SAFE (8 page)

I
grabbed the boots and replaced them with my ankle-high shoes; a goofy looking balancing
act being the only thing keeping me from falling in the mud while I stood on
top of my old shoes putting the new ones on.

“And
you. Really? Throw this shirt on, muscle man.” Lucan tossed a long-sleeved
shirt to James. “You’re gonna need it. It’s only getting colder.”

James
hesitated before taking the gun off his back and slipping the dark shirt over
his head.

“Okay,
now follow me,” Lucan said.

 James’
arm blocked my path. “Hold on. You never said anything about coming with us.”

“Look,”
Lucan said. “I’ll help you get through the perimeter, but only if I can come
with.”

“That
wasn’t the deal.” James’ voice raised, no longer a small whisper.

“Okay,
fine then. Take your chances and give me the glasses back.” Lucan held out his
hand.

I
jumped into the conversation, not wanting to lose our only guide. “We need him,
just let him come. He’s harmless,” I said. Plus, Lucan’s joking demeanor was
hard not to like and a small part of me admitted he wasn’t bad looking either.

“Why
should we trust you?” James asked.

“You
don’t have to trust me. But I’m your only option.”

James
crossed his arms. “Are you sure you can get us over the perimeter?”

“Positive,”
Lucan replied.

“Fine
then. If this is a trap of any sort, I swear I’ll kill you first.” James meant
every word and for Lucan’s sake, I really hoped this wasn’t a trap.

“Great!
Now let’s get out of here before we get caught. If my mom finds out I left—” Lucan
continued with his yammering, completely ignoring James’ fatal warning and started
walking further through the slimy swamp. I followed in the middle, Lucan in
front of me, and James behind me.

Eventually,
the majority of rain stopped, though it was still misty. Large leaves from overhead
had gathered rain, and they streamed down sporadically around us. A fog floated
amidst the weeds as we trudged, and steam radiated from our mouths with every breath.

We
walked for an hour in silence; nobody spoke. The dog followed me, covered in mud
like the rest of us, bold white fur completely caked all the way up to her
neck. Fortunately, so far, the swamp wasn’t too deep, and she walked just fine
among the drier parts, floating intermittently here and there. Occasionally, I’d
hear a huge, dunking splash, and when I looked back, the dog was kicking her
way to the next dry spot.

Never
had I been this far away from my home.

Another two hours passed before finally reaching the
embankment of the swamp. My legs were nasty wet with the mud plastered to me, creating
a suction-cupping effect against my skin. And I smelled horrible. I was in
desperate need of a shower. I suddenly missed the ease and convenience of
having a nice warm shower every morning. Yes, the Colony was only allowed one
shower a day, water rations, but still I was allowed one a day. A sticky
feeling lolled between my elbows and dirt stuck beneath my nails, pressing
against that sensitive area of my fingertips.

Lucan
began unlacing his boots.

“Let’s
get a fire started,” he said.

“Shouldn’t
we keep going?” I was scared if we didn’t, the guards would surely catch us in
the morning, and I didn’t want them having any better chance of finding us than
they already did.

“Look.
We can’t keep hiking with wet shoes and clothes; it’ll slow us down later if we
don’t take care of this now,” he warned as he tugged his left boot off.

My
cold toes moved inside my shoes, forcing me to realize the lack of feeling,
numbness, whilst wiggling them.

“How
do you know we won’t run into any swamps again? Seems like a waste of time.”
James disapproved of Lucan’s plan.

“There
are no more muddy swamps; it’ll be a straight shot. Okay? If our feet are dry,
it’ll make it an easier, straight shot to the perimeter. I promise we’ll beat
the guards there,” Lucan said. “Any other questions?” He glared at James.

“Fine,
but I’m helping.” James stormed off into the trees, pushing branches out of his
way before disappearing.

Lucan
grabbed his duffel bag, unzipped the top, and pulled out a small, dry pack with
matches inside. He placed the matches next to a clay vase, with a lid, and then
he took out a blanket with pictures of a sun and moon like the cup I had drank
from at Sidnee’s house. We still had the night goggles on, allowing us to see
everything just fine. Then Lucan spread his blanket along the ground. It was large
enough for him with a little extra space on the edge. He looked over at me. “It
has a waterproof underside…plenty of room for you, if you like?” He patted the
side of the blanket and rested his head on his bag. “Sure beats the wet
ground.” His voice was playful, making me unsure if this was him attempting to
flirt or simply trying to be nice.

“No
thanks. You really get on James’ nerves, you know?” I knew James was hearing
every word he said.

Lucan
folded his arms over his chest, moved the goggles to his forehead, and closed
his eyes. “Ah, he’ll be fine.”

I
shook my head, chuckling at his carefree behavior.

“Why
are you helping us?” I asked, certainly curious why someone from the Lowers
would help someone from the Colony.

His
facial expression was plain and a smile played at the corner of his lips. “Well
darlin’, that’s for me to know and you not to worry about,” he winked with his eyes
still closed.

I
couldn’t figure him out.

After
a few more minutes, James returned with a couple branches and threw them in the
center on the ground between Lucan and me. “Here L-U-C-A-N.” James pronounced the
name as if he had suddenly taken a bite into a rotten, decomposed apple,
spitting it out with clear repulsion. 

Lucan
opened his eyes and adjusted the goggles back in place, then he grabbed the
pile of twigs and placed them in a careful, organized manner, forming a teepee
effect. After, he poured some liquid from the vase on top and lit the match,
tossing it in. A pile of little leaves caught fire quickly and puffed out
ginormous amounts of gray smoke before dying completely.

“Great
job.” James clapped in amusement.

“Well,
maybe if someone didn’t grab the soggiest wood about, the fire would actually have
a chance of working.” Lucan poured more flammable liquid and grabbed another
match. He blew on the leaves catching fire and worked with the liquid, taking
turns between blowing and waving his hands over the pile. Finally, the fire
stayed lit with heaps of smoke beginning to lessen. We all took off our glasses.
James brought over two short, fat logs from a fallen tree and placed them next
to one another, making an easy spot for me to lay down out of the mud.

Each
of us placed our boots and socks next to the fire.

“I’ll
take first watch,” James said, sitting on the ground with his arms loosely wrapped
around his knees.

“Sounds
good to me,” Lucan replied quickly, laying back down and closing his eyes.

I
gave James a look of amusement and then closed my eyes as well. My body slowly
stopped shivering, an involuntary action I hadn’t notice until I became warm.
The heat spread across me, causing me to instantly fall asleep.

I dreamt of tiny bugs crawling under my clothes, biting
me all over, and I woke up to somebody pulling my shirt off, causing me to fall
over the side of the log and slam into the ground. Quickly, I jumped to my feet,
only to realize nobody was taking my clothes off except for me. I was the one trying
to undress, an embarrassing action on my part, reacting to the dream I just
had.

“You
okay?” James asked.

“Ya.
Ya. Fine.” I was, if you excluded the part of my clothes now being re-wet and
my hair painted with a fresh layer of mud.

The
sky was still dark and the moon peeked behind the tree to my right. I wasn’t
sure how long I had been asleep. A loud snoring sound came from Lucan.

“He’s
been going on like that all night,” James said, his eyes red from being tired. He
rolled them along with the next snore.

I
ignored his rant and laced up my dry boots.

“We
should get going,” I said to James. “How long was I out?”

“About
three or four hours.”

“You
should have woken me up, James. I could’ve switched with you. You need some
rest too.”

James
shrugged his shoulders. “I’m fine.”

I
walked over to Lucan to wake him up, but James beat me to it with a small rock,
hitting him in the stomach. “What did you do that for?” Lucan stretched his
arms and arched his back, looking at me.

“I
didn’t,” I glared at James. “We need to get going. So put your boots on.”

We poured water from the swamp on the fire and
stomped the rest of the amber ashes out. For an hour we trekked in a line
behind one another like little school children walking from one class to the other.
The dog trotted beside me and no longer behind us, somehow I had moved up the
ladder in her doggy world, maybe actually getting to pet her soon.

I
never asked Sidnee if the dog belonged to her little boy Jace. The sadness that
surrounded Sidnee was also clearly visible in the mutt’s demeanor—no need to
ask. Maybe the dog was on this journey with me, hoping in her small world that I
would to lead her to him. If that was the case, she was heading in the wrong
direction.

I
walked with my thumbs looped around the bottom straps of the pack hanging on my
back. The sun finally began to rise, and gleams from its light shined through
the tops of the thick trees, but the branches clawed at the sky, blocking us
from the sun’s warm rays. My clothes were half-dry, I was dangling somewhere
between a cold sweat from walking and the dampness from my clothes, both making
me even colder, not helping my situation. I didn’t think it was possible to
overheat from walking and yet be cold at the same time.

Occasionally,
I’d look behind me and peek at James to make sure he was still there. He was
quiet, hiking without any visible sign of the same troubles I was having,
making me feel like a total sissy.

“Do
y’all mind if we stop for some water?” I paused where I stood. “Did we even
bring any water?” I suddenly realized we weren’t as prepared as I thought.
James and I didn’t exactly know our lives were taking such a radical turn when
we fled the other night.

“I
do, love.” Lucan turned around, smiling as he flung his duffel bag from his neck
onto the ground. He walked over, holding a large bag wobbling around with water
inside, a small black spout twisted off the end. I leaned against a tree and squeezed
the bag, squirting a few streams against my tongue.

“Thanks.”
I wiped my lips. “Do you want any, James?”

“No.
Don’t need it,” came his short reply.

“James,
stop it. Just take some, okay?” He was acting different than I’d ever seen him
before. He was—jealous. He’d never been jealous. He never had to be, not where
we lived.

“I
said I’m good,” he replied again.

“Okay,
have it your way.” I closed the spout and handed the bag back to Lucan.

Then
we continued walking in a line. There was no visible trail, but Lucan seemed to
know exactly where he was going, a specific spot he was targeting.

Maybe
the top of the perimeter was weaker at one area? I wondered again what awaited
us ahead and hoped Lucan hadn’t forgotten any supplies we’d need. His bag was
rather large, but not big enough for a ladder or anything. Were we planning to
catapult over the top? I laughed to myself at the image of the two of them
tossing me over. I wouldn’t put it pass them. However, I’d die once I hit the
booby-trapped ground on the opposite side, or break every bone in my body.

With
the sun now more than halfway through the sky, I finally started feeling
warmer. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around my waist, leaving only my
long sleeves exposed in an attempt to dry them out more. I knew there was
another pair of clothes in my bag, but I opted to save them once we were out of
the soppy jungle. Who knew how long we would be stuck out here; I needed my two
pairs of clothes lasting as long as possible.

The
invisible trail we were on began thickening with additional overgrown foliage.
Long ropes of vines hung below every branch and wrapped around others, blocking
our view even more. The weeds were so thick, I could no longer see below my
thighs. Wild plants hugged every inch of my legs. I wondered why Lucan insisted
on us taking this path, not detouring. I swatted every grimy insect that flew
in front of my face. Lucan and James did the same. I began regretting my wish
for more heat—suffocating inside of this sauna with mosquitos everywhere. Gnats
became numerous and then there were even more mosquitos. I wanted to roll my
sleeves up, but was afraid of exposing any more skin to the bloodsuckers,
leaving me a wide-open human blood bank.

I
looked down at my fingernails, caked with dirt, my palms were covered with little
bug carcasses, and I wiped my hands across my pants—trying to clean them. My
neck itched fiercely with tiny bites all over, my forehead too.

“Am
I the only one getting bit?” I asked, swatting at another mosquito poking its
straw nose through my long sleeves and into my skin. My arms began itching more.
I inched my sleeve up to see where the burning originated. That’s when I
noticed. My vines were gone. Instead, spotty red rashes had replaced them. Very
visible spotty rashes.

I
was scared to turn around, afraid the rashes on my arms were also causing the
same feeling of itchiness on my face and neck. What if my vines were
disappearing from there too? I started panicking and kept walking—on autopilot.
The weight in my chest clinched tighter, and I struggled for my next breath. Not
because I was allergic to anything, which is what someone in a similar
situation would conclude, but because I wasn’t sure what to do. I wondered how
long it would be before Lucan or James noticed the non-so-subtle difference.

What
did this mean? I knew what Sidnee had told me, but what if she was wrong? What
if I really was sick? Was I contagious, a carrier of whatever killed and
disfigured all those people living on the other Land? My stomach rolled with
knots and I felt like puking each knot up several times over. I really needed
to drink some water, straighten my thoughts out, but the last thing I wanted
was to grab either guy’s attention. Instead, I slowed my pace, and James
attentively followed in turn—without asking. I was lucky to have him and
wondered if he’d even want me once he saw me—when he saw what was happening to
me, who I truly was.

My
curls weren’t nice and silky anymore, now they were frizzy leaches wrapping
themselves around my neck, and I was desperate to dislodge each strand. It was
so uncomfortable, only adding to the itching. But they aided my need to hide my
exposed skin.

Finally
the path began thinning, dense foliage and thick weeds sparser, the ground was
still reasonably wet, but Lucan had been right so far. No swamp in site. My
boots glistened with moisture, and I moved my toes around, they were dry too. I
noticed a small puddle ahead of me and decided on a bold move, knowing I would come
across as a moronic girl, but I would rather that than the other option. I sauntered
closer and pretended to trip over a stick, causing me to fall face first into a
pool of mud.

“Penny!”
James ran over and helped me up as I wiped the gunk from my eyes, slinging remnants
from my fingers to the side of me. Unfortunately, I misjudged the depth of the
puddle and at the same time I
tripped,
I managed to twist my ankle. I
was a massive loser, humiliated, but blissfully happy with the camouflaging
results. Neither Lucan nor James said anything about my vines, more concerned
with my inability to walk.