Tracker pointed. Ryker and Taryn followed her farther into the forest until they came to a huge opening where everyone was gathered. The group had set up tents, and some people were working on making fires.
“How many didn’t come?” Taryn asked.
“Maybe ten or twenty. Wasn’t really worried about it,” Tracker said. “We grabbed what supplies we could and followed Laiken.”
“What was the blood trail?” Taryn asked
“I knew you'd need a way to find us,” Tracker said as she held up her palm showing a four inch dripping cut.
“Where’s Laiken?” Ryker asked.
Tracker went silent and looked at the ground.
“Tracker, where’s Laiken?” Taryn demanded.
“He led us to the doors, where we got into it with the guards. We finally overpowered them, and he broke open the doors. He ushered everyone out and told us to go to the forest to the north. He was the last one to leave. When I looked back...I saw Alloy shoot him, and he went down.”
“Why didn’t you go back for him?” Ryker asked, pushing Tracker against a tree.
“I had to get everyone else out, and I knew you were still in there,” Tracker said, pushing Ryker off.
“Damn it, Laik!” Taryn shouted throwing her shovel on the ground.
“We have to go back for him,” Ryker said.
Taryn knew Laiken was like a brother to him, and it would kill Ryker if anything were to happen to Laiken.
“I know, but we need a plan,” Taryn said.
“You do realize that’s exactly what they want,” Tracker said.
“Shut up!” Taryn and Ryker yelled at the same time.
They started walking back the way they had come, but Tracker ran up behind them. “You don’t even have a plan. You’re just going to walk right in and ask them to hand him over? We aren’t coming to get you if you're going to be stupid about it.” Tracker said.
“Then don’t come get us, just take everyone and find a safe house. When you find one, leave a trail back here so we can find it when we get Laiken.” Taryn said.
“If you get Laiken. I told you they shot him,” Tracker said.
“Just stop talking and leave,” Ryker said.
“Jerk,” Taryn heard Tracker mumble as she went back to the group.
Taryn and Ryker started walking again. They had no plan, no reasonable weapons, and no backup. They made their way back to the edge of the trees facing the back of the school.
“This is really gonna get bad,” Taryn said.
“I know, but we have to get him back. Alive,” Ryker said.
“How do you think we should do it?”
“I’ll go in as bait and...” Ryker started, but Taryn interrupted him.
“No. If anyone's going in as bait, it's me. Alloy doesn’t care about you. Tracker was right about that,” Taryn said.
“You can’t just hand yourself over.”
“Oh, but you can? Besides, I’m not handing myself over, I'm going to trade places with Laik. You're going to take him to the safe house. I'll get myself out.” Taryn said. She turned and started walking toward the school. Truthfully, she did not think Alloy was going to go for the trade. She also had no idea how she would get out, but she walked around the school to the front doors, which were closed again, and yelled, “Hey jackass! I have a proposition for you!” She stood there waiting, but not for long.
The doors swung open, and there was Alloy standing in the middle, flanked by guards. “You have a proposition. How cute,” he said.
“You can have me for whatever purpose, but you have to let Laiken go,” Taryn said.
“Deal. He doesn’t have much longer anyway,” Alloy said.
Taryn clenched her teeth. That was too easy, she thought. “You'll send him with me to that field. You can have a guard come too if you want. I just want to make sure he gets to Ryker, then I’m yours.”
“Guard, get the prisoner and accompany Ms. Bicks to the field, then bring her right back.” Alloy said.
One of the guards left and came back seconds later carrying a blood-covered human form that Taryn was sickened to realize was Laiken. The guard followed Taryn out to the fields and put Laiken down on the ground. Laiken had not stirred the whole time, but Taryn knew he was still alive.
“Son of a bitch!” Ryker said. “Hey, Laik. You’re gonna be alright.” Taryn noticed a tear escape his eye as he looked at Laiken.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Taryn said. “Take him and find the others.”
"We should hurry before Alloy comes looking for me," the guard said helping Ryker pick up Laiken.
Ryker and Taryn stopped dead in their tracks and stared at him.
"Are you just going to look at me?" the guard asked. "Alloy probably sent other guards by now."
"Aren't you supposed to be taking her back?" Ryker asked, nodding in Taryn’s direction.
"You think I want to go back to that hellhole?” the guard asked.
"Why should we trust you?" Taryn asked.
"You know the answer to that," the guard said, looking straight into her eyes.
Ryker appeared even more confused, but Taryn finally understood.
They made their way back to the forest meeting place, looking for any signs for the safe house. When they got to the clearing, there was the slightest trail of ripped clothing and rock piles. They followed the trail, and Taryn kicked the pieces away so they wouldn’t be followed.
“How far away is this safe house?” Taryn asked. It seemed to her like they had been walking forever. Laiken still had not stirred. They finally came to a river, which was the last thing they expected. The guard and Ryker set Laiken down and cleaned his face. As Taryn was taking a drink of water, she noticed something scribed in the sand: 354 W then 120 E. “Hey, look at this,” she called out.
“What the hell are we supposed to do with coordinates?” Ryker asked.
“They can’t be coordinates. The numbers are too big,” the guard responded. “They're probably the number of paces to the safe house.”
“Well, someone’s efficient,” Ryker said. “Let’s go.”
“Did you find the bullet wound?” Taryn asked.
“Yeah, it’s in his thigh,” Ryker said. “It looks like it went all the way through. I wrapped it with his shirt.”
The boys picked up Laiken again, and Taryn took the lead, counting paces. After about 250, Laiken made a strangled noise in his throat.
“Wait. Hey Laik, can you hear me?” Ryker asked.
“Uh huh,” Laiken mumbled.
“Ryk, set him down,” Taryn said.
They placed him so his back was against a tree. His body was still limp, and he could barely lift his head. Taryn ran down to the river, not too far away, and brought back a handful of water for Laiken to drink.
“Trughng shhpsh,” Laiken mumbled.
“What?” Taryn asked.
“Trasking desvishe,” Laiken tried again.
“Tracking device?” Ryker asked.
Laiken feebly nodded. He lifted his arm with noticeable struggle and pointed to his other forearm. There was a small cut on his arm that was turning blue.
“I completely forgot about that," the guard said.
"You forgot? That's some pretty important information to forget!" Ryker yelled.
"Why would Alloy put in a tracking devise?" Taryn asked.
"He knew you'd come back for him," the guard said. "It was an easy way to find everyone."
“How are we supposed to get that out? We can’t continue or they’ll find our safe house.” Taryn said.
“Got any broken glass or a sharp stick?” Ryker asked.
“Shhh! Did you hear that?” Taryn whispered. They all went quiet and listened.
“Voices. How could they have found us already?” Ryker asked.
“Don’t move, or you’ll regret it,” A voice rang out.
The next they knew, their faces were full of guns. The leader, tall and muscular with a don't-test-me face
and buzz cut hair, had a small handgun pointed at Taryn. He looks like an Army drill sergeant, Taryn thought. “Who are you?” she asked.
“Don’t think it matters,” he responded.
“Well I think it does matter, because this is private property, and you don’t look like one of us,” Taryn spat back.
“I'd watch the attitude if I were you. There's nothing you can do about it,” he said, pushing the gun farther into Taryn’s face.
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Is there something you want, or are you just passing through?”
“What’s wrong with him?” the leader asked, waving his gun in Laiken’s direction.
“Don’t think that matters,” Taryn said smugly.
“Tair,” Ryker said. “Just cool it. It’s not worth it.” He continued supporting Laiken on the tree.
The leader looked at the tattoos on each of their wrists and dropped his weapon. “You guys are from 1445,” he said.
“Yeah, so what does that have to do with anything?” Taryn asked.
“We’re from 1214, just south of yours.” The boy said, showing them the numbers on his wrist. “Hey guys, you can put down your weapons. My name's Halo, and this is Devin,” he said, pointing to the taller, thinner boy next to him.
“I’m Taryn, that’s Ryker, the limp is Laiken, and that's...uh...” Taryn said.
"Sam," the guard said.
Taryn continued, “The rest of our group is at a safe house somewhere. We can’t go there until we get this tracking device out of Laiken’s arm.”
“How did he get that in his arm?” Halo asked.
“He was captured when we escaped. He was shot and presumably tortured,” Taryn said. “I went and got him back. Now we’re all here wasting time.”
“Well I guess we should get the device out,” Halo said.
“Do you have a knife?” Ryker asked.
“Yeah, why?” Halo asked.
“Why do you think,” Taryn said.
Halo took out a five inch hunting blade.
“I’ll do it, Tair,” Ryker said.
“No you won’t. Your hands are shaking too much,” Taryn picked up a stick and turned to Laiken. “Laik, this is probably going to hurt. Bite down on this stick and stay calm.”
Taryn held Laiken’s arm and put the stick in his mouth.
Sam took the knife from Halo and began digging out the tracking device. After about two minutes, Taryn held a small microchip in her hand. Sam wiped off the knife and handed it back to Halo. Taryn ripped a strip from the bottom of her shirt and tied it around Laiken’s arm.
“Here. Take this and walk in a few circles, then drop it somewhere” Taryn said to Halo.
“You’re giving me orders?” Halo asked in a surprised voice.
“Wow, you’re smarter than you look,” Taryn responded sarcastically.
“I guess I can take it, but just to get away from you,” Halo said.
Taryn noticed Ryker glaring at Halo, but she just ignored it, and Sam handed Halo the chip. “I’ll go get some water,” she said.
“I’ll go too. We have water bottles we can fill,” Devin said, putting his gun in the belt loop of his jeans.
“I guess we chose the wrong school,” Ryker said.
Taryn and Devin went down to the river and filled the bottles. Ryker and Sam stayed with Laiken and the rest of the 1214 group. They all looked pretty much the same age but had different builds. After a while Laiken passed out again, and Halo came back.
“Where’s Devin?” Halo asked wiping the leftover blood from the tracking device on his red shirt.
“He went with Taryn to the river to fill the water bottles,” Ryker answered coolly.
“Oh. Well I ditched the tracking device on the edge of the woods,” Halo said. He looked down at Laiken. “How’s he doing?”
“He passed out again. He’s lost way too much blood,” Ryker said.
“We have a doctor in our group. When we get to the safe house, she can look at him,” Halo said.
“Who said you’re coming with us?” Ryker asked, an edge in his voice.
Halo must have caught the edginess. “Well, if you want pretty boy there to live, we are.”
“Fine,” Ryker said.
Taryn and Devin came back with four full bottles. Ryker grabbed one of Laiken's arms, and Taryn took the other to give Sam a break.
“Shall we?” Taryn said.
They continued the remaining paces and turned east; that part of the trek was much shorter than the first. After about 200 paces, they found a huge building surrounded by trees.
“This is the safe house?” Taryn asked, completely shocked.
“It’s an old warehouse. There should be plenty of room for everyone in here,” Halo said.
“Sam'll go first.” Taryn said.
Sam walked into the building without question. As he walked through the door a shovel impacted his face.
“Son of a bitch!” He yelled grabbing his nose and turning to face Taryn. “You knew that was going to happen!”
“Protective-” Tracker started.
“Yeah, yeah, we know. Protective measures,” Taryn said.
“Where's everyone else?” Ryker asked.
“In the main room, eating,” Tracker said.
“Eating what?” Halo asked.
“Who are you?” Tracker asked.
“They’re from 1412. They escaped just like us, I presume.” Taryn explained.
"What's with the guard?" Tracker asked.
"Not important," Taryn said.
“Whatever. Come on, there's plenty of food to go around.” Tracker said with little interest. They all followed her into the main room.
Taryn thought, Looking at the building from the outside, you'd never expect there to be this much room. The space opened up to a huge hall with tables and chairs and piles of food. Everyone was sitting at the tables, apparently enjoying something to eat. “They look...happy,” Taryn said.
“This is the first real food they've had in a very long time,” Tracker said. “Hey everyone, look who’s back!”
The whole crowd turned to look in the direction of Tracker's voice, and the room erupted. Some people screamed, some cried, some even laughed. It's like a huge weight has been lifted from everyone's shoulders, Taryn thought.
“About that doctor,” Ryker said to Halo.
“Right.” Halo motioned to a woman from the 1214 group. She rose and came over to meet Halo and the others. She was shorter than Ryker but stocky with long black hair. She could not have been more than thirty. “Render, can you take a look at Laiken?” Halo said.
“Yeah. Is there a small room we can go to?” she asked.
“Down that hall and the second door on the left,” Tracker said, pointing opposite to where they had come in.
Ryker and Taryn followed the doctor to the room and came back a few seconds later. “She’ll be back in a few minutes to tell us what’s going on,” Taryn said.
“In the meantime, come have something to eat,” Tracker said.
Taryn, Ryker, Halo, and Devin followed Tracker. The rest of Halo’s group dispersed throughout the crowd. Sam joined some guys about his age. Everyone finally had a substantial meal. There were vegetables, some kind of meat, potatoes, gravy, fruits, desserts, and even bread.
“I could get used to this,” Taryn said before putting a fork full of potatoes into her mouth.
After everyone had finished their meal, the doctor came back and joined them.
“How is he?” Ryker asked right away.
“He’s lost a lot of blood, and he may not be able to walk on his left leg for a while. But other than that, he's fine. He should be up and talking later. At that point, you guys should get him something to eat,” the doctor said.
Ryker let out a huge sigh. The doctor sat down and had some food herself. Halo started talking to Tracker about how they escaped, but Taryn and Ryker were not interested. They made a plate of food and grabbed a bottle of water for L
aiken and took it to his room.
“Do you really think we can trust these people?” Ryker asked Taryn when they were out of earshot.
“I think we can trust them, but we should keep an eye on them. They've had more and different training than us.” Taryn responded.
"And what about Sam?" Ryker asked. "I just don't know about him."
"We'll have to watch him too," Taryn said. "He doesn't act like the bad guy."
"None of them ever do."
They walked into Laiken’s room. He was lying on a small bed with a cabinet next to it. Taryn set the plate and bottle down on it. She sat down on the bed next to Laiken and grabbed his hand. Ryker sat down on the floor next to the bed.
“He’s one tough kid,” Taryn said.
“Almost as tough as you.”
“He's gonna be pissed, though, when he finds out he can’t walk on his left leg,” Taryn said.
“Damn right,” Laiken mumbled.
“Hey bud, how you doing?” Ryker asked.
“Fantastic. You?” Laiken said.
“Great. You should eat. They have amazing food here,” Ryker said.
“You ate without me?” Laiken asked sarcastically.
“Well, we weren’t going to wait for the limp to wake up,” Taryn said. “Eat.”
Laiken had his plate cleaned in less than five minutes.
“Now what?” Laiken asked.
“Now you're going to sleep,” Taryn said.
“I’ve done enough sleeping. I need to move around.” Laiken said.
“Ok, get up,” Ryker said.
“Ryk,” Taryn said with caution.
“No, just watch this,” Ryker said grinning.
Laiken pushed his legs around so they were hanging off the edge of the bed, then he sat up.
“So far, so good,” Laiken said.
“Stand up,” Taryn said. She was waiting for him to go down.
Laiken pushed himself up and put his weight on his right leg. He made it to the standing position and grabbed the cabinet for support.
“See, I’m good,” he said.
“Walk,” Ryker said, holding back a smile.
“Well, if I'm going to walk on my left leg, I'll need a stick to help” Laiken said.
“And there it is,” Taryn said to Ryker, smiling.
“He finally got it,” Ryker said.
“Just go get me a stick,” Laiken ordered them.
“Well!” Taryn said, acting as though she had been insulted. “Someone must have lost their manners along with the blood.”
Ryker stayed with Laiken while Taryn searched the closets in some of the other rooms. She noticed a crutch leaning against the wall, so she took it back to Laiken’s room.
“Where'd you find that?” Ryker asked.
“I’m pretty crafty in my old age,” Taryn said sarcastically. She handed the crutch to Laiken.
“Much better,” Laiken said hobbling around the room.
“Come on, let’s go out to the hall and see what everyone else is up to,” Taryn said. She led them out to the hall and back to the table with Halo, Devin, and the doctor. They all sat down, and instantly the noise level dropped.
“What’s up?” Ryker asked Halo.
“There's been talk," Halo said. "About what we're going to do now and if it was really a good idea to leave.”
“Took 'em long enough,” Taryn said. “Let me guess; Tracker started it.”
“We don’t really know who started it, but she isn’t doing anything to stop them,” Halo said.
Taryn got up on the table and addressed the crowd. “We'll figure this out. If you don’t want to stay here, then go back to Alloy and slavery. Just be kind enough not to tell him where the rest of us are.”
No one moved. The whole room was silent, and everyone was staring at Taryn. She got down from the table and started to walk out.
“If you're going to listen to Tracker about all this, maybe you should ask her