The murmurs soften.
“Can’t we help them, but be smart about it?” Georgie asks. “We could set up a camp for them somewhere outside our camp—so our shield can stay up—and bring them food and supplies.”
That gets a lot of nodding and mumbled agreement.
Nova sighs softly from beside me. Dad taught me and Mae to improvise, adapt, and overcome, and I use that mindset every day here.
I climb onto the table next to me and yell, “Everyone, listen!”
The talking quiets and they all focus on me, Nova included.
“Taking in the Tiders was my idea. And since it affects all of us, we’ll take a vote on it. Many of them have burns and blisters on their hands that keep them from being able to hunt or help each other. They lost everything. Without our help, they’re all going to die.”
“Then we’ll at least have peace!” someone says.
“If the vote is not to let them in,” I continue, “I’m staying with them to help.”
“What?” Chance balks. “You can’t leave. You’ll die with them.”
“My conscience won’t let me do nothing while seventeen innocent children die. Some of them are babies.”
“We can’t do this.” A fiftysomething man named Chuck is sitting at one of the back tables, and everyone turns to look at him.
Unease forms a rock in my stomach. Chuck is very well respected in our camp. He’s a quiet, hard worker who can fix just about anything mechanical that breaks.
“Marcus said he’d be back soon,” Chuck says. “Where is he?”
Nova answers. “We know as much as you do. He had to go to another island and he’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“I don’t like this. We’re already weaker from the volcano. We should wait for Marcus to get back and let him decide whether to invite the foxes into the henhouse.”
“Those kids might not live long enough for that,” Amira says, standing up. “If Briar leaves camp to help them, I’m going, too.”
Gratitude for her wells in my chest.
“I’ll go, too,” Wendell says. “I’ll help them however I can.”
Our camp dentist inhaled a lot of toxic ash from the volcano, and he’s barely even able to stay on his feet. It says a lot about him that he’s willing to help people he doesn’t even know in his condition.
“We can’t split our people up,” Niran says. “We still have lots of cleanup and rebuilding to do. Marcus would want us to stay together.”
“If they’re allowed into our camp, the Tiders will be required to help when they’re physically able,” I say. “They’ll have to follow the same rules we all do, and that includes earning their place here. We’ll have more help rebuilding.”
“From the people who want us all dead,” Chuck grumbles, shaking his head.
Nova steps up onto the table beside me, addressing the crowd. “If Briar goes to help them, I’m going, too. And I’m confident my wife will join me.”
“Damn right I will!” Ellison calls out from the back of the room.
I give Nova a grateful look, then face the crowd again. “If we let them in, we won’t be able to turn off the aromium of the longtime Tiders. The ones who have had it a long time are bonded. They’ve been told that if anyone hurts one of our people or tries to take over our camp, we’ll turn the shield back on immediately.”
“That’ll fry them,” Niran says, shocked.
I continue, yelling as loudly as I can to reach everyone in our large dining area. “Soren Whitman doesn’t care about any of us. He’s using all of us for his own purposes, and we’re all expendable to him. Every one of us—even the kids. He’s evil, and he took nearly everything from me with his virus and experiments. But I still have my humanity. I’ll never let him take that. If we can show the Tiders grace, maybe all of us will finally realize that they were never our enemy. Whitman just wants us to believe that so we forget who we should really be fighting.”
Amira puts her hand on her heart, nodding in approval. The crowd’s murmurs have lost their angry edge.
“Let’s vote!” Nova says. “All in favor of helping the Tiders?”
