The Wanted

Nafari kept storming towards the gates, dragging me with him, blaming me for slowing him down.

By the time we were at the gate, the guns hung slack across the guard’s stomachs and the looks of puzzlement and almost apology on their faces had me struggling not to laugh.

“Are you going to let me in or what?” Nafari asked, his tone so convincing and demanding.

The guard paused under the lights. We stood still for so long that they turned off. When he moved to get his keycard, the lights clicked back on.

I kept my head bowed, my eyes narrowed.

“Wait,” the guard paused, flipping the card over in his fingers. He pulled a sca

Nafari rolled his large eyes and stuck his wrist out. The barcode was there, but a thick, red line ran across it, making it unreadable. I took a deep breath. This was it. We were going to be gu

The guard stared down at the red mark, his sca

“What’s taking so long, man? I’m cold and I’ve got a drink with my name on it waiting for me inside,” the other guard snapped, jumping from leg to leg and rubbing his arms.

The guard holding the sca

The iron gates opened with a creak, and we were inside. Walking fast, but not too fast. Once we were out of sight, Nafari pulled me into a gap between two buildings and pressed me against a wall.

“What the hell…?” I started to ask. I had so many questions that I didn’t know where to start.

“Sh!” Nafari gri

“But… how?”

“Let’s just say, our resistance has a few officials in its pockets,” he whispered, his voice whistling, his face slanted in shadow.

I swiped my forehead with my shaky hand. “I can’t believe it. Nothing like that would ever happen in Pau. I was sure we were going to be shot!”

I took a wobbly breath. Palma was more than just a little different.

He nodded, I think. His teeth moved in the dark anyway.

“I think they’re getting just as tired of fighting us as we are of fighting them. We threw cans, they took them away. We threw bottles, so they took them too. If all we’d had was the spit on our tongues, that’s what we’d throw.” I watched his dark lips pass over his teeth and listened to a true rebel. “Now we are forced to scavenge for food because they keep taking every potential weapon from our hands before we even use them. Our biggest problem has been access to decent weapons and large enough explosives. This,” Nafari said, patting the bomb in his pack, “will change everything. Come on.” He pulled me away from the alley and into the main street.

“Where are we going?” I gasped, my heart galloping with excitement.

“To place the videodisc.”

ALEXEI

The decking creaked underfoot as I reached out and pulled down a handful of evergreen. Crushing the needles in my hand, I lifted them to my nose.

Apella, darling, we wanted this life. And now I had to live it without her. It seemed… unfair, sometimes… empty.

Apparently, this place used to be a ‘ski chalet’. An old chair lift hangs overhead, frozen in time. It boggled my mind to think of the lives people led before, both fascinating and frightening.

Faded pictures of families long gone hung on the timber walls. Dressed in shiny suits and holding black sticks in their hands. I missed my reader. You’d understand. To me, it was like an appendage. I remembered ‘skiing’ from the archives. People would shoot down snow-covered hills wearing long shoes. It looked terribly dangerous.

Two very different pairs of arms wrapped around my legs. I felt joy. Joy and then guilt. I didn’t want to move on. But these boys, these beautiful children, they forced you whether you wanted to or not.

I bent down and opened my hand. “Smell this.”

Hessa pushed his whole nose into the pine, green bits sticking to his chubby face. “Mmm.”

But Orry, he had so much of his mother in him. He stood back, looked up at me with those incredible eyes, and squinted suspiciously. I moved closer. “It’s ok, Orry. It’s safe.”

He poked it with his finger, swirled it around in my palm, and lifted his own finger to his nose. I couldn’t tell if he liked the smell or not; he didn’t smile or react. Hessa tried to pull on Orry’s arm. Orry shrieked, but then he laughed. They tumbled about on the deck play fighting. They can laugh. I was so glad that after everything they’d been through, they could still laugh. But they needed their parents.

I need you, darling, but I’m coping. I knew my role, and I was doing my best to fulfill it.

Orry shouted, and I heard crunching in the snow. I knew it couldn’t be them, but I always hoped.

“Reeeeen, reeeen!” Hessa waved frantically at Careen as she marched up the hill, three birds slung over her shoulder.

I tell them about you every day. I tell them about Rosa, Joseph, and Deshi every day too. Our adopted family. My biggest fear was that they would forget them. I wasn’t so worried about Orry. But Hessa hadn’t seen Deshi in more than six months. There was a time when I would have done anything to be called Father or Dada. Now, I dreaded it. I bowed my head in silent prayer.

I had to believe they would come for us.

Careen climbed the stairs and threw her prey on the deck. She pulled up a chair, selected a bird, and began plucking the feathers. I cringed a little at her ruthless efficiency when it came to butchering. But then, she’d kept us well fed this past month. I took the boys inside to spare them the gore.

Careen blinked up at me, her hood falling down to reveal her sad eyes. “Any change?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, no, he’s not worse, but he’s not getting any better. He’s…”

She put her hand up to silence me. I stopped talking and ushered the boys inside.

I kneeled down to them and said, “Who wants to help me turn the lights out and light the candles?”

They jumped up and down and followed me, giggling and jostling each other, playing with the switches. We only had a small amount of solar power we could use every day.

I moved to the bedroom door and knocked. No answer. I turned. “Boys stay here.” They nodded and ran to play on the stairs.

Pietre lay so very still. I dipped my head down just to check he was breathing. He was, barely.

I’m praying to you, Rosa. I know you’re the one I need to count on, the one that’s so stubborn, strong, and willful that you’ll get here.

We need you.

ROSA

I don’t know this girl. This girl is younger, stupider… she’s losing her grip on what she’s learned like a kite not tied to its spool. The string unwittingly unraveling as the colorful cloth gets caught in the wind and soars into a cold, blank sky.

Torture was over for the day, but was I in for more?

Denis closed the door and leaned his back against it, locking it with a swift flick of his fingers behind him. I drew a sharp breath as I started to worry that this had been a trick. I was an idiot to fall for the line. He’d just wanted me to threaten Grant, catch me out. Then I’d be thrown into a real prison. Not this pretty cage. Not that it mattered—the containment, the lack of freedom was the same. I was a bird clipped of her wings wherever they put me. I imagined bars and grime, placing my hand to my throat. No, they would just kill me.