7
Chapter Seven
REESE
He must be exaggerating. Towns don't just close down. Well, at least they didn't before Snatcher took me.
I should be considering Sin's wordsor demands, but I'm trying to take it all in—the light, the colors, and the landscape. Everything is burnt orange and brown, which is beautiful against the blue sky, but this place is nothing like home. We had grass, very green grass and wildflowers. There are no flowers here.
My legs feel heavy with each step, but I don't want to complain. I can't complain. We need to get out of here. We need to get as far away from here as possible; even though there is nothing but vast open space. I don't see any roads or highways in the distance. I don't see anything in the distance. "Where are we?" I ask.
"Shh. Keep your voice down, will you?" Sin snaps.
Confused, I look around, trying to understand why he would tell me to be quiet since there's no one around. I look behind us toward where the shed and basement were. The house adjacent to the basement is larger than what I thought now seeing it from this angle. I release a heavy sigh as I let my feet drag against the dirt "How much farther until we reach a road or a highway?" I ask softly.
Sin stops suddenly and turns to face me. "Look, I know you've been locked up for three years, and you have a million questions, but just assume I don't have the answer to any of them right now. Okay?"
"No. It's not okay. You're right. I have been locked up for three years, so don't you think I deserve some information? Anything? Like even the name of this stupid town. You can't just mute me…like your father did."
Sin grabs me by the loose material of my overalls and pulls me up to his chest. His forehead shimmers under the sun and his hazel eyes grow wide with anger. His veins swell under his skin, and I'm realizing I've pushed the wrong button. "I am nothing like that man. Nothing." He releases me quickly and turns back around, continuing in his direction.
With a deep breath, I continue in Sin's shadow, noticing another shed off in the distance. That one is mostly flattened too, although, there are a few planks of wood still standing upright, unlike my shed. One of the standing planks has a showerhead dangling by a metal rod.A shower in a shed.I didn't have a shower in the shed I was in. I was given a bucket of water and a dried out bar of soap once every three days.
Water. I need water.
I feel like I'm wilting from the sun. It's beating down on my neck, and I know I'm going to burn. It's bad enough I'm blonde and pale, but after no sun exposure in so long, my skin is probably going to blister.
I find myself breathing heavier as we continue, and I really want to know where we're walking. "Five more minutes until we're there," Sin says. I don't ask where there is. I don't want to ask after dealing with his whiplashing mood. Even if I did ask, I'm sure he won't answer me. "See that?" He points ahead of us. I squint to see what he's looking at, but the sun is reflecting off of the horizon, making it look like gasoline is rising from the dirt. I think I see something now, though. It looks like more sheds.
He turns to me. "Do you remember the rules?"
"Rules?" I repeat softly.
"Stay behind me and don't say anything, please." Wow. I get a please this time. "We're about to enter the other part of Chipley." That's the name I heard Snatcher say. I was right about it being the town.
As Sin turns back down the path we're walking, he grabs my wrist and holds it tightly against his side. "Let's go," he says.
The closer we get to the sheds, I notice they're different. They're made of stone. They're like the one I was in, but more confined, even a little sturdy.If my shed were made of stone, it wouldn't have blown down in the tornado.There's one shed after another, lined up perfectly with less than twenty feet or so between each structure. We're walking down a path between two rows of them. I've never seen a town like this before.
After passing six or seven sheds, a door opens on one of them in the distance, but I'm close enough to see a middle-aged woman walk out—she's dressed in a grey, rag gown, which looks torn above the knee. Her hair is long, dark, and bone straight—it hangs over the side of her face, concealing her features like she's hiding.
The woman closes her door tightly and turns down the path we're walking on, and I see that the back of her dress is tied together with thin, white cotton ribbons. It almost looks like something a patient might wear in a hospital, but a little more form fitting.
A lump feels like it's forming in my throat as my nerves prickle against my skin. My curiosity and thoughts are causing a bad feeling in my gut. As if Sin can sense my feelings, his hand tightens around my wrist, making me a little more nervous.
Another shed door opens, but on the opposite side this time. Again, I watch to see who comes out. This time, it's a man. He's completely bald, dressed in a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. No shoes. I look ahead of him at the woman, and she's not wearing shoes either.
"Sin," I hear from the distance. "Sin." His name sounds like a hiss more than a word, but I can clearly hear someone calling him. I look around in every direction, not seeing anyone. But as I keep looking, I notice movement in between two of the sheds on the left side. There's a man lying on the ground, wrapped under a burlap blanket with only his head poking out. His hair is greasy and long around his ears. His beard looks well over a month old and his face is covered in dirt.
"Who's that?" I whisper. "Do you know him?"
"Yes. I know him. That's JJ," Sin says under his breath, pulling me at a quicker rate. "Shit."
"What?" I ask. But my question seems to get lost in the midst of the clatter of several shed doors opening. Men and women pour out onto the path we're on; all of them dressed the same as the first two people I saw. "What's happening?" Most of them are walking at a fast pace while others are running.
A loud flutter sounds from the sky, and I look to see if there is a plane up above, wondering where it's coming from and where it's going. The right direction might point us toward a nearby city. Regardless, there's an aircraft, which means Sin and I aren't completely lost in the middle of nowhere. Not as it seems anyway. A helicopter finally appears on the horizon behind us, and heads in the direction we're walking. The sound of the propellers biting at the wind becomes painfully loud as it flies over our head, and the rush of air nearly knocks me over. I can't help but wonder why it's flying so low over this town.
"Bad timing," Sin says. He stops suddenly and drags me off the path and behind one of the sheds where no one can see us. Over here, I see trees in the distance. They're the first trees I've seen—maybe it means there's a road on the other side of them.
