Horde (Razorland #3)(41)

“Dr. Wilson said you’d be willing to put us up for the night.”

“Did he now? Then I’d better not make a liar out of the old goat. Come on in. I’m Laurel, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

Inside, her home was cheerful, decorated with cushions in colorful fabrics. The furniture was old and battered, however, which told me they didn’t have many skilled woodworkers in Winterville. She waited for us to take a seat, then said, “What are you offering for a night’s lodging?”

“News,” I said.

By her expression, I’d surprised her. “If you don’t find what I know useful or interesting, we’ll camp outside. No harm done.”

The woman nodded. “That sounds fair.”

Quietly I summarized the sacking of Salvation, the gathering horde, and the unrest in Soldier’s Pond. Then I finished with “I realize you have the treatment that’s supposed to keep the Muties away, and so far it’s working, but that’s not exactly a permanent solution.”

“No,” she said shakily. “It’s not. There are those in town who will prize this information highly, so I can use it as leverage.”

I didn’t ask what she meant by that. “Is it enough for you to put us up for the night?”

“I’ll throw in soup for each of you,” she said. “Let me show you to your room.”

Fade and I were tired enough that we went straight to sleep and only roused when she knocked much later to tell us it was time for the evening meal. We ate quickly, then retired once more. I felt like a miser, hoarding sleep, because it would certainly be scarce on the return trip.

In the morning, Laurel packed us some bread for the road. I hesitated, as I hadn’t discussed this idea with Fade, but it seemed right to me. So in parting I said, “Will you let the men in town know we’re raising an army in Soldier’s Pond? Anyone who wants to enlist should make his way there and can march with us. There’s no way around it—we have to fight.”

If the men thought I meant the colonel, well, that wasn’t my fault. A flickering look from Fade told me he’d caught the slight deception, but he didn’t say anything.

Laurel nodded. “A few might make the journey. We’re not warriors by and large.”

“That’s all we could ask.”

Since we’d slept almost a full day and eaten well, the return trip went smoother. Freaks still prowled in our wake, but we outran them and in some circumstances outsmarted them. It took us two and a half days of constant running with only short breaks for food and rest. I didn’t sleep more than three hours at a stretch until I saw the barbed metal fencing glimmer in the morning sunshine.

“We made it,” I said to Fade, pushing out an exhausted breath.

I slowed to a walk then as the shout went up from the sentries not to shoot us. Reassuring. Freak corpses lay at irregular intervals outside the perimeter. So a hunting party had tested the defenses here at Soldier’s Pond while we were gone; they’d fared poorly too, but it wouldn’t be long before others came in search of their lost brethren. I foresaw a repeat of what happened in Salvation, though these warriors could withstand a longer siege.

As we approached, they neutralized the defenses long enough for us to enter. Fade quickened his step, no doubt eager to have this errand done. I agreed with him. But we didn’t get to the colonel before Tegan found us. And I had never seen her so angry.

“You left me!” she shouted, then she hauled off and hit me.

I was so stunned that I didn’t even try to block the blow, so she punched me square in the nose. The resultant crunch hurt like the devil, blood trailed down over my upper lip and into my mouth. Gaping at her, I scrambled in my bag for a scrap of cloth to blot it up.


“You’ve been training,” I said.

“Not really.” By her shocked expression, she hadn’t expected her strike to land, and now she was looking faintly horrified by her own violence. But Tegan didn’t let it sidetrack her from her grievance. “I can’t believe after everything we’ve been through, you just took off and didn’t tell me. Do you have any clue how worried we were?”

“I was coming back,” I said guiltily.

“We didn’t know that! Your mother has been crying off and on for two days. Two days! What’s the matter with you? Don’t you understand how much the Oakses love you? If the Tuttles had survived, there’s no way I would … would ever—” And then Tegan broke down, tears trickling down her cheeks.

I hugged her because I didn’t know what else to do and whispered, “I’m sorry. I am.”

“Don’t tell me. Tell Momma Oaks and Edmund and Rex.” Tegan speared Fade with a hard stare next. “And you. I’d think you would know better. Deuce has all the natural instincts of a wild partridge but you had a family once. Why did you let her do this?”

He shuffled, and it kind of delighted me to see him so nonplused. Finally he mumbled, “You try stopping her from doing something once her mind is made up.”

By rights he could’ve blamed the colonel, who was behind all of this. It was to his credit that he just accepted her anger without excuses. We had hurt the people who cared about us, and it didn’t matter why. Time to make amends. The colonel could wait.

It took two hours of eating, explanation, and constant apology before we were forgiven. In the end, I think my family was just so glad to see me back and alive that they couldn’t hold on to the anger. Plus, when Momma Oaks saw my swollen nose and two black eyes, her maternal sympathy got the best of her. She fussed at Tegan for picking on me, which I found hilarious.