Oblivion (4 page)

“From who?” I ask.

“Everyone.” She raises her eyes and looks at me. “I

told you I wanted to be done with al this stuff,

Natalia. Just because the invaders are supposedly

on my side doesn’t mean I’m going to go back with

them.”

“Where are you going now?” I ask.

“I’m not sure.” If she’s concerned, she doesn’t show

it. “Where are you guys going?”

“We’re not sure, either,” Hadley says quickly. She

raises her eyebrows at me and Cam, warning us not

to even think about inviting Raine to come with us or

helping her in any way. She’s right, of course. I stil

don’t completely trust Raine. I stay quiet, and Cam

doesn’t say anything, either.

“Whatever,” Raine says. “You don’t have to tel me.

It’s not like I’m going to fol ow you or anything.” She

leans her elbows back against the rock and kicks

her sneakers in the dirt. “I’m better off on my own,

anyway.”

She’s trying to make it out like she thinks we’re

stupid and doesn’t need us, but her voice has lost

some of its bravado, and she looks suddenly smal ,

sitting there on the rock in her oversized sweatshirt.

Cam and I look at each other, and I can tel we’re

thinking the same thing. Yes, Raine’s been total y

evil, but how can we just leave her out here, on her

own? She’s stil a person. And whatever else you

want to say about her, she did help me find Cam. It

wouldn’t be right.

“Stop,” Hadley says, seeing the look that passes

between me and Cam. “Don’t even think about it.”

“What wil they do to her if they find her?” Cam asks.

“I don’t know,” Hadley says. “It depends on who finds

her first. And honestly, it’s nothing we should be

concerned with.”

“But the bond breaking ceremony didn’t work,” I

argue. “If Reed finds Raine, and he decides to kil

her, Cam wil die, too.” Saying the words out loud

sends a shiver down my spine.

“Reed won’t kil her,” Hadley says, but she doesn’t

sound convinced. “And besides, taking her with us is

too much of a risk. One, it could be a trick, and two,

we can’t let her get too close to Cam.”

“Good point,” I say. The last thing I want is for Raine

to start making Cam al loopy again. On the other

hand, if we take her with us, at least then we can

control their connection and try to keep her away

from him as much as possible. If we leave her out

here, running around, who knows what could

happen? If Reed
does
find her decide to kil her, I

would never forgive myself.

“But what if she
is
tel ing the truth?” Cam asks. “ And

what if Reed does kil her?”

“He’s not going to kil her,” Hadley says again. And

again, she doesn’t sound convinced.

“I think we should take her with us,” Cam says. “It’s

better for us if we can keep an eye on her.”

“No,” Hadley says, shaking her head. “It’s not a good

idea. She’s a liar and a snake.”

“Um, hel o?” Raine says, sighing and looking up at

the sky. “I’m right here. I can hear you, you know.”

“Like I care,” Hadley says.

“Wow, amazing comeback.” Raine pul s herself back

up and looks at Hadley.

“I’m so impressed.”

Hadley takes a step toward her, like maybe she’s

going to shoot off another firebal , or maybe

something worse.

“Enough!” I say. “This is ridiculous. Raine’s coming

with us.” Hadley opens her mouth to protest, but I

give her a look.

“Fine,” she says, probably realizing that I’m not

messing around. “Whatever.

But she better be able to keep up.”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to keep up?” Raine asks,

jumping off the rock and looking pleased.

“Because I beat the shit out of you,” Hadley says.

“And you’re probably stil recovering.”

“Oh, right,” Raine says,“I forgot. It was so hard to

beat the crap out of someone you had tied up.

Again, real y impressive.”

“I said enough!” I yel . “I’m serious.”

Hadley looks like she’s going to protest, but again,

she keeps her mouth shut, and instead, just turns

and starts walking down the path.

“Wow,” Cam says. “Where did you learn to be so

forceful?”

“I don’t know,” I say, “but I figure if I’m tapped to be a

queen, I better start acting like one.”

“I like it,” Cam says, a grin spreading across his

face. “Very sexy.” He leans down and brushes his

lips against mine.”

“Gag me,” Raine says.

I walk up to her, until I’m just inches away from her

face. “I wasn’t just talking to Hadley when I said

enough,” I tel her. “You better not make me regret

this.”

“I won’t,” she says. Her voice isn’t quiet anymore,

and for a second, I feel like maybe I real y should just

leave her out here in the woods to fend for herself.

But then she starts to fol ow Hadley, and after I feel

like there’s enough distance between her and Cam,

we fal into step behind them.

***

“This is your secret hiding spot?” Raine asks

incredulously. “The great place that’s supposed to

keep everyone safe?” She’s been quiet for most of

the walk here, which took another twenty minutes or

so. Cam and I stayed as far behind her as we could,

while stil making sure to never let her out of our

sight.

“It’s actual y pretty big inside,” Hadley says, pul ing

back the cover of bushes that hide the entrance and

ignoring Raine’s comment. “Plenty of room for us to

sleep.”

She steps inside and I look at Cam.

He shrugs. “What choice do we have?” he says.

“Besides, maybe it’l be fun.

Like camping.”

“Yeah, exactly like camping,” Raine says, pushing

past us. “If your campground was overrun with

people who were trying to kil you.” She disappears

through the entrance of the cave.

Cam pul s me close. “Don’t worry, I’m going to take

care of everything,” he says into my hair. I close my

eyes and lay my head on his chest, trying to pretend

that none of this is happening.

“You ready?” he says after another second.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Ladies first.”

I turn around and duck into the cave. It takes a

second for my eyes to adjust, but once they do, it’s

actual y not that dark. The wal s of the cave, at least

near the front, are made of a stacked rock wal , and

the outside light shines through the spaces between

the stones. Later, when it gets dark out, it wil

probably be pitch black in here. But for now, there’s

enough light to see.

“It’s deep,” Hadley’s voice is saying from

somewhere further back. “So we can make sure to

keep enough space between Cam and Raine.”

“Cam and Raine?” Raine scoffs. “What about Cam

and Natalia? The way they’ve been acting lately,

we’re going to have to be careful that he doesn’t

devirginize her tonight.”

“Shut up, Raine,” Cam says. And merciful y, she

does.

We spend the next few hours setting up camp.

Hadley and Cam gather branches in case we need

to have a fire tonight, and Raine and I start sweeping

the dirt out of the bottom of the cave with a branch.

We don’t have any blankets, and so we’re pretty

much going to have to sleep on leaves or whatever

else we can find.

Raine and I are quiet as we work. It’s difficult,

because the branches we’re using as makeshift

brooms aren’t that big, and so we have to stoop

down to try and get the floor clean. My bag slaps

against my side as I sweep.

“It’d be easier if you put your bag down,” Raine says.

“I’m fine.”

She rol s her eyes. “Trust me, Natalia,” she says, “No

one wants to steal your Lip Smackers and your

pictures of Cam.”

pictures of Cam.”

I want to remind her that if it weren’t for me, she’d be

out in the woods, friendless and alone. But I know it

won’t do any good. I think about putting my bag

down, but the iPad Brody gave me is in there, and I

don’t want to take the chance of anything happening

to it. On the other hand, if I
don’t
put the bag down

Raine might start to suspect there’s something in

there that I don’t want anyone to see. Something a lot

more important than Lip Smackers.

So I rol my eyes and set the bag down a few feet

away. As I do, the top of the iPad comes peeking

out, and I see Raine’s eyes fal on it. For a second,

I’m worried, but then I realize since it looks exactly

like a normal iPad, there’s nothing to be nervous

about. Plus, Raine shows no reaction.

“You’re not sweeping very fast,” she says a few

moments later. “At this rate it’s going to take

forever.”

“Raine,” I say, “We’re using branches as brooms, of

course it’s going to take forever.”

Cam and Hadley appear at the entrance to the cave

before she can answer. Their arms are fil ed with

wood.

“I don’t see how we’re going to be able to have a

fire. Won’t al the soldiers see the smoke?” Raine

asks. She throws her branch onto the ground and

then sits down, her back against the stone wal of the

cave.

“It’s just in case,” Hadley says.

“Just in case what?” Raine asks.

Cam and I look at each other nervously, and I can tel

we’re thinking the same thing. Raine’s right – if we

start a fire, the smoke definitely had a chance of

alerting the soldiers to our whereabouts. But Hadley

obviously thinks we could be here for a while.

She has a bag fil ed with canned goods and bags of

chips and other stuff – but if we’re here any longer

than a day or two, we’re going to have to find food

somehow. Not to mention it’s October, and the

nights are getting colder.

“Are you done sweeping?” Hadley asks Raine

irritably, ignoring her question.

Raine gets up, sighs, and then continues to sweep.

And after a second, I do the same.

***

enough leaves and branches to sleep on, the sun’s

beginning to set, and we’re al exhausted.

“You cold?” Cam asks as he lays down beside me.

He takes his sweatshirt off and lays it over the top of

me.

“No,” I say, pushing it back off. “We should share it.”

“I’m fine,” he says, reaching out and pul ing me close

to him. “You’l keep me warm.”

I snuggle into his chest, listening to his breathing. I’m

about to say something else, about how worried I

am, about how I just want this al to go away, about

how much I care about him. But my eyes are already

closing, and before I can say anything, I’m asleep.

***

disoriented, not knowing where I am or what’s going

on. I’m in the exact same position I was in when I fal

asleep, my head against Cam’s chest, his arms

around me. It al comes rushing back, and I take a

deep breath.
It’s okay
, I tel myself,
you’re safe for

now.

I turn over. There’s a faint light coming from the other

side of the cave, and I prop myself up on my elbows,

trying to see what it is. My eyes take a moment to

adjust, but after a few seconds, I can make out a

figure. Raine. She’s sitting a few yards away, her

back to the wal .

Her face is il uminated from a glow that’s coming

from something in her lap. I look down, and it takes a

second to register. It’s my iPad. The iPad Brody

gave me is in Raine’s lap.

It’s just sitting there, forgotten, as she stares straight

ahead. One of her hands is out in front of her, and

she looks like she’s in some kind of trance. I fol ow

her gaze, my heart pounding, not sure what to do.

And when I see what Raine’s looking at, a scream

rises in my throat. I bite it back, digging my fingers

digging into my palms to keep it from coming out.

Hadley’s across from Raine, against the opposite

stone wal , her body hovering in the air, three or four

feet off the ground.

She’s clutching her throat, and her eyes are bulging.

A thin line of blood trickles from the side of her

mouth and down her chin. As I watch, she starts to

scratch harder at her throat, her eyes rol ing back

into her head.