“And not little.” Chae Rin approached him slowly, looking him up and down. He didn’t seem to mind. Seeing a disheveled Chae Rin approach him menacingly only made his grin turn wicked. “Who are you?”
“Traffickers.” It was Belle who’d answered, though her gaze was on the weapons they held. “Sect grade. You’ve stolen these.” She looked at the three of them. “Is this what you trade in?”
“Sharp eyes,” said the Scottish boy.
Traffickers. They usually weren’t any of the Sect’s business—we battled monsters, not humans, as sick as those humans may be. But they were criminals nonetheless, setting up hubs for their networks through Dead Zones, smuggling and transporting anything from drugs to people—but I didn’t see either.
“We’re not bad guys, you know,” the man said, putting up his hands as a sign of peace.
“You shot at us,” Chae Rin said.
“By accident!” he insisted. “We were shooting at the phantoms. Come on, seriously, we’re not bad people. Believe me, we’re not your run-of-the-mill group of villains and criminals, and we’re not out here hurting anyone. Never would. Our wares—”
“Sect wares,” Belle interrupted.
“—this antiphantom technology,” he tried again, “is going to places and people that need it. And we’re not a threat to you, obviously. I didn’t get in this to fight any damn Effigies.” He straightened his back. “But since we did just save one another’s lives, let’s all of us calm down and clear things up on the way, yeah? Derrek, Abril. You okay?”
“Yeah, Lucas.” Derrek stood up. “This girl saved me. But she’s bleeding bad.”
“Ah, she can handle it. Don’t you Effigies heal fast?” Lucas laughed.
“Yeah, but as you can see, despite that, I’m still bleeding.” I doubled over. “Actually, I think I’m going to faint.”
“Sorry ’bout that.” Lucas picked up the tripod. “But I’m sure you’ll be fine. You gals can take care of yourselves.” He turned from us, waving Abril over before giving us a quick farewell salute. “Well, we’ll be off now.”
He took several steps before pausing and looking back. “Don’t suppose you’re just going to let us go, are you?”
“We have to go with you,” Belle said. “Not only for medical attention. There’s somewhere we’re heading and we can’t get through these mountains alone.”
Lucas cocked his head to the side. “Sorry, but I don’t believe I asked you to come along.”
“I don’t believe I was asking for your permission,” Belle answered flatly.
Abril’s hand looked like it was itching to fly to her gun.
“You think we’re going to come down on you for selling Sect stuff, right?” I said, wincing from the pain of my wound. “We won’t. Seriously, we don’t care. We’re just trying to get out of here. And you could use the extra muscle, right?” I said this as mine felt like it was about to burst apart like an overheated sausage.
Lucas, Derrek, and Abril exchanged glances. “Fine.” Lucas threw his arms up in exasperation. “I’ll take your word for it, though it’s my arse on the line if you go back.” He shook his tripod. “We’re taking this with us until we get to the campsite. Actually, now that I think of it, our leader, Jin, is probably going to be interested to see you guys.”
“We need to get him medical attention too,” said Chae Rin, flicking her head at James. Lake had already gone to pick him up.
Lucas sighed. “Well, come along, then. We’ll patch your friend up, too.”
He walked ahead of us, Abril and Derrek picking up the equipment and bags and following. Exchanging wary glances, the four of us followed the traffickers down the rocky mountain path.
? ? ?
Out of the three of them, only Abril was from around the area, but she didn’t speak much, merely grunted every once in a while, whenever her name came up. I suspected she was more comfortable with barking threats and pointing guns at people.
Lucas was the chatty one. And flirty. Didn’t matter which girl. I caught him checking me out a couple of times, and I doubt it was to make sure my arm was any better after Derrek had tied it up with one of the bandages he’d found inside his bag. I couldn’t imagine why a thirteen-year-old would be out in the mountains as part of a criminal gang, but I’d seen stranger things.
As they explained on our way down the mountain, they, like so many others, were an insular, nomadic group that sometimes picked up strays as they traveled—like Abril. She was an orphan and an escapee of a pretty vicious gang herself.
Usually these smaller groups were part of bigger organizations that transported illegal wares through these networks. But some groups, like this one, worked alone, setting up their own pathways, making their own money at the risk of their own lives. The three of them had been sent out by their leader, Jin, to scout a new route through the mountains, but their APDs crapped out at the wrong time. Dangerous life.
It got warmer as we descended, though the air around me was still just chilly enough to keep me alert. Then again, with my lack of sleep, I couldn’t be sure how long that would last.
“We’re almost at camp. Now, maybe you girls can tell me what you’re doing here?” Lucas hoisted the tripod up as it started slipping down his hands. The field it generated was still going strong. I could only see a slight blue tinge of the waving particles spreading out from around us in a perfect sphere, blanketing the night. The leaves of the trees around us shimmered from its hue: a beautiful sight marred by the foreboding scuttles of phantoms off in the distance.
“Four Effigies lost in the Urbión Peaks. And I was just looking at your pictures at an awards show not too long ago. Get around fast, don’t you? ’Round the world in eighty damn days.” Lucas’s laughter was as light and rosy as the natural flush of his face. “You each looked quite gorgeous in your photos, by the way.”
“Thanks!” Lake said very genuinely, her hands gripped around both straps of the knapsack she carried on her back.
“Yeah, thanks,” Chae Rin grunted while hoisting James higher up her back. Of course, with her strength, she could carry him just fine. But he was a considerably unappealing accessory, especially when he kept unconsciously murmuring delirious nothings in her ear.
“We’re trying to get somewhere,” answered Belle. “We have to get there as quickly as possible.”
“You’re on a schedule, huh? Well, aren’t we all. I saw the video that terrorist sent out yesterday. Saul, right?”
My teeth naturally clenched at his name.
“He’s given us all seven days to live or some’n like that.” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
I kept my hand pressed around the bloodied bandage as we descended through the thick of mountain trees. One wrong step and I’d trip over the gray slabs of rock, so I watched every step carefully. “Well, that’s why we need to hurry,” I said. “We need transportation.”
“To do what?” Lucas said. “You gonna stop Saul?”