Page 2 of V-Day
He shone a flashlight in her face briefly. The bright light left her vision dazzled with orange stars. “It’s her,” the shadow said gruffly and softly, in Spanish.
It wasn’t Cristián’s voice.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “You know who I—”
The hand slapped over her mouth once more, cutting her off.
The shadow in front of her moved closer. He bent his head. “Quietly,” he breathed, in distorted English. “The hills are crawling with Insurrectos. You understand? Nod if you do.”
She nodded.
The hand dropped from her mouth. “Your name?” The question was breathed.
“You already know who I am. You said so.”
“Name.”
“Chloe Masters.”
“Why are you here?”
She took in another deep breath. She was recovering from the exertion and from her fright, too. “I’m looking for someone.”
“You are American.”
“And you’re Vistarian,” she shot back.
“Who are you looking for?”
“Who do youthinkI’m looking for?” she said cautiously.
“We’re wasting time,” the man holding her arms said, in Spanish. “She’s the one. The name is right. Her face is right. If she isn’t her, we can deal with her back at the camp better than we can here. Let’s go back.”
The man in front of her didn’t speak for a moment. Then, his voice still quiet, he said in English, “Tell me, quickly. The name. Or we cut your throat and leave you for the monkeys.”
Deadlock. They were clearly out looking for her. The mention of a camp gave her hope. Had Cristián laid out sentries to wait for her? Had he expected her to come to him, after all? No one other than Nicolás Escobedo knew she was on Vistaria, or why, and Nick would never tell anyone else.
She had to risk it. “Cristián Peña,” she told them.
The man behind her relaxed. The grip on her arms slackened.
“Come with us,” the man before her said gruffly.
“To where?”
“Where do you think?” He turned and walked up the slope as if it were a flat city sidewalk.
The man behind her pushed at the back of her shoulder. He didn’t return her backpack, which was fine by her. He could carry it for her if he insisted.
With her muscles protesting, Chloe forced herself to follow. Her heart leapt about in her chest.
Soon!
*
IT TOOK ANOTHER TWO HOURS,by her estimation. The duration meant Cristián had left the area where he laid the fires. Only he’d left sentries waiting for her and that gave her hope.
The camp where the two silent men led her was on the other side of a narrow gulley she would not have found stumbling around in the dark by herself. The ground here was nearly horizontal, which gave her shrieking thigh muscles some relief. Walking normally also told her exactly how tired she was. Everything ached.
