Just beyond the workshop, Silk snapped at her Hunters, Take the fight to them. Guard the access points. If we force them to bottleneck, we have a chance.
Do we really? a deep male voice asked.
Silence came in reply. Maybe they had moved out of earshot. Maybe.
But Thimble could imagine what the small, fierce woman would say. Odds dont matter. We fight. To the last man, to the last breath, we fight. The imagined words, even echoing in her own head, gave her the courage to push to her feet. Her ankle throbbed with tenderness that lanced all the way down into her toes. She ignored it; she was accustomed to the pain.
Sounds of combat sprang up all over the enclave, which echoed with snarls and growls, inhuman screams of pain choking off in a wet gurgle. The Hunters were giving everything they had. Over the din, Silk shouted orders, but she was short of breath. She wasnt just commanding; she was fighting. And that meant the situation was dire.
I have to get out of here. But where?
As she went at an uneven run, shed never hated her affliction more, but Thimble slammed into Stone before shed gotten twenty paces. The collision knocked the breath out of her. He wrapped his free arm around her; he had Boy23 cradled in the other. Quickly, quietly, he leaned his forehead against hers. It was something theyd always done, a secret Deuce hadnt shared, and with this furtive hello, they said a number of things. He conveyed affection for a brat-mate; she spoke of emotions that she wasnt permitted to feel for him.
If we stay, well die, she said quietly.
Running might result in the same end, however. The idea of going into the tunnels terrified her. Shed never left the enclave in her life, and her bad foot added another handicap to an already impossible situation. Freaks lived in the tunnelinhuman and mad with hunger. She wasnt overstating the danger. If Silk and her Hunters fell, they had no hope.
By his expression, Stone knew as much. I can smell them.
Thimble inhaled. The stink shed noticed before had grown more intense; it was a deep rot, like a corpse ten days old and full of writhing larvae. It was more powerful than the other bad smells in the enclave, indicative of many monsters.
Theyre close, she said.
Thimble shivered. She didnt know how many Hunters remained, but the Freaks would come to investigate this area once they finished feeding on the others. Inaction would doom them.
We have to try, she whispered.
Why? His voice broke. Weve lost everything. Theres no point.
She hated seeing him like this. His despair felt tangible, a cobweb drifting across her skin. Not everything. You saved your brat. Were alive, and Silk is fighting. Gather some supplies. Ill go back to the workshop. Meet me here as soon as you can.
Do you think we have a chance?
I do, she lied.
He was a Breeder. She was a Builder. How they could survive the tunnels and the terrible things lurking in them, she had no idea, but she wouldnt consent to dying in the dark, either. Ideas were her specialty, so since their lives depended on it, shed come up with the perfect one.
Just watch me.
Bravado carried her away from Stone into the darkness and back toward the Builder domain. Thimble found a number of useful, untested inventions, some of which were her own. She tucked them into a pack, trying to be quick. Medical supplies, potential weapons that didnt require a lot of skill in the wielding, armor to make it difficult for Freak teeth and claws to penetrate. Many of these things had been intended for Hunter use, but they wouldnt need them again.
Silk couldnt win this fight. The conflict had thinned her Hunters too much, and the Freaks were numerous. Strong. Gorged on the flesh theyd claimed in Nassau. Even now, Thimble heard the battle waning. Wounded and weary, the Hunters would fight to the last man, to the last breath, but it wouldnt be enough. College was lost. Conceding this ground didnt feel like giving up, though. Not when she was feverishly planning for the future.
So hard to believe everything could change so quickly, but there was no point in wishing. She might as well wish to have her best friend back while she was at it, because Deuce had always known how to fight. Her facility with weapons might have saved Stone and Thimble, at least.
But she had to work with her own strengths, most of which seemed bitterly unsuited to surviving the tunnels. Still, she geared up in armor shed meant to offer her friend as a gift; there had been no chance before Deuce went on the long walk. She was smaller than the other girl, so the laces had to be tightened. No matter. Thimble attended to it with grim determination. The leather and padding would keep teeth and claws from her fragile flesh.
If only my ankle was stronger.
Her footnot that she ever let anyone see itturned inward. Shed created a brace to keep it from failing under normal circumstances, but this escape attempt would require great endurance. Thimble didnt know if she could keep up with Stone, but without her resolve, he wouldnt go. She knew that. They had gotten closer since Deuce had been sent away, and hed wept in Thimbles arms.
She confessed for me, Stone had whispered.
At the time, it had seemed vital to pretend to accept that judgment in order to keep their society functioning while they sorted out some better alternative. But that deception had been for nothing. They might as well have staged the rebellion right then for all the good it did later. Now the old ways lay broken with nothing to replace them. Thimble wondered if the cruelties and restrictions had been worth the resultant safetyit was a tough question and not one she could answer.
Bigger issues were crashing around the enclave, killing survivors. As she gazed around at the workshop, the torch crackling, an idea dawned. Dangerous. Possibly hopeless, but better than not trying. A slow breath escaped her. The stench grew stronger, which meant she didnt have long.
Thimble got to work.
Chapter 6
The noises terrified him.
Stone knew it wasnt manly to admit it, even to himself, but he hadnt been raised for bravery. Right then, he had a crushing weight of pain for all the brats he hadnt protected. As a Breeder, he had only one jobcaring for the youngand that hed lost them to an unexpected Freak attack didnt make the failure easier to bear. The idea of fighting again made him want to vomit. Maddening echoes of those hed killed rang in his head. Not monsters. Citizens. But it wasnt just his life hanging in the balance. There was Thimble to consider, also.
So he did as shed asked and found provisions. In his arms, Boy23 shifted and made a small baby sound against his neck. He didnt talk yet. Sometimes he blabbered nonsense, but since the fighting had broken out hed been scared and silent. He hadnt even entered basic brat training. That started at three, and at eight they divided into subgroups. At fifteen they joined the caste for which theyd trained. But none of that awaited Boy23; he wouldnt even remember the enclave, provided they survived. That didnt seem likely.