Chapter 36
Briar
Thin branches slap my face as I race through the jungle, several vines slithering along beside me.
Marcus is gone. Ingrid Voss is closing the fist that is New American around us, and we hardly have anything to fight back with. An aromium stabilizer would’ve been our greatest weapon, but I couldn’t make one.
Thoughts fire through my mind like bullets as my boots trod over spongy moss, thick, gnarled roots, and soggy, slippery leaves.
I glance over my shoulder, slowing. Ellison is having trouble keeping up, and Nova has an arm around her shoulders, half dragging her through the thick jungle. Ellison must have cut off the cuffs on her wrists.
The surrounding vegetation is humming through me, in tune with my frantic need to escape.
I wait for Nova and Ellison to catch up, Ellison’s chest heaving with exertion.
“Why do we have to get out now?” I ask Nova, giving Ellison a chance to catch her breath.
“Olin,” Nova manages, also winded.
“What about him?”
“Have to ... get him out.”
A thorny vine climbs up my leg and I gently bat it away. “He’s safe.”
Nova looks over both shoulders, making sure we’re alone. “I heard Voss talking ... to one of her men. She said they ... intercepted a radio communication from someone on this island.”
My brows fly up with alarm. “When?”
“Right after Marcus left. It was someone from the ILF. Telling someone else from the ILF on Voss’s island that Marcus is fighting Rising Tide.”
“Oh shit.”
Olin. He must have been trying to help Marcus. I’m grateful to him, but Nova’s right—he’s in grave danger.
“Do they know it was him?” I ask.
Nova shakes her head. “They’re going to interrogate people to find out who’s with them and who’s not. We’ve got to get somewhere safe so we can game-plan.”
I nod, my stomach churning at the thought of leaving Stella, Chance, and Adele on that boat. They’ll probably be the first ones Voss tries to turn.
Thunder cracks the sky overhead, rain falling so heavily that some of it makes it through the jungle canopy.
“Keep following,” I tell Nova and Ellison. “Amira and Olin are waiting for us. Amira has the switch.”
The corners of Nova’s lips twitch with a grin. She’s thinking what I’m thinking—we need to get our aromium on.
I lead the way through the darkened tangle of trees and vegetation, nearly falling when I run into one of McClain’s freakish megamantises. It almost comes up to my knees.
It slashes a razor-like claw at my leg as I’m pulling my knife from my boot. I don’t have time for this. I stab it in the eye, rip my knife out of it and keep moving.
By the time we reach Amira and Olin, I’m soaked with sweat, rain, and—from my left knee down—blood. But it’s a superficial cut, so I ignore it.
“Everyone okay?” Amira asks.
I nod and gesture at Nova.
“They intercepted a radio transmission from someone on this island. They know Marcus isn’t loyal to their cause.”
Olin’s face has drained of color. “That was me.”
“It’s okay,” I say.
He looks like he might be sick. “This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Nova says. “You were helping Marcus. You couldn’t have known that would happen.”
He cringes, pushing the rain-soaked red hair from his forehead. “I’ve been trained. I should have—” He stops. “If they know Marcus isn’t with them, why is he ... with them?”
My stomach clenches as I think about the way he looked at me. It was his eyes, but it wasn’t him. I’m a stranger to him now.
“They did something to him,” I say. “I don’t know what, but he’s not himself anymore. He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know any of us.”
“What are we going to do?” Olin asks.
Everyone is looking at me. I don’t feel like being a leader. I just want to curl up on the ground and cry about Marcus. But I can’t.
“I know where we can go,” I say.
I know this island well. When Marcus and I were searching for the flowers used to make aromium, we covered every square inch of it. I know where the best hiding place on the island is. McClain’s cave.
“They could destroy everything at our camp,” Ellison murmurs.
The sound of a man’s voice calling out orders sends a chill through me. I look at Nova right as she says, “We have to go.”
“Or not.”
The strange voice makes my stomach drop. I turn and see two men in snot-green New America uniforms, both with guns pointed at us.
I weigh my options, thick vines slithering around my feet. If I charge them, at least some of us can get away.
“Do it,” the man says, his gaze on me. “You won’t even get two steps—”
His head twists at an unnatural angle and he drops to the ground. Pax is there, and he snaps the other man’s neck before he even has time to react. He falls to the ground and lands on top of his friend.
It’s scary how much faster aromium makes a person.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Pax whispers, locking eyes with me.
Everyone starts to move, but then Ellison says, “I can’t.”
All of us stop, turning toward her.
“You’re not staying,” Nova whispers fiercely. “They’ll kill you.”
Ellison’s face crinkles in an anguished look. “I can’t leave my supplies behind.”
Nova reels. “Fuck your supplies. We can’t go back into camp.”
Ellison looks at me, her expression pleading. “I have to go get my supplies.”
Nova looks like her head’s about to blow off. I don’t know why Ellison is so concerned about having supplies. Gauze and medication are the least of our worries.
“We can come back for them,” I say softly.
“Tell me where to meet you.”
If Nova had hair, she’d be pulling it out. “No! Absolutely the fuck not, El!”
“I’ll go back for them.”
Pax stuns us all into silence. He shrugs.
“Nova can’t go. They’re hunting her. No one will suspect me.” He looks at Ellison. “Tell me what you need.”
“I have to come with you.”
Nova’s eyes widen. “Not happening. I’m not a controlling bitch, but—”
“I have to.” Ellison’s smile for her wife is soft. “I’ll go quickly.”
Amira gives me a pained look, saying, “We have to go. If we get caught, there’s no one left to help the others.”
Pax takes a few steps closer to Nova, addressing her. “I’ll keep her safe.”
“Look at that scar on her arm and say it again with a straight face.”
Pax exhales softly. “I know what I’ve done. But I’m here now. I’m the best one to take her and you know it.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Ellison walks over to Nova and cups her cheeks. “We believe in each other. Always. I’ll see you soon.”
Tears pool in Nova’s eyes.
“Where should we meet up with you?” Pax asks me.
I mentally race through the options. “Ammo Bunker Three. Ellison knows where it is.”
“Ammo bunkers? You cagey bastards.”
I glare at him. “Keep her safe. And I also need you to get us a surveillance pack from the training room.”
“How the hell do you expect me to know what that is? Or where the training room is?”
“I know,” Ellison says. “Let’s go.”
A sob escapes Nova’s throat and she turns away from us.
“We’ll be there,” Pax says to me. “Even if we get held up, we’ll be there.”
I nod and squeeze Ellison’s hand.
“Be safe,” I whisper.
“We will.”
Pax leads Ellison into another part of the jungle, likely planning to circle around camp and try to sneak in undetected. The rest of us race toward Ammo Bunker Three, which was cleared of ammo and supplies before the volcano. But it should make a good short-term hiding place.
Adrenaline propels me. I focus only on my surroundings, staying alert for anything that sounds like people or animals approaching.
This hellish island just can’t stop one-upping itself. The volcano and its aftermath weren’t enough suffering for us, apparently. I can’t even remember a life that wasn’t a daily fight just to survive.
My hopes of ever seeing Mae again just keep slipping further away. I wanted to believe Marcus could find a way for us to escape this place. That we could go back to the mainland and find Mae. Help the ILF blow up the Whitman regime. Maybe even make a real life for ourselves.
I dreamed of sitting on a porch swing with him. We were in a beautiful place with mountains in the distance, a blanket on our laps. His arm was around me and the swing swayed gently as we watched the sun paint the sky pink and orange before it slipped away for the night.
That hope is gone now. Ingrid Voss did a factory reset on his mind and he’s a stranger to me now. Worse than a stranger, actually. He’s a New America puppet, which makes him my enemy.
It’s fully dark now, rain still falling. Nova reaches the bunker first, unearthing the handle to the door and opening it.
We file down the stairs one at a time, greeted only by the scents of earth and mustiness.
I curl up against a reinforced wall, drained. Without Marcus, I don’t know how to do any of this. I’m tired, but not just physically.
New America has taken so much from me. My family. My life. My autonomy. And now, Marcus.
I let silent tears roll down my cheeks. I’m not even angry. I’m a helpless shadow of myself, and I’ve never felt further from my dad and his never-ever-give-up spirit.
Blue Arrow Island has wrung every ounce of hope and goodness out of me, and it will never quit. Maybe it’s time I accept defeat.