فصل 22

CHAPTER 22

Alec and Lana were much more cautious during the next part of their journey, stopping every fifteen minutes or so to listen intently, looking for telltale signs of guards or traps, keeping more to the cover of the trees whenever possible.

The sun was sinking, maybe two hours from fully setting, when Alec stopped and had everyone huddle around him. At some point it seemed like the two adults had decided to stop worrying about people keeping their distance from each other. They were all in a small clearing completely surrounded by thick oak trees and towering pines—older ones that hadn’t been completely consumed by the sun flares—standing on dry, brittle undergrowth. The clearing was in a little valley between two midsized hills. Mark was still in a good mood and was curious about what the older man had planned.

“I’ve tried to do this as little as possible,” Alec said, “but it’s time to look at the workpad and make sure my scribbled map is still accurate. Let’s hope my aging brain hasn’t failed us.” “Yes,” Lana added. “Let’s hope we’re not in Canada or Mexico by now.” “Very funny.”

Alec powered on the device and pulled up the maps feature, finding the one that had the Berg’s voyages documented, all the lines converging in one spot. He also retrieved his compass. While everyone else stayed quiet and observed, he spent a minute or so studying the workpad, running his finger this way and that, comparing it to his handwritten copy, pausing every once in a while to close his eyes and think. Mark thought he was probably retracing their path in his mind, trying to match it to what he was reading on the maps. Finally he stood up and turned in a full circle, looking up at the sun, then checking his compass.

“Yep,” he grumbled. “Yep, yep.”

Then he crouched back down and studied the maps for another full minute, making some small changes to the paper version. Mark was getting impatient, mainly worried that the man had concluded they were way off course. But his next words put that to rest.

“Oh, I’m good. Seriously, after all these years, you’d think I would stop amazing myself. But here I am, still doing it.” “Oh, brother,” Lana moaned.

Alec tapped the map just to the left of the spot that marked the center of the Berg routes on the workpad screen. “Unless I’ve got that virus eating my brain and don’t know what I’m talking about, we’re standing right here. Probably five miles from the place this Berg parks every night.” “Are you sure?” Trina asked.

“I know how to read maps and I know how to read the lay of the land. And I know how to read a compass and the sun. All these mountains and hills and valleys may seem exactly the same to your pretty little eyes, but trust me. They aren’t. And look here.” He pointed to a dot on the map. “That’s Asheville, just a few miles east. We’re close. I think the next few days could be very interesting.” Mark had a feeling his good mood wouldn’t last much longer.

They moved about a mile closer, heading deep into one of the thickest areas of woods they’d crossed yet. Alec wanted the cover in case the people they were planning to confront sent canvassers out at night. They settled in, had a quick dinner, then sat around an empty spot in their tight quarters—no fire for fear of being seen. There’d be no chances taken of being discovered so close to the Berg’s headquarters.

So they sat in a circle, staring at each other as the light faded into dusk and the crickets began chirping out in the forest. Mark asked about plans for the next day but Alec insisted they weren’t ready yet. He wanted to think, then talk things through with Lana before laying it out for the others.

“You don’t think we can contribute?” Trina asked.

“Eventually,” he responded gruffly. And that was that.

Trina let out an exaggerated sigh. “Just when you started getting likable again.” “Yeah, well.” He leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. “Now let me use my brain for a while.” Trina looked to Mark for consolation, but he just smiled in return. He’d gotten used to the old bear’s ways a long time ago. Plus, he kind of agreed with him. Mark didn’t know the first thing about what they should do in the morning. How were they going to gather information from a place—and people—they knew nothing about?

“How’re you doing, Deedee?” he asked. The girl was sitting with her legs crossed under her, staring at a spot on the ground. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” She shrugged and gave him a half grin.

He realized she might be worried about her role the next day. “Hey, listen, you don’t need to be scared about tomorrow. There’s no way we’re going to let anything bad happen to you. Okay?” “You promise?”

“I promise.”

Trina leaned over and gave the girl a hug. If there’d been any doubt before that Alec and Lana had given up the battle on people getting close to each other—much less touching—they were washed away. Neither one of them said a word.

“This is all grown-up stuff,” Trina said to the girl. “Don’t you worry, okay? We’ll put you somewhere safe and then all we’re going to do is try to talk to some people. Nothing else. Everything is going to be perfectly fine.” Mark was just about to add to Trina’s words of comfort when he heard a noise off in the distance. It sounded like someone singing.

“Do you hear that?” he whispered.

The others perked up—especially Alec. His eyes snapped open and he sat up straighter.

“What?” Trina asked.

“Listen.” Mark held a finger to his lips and tilted his head toward the distant voice.

It was faint but definitely there. The sound of a woman singing some type of chant, not as far off as he thought at first. Chills ran up his skin—it brought back the memory of Misty singing as she began to succumb to the illness.

“What the hell is that?” Alec whispered.

No one answered; they just kept listening. It was high-pitched and lilting, would almost have been pretty if it didn’t seem so completely out of place. If there really was someone out there singing like that, well … that was just weird. A man joined in, then a few other people, until it sounded like a full-blown chorus.

“What in the world?” Trina asked. “Is there some kind of church out here or what?” Alec leaned forward, a grave look on his face. “I hate to say this, but we need to check that out. I’ll go—you guys stay here and keep quiet. For all I know this is some kind of trap.” “I’ll go with you,” Mark said, almost blurting it out. He couldn’t stand just sitting there. Plus, he was madly curious.

Alec didn’t seem so certain. He looked at Lana and then at Trina.

“What?” Trina asked him. “You don’t think we womenfolk can handle ourselves? You guys go—we’ll be perfectly fine. Won’t we, Deedee?” The little girl didn’t look so well; the singing really seemed to have freaked her out. But she nodded up at Trina and tried her best to smile.

“Okay, then,” Alec said. “Come on, Mark. Let’s go check it out.”

Deedee cleared her throat and held her hands out as if she wanted to say something.

“What is it?” Trina asked her. “Do you know something?”

The girl nodded vigorously, still with a mask of fear, then burst out talking—saying more than she had in all the time since they’d found her. “The people I lived with. It’s them. I know it’s them. They turned weird, started … doing things. Saying trees and plants and animals are magic. They left me because they said I was … evil.” She broke into a whimper on the last word. “Because I got shot and didn’t get sick.” Mark and the others looked at each other—things had just gotten weirder.

“We better take a look, then,” Lana said. “You need to at least make sure they’re far enough away from us, or not heading our way. But be careful!” Alec nodded, seeming anxious to go check it out. He lightly slapped Mark’s shoulder and was about to walk away when Deedee said one last thing.

“Watch out for the ugly man with no ears.”

She leaned into Trina’s shoulder and started sobbing. Mark looked at Alec, who shook his head not to press the girl. He gestured to Mark, and without a word, the two headed out into the forest.