I went down on my hands, coming in so that I crept along on the soft ground like a four-legged creature myself. Hopefully I would stir the bushes less. My heart thundered in my ears, like the smith banging his anvil. Behind me, I heard the boys’ quick, anxious breathing. I wanted to tell them to be quiet, but if the Freaks couldn’t hear the inhalations, they would hear my voice. So there was nothing for it, but to part the final barrier, and see what we were up against.
It was terrifying. It was a village, a hundred or more Freaks cohabitating in what seemed to be a cooperative manner. Impossible to tell from the movement, from the way they went about their business. They were building, these Freaks, and they had a campfire, like ours. So I’d been right, after all. One of them had come to steal our fire because they’d recognized its value. Perhaps they were no longer content to devour their prey fresh from the bloody kill, though some of them still had little compunction about doing so. One Freak brushed past, fearfully close to our hiding place in the bushes, gnawing on what looked like a human arm.
My stomach churned.
They’d constructed lean-tos out of leaves and branches, small structures, to be sure, but there was no mistaking their purpose. They roasted flesh of some kind over the flames, and the stench of charred meat mingled with their own unique stink, until the whole clearing glowed with an unwholesome miasma. And yet, they did chatter to one another from hideous, misshapen mouths. One touched another on the head in what I took to be a soothing manner, and the worst thing? There were small Freaks here. I had never seen their young, never given much thought to how they repopulated, but this proved they weren’t created through biting or infection. They were legitimate, natural creatures of this world, just as we were, though how they had come to be was still a matter of some disagreement and conjecture.
Nausea simmered in my gut. I didn’t want to see this. They had learned too much. They were becoming more like us, only they were too far from original humanity for me ever to see this ending well—for the mutants or us.
Drawing back, I pulled the boys with me. There was no way the three of us could mount an attack against so many. Not unless we wanted to die. My heart in my throat, I scuttled along the path, retreating for all I was worth. I hadn’t expected to find such an impossibility. I had no context to explain it.
In silence, we retraced our steps until a stray Freak lurched out of the bushes. It was obviously wounded, clutching its bloody side, and I sank my daggers into its throat before it could snarl. The beast died quietly, which was what we needed. We couldn’t let it return to the others and warn them, I thought. But the ruthless act troubled me. The one that had come into our camp could have killed so many of us, but it had chosen another course. Why? I wanted to believe it was all part of a plan to intimidate us, but I no longer felt sure of anything about these creatures.
Fade and Stalker helped me lower the body to the ground in silence, then I signaled for us to move out. With them behind me, I ran until I was sure our voices wouldn’t carry, either to the outpost or to the Freak village deep within the dark and spooky wood. At last I stopped, my hands trembling, knees weak.
Horrible. So horrible. Freaks had children; that meant breeding. My dinner threatened to come up.
“What the devil,” Stalker said. He’d been learning the bad words, I gathered, from the other guards.
“They’re never going to believe us.” Fade rubbed a shaking hand across his eyes. “This is just like Nassau.”
I turned, gazing back into the trees, feeling uncertain. “Longshot will. He knows we wouldn’t lie. Though what he can do about it, I have no idea.”
It was time to head back and face whatever consequences came from our unauthorized recon mission. I only hoped the warning came in time to do some good.
Revelations
I didn’t have an opportunity to confess what we knew and how we’d learned it until the next afternoon. Sleep eluded me, and I suffered from its lack. My eyes burned, my head ached, and I found it difficult to eat. As the sun crept toward the horizon, Longshot stood apart from the men, watching them train.
Since I already knew what Stalker and Fade could teach me, I joined him. “I need to talk to you.”
There was an air of weariness and isolation about him, as if this task weighed heavier than he could bear. Longshot glanced over his shoulder, his expression a mix of curiosity and resignation. “Why is it every time I hear your voice, girl, I know my life’s about to get more complicated?”
His good-natured tone removed the sting from the words, however, and gave me the courage to continue. “I guess because you’ve gotten to know me.”
He chuckled. “It seems like a tall order, doesn’t it?”
I knew what he meant. Safeguarding the fields was an enormous responsibility, entrusted to so few of us. Our scarce numbers added another layer of tension to the task. “Are you mad they didn’t send more help?”
Longshot shook his head. “Then I’d just have more men cryin’ because they have to sleep on the ground. I’m not cut out for this.”
“Seems like you’re doing a good job.” I’d never had an elder speak to me like I was his equal before—and I liked it … a lot.
He sighed. “I’m not a leader of men. I drive head wagon on the trade runs, and sometimes I make trips by myself. It’s not the same.”
“Then why did you volunteer for this?”
His serious gaze swept me from head to toe, suddenly somber. “Because you made me feel ashamed.”
“Of what?” I held my breath, wondering why. I admired Longshot so much.
“The whole damn town.”
Shock rendered me speechless for a while. “You think that highly of me?”
“You fishin’ for compliments, girl?”
I wasn’t even positive what that meant. “I don’t think so.”
“Anyway, that’s not what you came over to talk about. I’m listening.”
In as few words as possible, I explained our nocturnal findings. His reaction to my news defied my ability to interpret. He scrubbed a hand through his shaggy, gray hair, eyes on the sky above. It was a fair day, blue sky and bright sun. Not the sort of weather you expected for such grim tidings. By all rights, it should be pouring rain, booming thunder and lightning.
“I’ll forget for a moment that you went beyond the scope of your own authority,” he said curtly. “You’re positive this was a settlement?”