Tent City (29 page)

Things have slowed down a bit and most of them have retreated, but there are still a couple of them getting close to me.

“Look it’s her!” one of them shouts from a muddy face.

They don’t seem to be nervous. The one I now recognize is from the night I was attacked on the raid. So they aren’t from The Council. I am not sure if it makes me feel any better.

“Let’s go Rigby! We can come back for her,” the other one says.

I see why they’re retreating now. Jonah and Callie have their guns pointed directly at their heads. One sketchy move and it’s the end of them. But the one called Rigby just smiles.

“Where’s Bentley?” he asks, smiling through gapped teeth.

“He’s out there. He’s got a gun on you right now,” I bluff, hoping it works.

“Ha ha ha,” he chortles. “That’s a good one, but I’d bet he’s not around. There’s no way he would want to miss out on this action.” He steps closer to me.

“That’s close enough,” Jonah warns.

“Hey, easy now. I don’t mean any harm,” he says, as he raises his hands in a sign of surrender. “Clearly, you have the advantage here. Just want to have a little conversation.”

“So you must be Bentley’s girl. I remember you. I’m surprised he’s left you here all alone. I just about had you last time. But you sure can run. Remember her? Man she was fast.”

He turns around to the other guy, who is holding a crossbow zeroed in on Jonah’s face. They are in a standoff.

By now, it seems as if everyone in Tent City has decided to make themselves known. Why now? It’s a bit cowardly, but I guess it’s helping because as I glance at Rigby, he seems to be wavering. I can tell he is weighing his options, which aren’t a whole lot since Jonah has got his rifle pointed at him, only a few feet away.

“Okay, okay. What do ya wanna do now?” Rigby says, with a wry smile on his face.

“I think you pack up your guys and get out of here.” My voice quivers a little, but I’m trying to hold strong. The adrenaline that just pumped through my veins has vanished and every muscle in my body is tense. I’m sick with the thought of what might have happened.

“Easy, big guy,” he says towards Jonah. “I’m just going to back up. Nothing funny going on here. But one more thing sweetheart,” he says, meeting my eyes with false warmness, “you let Bentley know I stopped by, and tell him I’ll be back.”

And then they left, leaving their dead with us.

I scan, counting bodies. There are at least a dozen of them, and it looks like two of ours. I wasn’t close to them, but it still hurts. They were still people and these were useless killings.

I’m not sure if they were here for supplies or after Bentley, but either way, we are going to have to leave. They know where we are now. Our cover is blown.

It is just as well. I was planning on leaving soon anyway. I don’t know why, but all I keep thinking about is that Tent City’s makeshift cemetery will now probably have as many dead residents as living. This place now feels like a crawling graveyard and I’m ready to go.

Just then, Jess comes out screaming.

“They’re gone! The kids are gone!”

She couldn’t have said what I think she said because I clearly remember telling her to lock the door. It was the first thing I did. At least I think I did.

“Calm down Jess, they must be somewhere,” Jonah says, trying to stay calm himself.

The baby she is holding has now started to wail; an unsettling sound in the current surroundings.

I realize vaguely that things have switched back to slow motion for me as I struggle to process even the smallest detail.

I find myself focused on the hummingbird inside my head. It’s flitting and instead of a slight hum, its noise is vibrating my entire skull. I have to get it out. I now realize it’s not in my head and I start searching the trees. I have to find it and shut it up. Why is it so loud? Everything else is still. I have to find that damn bird. I’m telling my legs to move, but they won’t. And then there is no noise and no light. It’s black and I find it mildly pleasant.

“Dani! Wake up! You can’t do this to me. Wake up now!”

It sounds as if she is miles away, but I know it’s Kit’s voice. I would know that voice anywhere. Only this time, I see her as six years old. We are on her grandpa’s farm. We had gone out to play. We were allowed to go play in the field, but we were forbidden to go near the old well. So naturally, that’s where we went.

I dared her first. I dared her to go down into the murky darkness. It was an abandoned well, long forgotten, but irresistibly enticing for the two of us. It still had the rope with the bucket attached, and from what we could tell, it went all the way to the bottom. We had cranked it up and tested the rope. It was old and squeaked, but it seemed like it would hold. It smelled of old rat droppings, but we weren’t going to let that stop us.

I knew she wasn’t going to do it, and I never really had any of intention of doing it myself. That’s why to this day I’m not sure why I did. I think I wanted to prove to her that I was brave. She was always the one going first, trying first, living first. She wasn’t afraid of anything and I was going to prove to her that I wasn’t either.

In the end, it wasn’t the rope that broke as I made my way down. It was the wheel that acted as a pulley. It was old and rusted and it couldn’t hold the weight of me. It happened so quickly that I don’t even really remember it.

I banged my head against the bricks on my way down and knocked myself out. It took hours to get me out and scared the daylights out of my parents, but I wasn’t badly hurt. I was grounded from her for a month.

Out of all the things I remember from that day was her voice. Even knocked out cold, I could hear her voice, almost as if in my dreams, begging me to stay. In her mind, I suppose she thought I was dying.

So I’m surprised when I wake up and it’s her I see, but she has grown. I fully expect to see her six-year-old self in blond pigtails. I can still picture her by the well when they pulled me out.

She looks all cried out and spent, but still with enough energy to lean over and whisper in my ear, “We’ll always be friends.”

Such a simple statement and yet here we are today. She’s by my side again. It’s taken a minute to figure out where I am. I think I’m in my old cabin and Kit is there like she always is. All cried out again.

My hand instinctively goes up to my chest where I see some bandages and feel the pain that is now shooting through my shoulder blade.

“What’s going on?” I manage to croak out.

“She’s awake,” Kit says to Jessica.

But Jess is a mess. What’s happened to her? Where is the baby? I scan the room and see him laying in the makeshift basinet. It must be Avery then.

And then the memory assaults me. Right before I blacked out she said the kids were missing. Kids were missing meant Brody was missing.

Why are we in here if they’re missing? I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. They have been killed in the raid. But why? Weren’t they locked up here in the cabin with Jess?

I sit up so fast that I feel a small tear happen near the wound, striking like lightening and I begin to feel lightheaded.

“Where’s Brody!” I’m bawling now. Not the “I saw a sad movie and the tears have slipped out” kind, but the raw, body shaking, blubbery, messy sobbing with tears and snot coming out of every available orifice kind. Kit comes to comfort me and I shake her off.

“I said, where is he?” No controlling me now. I’m a mixture of rage and grief. How could this happen?

“I want to see him! Now!”

“Dani, you’ve been shot. You need to sit down. The injury is serious. The bullet may even still be in there. If you move around, you could get worse.”

“I don’t care. Where is he?” I repeat, with venom in my voice.

Why are they hiding this from me?  It’s better I know now. If he’s gone, what does it really matter if I live anyway? The wound in my shoulder is on fire now and the gauze has seeped through with sticky crimson blood.

“We can’t find them, Dani. They’re not dead. They’re just missing.”

“What? What do you mean missing? How long have they been gone?” I’m begging now.

“Since the raid.”

I suck in the last of my breath. It pinches my lungs, but not as much as the idea that Rigby and his guys have taken Brody and Avery. Why? To get back at Bentley? How could I have not seen that? How did they get away unnoticed?

“Kit, I’m leaving. I have to go find them. You know I do.”

“Yes, I know. Can you wait until morning at least so we have some daylight to work with? Maybe Grant and Bentley will be home by then.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

I put my head in my hands and let the last of the grief set in. I’m trying to feel grateful that at least he’s not dead, but the idea of him being with Rigby, scared and lost takes me to a new low.

I know Kit’s not going to let me take off in the middle of the night, so I tell her what she wants to hear and I pretend to go to bed.

It takes what seems like hours for them to stop hovering. They leave me alone, Jess and Jonah setting up in Callie’s cabin. Real game of musical chairs around here. They tell me the plan is for Jonah and some of the guys to start tracking the trail at first light.

But I’m not going to wait that long. I’ve been careful not to swallow the morphine Kit gave me and I spit out the chalky pill that has started to dissolve in the side of my cheek. I will probably wish I had that later.

It takes such a long time to move around when you’ve been shot. Every movement brings on a blinding pain, but after a few minutes my body has acclimated to it and I even find it tolerable.

I scratch down a note for Kit (not that she isn’t going to know what I’m up to) and I search for the lantern. I glance at the room one more time before I leave and as I step out of the cabin, it dawns on me.

I fight the urge to wake Kit to come with me. If I’m wrong she will have to feel the same disappointment I do.

Why is it that when I’m flirting with this new idea, I can feel Mom’s presence all around me? I feel as though I can see her blue eyes searching into me, hoping I’ve figured it out. She is waiting in anticipation and when the full idea hits me, she’s nodding in approval. This has to be it.

So I’m running in spite of the pain. I should slow down. I’m lightheaded after only a few hundred yards and I’m so incredibly thirsty.

I stop at the stream when I get there. I take a few gulps and continue on. I’m not letting myself get too excited yet. I’m keeping it at bay and just focus on getting there. I find myself saying the same prayer over and over again in my head.
Please, please, just let them be okay.

It was pitch black out when I started and the going was slow with the lantern, but now the sun is starting to rise and I’m a mixture of dread and anticipation. If he’s not there, what will I do then?

When I look over to the sun rising, I look at it as if I am seeing it for the first time. Maybe it’s always that color and I’m just seeing it that way today, but today it looks like Mom’s flowers.

After that, I take my time coming into the clearing. I’m not sure why, but I know he’s there. He must have been spooked by the gunshots and took off running.

I feel a burst of pride as I imagine him taking Avery with him to protect her. My shoulder is now throbbing and has a heartbeat of its own. But I don’t care. I’m almost there. 

What I see next, I could’ve never prepared myself for. The shock of it has stopped my heart. I close my eyes, hoping that when I open them again it will be gone. I’m counting the seconds. When I get to five, I promise I will open them again. Right now, I’m so paralyzed with fear, I’m not sure I can make good on my promise.