The Strays

I could see Reach getting ready for an argument, but it was put to bed before it even began when Linc and Ava came running in. I put my tools down and turned to face them.

“What’s going on?” Reach and I both said in unison.

“Whatever it is, it’s not your problem, Caelyn.” Reach snapped like a juvenile child.

“Actually, she’s the one we came to talk to.” Ava awkwardly corrected him.

“I guess it is my problem, after all.”

“I’m not sure what this is, but can we put it on hold for a second?” Ava impatiently scowled.

“Just tell Cae what’s going on, that’ll probably get her to focus on what’s important.” Linc suggested.

“We just got a radio transmission from your old friend Delilah, she wants to talk to you.” Ava informed me and I could feel the shift in atmosphere.

“Don’t you dare.” Reach tried to stop me but I slipped past just in time, switching my board on and dropping it on the floor before using it to speed away.

As I approached the marquee where my gear had been held, I spotted an anxious-looking Ty.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, these pricks won’t let me anywhere near it, this is as close as I can get. A couple guys came to get Colt, and I followed them here, but they won’t tell me why they took him.”

“Apparently Delilah is on the radio, she’s found the camp’s frequency and wants to talk to me. Your brother and Ava just came to get me to let me know.”

“This can’t be good.”

“No, it cannot.” I grabbed Ty by the hand and dragged him through the gathered crowd. Somebody tried to stop me as I approached the entrance to the marquee, but I offered him a cold glare. “Ava sent me, I’m Caelyn and if you don’t move in the next five seconds so I can join Colt in there, somebody is going to get hurt; it won’t be me.”

“Trust me when I say you don’t want to get on her bad side, it’s been a long day, and she is very serious.” Ty concurred.

“Fine, but he stays out here.” The grunt compromised.

“No, he doesn’t. He’s one of my people, which means if I say he’s with me, you don’t argue.”

The grunt went to complain, but I cut him off first. “Five… Four… Three… Two…” He stepped aside before I could get to one, letting both of us pass through.

Colt smiled at the sight of us. “How’d you get in here?” He asked as he turned to Ty.

“It would appear that Cae is more persuasive than we knew.” He replied.

“Simple psychology. Nobody argues with a countdown when dealing with someone with a reputation like mine. Now, care to explain what the hell is going on? How’d Delilah find us and why did they come to get you?”

Before Colt could answer another voice crackled through the radio. “We know you’re there Cae. Colt too, so I suggest you pick up, I wouldn’t want to have to do something you’ll live to regret.” This wasn’t Delilah, this was Ratchet.

“E.A.D and Elites working together, I’m not sure if I should be terrified or flattered.”

“This isn’t something to joke about, you know what both factions are capable of and if they know the camp is here, it’s only a matter of time before we put everyone here in danger.” Colt snapped.

“If Ratchet is working with Elites, they didn’t just coincidentally stumble on this place, she must have already known.”

“Why not come after them sooner, then?” Ty queried.

“Because they weren’t a threat until Cae and I arrived. This place is a haven, a refuge, Ratchet could deal with these guys whenever she saw fit, but she had no reason to waste the time or the manpower until today.” Colt reasoned.

“Colt, we have to do what they say.”

“Why?” He and Ty both asked at the same time.

“Because if they’re on this frequency both of them have to be somewhere nearby. Which means they could attack this place at any given moment if they saw fit. With their combined skill and firepower, the kids here wouldn’t stand a chance; we couldn’t get everyone out in time.”

“Are you sure?” Ty asked.

I thought about it for a moment. “They could be boosting the signal from the city, but I don’t think it’s likely they’d struggle to get range alone, not to mention a clear signal with all the interference.”

“How’d Delilah get out here so quickly?” Ty persisted.

“We had to take the long way, even if we had a head start, it would have only taken one person to spot us leaving the city and alerting her. Without having to pass through the checkpoints or hiking trails, and having the ability to take main roads, Elites could have easily gotten here just behind us.” Colt surmised.

The persistence of the radio in the background continued, and Linc finally joined us with Reach hot in his tail. “Do not answer that Radio Caelyn or I swear.” Reach started before I interrupted him.

“You swear you’ll do what? You don’t know Delilah like us, and if someone other than me or Colt answers, there will be consequences. Now shut up and let me try to fix this mess before somebody gets hurt.”

I could tell he didn’t want to let it rest, but Linc stopped him as he went to snatch the handset from me.

I pressed down on the handset and spoke into the microphone. “What do you want, Delilah?”

“I just wanted to hear your voice.” Everyone in the room exchanged a look, confused by the response.

“Really? You came all the way out here and teamed up with the E.A.D, the same people who sent me to take you down, because you missed the sound of my voice, why do I find that so hard to believe?”

“I really don’t know.” Her sickly sweet innocence felt so forced and fake as it echoed around us.

“What do you really want?”

“You, obviously and Ratchet wants her traitor, Colt. I know he’s there with you.”

“Well, we don’t always get what we want, do we?”

“You might not, but I certainly do, one way or another, and I know you wouldn’t want the blood of all those innocent people on your hands, would you?”

“Leave Reach and his people out of this, it’s between us.”

“Sure, all you and Colt have to do is surrender, that way everyone wins. I get you, Ratchet gets her traitor and your friends get to keep breathing.”

“Like I’d ever just take you at your word, let alone give you one of my people.”

Once again Ratchet’s voice crackled through the static. “We’re not interested in Reach’s little refuge, his haven, we want you. They don’t pose a threat to us, not if we take you and Colt out of the picture. You turn yourselves in and they can go back to their quiet, pacifistic way of life, we need never bother them again. You know me Cae, I might have lied when we first met, but I’m still a woman of honour, I have morals, I won’t just wipe out a refugee camp for the sake of it, I’m not a monster and I’ve made assurances with Delilah that she won’t touch Reach or his people either. All you have to do to avoid bloodshed and war is simply surrender.”

I set the handset down, making sure the microphone was off.

“That’s what you call negotiating?” Reach seemed unimpressed.

“It went better than if you’d tried to speak to her, at least she isn’t going to storm the place, killing anyone in her path.”

“Provided we surrender.” Colt reminded me. “Can we really trust them not to go back on their word?”

“Delilah, no, but Ratchet maybe. If they’ve got a spy in the camp, then there’s a chance they’ve known about this place for a while, they haven’t attacked before, I don’t see why that would change if we turned ourselves in.”

“You aren’t seriously considering this proposal.” Ty snapped.

“Do you see any other options? E.A.D and Elite forces combined, it would be a massacre, I’m not going to just let that happen.”

“You know what that psychopath is going to do to you once she has you.” He persisted.

“Can it be any worse than what Ace did? I’m not sure if you’ve worked this out yet, but I’m not the type of person to crack under pressure, besides it’s not like I know anything that could be of use to her now, and someone needs to warn Jeremiah about the spy, if they haven’t compromised his cover yet it’s only a matter of time, he needs to get out of the city. Reach, if I were you I wouldn’t stay here though, Delilah has a penchant for changing her mind, you may not be safe here for long.”

Linc just stared at me without saying a word.

“Don’t give me that look. This was only ever a matter of time. Delilah was going to call checkmate on our little game eventually and she thinks this is it, but as long as you guys are out there, as long as Ace and my brother are, she isn’t going to win, no matter what happens to me.”

“She couldn’t have held off a few more weeks? We only just got you back.” He sighed.

“All Colt and I have to do is hold out until Reach is able to relocate the camp, once that happens we can do what we do best, we can escape.”

“How will you escape without your gear, and how will you know where to find us?” Ty argued.

“Seriously? You think that little of me? I survived just fine on my own before I met you guys, or did you forget that?”

“If you’re that confident you’ll find us again then give us your word. Promise us you’ll get out of this alive.” Ty challenged me.

“I can’t do that and you know it. I don’t take chances on uncertainty.”

“Then you aren’t going. I’m not letting you do something as stupid as march to your own death, or you for that matter, Colt.”

This is the point where Colt finally decided to speak up and he was surprisingly onboard with my plan. “Actually, I’m with Cae on this one. I’ve made it out of tougher scrapes than this, so has she, we’ll be fine, besides, we don’t exactly have another option. Us at least pretending to concede buys everyone here time to get out, we can warn our friend on the inside he’s in trouble and eventually the two of us will get out, we always do.”

“Are you both sure this is what you want to do?” Reach asked with a heavy sigh.

“We’ll be fine, you just focus on keeping your people and mine safe.”

He nodded his head and I could hear Delilah’s impatience crackling through.

Colt picked up the handset. “Cae and I are turning ourselves in, so call off the cavalry, just tell us where to go.”

“The clearing, you know the one, be there in an hour, or we’ll come looking for you.” Delilah callously replied before shutting off her radio.

I handed Linc my board with a smile. “I think you and Leo will get more use out of this than me, consider it an early birthday present.”

“You two are really doing this, then?” He asked with a sad smile, as though my mind might have changed.

“It’s too late to turn back now, but I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see each other. In fact, when we see each other again, I’ll have to build myself a new board that’s even better and we’ll have to race, see who’s faster.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Ty coughed loudly to draw my attention. “Does this mean you’re going to say goodbye to Leo and the others now, or do you plan on just dropping off the face of the earth?”

“I can’t say goodbye, I don’t have time and I can’t deal with their disappointment in me right now, if they ask where I’ve gone tell them Wraith was in trouble and we went to bail him out.”

“You mean lie to them?” He corrected me.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Hate to break this up but we should get going before Leo and the others come looking for us, unless you want to explain all of this to them.” Colt interjected.

“Well, I guess it was nice meeting you, Ava, you too Reach, as short as this has been and I am really sorry for bailing Ty, you can be as mad at me as long as you want but this is the only option besides all out war.”

Colt and I went to leave, but a sudden thought stopped me briefly as I turned on my heels. “Hey, Reach.”

“Yeah, Caelyn?”

“If you see Sean again, tell him I’m sorry. Tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t save Miles or stop Delilah, tell him sorry that I got mixed up with the likes of Ratchet and I only ever wanted to help people, all I wanted was to make my family proud.”

“You can tell him yourself the next time you see him. You’re both strong willed and stubborn, you’re survivors, I know the two of you will cross paths again. When that day comes, well, Delilah and Ratchet had better watch their backs.” He smiled, the first sincere gesture he’d made sense we met.

Colt impatiently grabbed my arm as he followed my gaze. “As touching as that pep talk was, we really have to go, before I realise just how bad an idea this really is. Ty, keep our people safe, you’re the only one I actually trust not to get them killed in our absence.”

“I’ve got their backs, don’t worry. You two just need to focus on watching out for each other and making it back alive. I don’t want to be the one to tell the others that I not only lied to them but I let their friends walk off on a suicide mission, I have a feeling they might find that hard to forgive. Your hero complexes are one thing you two, don’t let them evolve into martyr complexes because I’m not sure how long our faction will stay together if news of your deaths got out.” Ty pessimistically replied.

“Well, that’s certainly something I won’t miss, your doom and gloom. We’re going to be fine, we always are.”

I pulled up my hood and set down my bag, knowing I wasn’t going to need it, then I walked away, Colt following closely behind me.

The two of us made it out of the camp unchallenged and I led the way to the clearing with Colt sticking close beside me. “This is by far the dumbest thing we’ve ever done, you couldn’t have thought of something else?” He asked.

“Nope, I didn’t have time, though I’m sure I could’ve talked them out of wanting you if you’d given me a chance.”

“There was no way I was going to let you face this alone. We stand a better chance of getting out of this alive if we’re together.”

I didn’t reply, and this seemed to put him on edge.

“You don’t think you’re making it out of this one alive, do you?” He observed.

I shook my head. “Delilah doesn’t make the same mistake twice, there was no way I was ever going to make it out of this, but I knew that if I told Ty that, he’d never have let me leave and then a lot of innocent people would’ve died. I couldn’t let that happen, either.”

“You didn’t feel like sharing the plan with me at least before I so willingly signed up to get myself killed?”

“Delilah doesn’t want you, Ratchet does, which means you actually do stand a chance of escaping, and the moment the opportunity presents itself I think you should take it. No point in us both dying for my sins.”

“I’m not just going to abandon you, we’re both getting out of this, alive, I don’t care what it takes. The Caelyn Lewis I know would never just give up like this.” He lectured.

“I’m not giving up, I just know when I’m beat, and I don’t care if I die to be honest with you, because as we speak Ace is searching for Sean, when he finds him they’ll find a way to bring down Ratchet as well as Delilah. I’ve done what I came back here to do, so if this is the end for me, I’m ready.”

“Don’t you want to see your brother again?”

“Not really, no. What would I say to him, how would I ever be able to look him in the eyes after everything I’ve done? His little sister is dead, he’d be ashamed to see who I’ve become.”

Colt didn’t know what else to say.

“You know, there was a time not too long ago where I would’ve never thought you were the type to turn yourself in to protect people, I always saw you as someone motivated by self preservation, it’s strange how much can change in such a short period of time.”

“Well, I found a reason to start seeing the world a little differently. Watching you and the others sacrifice time and time again to help each other starts to rub off after a while, we’re a team, we look out for each other, that’s what we do, it’s how we survive.” He smiled back.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

“If you hadn’t found me I’d still be Rocky’s boy toy, so really I should be thanking you. The first time we met, we had a rough introduction, but you helped me find my family and now I don’t know what I’d be doing if we hadn’t crossed paths. Meeting you changed my life in more ways than one, and it showed me there was still more to life, even in the apocalypse, than just surviving.”

“I’m really not a role model for people to look up to, death follows me like a shadow that I can’t break free from and I should have known I couldn’t outrun it forever.”

Once again, Colt grabbed my arm, only this time it was to stop me. I tried to pull away, but he just gripped it tighter as he brought me to his chest and gently kissed my lips. Instead of pushing him away like before I found myself kissing him back, allowing myself to get lost in the moment, letting the world around me slip away for a few brief seconds.

The real world soon caught up to us again as we pulled away and when I opened my eyes we were surrounded on all sides. Delilah shared an amused look with Ratchet and to my loathing, Drew as Colt protectively held me to him, his arms wrapped firmly around me as our bodies pressed together. Despite everything going on, I know I should be afraid, or worried, but all I could focus on were the butterflies in my stomach and the burning in my cheeks.

“Awe, such a happy couple.” Drew mocked.

“You’re just jealous she actually kissed me back, even in the apocalypse nobody would be desperate enough to date a traitor like yourself.” Colt retorted.

Drew started to walk towards us, but Delilah rested her hand on his shoulder, calling him off.

“I guess I stand corrected, there’s at least the city’s vermin desperate enough.” Colt persisted.

“I’d like to see you try to talk without your tongue.” Drew sneered as Delilah continued to keep him at bay.

“We did as you said, now call off your guys.”

I didn’t like the shift in expressions as their amusement grew.

“Ratchet, you gave me your word, that’s the only reason I was even willing to agree to this deal.”

“Oh, don’t worry, our people are nowhere near the camp.” She reassured me, though her smile wasn’t dissipating.

“What did you do?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see for yourself in a couple of minutes.” Delilah grinned sadistically as she turned to Drew. “Why don’t you break the lovebirds up, I want Caelyn’s full attention when the show starts, we can’t have her new boyfriend distracting her.”

Drew took on the same smile as the others as he walked towards us, and Colt refused to let me go. “Stay away from her.” He warned but Drew just laughed it off as he pulled back his arm, but before he could land the shot I stepped forward, forcing Colt to let go as I grabbed Drew’s hand.

“Leave him alone or lose your hand, choose wisely.”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be you two.” Ratchet sighed.

“I didn’t think you cared given the fact you set me up to die in the first place, that is why you sent me into the city to begin with, wasn’t it? We both know it wasn’t just to gather information; had it not been for the fact I went to find Colt on my own initiative you would’ve probably sent him to kill me and clean up your mess in the event Delilah failed.”

“This is why I wanted you dead, can you blame me? You’re much too observant for your own good and I knew once you found out the truth you’d never let it go, like a dog with a bone. That’s what actually made this whole alliance possible, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and you sure do have a knack for pissing off the wrong people.” Ratchet hissed as Drew took a step towards me once again, but this time instead of fighting him, I put my hands in the air and let him pin them behind my back so he could be certain, as could the others, that I wasn’t going to be a threat. I had to at least appear to play nice until I knew the camp was safe and we were back in the city, more familiar ground.

Two more guys grabbed Colt, and he was forced to his knees as Ratchet struck him across the face. “I honestly expected more from you, out of all of my recruits you were the one with the most promise, the one I was sure would be loyal to the end, but you betrayed me and the rest of the family that took you in, gave you purpose, all for what, some girl who helped you get out of a jam?”

Colt spat in Ratchet’s face, but her demeanour and attitude didn’t change. Something was wrong, very wrong, I could feel it in my gut and whatever it was they knew that we didn’t, seemed to make them unbelievably happy, but not in a good way, more like a hunter that just found a rabbit in his trap as he prepared to skin it alive.

It wasn’t long until I found out why. I felt the rumble of the ground, tremors beneath my feet before I heard the loud explosions echoing from a distance. I didn’t understand it at first, not until I looked up at the sky that was filled with thick, black smoke so dense it blocked out the sun. I could see the flames roaring above the treeline, sweeping through, engulfing everything in their path. My heart stopped as the putrid smell of smoke and burning flesh stuck to my nostrils, burning my lungs as I choked on the suddenly toxic atmosphere surrounding me.

I felt my body going limp, I couldn’t fight back the tears as Drew let go of me and I collapsed to the floor on my hands and knees, unable to breathe. The camp was gone, destroyed, nothing but a pile of rubble enveloped in a raging inferno, and it was all my fault.