‘My brother fell when we were running,’ said the slightly taller one, although there wasn’t much difference between them.
‘We’ve not come to fight, lady,’ said the one with the cane.
‘You’re from Green Block One, right?’ Scarlen asked, and Bear knew she was making a point of their young age, as they had to be barely sixteen, both looking more like twelve.
‘Yeah,’ said the one in pain. ‘I’m Blue, and this is True.’ He gestured to his twin.
‘Aww, Blue and True, that’s sweet.’ She was stopped from moving to them once more by Bear’s arm.
‘Find a dagger?’ Bear asked, scanning them from top to toe. No innocent eyes were about to fool him, and he wasn’t going to let Scarlen fall into their trap. No matter their age or look of innocence, they were both inmates, and brothers at that, meaning they were already a team.
‘No,’ they replied in unison.
‘Are you bleeding at all?’ asked Scarlen, peering over Bear’s biceps while frowning at his barrier.
Blue motioned towards his foot. ‘No. I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts like I’ve been snared.’
Bear quirked an eyebrow. ‘Know what that feels like, do you?’
True nodded, his freckles coming into view as he stepped closer. ‘That’s why we’re in here. Illegal hunting.’ He gazed back at his brother. ‘We’ve only got one month left.’
Scarlen slipped around Bear while he was focused on the twins. ‘Well, don’t you worry, you’ll be home safe and sound soon enough. You stick with us. We won’t hurt you.’
True smiled, revealing a missing tooth in the front. ‘Thanks. We’ve been sick with worry.’
‘And starvation,’ said Blue.
Bear scoffed. ‘We only had dinner a few hours ago. I’m sure you’re not starved.’
‘Am too,’ said Blue. ‘We weren’t given any grub before we were slung in here. You’re lucky.’
‘Do you have anything to eat on you?’ asked True, his big dark eyes peering only at Scarlen, which rattled Bear even more.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘We knew we would be searched.’
Bear pointed behind them. ‘But if you find any yellow berries, you can eat those ones.’
The twins turned to each other. ‘We didn’t see any berries,’ said Blue, and True shook his head in confirmation.
‘Not much to see in the dark.’ Scarlen looked to Bear. ‘Where can they be found?’
‘Near the pond, which is where you should head, as you’ll need to drink soon if you haven’t eaten.’
True licked his lips. ‘I could do with some water. Which way is it?’
Bear pointed to his right. ‘Just walk that way.’ And Scarlen nudged him. ‘Let them leave,’ he whispered as soon as True went over to Blue to say something.
‘We should help them.’
‘I don’t trust them.’
‘But look at them. They’re so young, and one is injured.’ She pressed forward before he had a chance to tug her arm. ‘We’ll help you get there, and it’s for the best if we stick together. The more of us, the safer we’ll be, right?’
The boys nodded, and Bear made sure they were ahead at all times so he could keep an eye on them, as his senses were on full alert thinking the twins shifty with the doe-eyed looks they kept throwing at Scarlen. He almost growled at her at one point for walking too close to them. She needed to see everyone in the Zone as the enemy, no matter their age. But no, she was being as sweet as them, falling for their soft smiles and trembling lips each time the wind moved a leaf.
Being the only one not thrilled about going to find the pond, Bear decided he’d ditch the lads at the water and remove Scarlen from the open land before she had time to grumble, which he guessed she would, as she’d gone into mother mode over the twins.
Blue’s cane made a hefty noise each time it smacked the ground, alerting all around, annoying Bear to his fucking core, and part of him wanted to snap the thing in half and see if the boy really had injured himself. Blue certainly was doing a goodjob with the limp. Perhaps Bear was being paranoid, but he was wise enough to know that didn’t mean he wasn’t being lied to.
