Page 13 of Shattered Home

Because obviously that was a normal thing to know. Every human under the sun knew how to read, or better yet hear, coordinates, and know exactly where that was. I was definitely the weird one here for not knowing that.

“I’m just wondering if we will be there before nightfall,” I grumbled, annoyed at Rainer’s ability to make me feel like an idiot.

“We will be if we keep moving.” Rainer picked up his pace and I huffed at the movement, wondering if my legs would give out on me before we made it there.

Sasha glanced over her shoulder, smiling sadly at me before rushing to keep up with Rainer. Obviously, she commiserated with my pain, but she didn’t want to get on Rainer’s bad side by siding with me. I couldn’t blame her, it was anything but enjoyable to be on the receiving end of his agitation.

Deciding the rest of this hike would go by faster if I kept my mouth shut, I quickly stretched my legs before following after them. The only thing keeping me going was the thought that this may be the last times I stood among these trees.

True to Rainer’s words, we made it into town right as the sun began to set. I hadn’t been outside the woods in three months and even though my mind was constantly on what could be going on in town, I hadn’t been prepared.

Sloping down a trail, the city laid before us. I nearly cried with relief when my feet touched flat pavement, but I could barely focus on that because the sight before me was hard to grasp.

We were on the edge of a street filled with buildings, store signs sporting names for restaurants and shops. And yet, not a single light filled the area. Most of the stores were falling apart, burned wood littering the street. The signs hung haphazardly, some completely fallen and splintered. Ash dotted the pavement, blowing in the subtle breeze.

Rainer motioned for us to follow him but held up a finger, indicating our silence. Sasha and I followed slightly behind him and my gaze continued to scan the area as we walked.

The eerie silence sent chills up my arms, our footsteps echoing amongst the quiet. There didn’t seem to be a single living thing within a fifty-mile radius of us, and I suddenly wondered if Rainer had gotten the coordinates wrong. Shouldn’t we hear someone? Something?

The three of us trailed through the town as quietly as possible, but I wondered what the need for secrecy was. There was no one around. What were we trying to hide from? Those thoughts magnified as we started creeping through a residential area. My stomach tightened at the sight of the burned down houses, not a single one livable even if people had been around.

After another hour of walking, my stomach was nearly folded in on itself, the realization of how bad this really was hitting me hard. What the fuck was happening? This didn’t seem like a state of emergency, this seemed like the end of the world.

Finally, finally, moments later, I heard the telltale sign of someone’s voice. It was barely a whisper, far enough away that I couldn’t pinpoint if a man or woman spoke, but it was a voice. Which meant we were coming up on someone.

Rainer’s usual intensity magnified the closer we got to the voice, more and more voices sprouting up around them. The hope that had slowly diminished the more we walked through this ghost town suddenly came back to me with a barreling force and I tried my best to not take off in a sprint. My mom could be one of those voices. One of my brothers.

Turning a corner, lights sprinkled through the darkness, allowing us a faint view of what laid before us. Rows and rows of tents sat before us, sprinkled around a large building that had been spared from the fires. People milled about the area and I strained my eyes to see them. My heart rate picked up as we neared closer and I nearly broke out in a run, figuring it was time to go. Rainer and Sasha had gotten me here, I didn’t need to stay with them any longer.

But before I could, Rainer held up a hand, halting his movements and ushering us behind the side of a dilapidated house. Frustrated and curious about his actions, I peeked around the corner to see what had stopped him. And to my surprise, I spotted the group of uniformed men, armed with large guns.

The uniforms were nothing I had seen before and a prick of unease traveled through me. My mind wandered to Rainer’s words from last night about how we didn’t know who was running these camps.

A group of people dressed in dirty clothes not too different from our own trudged past the guards, their eyes widening when they spotted them.

“Get back inside. It’s nearly curfew,” one of the uniformed men said, motioning with his gun toward the rows of tents.

The group of people didn’t think twice before scurrying off, fear in their steps. My eyes widened in shock at the sight and any hope I had sizzled like a dying ember. This didn’t seem like a camp to help those affected by the fires. This was a camp to keep everyone in one place. And suddenly, I hoped with all my heart that my family wasn’t trapped in those tents.

Chapter Nine

“We need to leave. Now.” Rainer’s rough voice was barely above a whisper, his quiet tread already taking him away from the camp.

Sasha followed readily behind, her dark eyes wide with worry. I took one last glance at the tents and the armed guards, my brain struggling to comprehend the new influx of information. Finally, I turned on my heel, racing to catch up with Sasha and Rainer, who were already creeping back through the streets.

The sun had fully set and as we crept away from the camp, the darkness surrounded us. The empty buildings were dark shadows in the night and every small noise of the wind had me jumping out of my skin, thinking one of those guards had followed us.

Finally, we reached the outskirts of the town; the woods welcoming us. Bidding a silent farewell to civilization, I stepped back onto the dirt, knowing that any dreams of putting these woods behind me were simply that. A dream.

Rainer led the way through the dark trees, surefooted even with minimal sight, and I kept as close as possible, not wanting to get lost. Several times I tripped on overgrown roots, but I quickly righted myself.

None of us spoke as we retreated back to the safety of the trees, but it was a different silence than before. Even if Rainer hadn’t originally trusted the safety of these camps, he had to have wanted answers to what was going on, or he wouldn’t have made the trek anyway. And although what we saw gave us a startling reality that we truly were better off in our far away clearing, we weren’t any closer to answers.

After a few hours hiking, Rainer finally slowed, Sasha and I stopping behind him. The moon was bright above us, peeking through the canopy of leaves, shadowing Rainer’s sharp jaw and pursed lips.

“We can’t keep going tonight. It’s too dark and animals will begin roaming. We’ll stop here for the night.”

Sasha and I nodded in tandem, neither of us willing to keep going. Sasha had tripped nearly as much as me and I knew she was struggling to find her footing in the dark. Realistically, I knew the idea was smart, but I couldn’t help but turn back toward the way we had come from.

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