“You, your stance needs to be wider,” I said. “And you are exposing your lower half.”
Every head turned to me, and the two who were training stilled.
A few of the youngsters looked visibly nervous, and one of them stepped back warily. But one of the males who was sparring was braver and more precocious. “Which one am I?” he asked.
“You are exposing yourself with every swing. Keep it tight and close. Large motions telegraph your intent. That is why your opponent keeps hitting you on the hip. Try it again,” I said, encouraging the two to spar.
The youngster followed instructions well and managed to disarm his larger, taller opponent.
“What about me?” asked the other one, picking up his stick again.
Now the others’ interests were piqued. All except one gathered around as I gave a short lesson about stance guarding. One of the younger males with a slight frame, light skin, and dark features stood out; his scent was all over the library.
“I am Ror’k. I used to train hunters up on the mothership. What do they call you?”
One by one, they gave their names, even the guarded one.
My eyes drifted over to the large knapsacks leaning against the wall. Even with those, there was no way a tiny thing like him would have been able to carry away more than a few books at a time. More of them had to have been involved unless they were hiding a wheeled cart somewhere, but that would have been easily noticeable.
After another round, I told them about the false alarm at the other building and asked them to let me or Roger know if they’d seen anything. Most of them were able to keep a neutral face and stance, but the one who refused to come close was clearly agitated.
According to what Roger had told me, these young males had traded with New Franklin several times in the past. But back then, they’d refused to actually step foot inside the walls, preferring to make their trades on neutral ground. There had been more of them, and they had expressed no interest in staying behind settlement walls for any length of time.
This time when they’d shown up the two older males were missing, and they’d requested to join New Franklin permanently. They were quite close-lipped about what had happened to their group, and refused to talk about the missing ones.
With a few final words telling them they were welcome to look for me in the mothership building if they wanted more training, I left and joined Roger down the hall.
“They were in front of the storage room.”
Roger blew out of breath. “That’s one mystery solved. But we still don’t have proof they were the ones who broke into the library.”
“The one named Jason had been in the library. I recognize his scent.”
“His older brother Shawn is one of the missing boys. Young man by now. I don’t know how those kids did it, raising their younger brothers and friends during a bugpocalypse.”
“I overheard them saying something about needing to get them back. Could they mean their missing members?”
“Could be. But from where and who? And how does stealing from us help do that?”
I did not have answers.
“We’ll watch them and see if they lead us to the books on their own. I don’t want them to know we know just yet. Let’s see what other information we can get out of them. Find them again and train with them tomorrow.”
It was a good idea, methodical, and I saw what the other humans saw in Roger that he could not see in himself.
“Let’s see what my guards have found.”
We’d just gotten back into the community center when an out-of-breath Janice came running up to us. The male following right behind her was panting just as loudly.
“Roger!“ she exclaimed between jagged breaths. “Thank god. We—” She coughed and wheezed. “It’s missing. All of it. And…” She put a hand on her chest and huffed.
“Slow down, Nissa. Breathe.” Roger held her by the shoulders as it looked like the female was going to pass out from lack of air.
“The medical supplies in the community first aid station,” the male behind her said. “They’re all gone. We didn’t head straight back after the fire alarm and went to grab dinner instead. When we got back, everything was gone.”
“They also took our tablet. We couldn’t even call you to let you know,” the female said, finally calm enough to speak.
“Shit. It wasn’t just the library. Okay, tell me all the details again once we’re seated. We’ll use the meeting room. Let’s get everything recorded.”
