“Why doan I show you?”
I figured that was a good idea; I could tell the elders specifically what the Burrowers had to offer. With Fade close behind, I followed Jengu down another tunnel. We negotiated some twists and turns. The fatty torches made the air taste as bitter as burned meat. I tried to breathe only through my nose.
We emerged on a platform like the one where we’d rested. There appeared to be no other access, due to a collapse and heavy tons of rock. Despite the blockage, this area was brighter and better ventilated. But that wasn’t even the most remarkable part—I’d never seen such a collection of old stuff. They had piles and piles of it, just sitting on the platforms. Most of it, I had no idea what it was or what it did, but this was the kind of treasure trove that would make the Wordkeeper run all the way here in person, just to examine the artifacts.
“Worth a few fish?” Jengu asked.
“And then some.”
I didn’t look through the stacks of stuff, although I longed to. But time was ticking away for Fade and me. We needed to rest and then get moving. Surely the Freaks would’ve lost our trail by the time we woke.
“Do you mind if we sleep here?” Fade asked. “You can search our bags now to see what we have, and then again before we go. We won’t take anything.”
“You wan sleep in storage?” Jengu seemed puzzled.
I understood Fade’s request, at least. The ceilings were higher, and it smelled a little better in here. Good-hearted they might be, I didn’t think our Burrower friends practiced much in the way of cleaning.
“If you don’t mind.” I held out my pack so he could rifle through it.
“Got dis where?” he asked, pulling out one of the slim books.
“On the way back from Nassau. There was a room up some stairs—”
“Ah,” he said. “Up near Topside?”
I nodded. “I guess.”
“Anything else?”
“Sure,” Fade answered. “We didn’t take it all. Couldn’t carry it.”
Jengu seemed pleased. It was more for them to collect when it came time to trade. Once he was satisfied as to what belonged to us, he shuffled off toward the smaller tunnels. I guessed he felt more at home in the darkness with the coziness of low ceilings. It made me feel trapped.
“You’re all right?” Fade asked, once he’d gone. “They didn’t hurt you?”
I shook my head. “They’re harmless. It would do the enclave good to make friends of them, I think. Look at this place.”
“It’s amazing. They must’ve been scrounging for generations.”
“Thanks for waiting for me. But it was a big risk. Anything could’ve happened to you.”
He touched my cheek very lightly. “I have your back. I didn’t mean only when it’s easy. All the time.”
Wow. Warmth blossomed within me. Even if nobody else liked him, even if the rest of them never accepted me, I couldn’t have done better for a partner. I doubted the other Hunters would’ve acted the same. They would’ve followed orders to the letter and gone back to the enclave, leaving me to fend for myself. Silently, I thanked Silk.
“This should be our last stop. Tomorrow, we make it home.” I got out my blanket and wrapped up in it.
A gap in the piles offered us the perfect place to curl up. We went to sleep a whisper apart and when I woke, he lay on his side, facing me. He always seemed different with his eyes shut. The contrast of his pale skin and sooty lashes made me want to brush my fingertips across the dark and light of it. My heart thumped inside my chest as his eyes opened and met mine.
Fade grinned. “Still tired?”
I groaned and rolled to my feet. Lying on rock had taken its toll. I felt like I could sleep for a week. Not like that would happen. As payment for our survival, Silk would probably assign us double shifts.
We got our things and went into the smaller tunnels. The Burrowers were already awake, and Jengu checked our bags to make sure we’d kept our word. I don’t think he had any doubt, but it reassured the others.
After saying good-bye, we felt strong enough to handle the last leg of the journey. It would be a tough run, and there were Freaks to dodge, but we’d make it. We were Hunters, and the enclave needed the news we carried.
Homecoming
A day later, Fade and I staggered toward the barricades. We’d been forced to fight a group of Freaks when we could least afford to expend the energy, and we had very little left now. The guards broke from their posts to help us. I guessed they could see we were in a bad way. My lips burned with thirst.
Someone fetched Silk, who demanded, “Get them food and drink. They can barely move, let alone give a report.”
She was kind enough to let us sit down in the kitchen area. I collapsed on a crate and thought I might never rise again. Gratefully I took the water and emptied the cup in careful sips. I remembered my lessons about how too much on an empty stomach could make me sick. Then I accepted a tiny bowl of stew and ate it with my fingers. It was lukewarm, which made it easier to rake it into my mouth.
As Fade and I ate, we gathered an audience. Not just Silk and the elders—Copper, Twist, and Whitewall—but Builders, Breeders, and brats too. I guessed they didn’t think we were coming back. Everyone waited to hear what we had to say. As senior Hunter, it was only right Fade take the floor. I put down the remnants of my meal and a wee brat scurried off with it.
“Well?” Silk demanded.
“Nassau has fallen. It’s Freak occupied now.” Fade put the problem more bluntly than I would have.
Disbelief whispered through the crowd. Whitewall motioned them to silence. “No survivors?”
“Not one,” he said. “They’re living where the Nassau citizens used to and feeding on the bodies.”
“And why is that?” Silk asked. “Were there signs of disease?”
I wasn’t about to say we didn’t get close enough to check things out in detail. Hopefully Fade wouldn’t either. “No, they died fighting. Sickness didn’t do this.” He outlined the theory he’d given me in the little hidden room. “Therefore, we need to change our tactics. Lay more traps. We also need a battle plan in case they hit us in numbers, like they did Nassau.”
Silk laughed. “You make it sound like Freaks are a force to be feared, a thinking enemy, rather than just vermin.”
Oh, no. She doesn’t believe him.
“It’s true,” I said. “We fought a number of them on the way to Nassau, and I think—” I almost couldn’t speak the words because I knew what disagreeing with her in public, siding with Fade would mean. “He’s right. They almost seemed to understand us at times.”
Her jaw tightened. “We’ll take your ideas into account at the next meeting.”
“Thank you, sir.” I ducked my head, exhausted.
We’d done everything we could, completed the mission, and delivered the requested information. If they chose to ignore us, we couldn’t help it. Dread crawled up my spine nonetheless.
“Move along,” Silk snapped at the gawkers. “There’s work to be done.”
There always was. I heard murmurs as people dispersed.
“What do you think?”
“Nassau never kept as clean as they should. They probably died of the dirty disease and then the Freaks ate them.”
Someone laughed. “It’ll serve them right when they die of it.”
Great. They thought we were insane. That we’d cracked out there in the dark and were imagining threats where none existed. But they hadn’t seen what we had. They didn’t know. I sat miserably on my crate, head bowed, until I recognized Silk’s boots.
“Because you completed your mission in the time allotted, I’m giving you tomorrow off patrol to rest and regain your strength. I don’t want to hear you talking about your crazy ideas, do you understand? There’s no reason to get people worked up, if they happen to believe you.”
I understood the bribe/threat combo perfectly. “I won’t talk to anyone about it.”
“Good. Dismissed.”
It took all my energy to drag my tired body to the bath area. I still had my clean clothes, at least. There had seemed no point in putting them on out there; I’d never smelled this bad in my life. I washed up longer than usual and then dried and dressed. A few other girls watched me, whispered and giggled, but they didn’t address me directly.
Afterward, I started on my clothes. Though I hadn’t noticed her arrival, Thimble came and took them from me. She went to work with silent efficiency. I leaned against the wall. My shoulder had scabbed over, and the salve Fade had used on me seemed to have warded off infection. But I’d always bear the scars as a reminder.
“How bad was it?” she asked softly.
“I promised not to talk about it.”
Her eyes shone with hurt, as she held my wet clothes. Blood trickled from the fabric and down the drain. “I’m your best friend.”
“I know. And you are. But I promised. I don’t want to get in trouble. Silk already has it in for me.”
“I wouldn’t repeat anything you tell me.”
Maybe not. But what if she yielded to the impulse to tell just one person, maybe Banner, who also told just one person? And pretty soon it got back to Silk. I couldn’t take the chance.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
She slammed my half-washed clothes back into my arms. I worked on them until my fingers were raw. Back in my living space, I hung the clothing up to dry. I almost flopped down on my pallet before I remembered that would sentence me to exile. My bag bulged with important relics; before I could rest I had to see the Wordkeeper. Shouldering my pack, I picked a path through the warren.
To my surprise, I found him in the common area. He was twenty-two, but he looked older, older even than Whitewall. He had wispy hair, so fair it looked white, and a face folded into a perpetual frown, as if he knew the day would disappoint him.
“Sir,” I said, and waited for him to acknowledge me.
“You have something to report, Huntress?”
Exhausted as I was, the title still thrilled me. “I do. On the way back from Nassau, we took shelter in a room filled with things that will interest you. I have them here.”
“Permission granted to make your offering.”
Before him, I laid out all the glossy, colorful books, the yellowed papers, every last trinket I’d collected, including some unknown items from the desk drawer. The Wordkeeper stared at it all with the sort of dawning wonder I’d felt. For the first time, I felt a glimmer of liking for him.
I checked my bag three times to make sure nothing got stuck in the crevices. “That’s everything.”
“Magnificent, the greatest find of our generation. It will enrich our culture in countless ways.” The Wordkeeper was already reading, murmuring to himself. “Repair switch in blue line … I wonder what that means.”
Well, “repair” spoke for itself. The rest I couldn’t help with. I stood quiet until he remembered me. “Ah, yes. You’ve distinguished yourself among all citizens. For your contribution, I will see you rewarded. What would you like?”