The Girl in Red

As she crested the slope she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she’d forgotten something, something important. Then she remembered that she’d promised Mama she would stay with Adam.

They were supposed to stay together, Red and Adam. Now Adam was gone and it was just Red, Red all alone with a long way to go in a world full of wolves.

CHAPTER 14 Something Wicked

After

I don’t think you should go,” Sam said.

Red said, “I know.”

She’d thought long and hard on it but there was really no other option. Someone was going to have to find out where those men had their base and the size of their patrol circle. It was beyond foolish to bring the kids, so of course Red would have to go by herself and they would stay with D.J.

At least they’ll be safe and warm and fed if something happens to me.

Leaving Sam and Riley behind broke the No Separation rule, which bothered Red because separation within her party had thus far only resulted in loss. And approaching the base camp of a bunch of gun-toting men who kidnapped women and children smacked of stupidity on top of it.

She wasn’t anybody’s Chosen One. She wasn’t here to Save the World. And while she’d managed to defend herself from a few lone wolves she didn’t have the least idea how to manage a pack of them, barring the sudden discovery of superhero skills.

Well, you’re not going to manage them. You’re going to find out where they’re located, and where they travel to every day, and then you’re going to mark those places on the map and avoid them. There’s not going to be heroics of any kind.

“I really don’t like this,” D.J. said.

“Yes, I know, everybody thinks it’s a terrible idea,” Red said. “Including me. But this is what it comes down to—terrible idea number one, which is to scope out the camp and figure out how to avoid them, or terrible idea number two, which is to walk blindly into their net and get scooped up. I’ve already been scooped up once and I’m not letting it happen again.”

“What do you mean, scooped up?” D.J. said, a little indignant. “Do you mean by me?”

“No,” Red said. “I got caught by soldiers once.”

“You did?” Riley asked. “How did you get away?”

“I walked,” she said.

There was no need to explain about Adam, about Regan, about Sirois, or about the war between the militia and the military.

“If you can escape from the soldiers I suppose you’ll be all right,” Sam said, unable to keep the doubt out of her voice. She was too smart to buy Red’s brief explanation, and Red could tell that she knew there was more to the story.

“There’s really no need for any of you to leave at all,” D.J. said. “You can stay here with me for as long as you need.”

Riley got up from his chair and went to Red’s shoulder, tugging on her sleeve. “Yeah, let’s stay, Red. It’s so much better here than out in the woods. And we can have kimchi and rice every day.”

Red’s mouth twisted. She’d thought it might come to this. Sam and Riley were under no obligation to stay with her, and it was probably safer for them if they didn’t go any farther. Still, there was a little pang in her heart when she considered leaving them behind. It wasn’t easy to be on your own all the time, and the two of them had made her feel human again.

“You can stay, if you’d rather,” Red said gently. “But I have to keep going. My grandmother is waiting for me, just like D.J. is waiting for his son. I can’t let her wait forever.”

“Oh, right,” Riley said. “Your grandma. I forgot.”

They’d only been together for a few days. It wasn’t as if they were lifelong friends. It would be better, much better, for Sam and Riley to stay here.

Except for those patrols that came around every day. And that man, the shaggy-haired toothpick who’d picked something up off the lawn.

That something had been nagging at Red ever since she saw him, nagged at her in the way little worries do and making it impossible for her to completely relax.

One worry at a time, Red.

“Look,” Red said. “They can’t be that far away, not if they’re coming through here on patrol every day. And it’s pretty obvious they’re mostly sticking to the roads. Since they don’t double back, then they’re walking in a big circle, or something resembling one.”

She pulled out her map. In order to continue more or less in the correct direction of Grandma’s house, she and Sam and Riley would have passed through this collection of houses and followed the state road until it connected with more forest farther north.