“Are there laws out here to break?”
“Yes.” His navy eyes settled on me. “Being responsible for the death of another Stalker because of negligence could get you here for life. So can cowardice.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if those who’d been here a while had done one of those or committed their crimes back home. Time would tell. I vowed not to betray or hinder my teammates.
“The oldest member of our team, Ezra, chose to stay. Said he had nothing left for him back home.”
“Where are the others?” My short legs had a hard time keeping up with his longer stride.
“At the shelter. Finding you only took one of us.” His gaze raked over me again and he laughed. “You’re loaded down, aren’t you?”
“I didn’t know what I’d need.” I hitched my chin at his teasing.
“First thing will be to get you cleaned up. You reek.” He fell silent as the sounds through the buildings intensified.
“You’ve water here?”
“Not to drink until a drop is made.” He held up a fist, signaling me to stop. “We’ll have to take a short cut. There are too many of them between us and the others.” He grabbed me close enough to smear the blood on my chest onto his. “Covering our smell is the best thing. Duck in here.”
Why wasn’t Fawke the leader? He obviously knew what to do, where to go, how to protect himself. I had so many questions whirling in my head, but the deeper we got into the building the more the instinct to be quiet rose. So did the smell of rot and decay.
I untied a scarf from around my waist and covered my nose and mouth much to Fawke’s amusement. His eyes twinkled before he turned and continued the march forward. He could laugh all he wanted, but the smell of myself and the air around us made my stomach churn. If I had a few drops of Mams’s precious floral scent I’d have sprinkled some on the scarf. I had a feeling those type of luxuries were far in my future.
Fawke led me through one building after another, stopping to press his back against the wall, let an unseen Malignant pass, then stepping back into the open and continuing. I copied his movements and made note of anything that would show me the way again should I be out alone.
As we walked, I noted how overdressed I seemed in contrast to his camouflage pants and shirt. A dark scarf hung around his neck. Tied to his right thigh was something similar to my sheath but that was not a sword he carried in his hand. It rather looked like a cannon of some kind. The vest I’d smashed my nose against was gray and made of a hard substance, no doubt a shield of some sort. The cold didn’t seem to bother him like it did me.
He stopped suddenly, and I ran into the back of him. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder with a scowl. Putting a finger to his lips, he shook his head.
I nodded, my face heating. My legs felt as heavy as boulders from all the walking and running I’d done that day. All I wanted to do was drink something cool and lie down, pretending the last two days was nothing more than a nightmare. But, the cold, the fires, the sounds and smells were all very real.
“See that tunnel?” Fawke pointed to an opening under a building across from us. “That’s our shelter. Only one way in and one way out.”
“Isn’t that a Malignant lying in wait?” I motioned to one lying next to the opening.
“It’s dead. It’s there to cover our scent so we can come and go, although the blood you’re covered with should suffice right now. Come quick and be silent.” He sprinted across the open ground and into the tunnel.
Before I could change my mind, I darted after him, skirting around the dead body, and into an inky blackness. After a few seconds my eyes adjusted enough for me to see a glimmer of light shining from the end of the tunnel. Time for me to meet the rest of my comrades.
I hitched my chin, straightened my back, stepped into the light, and stopped. My gaze flicked over the group of six, but I stood silent and let them inspect me.
“Guys, meet our new leader, Crynn Dayholt. She got the lucky winning spin on the wheel.” Fawke bowed toward me. “She’s already seen action and lived to tell the tale.”
“Let’s hope it wasn’t dumb luck.” A man with gray hair cut short, wearing blue denim pants and a leather jacket nodded my way. “I’m Ezra Bruno, long time and life-time Stalker.”
A man with ebony skin introduced himself as Dante Pitts. Unless he was one of the criminals, his servitude would be over before Fawke’s, judging by his age. Another man not as old as Ezra introduced himself as Moses Rake. A girl a little older than myself was named Gage Blue, and the last member of our group, also female and older than she should have been to still be there identified herself as Kira Darke.
Kira offered to show me where to clean up and led me down a short hall away from the others. Water spilled from a hole above us to disappear into another hole in the floor. “The water’s cold as ice,” she said, “but it’ll get that blood off your clothes. This is where you’ll shower when you need to. Just don’t drink the stuff. It’s bitter, and you’ll spend a lot of time on the toilet.” She gave me a thin-lipped smile. “Join us when you’re done so we can fill you in on things. You sure do wear a lot of clothes.”
“Wait. How long have you been
