“Are they heading toward the village?”
“What village?” Miles demanded.
Stalker shook his head faintly; he didn’t think it was smart to tell them too much. So I seamed my mouth shut and let him motion them to silence. There would be less conflict if they thought he was in charge. While his youth made him unpalatable, at least he had the proper equipment in his pants.
Ellis and Miles whispered some more. I wished I hadn’t brought them or that they didn’t have rifles, but close up, those would prove of limited use. Most likely, I’d be faster than they expected. Men always underestimated me.
It grew more difficult for Stalker to read the trail signs the deeper we pushed into the forest. The ground was covered with damp leaves, obscuring all but the most obvious clues. For the first time, he hesitated. I told myself he was doing his best; he had promised he would, and I had no reason to think he took such words lightly. But every moment we delayed, Fade got farther away … and the danger of his situation increased. I refused to consider that it might already be too late, as everyone else already said. I wouldn’t entertain the idea that my quest was hopeless.
“This way,” Stalker said at last, but I could tell he wasn’t sure.
To my relief, we turned away from the path that led to the village. Instead, it appeared these Freaks were circling around, though I didn’t understand why. Maybe they hadn’t been accepted into the settlement yet, and were hoping to use the men they’d taken as welcome gifts.
Stop it, I chided myself. This isn’t helping.
Misery knotted into an iron ball just below my breastbone, tormenting me as we walked. Miles and Ellis hunched their shoulders and kept one hand on their rifles at all times. They were going to draw the whole village down on us the minute they fired off a round, but as long as I could run faster than either of them, I didn’t care much. Only Fade mattered.
Only Fade.
Two or three Freaks, acting alone. Try as I might, I couldn’t work out the sense of it. Fortunately, I didn’t need to; I just needed to keep my wits about me and follow Stalker. Soon, there was no path, which made the trail easier to follow. Freaks pushing deep into the untamed wild left broken branches and churned dirt. Now and then, they had to put their burdens down. I didn’t let myself wonder why there were no signs of a struggle. If Fade had come to, he’d have fought.
But it doesn’t mean he’s gone. It doesn’t. There could be some reason. Maybe they keep knocking him out before he rouses fully.
Maybe he is dead, an awful voice suggested. You’re chasing a dream, unable to let go, because he wanted both sides of you—girl and Huntress.
I shook my head, breathless with the pain.
A short while later, Stalker knelt. Despite the green-cast shadows falling on his scarred face, I read his reaction to whatever clue he’d found. Dread. Steeling my nerve, I crouched beside him and the smell reached me. More blood. I hadn’t wanted to think about the stain on the blankets before now.
“How much is it?” I asked.
I might be able to tell for myself, if I looked closely, if I spilled the wet leaves through my fingers, and touched the moist earth. There was no way I would, especially if there was a chance it belonged to Fade; I wasn’t brave enough in this moment. Stalker had to be my eyes.
“Not enough for a mortal wound.” Of that, he sounded sure. Relief lightened the load on my chest. “But I don’t think it’s human. Here.” He held a leaf to my nose.
Beyond the initial copper, there was an underlying aroma—sickly sweet decay, as if the sores that showed on their bodies went bone deep. Ellis and Miles came up beside us, sniffing with desultory interest. I thought privately that they both stunk too bad to smell anything else, but they both pretended to notice the difference.
“That’s definitely Mutie blood,” Miles said. “Hot damn. They must be injured. That’ll make our job easier when we find ’em.”
He sounded genuinely invested in the hunt. So maybe whatever he had planned for me, he intended to leave it until we killed the Freaks who took our men. If so, he was a better guard than I’d thought. I figured he and Ellis would jump me at the first opportunity, the minute I turned my back on them. Of course, I hadn’t done that yet, so my theory hadn’t been field-tested.
“Does that mean Frank and Fade are still alive?” Ellis asked.
Stalker shrugged. “Who knows? It might have been a predator, attacking the Freaks who were laden down and easier to hurt. But it could be Fade or Frank woke up and went after their captors. We won’t know until we find them.”
Until. I could have kissed him for that hopeful word. But that would only give Miles and Ellis ideas. Silently, I continued on our flank, eyes sharp for trouble.
Trouble lunged out of the undergrowth at us, and Miles shot the creature instantly. The sharp report echoed through the woods, making me want to scream. Now anything in the immediate vicinity knew where to find us. The animal fell dead at our feet, but it had been wounded already; I’d recognize Freak-inflicted injuries anywhere. This might be what had attacked them. The thing had brown-spotted fur and pointed ears. It looked sleek, a capable predator.
“Idiot,” Stalker bit out. “I could’ve killed it quietly.”
Miles shrugged. “You weren’t fast enough, boy. Remember that.”
I wanted to stab him right then, but I had to wait until he attacked me. Then it would be self-defense. I was starting to look forward to the confrontation.
The animal twitched, death-throes tensing its muscles.
“What is it?” I asked, wondering if we could eat it. Not now, of course. I wouldn’t put anything in my mouth that a Freak had touched. Not even fire could burn the meat clean enough.
Ellis stared at me with pure derision. “Bobcat. Not too much for a real hunter, but it might’ve had a go at the Muties, if they was weighted down. They’ve been known to go after deer.”
Stalker seemed thoughtful. “So the Freaks are dragging Frank and Fade. The bobcat attacks. One or both is injured.”
“We need to hurry,” I said.
To my ears, every rustle, every whisper of the wind turned sinister. The whole village might have heard the rifle report; there could be a hundred Freaks crawling through the trees, ready to attack. Even the small ones I’d noticed, who bore an uncanny resemblance to brats, had sharp teeth and claws for rending. However skilled Stalker and I might be, we couldn’t defeat a small army.
“Agreed.” Stalker strode away from the animal corpse and the spilled Freak blood. He seemed confident that he knew which way to go now.
So I followed, hoping at any moment we would stumble on Frank and Fade—that they would have broken their bonds and overcome their captors. The light waned, and it didn’t happen. Occasionally, I heard movement in the trees, and it took all my courage to keep moving. This wasn’t like patrolling for Freaks down below, my home territory. I knew little about hiding in these alien trees.
But for Fade, I would continue despite my fear. I crushed it into a ball and pushed it down so far into my stomach that I couldn’t feel it anymore. Nobody spoke, not even Ellis and Miles, who had finally caught the weight of this Freak-filled forest. It was a heavy, oppressive place. Overhead, the trees were hung with strings of bone that clattered in the wind. Warnings, I thought, about pressing too deep, just like the severed heads they’d staked in our fields.
Before, they had been a threat I had to eradicate for the safety of those weaker. No more. Now I hated them with a ferocity that heated my thoughts to boiling. They’d taken from me the one person I loved. Though the word was one I’d learned Topside, I grasped its meaning intuitively; it was a thing that could not be articulated or explained. It merely was, like the sunrise or a sheer and sudden drop to the giant water that had stolen my breath, where the land ended in the ruins. My love for Fade strengthened me, made me determined never to give up. I would follow him until the world stopped or until I found him. I believed love hadn’t weakened me or left me soft; instead it made me powerful, determined beyond all belief.
Soon, we lost the light entirely. Leaving so late in the day, though we’d had little choice, slowed our progress and put us behind in the search. There was no way to follow the trail.
When Stalker said, “We have to make camp,” I still wanted to hit him.
But he was right, and there could be no arguing, no matter how much I hated it. There was too much chance of missing a crucial clue and going off course. If we got turned around, marching at night, then Fade and Frank lost their lives. I told myself that if we couldn’t continue, the Freaks might have to make camp too. Of course, they might be able to see in the dark. Perhaps they would run all night with their hostages, until they reached their final destination.
“No fire,” Ellis said. “It’s too risky.”
I nodded. While he might be an idiot for befriending Gary Miles, he knew what he was doing in the wild. We were all silent and sullen as we ate our hard tack and dry meat, washing it down with tepid water. My mind circled with dire, unpleasant thoughts, most of which I couldn’t speak out loud. If I did, then it was the same as giving up on Fade. I wouldn’t do that to him.
When I went missing down below, Fade came back for me. He didn’t panic. Any other partner would have shrugged and gone back to the enclave, reported me dead. New Hunters came up all the time, gained their names, and replaced the ones who were lost. Fade hadn’t seen me as replaceable then. I wouldn’t judge him so now.
“How’re you holding up?” Stalker asked, sitting beside me.
He put himself between the other two males and me. If they tried anything during the night, he’d kill them, I had no doubt. Not for the first time, I wished he could be content with my friendship—and that I wasn’t aware he wanted more. Despite his hurt and thwarted desire, Stalker was doing his level best to find Fade and Frank, not because they were his friends, but for me.
“Good enough.” I paused, wondering if I should really talk to him about this. But he asked. “It’s the uncertainty, you know?”
He nodded. “Sometimes the truth isn’t as bad as you imagine.”
Sometimes.
It was chilly tonight, but I wasn’t ready to sleep yet, so I just wrapped up in my blanket, keeping my pack close. The canopy overhead prevented more than a hint of starlight from trickling down, and it gave things a murky, indistinct shape in the dark. I could hear the other two whispering again, though, and my skin crawled.
“Think we can trust them?” I pitched my voice so only Stalker could hear.
“Not even a little. They’ve got plans for you, dove.” It was the first time he’d used the endearment since he came to warn me that I’d only wind up hurting Fade, because he wasn’t my kind. Now I wondered if those words weren’t prophetic. If Fade hadn’t joined the summer patrol because of me, he wouldn’t be missing. He’d done it to please me … and watch over me.
Oh, Fade, I’m sorry. I battled with the impulse to blame myself. Best to focus on immediate problems, like the men sitting across from us. I knew the fate they intended for me.