Chapter Nine
“We need to leave. Now.” Rainer’s rough voice was barely above a whisper, his quiet tread already taking him away from the camp.
Sasha followed readily behind, her dark eyes wide with worry. I took one last glance at the tents and the armed guards, my brain struggling to comprehend the new influx of information. Finally, I turned on my heel, racing to catch up with Sasha and Rainer, who were already creeping back through the streets.
The sun had fully set and as we crept away from the camp, the darkness surrounded us. The empty buildings were dark shadows in the night and every small noise of the wind had me jumping out of my skin, thinking one of those guards had followed us.
Finally, we reached the outskirts of the town; the woods welcoming us. Bidding a silent farewell to civilization, I stepped back onto the dirt, knowing that any dreams of putting these woods behind me were simply that. A dream.
Rainer led the way through the dark trees, surefooted even with minimal sight, and I kept as close as possible, not wanting to get lost. Several times I tripped on overgrown roots, but I quickly righted myself.
None of us spoke as we retreated back to the safety of the trees, but it was a different silence than before. Even if Rainer hadn’t originally trusted the safety of these camps, he had to have wanted answers to what was going on, or he wouldn’t have made the trek anyway. And although what we saw gave us a startling reality that we truly were better off in our far away clearing, we weren’t any closer to answers.
After a few hours hiking, Rainer finally slowed, Sasha and I stopping behind him. The moon was bright above us, peeking through the canopy of leaves, shadowing Rainer’s sharp jaw and pursed lips.
“We can’t keep going tonight. It’s too dark and animals will begin roaming. We’ll stop here for the night.”
Sasha and I nodded in tandem, neither of us willing to keep going. Sasha had tripped nearly as much as me and I knew she was struggling to find her footing in the dark. Realistically, I knew the idea was smart, but I couldn’t help but turn back toward the way we had come from.
Something about the armed men in uniform had my hair sticking on end, every nerve ending in my body frayed. What if someone had seen us? It didn’t seem like they really wanted to give anyone a choice when it came to relocating to the camps.
Rainer must have caught on to my wary glances because he said, “I’ll keep watch. Make sure nothing disrupts us while you two sleep.”
Sasha nodded gratefully, plopping to the dirt and situating her bag until it rested under her head. Under the moonlight, I could see the weariness in her gaze and realized she was more tired than she had let on.
As I sunk to the dirt myself, I could feel my own exhaustion, my muscles protesting. My body had grown accustomed to sleeping on solid ground, but I wasn’t used to this type of exertion and, for the first time in a while, I desperately craved a bed. However, I wasn’t willing to get that bed if it meant someone could point a gun at me until I stayed where they wanted me.
Shuffling my body until I was as comfortable as I could get, I folded my hands under my head and stared up at the sky. I heard Rainer rustling around and I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, watching as he settled against a tree, his pistol lying on his lap. Glancing the other way, I noticed Sasha was already asleep, her chest moving up and down in a fluid motion.
I begged my mind to turn off, knowing I needed the rest for the remainder of the hike tomorrow, but even when I closed my eyes, sleep wouldn’t come. Realistically, I knew that there were only two options when it came to my mother and brothers. Either they were trapped in that camp, unable to escape due to the guards. Or they were like my dad. Dead.
Both options sent a shiver down my body, but I knew that I hoped they were in the camp or maybe even possibly hiding in the woods as I was. My brothers were no Rainer or Murphy, but they knew how to hunt and enjoyed camping. They could have survived these past three months.
“Why’d you want to come to the camp so badly?” The voice startled me, only a whisper, but amid the quiet woods it sounded as if someone had shouted in my ear.
Rolling onto my side so I could see Rainer, I raised a brow, even though I knew he couldn’t see. His face was shrouded in shadows, the moonlight only briefly lighting his midnight eyes. In this lighting, without the presence of his daily sneer, it was impossible to ignore how strikingly handsome he truly was.
“I was tired of being near you every day.”
My answer was snarky, but my words were a hushed whisper, and I think we both knew it was a lie. Of course, I did want to get away from Rainer and his surly attitude, but that wasn’t reason enough to hike twelve hours in one day. But the truth was, if there was anyone I would open up to about my true intentions for making this hike, it sure wouldn’t be him.
“How’d that work out for you?” He countered and I so badly wanted to see his face because I could have sworn he was teasing me.
“I’m still debating if there’s a difference between those men with a gun and the one sitting in front of me.”
A flash of white caught my eye and I realized Rainer was smiling. I wondered how long this strange comradery was going to last and if he was going to continue the conversation when he spoke. “Get some sleep, Alessia. For tonight, at least, this armed guard is better than the others.”
The trees surrounding us, although identical to nearly every other one we had passed, suddenly felt familiar. Rainer had woken Sasha and me at dawn and we had begun the long trek back to our camp. Finally, we were nearing the perimeter that we hunted in and I could hear the telltale sign of the rushing creek nearby.
Twigs snapped beneath our feet as we walked and, with each sound, my head swiveled, glancing over my shoulder. The entire hike, my spine had been straight, my entire body tight with a foreboding feeling that we were being followed.
Realistically, I knew the chances were slim to none. To our knowledge, none of the uniformed men had spotted us. And unless there were people still residing in the ghost town, no one else had seen us. But that knowledge did nothing to stem the flow of nerves as we approached the clearing.
Everyone was standing around when we entered, waiting for us. My gaze fell to Murphy first and I watched as he surveyed each of us, a sigh leaving his lips when he realized we were all in one piece. Mina caught my eyes next and I tried to not let her see the disappointment in my gaze. Unfortunately, I don’t think my poker face was any good because her slight smile dropped almost instantly.
“Well? Should we start packing up?” Emmanuel asked, his gruff voice echoing.
“No. We’ll be staying here until we can figure out another plan.” My head whipped toward Rainer as he spoke, surprised by his words.
Even though I had said something about the slim chances of us surviving the winter, I figured he would be plenty happy to carry on in the woods until then. I had never considered that there could be another plan of action.
Emmanuel grunted in response before returning to his family, sitting Stephanie and Lucas down, most likely to explain this new course of events. Sasha glided over to Mina and the two of them began speaking quietly amongst each other.
Rainer and Murphy began walking toward each other, and I realized once again it was time for me to be the odd man out. But fuck, I was tired of it. And any chance I had of reuniting with my family and leaving these strangers behind had disappeared.
Gathering courage from the temporary truce between Rainer and me from the night before, I found myself standing beside the two. “May I speak with both of you?”
Murphy immediately nodded, his signature smile tilting the corners of his lips. Rainer hesitated, confusion furrowing his brows, before he, too, nodded. Gesturing toward the edge of the clearing, far enough away from the others that they couldn’t overhear, the three of us walked in tandem.
“What’s up? And also, are either of you going to tell us what happened? What’s wrong with the camp?” Murphy leaned against the trunk of a tree, casually crossing his ankles.
Even though he had questions, it was clear he trusted our judgement. Or rather, he trusted Rainer’s. Given that assumption, I let Rainer take the reins for explaining the camp.
“They have loads of tents and armed guards at every corner. I don’t know what’s going on, but they aren’t helping those people, they’re keeping them prisoner.”
Rainer’s description of the camp mirrored my own thoughts from the night before. Although, I had been too vulnerable to compare the people inside to prisoners. Not when I was positive my family were some of those people.
“Well, fuck. What the hell is going on? And is this really going on across the entire country?” Murphy ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on the ends as he glanced between the two of us.
“I have no clue. But we need to figure it out. Alessia made the very valid point that we won’t survive once winter comes. That gives us only around four months before temperatures start dropping. We have until then to figure out another plan.”
Murphy nodded in agreement before turning toward me. “What did you want to talk about?”
I was unable to answer, too caught up in the fact that I was pretty sure Rainer had, in his own way, complimented me. Or at least my line of thinking. Either way, the statement had stunned me into silence and I shook my head to gather my thoughts, remembering what I wanted to speak to them about.
“If we were being followed, would you have been able to pick up on that?” I pointed my stare toward Rainer, hoping his answer would ease my nerves.
“Someone who walked through the woods like you? Sure.” And there went my thought that last night had turned the tide in our tumultuous relationship. “But someone who knows these woods? A tracker? Not likely.”
The nerves I was hoping he could put at bay came back full force and I found myself scanning the clearing, as if an intruder was going to pop out at any moment.
“Why? Did you see someone following us?” Rainer demanded, stepping into my space, the angry glint in his eyes back, as if I had kept important information from him.
Holding up my hands, I took a step back just as Murphy stepped forward, prepared to step in front of his friend. “I didn’t see anything. I just had a bad feeling.”
Rainer’s shoulders slumped at my confession, and he shook his head. “I think it may be paranoia.”
I frowned at his words, hating that he was back to making me feel like an idiot, but this time he held up his hands in defense. “I’m not saying it’s unwarranted paranoia. You were shocked to see the town and then the gunmen. Plus, a week ago you were held at knifepoint. But given all of that, I think it makes sense that you’d be a little more on edge.”
His words made sense, but that didn’t make it any easier to shake said paranoia. Murphy seemed to sense that Rainer’s words weren’t helping, and he hooked his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
“How about we go practice your fire making? That will help take your mind off of everything.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” I murmured, letting Murphy guide me away.
Truly, I knew that the fire making wouldn’t take my mind off of anything that had happened in the past day, let alone the past few months, but I was beginning to crave Murphy’s company. Months of self-enforced solitude could only last so long before someone began going crazy with the need for companionship.
The sun began setting as Murphy and I set up a makeshift fire, trying to light a spark to no avail, and some of my worries eased under his watchful gaze. But I couldn’t shake the thought that something bad was about to happen no matter how hard I tried.