Chapter 19
Pelton kept his arm around her as they traversed the tunnels, only letting go when they ascended a ladder.
The Skinnies in the tunnels hadn’t just been monsters. They’d come and attacked under someone’s orders. But whose? And why?
“Let’s get back to camp,” Pelton said to the others. “We should be able to get there before dark if we hurry.”
“Right,” Clayton said. He took the lead, leaving Wendy with Pelton.
Clouds had rolled over the sun, casting a shadow over the scene. They moved through the compound and back into the trees, where the diminished light brought Wendy’s spirits down even farther.
Pelton remained silent, but had stayed close to her.
Did he suspect she knew?
But what did she know?
Pelton had shoved her into that crate and left her for…what? Later? To die? Or had he thought she would be able to take him to the map?
Why was the map such an important item? Why did everyone want it?
Wendy diverted her thoughts away from Pelton and toward the map.
Her dad had said he found it in a broken-down complex. He’d never told her what kind of complex, but Wendy had figured it was most likely military. There were specific sites marked on the map. Wendy knew her dad and Pelton had personally gone to at least three of them. She wasn’t sure how many there were—she’d never seen the whole map. No one had except her dad.
Whenever a patrol came back from one of the sites, they always returned with a better scavenge than any other time. Medicine in particular. If Wendy’s memory served her correctly, they’d visited the first one before her mother had died. Four years ago.
Why had her dad not explored them all? If there were good supplies, why wait?
Unless people were in them.
Why did Pelton want it so badly?
Had he and the Skinnies attacked the compound just for the map?
Wendy’s dad would probably have given it up if Pelton had threatened to send in the Skinnies to kill everyone.
So why the show of force? Why the need for secrecy?
The path meandered through the forest, and Wendy simply followed the woman in front of her. Pelton never left Wendy’s side. He kept glancing down at her out of the corner of his eye. She didn’t have to fight to keep the upset look on her face. Her emotions were understandable, considering what she’d just seen, but Pelton knew her well. He knew she rarely let her emotions out.
Did he suspect?
They hiked hard and fast. Wendy's thoughts wouldn't stop leaping ahead of one another. Nothing made sense. And yet here she was, with the traitor who'd killed everyone. The one man she had utterly respected. The one man she never thought could have done it.
She wanted to kill Pelton even more than she'd wanted to kill Dennis.
A breeze rustled the world around them, and Wendy jumped. All the colors had faded to gray. The sun sank toward the horizon, and what little light they had, began to wane.
Pelton broke the silence. “What’s on your mind?”
“Just thinking about how much I want to hurt the people who did this,” she said. Pelton couldn’t see through words that weren’t a lie.
“You always were a fighter. Ever since the first time I met you.” He pulled a grin out. “Do you remember that?”
Wendy repressed a snarl, and instead nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”
“You were what? Ten years old? You bugged your dad so much about being in the fighting class that he let you come in two years early.”
They’d had this conversation dozens of times. Wendy had to give the expected answers. “I was bored.”
“You were dying to kick that boy’s butt. What was his name?”
“Jack,” Wendy said. She kept putting one foot in front of the other.
“Oh yeah, Jack. He was pretty good.”
“He was a baby.” Wendy wondered if she could take Pelton down by surprise and then get away before his buddies could catch her. But there were four of them and one of her and they had projectile weapons while she only had knives.
“He was after you threw him on the ground. On his head.”
There was a nice clump of rocks coming up, she could use those as cover. “He didn’t land on his head.”
“You almost broke his neck.”
No, it was almost dark. She didn’t have any supplies. “He bullied everyone. He thought I was an easy target. He never dreamed a ten year-old girl who weighed pretty much nothing could take him down.” She could go back to the Den, but they’d find her there.
“After thirty minutes of training.”
“After thirty minutes of training.” Wendy dredged up a fake smile and gave it to Pelton.
He could tell she wasn’t being sincere, but the exchange seemed to placate his need to test her. He squeezed her shoulder, and they kept walking.
Pelton was a good teacher. Wendy had learned faster than anyone else, and by the time her mother had died, she had been better than any of the other kids. She’d started sparring with the adults when she was thirteen—and the same size she was now.
Her stomach twisted into a knot.
Why Pelton?
Why had he betrayed them?
Pelton and her dad had been friends for a long time. Pelton had been scavenging for them for at least six years. He was gone a lot, but he had called the Den home.
So what had brought him in contact with the Skinnies and whoever was controlling them?
How long had he been preparing to take them out?
Why had he saved her?
Others in the Den had said she was his protégé. That in a year or two, her dad would have relieved her of her other duties and let her go scavenge full time with Pelton. At one point she’d had a big crush on him, but her mother’s death had driven any of those thoughts away.
She didn’t deserve friends or anyone who loved her. Not after she'd let her mother kill herself.
Pelton had been the one person who had helped her forget all of that. He didn’t worry about anything but scavenging and fighting. She thought he’d cared about her—as a little sister at least—but now she didn’t know.
No one spoke as they made their way back to the camp. Darkness surrounded them fully now. No moonlight came through the clouds. The curtain of black they walked through could have been the tunnels again.
Wendy heard the snarling of the Skinnies before she smelled the small fire or saw the flicker of light through the trees.
“What's got them so riled up?” Clayton said.
Wendy's danger senses started to go off. Something was wrong.
For the first time since they had left the Den, Pelton moved away from Wendy's side and jogged ahead.
“Come on,” Clayton said to Wendy. He sped up his pace.
If Wendy held back, she might be able to get one of them alone. She could at least get a gun. They were all big, but none of them looked fast. Plus, they probably didn't realize how good she was, even if Pelton had warned them.
Everyone underestimated her. Everyone but Pelton.
Wendy slowed a little. Clayton sent an irritated scowl over his shoulder, and he stopped to let her catch up.
Wendy calmed her mind and decided she could get the gun in his pack if she could get him to kneel down. She might even be able to do it without him realizing.
The growling from the Skinnies grew frenzied, and laughter peeled out through the night. A yell of anger and frustration sounded.
Wendy knew that yell.
Kev.
Clayton's attention had been drawn forward, and he started jogging toward camp.
Wendy could get away right now. She could slip into the night and there was a good bet that she could hide from Pelton and his gang.
But he had the map.
And now he had Kev. If he had Kev, he had Cal. What were they doing here?
She couldn't leave them to Pelton's mercy. He'd feed them to the Skinnies.
Maybe tha
t was what he was doing right now.
Wendy bolted after Clayton, almost overtaking him before they burst out of the trees and into the clearing around camp.
The Skinnies were still tied to the tree, but they were all lunging at the same thing.
Wendy's throat went dry. Kev and Cal sat on the ground, tied up, not far from the Skinnies. But they weren't the object of the Skinnies’ attention.
Two of Pelton's men held Arie just inches from the snarling, reaching monsters.
Blood ran down Arie's face, and she looked dazed. She eyed the Skinnies with puzzlement, like she wasn't quite sure whether she should be afraid of them or not.
Kev and Cal were filthy, but other than that seemed to be unharmed.
One of the Skinnies lashed out, and his ragged nails tore at Arie's shirt. She jerked back.
Pelton's men gave a roar of approval.
“Let it loose,” one of them said.
“Let them have her. They haven't eaten in a while,” another voice said from the crowd.
Arms pressed Arie forward. Arie wiggled and tried to get free, but her hands were tied behind her back and there was no way she could escape.
Wendy searched for Pelton. He stood a dozen feet away, watching.
Could she save them?
She could fight, but she needed that map.
Arie's shoulder got in range of a long-armed Skinny, and blood welled as he raked at her.
The men and women roared in approval.
Wendy couldn't let this happen.
Pelton had betrayed her, not these kids. Not her team. Not her friends.
Wendy ran forward, straight for Arie. “No!”
Clayton tried to grab her, but she side-stepped and threw herself in between Arie and the Skinny. The Skinny lunged for her. Wendy grabbed his wrist, stepped back and twisted. The Skinny's shoulder separated with a loud pop.
“Wendy!” Pelton said. He pulled her away. She let him. “What in the hell are you doing?”
“These are kids from the complex.” Wendy gave Pelton a hard look. “I know one way to get in and out, these kids know a lot more.”
Two of Pelton's men had flanked Wendy—she could practically feel their hot breath in her hair.
Pelton held up a hand and kept Wendy's gaze. “How much do they know?”
Wendy pointed. “Those two have explored every last inch of the place, the girl is on the medical team. They have access to weapons and medicine. They know how things run, things that I never got to see.”
When Wendy said Arie was medical, the other girl narrowed her eyes.
Did she maybe understand?
Wendy wanted to free them, but she knew any suspicious action would get them all killed. They would suffer now, but she might be able to save them all later.
“Do you think they came alone?” Pelton asked.
Wendy's stomach churned as one of the men smiled at Pelton. “You could ask one of them.”
Pelton returned the grin. “Which one should we start with?”