The Fourth Ceremony: The Sacrifice Trilogy (31 page)

With that, Camden silently climbed out of bed and walked to his bag by the door. Alessa saw him pull out two gleaming guns. They shined ominously in the dim light. He walked back to the bed and handed one to her. She wanted to hand it back, she had never held a weapon in her life. It felt heavy and cold. Without making a sound, he showed her where a button on the side was. He demonstrated holding the button and pulling the trigger. Then, he gestured for her to sit on the floor beside the bed and wait.

The silence hung over the house like a suffocating blanket. Alessa shivered on the floor beside the bed and held the gun tightly in her hands. She was
n’
t sure if she could actually use it.  Suddenly, she heard a scuffle outside of the bedroom window. She resisted every urge to run to it and watch. She heard a shout, she could
n’
t be sure if it was Camden or the scout, but someone was hurt. Then, the window that faced her broke, lifted, and a man in a black military uniform climbed into the room. Alessa stood and pointed the gun at him. Her hands shook. She noticed he did
n’
t have a weapon in his hand. Alessa hesitated, but he began to close the few feet between them. Alessa pointed the gun at his leg and pulled the trigger. The sounds rang throughout the house, her ears closed up and echoed within themselves. With an angry growl of pain the scout began to pull himself across the floor, still reaching for Alessa. She heard another shot, this one from the broken window. Alessa looked over, Camden stood in the window, his gun smoking softly. The scout laid on the ground, blood pouring from the center of his forehead. Alessa looked back at Camden.

“
What the hell were you thinking
?”
Camden demanded, obviously angry. He pulled himself through the window with a pained expression on his face.

“
Yo
u’
re hurt
,”
Alessa observed, and she hurried to help him.

“
Not as hurt as you were about to be
,”
Camden said, still clearly fuming
.“I’
ll ask again, what were you thinking
?
”

“
What do you mean
?”
Camden sighed and ran a hand over his face. He sat down heavily on the bed and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her shaking body.

“
Alessa, do not ever shoot someone in the leg. You do
n’
t shoot to wound, they will still come for you. You shoot to kill. Every time. Tha
t’
s your first lesson, always shoot to kill. Is that clear
?
”

“
But, he did
n’
t have a weapon, and I did
n’
t want to kill him
.”
Alessa replied. Even to herself she sounded whiney.

“
Alessa, these men have one of two jobs. We do
n’
t know which one it is, but we know i
t’
s one or the other. They are either coming to kill you, or they are coming to capture you and take you back so that the government can kill you. Either way, they are out to kill you. You shoot to kill. If you ca
n’
t get a clear shot that you are sure of in the head, you shoot in the center of the chest, right here
,”
he gestured towards his chest, just at the bottom of his sternum
,“
understand
?
”

“
Yes, I understand
,”
Alessa said quietly, feeling chastised.

Camden let out a breath and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. His voice had softened when he spoke next.

“
Alessa, they always carry more than one gun and several knives. They are never, ever defenseless. And they are never, ever merciful. I almost lost you a few hours ago, do
n’
t make me go through that again
.
”

Alessa shuddered involuntarily at the thought. She had
n’
t considered a hidden weapon. She had
n’
t considered much of anything except that she did
n’
t want to kill the man. She obviously was going to have to learn how to protect herself. She certainly could
n’
t allow Camden to always save her. She held on tight to him as they sat in the dark, the body of the scout growing cold on the floor.

After a few moments, Camden released her.

“
We have to get out of here. We do
n’
t know how long ago he called in last, but we can figure that back up wo
n’
t take long once he does
n’
t call back in soon
.
”

“
We have to go now
?”
Alessa asked, looking out at the dark.

“
I know, I know, but we have no other choice. Others will be here within the half hour. We have to get our things together and go. We need to make it to headquarters, not just for ourselves, but for the couple who owns this house. They ca
n’
t come back now. The Government will punish first and ask questions later
.
”

Aless
a’
s head swam. They had gotten, maybe, three hours of sleep. Now that her adrenaline had subsided, her entire body ached from the exertion of the previous day. They were to begin a three day hike in the middle of the night. Alessa decided to ignore her overwhelmed feelings. What needed to be done set before her, whether she liked it or not. It would do her no good to ruminate on the unpleasantness of it all.

They set out on their journey. Alessa carried a small bag on her back with minimal supplies and Camden carried the backpack he had at the pier. Alessa was
n’
t sure how they were going to survive on the items in the two small bags. She did
n’
t know what Camde
n’
s bag held, but knew that hers had little more than some water, a change of clothes, and the cold gun she had used to shoot the scout. Camden had insisted that she carry it in case they were separated.

They walked for a long time in companionable silence. Alessa knew that Camden needed to find the way in the dark and was sure that it would
n’
t be particularly easy. She was also determined not to complain about her aching muscles and fatigued mind. Alessa watched the woods go by. To her, everything looked the same. She wondered how much training and practice Camden had to have had in order to be able to know where they were going, particularly in the dark. She continuously looked behind them to see if she could discern anyone following them. The air was cool and still, she was sure that she could hear anyone that tried to come up behind them. She stayed close to Camden, but they did not touch. Things were serious now, he needed to focus and she needed to be as little trouble as possible if they were to get out of these woods alive.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sun began to rise over the horizon. Their path remained dim and cool due to the trees, but Alessa was relieved to see some light. Camden turned back to her as the light grew brighter.

“
How are you doing
?”
He asked, his voice quiet and husky.

“I’
m just fine
,”
Alessa answered, and she realized that she was not as bad off as she thought she might have been.

“
It does
n’
t seem that anyone has been following us, do you want to sit and rest for a while or keep going
?
”

“
Actually, I really am okay right now, we could keep going for a while
.”
Alessa was surprised at her stamina. She must have reached her renewal point.

“
Alright, we can at least take it a little easier for a bit
,”
Camden slowed to walk beside her and took her hand in his.

They walked together like that, hand in hand, like a young couple on a hike. Alessa thought of the irony and stifled a laugh.

“
Wha
t’
s so funny
?”
Camden shot her a look.

“
I was just thinking that this is what we were supposed to have been doing when you took me to the Carnival. It seems like so long ago, almost a lifetime
.
”

“
Yo
u’
ve been through a lot since then. Time has a way of warping when our beliefs and habits are challenged. Sometimes it speeds by, other times it slows unconscionably
.”
Camden was looking off into the trees as if in another world.

“
Cam, how did you get here
?”
Alessa asked softly.

“
What do you mean
?”
His eyes flew back to hers.

“
I mean, you know almost everything there is to know about me, not that ther
e’
s much, and I know next to nothing about you. Where you come from, how you grew up, and how you came into my life. I do
n’
t know any of it
.
”

“
First of all, there is plenty to know about you. Just because yo
u’
ve been manipulated and controlled by the Government does
n’
t mean you are
n’
t your own person with your own dreams and values. You proved that by getting out of the Box
.”
Camden replied, squeezing her hand
,“
as for me, I guess i
t’
s a sort of sad and long story
.
”

“
It seems to me that we have a lot of time on our hands
,”
Alessa stated plainly.

“
Yes, I guess yo
u’
re right
,”
Camden answered
.“
Well, to start with,
I’
ve always lived in the SDL. My parents were members and, as far as I know, they grew up in it as well. I was trained from a young age in combat, survival, history, and politics. We learned all of the important things to overthrow a government. You see, that was the plan all along, to stop the Sacrifices and overthrow the Government.

“
You have to understand, Alessa, the corruption of the Government runs much deeper than just the Sacrifice. They have done many horrible things since the inception of the Empire somewhere around 500 years ago. The true age of the Empire is hard to nail down because the Government wants us to believe that it always has been, but we are actually a fairly young civilization here. The Government does
n’
t allow children to learn about other ways because they do
n’
t want them thinking that ther
e’
s another option, that things could be different.

“
So I grew up with my training, close with my parents, and surrounded by hatred of the Government and love for each other. I grew up very different than you. You will soon find out that, outside of the Capitol, people do
n’
t have many extravagancies. There are televisions that only turn on when the Government makes an announcement or airs a death, like the Sacrifice. There are telephones that only ring when the Government is looking for someone. In the SDL headquarters, we have managed to get running water and electricity, but we are one of the few places that have it. I
t’
s all solar powered so that the Government cannot take it away. We are completely self-sufficient, we could not open our gates ever again and everyone inside would be fine. It took the SDL a very long time and a lot of hardship to get to that point.

“
That was my life as a child. I trained, grew food, studied, and learned.
I’
m not special in the SDL. I know you think I have all of these skills, but back at the SDL Headquarters
I’
m just an average guy. I was picked for this mission because of my family and my charisma, not my skill.

“
My parents and my fathe
r’
s brother were leaders in the SDL. Not the public figures, but the real leaders, the ones that made decisions and stayed behind the scenes. When I was very young, younger than I can remember, the plan to save you was devised. They needed to get someone in and close to the Sacrifice and they needed to do it fast. Someone who could help to raise the Sacrifice and who could tell if the Sacrifice was going to have the character we needed for the rescue. Yo
u’
ll remember that the last rescue mission was more than unsuccessful. We did
n’
t check out the Sacrifice first, we just assumed she would
n’
t want to be killed. We were terribly wrong.