The snarling to Wendy's left broke the shocked silence.
She couldn't take her eyes off of Pelton. He looked thinner. His eyes had sunken farther into his skull. A deep scar adorned his right bicep, and dirt covered him from head to toe.
But underneath all of that, his blue eyes still sparkled. For a moment, Wendy only saw confusion, and then he blinked and sank to his knees.
“Wendy?” he asked again. He brought a trembling hand up to her forehead. “Is it really you?”
A lump formed in Wendy's throat.
Pelton's eyes searched hers for another moment, before he stood and took a knife from his belt. He started cutting the ropes around her feet. He turned to Nara. “Get her something to eat.”
Wendy's feet came free before she expected them too. They crashed into the ground with enough force to make her grunt.
“Sorry,” Pelton said. “Sit.”
Wendy did. Pelton cut her hands free as one of the men held the stick.
The circulation returning to her feet caused Wendy's legs and toes to burn. She wiggled them and tried not to flinch.
The same thing happened with her hands. She rubbed her wrists and bit back a growl of pain as she tried to flex her fingers.
“Come on,” Pelton said. He grabbed her under an arm and hoisted her onto her feet. “Can you walk?”
It took a second for Wendy to get her legs working. She stood for a few heartbeats before she decided she could. “Yeah.”
Pelton put his arm around her and led her toward a nearby fire.
The growling of the Skinnies pulled at Wendy's attention. Four of them strained against chains that tethered them to a tree.
“Why do you have Skinnies?” Wendy asked.
Pelton sighed. “It's a long story.”
Four people sat around the fire—all as dirty as Pelton. Wendy recognized none of them. One of them had her pack open, and pulled out the boots.
Pelton looked down at her. “Where did you get those?”
She looked up at him and almost smiled. “It's a long story.”
This brought a wry grin to Pelton's filthy face. “Did you just make a joke?”
Wendy scowled. “It really is a long story.”
Pelton laughed. Wendy felt it in his chest as he pulled her close. They got to the fire. “Sit, eat something.” Nara offered some bread and dried meat. The woman's long limbs complimented her lanky figure. Her red hair was tied back into a ponytail.
A quick look around at the camp told Wendy these people didn't have much, but it also told her that they weren't here permanently. The tents were light and easy to haul. The rocks around the fire had only been put there a few days before. No paths marked the way in and out of camp.
“Thank you,” Wendy said. She sat on a rock next to Pelton and took a small piece of bread and some meat. Before she ate, she gave Pelton a steady stare.
“Did anyone else make it out?”
A dark look crossed Pelton's face. “No. I don't think so.”
Anyone else would have padded that answer. Wendy hadn't realized just how much she missed this man.
Wendy's appetite faded. “What happened?”
Pelton cocked his head to the side. “We were attacked by the Skinnies.”
Wendy looked away.
“What is it?” he asked. He placed a hand on her back. The pressure gave her the courage to admit her weakness to him.
“I...I don't remember anything about the day of the attack.”
Pelton let the silence between them grow comfortable.
Wendy pointed to her head. “It's gone.” She turned to him. “Tell me what happened.”
The clear blue of his eyes faltered, and he sighed again. His hand moved to hers. “You don't remember us surprising you for your birthday?”
“No.”
He almost chuckled. “We drew you out with a false alarm, which you were not happy about. You took the medicine for those kids. Just as the rest of us got back to the compound two watches sent up flares.”
Pelton paused, letting it sink in.
Wendy took a moment to search her mind. “I don't remember.”
“There were more than two hundred Skinnies. Someone was commanding them. They must have had someone inside, because they got into the tunnels before we did.”
Doc's kind face tried to smile in her mind, but Wendy brushed it aside. How many Skinnies?
“You don't remember any of that?”
“No,” Wendy said. “I've had a few flashes of fighting in the tunnels. I think you were trying to protect me. I almost got my arm cut off by a sword. But that's it.”
“The last time I saw you, we were trying to hold the tunnel by the medical cabin. They swept you off. I thought you were gone.” He paused. “I tried to get the kids out. Some of them got into the woods, but I never found any of them after that.”
Tears threatened. Wendy sniffed and blinked. “My dad?”
Pelton shook his head. “He fell in the tunnels. Kenzie too.”
“How did you get out?”
He let out a harsh laugh. “Luck. They left me for dead. I woke up and I could move, so I crawled out one of the back tunnels and into the woods. I used some of the emergency supplies to patch myself up. I had a fever for a week and almost died. But these guys found me.” He jerked his head to indicate their current company.
Wendy's eyes darted back and forth between those who had gathered around to listen. There were only ten of them. And the Skinnies.
“How did you get out?” Pelton asked.
Wendy took a breath. “The last thing I remember was falling asleep at my desk doing rosters. Then I woke up in a complex with people I didn't know.”
She went on to tell him the basics about Mike, her suspicions, her plan to take them down from the inside and then how she had gotten away. She left out names and specifics. No one needed to know that. If she stopped thinking of Jeff, Matt, Kev, Cal and Arie as people, it would be easier to kill them later.
“And he wanted the map?” Pelton asked
“Yes. It was one of the first things he asked me about. I don't know what happened, but something must have changed, because he let me get out.”
“Is he following you?”
“I haven't seen anyone, but I'm sure they're out here somewhere.”
Pelton squeezed her hand. “You did good getting out.”
“Thanks.”
Pelton stood and started to pace. “I never thought that whoever attacked us wanted the map.”
“You knew about the map?” Wendy asked.
“Yeah, I helped your dad verify some of it. But even I don't know where he kept it.” He stopped and met her eyes. “Do you?”
“I know where it is,” Wendy said.
“Have you ever studied it?”
“Not really. He never let me very close to it.”
“Me neither. I wonder, what's so important about it that this Mike would go through such a long ruse with you to get it?”
“I don't know, but he really wants it.”
Pelton started to pace again. His eyes flickered to Wendy in a look she knew all too well. He was about to ask her to do something that would make her very uncomfortable. Normally a new fighting move or a match against someone who would take her apart. This time, however, she knew what was coming. She let him ask.
“Do you think you can go back?”
“I...” Wendy trailed off. She couldn't even remember what had happened. In her mind, the Den was still standing and full of life. She rubbed the scar on her arm. “Do we really have a choice?”
“There's always a choice,” Pelton said.
“Well,” Wendy said. “You tell me why you have Skinnies with you, and I'll go back.”
Pelton sat back down. He leaned in close. “The Skinnies are family members of the people here. They're looking for a cure.” His eyes told her not to argue.
She nodded. These people had rescued Pelton, no need to upset them now.
“I understand.” She even ventured to look around the circle at the rag-tag group of followers Pelton had found. It was clear he was in charge, even if they didn't realize it.
“Can you head out today?” Pelton asked. The light had returned to his eyes. His mind was already formulating a plan of attack against Mike.
“Sure,” Wendy said.
The thought of going back scared her, but with Pelton at her side, she could do it.