Akasha 4 - Earth (19 page)

I smoothed my face over. "I ran into
her – I was just saying sorry."

"Fine. You said it."

"And now I have to pee –
again."

The guard put her hand on her hip and
looked me over.

"I have a big canteen," I said,
pulling my zipper down.

The guard shrugged and walked
away.

"You. Bitch."

I turned back to the girl; her eyes
were on fire, face flush with anger.

I grabbed her arm pulling her down so
we were both squatting. "Shh! Please, I'm not with them." I glanced
at my armband. "Well, I am. But as a spy."

She raised an eyebrow. "We followed
you here; we trusted you! And now look where we are."

"Listen, I'll work on it. I've lost my
powers but I'll find some way to get you out of here.
Remember—"

"All I remember was your baby
screaming; giving us all away. Once the fighting started, I got a
quick glimpse of you hurling a fireball toward me, then running
after your kid without a second thought for us!"

She stood and glared down at me. "You
remember who you are, and why you're here."

"Prisoners up!" The rest of the chain
gang stood at the guards command and were ushered away before I
could get in another word.

Who I am? I'm a mother for
Christ's sake!
What mother would've done
it differently? I pulled up my own pants for a second time and
walked away with crossed arms, kicking rocks as I went. I took in a
deep breath and cleared my head. I tried to put myself in her
position. I couldn't very well pick up people along the way and
abandon them at the first sign of trouble.

I sighed.
Maybe I'll be here longer than I
thought
. Besides, Bee was safe for the
moment, and I could always check up on her.

With my bladder taking up
significantly less room in my midsection, my stomach began to
rumble. Erika had deprived me of food for fear of it coming back up
all over one of her tents.

I followed my nose again, this time to
the kitchens. There were several fires going. On top of them lay
pieces of meat, skinned and splayed out. Unidentifiable from where
I stood, but probably rabbit and squirrel for the most part. Maybe
some birds. It smelled delicious.

I stretched, biding my time to observe
how exactly food procurement worked. A long line of Elementals held
empty plates. They stopped at one table, spoke to a woman sitting
behind it, and she checked lists marking something off.

Dang, they’re keeping
track. If my name isn't on the list, how am I going to get
food?

I made my way over to sets of long
logs laid in parallel rows. Several groups of people were eating. I
picked up an empty plate, then sat on a log one group just vacated.
They left behind several scraps of food. Dirty or not, I put them
on my plate.

I walked back over to the lines where
they dished out food, skipping directly ahead to the servers, and
squeezed my way in between two others in line. "I'm sorry. Excuse
me." I looked directly at one of the servers. He wiped sweat from
his forehead with his shirtsleeve and frowned.

I cleared my throat. "I dropped my
plate – is there any way I can get another serving?" I displayed
the dirt covered roll as evidence.

He glanced at the roll, then back at
me. "No seconds."

Someone down the line shouted, "Come
on lady – no cuts!"

Another person shoved, and the entire
line, ending at me, was pushed forward. "Please?" My eyebrows rose
in desperation. "I missed chow last night and I'm on a working
party today."

More shouting down the
line.

The server clenched his jaw, and
huffed. "Fine, but half-rats." He slopped a large pile of stew with
meat chunks on my plate and added a clean roll. It was burned on
the bottom.

I gave him my best smile, showing
plenty of white. "Thanks!"

I returned to the eating logs,
finished my meal alone, and went back to Erika's camp. I was going
to have to figure something else out for food. I couldn't keep
feigning clumsiness.

When I returned to the tent, I found
my corner cot occupied. A girl, with an ankle swelling up to the
size of a softball, lay there groaning.

Erika walked up behind me. "Sorry.
You've been relocated due to the uneven ground the night guard gets
to patrol on."

"Okay…" I wasn't looking forward to
another day of staring at the fabric roof anyway. "Where should I
go?"

She turned, motioning me to follow. We
walked back outside. "My perimeter is marked off by the blue tents
in a sort of semi-circle. No one crosses into them unless they’re
new…or desperate." She looked me over.

I’m
both
, I thought, in case she was
wondering.

"Anyway, this one is yours. No
tent-mate for the time being, but that might change."

I peeked inside. A sleeping bag and
pillow were there. Other than that, it barely looked large enough
for another person. I couldn't complain – I'd been sleeping in open
air the past year. At least this way there would be no
mosquitos.

I straightened back up and looked at
her, "Thanks."

"I've also got your
assignment."

I swallowed, hard, as the smell from
the latrines wafted over.

"Admin. Specifically, an assistant to
an admin clerk."

"Oh – ok." I relaxed, having prepared
myself for the worst. "What does that entail, exactly?"

She crossed her arms. "Sitting at a
desk, reporting on numbers of Elementals, supplies, or whatever
around camp."

That sounded like a headquarters sort
of deal; might make for a higher chance of running into
Shawn.

Erika continued, "They keep pretty
close tabs on the prisoners. You know, in case you were curious
about that sort of thing."

My eyes widened, and before I could
stop myself, I threw my arms around her. "You are the
best."

She stumbled back, her cheeks red.
"Okay, okay. Just remember – I may need the favor returned
someday."

Chapter
27

Tonight

"Reporting for admin duty," I
announced to the first person who looked my way once I walked into
the cordoned off area. He surveyed me from head to toe.

Should I salute
or—

"Are you new? They don't usually send
the newbies to admin duty." He stood from behind two
pushed-together crates that made a makeshift desk. It was covered
in papers.

"I'm not that new." I put my hand on
my hip. "I've been assigned as Jason's assistant. They said he
needed one."

"Oh, well – unfortunately Jason was
injured in that last battle. He's in the sick bay for at least two
weeks. Which means…" The man turned back to the crates, searching
under the stacks of papers for something. "Jason needs a temporary
replacement."

I caught a few sheets that floated
off, and gave them back.

In return, he handed me a red armband.
"Which means you've just been promoted."

I glanced around the area. Everyone
working there wore a red band above their blue. I took it from him
and ran it up my arm. "Thanks – I think."

"You probably won't be thanking me
after your first day. Here – you can get started with these
inquiries." He handed me a new stack of papers, and pointed to an
unoccupied crate.

I nodded, took my place and began my
new job. In a way, it was more exhausting than covering thirty
miles a day. Inquiries kept arriving – and I had to answer them, or
find someone to answer them for me. The kitchen needed to know how
many days' worth of tomatoes our mobile garden had. The guards
needed to know how many more days we were staying at camp so they
could work out a sentry schedule. The medics needed more cloth
bandages.

Jason was also apparently responsible
for daily reports which included Elemental counts, prisoner counts,
food storage, fresh water tracking, and more. But for a spy, there
was no better place to be.

Someone set several lists in front of
me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Daily chow roster. You need to double
check names and add new recruits; then deliver to the
kitchens."

I nodded. "Okay, thanks."

Score!

I scribbled my name in between two
others. After adding several new Elementals to the end of the list,
I left the admin tent to deliver the lists.

I also needed to take the time to
check on the prisoners. I weaved around the camp, spread across at
least ten acres, keeping an eye out. I waved to the woman who had
helped check on me when I was still on bed rest. She had laundry
duty. I peered at her hands, wrinkled and white from too much time
in the water. I nearly crashed paths with a group coming over the
hill, each carrying a shovel on their shoulder. None of them looked
happy. I had certainly dodged a bullet with my assignment; so far I
hadn't come across a better alternative.

"Watch out!" someone
yelled.

I jumped out of the way of a panicked
pig, squealing as two men chased it. Someone else shouted for help
to repair the pen the animals had broken out of. Behind the pen, in
between a staggered row of tents, something caught my eye. I
paused, taking a step back and craning my neck. A row of guards
stood around a larger tent. The prisoners!

I walked toward the tent, blocking out
the sound of squeals and grunts, forming a plan in my head as I
went. As I neared, I realized there were two layers of guards I
would have to talk my way through. I approached the first, flashing
my list of names and folding them back up. "I have new orders for
the prisoners."

I have no idea what that
means
, I told myself. I kept my chin up,
fixing him with my stare.

"I'll take them." He held out his
hand.

I crossed my arms, tucking the papers
out of his reach and displaying my already prominent red armband.
"Sorry, has to go directly to the head guard."

I really, really hoped there was
one.

He sighed, then miraculously, stepped
aside. "Fine." He gestured to another guard on the inner circle,
near the opening of the large tent.

I waited until I passed him to let out
a sigh of relief. It was short lived; there was still another guard
I had to get past. How could I possibly convince him to let me in
alone with the prisoners?

Excuse me, we're
conducting a short survey with all camp prisoners. Excuse me, don't
you know who I am? Excuse me, I’m the cleaning crew.

My confidence was quickly waning as I
approached the head guard. He was bent over, fiddling with the
leather straps around his boots. I adjusted my red band to make it
appear larger and cleared my throat, still having no idea what to
say.

The guard straightened, or at least I
could've sworn he did. He was shorter than me by a full foot or
more.

Then he turned, and my mouth dropped
open in shock. "Clay?!"

His beard was definitely longer, and
his eyebrows definitely thicker, but there was no doubt it was
Clay.

I took a step forward, bent slightly,
and hissed, "What are you doing here?" If he had been spying for
Shawn all along, I would strangle him right then and there – with
his beard.

"Kaitlyn, please keep your voice
down," he hissed right back. "If you recall, I was one of the few
who volunteered to hook up with One Less after the battle at the
caves."

I went silent while I racked my brain.
It was so long ago – and the preparations went by in such a
whirlwind I wasn't aware of half the things that occurred. "I
think…maybe…I—"

"What are
you
doing here?" he cut
me off.

I cleared my throat again. "Spying."
Might as well be forthright about it, if he was with Shawn, Clay
would turn me in no matter what I said.

Clay's mouth twitched. "So you decide
to show up at the most watched place in camp?"

I crossed my arms and narrowed my
eyes. "I have friends inside." I moved to step around
him.

"So does Shawn."

I stopped in my tracks. "What do you
mean?"

"He keeps his own people in there,
playing them off like real prisoners. They're meant to keep an eye
on things; get what information they can from the
others."

I rubbed my temples. "Oh, great." Like
playing a game of chess blindfolded, this was all getting too
complicated.

"Keep it down, will ya? You're
attracting attention." He motioned to the circle of guards; a few
were looking our way.

I straightened, and handed him the
papers, trying to play off my role. "Some of the guys in there are
mine. Are they being treated okay?"

He pretended to look over the papers.
"Of course – I'm the head guard."