hey everyone. sorry this chapter isn't very long, but i needed to get on with the story. i really hate it when stories drag on and on about pointless things, so i'm trying to avoid that as much as possible.
Yay, i reached 100 reads! it's like every time i check, more people have read this, i'm so happy.
new chapters coming soon. can't wait! please vote and comment. i'd really appreciate some feedback. (votes are more important)
Chapter 5; you can run, but you can’t hide ...especially from yourself
Jodi and Nate’s relationship quickly spread around the headquarters like wildfire. Guys grinned and waggled their eyebrows at them and girls giggled when they saw the two of them together. For Jodi it was the most unnerving and satisfying thing she’d gone through. Who’d have ever guessed that watching women turn their faces away as they hid their smiles could have been so pleasing?
But there wasn’t much time for gossip in the headquarters. Summer was already passing and autumn was coming in. The last of the summer grain had to harvested and stored for winter. Groups were being organised to go on expeditions around the continent to try and find more people and steal whatever useful things couldn’t be made in the rock. This time, Nate had volunteered to stay back and “hold the fort” as he said, but when Jodi asked him why, he turned his face away and said “because I want to” which would make anybody listening also turn their faces away and grin to themselves all of which only served to confuse her.
Because Jodi and Jake had only been around for a few months neither of them were allowed on the expedition, but Jodi was in charge of supplying weapons and bullets and Jake had been asked to be prepared to memorise newspapers, books, anything that they could bring back that would give them information.
And so three teams had been made up including Alice, Richard and Hari, who was taking Nate’s place on the team. The teams left the base amongst many goodbyes, and none of them were expected to be back for two weeks at least.
But despite the fact that the base was almost deserted now, Jodi and Nate hardly had any time for them to be alone. The rest of the crops had to be harvested and whatever couldn’t last long had to be preserved in jams, chutneys and fruit leathers. Jodi learned the techniques in graining rice in a large bucket with a heavy stick, which was stored along with grain in the storage vats.
But even after the harvest was over, the fields still needed to be prepared for next year’s crops, with manure and other fertilizers being spread all over and raked through, which took a lot of work and time.
All in all the two weeks passed very quickly, and the first group came home very quickly with clothes and weapons and something else that sparked the interest of every single person in the rock.
“Come on, Jodi!” shouted Jamal from the doorway of the garage, an impatient Iqbal standing beside him.
“In a second!” replied Jodi, trying to make on last set of bullets before going up to greet the newcomer everyone had been talking about.
“No second, only first!” he shouted.
Jodi grinned and put down her tools. She was still grinning as she followed the boys up the lift and still grinning when she joined the crowd staring at the new human that the group had brought.
But then the smile vanished, as she caught sight of the man standing up of the juncture. He was a tall, slightly muscular man of around forty, with long grey hair and an upright figure. The sight of him gave Jodi a wave of apprehension.
He was surveying the crowd himself with awe when he caught sight of her. His awed look was replaced with anger.
“You!” he shouted and pointed at her. Startled, the crowd turn to see who he was pointing at and Jodi felt many eyes upon her.
“Jonas.” She breathed his name, and she pleaded him with her eyes.
Ignoring that the man jumped down from the juncture, like she had done, and grabbed her arm in a painful grip. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Nate made his way through the crowd, with Jake close behind him. "Let go of her!” he grabbed her other arm, ready to pull her away from him.
“Don’t you know who she is?” shouted the man, shaking Jodi’s arm as he spoke.
“Jonas, please.” She whispered.
Jonas looked at Jake, and recognised him. “And you’re the other one!” he said.
Jake looked alarmed and backed away slightly. “Who are you?”
Jodi tried to pull her arm out of his grasp. “Jonas, no! He doesn’t know.”
Jake looked at her. “Doesn’t know what?” he said. The crowd of people around them started whispering in confusion.
“This wretched girl,” He said “girl” like that wasn’t the word he wanted to say. “is the daughter of the reason why you’re all here.”
“What?” said Nate.
“She’s Doctor Matthew’s daughter. The man who is responsible for the end of the world.”
The crowd gasped and Jodi felt as though her insides had been sucked out of her. But what was worse was Nate’s reaction. He let go of her arm like he had been burned and was staring at her in confusion, and then disgust.
Jonas let go of her, pushing her roughly as she did so, and Jodi fell to the ground. When she looked up she saw twelve faces staring at her accusingly. Among them was Jake’s shocked and outraged face.
He looked at Jonas. “You’re lying!” he shouted. He reached for Jodi. “Tell everyone. “ she begged her. “Tell everyone he’s lying.”
Jonas snorted in outrage. Then he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper and dropped it to the floor in front of him.
It was a crumpled photograph of four people. Jodi heard more gasps as people recognised her in the photo, smiling at the camera, five years old but still recognisable. Her grandmother stood behind her, hands on her shoulders and Jodi felt her heart wrench in grief and guilt. On her grandmother’s left side was a heavily pregnant woman with smiling brown eyes and black hair, a woman whose face Jodi had forgotten but could remember the warm smell of vanilla and chocolate and the classical tunes of Beethoven that this woman used to play around her house in the afternoons. Her mother.
But it was the man that stood on her grandmother’s right side that made people glare at her in revulsion. A man with salt and pepper hair and steely grey eyes – her eyes. Dr River Matthews. Her father.
Nate reached over and grabbed her by the collar. “What’s your surname?” he shouted. When she didn’t answer straight away he shook her. “What’s your surname?!” he repeated.
Jodi shook him off, and slowly stood up. She turned to face him, but didn’t look at his face. “My name is Jordan River Matthews.”
The people around her immediately started shouting obscenities at her. She didn’t say anything, just stood and stared at the ground. But when some of them turned to a stunned Jake she reached out her arms instinctively to protect him.
But he pushed her away.
The shouting died down when he did this, but Jake was glaring at Jodi.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he said.
Jodi sighed. “Mother didn’t want you to know.”
Jake looked away angrily, and Jodi felt helpless. “Oh, little brother-“
A hand connected with her face, slapping her hard. She felt to the ground, a hand automatically touching her cheek. She looked up in shock to find Jake pointing at her. “YOU ARE NOT MY SISTER!” he shouted.
Jodi stared at him, and felt tears prickle behind her eyes.
There was silence for a while, and it was Nate who spoke first.
“Leave.” He said.
Suddenly, Jodi felt a jolt of anger. Not long ago, Nate had kissed her and told her he wanted to be with her, and yet now he was staring at her like she was the scum of the earth.
“If I leave, I’m taking everything I worked on with me.” She hissed at him.
Nate smirked. “No you won’t.” He said. “Because your brother is staying with us.”
The crowd began murmuring, but Nate ignored them and kept speaking. “Obviously he didn’t know about your father” he said “father” with pure hatred in his voice, making Jodi wince. “So he can stay.
But you? You were old enough to be raised by him. Who knows what he told you?” he shook his head in disgust. “You won’t leave Jake unprotected. But you can’t stay here.”
Jodi stared in shock at him.
Then she looked at everyone’s faces. They were full of burning hatred, including Jonas’. She knew she couldn’t stay here now, not when everyone hated her like this, but her heart wrenched at the thought of having to leave. Slowly she walked away from them, towards the stairs. Going up to her room, she collected her things, including her gun, before heading to the garage.
She took her bike and left. No one watched her leave, no one said good bye.