Enclave

shiny stuff shook clean unlike any cloth I’d ever seen. That would come in handy.

I left Tegan searching for a bag to carry her stuff. In the next set of shelves, I saw a bunch of bottles, and they looked like they held water. Marveling at the luck, I took a couple with me. There might be a waste closet here, I thought. At the back of the shop, I found it, tucked into a dark hall. The shadows didn’t bother me. My ears were good and I’d hear movement.

Inside, it was dingy, but not disgusting at it had been on the platform. The mirror didn’t take me by surprise this time. I ignored the girl going about her business — even though with my brain, I knew she was me, I felt no connection to her, and every now and then, I looked up just to see if she would continue what she was doing, or stop and stare, as I did. Each time, her movements matched, but my sense of unease remained. It was like a doorway, I thought.

I cracked open a bottle. It didn’t smell like the water we boiled, but I didn’t intend to drink it. Instead I used it to wash off before putting on my clean clothes; they were warmer and lighter than I’d expected. When I’d done what I could to remove the bloodstains, I felt a little better.

“Deuce!” Fade called. “Come here.”

I expected more clothing, but he’d found another room, hidden behind a heavy metal door that read EMPLOYEES ONLY. This one was full of boxes and crates and beyond that, another space, this one smaller still, that held tables, chairs, tall storage units, and two dusty sofas. We pounded them until they looked clean enough to use.

“We can lock that door,” I said. “And hole up in here while it’s so bright out.”

“That wasn’t what I wanted you to see.”

I sat down beside him while he pulled the top off a tin. It contained a red substance that made me recoil. Surely that couldn’t be — then he lifted it to my nose so I could sniff it. It was the best thing I’d ever smelled, and my mouth watered.

“What is it?”

“Taste it.” Fade dipped his finger into the tin and offered it to me.

I couldn’t resist, though I knew better than to let him feed me like a brat. Sweetness exploded on my tongue, contrasting with the warmth of his skin. Shocked and pleased, I pulled back and dipped two of my fingers into the tin in a little scoop. This time I caught more than the sauce. A round little red thing sat in the curve of my fingertips. I ate it without hesitation, two, three more scoops until I was sure I had red all around my mouth, and I didn’t care. He watched me with amusement.

“How did you know it would be so good?” I asked

His smile slipped. “I had some with my dad, once.”

I turned the tin, which was covered in red things, and had a blue banner with white letters on it. They read, “Comstock,” and below that, it said, “More Fruit Cherry.” More new words. We were eating cherries, something I’d never had before, and they made my mouth water for more. I stopped because I wanted Tegan to taste them too.

“Do you miss him?”

Fade nodded and set the tin down. Hesitantly, I put my hand on his shoulder. I wasn’t a Breeder, so touching didn’t come naturally to me. If I was, I guessed I’d know how to comfort him. I might even have the right words instead of a throat full of silence. It was the first time I’d ever thought being a Breeder might come in handy.

For the first time, I looked at him and I didn’t see reflexes or muscles or fighting potential. I saw only a boy who had followed me from the tunnels, who had been a friend no matter what obstacles we faced. Even while the Wolves had been hunting him, he thought of saving me. My heart shifted a little in my chest; it seemed to swell and beat against my bones until I couldn’t hear.

“You were right, you know,” he said finally.

“About what?”

“Why I stayed. I didn’t have anything better waiting. The enclave was better than being alone.”

“You’re not alone,” I said. “And you never will be. We’re partners now.”

Fade smiled then. I didn’t know why. Until he said, “My dad had a partner. I don’t remember her.”

“Oh?” I wondered if his dad had been a Hunter too, some Topside variety I didn’t know about. The whole world couldn’t be populated with people like Stalker.

“She was my mother.”

The words struck me like a question, but I didn’t have an answer. “Come on. I found some water on the shelves. We need to clean your arms up.”

“The cuts aren’t that deep,” he protested.

“And if they get infected—”

“I know.” He followed me back into the shop, where I walked along the shelves finding things I might be able to use. Some of them even looked like they might be suitable for tending wounds.

Fade winced when I unwrapped the cloth strips. I tried to be careful, but the dried blood made it stick. With perfect gravity, I stared at the way they’d made the cuts run parallel to his Hunter marks. Now he bore twelve. Part of me wished I could seal them properly, so his arms would say to anyone, I’m twice the Hunter you are. But Topside such symbols were meaningless. They were just scars. Nobody would admire him for having more. I hated that loss too.

Head bent, I washed his wounds and applied the salve Banner had given me. The primitive part of me didn’t think I should use it — whatever power she had given to its making would fail because of her death. But it was all we had, and I wanted him to heal.

He didn’t show further signs of discomfort. I sliced up one of the shirts for bandages, and turned the soft white side to his cuts. The outside was slick like the clothing I wore, and should keep the rain out. It seemed like a very useful fabric. Too bad the making of it had been lost. But then, everything I knew was lost too. I felt like I must learn everything again, like a brat, or face painful consequences.

When I finished tying the cloth, I looked up to tell him he could go, only to find a steely, fixed expression on his face. He didn’t look away. His hands came up to frame my face, warm against my cheeks. Before he bent his head, I knew what he was going to do. Touch his lips to mine. Oh, and I wanted him to. He left me the chance to back away and break his hold. I stilled, hardly daring to breathe. The old refrain of can’t and shouldn’t sank beneath the weight of new words like, please and yes.

This time I did wrap my arms around his neck. I met him on raised toes and melted into him. I breathed his breath and tasted the essence of him. He was the heat of a fire and the sweetness of the moon I’d only just met. No wonder Breeders were so cheerful, I thought, breathless.

“I never belonged anywhere until I met you,” he said, resting his cheek against my hair.

“I thought I did.”

Remembering the enclave gave me a pang. I would always miss Stone and Thimble. I would worry about Twist and hope the brats were doing well, especially Girl26. But it wasn’t my place. I knew that now. There was a reason besides pity I had sacrificed myself for Stone.

“And now?”

I couldn’t lie to him. “I was born there. I expected to die there. If I’d never left, I think I would’ve been content. I believed what they told me about the surface. When we started climbing that day, I thought I’d die of fear.”

“Not you,” he said. “I’ve never seen you defeated. You were so determined to prove to everyone you deserved to be a Huntress, when nobody questioned it but you.”

That astonished me. “What do you mean?”

“You were among the best. If not for Crane’s physical strength, you would’ve been facing me in the finals. But I think you doubted it because from the beginning you didn’t have the same hardness as the rest of the Hunters. It’s not easy for you.”

“No,” I said softly, thinking of the blind brat we’d failed to save.

“And that’s why I—”

Before he could finish his thought, Tegan found us. “So this is where you two are hiding.”

The moment was broken, so I led the way back to the room with the sofas, where we’d left the can of cherries. I handed her the open tin. “Try it.”