"I know," I assured her, waving down the murmur that was spreading through the crowd. "What Ayla didn't point out is that there are hundreds of innocent women down there. Women who have been tortured and abused by this system. Among them are the seven Reapers who were taken. Are they immune? Do we want to risk it? Arewewilling to kill the Moles' other victims just because we can?"
"And would it even work?" Rymar asked. "They eat so little of our meat, it might only convince them that eating the flesh ofanimalsmakes them sick so they should hunt more people. That is not a risk I'm willing to take, so no. We willnotpoison anything."
Heads began to nod, seeing the wisdom of our choice. It was easier than I'd expected - so far. Now, I just had to wait to see who'd be here tomorrow, ready to make this happen. Because it was easy to agree from the safety of the camp.
It was a lot harder to head out into the unknown.
Fifty-Seven
Ayla
There were a lot of people waiting the next day. All in all, we ended up with five carts and twenty-four people, including the drivers. Even better, we had eleven dogs! The group was bigger than Zasen wanted, but no one was willing to be left behind, and as one woman put it, more hands meant we'd unload even faster.
But when I checked the back of the carts, I realized the meat we'd harvested didn't look like I'd expected. In Lorsa, Zasen tended to carve the animals up into proper servings. This? They'd cut the bellies open and removed the intestines so nothing would spoil, but everything else was left intact. The deer still had their hide and horns!
As we walked, Kanik explained that delivering it like this would make it clear there were more things to eat than people. Even if the women didn't see it before it was prepared, the hunters would. Changing a few minds would hopefully start people talking, and one crack in the complete authority of the elders would only lead to more. He also let me know it had been Rymar's idea.
When I asked Rymar about it, he called it propaganda. That wasn't a word I knew, but when he explained the concept, itsounded like how the Moles did everything. Twisting words and thoughts to fit their needs was how they'd kept us all so ashamed we never pushed back. It worked for them, so using the tactic against them seemed fitting somehow.
But the walk was a long one. For the first few hours, everyone traipsed easily. The dogs ran loose, sniffing at whatever they wanted. The feeling of the people around us, both Dragons and Reapers alike, was almost excited. For once, they weredoingsomething. Maybe it wouldn't work, but if it did? If we could stop them, then maybe Tobias wouldn't be stuck in there waiting for a promotion so he could bring us the code!
Although so much time walking also meant a lot of time to think. Our big problem was getting a code. I knew there was a lock on the door, but I'd never seen it - at least not from the outside. On the inside, there was a room that was always closed. I knew the elders could open it, and I knew the means to shut off the intruder alarm was in there, but only because of that one incident that had happened when I was a child.
I did know of another code.
"Zasen?" I asked, stretching my legs so I could catch up to him. "Have you ever seen the door to the compound?"
"Yes..." He gave me a funny look. "Haven't you?"
I shook my head. "When I left, I was shackled, I had just been stripped, and I thought they'd throw me out and leave. Instead, they dragged me up the hill and chained me to the tree. I didn't think to look back! I was so surprised by the grass, sky, moonlight, and everything else."
"Makes sense," he agreed.
"So what does the door look like?"
"Um..." He laughed once. "It's large. Twice as big as the doors we have on our homes. More wide than tall, and it's made of metal. Weather has rusted it in some places, but the kind of metal they used is trying to resist the corrosion. Why?"
"The lock?" I pressed.
He shrugged, clearly not knowing what I was looking for. "There are 3 long handles that serve as latches for the thing. They're secured. Trust me, I've tried them a few times."
"And the means to open them?" I asked.
"I don't know," he said. "Ayla, the entire thing is like nothing in Lorsa. Rumors once said it was aliens who designed the thing. We knew it wasn't, but the look of that place is weird enough it's an easy thing to believe. Why?"
"Is there a keypad?" I asked, holding up my hands to approximate the size. "Something about like this with buttons on it? They might have numbers on them, or maybe those have worn off, but three buttons across and four down?"
His focus shifted to the trees we were passing and his brow furrowed. "I think so? Like a metal square with smaller squares inside? Silver. Well, a silver-colored metal. Why, Ayla?"
I chewed at my lower lip, thinking hard. "The Moles like to keep things the same. They never change anything - or didn't."
"Uh-huh..." He was watching me warily.
"Zasen, I know a code."
And his feet stopped. "Why didn't you say this before?"
"I did! That night we couldn't sleep? I told you then." I flopped my hands at my sides. "I didn't know the one on the outside would be the same kind of lock. I just... I never put it together, but I was thinking, and then I realized, and I don't know, I mean, maybe..."
