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I slowed my pace and looked at her Shadows fell across her face and mixed with the bruises and dirt “No”
“We’ll cover round that way—”
I slashed a hand through the air “It’s too risky with the young”
“Shouldn’t be taking them anyway,” she said under her breath
I clenched my teeth Bravo’s protest wasn’t unexpected or unappreciated, but I was holding firm Blue was Type AB+; if the Troika took her, she’d be toast Mica was A+ but he was big for his age and sturdy He’d be put in a labor ca aTroika officer
“Keep them between us I’ll take the back—you at the front They can scavenge for berries and grubs while we stalk If we’re fast, we can finish before full dark”
Camp rules—the ones I’d written irl and boy must be inside the cave at full dark or they’d be locked out No exceptions At night the Troika’s patrols scoured the countryside for rebel ca closer and closer to our location over the last few days
Knowing that, I wouldn’t norht, but ere desperate for food Nighttis who caht When the sun went down, the world became a buffet—rabbits, raccoons, opossums Now that most humans were kept behind razor wire and brick, animal populations had exploded, which should have s for
us But the Troika had recently stepped up its caun poisoning rodent dens We’d lost three froured out the cause
Recent rains made the air sweet and thick Wet leavesthe untrained feet of the youngs Blue and Mica scurried like ht eyes were alert for s strapped across their chests Bravo led the way, her bow at the ready I brought up the rear We had told the youngsfor Troika patrols
The sun was still above the horizon, but I knew better than to relax The vamps didn’t need full dark to cliy to the sun weakened the as a nore any ultraviolet discomfort
Bravo’s fist shot up into the air Everyone froze My ears strained against the oppressive silence Was that my heartbeat or the patter of tiny feet on the forest floor? Hunting had never been h after a bo the war But Bravo’s ears were as good as any of the night scavengers we hunted And whatever she’d just heard ood, because her stiff form practically vibrated with excitement Slowly, so as not to make any noise, she lifted both hands to her head and spread her fingers out to mimic antlers
My chest tightened with hope A single deer—even a fawn—could feed us for a long tiht we could even dry out some of the meat, which would coround The cautious part of me wondered if I should warn her that we’d have trouble carrying the deer back with just the two of us and the youngs But saliva was already pooling in ht of roasted venison for supper
I touched Mica’s shoulder and ed on Blue’s arer to my lips to remind them to be absolutely still Bravo slowly reht steps to get into position
I scanned the tree line for movement Raindrops from the earlier stor branches My pulse throbbed behind my eyeballs But then…there Was it? Yes The faintest blur of fawn against a green branch The edge of an antler scraping a trunk I sreen perfume of the forest
I’d lost visual of Bravo She blended into the green-and-brown mosaic as if she’d shape-shifted into a tree herself I held my breath Any moment she’d—
The arro like a h the trees with barely a sound The deer cried and took off through the forest, but not before I saw the blood blooht red spot of hope forwith Bravo in the lead Fortunately, the deer didn’t make it too far before Bravo’s well-aiave way to a thud as its body dropped to the ground Bravo’s whooping victory cry filled the air as she burst through the foliage to the clearing where the deer fell
Over e branches—as tall as me”
They sca and I went to join Bravo She stood over the twitching body like the general of a victorious ars”
She thrust her chin in the air “And queens”
The deer kicked high one final time and cried out, this time in total surrender Its body went still in the da ore on a patch of moss—arroere too valuable to waste
The youngs returned, dragging two long branches behind the ot busy lashing the deer’s legs to the branches, I took the girl farther into the forest to scavenge for side dishes for our feast
I took a deep breath of the clean air This was the first excuse I’d had to be optimistic in weeks,supplies to ot the deer dressed and the supplies wrapped up for travel, we’d host towns and find adequate shelter for the snow season I knew of tithin a ten-mile radius that had plenty of shelters we could use The trick was finding one that allowed us to hide during the nightly Troika raids Shouldn’t bethe cave we currently used
I’d heard stories about soe in the old subway tunnels of the larger cities I always shook my head when I heard of those fools Why would anyone trap themselves in a tunnel without access to the plentiful supplies nature could provide—food, water, shelter, medicine? But I already knew the answer