To the Well-Organized Mind

Chapter Twelve

[Nia]

Ridge always wrote about the end of civilization as if there would be another civilization afterwards to care what happened before.

-Nia

*

When I reach the rendezvous point, scratched and tired, I look at the faces gathered. One more man than expected. But two others missing, and when I realize who they are, I curse silently.

I know exactly what must've happened by who is missing.

That girl, that dead-eyed girl. I underestimated her. She was still able to cause trouble, even though she's been dead all this time.

Whirling, I hurry through the trees without a word, knowing the others are following me. I move faster and faster, and while the others are probably thinking it's to keep us away from the ferals, I know the truth: it's to escape another one of my mistakes.

*

We are weary, bleeding, and stumbling, each step agony. But I press us forward, even as night falls. We can reach Asis before midnight, and being on the other side of the wall is my only goal left.

In the darkness, roots ensnare our feet, branches slap our faces, and tree trunks wait for us to ram into them. Insects swarm us, especially with all the wounds. But I have no energy left to spare for swatting at bugs. Let them feast on my bitter blood.

Now is when we need to be the most alert and ready for a mountain lion attack: this is their usual hunting time. I can only hope our group is big enough to discourage one from attacking.

For once, luck is on our side. We stagger all the way to Asis's wall, and I sag against it, holding back tears.

The wall is nothing more than salvaged wood stacked and nailed up about six feet high. Plywood, oak cabinet doors, decrepit siding, weak branches: we used everything we had to make the wall, and as shabby as it is, it feels like the Great Wall of China. I almost murmur that aloud, but then realize none of the others would understand my reference anyway. Ridge's education is the only one of its kind, and he only had one pupil.

I turn around when my eyes no longer sting and try to discern my followers in the darkness.

"We made it."

Now we just have to wind around the wall until we hit the western door. With every step, I feel my burden lightening. Once we make it inside, I can drop off my followers to whoever is on door duty. Within twenty minutes, I can be sleeping in my own bed with no responsibility except my own.

When I hit the first corner, I can hardly keep from whooping. The gate protrudes out several feet, creating a narrow entryway like a hallway: the better to defend. I take a left to follow the bottleneck, then turn around again when the wall ends.

"Welcome to Paradise," I say, even though it's technically called Asis. Then I turn around to knock on the gate. "It's Nia! I'm back, and I have a group."

The sound of sticks being moved comes from the other side of the gate. "Nia? We expected you back two, three days ago."

I grunt. He didn't expect me back; Jaden did. She was the only one who had any real idea of what time and energy it took to cross the Barrens, and she hadn't been there for years. Still, she knew how far I was likely to survive out and back on the supplies I took. Guess this trip marked a new record.

The others are crowding around me, closer to me than ever before. They stink, and I can't wait to be rid of them all.

The door creaks open, a lit torch the only light on the other side. The gatekeeper stands back, and I see now that it's old Henry. He may be the oldest one in Asis at sixty-three, and he often took the night gate duty because he had insomnia.