since the Malignants didn’t venture out. How wrong I’d been. I hung my head and trudged along, feeling lonelier than ever without Fawke trying to raise my spirits as usual.
I gave him a sideways glance. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he stared straight ahead. I sighed and followed, trying to ignore the throbbing in my arm.
Would Sharon believe a group our size would have no survivors? I wouldn’t. Half maybe, but not this many. I glanced over my shoulder, the ruined radio too far now to see, but would it have been better to leave it intact? Of course, if Sharon called and didn’t see bodies…
What did the community’s leader want with us? Would we be tortured and killed for information about Soriah and President Cane?
“Act like the leader you are,” Fawke hissed. “Hold your head up. Don’t show weakness.”
“So, you’re talking to me now?”
He exhaled sharply through his nose. “This isn’t your fault. Bad luck. That’s all. Maybe it’s the Supreme Being’s plan for me to leave Soriah. I can’t tell the future.”
“You’re so good at adapting.”
“A person has to out here.” He didn’t smile at me, his eyes didn’t twinkle, but at least he spoke to me. I’d take what I could get.
Deciding to resume my role as leader, I squared my shoulders and pushed through the men surrounding us to reach Lloyd. “What does your leader want with us?”
“To talk.”
“When you joined us the other night, then left, was this the plan all along?”
He laughed. “Pretty smart, huh? Act all friendly, get you to let down your guard, then swoop in, taking you and the supplies.”
“Your leader doesn’t know.” The man lied.
“No, he doesn’t, but he’ll be as pleased as someone who’d scored a piece of chocolate.” Wrinkles spread from the corners of his eyes as he grinned. “We’ve taken a good number away from Soriah. Fighters. Oh, yes, he’ll be happy about us bringing you all in.”
“What will happen to us?”
“That depends on whether you pass the tests.”
“What kind of tests?”
His laughter grew. “You won’t like them, but they’re entertaining for the community.”
Dread sent rivulets of ice down my back. The very place I’d wanted to go might be the exact opposite of what I’d hoped. I wanted a peaceful place to live out my life, maybe have a family someday. Instead, I’d be used as entertainment. It didn’t sound as if it would bode well for my group.
“I suppose you can’t give me more information on these tests?”
“Nope. I’d rather it be a surprise.” He laughed again and ordered me back to the group.
“What?” Fawke asked when I fell back into step next to him.
“We’re going to be forced to some sort of test to determine our fate. Lloyd wouldn’t tell me more than that.”
Fawke frowned and stared at the back of Lloyd’s head. “A fight?”
I shrugged. “Maybe a series of questions? We can speculate all we want, but until we arrive, we won’t know anything.”
“I don’t like it.”
Neither did I.
I moved to Lars and Dayton. “Have you had any experience with these people?”
“No. Scavengers stay in the city,” Dayton said. “Maybe these people will send us back to scavenge for them. Or let us be scouts. We know the place really well.”
Lars’s eyes widened. “You’d be willing to go back where those things are?”
“If it meant staying alive and well in this so-called community. If we can’t prove we have value to them, they’ll get rid of us.”
“No use speculating,” Ezra said. “What will be will be. If they can’t see the value in a group of trained fighters, then they can all kiss a Malignant’s rear end.”
Despite the seriousness of our situation, I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “I’d like to see that.”
He grinned. “It’s only a matter of time before Soriah sends an army to our last known location. They’ll find this mountain community. Lloyd’s people will need fighters.”
I now had the proposition I’d give the leader. Our skills for our lives.
By late afternoon, we left the openness of the fields and entered blackened pine trees. Somehow, the trees managed to survive the harshness of our world. No longer green like I’d seen in books, they still reached for the sky and littered the ground with needles. The further we went, the thicker they were.
I smiled and lifted my face heavenward. If only the sun would shine. Instead, clouds thickened, promising rain. I hoped we’d arrive at our destination before the poison fell from the sky.
Catching a glimpse of one of the scouts ogling Lotus, I moved to her side and sent him a warning glance. He
