“I don’t want to slow you down,” I say.
“You won’t.” River holds my hand and leads me forward. “I’m not losing you too.”
Chapter 13
Caden
“You asked for water, didn’t you? Crawl and drink.”
Josh remains seated, his hands bound behind his back.Bad call, I think right before the two Raiders kick him.
I growl and try to catch their attention, hoping they’ll aim their kicks at me, but they ignore my attempts while I sit tied to a tree, my mouth gagged after I made the mistake of trying to reason with them.
Josh shouts, “Fine!” and they stop kicking.
I feel sick watching him crawl on his stomach across the dirt until he reaches the small pond. I’m thirsty as well, not to mention starving. It’s been two days since they snatched us from High Hope, and I still don’t know any more than I did then. Jay, their leader who killed Trey, made it clear that his mission is to bring me to Denver alive, meaning he has no obligation to keep Josh safe. I remind myself of that every time I think about testing their boundaries.
Yesterday, I heard some of the Raiders discuss the need to reach Denver as soon as possible.“We still don’t know who followed us the other day.”
“You think it was the same ones who got Willie and his gang last month?”
“I fucking hope not! They found them in pieces.”
That means it couldn’t have been a squad of Defenders since butchering Raiders isn’t our style, even though it’s oh so tempting.
Jay crouches next to me, ugly as sin with that nasty scar on his face. He takes a long sip from his water bottle. “Damn, it’s hot today. You must be sweating under your balls like crazy. If I take the gag off, you’ll drink quietly?”
I nod, my throat dry enough to feel bruised.
He pulls the dirty rag from my mouth and presses the bottle to my lips. The water is warm and a bit sandy, but I drink as much as I can.
“Food?” he asks.
I nod. “Please.”
He holds dry meat to my lips. Before I can grab it with my mouth, he pulls his hand back. “On second thought, either you eat today, or your friend.” He talks quietly so Josh won’t hear, giving me the opportunity to be selfish in secret. “Let him have it.”
He snorts. “I always wondered how you Defenders survived being so soft.”
All he needs to do is untie me to find out howsoftI am.
“Eat.” He brings the meat to my mouth. “There’s enough for both of you.”
I hesitate, but I choose to believe him. The meat is salty and might cause me to have diarrhea, but I feel more energized by the time I finish chewing. I get a bit of bread as well, andthen they give some food to Josh. He seems in pain from their constant abuse, but he’s trying to keep it from showing on his face, likely for my sake. The two Raiders feeding him whisper things in his ears that make him turn pale, but he manages to compose himself and not respond.
When one of them gropes Josh’s crotch, I shout,“Hey! You wanna lose that hand?”
The groper smirks, then comes toward me with his fists raised. When he’s close enough, I sharply move my feet and trip him. He stumbles and falls, granting me the opportunity to swiftly kick his nose and easily break it.
Chaos erupts, but I grit through the pain until Jay tells them to stop hitting. When it’s time to leave, they drag me to the back seat of one of the buggies. I slump against the door, hoping the road won’t be too bumpy. Before we drive off, I exchange a look with Josh, who’s in the back of the other buggy. He seems angry at me for risking myself on his behalf, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat, and he should know that.
*
Hours later, they park on the side of the road and start a bonfire when it’s getting dark. It helps with the cold, though I’m too sore to care about the weather. They keep Josh far from me, but at least they leave him alone for now. We drink and eat some more, but not enough to make me full. They’re trying to keep us weak, and they’re smart to do so.
We should be arriving in Denver in less than two days, maybe a bit sooner if the roads aren’t too clogged with rusty old vehicles. With nothing better to do than watch the flames asI’m bound to a tree, I worry about Finn in High Hope. He must have figured out by now that the king was behind this, but I hope he can keep his mouth shut until he’s far away from that fucker’s grip. If Unity acts quickly, they might find us before we reach Denver, but that won’t happen unless Finn contacts Dino and tells him what happened. There’s also the slim chance of River finding us somehow. From the way Josh constantly looks around, I can tell he believes it might happen any minute now, but I’m more skeptical. We traveled too fast and too far, but maybe Mother has her ways.
I listen to the Raiders as they speak by the fire and drink alcohol. They mention Denver’s arena and the games they want to watch, painting a gruesome picture of what takes place there. They also mention a champion they can’t wait to see in action, and I wonder if Hector is that champion, killing his opponents with his fucking tail.
