“Alright, we’re not moving,” Boden said calmly.“We’re doing as you ask, Dusty.Now what do you want?”
“I want her to stop what she’s done, and then I want her to pay for it!”Dusty shouted, and then he pulled the trigger.
I heard the blast, and I put my hand over Fae’s head and held her close to me.Suddenly, a pair of hands were on my back, tackling me to the ground and laying their body over me like a shield.Alphie let out a strange gasping scream, and I watched her fall to the ground right in front of me.
“You alright?”Fergus asked, and that’s when I realized he was the one that had pushed Fae and me out of the way.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said.
Alphie had apparently leapt in front of the bullet at the same time, and her chest had been blown wide open.Her head lolled over on the gravel, looking at me, and just before the light faded from her eyes, she murmured, “All will be well.”
By then, Boden had already charged Dusty and gotten the empty rifle from him.He used it to beat Dusty across the head three times, until he stopped moving, and then Boden turned back to us.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
30
Stella
We walked through the night, only stopping when necessary.Leandro and Alphie had managed to grab four lanterns and three times as many candles from the storehouse, so at least we weren’t travelling in total darkness.
I carried Fae in my arms long after she’d fallen asleep and my body began to ache.Wrapping her on my back made carrying her a bit easier physically, but I wanted to hold her to me.
The rest of us spoke very little, other than directions here or there (watch out for that branch, it’s slippery up ahead, and the like).
When we’d first gotten far enough away from Fort Lately that it felt safe, far enough that we couldn’t hear the screams or see their firelight anymore, we had stopped to go through our retrieved belongings to make sure that we had everything.
The scrapbook journal I’ve been making for Fae was intact, including the map I’d made with Lazlo’s input.The trail followed the Staulo River west before diverging slightly north toward a town called Xwechtáal.According to the note I’d scrawled underneath, it was an estimated two-week hike from Fort Lately’s territory.
Lazlo was familiar with Xwechtáal – which he pronounced asSchweck-tall– because they sometimes traded with Emberwood, and he described it as a friendly community.Or at least as friendly as anywhere could be these days.
We followed the river, keeping it to our left.Eventually, we’d part ways with it, but Boden had a compass, and we all had the stars to guide us.So we walked on, pushing ourselves, each of us committed to putting as much distance between us and the Revvers as we possibly could.
As dawn approached, Dougal let out an audible groan and sat down on a fallen log.
“I’m sorry, folks, but I haven’t anymore in me.”He grimaced and put a hand to his head.“I need to lie down or I’ll be out cold standing.”
“We’ve all had our fill of it tonight,” Fergus agreed, and he was already fishing in his bag to pull out a canister of water for his brother.“We should set up camp and get a proper rest in.”
“Sure,” Boden said, glancing around uncertainly.“We’ll just, uh, clear out a spot for our bed rolls and get a fire going, and sure.Yeah.I can take the first watch.”
And so that’s what we did.We set up our makeshift camp in a tired but practiced rhythm, like people who’d done this too many times before.
I slept in my bedroll, curled up around Fae.I only managed a few hours before Boden woke me for my watch, but then Fae was up anyway.As the sun rose in the sky, she crouched down, watching a caterpillar crawl across the ground.
Somehow, through it all, she remained happy and curious, and I knew then that I made the right choice.Unleashing the Loved Ones had been brutal and drastic, but it was the only way I could ensure that Fae and I could be safe, happy, and free.
And I would choose Fae every single time, no matter the cost.
It was still early in the day when everyone woke and we rolled up camp.The main priority was still putting as much distance between us and the Revvers as possible, as quickly as possible.
None of us could move with the same intensity as we had yesterday and last night.The adrenaline was fading with our exhaustion growing.But even with that, it soon became clear that Dougal was struggling to move at all, regardless of intensity.
With his sallow cheeks, his sunken gray eyes looked too large for his face.He’d always been the slenderer of the two brothers, but it progressed to emaciation.He was drowning in the baggy layers of clothing, despite the summer temperatures leaving the rest of us in tank tops and short sleeves.
Over breakfast – where Dougal only had warm water lightly flavored with dried venison – Edie had gone through the medicine she’d heisted from the Wellness Center back at Fort Lately.All of it was helpful, but she had been disappointed to find the Revvers had stocked the medicine cabinets with bandages, herbs, and crystals, but they were remarkably short on things like antibiotics, antineoplastics, and sedatives.
She had done all she could with what she had, but it was clear by the worry in her eyes that it hadn’t nearly been enough.
