Chapter 6

Cross your fingers for me Wrimos... I have 9 days to write 27000 words. Ooh boy. This chapter is either lame or great. I can't decide which.
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“Do you know where we are?” Piper finally asked after hours of walking.
“Of course I do. How many times have I been through here?” Piper’s guess was maybe once or twice.
“I told you this was the wrong way, there weren’t enough trees this way. I have a photographic memory, you’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not. Trust me,” he said. She looked up at the sky, noting its purple and orange hues. They’d never get home before dark. She sighed in exasperation. Backwinder men were just as stubborn as Nationals. The same thing had happened back in the city, the first time she and Branson had been out by themselves… and the city had street signs.
Sure enough, the sky faded to black, and stars began to peak out from behind their black blanket. They were far more visible here, amongst the trees, than they had ever been in the city. There were thousands more of them than she’d realized.
“So… I’m not really too worried about the patrols, but what kind of wild animals were you talking about earlier?” She’d heard legends about the beasts that haunted the world outside the city, and none of them sounded too pleasant.
“Wolves, mostly. Few bears. You’d hope there were some deer around, they make for good food for a week if you can hunt ‘em.”
“Wolves? Are those the ones with the teeth?” Coltrane Thornton had told her about the wolf-beast who could live both on water and on land, and had three rows of poisonous fangs.
“Yeah, they’ve got teeth. Do they have dogs in the city? It’s a big wild dog, just not tamed. Not too pleasant.”
This creature didn’t sound nearly as fearsome as the stories she’d heard. Piper made a mental note to henceforth disregard everything Coltrane Thornton had ever said to her. She was about to ask what a bear was when they heard a rustle from one of the bushes by the side of the road.
“What was that?” She instinctively grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself behind him, not wanting to be in the way of the horrible creature that might soon present itself.
“I don’t know.” He pulled his gun from the strap on his back and pointed it at the bush. A low rumbling growl came in response. Piper cowered even more. Patrick cocked the gun.
“Rrrrr…. rrrrREOW!”
A cat jumped out of the bushes, hissing and spitting at the pair of them as though they’d ruined his every chance at happiness. He was a kitten, not even as big as Patrick’s backpack. Piper laughed.
“Oh, how cute!” She rushed toward the kitten, and it skittered away, back into the bushes.
“No, Piper.” Patrick just shook his head at her, a slightly amused expression on his face. “Another human mouth to feed I can handle, but I’m not giving any of my food to a lousy tomcat.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, he’s adorable.”
Glowing yellow eyes peeped out of the underbrush at them, looking scared.
“Ah, see, he even knows we’re talking about him. Just look at him, Patrick!”
He rolled his eyes at her.
“I’ll give him some of my food or something. He’ll die out here all on his own! We have to keep him, it’s a matter of life and death! Come on, Patrick, show some love for a fellow living thing.”
As though he could understand their words, the cat sauntered slowly out into plain view, looking pleadingly up at Patrick. He looked from Piper to the kitten in total and complete exasperation. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Piper put her hands on her hips and cocked one eyebrow, shaking her head. “You want to. Somewhere deep inside your soul you want to keep him, I know you do.” She grinned at him. He just shook his head.
“You know, he looks just like you. Maybe you should keep him.”
She took one look at the kitten. As adorable as he was, his face was rather squashed, as though he had been hit face first by a Lex car. She punched him in the arm. “That’s it, he’s staying whether you like it or not.”
Just then, they could hear footsteps marching methodically in the distance. Without a word, as though she was being pulled by some cosmic string, Piper felt herself being yanked into the bushes.
“Is it a patrol?”
Patrick said nothing, only stared stoically toward the road.
“Listen to me! Is it a patrol?”
“Shut up, Piper, you’re going to get yourself killed.”
“It could be Branson, I have to—“
“NO, Piper.” He tightened his grip on her arm. All at once she hated him again. And she wanted to prove it. With a spurt of strength, she extracted her arm from his grasp, and entered the road just as the army passed by.
It was a patrol, all right. She saw the familiar uniform and felt a burst of National pride. These men were a thousand Bransons, a thousand Dads, marching toward victory at the will of the Diviner. There was a chance, a small chance, one of them had to know about Branson…
“Excuse me—“
None of the soldiers even looked at her. Finally she got the attention of one, but he brushed her off as if she was some sort of pestering insect. Not until the end of the procession did she finally begin to gather looks. One soldier made eye contact with her and smiled.
“Well, well, well, what’s a pretty little thing like you doing way out here?” He grinned at her.
“Long story, not important. I need to know if you know my brother. Branson Conrad?”
“I don’t know him, but I’d sure like to know you, Green Eyes. What d’you say we ditch this overblown parade and go find us someplace nice to—“
She began to back away. “Stop right there, I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Shoot, I don’t care what kind of girl you are. You sure are pretty.” He ran a finger down her face and onto her shoulder, toying with the hole in the shoulder of her T-shirt. She froze in fright. The rest of the regiment had already disappeared down the road.
“Get your hands off of me or I’ll scream,” she said through gritted teeth.
“What’s a matter, honey? Hasn’t anybody ever loved you right…” He gripped her other arm hard, still running his finger along the bare skin of her shoulder. His face bowed, getting closer and closer to her…
“You don’t understand, I’m a National, I’m not—“
“Haven’t you heard me, honey?” he moaned, his voice now just above a whisper. “You can be whatever you like, just so long as you don’t fight back.” He grabbed the hole in her shirt forcefully and pulled, making it bigger. She screamed, not caring if there was no one there to hear her…
The butt of Patrick’s rifle hit the man in the head.
He was shocked enough that he loosened his grip and she was able to slip away to freedom. “You dirty—“
Patrick had him at gunpoint. His face was like a rock. He cocked his head, motioning for Piper to get behind him. She couldn’t be more happy to obey.
“If you touch her again, I swear, you’ll be dead before you know what hit you.”
“Couldn’t you get yourself someone your own breed, traitor?” he spat at Patrick, looking at Piper’s hand at his shoulder. “And you, you disgusting waste of space. You’re even more of a traitor then he is. Running around with the likes of him. Thanks for sayin’ something, Backwinder. I’d never be able to scrub off her filth.”
Patrick began to lower his gun, and as if taking it as his golden opportunity, the soldier punched him square in the jaw. Before either of them could retaliate, he had disappeared down the road.
His jaw was bleeding, and Piper was crying. Her thoughts were so blurry that she could hardly force out a complete sentence.
“How could I have… I was so stupid… I’m so so sorry.” That came out the most— I’m sorry. She said it over and over again until the words began to sound like nonsense.
“It’s nothing, don’t—“
She cupped his jaw in her hand and looked at his mouth. “Are you kidding, what do you mean it’s nothing? He got you pretty good. Do any of your teeth feel loose?”
She looked up to meet his eyes and found herself frozen. Again she was reminded of dark chocolate, bitter and sweet at the same time. A strange feeling welled up inside her, as though electricity was crackling around in her stomach, electrocuting her from head to toe. She felt like she’d just been defibrillated; her heart was beating unnaturally fast. Something was wrong with her, there had to be. This wasn’t a normal feeling. Slowly she lowered her hand and broke eye contact, hoping the feeling would go away. It didn’t.
Neither of them spoke for a long time. When she finally looked up again, he was still looking at her.
“You can keep the cat, if you want. We’ll figure out how to feed him.” She hadn’t noticed the kitten, who was playfully pouncing at her heels. On an impulse, she threw her arms around his neck and started to cry again.
“Thank you,” she said quietly through her tears. He stiffened under her embrace, as though not quite sure how to respond; but soon he tightened his arms around her. She felt safe, safer than she had since the bombings had stolen her life away from her.
“You’re welcome,” he replied. She hoped he knew she wasn’t talking about the cat. Finally he let her go, and she felt the cold air of the world around her again. She didn’t like it. She wrapped one arm across herself insecurely, for the first time not sure exactly what to say.
“I think camp is that way,” he said, pointing down a fork in the road behind them. “If we double back on that, we’re bound to get back soon.”
She simply nodded, running a hand across her eye in an effort to wipe away the tears. She tried to pick up the cat, but he hissed at her, as if to say “Don’t touch me.” However, when they began to walk, he pranced along at their heels, trying to be their friend and yet maintain some independence.
Patrick stayed a few steps ahead of her the entire way home. She wondered if she’d somehow offended him. He rubbed his jaw, and she felt another pang of guilt. She hated herself for doing this to him… if she had only listened…
And the odd feeling in the pit of her stomach still hadn’t gone away. Maybe it was the fear of the soldier still lingering about her… No, that couldn’t be it. There was an element of fear in the feeling, but that wasn’t all. There was a warmth to it, mixed with sadness and excitement. She couldn’t decide if it was a pleasant feeling or not. She supposed there was a good chance being in the wilderness for so long had made her ill. Yes, that was it. She just needed some sleep.
They finally reached the campsite around what Piper guessed was midnight.
“’Night, Green Eyes,” he said as he pulled herself into the tree.
“’Night,” she said with a quiet smile as she disappeared into her tent. She didn’t know what she thought, didn’t know what she felt, didn’t know what was going to happen, but one thing she knew for certain: she wouldn’t sleep well tonight.