Chapter 46

Cla came back with a stack of blankets and pillows in her arms. “Let us help,” Mist said, stepping forward to take some. Walt did the same, lessening her load.
Cla nodded in thanks. “This way,” she said, stepping between them, headed back out into the building proper. The group followed, Rain giving Lyna a small wave goodbye, wondering if she’d ever see the girl again.
They followed the woman to the back of the building where there were a few smaller tarped off areas. Back here, the noise from all of the people congregated near the entrance was muffled, the concrete walls creating echoes that twisted the sounds of laughter and conversation into a strange tune. The light didn’t quite reach this back corner, and the scent of damp concrete hit her nose, reminding her of the cellar they’d found in the woods, the launching point of their escape.
Cla’s voice cut through Rain’s memory. “You can take these two homes,” she said, gesturing at two small tarped off sections. When she pulled back the front curtain to the first one, it revealed an empty, dark space with no furniture or decorations. “They should do for sleeping, no?”
“Yes, these will be perfect,” Mist assured the woman. “Thank you.”
A satisfied smile lit Cla’s cautious countenance. She deposited half of the bedding in the first space and then moved to the second space to set down the rest. “Food will come to you shortly. Please let us know if you have other needs we can meet.” She started to go and then stopped. “Oh, toilets are there.” She pointed back the way they’d come toward the middle of the building. They must’ve passed right by the area she was indicating, but Rain hadn’t noticed. Now, she saw a sign she assumed said “restrooms” or something of that nature, but it was written using the old alphabet, and she couldn’t read it. Besides, she didn’t need to go anyway.
Mist thanked Cla first, and the rest of them did the same, and then the woman was gone, leaving them alone amidst dozens of people.
A wave of exhaustion washed over Rain. She didn’t know exactly how many hours it had been since she’d last slept, but it seemed like years. She wasn’t even hungry. She just wanted to lie down. The fact that she didn’t have her weapon was unsettling, but she couldn’t do anything about that. If the Mothers found them that night, it would be up to the people of Dafo to protect them, which wasn’t fair or right, but that was the situation.
“I guess we’ll take this one, and you guys can have that one?” Mist said, as she and Walt moved toward the second tarped area.
“Wait--what?” Rain asked. She wasn’t sure when she'd let go of Adam’s hand, but she wasn't holding it anymore. “I thought….”
Mist gave her a look that said she’d better stop talking, so Rain discontinued her statement, looking at Adam. He shrugged, as if her question may have hurt his feelings. “Not that I….” Rain shook her head. It didn’t matter. Walt and Mist were gone inside of the tarp, and by the sound of things, they didn’t give a damn that the only thing separating them from their friends and a host of strangers was a thin piece of black fabric.
Adam pulled back the tarp to their new abode. “After you?”
A shy smile took over her face, even though Rain had slept with Adam before and shouldn’t let this situation affect her. But it was. Especially in light of the noises coming from next door. He helped her spread the blankets on the floor, and then Rain lay down, trying not to hog the one pillow Cla had been able to spare for the two of them. Adam was sitting near the opening, as if he still felt the need to keep watch, and she let him. She might not be able to trust the citizens of Dafo to keep her safe while she slept, but she could trust him.

***

Pitch black greeted her when Rain opened her eyes. There was no way of knowing what time it was since her timepiece was in her backpack, which had been confiscated. Her back ached from sleeping on thin blankets on top of a concrete floor, but she didn’t stir, afraid she’d wake Adam who was lying next to her.
Her stomach growled loudly reminding Rain that she’d fallen asleep before she’d eaten anything. As soon as she’d laid down, she’d been out like a light. How many hours ago had that been? She couldn’t say, but she had a feeling it had been a while.
Not only was her stomach screaming at her, so was her bladder. Muttering a curse word, and praying she didn’t wake Adam, she sat up, hoping somehow she’d be able to see better at this angle. Her eyes adjusted slightly, but it was still unbelievably dark, and she had no idea how she’d make it to the restroom in a strange place without stumbling into the wrong area or tripping and breaking her neck.
“Are you okay?” Adam whispered, leaning up on one elbow.
“I’m so sorry I woke you.” Rain could hardly see him, it was so dark in their little compartment.
The sound of ruffling let her know he was moving again. She could see his outline next to her then, sitting up. “It’s okay. Are you hungry? We saved you some food.”
“Yeah, but….” Rain could feel her cheeks heating as she pondered how to tell him what she really needed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She pushed up off of the ground to standing, but Adam caught her hand.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back.” She tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Rain! You can’t go by yourself. I’ll walk you.”
She chuckled louder than she meant to but stifled it. “Adam, I’ll be fine.”
“Mist doesn’t want us going anywhere alone. Besides, I can stand to go, too.”
So he knew where she was headed. Of course, he did. Where else could it be? It wasn’t like the four of them hadn’t wandered off into the woods to do their business at least a couple dozen times while they were traveling, but this seemed different somehow.
Adam didn’t let go of her hand, but as he moved to the opening, he stopped and bent down, picking something up off of the ground.
It was a long black tube unlike anything Rain had ever seen before. He let go of her hand for a second and twisted it, and a faint light came out of the end of it. “What’s that?” she asked.
“Cla called it a flashlight. She said we should use it if we need to go to the bathroom, but be careful not to shine it on people’s homes if we can help it.”
Rain nodded. So it was sort of like a flashtube, but not nearly as powerful. It made sense that they wouldn’t want to use something as bright as the devices they had available in such a confined space, but she’d never heard of a flashlight before. Perhaps they’d never heard of a flashtube.
Adam took her hand again and led her out into the walkway. The building was so quiet now, save for the sound of snoring coming from a few of the tents they passed and a baby crying somewhere in the distance. “Cla said they have lights out at nine. Everyone gets up at six. They try to keep everyone on the same schedule in case of attack.”
Rain nodded, not wanting to risk speaking when it might wake someone. As they continued, a faint glow up ahead clued her in to where the restrooms were. Unlike the homes, this area had actual walls with doors, and the light was coming from underneath them.
“Meet you out here?” Adam asked.
Rain nodded, hoping she didn’t have to pee so badly that it took forever, and he started wondering what was taking her so long. She headed inside, glad to see there was no one else in there. There were three stalls. She picked the middle one and went about doing her business as quickly as possible.
When she was finished, she hastily washed her hands at the sink, thinking about how something so routine had become so foreign to her, and headed back outside.
Adam was already there, of course, but he didn’t look as if he’d been waiting too long for her. He took her hand in his, and they headed back to their borrowed home.
Once inside, Adam handed her the food they’d set aside for her. It was a thick stew, and even though it was cold, it was still delicious. Rain ate it quickly, washing it down with some water from a cup Cla and her daughters had also provided. It had a bit of a metallic taste to it, but it wasn’t bad. Certainly better than a hydration pill.
Adam sat up waiting for her, holding the flashlight so she could see. He didn’t speak, though. Whether it was because he didn’t want to wake Mist and Walt or just didn’t have anything to say, she wasn’t sure, but she was too busy devouring her food to make conversation anyway.
When she was finished eating, Rain settled back down onto the floor, her head on the edge of the pillow so Adam had his fair share. He turned the flashlight off and sank down next to her, leaving the blanket they’d been sharing earlier between them.
It was too bad they couldn’t stay here. Not that she loved the living arrangement, but these people were kind and seemed to have a nice way of life. But it wasn’t a possibility. Every moment they were there put Dal and his followers in more danger, and she would never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to any of them.
“Do you feel better?” Adam’s voice cut through the darkness. She’d assumed he’d gone back to sleep. “You were out like a light.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was pretty tired.”
“I guess so.” He laughed slightly, and she could picture his smile in her mind.
“Did you get any sleep?”
“Yeah. Eventually. After the noise died down.”
“Noise?”
Again, he was chuckling. “Our neighbors got a little friendly and didn’t seem to care that the walls are made of thin fabric.”
“Oh, my!” Rain was glad that she’d missed it. “I don’t even know what to say other than--that’s interesting.”
“Yeah. I’m kinda surprised it didn’t wake you up.”
“I must’ve been out of it pretty good.”
“For sure.”
Not certain what else to say, Rain laid still, looking up at the darkness. Her eyes adjusted slightly so she could sort of see the ceiling. The lighter color of the concrete gave it a faint glow against the rest of the blackness. Pockmarks reminded her that she had no idea how stable the structure she was lying in might be. She had to push those thoughts aside so that it didn’t drive her crazy thinking about the cement crumbling down around her.
“Do you think… you’ll ever get married?”
Adam’s question completely threw her off. He’d been quiet for so long, one again, she’d assumed he had gone back to sleep--or was trying to anyway. The whole concept of marriage was so foreign to her, she’d never even imagined marrying a man. In Michaelanburg, only Sameys got married. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe.”
He didn’t respond, but she could tell by the way that he was breathing he was considering her answer, probably weighing it even more deeply than she had before the words had spilled from her mouth.
“Do you think you will?” Rain asked him, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. The idea that Adam might meet someone in the Nation of Quebec, settle down, have a family, sat inside of her much like the excess liquid that had almost burst her bladder earlier--it was an unwanted idea, that was for certain.
“I sure hope so,” he said, his tone conveying he’d given it a lot of thought. “I bet Mist and Walt get married as soon as they can.”
“Yeah, they probably will.” She hoped she had hidden the disappointment in her voice. Adam was an amazing person, and no one deserved to be happy more so than him. If he found a woman who loved him and would give him everything in the world to make him happy, that’s what she wanted for him, even if it wounded her to the core. “I hope you do, Adam.”
“What’s that?”
She heard him turn his head to look at her, but didn’t do the same. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the face and say it, even if it was dark, and she wouldn’t be able to see his eyes. “I hope you find someone who makes you as happy as Mist and Walt make each other, that you can get married, and get all of the wonderful things this world has to offer.”
She fully expected him to say thank you in a cheerful voice, but he didn’t say anything at all for the longest time. For a moment, Rain thought maybe she’d inadvertently said something rude. She went back over her comments in her mind but couldn’t note anything offensive. Eventually, Adam said, “Thanks, Rain,” and then rolled over, pulling the blanket up over his shoulder.
Confused, Rain considered her words again. She had only wished him well. Why would that make him angry?
With no answers, Rain rolled over, too, curling up into a ball and willing herself to go to sleep. She knew they’d have plenty more long days of walking ahead of them, so she may as well sleep while she could, even if she had just made a costly error in her choice of words she simply could not identify.