“What do you think they’ll do to us?” Frid wondered aloud.
“Nothing good, if they even allow us in,” Victor responded.
“They wanted us to quit the service, didn’t they?” Frid continued.
“No. They wanted us to turn it down when we were recruited,” Victor said.
Victor was right. We were expected to serve the council, but the clan demanded all of us to refuse; and bear the punishment.
“This is a good idea, right?” Frid asked.
“I don’t see any other options,” I said.
Silence followed my words, because I was right. Darragh was our only chance to stay alive for another week. What they might try to do to us was a concern, but staying inRiolle was no longer an option, and hiding in the wastelands meant imminent death.
“We could try to cross the border,” Frid suggested.
“I don’t think we can,” I said.
“But Alina got here somehow. I believe her,” Frid continued.
“Do you really think it’s possible? That there’s a land somewhere free of the crawlers?” Victor asked.
“I believe it, and I want to go there,” she said.
I could detect a stubborn note in her voice. I looked at Victor who still favored his injury.
“How’s your arm?” I asked.
“Fine, never been better,” he snorted in reply.
“He’s lying. I can see that he’s in pain.” Frid repositioned herself in the air to get closer to Victor.
“Why are you always doing that?” he asked.
“Because you never take care of yourself,” she added.
“I’m a grown man, not a child,” Victor said.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
I sighed, realizing that the truce between them had been short lived.
Alina adjusted her body on top of mine and my attention turned back to the girl. I did not have to guess; I knew that she was at her limits. She was too delicate, too gentle for the endless struggle to survive that we all grew accustomed to. One look at her told me that, long before I even got to know her. She would have liked this land with its wide, plentiful fields and gardens, overpopulated cities, music, and art. Icould still remember Talman the way it was before the outbreak. On the rare occasion my father took me with him to the city, I could forget the hell that awaited me back at home, at least for a short while. Since that first trip, I have always wanted to leave Darrah, it became an obsession of mine. No matter how hard my life got, I could wait, make myself be patient, and know that one day, I would be free. The outbreak changed many things, these lands became abandoned within a matter of the first few years. The cities fell, people vanished or turned, and by the time I was ready to leave my clan, there was no place left to go.
Alina moved and I could feel her forehead pressing against the scales of my back. She was close to fainting. I still did not understand how I knew all this about her, I just did. I shifted my focus to the view ahead, searching for the right place.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ALINA
Iblinked and looked down, the never ending landscape rolled past as Tynan carried me. The changes of colors and shapes made me almost dizzy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had stopped feeling my body and what I was doing, my mind floated between the world of reality and dreams.
There was a vision of me back home, walking through the field of wildflowers with the palms of my hands brushing the silky, smooth grass. Shimmering light touched the endless fields and my suede shoes stepped so softly that I could imagine walking on a cloud. Memories of quiet nights in the library, enjoying the soothing heat of the fireplace. Myheart immediately ached when I thought about my brother and his wife, my family; everything I had ever known.
My body was so incredibly tired that I did not know how much longer I could go on. I belatedly realized that I was nearly passing out and my hands were not holding on to Tynan for moments at the time. It was a miracle I did not slide right off.
The temperature dropped as the sun nearly disappeared behind the mountains. My tired eyes examined the outlines of the new landscape without much interest. I used to dream about the mountains, but I was too exhausted to admire them. Involuntarily, my eyes kept closing and I did not know how much longer I could stay up.
