“You stashed food when we were all sick?” Mordecai asks.
I shrug as I spit and stand up. “It seemed like a smart idea at the time. And I thought I had more time before they showed up. I didn’t know.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Mordecai soothes. “Your instincts have been almost spot on, Kaida, you need to trust yourself.”
I bury my face in Jarek’s chest, trying not to think about what happened in that school and the fact that there will be so many people we know still lying there as corpses.
At least, I hope they are there. I’ve heard some revolting rumours about what the Path do with the bodies of their enemies.
It takes us the better part of the night, but we arrive to a silence that feels heavy but not threatening.
“I’ll be back,” I say and run before they can stop me. Cadel’s curse has me smiling. I get around the school and find the two bodies still impaled. They are little more than skeletons with shreds of material hanging from their frames.
I ignore them, going up the side of the building and slipping easily into the roof. To my relief, I find all the food and water still right where I left it. I check just in case, looking at the seals and looking for any marks in the dust around it. The last thing I want is for us to drink tampered water.
Everything looks clear, so I grab a backpack, shoving bottles of water in and grabbing some of the canned and packaged food. It’s ancient, but it’s food.
I slither back along the roof and, this time, go to the door to our secret room and slip down the wall there. Cadel snatches me off the bricks and drags me inside, pressing a finger to his lips.
A deep growl rumbles outside, and whatever it is passes slowly, its paws making only the slightest whisper of sound as it passes.
I tense, waiting, but it travels on. A few minutes later, Jarek and Mordecai appear, slipping inside.
Cadel shoves the door closed and walks down the stairs and into the space that we once lived in.
It’s quiet, and the lack of people makes everything heavy. None of us are talking. I think we’re all aware that any wrong sound could rain trouble down upon us.
I sit back, my head throbbing with pain. Cadel pulls me sideways, and I lie in his lap, watching them eat and drink. Their movements are furtive and quiet, and I try to imagine what it would be like to shout or scream with laughter. Call their names from far away. I’m sick of hiding; I’m sick of running.
I want this to be over.
One way or another, I’m sick of living like this. Will they hang our bodies from the wall when we’re dead?
I sit up suddenly.
“The wall.”
“What?”
“There’s a part of the wall that the Resistance were going to try to escape through because it’s the only part of the wall where it’s possible to climb it from the inside.” I pat my pockets until I find the papers and pull out the map.
Jarek exhales roughly. “Feels like a trap.”
“It’s undoubtedly a trap, but it’s worth it. It’s the only way.”
Cadel stares down at the bottle in his hand, running his thumb over the engraved name of some ancient person who is long gone.
“It’s our shot, our chance. I don’t want to burn here.”
I stare at Jarek.
He laughs. “I’m in. Anywhere you go, Kaida Keres, anywhere.”
I turn to Mordecai, my heart in my throat. I half expect him to tell me it’s a terrible idea.
“It’s a good idea,” he murmurs. “If we can get close enough without being seen, then if we are fast enough, we might be able to just fly up and disappear with few to no people noticing.”
I’m excited, energized. The idea of getting out of this city sets my blood racing, tingling.
