The Last She (Books 1-3, the Last She Series)

Ch. 7, Just Us

ARA

The driveway reflected the full heat of noon, and though the neighborhood should have been filled with the noise of laughing children, lawn movers, and traffic, it was quiet. Only my father's voice rang out through the dry, summer air as he loaded another jug of water into the back of the truck.

"Ara, did you put the matches in?"

"Yep, and two lighters."

"Good." He tossed our backpacking backpacks on top of the other supplies in the truck bed. They were our largest packs; we could go three weeks in the Sawtooths, or even farther north into Canada with them.

Father had stocked-up a week earlier, before the true frenzy hit. Bottled water, cans, two containers of gasoline, two sharpened axes, our bows and other supplies lined the truck bed.

His hunting rifle lay in the front seat. It wasn't deer season.

He pulled the tarp over the truck bed, securing it and shutting the tailgate. We were lucky Father still had the truck. While others had switched to airships years ago, Father was a romantic and kept the car under a tarp in the garage. It drove Mother crazy.

"I'll go get Mother and Emma."

I turned up the driveway, striding to the front of the house. The heady smell of hollyhocks filled the air. I jumped when Father's large hand encircled mine.

"They aren't coming, Ara."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just us."

I twisted from his grasp, and the memory took on a dreamlike quality, spinning and warping, colors dripping into one another, so that I could no longer trust it as truth. My ragged breathing and pounding legs threatened to bring me back to the reality of the dogs, but before it could, I saw her.

Emma.

My sister's pale, heart-shaped face pressed up against the window, a halo of dark hair framing her. She had always been beautiful. But it wasn't the innocent face and blue eyes I remembered. It was a different Emma. Blood leaked from her nose and milky white eyes.

Emma. Emma. Emma. My heart cried out until the name rang like a terrible chant as I ran. With each breathe, the word punched into my gut. Emma hadn't been able to run, not like I could now. It became harder to breathe, harder to place each foot before the other. We had left them, Emma and Mother.

We had betrayed them.

This time the memory came hard and vivid, like a slap. Emma watched me through the window, not accusing, not angry, not anything. My father lifted me in his arms and placed me inside the truck. I lay there in a sort of trance, the window cold against my head. I shouldn't have felt cold. I shouldn't have felt anything. My father sprayed a red X on the door.

"ARA!"

The dogs were almost upon me as I jolted back to the present. I risked a glance behind, only to wish I hadn't. They foamed at the mouth, their hackles raised and teeth bared. But their movements were jerky, slower than a normal wolf.

Still they gained on us.

Then I saw the green lady in the fountain. I traced the reach of her arm to the kite. It extended from her hand to the second level of the mall.

"Kaden!" I cut sideways and tore off my backpack, not bothering to check if he'd followed. The fountain grew before me, and without slowing, I jumped on the rim of the pool and vaulted toward the green lady. I slammed into her belly, grabbing for a hold on the cold metal. Then I began climbing toward the arm that held the kite. It had been bolted to a ledge just below the second floor.

A thud sounded below as Kaden hit the statue and scrambled up. The dogs reached it just after him, barking and yipping manically. A high squeal drew my gaze to Kaden, a bloodied knife in his hand. Our eyes met.

"This attaches to the second level," I said, pointing to the kite tail. "We can climb over."

"Then do it!"

I climbed to the woman's hand and hesitated. It only a short distance now, but the kite metal was thin. The dogs circled below, and one of them jumped at Kaden. He swiped with his knife but missed. I had to move.

I stretched out over the length of the kite, a few feet at a time, like I was crossing thin ice. Don't look down, just don't look down.

I put one hand slowly in front of the other. The metal was cold and cut into my hands. I smelled copper mixed with the rotting stench of the dogs circling below. One of them stood on his hind legs and snapped his razor teeth, startling me. I teetered and hugged the metal to my chest. Keep Moving!

Kaden cried out, but I couldn't risk a look. The metal grew thinner beneath me as I forced myself to continue, ignoring the snarls and dragging my body forward.

I made it to the ledge, and with a final burst of adrenaline, pulled myself up and over.

I turned back to watch Kaden climb to the top of the statue. His shirt was ripped and stained red. He put his knife back in the sheath and sat on the green lady's head, his face pale and drawn, his hands shaking. Then he moved slowly down the arm towards the kite. Blood dripped from his fingertips.

I looked down the hallway, desperate for something to help him, and found nothing.

Nothing but a long hallway that stretched into darkness. Nothing but myself... and the path home.

Home.

This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for.

I could leave right now. I had explored these hallways. If I walked to the fork and turned left, I could avoid the camp and the other men. It would take only minutes to resupply. A fire starter, a water filter, a sleeping bag. A weapon. I could be home in a week. I could find what my father had left behind. Kaden could stay on the statue until the dogs left. His men would save him. He was injured, so it would take them longer to pursue me, if they did at all. Maybe they would go back to the clan first.

The emptiness of the hallway beckoned, and I took a step forward, then another.

"ARA!"

The desperation in Kaden's voice made me turn. He had begun to climb the kite, teetering dangerously. His face was white and his arm was tucked against his side as he struggled one-handed. His eyes were closed in a grimace as he inched forward, and then not at all, as if it was too painful to continue.

The kite began to bend in the middle.

He was going to fall.

"KADEN!" I ran back to the railing, leaning out as far as I could.

"It's not going to hold! Kaden, you need to move!" I could do nothing. Kaden lay motionless on the kite, his face pressed against it, and now his arm dangled free from his body as blood dripped to the floor. The dogs grew wilder, half-formed red prints marking the floor as the paced though the blood.

"KADEN!" I screamed, shocked when I realized I had almost shouted Emma's name. And, suddenly, I saw my little sister's eyes, watching me betray her and leave.

Everyone I had ever relied on had left me in this awful place. They had left me, just like I had left my sister. Maybe it was better to be alone. I had lived when others hadn't. But if I had a second chance, I would do it differently.

I wouldn't have left her.

The metal groaned beneath him, the dogs circling below. And even though it wasn't Emma, I stretched out over the railing, reaching for redemption.

"Kaden, give me your hand."