“Which way?” Max whispered.
She moved off to the right, with the men following, hoping she wasn’t going to get turned around in the dark.
After they had slipped quietly past several huts, some with soft light glowing inside, she wondered if it really was this far to the outdoor kitchen. Then, to her relief, she spotted the open area where she’d helped the women prepare the evening meal.
She’d worked here as part of the dinner prep crew, but the kitchen looked different in the darkness. Teeth clenched, she poked through boxes and open shelves, trying not to make any noises.
A sound to her rear made her whirl. She went rigid when she saw two of the dogs who had rushed over when they first entered the compound.
Max saw them too. “It’s okay,” he said, crossing to the animals and bending to pat their heads and scratch their ears. They seemed friendly, but she didn’t feel comfortable around the big animals. What would happen when the visitors left the camp?
She looked at Max, then saw Rafe coming toward her, holding a knife. His voice was low as he said, “I found them. How many do you want?”
“What about the dogs?” she whispered.
He held up his other hand. In it was a container of the stew they’d had at dinner. He put it on the ground, and the dogs rushed over
While the animals were eating, he led the way to a storage cabinet with the cutlery. Amber took two. She cut a slit near the waist band of her trousers and put the smaller weapon through it. She kept the larger one in her hand.
When they’d finished raiding the kitchen, Amber looked around, trying to orient herself. Although she’d led the men to the cooking area, she couldn’t be sure where to find the gate. Maybe Max wasn’t sure either because he hesitated before leading them quickly across a cleared area. Her heart gave a little leap when she saw the fence. They followed along the line of staves, walking on ground that was beaten down, making their passage easy. But she knew it wouldn’t be as level on the other side.
Still it was a relief to find the gate and step through. As they headed for the darkness of the swamp, she kept looking back over her shoulder and saw several figures walking between the huts. But they seemed to be in no hurry. Maybe they were simply people on their way to the bathrooms.
And the dogs were still in the kitchen.
Max had seen the villagers too. Quickly he led her and Rafe to the darkness under the trees, where the trio faded into the shadows.
“Do you know where to find the trail?” she asked when she was sure they were out of hearing distance.
“I’m trying to remember how far they brought us along the fence after we came out of the swamp,” Max answered.
As he spoke, he looked back at the line of the staves in the ground. “Too bad we didn’t have a chance to tie a marker to one of the posts.”
“Well, we came from the right,” Rafe said.
Reversing their direction, they moved slowly to the left, staying in the shadows, as they searched for the entrance to the trail. Amber wasn’t sure how much ground they had covered when a shout from inside the camp made them all go rigid. Then the dogs began to bark frantically.
“They know we’re gone,” Max muttered as he grabbed Amber’s hand, and pulled her into the underbrush where she landed on something dank and squishy.