To the Well-Organized Mind

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

[Nia]

We have rudimentary maps of the wilds and of the Barrens. Mostly maps of the land from Before, colored in and adjusted to account for it being After.

And I have my own map, of where I've been and you have not. Each year, the uncolored sections shrink smaller and smaller. My rational mind knows that I could color in the entire map and still not find you. But the expectation that I am narrowing in on my goal cannot be erased. So the frustration as you continue to elude me is pulling the scab off a wound, over and over.

-from Nia's journal

***

The respite from the rain doesn't last long. By the time I reach the wall built of cars, where one of Jaden's students went over and never returned, thunder is rumbling to the west. The air is very still, almost as though it's waiting for someone to sound the alarm the same way I am.

I ready my sling and check my knife, making sure both are ready. I stand atop the wall, in plain view for anyone in Asis as well as the wilds. The clouds let a golden shaft of dawn's light break through the clouds for a couple minutes, and I stand in the golden glow.

Let Ridge know I'm coming. Let's see what he prepares for me.

Then the light fades. Bursts of lightning highlight sections of boiling black cloud, and thunder booms closer as the wind begins to pick up. Big, fat drops of rain begin to fall, echoing hollowly on the ancient car hoods. At first, it looks like I'll make it down the wall and into the trees before the clouds completely break. But then the drops multiply without warning, and suddenly it's pouring.

My instinct is to immediately jump down and get under the protection of the trees. But I force myself to move carefully. Better to embrace the wet, grow comfortable with the sodden clothing pasting to my skin and the hair leeching to my cheeks than to move hastily and injure myself. My hands are slightly stiff with the bandages, and it wouldn't be wise to jostle them too much to make the bleeding start anew. My injuries aren't bad, just inconveniently located so that they'll easily continue to be bothered and broken open.

Finally, my feet reach the ground. Rivulets run past my boots, pooling anywhere the land is slightly depressed. With this kind of rain, flash floods are a possibility.

I walk deeper into the forest and receive a slight reprieve from the downpour. But just slightly. The rain still pelts its way down and cascades down branches and leaves to puddle at my feet and drench my body. My mental map of where the uncanny feral gang resides is forefront in my mind. I exited Asis at this location so that I wouldn't have to go around the fence in the wilds—and because I didn't know who was on door duty and if they'd let me leave.

I force myself to focus only on one foot in front of the other. With the downpour and wind, I can't hear anything, so my eyes have to do double duty. Except, it's not possible to see much through the dreary rain and darkened trees. So with an extra breath to relax myself, I slow my pace and force myself to concentrate on my direction.

Fortunately, the rain seems to have forced the predators and lurkers to hunker down as well. The cooler air seems to drain out the lingering remnants of my fever and headache, and I feel as well as I did the day before, minus the cuts and bruises.

I reach the caves near the marshy area without mishap, and when I finally stoop under the opening, I experience my first moment of dry air in about two hours.

Before I take more than a step into the dryness, I halt. Listening hard and squinting into the darkness, I try to discern if anything arrived here before I did. The rain is pounding outside, forming a curtain of cascading water for a door to the cave. Under my feet, something crunches. In the light trickling in from outside, I see bones. Crouching, I pick through them, trying to decide what they belong to. They're small, slender...probably a rabbit. And the fact that they're bones makes it hard to ascertain how recent they are.