Lost in Ash (The Phoenix Experiment - Book 1)

CHAPTER FOUR

Little was said once they both crossed into the trees. Sure, there was plenty to discuss, but Alva had no intention of opening the floodgates first. If Six wanted to know something – Well, Alva also had no intentions of answering.

So, silence was best.

It gave Alva plenty of time to think over what the pre-teen had admitted in the minefield. How Alva hadn't noticed a tail only proved that she wasn't made for these conditions. No one should have been having to deal with the scavenging and hiding. The feeling of being prey in the place you were born, having the illusion that this country was safe only to have it ripped away.

You did this!

She hated that voice the most. A voice that hadn't arrived until after The Great Fires. It coupled up with the voices of self-hatred and doubt, to create a reminder of the evil that lived inside of her. It was a well-deserved punishment, but that didn't mean she had to encourage the onslaught with a response. She wanted to ignore it, every time it had the nerve to remind her, and while she never dignified it with a response, she still listened to it. She still believed it.

And belief powers everything.

Belief is what got everyone here in the first place. The belief in utopia. The belief in new beginnings. The belief in a better tomorrow. The belief for a cure... Maybe, belief was the problem.

"Clerivic, is right over the ridge," Six announced suddenly, bringing Alva back and out of her thoughts.

She nodded, continuing to walk a step behind the younger girl.

"I can't go into the district with you."

"What?" Alva stopped in her tracks, her icy eyes tracking Six as the girl continued her path.

Sensing that Alva wasn't close to her, Six turned, looking over her shoulder with an expression that Alva couldn't decipher. Most people, Alva thought she could read or anticipate at the very least. However, she couldn't decide anything when it came to Six.

"I know where you need to go, once you convince him, meet me right outside the district. Where the North River meets the North Path, there's a bridge." Six looked Alva up and down as she gave the instructions.

She doesn't think you can do it.

Alva flinched as she tried to ignore the voice. It had never brought someone else into its mocking before. Twisting the perception had never been the goal – or so she had thought.

"Why can't you go?" Alva asked, trying to keep any hesitation out of her voice.

"You're looking for a Pidgeon," Six continued, ignoring Alva. "Close to the North River, there's a grocery-"

"You want me to chase a bird?" Alva interrupted her temper starting to flare. She had blindly trusted a pre-teen, and this was what she got. A wild chase to nothing.

"What? No!" Six looked at Alva with a confused and judgmental face. A look that spoke volumes, shouting from the rooftops that Alva knew nothing.

She felt the look all the way to her core. It shook memories within her of being on top of the world, back when she did know everything. A time when no one would have dared speak to her the way Six did, and when she had a team of people protecting her. Things were different now, while Alva knew she was brilliant, her mind didn't protect against the chill of winter or the anger of hunger.

"The other kids and I – I mean, other people. They call them Pidgeon's," Six explained. "Trained well, domesticated, and thrown away."

"An ex-specialist?" Alva asked a bit of shock seeping into her tone.