Page 14 of Shattered Home

Something about the armed men in uniform had my hair sticking on end, every nerve ending in my body frayed. What if someone had seen us? It didn’t seem like they really wanted to give anyone a choice when it came to relocating to the camps.

Rainer must have caught on to my wary glances because he said, “I’ll keep watch. Make sure nothing disrupts us while you two sleep.”

Sasha nodded gratefully, plopping to the dirt and situating her bag until it rested under her head. Under the moonlight, I could see the weariness in her gaze and realized she was more tired than she had let on.

As I sunk to the dirt myself, I could feel my own exhaustion, my muscles protesting. My body had grown accustomed to sleeping on solid ground, but I wasn’t used to this type of exertion and, for the first time in a while, I desperately craved a bed. However, I wasn’t willing to get that bed if it meant someone could point a gun at me until I stayed where they wanted me.

Shuffling my body until I was as comfortable as I could get, I folded my hands under my head and stared up at the sky. I heard Rainer rustling around and I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, watching as he settled against a tree, his pistol lying on his lap. Glancing the other way, I noticed Sasha was already asleep, her chest moving up and down in a fluid motion.

I begged my mind to turn off, knowing I needed the rest for the remainder of the hike tomorrow, but even when I closed my eyes, sleep wouldn’t come. Realistically, I knew that there were only two options when it came to my mother and brothers. Either they were trapped in that camp, unable to escape due to the guards. Or they were like my dad. Dead.

Both options sent a shiver down my body, but I knew that I hoped they were in the camp or maybe even possibly hiding in the woods as I was. My brothers were no Rainer or Murphy, but they knew how to hunt and enjoyed camping. They could have survived these past three months.

“Why’d you want to come to the camp so badly?” The voice startled me, only a whisper, but amid the quiet woods it sounded as if someone had shouted in my ear.

Rolling onto my side so I could see Rainer, I raised a brow, even though I knew he couldn’t see. His face was shrouded in shadows, the moonlight only briefly lighting his midnight eyes. In this lighting, without the presence of his daily sneer, it was impossible to ignore how strikingly handsome he truly was.

“I was tired of being near you every day.”

My answer was snarky, but my words were a hushed whisper, and I think we both knew it was a lie. Of course, I did want to get away from Rainer and his surly attitude, but that wasn’t reason enough to hike twelve hours in one day. But the truth was, if there was anyone I would open up to about my true intentions for making this hike, it sure wouldn’t be him.

“How’d that work out for you?” He countered and I so badly wanted to see his face because I could have sworn he was teasing me.

“I’m still debating if there’s a difference between those men with a gun and the one sitting in front of me.”

A flash of white caught my eye and I realized Rainer was smiling. I wondered how long this strange comradery was going to last and if he was going to continue the conversation when he spoke. “Get some sleep, Alessia. For tonight, at least, this armed guard is better than the others.”

The trees surrounding us, although identical to nearly every other one we had passed, suddenly felt familiar. Rainer had woken Sasha and me at dawn and we had begun the long trek back to our camp. Finally, we were nearing the perimeter that we hunted in and I could hear the telltale sign of the rushing creek nearby.

Twigs snapped beneath our feet as we walked and, with each sound, my head swiveled, glancing over my shoulder. The entire hike, my spine had been straight, my entire body tight with a foreboding feeling that we were being followed.

Realistically, I knew the chances were slim to none. To our knowledge, none of the uniformed men had spotted us. And unless there were people still residing in the ghost town, no one else had seen us. But that knowledge did nothing to stem the flow of nerves as we approached the clearing.

Everyone was standing around when we entered, waiting for us. My gaze fell to Murphy first and I watched as he surveyed each of us, a sigh leaving his lips when he realized we were all in one piece. Mina caught my eyes next and I tried to not let her see the disappointment in my gaze. Unfortunately, I don’t think my poker face was any good because her slight smile dropped almost instantly.

“Well? Should we start packing up?” Emmanuel asked, his gruff voice echoing.

“No. We’ll be staying here until we can figure out another plan.” My head whipped toward Rainer as he spoke, surprised by his words.

Even though I had said something about the slim chances of us surviving the winter, I figured he would be plenty happy to carry on in the woods until then. I had never considered that there could be another plan of action.

Emmanuel grunted in response before returning to his family, sitting Stephanie and Lucas down, most likely to explain this new course of events. Sasha glided over to Mina and the two of them began speaking quietly amongst each other.

Rainer and Murphy began walking toward each other, and I realized once again it was time for me to be the odd man out. But fuck, I was tired of it. And any chance I had of reuniting with my family and leaving these strangers behind had disappeared.

Gathering courage from the temporary truce between Rainer and me from the night before, I found myself standing beside the two. “May I speak with both of you?”

Murphy immediately nodded, his signature smile tilting the corners of his lips. Rainer hesitated, confusion furrowing his brows, before he, too, nodded. Gesturing toward the edge of the clearing, far enough away from the others that they couldn’t overhear, the three of us walked in tandem.

“What’s up? And also, are either of you going to tell us what happened? What’s wrong with the camp?” Murphy leaned against the trunk of a tree, casually crossing his ankles.

Even though he had questions, it was clear he trusted our judgement. Or rather, he trusted Rainer’s. Given that assumption, I let Rainer take the reins for explaining the camp.

“They have loads of tents and armed guards at every corner. I don’t know what’s going on, but they aren’t helping those people, they’re keeping them prisoner.”

Rainer’s description of the camp mirrored my own thoughts from the night before. Although, I had been too vulnerable to compare the people inside to prisoners. Not when I was positive my family were some of those people.

“Well, fuck. What the hell is going on? And is this really going on across the entire country?” Murphy ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on the ends as he glanced between the two of us.

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