Catalyst (17 page)

             
"Dang, Sherry. Please help us!" Calvin said vehemently as they trailed me down the hal
l. "It's just like the Service D
raft back in the sixty
's. It's not fair for us to be left out of the action when we can do some good." I stopp
ed and looked at him,
raising
my eyebrow
ever so slightly to indicate a question. He shrugged and said, "W
hat? Marissa teaches us history."

             
I laughed again
at his indignant tone
, threw my arms around both of their shoulders
and started down the hall
once more
.

             
"Sorry, boys. It's not my call, no matter what you believe."

             
"You're just saying that 'cause you don't want me to go."

             
"I don't want you to go," I agreed, "but I can't make someone let you either. Come on, stay with me and Lily. With all
of
them gone we'll need someone to be here with us to keep us safe...and entertained," I said trying to stifle a giggle.

             
"It's not fair though," he whined.

             
"I'm sorry
that you feel that way. There are
lots of things we're going through that isn't fair right now. It sucks, Calvin. I think you two know that more than anyone. You can't just be a kid in a world like this, but that is exactly what you are, and that's why you can't go."

             
"But the Lighters don't care if I'm a kid or not. They would kill me just the same."

             
I stopped in my tracks. It was heartbreaking. Not just his words and the truth that rang out behind them, but it was now our reality. Our kids knew death, hate, and devastation like we ne
ver even dreamed about as kids. S
oo
n they may know even more: torture, pain, genocide...starvation. I shook my head to stop the thoughts and squeezed them both closer to me.

             
"Listen, we won't let that happen. That's why we're doing all this.
We
need to go out there and find other
s
like us. They don't know the Lighters are hunting them like they are and there may be kids out there.
We don't
know
who or what is out there. I've had enough of all of it
and frankly," I was on a roll and it was getting louder, "I'm going to be worried enough about them all out there than having to worry about you two out there as well."

             
"
Ok, sorry," Calvin replied as Frank sputtered behind him. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay here with you, especially after what they did to you." He stopped and grazed the toe of his shoe over the concrete floor over and over before looking up to my gaze again. "What did they do to you in that place, Sherry?"

             
"Nuhuh,"  I answered. "Come on, guys." I gripped their arms and pulled them with me down the hall again. I was the shortest of the bunch but I held in my sigh about it. "Why don't we stop all the heavy questions and get a snack, huh?"

             
"Sure
," Calvin agreed. "W
hat do we got?"

             
"I'm sure we can find something."

             
We made it to the kitchen just as the meeting in the back was over with. The plan must be in place...crap.

             
Ryan walked right to us and said, "Well, it looks like you'll have a chaperone, Sherry. Me." He grinned and ruffled Calvin's hair. "I'm staying behind."

             
"But why would you want that?" Calvin asked in a disgusted voice.

             
"Well, the people I care about most are going to be here so, I volunteered to stay behind. I didn't want to leave you here, kid."

             
"Oh," Calvin sang and
crossed his scrawny arms, "I see. You didn't want to leave Ell
ie." He grinned at Ryan's shocked expression. "It's ok. I get it. She's cute."

             
"She is not," Ryan countered but stopped. "I mean, she is, but that's not why I-"

             
"Ryan," I interrupted, "you're playing right into his hands."

             
He glanced between us in an attempt to understand before he smiled a little and rubbed his neck as he said, "Oh, I see. You're joking with me."

             
"Speak for yourself, Sherry," Calvin called and then took off grinnin
g as he ran with Franklin
. "Ryan and Elli
e
sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

             
"I didn't kiss her," Ryan told me
like he'd gotten caught in the act or something.

             
"It's ok," I soothed. "He's just joking. It's a nursery rhyme.....sort of." I laughed but stopped once I saw how intrigued Ryan looked. "It would be ok if you kissed her, Ryan. I mean, if she wanted you to. You like her don't you?"

             
"I don't even know what that means," he told me and leaned back against the wall as if he'd fall over.

             
"Hey, Sherry," Josh called eagerly and slung his arm over my shoulder. "What's up? Ryan, dude, you look green," he observed.

             
"I don't know how to like someone," R
yan said as if Josh hadn't come up at all.

             
"
You don't have to know how, Ryan," I told him. "It's not a job or something."

             
"Isn't it?"

             
"What?" Josh asked but then a look of understanding passed over his face. "Ah. This is about that tasty morsel, Elli
e
."
             

             
"Josh!" I chastised through my laugh.

             
"Lady troubles, man. I've been there," Josh said wisely and nodded making me laugh more. "Let me give you some advice.
I
know you're an alien or whatever," he kept going, ignoring Ryan's scowl, "but the rules are the same for you. Number one,
chicks dig it when you touch 'em. A little touch on the hand here, a little grazing your arm against hers there." Ryan's face took on an expression of revelation and Josh grinned. "Uhuh, see! You're already ahead of the game."

             
I just sat back and watched. I felt like I was getting a backstage pass into a guy's psyche and though I already had myself a man, it was still extremely fascinating. So I kept qui
e
t and hoped my eavesdropping into why men act
ed
the way they d
id wasn't noticed and I wouldn't be tossed out of enemy lines.

             
"So,
number two, whether she is actually right or not, whatever she says, she's right. You got me?" I smirked and liked that one a lot . "And number three, and most important rule ever… respect, man. It's all about the respect."

             
Ryan nodded and rubbed his lip and chin in contemplation. I smiled at them both as we watched Ryan soak up the knowledge. Finally after a minute or so he said, "Ok, I understand all but one of those. I'm not sure what you mean by respect. I respect her, but why is that one the most important?"

             
Josh leaned forward and whispered something into Ryan's ear. His eyes bulged after a few seconds and he refuted whatever Josh had said, "No, I could never do that."

             
"I guarantee you, bro,
in that body,
you can."

             
"
But I wouldn't-"

             
"Ok," I interrupted and pushed between them, "that's my cue."

             
I heard Josh laugh behind me, but Ryan was still in a tizzy. I laughed to myself as I made my way to my two loves
, both of
who
m
were waiting patiently for me.

             
"Lily bug," I crooned and she plopped into my lap as I sat on the floor beside them. "How was school?"

             
"5+4=9," she said and beamed.

             
"That's right. Very good."

             
"And I also know that I'm an ant!"

             
"What?" I laughed. "Well, you are kind of like an ant."

             
"Yep, I am."

             
I laughed
again and
looked at Merrick who'd been very quiet. He was waiting for me to freak out, I knew.
I was going to try very hard to not do that, for his sake and mine.

             
"I'm ok," I told him. "When do you leave?"

             
"In the morning," he sai
d solemnly. "We're going to pull
out at different times and come back at different time so we're not attracting too much attention." He paused, but it was for stalling not effect. "Danny, me, Miguel, Celeste and Josh are on a team."

             
"Celeste is going?" I said, shocked.

             
"Yep," he answered but didn't seem like he was happy with it. "She wanted to go and convinced Danny that she would be useful
with her gift
. He didn't want to leave her behind."

             
"And Marissa is going too, right?" He nodded
,
but I already figured that she was
going with Jeff
.

             
"We'll only be gone three days the first time."

             
I gulped. Three days…

             
"Ok, well I guess I'll go get some supply kits started."

             
"How are the pantries looking?"

             
"Good. All nine
are full," I announce
d. "I think we'll be fine for
a while.
J
ust focus on getting there and back not about anything else."

             
"I would help, but I promised Lily we'd do a puzzle or something tonight before supper," he said and looked down at her
as she moved from my lap to his
.

             
"It's ok. I can manage. You should spend some time with her before you go. Besides, I get you tonight
,
right?" I replied and dared him to refute my words.

             
"
You couldn't beat me off with a stick," he said but it was soft and sad, the funny didn't even make itself known. I nodded and started to go but he grabbed my arm to stop me. He pulled me down roughly and kissed me, his urgency tangible and painful. I pushed back a little to look at him and he was almost shaking in his fury. I knew it wasn't directed at me. It just sucked that we had to deal with any of this. He didn't want to leave me and I
didn't want him to ris
k his life. But neither could be avoided.

             
I kissed him once more before getting up. I grabbed a couple burlap bags from Mrs. Trudy's canning cabinet and made my way down the hall back to the pantry. I began to fill the bags with food enough for five people for three days, plus a little extra just in case.

             
I made sure to put the things I knew they liked most in the bags; creamed corn, spam, green beans. We would eat the beets here. I wanted them as happy and comfortable as they could be. My family would be out there in the thick of the Lighter's territory on a mission to save others. My hand shook thinking of the danger they'd be in. I gripped my fist tight
ly
and refused to give into it, even for a second. I'd be strong, if for no one else
but
Merrick. He needed to know I was going to be ok without him so he could focus.

             
He needed to keep his
eyes and mind on himself, on Danny and Celeste and the rest of them. He needed to bring them all home alive.

I'm A Wanderer

Chapter 10 - Cain

             
"
So, like I was saying, it's really easy, you can just give them some math problems and sentences to practice with. That should be fine."

             
Marissa was explaining to Lillian about
the school stuff for the kids.
Marissa was coming with us and Lillian wasn't. And boy, she was not happy about it either.