“I’ll throw in soup for each of you,” she said. “Let me show you to your room.”
Fade and I were tired enough that we went straight to sleep and only roused when she knocked much later to tell us it was time for the evening meal. We ate quickly, then retired once more. I felt like a miser, hoarding sleep, because it would certainly be scarce on the return trip.
In the morning, Laurel packed us some bread for the road. I hesitated, as I hadn’t discussed this idea with Fade, but it seemed right to me. So in parting I said, “Will you let the men in town know we’re raising an army in Soldier’s Pond? Anyone who wants to enlist should make his way there and can march with us. There’s no way around it—we have to fight.”
If the men thought I meant the colonel, well, that wasn’t my fault. A flickering look from Fade told me he’d caught the slight deception, but he didn’t say anything.
Laurel nodded. “A few might make the journey. We’re not warriors by and large.”
“That’s all we could ask.”
Since we’d slept almost a full day and eaten well, the return trip went smoother. Freaks still prowled in our wake, but we outran them and in some circumstances outsmarted them. It took us two and a half days of constant running with only short breaks for food and rest. I didn’t sleep more than three hours at a stretch until I saw the barbed metal fencing glimmer in the morning sunshine.
“We made it,” I said to Fade, pushing out an exhausted breath.
I slowed to a walk then as the shout went up from the sentries not to shoot us. Reassuring. Freak corpses lay at irregular intervals outside the perimeter. So a hunting party had tested the defenses here at Soldier’s Pond while we were gone; they’d fared poorly too, but it wouldn’t be long before others came in search of their lost brethren. I foresaw a repeat of what happened in Salvation, though these warriors could withstand a longer siege.
As we approached, they neutralized the defenses long enough for us to enter. Fade quickened his step, no doubt eager to have this errand done. I agreed with him. But we didn’t get to the colonel before Tegan found us. And I had never seen her so angry.
“You left me!” she shouted, then she hauled off and hit me.
I was so stunned that I didn’t even try to block the blow, so she punched me square in the nose. The resultant crunch hurt like the devil, blood trailed down over my upper lip and into my mouth. Gaping at her, I scrambled in my bag for a scrap of cloth to blot it up.
“You’ve been training,” I said.
“Not really.” By her shocked expression, she hadn’t expected her strike to land, and now she was looking faintly horrified by her own violence. But Tegan didn’t let it sidetrack her from her grievance. “I can’t believe after everything we’ve been through, you just took off and didn’t tell me. Do you have any clue how worried we were?”
“I was coming back,” I said guiltily.
“We didn’t know that! Your mother has been crying off and on for two days. Two days! What’s the matter with you? Don’t you understand how much the Oakses love you? If the Tuttles had survived, there’s no way I would … would ever—” And then Tegan broke down, tears trickling down her cheeks.
I hugged her because I didn’t know what else to do and whispered, “I’m sorry. I am.”
“Don’t tell me. Tell Momma Oaks and Edmund and Rex.” Tegan speared Fade with a hard stare next. “And you. I’d think you would know better. Deuce has all the natural instincts of a wild partridge but you had a family once. Why did you let her do this?”
He shuffled, and it kind of delighted me to see him so nonplused. Finally he mumbled, “You try stopping her from doing something once her mind is made up.”
By rights he could’ve blamed the colonel, who was behind all of this. It was to his credit that he just accepted her anger without excuses. We had hurt the people who cared about us, and it didn’t matter why. Time to make amends. The colonel could wait.
It took two hours of eating, explanation, and constant apology before we were forgiven. In the end, I think my family was just so glad to see me back and alive that they couldn’t hold on to the anger. Plus, when Momma Oaks saw my swollen nose and two black eyes, her maternal sympathy got the best of her. She fussed at Tegan for picking on me, which I found hilarious.
But my mother wasn’t happy when I said, “I have to go see the colonel before she sends somebody to haul me in. Tarrying could be grounds for her deciding not to honor our deal.”
Edmund was saying, “What deal?” with a worried look as I hurried out, Fade close behind me.
We found Colonel Park in her usual spot, poring over the maps that tracked Freak movements nearby. “I take it you’ve seen some action in our absence,” I said.
She shrugged. “Nothing we can’t handle yet. Do you have my data?”
I handed her the packet, then repeated Dr. Wilson’s warning.
From her narrowed eyes, she thought I was making up the obstacle, until she broke open the seals and started reading. Then her frown became a scowl but I saw the worry lurking underneath. When a warrior came up against a foe that couldn’t be defeated under existing conditions, it was genuine cause for alarm. If her men found out how poorly equipped they were to face the horde, discipline would break down. Yet I sympathized with her position. She couldn’t strip the town of all defenders and go on the march, leaving the place unprotected. The colonel was between a rock and a hard place, right enough.
“What was it like in Winterville?” she asked, surprising me.
I guessed the reason behind the question right away. “Unnaturally quiet. I’m guessing they had twice the population before he spread the potion. Fade and I only saw three souls while we were there … most were hiding, I gather, due to the problems in the south.”
With a weary sigh, she set the information aside, bowing her head. I saw the moment she decided to abandon the idea, choosing not to sacrifice her own people. I liked her better for it too. “Then this was a waste of time. I suppose you want to address the men now.”
I inclined my head. “I held up my end of the bargain.”
“Let me gather them for you. But don’t blame me when they laugh you off the platform.”
Nerves fluttered in my stomach. This was the real beginning of our resistance. I felt it in my blood and bones, but it could also end before it began. Talking had never been my specialty; I was good with weapons, not words.