The Hollow (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 2) (10 page)

“Where’re we
going to go?” The stream becomes bigger and the water we splash through is bright
green. Up ahead it looks more yellow.

Pike doesn’t
answer and I don’t ask again. I just follow him. I don’t care where we’re
going. As we continue on, the discolored water clears up and there are flies
buzzing around the surface. The sound of the birds has come back.

“If I’m
correct,” Pike begins. “This is part of the Beadledom watershed. We need to
follow this around the city.”

“And then?” I
step into the stream after Pike. I reach down and touch the water. “It’s warm.”

“Thermal
pollution,” Pike responds. “The Hollow must use the water for the experiments
and then return it. They have to or the stream would run dry like that ditch.
It should cool down as we get farther from The Hollow.”

“So if we can’t
get back in to get Tithonus,” I say.
And Jenny
. “Then where are we
going?”

“On a little detour.
Tithonus is dead.” He states without stopping.

“Wait, Pike, how
do you know that?”

“That dome
didn’t go up to keep you from getting back in or anyone else from getting out.
It was so the Imperial Bead can’t get in. If Tithonus isn’t dead, he will be soon.
And I have some questions I need answered.”

“So where do we
go?”

He stomps
through the stream and I struggle to keep up.

“To your house.
To see your father.” His voice is cold and detached, but I don’t pay it any
attention.

“To my house?”
That
means Dory and Evie, and my parents! I’m even ecstatic to see them!

Pike nods his
head and grabs my bionic hand as we wade through the stream, toward my home.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve been walking for
two days,” I whine. Pike stops beside me. “It feels like forever and it doesn’t
help that we’ve barely slept this entire time. How far away are we?”

“The sooner we
get to our destination, the better.” Despite his rush, we stop.

I’m glad for
this break. I didn’t get much sleep on the ground when we last stopped and I’ve
been going on anxiety and adrenaline.

“Everyone is
away from me and safe. Why are you still worried?” I ask. I want to see my
family, but I still don’t know why Pike does.

“Because, Rose,”
Pike puts one foot up on the rock beside me and pulls a small pocket knife out
from the inside of his boot. “The Hollow isn’t going to let you get far and
while they’ll be after the others soon enough, you’re the one they need.
They’ll most likely follow Zeke and the others until they figure out you’re not
with them. Then they know you’ve gone home. We just need to get there before
they do.”

“Will they hurt
my family?” I am frightened at the realization and truth of what Pike says.

“I don’t know.
Your mother and sisters don’t know much, if anything. The Hollow knows that.
They don’t want any unnecessary casualties. No, The Hollow doesn’t want them.”

“But my father—”
What if something has happened to my family?

“Your father
knows a lot about the Imperial Bead.”

“A lot of what? He
works for them. What about it? What does my father know? Does he know about The
Hollow then, too? Does he know that people are getting sacrificed for
experimentation?”

Pike doesn’t
answer and I’ve got to calm down. “How far until we get there?” I shield my
eyes with my fake arm. It’s hot and the skin on my other arm prickles from the
heat. My body struggles to maintain balance. I’m unprepared for this rising
temperature. I get up from the rock I’ve been sitting upon.

“Where’d you get
that?” Pike points at the tattoo on my arm now that I’m standing in front of
him. He only glances at my bionic one.

“Inside The
Hollow,” I look at the ink peeking out from behind my pushed up sleeve.

“The Hollow,” he
accuses. “Are they tracking you?”

“No. I don’t
know. Well, I don’t think so. The tattoo stored all of my records. I don’t
think they kept physical track of me with it, though.”
Or they would’ve
known I was about to escape with the rest of them.

“What about
that?” He nods to my fake arm.

I shrug. There
isn’t anything I can do about it. It doesn’t come off.

My mind flashes.

Ezekiel.

Dr. Flint.

Patience.

The Hollow.

“It’s getting
darker,” Pike says.

I look up and
nod in agreement.

“Not the sky,
the tattoo.” Pike is as serious as ever.

I look down and
again, nod in agreement. I haven’t noticed that before. It isn’t this arm
that’s been getting my attention. “I really don’t think it can track me outside
The Hollow, if it’s tracking me at all.”

“We may need to
do something about it,” Pike approaches and I back away.

“No! No! It’s
not tracking me, I know it isn’t. Let’s leave it be.”

Pike backs up
and looks around. “We should rest for the afternoon. We should get there by
early evening.”

I sit back down
on the rock.

“We can stay
here?” There isn’t anything around us except for trees and leaves. Some patches
of grass. It’s not much different from the last stop we made, but for some
reason we seem more open than before.

Pike surprises
me with his preparedness and skill and in twenty minutes, he’s built a
makeshift lean-to with branches he bends in and ties with other branches. He
pats a bed of pine needles and I sit down. It is infinitely cooler and more
comfortable than sitting in the direct sunlight. I wonder why I haven’t sunburned
yet. I can feel the heat radiating off of Pike’s body and it’s making me warm.
That and the fact that every few seconds he regards my arm with distain or
curiosity. I’m not sure which, yet.

“You hungry?” he
asks, pulling something dehydrated from his cargo pants.

“No. Thanks,
though.”

“Here, try some.
You have to be hungry. What did they feed you inside that place?”

I laugh.
“Nothing. They give us appetite suppressants after they fill us with nutrients.
I guess it’s supposed to last. I’m never hungry anyway.”

“Well, here, try
this. Even if you’re not hungry.”

I take what he
offers. It’s a small, round reddish-brown ball. I bite into it. It’s tough and
I expect it to taste like dried meat, but it disintegrates in my mouth. It
tastes like strawberries.

“It’s germ
product.”

I spit it out.

“Excuse me?” I
ask.

Pike laughs and
it is the first time in a while. It makes me smile. I want to move closer to
him. Sit closer to him.

“Germ as in
germination,” he corrects. “It’s everything in a strawberry, just
pre-developed. I have peach if you’d prefer.”

I shake my head
and stare at his mouth as he bites and chews.

“So how have you
and Hara been?” I ask. I didn’t need to know when there was no hope of leaving
The Hollow, but now that I’m out, I just need to know.

“Fine.” He
doesn’t elaborate and we continue to sit. “What was it like inside The Hollow?”
He breaks the silence after almost ten minutes, or has it been ten seconds?

“Fine.” Two can
play at that game. “How long was I gone?”

Pike turns to me
and his face is in front of mine. It startles me enough and I lean back, almost
losing my balance. Pike reaches out, catching my artificial arm without
flinching. He supports my back with his other hand. He pulls me up and pulls me
close.

Closer.

The electricity
is the most intense I’ve ever felt. It radiates through my entire being. I’ve
missed that.

And then, my
balance regained, Pike leans in and kisses me. I breathe him in. He smells like
sun and he tastes sweet. Like peaches.

He pulls away
and gets up.

“There is
nothing going on with me and Hara.” He states.

I don’t have
anything to say. I’m sorry if I aggravated him, but not sorry. He kissed me and
it was wonderful. My whole body trembles and I want him to move closer. I want
to be able to touch him again. And kiss him again. It just wasn’t enough.

“You stay here
and I’ll get us fresh water.” He pulls an empty water pouch from a pants pocket
by his calf.

“No! Wait!” I
cry. He stops and turns. My voice is shaky at best. “I-I don’t want you to go.
Please don’t leave me.”

He rushes up to
me and grabs my face between his hands, kissing me hard.

I kiss him back.
I’m ready for this. I’m living for this.

My arms move up
and around his back. Both arms. I’m not thinking about anything but Pike. I
love him.

His kiss turns
soft and his hands move from my face to the back of my head. He pulls back and
his hand smoothes the wisps in front of my eyes. The hair that isn’t pulled
back. I close my eyes again and lean into his touch.

He kisses my
lips, my nose, and my forehead.

“I’m just going
to get us some water,” he says. I smile, my eyes still closed.

“You promise
you’ll be back?”

“You can come
with me if you want.”

“I’ll be okay,”
I say and he touches my cheek before walking away. I lay down on the bed of
leaves and needles. Not one pricks or scratches me. Even if they did, I
wouldn’t mind.

I bend my arms
up and rest them behind my head. I’m getting used to two different arms. I can
barely feel any difference. I close my eyes.

“Rose, come on,
get up.” Pike stands above me, creating a shadow over my face and body. His
hand moves away from my good shoulder. His touch is gentle, but firm. I open my
eyes.

“Is everything
okay?” I sit up, brushing the back of my hair with my hands.

“Yes, but I
think we should get going now.” He extends his hand and I take it, longing for
the energy. His energy.

“Okay.” My hand
lingers a moment in his and I’m suddenly self-conscious of my other arm. He
hasn’t mentioned it. He looks away as he unties the branches and kicks the
ground with his boot. I dust myself off. It still looks like someone was here,
but not as obvious. I follow him down to the stream.

“Did you notice
what was different back there?” He asks after about ten minutes of leading us
over pebbly ground along the stream bed.

“I don’t know
what you mean. I didn’t notice anything different.” I look behind, but there’s
nothing out of the ordinary.

“It got quiet
again.”

“That’s why we
left?” Without him touching me, I’m tired, but I don’t want to tell him. I try
to keep up. If I could just hold his hand, it would be easier. I’d be able to
move faster.

“There were all
kinds of sounds: the breeze blowing through trees, birds chirping, crickets and
insects, the rustling of small animals nearby. And then all at once, nothing.”

I guess I hadn’t
been paying attention. Too busy swooning over our kiss.

“So what does
that mean?” I ask.
Were we being followed?
My tattoo isn’t as dark as it
was before. I try to cover it by pulling down my sleeve.

“It means we
weren’t alone.”

“The Hollow.” My
hands sweat. “I am being tracked.” I clutch my arm.

“Could be. I
just didn’t want us to stick around to find out. It wasn’t a good idea to stay
any longer.”

I have no idea
how long we actually stayed. I agree, though, without saying another word. I
don’t want whoever it was to catch up, so I pass Pike and walk faster. We keep
following the stream and are not bothered by anyone or anything. Our pace is
quick and we are silent.

The stream is
beginning to narrow and I start to recognize the terrain as we walk it. The
sporadic patches of grass have gone from the green of the stream to a burnt
orange color as we get closer to my house.

“Does this look
familiar?” Pike asks.

“It does.” I
recognize the tall, thin blades of red and then green again as we approach the
hillside. I used to be able to see this from my bedroom window.

A retaining wall
comes into view on the right, up ahead. The land on the left side is steep, but
it has been terraced to decrease the slope.

“My house is
just beyond there–” I point to a place where the water would run down the
hillside if it weren’t for the native grasses planted along the edge. The
stream is now completely dried up and there is no water running anywhere. From
where we stand, I can only see the roofline of my house, if that is my house.
All the houses around here look the same, but I don’t think I’m mistaken. Pike
runs up the hill ahead of me.

At the top, he
stops. I chase after and when I reach him, I almost lose my balance. He holds
me. Tight.

And I still
can’t stop the shaking.