Page 90
Chapter 37
Wren
The caravan slows to a stop along what used to be Highway 31. Unlike the dry heat where we came from, it’s humid here, suffocating, but everything is green and beautiful, set beneath a baby-blue sky full of white puffy clouds. Surreal in that respect, like a painting I once saw hanging cockeyed in an abandoned home.
We passed small clusters of Ragers along the highway a while back, but haven’t seen one for miles, since. Of course, they’re here as much as anywhere else in the world.
In spite of the view, a quiet thrum of anxiety pulses through me while staring out through the windshield.
Ahead of us, a line of men and women, holding guns strapped across their bodies urge us out of the vehicle. Six glances at me, and then to Valdys at the opposite end of the cab. The two exchange a knowing nod and exit the vehicle. Cali and I file out after them, greeted by a disapproving frown on Six’s face.
A woman with blonde, short-cropped hair steps forward. Lithe in build, she certainly doesn’t look like much of a threat, but the gun she carries, decorated in bone jewelry from the looks of it, says otherwise.
So much for this place being civilized.
“What’s your business here?” she asks, keeping her eyes on the two Alphas.
“We’ve traveled a long way. Heard about a place that welcomes outsiders.”
“Well, you heard wrong. Any place that openly welcomes outsiders is destined for ruin.”
The disappointment hits my stomach first, mingling with the hunger of not having eaten in hours.
She seems to appraise the Alphas again, her eyes lingering on Six far longer than I like. “Where’d you come from?”
“What does it matter, if you’ve no intentions of welcoming us inside?” Cali asks beside me, her voice just as clipped as the woman now glaring at her.
“It matters whether, or not, you get to leave with a pulse.”
“West of here,” I answer, before Valdys decides to rain hell on Cali’s behalf. “My father told us of this place, but he apparently had it all wrong. If it’s all the same to you, we’ll go.”
Brows furrowed, she tips her head. “Who’s your father?”
“Dead. Doesn’t really matter.”
“Tell me his name.”
“Josef Falkenrath.”
After exchanging a glance with one of the men behind her, whose eyes widen with surprise, she turns back to me, her eyes brimming with sudden intrigue. “Wren?”
“How do you know me?”
She snorts a laugh, and the line of people standing behind her lower their guns. “There aren’t many around here who don’t.” Shifting her gaze from mine, she gives a nod to my left. “You must be Six.”
With a frown, I switch my gaze between her, Six and Cali. “How do you know our names?”
Lowering her gun like the others, she turns her back to me and tips her head forward. Inked across her neck is the signature tattoo of a Calico subject. The others standing behind her follow suit, every one of them wearing the same tattoo.
I trail my gaze over each person. Survivors who passed through those walls and somehow made it out on the other side.
A hand reaches out for me, and when I look up, it belongs to the blonde who now wears a smile. I return her handshake.
“I’m Johanna. Your father freed us. All of us. We’ve been waiting a long time for you, Wren. Welcome to Harmony Hills.”
EPILOGUE 1
Wren
