Endgame by Kate Wrath

Author:Kate Wrath [Wrath, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-08-11T23:00:00+00:00

***

Slowly but surely, camp comes together. We manage to weave fallen branches into lean-tos, hidden beneath the densest part of the tree canopy. Nothing fancy, but it will keep out the moisture… hopefully. And just in time, because the sky is dark, the clouds boiling. Food is less than plentiful while we try to get our wits about us when it comes to catching enough. People are used to starving, though, so it's not that big of a change.

Spirits are good… or at least I think they are.

"Everyone's really unhappy," Duck murmurs to me late at night, when we stop to finally get some rest.

"What? No they're not." I swish my hands in the creek as we crouch down. The cool water is heavenly on my blistered palms— a product of dragging huge branches around. "Everything's going great."

She gives me a look. Raised eyebrows. A frown.

I gesture impatiently. "Tell me."

"They're saying that we shouldn't be out here. That it was never part of the plan. That the Sentries will find us. They're hungry, and you told them that there would be plenty of food in the wilderness."

"We have to catch it, first." My voice raises, incredulous.

"And they say we left all our things behind and we have nothing." I notice her absently fingering the hairbrush tucked into her waistband. She could have salvaged a pistol or some sort of tool, but leave it to Duck to have chosen a hairbrush over something actually useful.

"We'll make new things."

"They want the old things back."

I sigh, smacking the water, standing up. I wonder if it was like this for Matt when he took the people of the Outpost to Futtlac. Did they all complain about everything until he proved to them that it could be done? I laugh as I begin walking back to camp. Hell no. No one would have dared.

"Uh… why are you laughing?" Duck hurries through the undergrowth, trying to keep pace with me.

"They're a bunch of lazy bastards," I say. "Don't they know they need to work for it? Did they expect everything to be handed to them?"

Duck shrugs.

"And why didn't any of them say anything to me? Not a word!" I gesture to her. "But they tell you everything."

"They don't want to risk upsetting you," Duck says. "You're the authority figure."

"Hmph." I lift my chin as I walk. "That might be smart of them." A few more steps and I've worked off the steam, the indignation. "Thanks for telling me, Duck. I'll deal with it. Keep your ear out for things in the future."

She flashes me a grin. "Like a spy?"

My heart jerks. That grin, that childishness. For the briefest moment, it's like looking at Oscar. I reach over and pat her on the back. "Exactly. Don't let it go to your head."

She shakes her head, still smiling.

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