Your One & Only(82)

“I thought it would just be us,” he said to Althea. “I don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I have some ideas.”

A Nyla seized Althea by the arm.

“Come on,” the girl said. “Help us organize our dresses in the wagon.”

Jack scanned the crowd. There were too many Nylas to keep track of. And exactly how many dresses did they think they’d need? None of them had any idea what they were getting into.

In their first real moment of rest, he had a lot to absorb. Jack turned away from the two girls, needing to comprehend what was happening. He started searching through the wagons, realizing how well organized they were. Occasionally someone came over and murmured a soft hello, or simply nodded to him, or even sometimes clapped him on the back. It was beginning to sink in that they really had left their home to go with him. He’d been an outcast for as long as he could remember, and now they were all following him to God knew where.

He climbed into a wagon and was pleased to find many of his books there, stored with his guitar and clothes. He was still poking through the boxes of supplies when Althea came up behind him. He turned toward her with a smile, and then he saw Carson-312.

“No,” he said between clenched teeth. The Samuels and Nylas were one thing, but this? “No way. I don’t want any of the Carsons. Especially not him.”

“Forget it,” Carson said to Althea. “You think I want to deal with him either?”

Carson stalked away, leaving Althea calling after him, but he wouldn’t come back. From the thin purse of her lips, Jack could tell she was suppressing irritation.

“Believe me, I get why you wouldn’t want him here,” she said. “But Carson has no place in Vispera anymore. I think it’s been a long time since he felt as though he did.”

“I don’t care. He’s going back.” They’d ambushed him, waiting until they were a full day’s distance before telling him.

“The people who came with us, they’ve left their homes, their sisters and brothers. Some of them have fractured. I don’t even think all of them know it yet. You don’t understand fracturing, but you must know what it feels like to lose everything. You lost Sam, and your brother.”

“It’s not the same,” Jack said.

“It’s not the same, but it connects you to them. They’re scared and alone. Some of them have never been in a different room from their siblings, and now they’re sleeping on the ground in the jungle, far from everything they’ve ever known. They feel like their hearts are being ripped out. That doesn’t sound familiar to you? I know everyone here is looking at you like you’re in charge, but you’re not. It’s not up to you who leaves and who stays. What is up to you is whether you help these people or not. That includes Carson.”

“He could have killed me.”

“He didn’t.”

“He would have.”

“But he didn’t. He knows what he did was wrong, and that’s something. He helped me escape Vispera before the Binding Ceremony.”

She eyed him crookedly, waiting to see what he’d say. Carson hadn’t gone far. He leaned against a tree, kicking his feet in the dry dirt. It looked like none of his brothers had come.

The air was still, and the heat of the morning had settled into a mild warmth that lingered in the slow-moving clouds. It’d been a good day for traveling, and Jack was feeling safer with each mile they covered. Not all their days would be like this. It was going to be difficult, and Jack had no idea how he was going to manage it, especially now that there were so many of them. Althea might not think he was in charge, but they were all watching him. They were looking at him to lead them. They’d need food, they’d need rest and sleep. The entire Gen-230 Altheas were spreading woven blankets on the ground around the camp. They moved slowly but good-naturedly, maybe because they were the only generation that had left together as a fully intact group. But they were ninety-seven years old. Would he be able to get them over the mountains safely? Could they handle the changing temperatures and rough ground? Could the clones even build a fire? They grew half their food in labs. They seemed so delicate sometimes. How would they survive?

Jack went to the tree where Carson stood with folded arms, grimacing at the activity surrounding him.

They were two feet apart, though neither of them spoke until Jack finally said, “Why do you want to come anyway?”

Carson shrugged, irritated at having to answer questions from Jack. “I don’t know. I don’t feel like I fit anymore.”

“I guess now you know what it feels like.”

Carson shrugged again, and in the other boy’s silence Jack understood that Carson had always known what it felt like not to belong. It was probably why he’d hated Jack so much.

“It’ll be hard,” Jack said. “Everyone’s going to have to work together and help. I won’t let you order anyone around.”

“I know,” Carson said.

Jack grudgingly held out his hand, and Carson shook it. Althea watched them from across the camp, a Nyla by her side.

“I’m keeping my eye on you,” Jack said as Carson gave his hand a terse shake, his grip slightly too hard.

“You too, monkey-boy,” Carson answered.