Chapter 32
CHAPTER
CHARLEY
Light peeked inside the hut, a perfect streak of gold. My first thought was Thad.
He had seventy-five days left. Exactly seventy-five noons.
Then I thought of Natalie, who had even fewer. Beside me, her bed sat empty. I had the weirdest flash of home, of Em’s empty bed hugging the other wall in my room. But while Em was probably out hunting the perfect fake ID, Natalie was out hunting gates.
And I was supposed to be with her.
I threw on my sandals, grabbed my satchel, and flew outside.
The fire ring smoldered without flame. Two fresh logs sat on top, waiting to burn.
And like my first morning here, Thad stood at the Wall, running his hands across the wood.
His fingers traced carvings, which now I knew were names.
His hand hovered over my name, tracing the e-y.
I kissed the back of his neck.
“Morning, Mr. Blake.”
“Morning, sleepy.” He turned and kissed my head.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Because you needed the rest. If you’d slept much longer, I would’ve woken you, but now you’re up. Let’s get you set and then we’ll roll.”
Talla jogged over as we met up with Natalie and Jason by the Shack.
“It’s good to have our Leader back,” she said, shooting a pointed look at me.
Then she gave Natalie a fast hug. “Good luck, Nat! Run fast.” Stepping back, Talla snapped a nod at the three of us. “Watch her back, okay? See you soon.”
Watching Talla trot away, her back ramrod straight, her intensity barely contained, understanding dawned.
Talla is Talla, Thad had once said. I’d finally figured her out.
She was a fighter. More than competitive, she was determined to win—to beat the island odds, and she needed a strong Leader to do it.
And that Leader was Thad. Talla and I didn’t always click, but I finally understood her.
Rives pulled Thad aside, gesturing past the A-frames. Thad listened intently, and after clasping Rives’s shoulder, Thad walked back, his eyes scanning the City perimeter.
“Let’s pack and roll,” he said as he hefted his pack.
“And hope the gates roll, too,” Jason said. Spear in hand, he started after Natalie, who set a brisk pace. We followed, heading south.
“What was Rives talking about?” I asked Thad.
“We lost the cow last night. Something broke down the pen. The hyena was finishing it this morning, but we think something else got it first.”
“Who had watch?”
“Sy.” Thad’s expression was frustrated. “But apparently he didn’t see a thing.”
“Interesting,” I said.
“Yeah.” He snorted. “I still wish we hadn’t lost the cow. The goats are missing, too, but they’ll come back.” He gave me a sideways grin. “But until they do, we’re back to coconut milk.”
“My favorite.” I grimaced.
Thad laughed. But his eyes stayed sharp.
We passed through familiar territory and beyond. By late morning, we’d made it to our destination: a black lava field, a different one than I remembered. This one looked aged. Drier, grayer, and with more fissures and cracks. Red gleamed to the north.
Plunking down our bags, we took a break. Today’s snacks were fresh, and our gourds full. From what Thad said, that wasn’t always the case, especially toward the end of Search. While Thad was stretching, I turned away, quietly working on my secret project.
“What’s that?” Thad asked, pointing to my hand.
“Paper I got from Jillian.” I made one final mark, then tucked it away.
“I see that,” Thad said dryly. “Are you writing me a love letter?”
“A poem, actually. Nothing like a little island pentameter.” Then I hesitated. “Okay, seriously, it’s a map. I’m pretty good with directions, and I’ve started mapping the island. You weren’t the only one who stayed busy when you were getting your head straight.”
“Cool.” He snuck my paper back out. “Looks good,” he said as he studied my sketch. I’d used charcoal sticks from the fire. More sticks were tucked deep in my satchel, carefully wrapped in leaves and twine.
“What are you using for a measure of scale?” he asked.
“My big ole feet. I mark off the distance as I walk.”
“They’re not big, they’re perfect,” Thad said absently. He pointed to a trio of tiny black circles. “What are these? Gates?”
“Yup. I’ve marked locations of both entry and exit gates in this radius.
” I traced an arc with my finger. “Entries are solid; exits are open circles. And if it’s not on the map yet, it will be.
I’ve got another piece of paper where I’m keeping track of entry and exit sites I haven’t mapped.
Once I’ve mapped the entire island, then I can transfer over the gate info. ”
Thad was still studying the map.
“I’m not so good at making soap,” I said. “So I thought I’d make maps. My contribution to Nil.”
Thad looked up, his eyes flush with blue hope. “It’s not a gift to Nil, it’s to us. To the City.”
He yelled before I could stop him. “Jason! Nat! C’mere! You gotta see this!”
“Stop,” I said, embarrassed. “It’s not much to look at, not yet.”
“You’re wrong,” Thad said quietly. “It’s hope.”
I explained my maps and charts to Jason and Natalie, who grew as excited as Thad.
“Okay, there’s one more thing,” I said. “I keep hearing y’all talk about hot spots.
Like the Flower Field, Black Bay, the lava fields, and the meadow by the base of Mount Nil, where Thad landed.
All of those are open areas, and I think that’s the connection.
I’m not sure if more gates really roll through those spots, but I do think they’re easier to see. ”
“And easier to catch,” Jason said, nodding.
“Right. But there may be actual hot spots, places where gates are statistically more likely to flash. Where exit gates are more likely to flash. And I’m hoping if we can put all the exit gates onto one map, maybe we’ll see—something.
Something that’ll increase the odds of getting off Nil for everyone. ”
“How far are you going back to get your gate info?” Natalie asked. “Won’t that skew the charts?”
“I don’t know. I’ve thought about that, about whether I should try to start from two weeks ago, or even a month.
But I think we should just get all the information we can, from anyone and everyone.
The most important being where people caught exit gates, or at least saw them, and for that, let’s go back as far as we can remember. See if there’s a pattern.”
Natalie nodded. “We need to go down the Wall and tell you where people we know caught gates.”
“Uh, I hate to break up this powwow,” Jason said, “but time’s up. If Nil’s sending a gate, she’s not gonna wait. Look.” He pointed to the sun. “We need to move.”
Thad was already on his feet. “Jason’s right. Let’s get away from the tree line, into the open.”
“Easy lookin’, easy runnin’.” Jason smiled.
“Easy for you to say,” Natalie said. But she was smiling, too.
We walked in a loose line. It was a weird feeling, watching and hoping, waiting for something that might never show.
It was how I imagined a blind date would be, only this was way worse.
Because if a blind date never showed, you could just walk away, no harm done.
Here, if a gate never showed, sooner or later, you were done.
I still wondered exactly what happened to you on your last day if you missed the gate. I prayed I’d never find out.
Not helping, I told myself. Not helping Natalie. I pulled my mind back from the Dark Side and scanned the ground ahead, looking for any sign of a shimmer.
It was agonizing.
After an eternity of waiting, Jason spoke. “That’s it.” His voice dripped disappointment. “I was so sure it would flash here today.” He looked at Natalie. “Sorry, Nat. Bad idea. You shouldn’t have listened to me.”
“How do you know noon’s passed?” I asked.
“We just know,” Thad said, his jaw hard. “The sun, for one. A feeling, for two.” Natalie was nodding, but Jason looked upset—with himself.
“Jason,” I said hesitantly, “I don’t think you’re wrong. I think you’re early.”
Everyone turned to me. “I have a theory. I’ve been looking at my chart, where I’ve listed all the gates—the confirmed landing sites and exits, including gates people saw but didn’t catch.
We know inbound ones come anytime, anywhere.
There’s no pattern, and I think it’s because the pattern is determined on the outbound end—back home.
But if you look just at the exit gates”—I pulled out my last paper, the one with a rough map and marked only with outbounds—“I think they roll north in a constant wave, hitting a different latitude each day, but always north of the last one until the entire island is crossed. I have no clue where the wave starts, or even if the starting place is always the same. But we know gates never appear in the same place two days in a row, and I think it’s because they follow a sequence, from south to north.
So based on Samuel’s gate on White Beach ten days ago, which is north of us, we might not see a gate here for another day or two.
” I shrugged. “It’s a total guess. But if you factor in the flash that Jason missed on the day I met y’all, and Sabine’s, and chart the other gates people have seen, well, it kind of fits. ”
They were all staring at the map.
“Why didn’t we ever see this?” Thad sounded frustrated.
“Because we never tried to map the timing.” Natalie said. “We just knew they rolled north after they flashed.”
“Charley, this is amazing.” Thad stared at the map, the one with the charts.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said quickly.
“Like I said, it’s just a theory, maybe more like a guess.
And before we get too excited, there’re some gates that don’t fit; they flash out of order.
Like the gate Jason saw by the rain forest, about the same time Samuel caught his on White Beach.
From what everyone’s told me, the rain forest lies on a latitude south of White Beach, so either one was an aberration, or my theory is junk. ”
“A rogue set,” Thad murmured.
“A what?” Natalie frowned.
“A set that breaks farther out from where all the other waves are breaking. It’s called a rogue set.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe I’m just forcing something that doesn’t fit.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Jason said. “Which is what we had. I say we try Charley’s theory and see if it helps.” He looked at me. “So where to?”
I was shocked that the three veterans looked at me like I had a clue. “Uh, I don’t know. I just think the next gate will be coming from that direction.” I pointed south. “So maybe here tomorrow, or the next day.” Or maybe not at all, I thought.
“So either we stay or walk north.” Natalie looked thoughtful. “We go though the red, to the next black.”
“No,” I said quickly, “not that far.” All three looked at me, and I shrugged. “Or maybe yes. I don’t know. I’m just guessing here.”
“Stay or go?” Jason asked.
“Stay.” Natalie’s voice. Natalie’s choice.
“Stay it is,” Jason said.
“Okay,” Thad said, “we’ve got twenty-four hours to explore. Let’s help Charley fill out her maps. We’ll walk north, toward the red field, pacing it off. Sound good?”
Plan in place, we worked our way across the black ground. With each step, I had flashbacks to my first day on the island. I wondered what happened to the zebra.
Jason took point, constantly scanning ahead. It occurred to me he was searching for gates—inbound ones, the kind that bring warm-blooded creatures, like us. I had flashes of Rory, falling out of the sky, red as a lobster, then Rory on the ground, red with blood.
I flinched. Beside me, Natalie sucked in her breath.
“Don’t look,” Thad said sharply.
Too late.
For the second time in two weeks, I saw a dead body sprawled on the ground. Only this one wore a handmade lei.