Circles in the Dust (14 page)

The sky was moving from black to gray as he stood there on the plain, breathing slowly. The picture returned to his pocket and he struck a course back to Elizabeth, eager to get as far from this place as he could.

The hollow where they had slept came into view just as Elizabeth was stirring, stretching her arms and sitting up. She squinted and yawned, her eyes drifting to where his blankets had been laid out. Not finding him there, she turned around and searched, her face displaying immense relief when she found his stony face.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“Nowhere.”

He didn’t want to tell her about the house he had found, didn’t want her to see that side of the world he came from.

“Oh, okay,” she allowed, clearly unsatisfied. “You already packed?”

“I woke up pretty early,” he explained. “I’m just… excited, I guess.” He was excited at that moment to have her face push the images of the house out of his mind.

“All right. I’ll be ready in a bit,” she said as she rose and began rolling up her bed.

“No rush,” he said. “We should be there by tonight, right?”

“We’ll get there by dusk, if not earlier.”

“Earlier…” he muttered. “That reminds me. How many people are there camped out by the Base?”

“How many?” She didn’t look up from her task. “I don’t know, a lot. Why?”

“Well, I’m just wondering how we’re going to get through them to the Base.” He paused, trying to catch her eye. “How did you get out anyway?”

She ignored him as she finished tying a knot around her tightly rolled sleeping bag and tucked it away. When she was done, she rose with a biscuit in each hand, offering him one. He refused, not sure his stomach could handle food at the moment. She shot him a curious look then shrugged and bit into one.

“So…?” he prodded.

“How did I get out?” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“Very carefully.” She smirked. His face dropped and he shot her a venomous look.

“Seriously,” he insisted. “Are they spread out, or clustered? Is there a certain place we can get through? How do we do this?”

“Don’t you trust me to get you through?” she asked. “You know I got through once before.”

He started to respond, and stopped;  his shoulders drooped as it sank in how stubborn she was.

“I’m just – nervous,” he explained. “I imagine they wouldn’t be too kind if they found out you were from the Base. There aren’t a lot of rules out here.” His recent discovery had left him realizing he had not considered fully the importance of sneaking through the ring of campers to get to the Base.

CHapter 15

Not since his childhood had David been so relieved to see a tree.

The land had risen steadily all day, and David had begun to outpace Elizabeth in his rush to return to the rough arms of a forest. She said there would be trees when they got to the Base, that there was a ring of trees around it, and he was ready to end his time spent as an exposed ant in this windswept hell. He walked as fast as he could without her falling behind. She may have enjoyed her role as leader and guide, but they had been walking in a straight line since leaving his forest behind and it took little thought for him to realize they were headed due east, a fact that was glaringly obvious in the early morning. He marched resolutely, empty threats ringing out from behind him, though they soon faded into labored breathing that obliterated any attempt to speak.

They continued like that for most of the day and stopped only briefly to eat (which involved Elizabeth stopping to eat while David paced and glared at her). There was nothing to do but get to the Base, and while David had regained his anxiety at the thought of having to pass through the gauntlet of old memories, the chance to get there while there was still light enough to see what they would have to wade through had proven tempting, and thus he dragged Elizabeth along behind him.

The sun was just on the last leg of its heavenly race when he saw it. There was one hazy green line, then another, and another. David’s imagination clarified the shapes and relayed the message to his celebratory center, flooding his body with elation, picking up his feet so that he floated to the top of the last rise and drank in the view. These pines were not unlike his back home, their shadowy depths a haven from the never-ending void they had traversed. David sighed and held up his arms, trying to convey his joy to the trees, which were already standing and waiting to welcome him. Elizabeth caught up after a few minutes, leaning over to plant her hands on her knees while her breathing slowed from a deathly rattle to a hoarse huffing.

David looked over at her, a wide grin plastered on his face, his arms falling to his sides as her presence brought him back to the ground. His radiating gladness was swallowed up in her dark resentment, violence lurking just behind her eyes. Her ominous stare reminded him of what awaited them in the forest, and his smile faltered. Reality tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he gave in to it, letting his lips fall to a flat line. They weren’t there yet, he reminded himself.

From there, David bequeathed the lead to Elizabeth and she zigzagged through the field, pockmarked with large boulders,  that sloped down to meet the trees. There was a faded track that they followed. David could not take his eyes off the woods as they descended. How many Outliers were there? He could see a slight haze that might have been smoke, but it could have just been his eyes playing tricks with a seam in the clouds. Elizabeth seemed unconcerned about the danger, though, and he decided they must have a ways to go still until they would have to fear coming across any hostile parties. Once they had passed under the living canopy, she slowed her steps and stopped by a fallen log, shrugging off her bag and plopping down on the decaying wood.

“We’re almost there,” she said as she took her seat, in a voice that was only scarcely above a whisper.

“All right.” David’s head bobbed up and down as he responded. “Now what do we do?”

“I was thinking we wait until nighttime and try and sneak through.”

“Is that what you did before?”

“I had my bag packed for a few days, and I just waited until there was some late-night meeting to slip away.”

David was glad she had some kind of plan, because his excitement at reuniting with his moss-bearded comrades had taken up most of the spare room in his thoughts. They certainly wouldn’t want to go through in the daytime; that would just be suicide. Nighttime would be better, unless the Outliers were planning some kind of raid on the Base, which they would be sure to attempt after dark. Getting caught up in the middle of that might be worse than walking through their camp now…

“What if we go early in the morning?” he suggested.

“In the morning? Why?”

“I’m just thinking, you said the Outliers have been trying to raid the Base more and more, right?” She nodded. “Well, what if the sun sets and they try something? What if they’re up planning something, and we stumble into their secret meeting?”

“Why would it be any better, though, to go that early?” she asked.

“Do they have an actual leader, the people around the Base?”

“Not really. There are a few that kind of represent them and come talk to us sometimes, but I don’t think there’s any real organization out there.”

“Then I sincerely doubt any of them are going to get up at the crack of dawn for anything. They might have someone up keeping watch, but I doubt there will be more than a handful of people up at that hour.”

“I don’t know, people at the Base get up pretty early.”

“But that’s because they have something to do,” he countered. “Trust me, when things start to run low, bed sounds better and better. Especially when you’re just waiting out here for something to happen. I’ve been doing this for a while, remember?” He hoped she would acknowledge his expertise on this one facet of life outside the Base he felt confident giving; it was what she wanted from him in the first place.

“What if they plan to attack in the pre-dawn for that same reason?” she argued.

“I know you haven’t told me all that much about the people I’m coming to meet, but it seems like these aren’t the biggest go-getters.” Guilt assailed him as he spoke these words; he was technically an Outlier, or probably would have been if he had been made aware of the Base’s existence. These were his people. He just needed her to trust him. He was on her side.

She pursed her lips as she considered what he said, looking for answers in the bracken. “Fine.” She sighed. “You’re gonna be the one to stay up though.”

“That’s okay,” he agreed. “I’ll get a little shut-eye, and later tonight you wake me up and I’ll keep watch until it’s time to go.”

She said nothing while he set his pack on the ground.

“There’s a few hours until dark,” he said as he worked to untie his blankets. “Wake me up then, all right? Unless anything happens, then don’t hesitate.”

“Oh, I won’t,” she said as she watched him prepare for his early night. “You haven’t eaten all day. Don’t you want some supper?”

“No, thanks.” His stomach had not fully recovered from that morning’s adventure.

“All right. Goodnight then.” She stood up and begun to pace, looking up at the swaying boughs overhead. “You have until dark. Sunset, and I’m waking you up.”

His face was turned away from her so she could not see him smile.

“Goodnight,” he said.

Chapter 16

“Your turn.”

             
David woke with a start from a sting on his cheek. He sat up quickly, eyes wild, arms flailing. Elizabeth was sitting back on her heels next to him, just far enough to avoid his swinging arms, her face full of devious mirth as she watched him contort. The sun had fallen and the only light to be seen by was that of the moon. The sky must have cleared because Elizabeth’s face was bathed in a clear white ray of moonlight as she choked back laughter. He looked around and saw the silhouettes of trees and pine needles, eerily sharp in the bright light of night. He huffed, turning his attention back to Elizabeth, wanting to shout something awful at her. He knew he wouldn’t.

             
“What was that for?” he whispered.

             
She looked at him and snickered.

             
“You’re awake now,” she explained matter-of-factly.

             
He growled and looked away, rubbing his eyes and scratching the skin hidden beneath his copious beard. “Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

             
He heard the rustle of her sleeping bag as it rolled out upon the forest floor.

“Nope. It was pretty boring.”

              “Good.” So far, so good.

             
“Well, now that you’re awake I’m going to get some sleep before the sun comes up.” With that she slid into her bed. She rolled over so that her back faced him and promptly began snoring.

             
Flabbergasted by the ease with which Elizabeth could fall asleep, David rose and stumbled through the bracken until he found a tree that looked a little thirsty and began watering it. He yawned, feeling still half asleep, and concentrated on the cold air against his face and the rest of his exposed skin, hoping it would help him rise from his sluggish stupor. It helped a little when he reached out and placed his hand on the trunk of the tree; he heard a crack and some rustling and looked up just in time to see a pinecone careening toward his unsuspecting forehead. He jerked his head forward and it bounced off the back of his cranium. He breathed a sigh of equal parts relief and pain and zipped up his fly. His hand came away warm and he grimaced as he looked down to witness the splatter of collateral damage caused by the bombing.

             
At least I won’t get too comfortable, he thought.

             
David walked back to where Elizabeth was sleeping, rubbing his head where he had just been assaulted. He stood over her and watched her sleep, her face blank, serene. The night air had brought a chill and he knelt beside her peaceful form and pulled the edge of her blanket up over her shoulder. His eyes lingered on her face; her eyes were darting under her eyelids. She must be deep within a dream. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trace the line of her cheek as they pulled away.

             
He rose and pulled a blanket off the ground, draping it over his shoulders as he prepared himself for a long night. The moon was peeking through a break in the clouds, shining its light down on the small clearing David was standing in, a bright white disc hovering a quarter of the way up the sky. He had a long night ahead of him.

             
He turned around and found a place to sit on the body of a fallen tree behind him, letting his thoughts roam to the coming day, giving them the benefit of a future where they had already made it to the Base unscathed. His thoughts traveled the path of a hero. He imagined walking into the Base, no, riding in on a carriage, people lining the streets to cheer and praise him, a savior come to scatter their foes. They would present him with the most delicious food they had to offer, give him the very best of what they had. Clothes. Women. They would assign someone to wait on him hand and foot, massage his aching muscles and bathe him with sweet soapy water. Young women would line up to show their gratitude. It would be a paradise. An oasis.

             
Doubt came creeping into this dreamscape just as it was being perfected. Why would they sing the praises of a boy they had never seen before, didn’t know existed, who had nothing to offer but a willingness to help so that he could have a place for himself? He saw himself walking down a dirty street, being shouted at and spat on. The same people who had been chanting his name now pointed and laughed, slapped his back and pushed him into the mud at their feet. They would chastise his idea that he could come in from nowhere and solve all their problems. He would be thrown out, called a spy and a selfish manipulator. He could see himself running from the Base toward the forest, a host of hostile muzzles trained on his back. There was always the ultimate rejection, the one that left him unable to run, ending him completely.

             
It could go either way.

             
He shuddered despite the warmth of the blanket that was battling the cold. He wrapped it tighter around himself and focused on the heat contained in his cocoon, blocking out the future. He retreated instead to the past, daydreaming of more pleasant times, like the last time he had live game, that dried rabbit he had taken his time with. He thought of the mornings he had spent indulging himself in a few hours of extra sleep, curled up in his blankets during a blizzard, happy as a clam in a tumultuous ocean. The morning he had so nearly died, the most recent, jumped into his mind. He saw not the river as it ran past, stealing the heat from his limbs, not the trees as they stood solemn witness above to his last moments, but the face of a girl pushing through the trees and bushes, her face fierce with concern, a call for him on her lips, such a sweet, infuriating sound. She stood in his mind’s eye, a halo of light framing her face, her eyes enormous and brilliant and paralyzing in their enchantment as she ruined his death.

             
He smiled to himself and looked back at her, lying a few feet away, lost in a dream that had taken her probably as far away from this clearing as she could imagine. The pale rays of the moon brought him back to the present and carried him again to the future. David wondered what would happen when they got to the Base. He hoped she would take ownership of him and be his guide through the unknown waters he would be diving headfirst into, help him find his way and keep his head afloat. He feared the mayor would take her back under his wing and keep her busy with errands to run and her father would forbid her from spending any time with this stranger from the abyss. Her cheek was smattered with an army of freckles, spreading out from beneath her eyes to colonize the rest of her creamy skin. He said a silent prayer to whatever spirits watched over this decaying world that they would not have to part.

             
David slid slowly from his perch on the log to rest on the ground. His hand reached idly for a handful of pine needles, pulling the cluster apart one strand at a time. He willed time to speed up, just to the last few hours before dawn, so they could begin the last leg of their journey. As nervous as he was about entering the Base, sitting among their enemies with one of its citizens was no reprieve.

             
The forest was silent around them. Only the faintest of winds meandered through the trees, lifting the smallest boughs and caressing the trunks of the forest sentinels. Winter was coming and the air prepared for its arrival by adopting a frigid welcome, but David was cozy and comfortable wrapped up as he was in his blanket. His mind began to wander as the wind, straying farther and farther from Elizabeth and the ring of trees and himself. It traveled faster and faster, giving him fleeting glimpses of the past as it rocketed off into the abyss.

              David blinked and opened his eyes on the scarred skin of a gray fir tree in front of him. He was watching a man in the hollow below tending a fire. The man wore a suit of black polyester snow gear and knelt in the snow, his blonde hair just poking out of the edges of his knit cap. His coat was thick and barely ruined, showcasing only a few visible patches. There was a shiny silver pot waiting over the fire for the heat the man was coaxing from the resistant wood, the smell of the spiced beans having attracted David in the first place. He had a large tent set up behind him that he just finished erecting, the kind you would normally find a group of people sharing. The knife at his waist and all the tools David had seen him use all looked new, as did the man himself. He prodded the blaze with a stick and checked the progress of his meal.

             
David’s stomach growled and he grasped it, willing it to calm down, to know that it would be full again soon enough. The man made no indication that he had heard anything, and David was able to relax, glad he had remained at such a distance. He licked his lips and scanned the woods again for the others that were sure to be traveling with this newcomer. He had been standing watch for a while and had yet to see anyone, though he was sure this much gear hadn’t been hoofed in on a solitary back.

             
“Seen anyone yet?”

             
David jumped as the words sounded from lips just inches from his ear.

             
“No, no one yet.”

             
They sat and watched the man readying his meal, hoping, if there were others, that they would show themselves soon. The camper finished staking down his tent and disappeared inside with a pack. He returned a minute later to chop some firewood; all while the beans simmered over the fire. It soon became apparent that no one else would be arriving; it was also apparent that this man had a lot of quality supplies.

             
“I don’t think there’s anyone with him,” David said, breaking the silence. “You think it’s worth risking it?”

             
The boy next to him brushed the shaggy black locks from his face and scratched his head. “I don’t know how much food this guy’s gonna have, I don’t know how he even got all this stuff here in the first place. What he has is definitely nice though. I like that ax he’s swinging there.”

             
David had felt the same way, though he had been eyeing the flint-magnesium stick the man had sitting on a stone next to the fire. At least they would get something out of this, and no one would miss someone they didn’t know.

             
“Maybe we should check him out first, just to be sure,” David suggested, unconsciously scratching a fresh scar on his arm.

             
“Ugh,” the boy drawled. He was not the cautious half of the pair, though his instincts more than made up for that. He agreed with an annoyed, “Fine.”

             
He stood up and took a few careful steps away from where David was entrenched, moving more quickly and less quietly as he distanced himself from the archer. David readied his bow and drew three arrows from his quiver, planting two in the ground next to where he knelt in the powdery snow, nocking one on the string, keeping an eye on the shaggy-haired boy as he walked down toward the tall blond man.

             
It was a minute before the boy came into the man’s view. He held his hands up innocently and David could easily imagine the disarming smile he flashed. He heard the mumble of words though he could not quite make them out. The man rose from where he had been kneeling to stir his dinner and placed a hand on his hip over the common bulge every survivor had. He kept his hand there as he said something to the boy, still approaching, more slowly now. Sweat broke out on David’s forehead as they continued to exchange words, the man’s hand never leaving his hip. The man had nice things and was careful. He had made it this far for a reason.

             
The meeting went on, the conversation punctured occasionally by the boy’s gesturing at the pot over the fire. The man relented in the end and lowered his hand, waving the boy forward as he walked back to his tent and rummaged around. He emerged with two bowls, one in each hand. David’s mouth watered and he wished that he was not always the one to sit back and watch from afar; he had not eaten for days. He retained his hard focus nonetheless and monitored the man as he sat on a collapsible stool next to the fire, spooning the last of the beans into his mouth, the boy standing across the fire from him.

             
David’s partner kept his eyes roving even as he kept his mouth jabbering to keep the man’s attention occupied. After a few minutes, David had to shift his weight and scratch himself. Just then he saw the boy quiver and the man freeze. The boy stopped and resumed his blabbering but the man was on his feet now, shouting in an angry voice. David took a quick look over into the trees where the boy had been looking, searching for the disturbance, but nothing presented itself. He could see nothing through the trees. The man had a slick pistol in his fist now, and David drew an arrow back to his cheek, training the shaft on the man’s chest.

             
The boy stood up slowly and raised his hands to his head as the man began barking orders. He turned around and began a slow, steady march away from the fire, David glanced at his comrade’s face, trying to discern something of what had just occurred and what he should do. It looked like he was smiling, but why? He looked back at the man and saw a glint of steel as a muzzle was raised.