The Condemned (21 page)

    
Still, many of the labelled ones proved fruitful and Leci couldn’t help admitting that the cabin was truly a find. It
was like hitting the jackpot and as she began to feel more comfortable working alongside Bitsy to create something as close to an edible meal as possible for the four of them she found herself enjoying it and looking forward to the days ahead.

    
She had found a large tin with a picture of a dog on it and Morgan had told her that the writing above the animal said ‘Dog Meat in Gravy’. Leci wasn’t sure she had ever eaten dog before but there was a first time for everything and so she had punctured the tin with her knife, draining the contents into one of the metal containers they had found stored inside a cupboard along with some crude eating utensils.

    
The dog meat didn’t smell too bad
at all
, the gravy looked thin and watery and there were green things floating in it, but the chunks of meat looked passable enough
, they had a pleasing, meaty aroma to them that was actually quite mouth watering
.

    
Around the rear of the cabin, Beriael had found a barrel that was just under halfway filled with scummy, green looking water. Morgan had filled the cooking pot and brought it back in, they had boiled it over the stove until it looked
relatively
clean and had poured in a range of tinned vegetables; peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes, and beans to create a broth that didn’t look too unappetising. From their own supplies they had salvaged some strips of dried meat, a few
lumps of cheese, almost a full loaf of bread, and three rather bruised apples.

    
The highlight of the meal though, without a doubt, had to be the two bottles of homemade Gin that Bitsy had found hidden away behind the pans. The four of them seemed to be slipping into a celebratory mood, finally letting it sink in that they had found freedom and that things were looking positive for it not being snatched away. Letting down their hair and enjoying it while they could only seemed fitting and the cabin seemed to be
very
accommodating
in respect
to that.

    
Leci couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen such a spread. She was particularly looking forward to trying the dog meat, it sounded interesting if nothing else.

    
The men had gone for a quick scout around the area but
they
both seemed so amused at the thought of the women preparing a meal for them that they hadn’t been gone for very long and had spent most of their time stood watching, laughing, and offering unhelpful comments.

    
Leci found herself pleased that the two of them s
eemed to be getting on so well and she
was glad she had chosen not to rock the boat by revealing the truth to Beriael, it would have done no good to any of them
,
and she gave herself silent praise for her restraint. Perhaps it was a sign that she was ready to start acting her age.

    
Beriael was sat
on one of the two wooden chairs with
Bitsy perched on his lap and Alecia had claimed the other seat. Amato seemed happy to be stood leant against the wall, a metal bowl balanced in his hand.

It was strange how such a simple thing, the sharing of a meal
, could be so... b
onding. Leci felt that they were truly becoming a family unit, the breaking of bread together o
r some soppy notion like that.

    
As they sat and ate and talked and drank and laughed she felt herself relaxing more than she had been willing to do so at any other point in the last few days. Maybe it was the security of having somewhere that could potentially offer long-term protection, maybe it was the comfort of having people to finally trust, or maybe it was just the gin.

Leci felt lightheaded and warm, a little giddy and for the first time in a long, long time, happy.

    
With the windows opened up to allow the light into the cabin the place was quite cheerful.
She was even
able to forget about the body for long periods at a time and when she did go back to dwelling on it she was no longer as nervous or weirded out as she had been. Again, that could’ve just been the booze, but it didn’t matter
either way
.

    
The four of them spent the day doing very little, mostly sat around just enjoying the opportunity for rest and relaxation
, the freedom and pleasure of having the opportunity to
choose
to do nothing
.

    
As the day waned and the light faded, dusk settling over the forest and bringing with it creeping shadows that began in the corners of the room but slowly made their way towards the centre like elongated black fingers reaching eagerly; Leci kept the fire burning beneath the stove to ward off the chill that had accompanied the deepening night.

Chapter 18

Too tempted by the prospect of the large double bed in the room they had claimed as their own, Bitsy and Beriael retired early, leaving the other two curled together comfortably on the couch. Leci thought it was sweet, they’d been together for so long but they still seemed to idolise one another like teenagers in love. It was a testament to them that their relationship had survived everything they had been through. She was happy for them but at the same time felt a mild pang of jealousy
,
knowing it was unlikely she would ever find something so pure.

    
She had no idea what was going on between herself and Amato, they had kissed, true, and she had felt something there, yes, but she wasn’t stupid enough to convince herself that that meant anything. They were both lonely and had been conveniently thrown together. She knew she couldn’t trust anything she thought she might be feeling and that even if she did she would fight against it anyway. She still clung to the conviction that those she allowed herself to love would get themselves killed at some point and leave her alone again with an even wider hole inside.

    
She just wasn’t prepared to open herself up to anymore hurt, didn’t want to be vulnerable to the pain of losing
someone she cared for
,
or even to feel the guilt of having let them expose themselves to whatever curse it was she carried around with her.

    
Alecia sat sideways on the couch, her back resting against the arm and her legs stretched out
casually
across Amato’s lap. He had one foot up, tucked beneath his other thigh. One hand
rested indifferently
on her foot, the other arm
was
outstretched across the back of the couch as though reaching out to her
, but not touching
. His body was angled slightly towards her as they talked.

    
It was nice, comfortable.

    
Leci had a feeling in the pit of her stomach, something fluttery and nervous but coiled and agitated all at the same time. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, it was full of anticipation and as his fingers began to trace idle circles nonchalantly around her ankle the sense that something exciting might happen grew.

     
‘So,
are you
gonna tell me what you really think of this place Leci?’ He asked once they were alone.

    
She shrugged, glancing around the cabin quietly. It had grown too dark to see much and without moving from where she
was sitting,
she lit the candle that still stood in the middle of the small table beside them. It cast a warm glow about the room, chasing away the shadows and adding to the cosiness.

     
‘I kinda like the place, I was a bit freaked out at
first but it’s not so bad, it’s better than most places we could’ve ended up in.’

    
He nodded in agreement but was looking at her curiously, like he didn’t quite believe her or as though something was bothering him.

     
‘It surprises me that you felt that way about some old dead guy, I mean, you’ve seen a ton of bodies before, it’s not like death i
s anything you’re not used to.
’

    
She felt herself tensing, didn’t really like the way this was going, did they
have
to be spending their time talking about dead people? She sighed heavily to show her displeasure at the topic but answered him anyway.

     
‘Being forced to look at it every day ain’t the same as just happenin’ to walk in on it when it’s the last thing you expect and besides, I was kinda hopin’ that getting out of that place would mean I didn’t need to deal with it so much anymore.
’ She lifted her shoulders slightly in a small shrug.
‘
It’s just weird to have it thrown at me and I felt sorry for the guy too. Would you like to go like that? No one caring? No one even knowing? Just left to rot until someone came by to steal your home and happened to find you and toss you into the forest for the animals to finish off...’ She shuddered,
now she’
d gone and let the whole thing upset her again. She hugged her arms around herself protectively.

    
Amato had the
good
grace to look mildly apologetic for
causing her distress and he squeezed her calf briefly. She didn’t comment on the way his hand was slowly working its way higher and higher up her leg, it was kind of cute and charming.

    
She knew
that
he wasn’t shy and so she had to assume he was playing with her, teasing her. She didn’t complain, she was enjoying the game and she joined in, shifting herself slightly so that her foot now rested against his groin, applying slight pressure that he couldn’t really miss, not enough to cause him discomfort but enough to send the signal that she was perfectly aware of what he was doing.

    
He cleared his throat, still watching her closely.

     
‘You have to think of it as a cycle Leci, if you want to make sense of it. The old guy died so that we could carry on, so that we’d have somewhere to stay.
He was m
aking way for the four of us to have a chance
, doin’ his duty to society, if you like
.’

    
He looked away and then added darkly; ‘besides, I was gettin’ desperate. If anyone had been alive in here I would’ve shot them.’

    
Leci gasped softly, shocked. He looked back at her and shrugged.

     
‘I’d put the safety of my friends over the life of a stranger.’ He explained quietly, defensively, and though she disagreed with his apparent method of securing safety she
could understand the notion behind it and knew she had no right to judge.

    
Not when earlier she had been perfectly comfortable admitting to herself that she would’ve shopped Bitsy and her unknown powers in to the Officials if she had known about it and there was a chance it could’ve been beneficial to her.

    
How long do you suppose we’ll be able to stay here?’ She wondered.

     
‘Hopefully for a couple of weeks at least. Maybe even longer. If we can live off the land and don’t have any reason to go letting people know that we’re here then we could even stretch it to a couple of months.’

     
‘Do you think they’ll stop looking if we stay lost for long enough?’

     
‘No, I doubt it.’ He shook his head, his fingers lightly stroking her knee through the soft denim of her jeans.

‘If they don’t hear anything for a while they’ll probably up their efforts. If it were just me and the Clones they’d not bother, leave us to die on our own out here. But not you.’

    
Leci considered this, chewing on her lower lip while she listened to him.

     
‘Before you there are only eight other recorded cases of people who can do what you can.’

     
‘Really?’ She was surprised at this, didn’t realise her ‘gift’ had been such a rare one.

    
Amato nodded.

     
‘Don’t get me wrong, there have probably been dozens more, those eight, nine including you, are just the only ones they know about. I know that they had two others in the wing at the same time as you, I don’t have any idea what happened to any of the others
, the ones that came before, and you were the most recent one they had
.’