Dead and Buryd: A Dystopian Action Adventure Novel (Out of Orbit Book 1) (7 page)

Georgianna reached out and smacked him as he fell back against the cushion, laughing.

“That’s not funny, Zanetti!” she chastised.

Georgianna suddenly wasn’t sure that they should be joking about the compound, not after her trip over there and her conversation with Taye. Glancing at her bag, she thought about the packet of Adveni drugs Taye had given her. It felt wrong to have them. She’d not even agreed to make the delivery, and the drugs came with too many strings attached.

“I’d treat you well!” Keiran smirked. “You’d hardly have to get out of bed in the morning.”

She gave him a disapproving glare, but Keiran grinned back at her and gave her ankle a squeeze.

“In fact, I think I’d demand that you never got out of bed.”

“I’m sure you would,” she answered.

Silence stretched out between them. Georgianna watched as he turned his gaze onto the ceiling, tucking his hand beneath his head.

“I saw Taye today,” she said finally, slumping onto her side next to him and propping herself up on her elbow.

“Taye…” he murmured. “He’s Carae, right?”

Georgianna nodded, reaching between them and picking at a loose thread in the blanket.

“We knew each other as kids.”

“Oh yeah, he’s the one with the girl in the compound.”

Georgianna glanced over at him. She didn’t remember telling Keiran about Nyah. They didn’t generally share their lives much. He had his friends and she had hers. Apart from the people they both knew within the Belsa, she wasn’t even sure how much their lives intersected. Though, with the Carae supplying the Belsa pretty regularly, it wasn’t surprising that Keiran might know Taye. Maybe he’d even known Nyah before she was arrested.

“So, what did he ask for? A way to turn back time? A mass breakout of Lyndbury for his little girlfriend?”

Staring down at the blanket, Georgianna grazed her teeth across her bottom lip. Keiran frowned, his pale blue eyes narrowing.

“George, you’ve got to be kidding!” he chastised. “What is it?”

“Just a delivery,” she answered. “He wants me to take a packet in for Nyah.”

Keiran’s expression said it all. His lips pursed into a thin line and a crease formed above his straight nose as his brow knitted together.

“He’s worried about her,” Georgianna lamented. “It’s been months.”

“It could be years for all he can do about it,” Keiran answered dismissively. “He should let it go.”

“You don’t think I’ve told him that? He loves her.”

Keiran scoffed, but didn’t answer. Georgianna pushed herself up further and looked down at him. She shouldn’t be angry at Keiran. She knew it was who he was. He didn’t want love and joining the way Taye did, but in Georgianna’s opinion, he didn’t have to be so cavalier about it.

“I’m worried about him, Keiran,” she explained. “He’s becoming more erratic. He wants Nyah out, and I think… I think if things don’t change soon, he’ll do something without thinking.”

Turning his head to look at her, Keiran’s eyes narrowed.

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

Georgianna shook her head. She didn’t expect anything from Keiran. He’d never been close to Taye, and it wasn’t like he owed her anything. The two of them were having fun, they both agreed that.

“Nothing, I’m just… I’m just worried about him doing something stupid.”

Keiran frowned and went back to staring at the ceiling. He reached up, running his hand over his short, dark hair.

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid, like getting caught sneaking stuff into Lyndbury,” he agreed. “I do prefer you being a free woman. You getting yourself buryd would free up far too much of my time.”

Georgianna laughed and leaned closer to him, resting her arm across his waist and tangling her fingers in his shirt. She felt silly, being upset that he wasn’t taking it seriously. They’d both been perfectly clear about what they wanted, and serious didn’t come into it.

“I’m sure you’d find someone to keep you busy soon enough.”

“You’re right, I would, but that doesn’t mean I’d like it.”

Giggling, Georgianna rolled herself onto her front and rested her head on her arms. She didn’t exactly know what to say to that. He was clearly still under the belief that if she made this delivery, she would be making a mistake. Truthfully, Georgianna thought making the delivery was a mistake too, but she also didn’t want her friend getting himself into trouble.

Georgianna tried to wriggle herself further into the mattress, one of the luxuries of staying so long in one place to live out the mid-heat. When the thought came to her, however, Georgianna suddenly pushed herself up. She’d only known Keiran for a month or so; they’d never talked about what they would do for the freeze.

“Will you be travelling?” she asked, looking down at him.

Their traditions, their survival from the days before had become unreliable of late. Some wanted to escape the Adveni and the freeze and move south, but others believed that their work in Adlai was too important. Not to mention that the Adveni were rather particular about the Veniche to whom they gave travel permits.

“Nah,” he answered. “I’ll stay here. No use in travelling anymore.”

Georgianna raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll tell that to the snow when it’s covered every entrance to the tunnels.”

Keiran, chuckling a little, reached out and slid one arm under Georgianna’s waist, tugging her towards him until she laid against his chest. Georgianna squeaked in amusement, but didn’t try to fight him off.

“Which means I get to hibernate in here,” he said.

Georgianna frowned and placed her hands against Keiran’s chest, pushing herself up.

She’d not made the trip in six years, and she missed it. Every year she planned to go, she thought about going to get a permit, but each year something came up. Braedon’s mother had been pregnant with him, Braedon was too young to travel if they didn’t have help. Something came up every year. But Georgianna didn’t want to miss the journey again.

“I’m going to try travelling,” she answered.

For a moment, Keiran looked up at her, his pale eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he watched her face, perhaps waiting for a smirk to part her lips or a laugh to echo through the shack. In the light, his eyes were a cool blue, but here, with nothing but the lamp, they looked more grey than anything. When no answer came from Georgianna, he licked across his bottom lip.

“They won’t let you go,” he answered plainly. “Not many medics are willing to go into Lyndbury. Plus, it isn’t as if any Belsa can go. It’s not like we can go and request passes from the Adveni. You imagine Casey going up there?”

Any hope left in Georgianna’s face slipped away. She’d thought she would go because people would need help on the trail. They always got injured one way or another, but what about in Adlai? With the Adveni around they weren’t going to let every Veniche just waltz on off down south. The people left behind would need care too, perhaps more so than those on the trail because they’d be suffering out the freeze.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said finally, lowering herself back down onto his chest.

“Wow, George, don’t sound so happy about it!” Keiran scoffed.

Georgianna shook her head and glanced up at him.

“I didn’t mean…”

Keiran pulled his hands back from her body and wedged them underneath his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Even if it hadn’t been his plan to convince Georgianna to stay, he seemed a little angry that she wasn’t more enthusiastic about it.

Georgianna frowned and rested her cheek against his shoulder, staring blankly down his chest. Her fingers, caught in his shirt, pushed the material up just enough that her thumb could slide effortlessly back and forth across his skin.

“I was only thinking about it,” Georgianna murmured.

Keiran’s chest rose and fell with slow, deep breaths, but Georgianna didn’t dare move. She didn’t want to get them into an even more awkward conversation than they were already in. His hand came out from underneath his head and wound into her hair, tugging her head gently back until she could look up at him. Shifting his body a little further down the bed, Keiran smiled.

“Well, I suppose I should make the most of now, just in case,” he answered.

Then, without another awkward word between them, his lips were on hers, and all thoughts of travelling south were forgotten.

 
6
The Kahle in the West

 
Leaving the tunnels, the morning sun was already high, radiating constant, sticky heat. Despite the fact that Georgianna knew she would be more comfortable in a short-sleeved shirt, one which allowed her skin to breathe, she had pulled on a thin smock that covered her from neck to wrists to protect her from the sun’s rays. The walk from the last tunnel exit over to the camps was long, and she couldn’t risk too much exposure, not in the mid-heat sun.

On either side of the beaten path leading out of the city and into the camps, buildings were being erected under Adveni supervision. Veniche of every race and tribe queued for hours in the early morning to get a place on one of the construction crews. Construction was high-paying work and places were limited and heavily controlled. Anyone with even the slightest mark against their registration was turned away, regardless of their skill.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Georgianna continued down the beaten path to the camps. They built up slowly: first the odd, outlying building, before these became more frequent until you were in the middle of a sea of houses and other small buildings.

While they were officially called “The Veniche Camps”, they were actually split into a number of smaller encampments that bled into each other as space became sparse. The Kahle, one of the largest tribes that used Adlai as a settling ground, were in the north and spread out towards the west, furthest from the city.

The Nerrin had taken over the south-west, and while the east held relatively neutral grounds to allow safe passage between the camps for all, there were a number of smaller tribes and nomad settlers who had taken up their own private space.

Near the main road through the camps, a woman was hanging out laundry while five children played in front of the house. From the fact that the children were all the same age yet looked absolutely nothing alike, Georgianna could only assume that this woman had been asked to look after children by other families while they went to work.

Further in, back from the path, a man was skinning a kill, the thick hairs of the pelt still dirty from the hunt. Beside him, a large dog lay chewing on one of the deer’s leg bones, paying no attention to the large amount of meat only a few feet away. Georgianna chewed on her bottom lip, watching out of the corner of her eye and taking note of the surrounding buildings. Having not been home in a few days, she didn’t want to take a large amount of meat if her family were stocked already, but it was useful to know who had meat in, just in case. Most people probably wouldn’t trade such a large kill so easily, but her medical supplies could prove a worthy trade if they didn’t know someone within their own tribe. Unfortunately, medics had been one of the hardest hit during the invasion, going in to help those injured and then being killed or captured by the Adveni. Luckily for Georgianna, she had been young and inexperienced, mostly kept back to treat the smaller wounds of those who managed to return from the fighting.

Georgianna walked though the neutral safety area and, passing between the buildings, into the Kahle encampments. With every home she passed, and every person outside who greeted her as if she were their own child or sibling, Georgianna felt the familiarity of home. Even before the Adveni had arrived and pushed the Veniche further out of the city by raising prices for land, the Kahle had camped in these spots. Their homes had been destroyed in the first attacks, but that sense of place could not be broken. So when the Kahle moved north to Adlai to resettle during the heat, they returned to the same area they always had. Georgianna was sure that her bed at home was still in the same place it had been when she was a child.

“Gianna!” a voice called, little feet rushing forward until a small body collided with her legs, wrapping its thin arms tight around them.

Georgianna almost lost her balance from the impact. Looking down, she smiled broadly at the ruffled brown mop of hair and the thin, smiling face hidden beneath it. She bent down and wrapped both arms around Braedon’s waist to lift him up against her body.

The young boy immediately wrapped his arms around her neck. Curling his short legs as far around her body as he could reach.

“You’re not meant to be learning, are you?” Georgianna asked, glancing at the boy suspiciously through the corner of her eye.

Braedon lifted his head and shook it vehemently.

“No, Grandda’ was tradin’, Miss Kadey lookin’ after me!”

“Well, alright,” Georgianna answered, glancing off to see Kadey Lane standing in her doorway.

Lifting a hand and waving to Kadey, Georgianna began walking back towards their home, Braedon in her arms.

“Where’s your da’?” Georgianna asked.

Braedon shrugged, which only meant one thing: her brother had a job from an Adveni. The only reason Halden wouldn’t share something with his son was because it involved things Halden thought Braedon was too young to know.

It was a short walk from where Braedon had collided with her to their house. On the front doorstep, Georgianna’s father sat with a hide across his lap, a thin knife in his hand which he was using to cut away the extra patches of fat and muscle.

Braedon, having grown up around such things, showed no disgust or queasiness at the sight, but instead began wriggling in Georgianna’s grasp until she finally put him down and the young boy could go running a little lopsidedly back towards his grandfather.

“Aren’t you meant to be with Kadey?” her father asked as the young boy ran into his eye line.

“Gianna got me!” Braedon exclaimed, pointing back at her.

Georgianna’s father lifted his head, smiling brightly at the sight of his youngest. Putting the hide aside, he got to his feet. Quickening her step, Georgianna moved over towards her father who placed his hands on either side of her face and kissed her forehead gently.