Facing south the drifts.., p.15
Facing South (The Drifts, #2), page 15
My head is pounding, and when I touch where Grayson hit me, I already feel a lump forming. I want to know who framed me – maybe Neil – and why they would want to come after me. I’ve tried not to cause any trouble. I’ve tried staying out of the spotlight – not that I’ve been successful. Thankfully for me, everyone’s eyes will be on Grayson until someone else starts pulling stunts like him.
Yanking me out of my thoughts, I notice a puddle of dark red on the floor beside Neil’s bunk. Red droplets fall every other second into the pool. I follow where they’re falling from and find a gash in Neil’s neck.
I jump out of bed, feeling dizzy at first, but I push past it and press two fingers against Neil’s neck, some of his blood making its way around my fingers. I ignore it. I don’t feel a pulse. Then I touch the clean side of the recruit’s face. He’s cold – been dead for hours. The mattress underneath him is soaked with his blood, and his skin is so pale it blends with the fading white around his mattress.
“Who did this?” I ask, accidentally drawing unwanted attention toward myself. I’m ignored by some, but most people look toward me, many finding what I’m referring to on their own. Several get up and come over for a closer look, but everyone else doesn’t seem to care. I assume they’ve seen enough death not to be fazed by this.
I’m attacked and not long after, the guy in the bunk beside me is killed and no one even noticed?
Then I get to thinking harder. Is it just a coincidence that I get knocked out in time for Neil to secretly be murdered? Is it also a coincidence that our working doctor is killed just after another doctor comes into our camp? And a coincidence that Kellen tried ending Neil’s life before, but I was the one to stop him?
I don’t even bother wondering why an actual doctor is in a fighting camp instead of trapped in a building somewhere for intellectual and strategical work. I glance around the room until I find Kellen. He’s already looking at me. I can tell by the way he’s watching me that he already knows I suspect him, and when I see the spark in his eyes, I don’t just suspect anymore, I know.
A few people push past me, pulling the sheet off Neil’s corpse. At first, I’m surprised they care enough to check his pulse, but I quickly realize what they’re actually doing. Someone takes his shoes, while two or three others begin fighting over his shirt. The sheet has disappeared from the floor. Someone still wants it, damp with blood.
I step away from the craze, away from the bunks, past the table, closer to one of the boarded-up windows, wishing I could stare out and get a good view of anything other than this cell.
It’s not long after when someone approaches me.
“I’m sorry about that.” It’s Kellen. I don’t bother looking at him. “How’s your head?”
This time, I turn to face him only a couple feet from me. “You’re sorry?” I raise an eyebrow. “You knew this would happen. You’re not sorry.”
“Well, I feel kind of bad.” He shrugs. “Does that suffice?”
“What? No. Grayson could’ve killed me. You didn’t even say anything.”
“But here you are. Just a little bruise there.” Kellen reaches up, and I step back, adding an extra foot of space between us. “Relax,” he chuckles. “I’m not going to touch it. I was just pointing it out.”
“Yeah, because I’m sure it’s real hard to see. And it’s not like I can’t feel it or anything.”
Kellen looks toward the chaos by Neil’s bunk. “He needed to go. Besides, we have another doctor now. An actual one. That should make you chill out.” He looks at me again. “Maybe ask him if you’ve got a concussion?” He’s joking, I think.
“This isn’t a big deal. I’ve been hit harder.”
“Than by Goliath?”
Instead of saying anything, I just roll my eyes.
“C’mon. You’re a very light sleeper. More so than anyone else, and you’re right next to that asshole’s bunk. If I didn’t find a way to make sure you were out, you’d stop me, or make a scene so I couldn’t kill him quietly.”
“That’s no excuse. You stole that necklace, planted it, and watched him attack me.”
“Well, if I knocked you out myself, people would look at me differently.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I’m the only one who saw you shoot John in the back.”
“He was a dick,” Kellen quickly defends himself. “And he went after you once for your food or something, right? So I don’t get why you care so much.”
“I don’t. I’m just saying I know what kind of person you are.”
“Yeah? And what kind of person am I?” he asks inquisitively.
“Someone who doesn’t care what’s got to be done in order to survive. Sure, I’ve seen you kill two jerks, so oh well. But it wouldn’t surprise me if you killed someone random simply because they were in your way.”
Kellen gives one of his smirks. “And if it took you killing me to get closer to your sister, you wouldn’t take the shot?”
I don’t say a word. He’s got me, and he knows it.
“Guess we’re not so different.”
I want to disagree, but I realize I can’t. “Whatever. At least you didn’t leave me on the floor.”
He makes a face. “That wasn’t me. Casper helped ya out there.”
I look over my shoulder, finding the recruit sitting at the far end of the table having a discussion with Joel and Skylar.
“I did make sure Grayson knew that killing someone gets you lashed, though,” Kellen says.
“Wow,” I reply sarcastically. “You really came through for me.” Then I notice how calm and collected Kellen still is. “You’re not one bit worried about getting lashed, are you? Or about me knowing.”
He shakes his head. “I’m pretty sure no one saw me do it,” he replies. “As far as I know, you’re the only one who knows. I don’t think it bothers you enough to tell, and besides, I doubt you’d risk being a snitch, anyway, even for a reward.”
“And if anyone else saw you?”
“Then maybe they’ll tell, maybe they won’t.” He pauses. “I don’t think they’d lash me too hard, though. Wouldn’t want an awesome fighter like me unable to fight for too long.” He gives himself too much credit, I think.
“How does it feel being a teacher’s pet?”
An ear-to-ear grin appears on his face, and he doesn’t even try hiding it. “Feels pretty damn great.”
“Good to know.” I’m ready to go back to my bunk now that the crowd around Neil has dispersed, leaving his corpse with what appears to be just about nothing.
“Hey, look a little happier,” Kellen tells me before I make my way back. “First of all, the way you are on missions, you might be up here with me someday.”
I don’t let him get to his possible next point before mentioning, “I had to be saved several times my mission before last.”
“Happens to everyone. I’ve seen you out there. You know survival.” He stops, maybe waiting for me to say something more, but I don’t, so he goes on instead, “Secondly, you should be glad you don’t have to sleep so close to someone who hated your guts. Just saying. Maybe I saved you from turning out like that.” He gestures with his chin toward the bloody bottom bunk.
Again, stopping me from going back to my bunk, I hear the lock on the cell door, and everyone goes quiet. The closest recruits to the body all take an extra step back from Neil’s bunk.
A couple guards step in, carrying boxes of cans and bottles. Dalton comes in behind them, and I can tell by his expression that he knows something isn’t right. He scans the room until his eyes fall on the blood spots around the pale body.
“Who did it?” Dalton simply asks, and then gives a nod toward the body. One guard behind him walks in, and without any hassle, takes the body without any care and hulls it over a shoulder. He takes the corpse out of the cell, disappearing around a corner of the hallway.
I wonder what they’ll do with Neil’s body. Probably burn him. Then again, I’m not sure if they’ll take the time for that. It wouldn’t surprise me if they leave him out in the woods somewhere for animals. That’s all they did for Anne when we lost her several missions ago. And John. They didn’t bother to move them.
“No one saw?” Dalton tries again.
I look around, hoping I’m not being too obvious; hoping no one catches the knowingness in my eyes, but I realize everyone else is looking around, too. I guess nobody knows Kellen did it, or if they do know, maybe they’re too afraid to say anything.
Dalton, his hands loosely held behind his back, walks around the room.
“Not one person knows how that recruit was killed?” His voice is angrier than during his first two attempts. “It could be you next.” Still, no one says a word. Everyone is steady searching, trying to find someone with guilty eyes, and I just hope no one mistakes the nervous certainty in mine for guilt.
My heart pounds, trying to release itself from its cage. Dalton stands only several inches taller than me, but it feels as if he’s looming high above me. I hate the way his eyes are blaming me. He knows I’m aware of something. He must see it in my eyes.
“Look at me, recruit,” he orders.
I look up at him, feeling my insides burning. I want nothing more than to lash out at him and the rest of the guards in here, run out of this place, and get away from Camp Delta. But I stay put and I stay still, glaring at him.
“Did you kill him?” he asks me.
I shake my head.
“Are you sure?” His eyes move downward until they meet my hands. I look, too, and the rage building up in my body goes cold.
Blood.
My eyes shoot back up to his already watching mine. I don’t try to hide the fear this time. It’s a different type of fear. He’s thinking he’s caught the killer. “I didn’t do it.” Everything inside me screams to give him the true killer. Give up Kellen. But is it worth being a snitch? I’ll have a bigger target on my back. Maybe Kellen will want to get rid of me if I rat him out. And will Dalton even believe me? “I didn’t do it,” I repeat, forgetting that I already said that out loud, and that it’s not just the constant I didn’t do it going on in my head.
“What’s the blood from?” Dalton asks calmly, making my desperate attempts at trying to voice my innocence seem more frantic.
“I’m in the bunk next to him–”
“So, it’s that much easier to have killed him without anyone noticing.”
“No!” I take a deep breath. Yelling at the camp leader isn’t going to help my situation. “No,” I try again, calmer this time. “I woke up to his blood, then I checked his pulse.”
“That’s your story?”
“Maybe if you didn’t pull his body out of here before checking it over, you could’ve seen my fingerprints in the blood on his neck.” I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but it feels better than saying nothing.
Dalton looks extremely deep in thought for a moment. His mouth opens, I’m sure about to reprimand me for my uncontrolled attitude. My insides tense, wondering if he’ll have me whipped for my rudeness.
But before he speaks, Kellen chimes in, “She’s telling the truth. I saw her check his pulse.”
Dalton studies Kellen for a moment, then looks around the room. “Anyone else see her check his pulse?”
I scan the recruits, too. Most people stay still, I assume trying not to grab his attention in any way. But there is a small handful of people sprinkled throughout the crowd that nods. I notice Casper, Skylar, Joel, and Lisa making up the majority of my rescuers. And for a moment I relax. It’s been a very long time since anyone other than Natalie has tried to help me without a selfish reason behind it.
“Well, then,” Dalton looks back at me. “I guess you won’t have any punishment waiting for you.” He turns on his heel and walks out of the cell. “I didn’t get my answer. They don’t get their food,” he says without turning around. The two guards holding the boxes leave behind him. Then the door is shut and locked.
“No food? No water?” I say as the recruits start frantically talking amongst themselves again. They’re probably going on about how if they just went along with me being the killer, they could’ve gotten their food.
“Close one, huh?” Kellen comments.
I turn to face him, my eyes piercing into his, wishing I could knock him down.
“You don’t look like someone who just dodged a lashing.” I can’t tell if he’s joking or being serious.
“What are you talking about? The only thing I did was keep Neil alive for a little longer. I almost got scars engraved in my back by a freaking whip for something I didn’t even do. And now everyone is looking at me like I’m the one who left them without food and water. Also, I don’t get to eat or drink, either.” I haven’t looked at anyone, but I imagine them blaming me for their starvation and becoming parched.
“You don’t strike me as the type to care what others think,” Kellen replies coolly, his tone suggesting everything is okay in the world.
“Right, but when it might make me next on the chopping block, it matters.”
He puts a hand up to block his mouth from anyone else’s view like he’s getting ready to tell a secret. “It’s my chopping block. I killed Neil.”
I smack his hand away. “There are other killers in here, dumbass.”
His brow rises, and I hate how he’s acting like all this is one giant joke. “I helped you out, Kendra.”
“How? Because you said you saw me check his pulse when you probably didn’t? No, you helped yourself out,” I tell him. “You were afraid I would give you up. Sure, I’d be a snitch, but one without lashes.”
“So, you were going to give me up?”
“I hadn’t decided,” I tell him.
“You okay?” someone says behind me. Casper joins us. He’s looking at me.
“I’m fine,” I blurt out.
“Do you know who did it?”
“No clue,” Kellen says.
I give a shrug, following in suit. I almost want to tell Casper just so I have some insurance that Kellen won’t kill me to keep me quiet. But there are consequences to telling and consequences to keeping the secret.
Kellen gives Casper a pat on the back. “Talk later,” he says, and I figure he’s just trying to get away before Casper asks a question that gives Kellen up. The smug recruit walks away, leaving me with the questions he must figure I’ll handle.
“Thanks for putting me in bed after Grayson knocked me out,” I tell Casper.
He seems surprised I know it was him who moved me while I was unconscious. “I wasn’t going to leave you on the floor.” He glances to the left – toward Grayson’s bunk or toward mine or toward the pool of Neil’s blood. “You know, you could’ve said you were knocked out the whole night. Every single person could say they saw that.”
“But that would raise a bunch of other issues.”
“Good thing no one thinks you did it. You were unconscious and everyone knows that for a fact.”
“Still, they could’ve used me as a scapegoat and had their food.”
Casper shrugs. “Oh, well. I don’t mind starving a little bit longer so you don’t get hurt.”
I force a half smile.
“There’s good news, though.”
“Like what? That Neil’s dead?”
“Better news than that, I think,” he replies. “No missions until next time we eat.”
“How do you know?”
“They may be jerks, but Dalton isn’t going to let us go without food and water right before a mission. We’d be too weak to have any value to the Alliance,” Casper explains. “We’ll get boxes, and then we’ll have another mission.”
My relief is quickly interrupted by the remembrance of my plan. Next mission I’m on, I’m getting out of this place. Now I know there’s no chance it’ll be tomorrow.
“You don’t look happy about that,” he notices. “What’s so wrong with being assured another day or two of life?”
“No one is assured anything,” I quickly reply. “Take Neil for instance.”
“Okay, sure, but none of us has to go into battle. You look the opposite of how I thought you would.” Casper pauses, fitting the pieces together. “Unless you want to go on a mission.” His voice quiets and I know he’s got me figured out, “You’re going to try to escape next time, aren’t you?”
“Quit it with all this escape talk,” I whisper back.
“I told you, I’m in. Let’s plan something.”
“No,” I tell him sternly. “It’s stupid. It’s not happening. The only reason I want to go on a mission is so that I don’t have to be stuck in here all day. Being trapped in some cell with a bunch of random people. It gets old.”
“It’s like you don’t think any of us have been out there experiencing what you have just because we were in here before you. I know what it’s like, and it’s much easier to stay alive in here than out there.”
“Trapped?”
“Well, no. I don’t like being in here. Maybe if there was a place out there where I could feel safe, I’d be fine.”
“You confuse me.” I shake my head. “You’re talking about escape, and then switch to wanting to stay here.”
“No. I’m saying I want out. I’m just afraid of what’s out there when you’ve got no place to go. There are ups and downs to everything. The way I’ve talked myself into not thinking Camp Delta is the terror that it is up ‘til now is by knowing this cell sucks, but at least it’s four walls around a bed.”
“And sleeping by killers and thieves.”
“Okay, right. I feel like you’ve got something figured out. You’d be able to find someplace safe enough out there.”
“I wouldn’t use the word safe in describing anything on this planet, unless it follows the word not.”
There’s some silence between us for a moment. Casper looks like he wants to say something, but he never speaks up. I juggle between the thought that maybe I can trust him and the danger of how my experience trusting anyone ends badly every time.
