Renegades war, p.8
Renegade's War, page 8
“Are we spending the night under the sky?” Blue looked around them and then up at the tree crowns. “What if it rains?”
“Trust me, we’re all set, even if our conditions won’t be luxurious.” Aurelia had to smile at Blue, who looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Can you remember camping?”
“The concept, yes. Personal experience, no.”
Aurelia opened the backpack and removed a thin tarp with eyelets around the edges. A thin rope was threaded through them, and now Aurelia pulled it out in the corners, giving two of the ends to Blue. “Here. Tie them around the two trees on your side, about two feet off the ground. I’ll do the same. This will be our ceiling. I’ll attach my end four feet off the ground. That’ll create a bivouac where potential rain will drain at the back. If it rains hard, we might get a little damp, but not wet.”
Blue nodded. “Okay.”
Aurelia watched Blue tie her first rope, and whether she had been camping before or not, she knew how to make knots that wouldn’t unravel. After they adjusted the tarp to keep it taut, Aurelia opened the backpack again. This time she pulled out two rolls made from a foam material. “Our mats.” She handed them to Blue and found the sleeping bags. As she’d had to bring two, she’d had to settle for the thinner ones, and she hoped the night wouldn’t be too cold.
Blue took the sleeping bags and rolled them out on the mats. “We may be damp and cold, if we’re unlucky,” she said matter-of-factly.
“We’ll live.” Aurelia took out the two thermoses. “We’ll have to replenish again. The tea’s probably not very hot anymore, but we need to keep up our strength. Good thing we have plenty of sandwiches.” Pushing the backpack in under the tarp with her, she sat down on one of the sleeping bags and pulled her legs up. After checking her watch, she nodded to herself. “We made good time, considering two of us were on the bike. If we go to sleep after we eat, we’ll get enough hours of rest.”
Blue checked her watch. “I take it we’ll be up as soon as it’s light enough.” She crawled in under the tarp and sat down on the other sleeping bag, holding her thermos and sandwich.
“Yes. We have to. I have some makeup and a few accessories to help us look the part even more.” Aurelia bit into her sandwich and nearly choked on it at Blue’s look of disbelief.
“You’re joking. Makeup?” Blue had raised her sandwich but now lowered her hand again.
“Clearly just for me, judging from your expression.” Aurelia had to laugh. “I promise I won’t force you to put on mascara or lipstick.”
“That’d be smart.” Blue took a bite of her sandwich and then poured some tea into the mug that served as a lid for the thermos. “Ew. Pretty cold.”
“And still full of good stuff all the same.” Aurelia drank from her mug. “But, I agree, still ew.”
That was when Blue gave one of her rare smiles, broad and bright. She even chuckled. “Told you.”
Aurelia had to stop herself from sticking her tongue out at Blue, who was obviously teasing her, but she crinkled her nose in a way that Dacia or Milton would have recognized as her way of teasing back.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Blue asked after swallowing another bite of her sandwich.
“You can. I can’t promise I’ll answer, though. It depends.”
“Fair enough.” Blue finished the sandwich before she continued. “How do you know Dacia and Milton? I can tell you go way back.”
“That obvious, huh?” Relaxing some, Aurelia smiled. “We’re old schoolmates.”
“From childhood?” Holding onto the mug, Blue wrapped her arms around her pulled-up legs.
“Yes. I was six years old when I met Dacia, and Milton came to our school a year later. We found each other right away and have been each other’s family ever since.” Aurelia didn’t volunteer how excruciating the two years she’d been alone had seemed, being only a little girl, but she could hear how her voice grew soft and wistful. It was bittersweet to think of those early years when the three of them had been far too young, but also so feisty together. The risks they had taken at Jeters had only increased with age. She guessed their escape had been the ultimate gamble.
Blue studied Aurelia for a moment. “Are you talking about one of the boarding schools?”
Clearly, Blue’s fractured memories still made it possible for her to remember the boarding-school system in Klowdyn. “Yes,” Aurelia said. She kept calm, refusing to acknowledge the pent-up rage that always simmered just beneath her skin when she thought of all the children that were taken, no stolen, in Klowdyn and, in her case, Sandslot, to fit in with some political agenda. “I was four when I was enrolled.” That tidbit was ambiguous enough.
“Four?” Blue frowned. “You were sent to a boarding school at four?”
Aurelia knew it wasn’t smart to give away any details, but the four-year-old Aurelia had protected her parents during her kidnapping and wasn’t about to have Blue think her parents didn’t care about her. “I was removed from my home and taken to one of the state-owned facilities.” Her voice stark, Aurelia then downed the last of her cold tea and shoved the thermos back into the backpack. “My parents had no say in the matter.”
“Ah, so you were a secret sibling.” Shaking her head, Blue sighed. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“That makes it sound like I accidentally contracted a disease.” Aurelia raised her chin. “It didn’t happen to me. It was done to me.” What if she did have siblings? What if her parents had had more children after her abduction? A tiny voice she had struggled with many times over the years taunted her by suggesting that her parents had moved on and found new happiness with new children.
“Please. I’m sorry for asking. I didn’t mean to be insensitive,” Blue said and took Aurelia’s free hand. “I’ve learned so much in such a short time from the kids back ho—at the camp.”
Had Blue nearly said “home” and cut herself off? Her heart softening again, Aurelia began to feel as if her emotions insisted on tossing her around lately. Hearing Blue nearly say the word home and then stop herself was shaking Aurelia up considerably. She would have to keep tabs on herself so she wouldn’t give any of her reactions away. Opening the backpack farther, she pulled out a toilet roll and a small garden shovel. “I’ll go shock the deer that roam the woods. Back in a bit.”
Hurrying to another little clearing, Aurelia did her business and dealt with it to cover any traces. This was truly roughing it, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to explain this part in detail to Blue. After all, there were some limits. As she made her way back, she could tell the temperature had gone down and wasn’t tempted to bathe in the nearby lake. Not for the first time, she wished they could make a fire, but it was simply too dangerous. Some of the helicopters patrolling the mountains and the woods around them could detect smoke and heat. It was new technology, but it hadn’t taken the Tallawens long to get the information. Their survival depended on them being one step ahead of the bounty-hunter units. The day the Klowdynian authorities had access to even more fine-tuned cameras that could differentiate between the body heat of a human being and that of an animal, they might be forced to work simply from an urban setting, which was infinitely more dangerous in many ways.
Aurelia walked back to the bivouac and handed the shovel and toilet paper to Blue. “Don’t leave any traces,” she said, feeling stupid.
Merely nodding, Blue bowed out of the shelter and walked in the same direction Aurelia had.
Aurelia removed her boots, climbed into her sleeping bag, and pulled the zipper up to her chin. Placing the boots under the mat, she used the elevation as a pillow of sorts. This was the part of going on missions she loathed. Never spoiled by the finer things in life, since no regular person in Klowdyn was, she admitted to loving the feeling of a soft pillow under her head. Using boots under a mat simply wasn’t enough, but it would have to do. Shivering, Aurelia tugged the sleeping bag closer around her. It was going to be an uncomfortable, miserable night.
* * *
Blue slipped in under the tarp, mindful not to step on Aurelia, who had crawled into her sleeping bag. Dusk was upon them, and it seemed to hit faster than anywhere Blue had ever been. Halting just as she was about to move past Aurelia’s still form, she barely stopped a whimper from breaking free. How the hell could she know about dusk in any other place?
“You all right?” Aurelia murmured from her side of the bivouac.
“Yes. I’m fine. Trying not to step on you. It’s damn dark.” She knew she sounded too animated, but she had to mask this new glimpse of her previous existence. Or were these automatic comparisons merely an echo of how people in general thought and spoke?
Managing to not dig a knee into Aurelia, Blue reached her sleeping bag. She pushed off Mac’s boots and was about to place them at the foot end of the mat, when she felt Aurelia’s hand on her arm.
“Put them under your mat as a pillow. It’s not a perfect solution, but it beats getting a kink in your neck from lying on a hard, flat surface.” Aurelia yawned. “God, that was a long ride.”
“Good idea, and yes, it was.” Blue followed Aurelia’s advice and unzipped her sleeping bag. Crawling inside, she kept all her clothes on, as it felt as if it was getting colder by the minute. “You warm enough?” Blue asked casually.
“I will be.” Aurelia’s voice shivered.
“It’s colder now. I could actually feel the temperature drop as I was heading back from the latrine.” Blue didn’t hesitate. She extended a hand and felt Aurelia’s cheek. “You’re really cold. Did you bring a hat?”
“I thought I did. I’m no fool. It gets cold at night, even at this time of year, and I normally wear a knitted hat when camping.” Aurelia sighed. “I remembered to pack everything for us but that. Are you very cold?” She sounded apologetic.
“Not as cold as you, but that can work to our favor. This type of sleeping bag can be zipped together, right?” Blue sat up and pulled the backpack closer. “Can you dig out the flashlight? Unless you forgot that too.”
“I didn’t.” Aurelia propped herself up on her left elbow and stuck her hand into the large bag. She found the flashlight and gave it to Blue. “What are you thinking?” Sounding cautious, she blinked when Blue turned on the flashlight.
“We have to get warm or we won’t sleep, and if we don’t sleep, we’ll end up being careless from sheer fatigue and jeopardize the mission.” Blue pushed the backpack out of the way and examined the zippers. “As I thought. We should zip our sleeping bags together and share. And before you ask, I have no idea how I know this, but it sounds like common sense and survival 101.”
Aurelia was quiet for a moment, and Blue was certain the stubborn girl would refuse. Getting ready to argue further, she was taken aback as Aurelia merely said, “All right, then.” When she heard Aurelia’s teeth clatter, it took only another second for Blue to realize why. At least she was still shivering.
Unzipping her sleeping bag completely, Blue then did the same with Aurelia’s. “Just stay covered.” Blue worked fast. Finding the ends of the zippers, she managed to merge them and close them almost all the way. She switched off the flashlight, pushed her now-quite-cold feet into the double sleeping bag, and closed the last of the zipper. “There we go. We’ll feel much warmer in a little bit.”
“I t-take your word for it,” Aurelia said. Blue could feel her shiver.
“Come here.” Not giving Aurelia a chance to object, Blue pulled her close with one arm and nudged the lumpy boots in farther under the mat. Aurelia ended up with her head on Blue’s shoulder. Blue wrapped her arms around Aurelia and held her close. An unexpected twitch in the center of her chest made her close her eyes. She loathed the idea that Aurelia was suffering so much from the cold. What if she had insisted on going alone after all? What would have happened here in the forest? If alone and suffering from increasing hypothermia, a person could succumb to the cold.
“Getting a little warmer,” Aurelia whispered. “It’s never been this cold in September before. Usually we get really mild weather this time of year.”
“Feels more like December, if you ask me.” Blue tucked the sleeping bags tighter around them and scooted them both farther down. Now she could pull the top of the sleeping bags over their heads, leaving only their faces exposed. Breathing was good, after all.
“I agree,” Aurelia said and yawned again.
“Go to sleep. We’ll be all right like this.” Blue murmured the words against Aurelia’s hair.
“I’ll try.” Hiding her face against Blue’s neck, Aurelia shifted back and forth, her hands restless.
“What’s wrong?” Blue frowned.
“I want to be on my side, but I can’t get comfortable. My arms are in the way.”
“Ah.” Blue took Aurelia’s right arm and tucked it against her own waist under her jacket. “Can you tuck the other between us?”
Aurelia shifted again and wormed her right arm between them. “Yes. Like this. Much better.”
“May I tuck my hands under your jacket?” Blue asked cautiously. Even if they were clinging to each other to keep warm, they were crossing some unspoken boundaries. She didn’t doubt that Aurelia had been in the same situation before, perhaps with Dacia and Milton. Nobody survived in this part of Klowdyn unless they possessed some serious survival skills. This didn’t just entail a tactical and strategic mind, courage, and perseverance, but also being willing to do what it took. In such a situation nobody allowed feelings of awkwardness to get in the way. Right now, when Blue should focus only on keeping them warm, forbidden thoughts kept surfacing of how amazingly soft Aurelia felt against her and how the slender arm around her waist made Blue feel safer.
“Sure,” Aurelia murmured and pressed her cold nose against the area just below Blue’s right earlobe. “I don’t mind.”
Closing her eyes as she tucked her hands in under Aurelia’s jacket, Blue found enough warmth to start to relax. She pressed her cheeks to the top of Aurelia’s head. Perhaps she’d be able to sleep too.
“You’re so warm.” Aurelia’s voice was barely audible. “I’m glad Dacia told me to take you.” She held on tighter to Blue. “I can be a stubborn idiot at times.”
“I’m glad I’m here too.” Swallowing to combat the surge of emotions that ricocheted like stray bullets in her mind, Blue pressed her lips to Aurelia’s temple. “Just relax and go to sleep.”
As Blue felt herself drift off as well, she wished she knew more about the mission they were on. Perhaps Aurelia would share more details tomorrow.
Aurelia sighed and Blue held her closer, gently rubbing her back under her jacket. Either way, Blue was committed to making sure this woman returned to her friends in one piece. As she closed her eyes, she began to nod off, and faded images floated to the surface. Blue tried to wake up again, but the images mixed with her dream. Unable to assemble any potential clues, she saw a line of men in uniform. They were standing at attention, and she thought she could hear her own voice saying something.
The more she tried to capture the elusive memories, if that was what they were, the more cryptic they became. Before Blue fell asleep, she remembered how she merely stood still and saw something long and narrow rush toward her face. Before it landed, other hands were there, tugging at her. Voices called out, and Blue wanted to respond, but she couldn’t speak.
Somehow, she realized she was dreaming, but that didn’t stop the faces from parading in front of her. When the image of a middle-aged man with white hair and a neatly trimmed mustache appeared, Blue whimpered. She wanted to wake up, but the dream had her in a tight grip. The man was familiar, but she had no idea who he was. She should know, for his name wasn’t buried very deep. His eyes were a pale blue, his hair thick and kept very short. His lapels were adorned with some sort of insignia.
“Who are you?” Blue whispered. “Can’t you tell me? I’m begging you.”
The man merely glared at her and made a dismissive gesture with his gloved hand. At that moment Blue recognized the insignia on them and managed to speak. “Father?”
Chapter Ten
Aurelia knew something was wrong as soon as they boarded the bus. Per usual in Klowdyn, people rarely looked each other in the eyes, but kept to themselves. You never knew who might be an informant, or even an agent for the BHU. The bounty-hunter unit consisted of two branches: the ones in uniform who worked alongside the police and the undercover operatives that could be…anyone. People were so used to moving only within their known circles, they never struck up a conversation with a stranger.
As soon as she and Blue had stepped onto the bus and paid the driver, they’d taken a double seat in the middle of the bus, near the exit door. On the way two men smiled at them, and one even said hello. That just wasn’t done.
“The men,” Blue whispered now, “what was that about? Granted, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but even so…”
“Had it been at night, I would’ve surmised they’re drunk,” Aurelia said, shaking her head. “We may have to get off this bus in the next village and take the next one. We’ll be delayed.”
“Or we could distract them.” Blue had scooted forward in her seat, which put her on the same level as Aurelia. “The way they dress is strange also. Aren’t people around here mostly farmers or factory workers?”
“Yes. At least the ones that take the bus are.” Did Blue realize she’d called Aurelia “the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen”? Amid everything, those words still lingered.
They had woken up in the same position they’d fallen asleep in the joined sleeping bags, stiff and aching, but warm and reasonably well rested. After a quick breakfast with more tepid tea and sandwiches, Aurelia had repacked the backpack. The weapons fit in a padded compartment that wouldn’t fool anyone who knew what to look for, but the rest of the backpack was filled with the rest of their food, some money, and their first-aid kit. They rolled up the tarp, camping mats, and sleeping bags and hid them along with the off-roader. Aurelia wasn’t sure if their proximity during the night had embarrassed Blue, which would be strange since it was her idea, but they hadn’t spoken much as they began walking across the fields to the main road.
