Chapter 27

“That’s him!” Mist shouted loudly, drawing the attention of the group in front of them. Rain caught Adam’s eyes as they bulged in recognition. “Don’t shoot those two!” Mist sounded authoritative, even though she wasn’t in the least.
“Under whose authority?” one of the Military Mothers asked.
“Mother White,” Mist replied. Rain fought to keep her mouth from dropping open. Mist knew Mother White? “This is the one suspected of leading the rebellion.” She gestured at Adam with the tip of her gun. Now that they were standing right next to the group, Rain wasn’t sure what to do. Her heart was beating out of her chest.
“I didn’t hear any orders to….”
Before the Mother could finish her sentence, three sharp pops cut through the silence. Rain jumped. Mist had fired so quickly and accurately, all three Mothers fell dead to the ground from head wounds. The crack of the rifle was deafening. How had Mist just killed three women…?
There was no time for Rain to contemplate that as there was more shouting in the woods behind them. “Are you okay?” Mist was asking 37W. He was hit in the side, but it was impossible for Rain to tell how deep it was at the moment.
“I will be,” he said. Somehow, he managed a smile. Did he recognize Mist, or was he just happy to be alive?
Adam hoisted his fellow IW up, practically lifting him off the ground. “We need to take cover quickly. There’s a whole lot more coming.”
“We’re almost there,” Mist assured him. “Come on.”
“Almost where?” Rain asked, but they had moved on. Surely, Mist wasn’t thinking of taking them down the stairs. What had happened to covering the exit?
That was exactly where she was headed, though. She made a bird call, waited a second, and then opened the door to the stairs. “Cover us, Rain,” she said, as if Rain was even capable of that.
Rain’s eyes bulged, and she caught Adam’s glance as he hurried 37W down the stairs. He was trusting her. If Mist could kill three people, maybe Rain could, too.
Or maybe she could accidentally shoot herself in the foot.
A form came out of the trees to her left. Rain swiveled. The woman running at her was in a Military Mother uniform, but she made the same sound with her mouth that Mist had made. It would’ve been nice if Mist had told her the call. “Go!” she shouted. “I’ll re-cover the door.”
Rain realized it was Sunny she was looking at. Thank goodness she hadn’t been as quick on the trigger as her roommate. “What about you?”
“I have other plans.” Something about the way Sunny said the words made Rain think whatever it was Sunny was about to do, the Motherhood would be sorry.
Rain headed down the stairs as Sunny closed the door. The sound of leaves and other debris hitting the doors let her know they were as safe as possible now. She couldn’t think the same for Sunny. Would that be the last time she ever saw her friend?
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rain was shocked to see only the three who had come down right before her were in the cellar. “Where is everyone?” she asked.
“I’ll explain later. Help him,” Mist said, handing Rain a medical kit.
“Right.” She was a medical student. She could do that.
Mist held a flashtube while Rain examined the wound. “It’s not too bad,” she assured 37W. The bullet had grazed his side. Behind her, she heard Adam doing something--what, she wasn’t sure. She needed to hurry and stop the bleeding so they could get on their way, assuming that was the plan.
First, she cleaned the wound, then she used a healer wand to close up the bleeding vessels. It would take longer for the flesh to heal, but he would be feeling better soon.
She gave him some pain medication and then wrapped the wound to keep out bacteria or any other irritants. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” he said, some color back in his cheeks already. He was a handsome man; Rain could see why Mist liked him. He had dark hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t quite as muscular as Adam but he had a nice build and was tall.
“You’re welcome. Do you… have a name?” Rain asked, not wanting to call him by his number anymore.
Looking off in the distance, he shrugged. “You know, I never thought it would do me much good to choose a name. But… I once read a book about this guy who did all these things to make other people happy, especially children. He drew pictures and made rides for kids to feel like they were flying. He seemed like a cool guy, and since his name started with a W, I thought, maybe that’s what my name should be.”
“What was his name?” Rain asked.
“Walt,” he replied.
A smile came over her face as Rain realized she knew who he was talking to. “Walt Nisdey?”
“Uh….” Walt began, looking at her oddly.
Laughing, Mist said, “Disney, Rain. It’s Disney.”
“That’s the guy,” Walt said, smiling at Rain in a way that let her know he wasn’t as amused by her mistake as Mist was. “Thank you, Rain.”
“How did you know my name?” she asked, packing up the rest of the medical kit.
“I heard Mist say it, when she told you to cover the door.”
“Oh, right.” She shook her head. For a moment, she thought maybe Adam had mentioned her. But then, why would he? It wasn’t as if he’d been spending time thinking about her, the way that she had him….
She turned to stand up but lost her balance halfway there, and it was Adam’s strong grip that kept her from stumbling. She looked up into his bright blue eyes and caught her breath. Mist was right--he did smell different than other men. He smelled like the woods, like light, like life.
“Hi, Rain.” He smiled at her, and no words would form in her mind. He was here--outside of IW. She had so many questions for him. What had he thought about the sky? The forest? The grass?
But there was no time for that now. “We need to go,” Mist was saying. She handed Walt some more suitable clothes from the stash and found him some shoes as well.
Adam let go of her, and Rain remembered that she had a question about that. “Where did everyone else go?”
“There’s a tunnel. Construction put it in. They went that way. We’ll follow them.” She helped Walt put the shirt over his head without disturbing his wound. Rain realized Adam was wearing a long-sleeved shirt now and long pants, both in dark colors. He also had on boots similar to the military ones she was wearing.
She looked around and saw her bag still sitting against the wall. She needed to pack the medical kit and a few other supplies she hadn’t had access to until they got down there, including a fire starting stick, a foil blanket, and some of the food supplies the others hadn’t grabbed. She also spotted another medical kit.
Adam found an empty bag and did the same, tossing important items in. He was clearly intelligent enough to know what things were, even if he’d never seen them before. Once Walt was ready, Mist hurriedly packed a few things for herself and tossed a second bag together for him. He was moving now, still a little weak, but he would be better soon, Rain thought. The wound was mostly superficial after all.
“Are we ready?” Mist asked.
Rain still had no idea where the tunnel might be. Everything looked the same to her as it had before. But she nodded. Then, she spotted something on one of the shelves. “Hold on,” she said, shooting across the dark space.
“What are you doing?” Mist asked.
She came back, unscrewing the lid off of a bottle of water, and thrust it at Adam. “Here.”
He raised an eyebrow but quickly realized what she was doing. He didn’t hesitate to let the cool liquid run down his throat. The sound he made was a little bit like the noise that came out of his mouth when she was on top of him. After a long swig, he handed it to Walt, who finished it off. “Thank you, Rain.”
The smile that parted her lips was the most genuine she’d worn in as long as she could remember. To see him that incredibly happy was worth the crazy, dangerous situation they were all in.
Or was it?
The sound of gunfire overhead had Mist hurrying across the space. “Come on!” she shouted. Mist pushed a particular spot on the wall. A small opening come into view in the darkest corner of the room. She motioned for the men to go through first, but Adam wouldn’t budge until Rain kneeled down and crawled into the narrow space. Mist made that bird call, and Rain did her best to echo it, letting anyone else in the tunnel know who they were.
Walt was behind her, then Mist, and Adam. Rain kept crawling, glad when it widened slightly. She heard the entryway thunk closed behind her and hoped that meant they were safe, at least for the time being, but as she crawled through the dark tunnel, with only Mist’s flashtube from far behind her to lead the way, Rain knew the danger was just beginning.