Three (Article 5 #3)(33)

“Cult attire looks good on you,” I said.

“I know.” He smirked. “They got all the material from an upholstery company down the road.”

“You asked?”

He tied the collar strings in a neat bow. “Of course I asked.”

Rebecca was already asleep, curled on her side on the bottom bunk when we arrived. Sean held the bed frame still while I climbed to the top, and leaned against the post while I settled.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“I’m okay.” It was a testament to our friendship that he didn’t ask more.

I pulled off my shoes, sighing with a sudden, drenching fatigue that overrode the lingering worries. Rolling onto my stomach, I looked down on Sean, less than a foot below me. He still leaned against the post, staring down at Rebecca in a way that made me feel like I was intruding on something private and important. I flipped over onto my back.

“Ember?” Sean asked. The rustling in the bunks around us had tapered to deep, hypnotizing breaths.

“Yeah?” I whispered back.

“Your feet stink.”

I closed my eyes, a fleeting smile touching my lips.

“One day this is going to be over,” he said softly. “Then things will finally be normal.”

I wasn’t sure if he was telling me or himself; I didn’t even know what normal meant anymore. But after Chase returned and climbed up beside me, I wrapped myself as tightly as I could around him, and when my head came to rest on his heart I thought that whatever it was, it was worth fighting for. I just hoped this was the place to do it.





CHAPTER


9


WE were awoken before dawn by the ringing of a bell. Groggy, I dragged myself up, moving through a line to the women’s showers outside the dorms. Then I finally changed into my upholstery “cult attire.” Though it was scratchy, it was clean, and my skin felt shiny and new after so many days tromping through the sand and grass. When we were ready, Will led us to the back entrance of the lodge near the playground and cafeteria.

I could smell breakfast cooking—some kind of meat and more of the bread we’d had before—but the comforting scents couldn’t take away the bad feeling rooting in my gut. The call with Tucker and the news he delivered gnawed at me. We needed to find out more—where he was headed, if they’d heard anything about Truck, and what DeWitt had meant when he said he wanted our help to catch the one ratting out the resistance bases. The other part was still sick about the photo from the rehab hospital, and wanted nothing more than to grab Chase and run.

“You look rested.” DeWitt strode through the cafeteria door appearing the exact opposite of rested; his jaw was rough with stubble and dark rings bruised his eyes. I remembered the quick way he’d dismissed me from his office and was curious how he’d spent the last several hours.

Beside me, Chase crossed his arms over his chest, looking like someone from another time with his strange clothes and damp black hair shagging over his ears. The stoic expression on his face brought his uncle to mind, but when I glanced around, Jesse was nowhere to be found. I was just about to ask Chase about it when I heard Billy say, “Uh-oh.”

I followed where he pointed, to the flock of people moving toward us through the trees a half mile away. As I watched they became too numerous to count—a hundred, then double that. Men and women, some as old as Dr. DeWitt and some younger than me. Their tunics were slightly darker, blending with the earth, but otherwise the only discernible difference between them and the other residents were the rifles, slung from straps across their chests. One figure stood out in the front—an older man with a patch over his eye who looked too frail to belong with the others. Though he walked more slowly than I imagined the rest could, no one passed him.

“Please tell me they’re with you,” said Sean.

Three’s leader nodded behind him to the north wing. “Endurance has a brain.” He pointed to the cafeteria. “A stomach.” The dorms. “A heart.” Then to the playground, where a group of children were playing tag. “And a soul. Our walls make up its bones, and our men make up its muscle.”

“You’ve got an army?” Chase was impressed, and standing beside him, I couldn’t help but feel it, too. A trained army, even a small one, could make a dent in the MM’s momentum. Three had to be planning something important. My mind again turned to the fallen bases, and the attack on Tucker’s team.

“We’ve got people willing to fight,” corrected DeWitt. “Within these gates there is no I.”

Doubt skittered through me. DeWitt had spoken of trust and discretion last night. Maybe we were all on the same team, but he was full of secrets.

The army approached, moving like cats: silent, with smooth, predatory strides. They merged with the other residents, and together observed us with interest.

Sweat dewed on my hairline.

“Endurance,” DeWitt called out. “I give you our newest members. Survivors, like us all. I know you’ll welcome them and teach them our ways.” Silence reigned over the courtyard. DeWitt sighed, as though the sky itself were weighing on his shoulders. “They have confirmed, as we feared, the fall of the safe house.” He waited as the murmurs rose, then faded. “Last night we intercepted a signal from a small team of rebels north of here. It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Virginia has fallen. Reports of how substantial our loss is have yet to be determined. After Knoxville and Chicago, this makes four points hit in the last month.”