Through Glass(55)

“You are a little hot, aren’t you?” I ignored her, not understanding what she meant.

“Let me see your wrists,” I repeated, steadying the rail as I let my voice rise in octave.

She smiled again, the look more acidic than sweet this time. I didn’t let down my guard, I kept the rail high, pointed right at her face, even though my arms screamed at me to just let it fall to the ground.

“You don’t know,” she whispered, the awe in her voice sounding more like disgust.

“Now,” the word hissed through my teeth, desperation blending into fear that only made the girl smile more, a wicked gleam catching in her eyes and my distrust of her only grew. Ice slithered down my spine and I cringed. I knew, that if I had to fight her I would lose. She was tall, muscular, well fed. Healthy. Whereas I was a skeleton with no obvious training. My head still pulsed, my body ached. One perfectly placed hit and I would be gone.

I could tell by the look in this girl’s eyes that she knew that, too.

She smiled again, this time lifting her arms up, the sleeves of her jacket pulling back just enough that I could see the perfectly untouched skin that circled her wrists.

I felt my tension ease a bit, the fearful pulse that seemed to have become a permanent part of me lessen. It wasn’t enough. I still didn’t trust her. I wasn’t sure I would trust anyone. I didn’t know enough about this new world to find that trust. I no longer trusted the world and I doubted I ever would again.

I tightened my grip on the rail, pulsing it toward her in warning, but the girl only rolled her eyes at me.

“If I was one of them, I couldn’t sit next to the light,” she said simply, her arms back to her sides.

She was right. I had seen the monster turn to ash before, I had seen Sarah panic over the lights. That is one rule I knew was right. She was human; the first I had seen since Cohen. One of the survivors I had been so intent on finding. They were there.

I wanted to rejoice, to cry, to run and defeat the monsters so that no one had to die in vain. But I couldn’t move, I couldn’t trust her or anyone. If the writing on the wall as well as the experience with Sarah had taught me anything, it was that the world had changed.

“Stay in the light,” I repeated to myself, my voice deep and grumbly.

“You know the charter, I knew you weren’t completely hot.”

She smiled again, the same angry ice sliding through my insides.

“It’s a good thing, too, I would hate to have to kill you.”

Her eyes had changed, dark and cold. Not like those of the Ulama, like those of a human; a human who had seen too much and killed too many. I am sure I had the same look in my eyes now. My arm slowly dropped at the realization, the rail hitting the linoleum floor with a deep clang.

“I’m Bridget,” she said simply, the cold ice behind her eyes evaporating as quickly as it had come.

“Lex.”





I couldn’t take my eyes away from the girl who sat across the fire from me. She wasn’t looking at me anymore and the crazed darkness had gone from her eyes some time ago, but still, merely being close to her made me uncomfortable or excited. I wasn’t sure which.

Right now, the desire to run was too strong for me to know for sure. I wanted to grab the burning stick right in front of me and take off into the darkness of the grocery store, but I knew I wouldn’t get very far. My head still spun and ached and I was sure she had my lighter. I needed the lighter if I wanted to survive.

Even if I didn’t, I couldn’t pull myself away. The girl was human, un-cut. She was safe, even with all the danger and uncertainty that surrounded her; she wasn’t going to erupt into a monster at any moment. That fact gave me the biggest reason to stay. She was what I was searching for.

“Azul wasn’t expecting anyone, as I said,” Bridget began, her mind preoccupied on the cans in her hands, “but we are still glad to have you. We are going to need all the fire power we can get if we don’t want to go hot.”

I stared at her as she held the tin cans to her ears, shaking and tapping them.

“Everyone else should be coming in the next four weeks, twenty from VanTassel, fourteen from Sawyer and probably around ten from Quimby.”

I perked up at her words, recognizing family names from literary characters automatically, the familiar names ringing true, but not understanding what they meant. I could tell they were code for something, although exactly what was lost to me.

“Azul wants to clear out the main compound in about a month, so the more stable people we have the better. If we have too many hot ones they will turn on us before we get in half way and then we will all be dead.” She looked up at me and smiled before turning back to her cans.

I stared at her, trying to figure out what to say, but not even knowing where to begin. I wasn’t even clear about what she was talking about in the first place. I wanted to know what she was doing, where she had come from, what ‘hot’ and Azul meant. I felt each question on the tip of my tongue, yet they didn’t tumble out. They stayed there while I stared at her, heavy and uncomfortable as they floated around in my mouth like rotten food. Try as I might, nothing came. I could still see the darkness in her eyes and the untrusting part of myself had won out, leaving a scowl to take over my features.

Scowl at her over ask questions, it seemed more fitting considering our situation.