Tested

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dad and Parker returned with little news.

“What’s it like out there?” Sunny asked eagerly.

“The same, Granddad.” Parker sounded weary.

“Did you check the bus station yet?” I asked.

“No,” Dad said. “We heard a car, and we hid.”

“Who…?” Sunny looked anxious.

“Just travellers,” Dad said. “But not our kind. They kept moving. Eventually.” Dad glanced at Parker who looked away. What had happened out there?

We spent some time preparing what we would take with us. Dad and I hadn’t had much in the first place, but our time at the detention centre had depleted our storage, and we had used up most of the food that Bruce had sent with us. I thought longingly of the detention centre, but it would have been too hard to stay there afterward even if Dad were willing. Too many bad memories because of Dace.

That evening, the four of us ate in relative silence. We sat around the neverending fire of Parker’s, and I shivered as night crept closer.

“It’s almost time,” I whispered, opening and closing my fists. I didn’t feel safe, not at all. I was used to us preparing. Sitting around a fire didn’t feel right.

“I’ll go start the fire,” Parker said, his voice tight.

“Can I come?” I asked.

“No,” Dad said. “You stay with Sunny. I’ll go with Parker.” He cleared his voice. “Just in case.”

Parker shrugged and left, followed by Dad. I moved to the window and strained my neck trying to see them. Flames licked the walls outside, even before the monsters came.

When they arrived, they gathered outside in their strange little pack, howling and screaming as if in pain.

I gasped as one leapt up the wall, but the fire spread quickly, and the monster dropped to the ground and lay there for a moment. When it rose to its feet again, it stalked the building, desperate to find a way in. I wrapped my arms around myself.

“I can’t wait to get out of this place,” I said, half-forgetting Sunny was there.

“Come away from the window,” he said. “You torment yourself if you keep seeing what’s out there.” He patted the place next to him. “In here, we can imagine a better world outside.”

“Aren’t you scared?” I moved next to him. “You seem so calm all the time. Doesn’t it freak you out?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m so old,” he teased. “I still have hope. Perhaps us luring those monsters in is a good thing. Perhaps it keeps them from killing a weaker group of people.”

I pulled my knees close to my chest. “What do you think will happen next? In this country, in this world. Do you think this will change everything?”

“Change is good,” he said. “But it could be a struggle for a long time. Nothing can ever be the same again. That is for sure.”

The screaming changed, and I rushed to the window. The fire had pushed outward, and Parker stood behind it, throwing his arms out. Flames shot out at the beasts, hurting them, but not killing them. One monster leapt onto a building farther along the street. It came closer and closer, higher and higher, trying to find a way past the flames. Neither Dad nor Parker seemed to notice.

I banged on the window. Parker flinched and flung his arms out, sending larger flames in every direction. One shot up toward me. With a yelp, I stepped back, but the flame never reached the window. When I looked out again, the body of a burning monster was keeping the rest of the pack away from the building, Parker and Dad were both gone, and the fire was back the way it started, except it burned a little brighter.