MERMAID SCAVENGERS | By @WendyyWolfe

14. Was It Everything You Wanted To Find

ᶠᵉᵃᵗᵘʳᵉᵈ ᴾᵒᵉᵗʳʸ ᵇʸ ᴿᴼᶻᴵ²³⁴ᵖᵖ
ROZI234pp

For others' sake, I can't risk the unknown,
In their trust, my allegiance is sewn.
Alone, I'd heed your words with ease,
But responsibility calls, a binding decree.

Delta, the guardian, with hearts in my care, A weighty role, beyond love to bear. Their lives entwined with the path I tread, Can't trust the uncharted, where uncertainties spread.

Eero, in solitude, your sway might be great, But duty-bound, I can't gamble their fate.
A dance of caution, in life's intricate rhyme, For their trust in me, I navigate the sublime.

Rozi...

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"Okay, let's start with an easier question. How many came with you?" Lenny asked quietly.

"Sixteen." Both Delta and Eero answered at the same time. Delta looked at Lenny anxiously.

Both his companions still just stared with blank expressions that made Delta extremely uncomfortable but Eero didn't seem bothered at all by their silence.

Lenny nodded thoughtfully and started to speak when the sound of bodies crashing through the underbrush set him on edge and he, Eero and the two girls all turned at the same time to see who was coming at them.

Zephy appeared first and ran up to Delta embracing her around the waist. Delta stumbled back but regained her balance and hugged Zephy as the rest of her group stumbled in around them.

Rachelle and Chloe both shouldered their crossbows causing Delta and Eero to shout 'No!' at the same time.

Solaris ran up in tears also grabbing Delta.

"I couldn't catch Jenaro!" She cried. "He's gone with Quill and none of us could tell which way he went!" Soren reached Solaris and took her in his arms.

"We'll find them Sol," he said giving Eero a hateful glare. "I'm sure you know exactly where he's gone with her and you need to take us there right fucking now Eero."

"Not only that but we need answers about Zoey!" Karter growled.

Tia and Fenix shouldered their way in and confronted Lenny. "Did your bolt kill Zoey!" Tia yelled.

Lenny frowned. "Look I know it was bad timing but it wasn't me," he hissed.

Tia approached him and violently grabbed his shirt, shaking him like a rag doll. "Then you better start talking or you might have to die with him because your damn sure going to tell us!"

Rachelle and Chloe both jumped Tia at the same time causing Fenix to jump in as well and the fists started flying as Tia jerked free of Lenny's friends.

"Stop them!" Delta yelled at Eero.

Rachelle and Chloe had Tia by the hair swinging her head down into Rachelle's knee. Fenix grabbed Chloe's slight body and swung her off his sister and she came at him like a crazed tiger, swinging around with her right leg she landed a resounding smack against the side of his face and he sunk to the ground.

"You bitches!" Tia screamed. She came unglued taking her anxious frustration out on Rachelle but the girl was too fast for her and Tia found herself on the ground as well.

In an instant Rachelle had her crossbow shouldered and pointed down at Tia.

Fenix lay knocked out and Tia crawled over to him shaking him lightly. "Fenix!" She shook him and patted his face until she heard an uttered groan breathe past his lips. Tia pulled him into her lap cradling his head in her arms.

Neither Rachelle or Chloe were even the slightest bit winded. Lenny sat down on the ground and Eero followed suit hoping to calm everyone down.

"Look," Lenny sighed. "I know exactly who did kill your friend but this won't bring him back nor will it help. Not one of you have the slightest idea of where to find anyone out here in the Territories, so the best you can do right now is trust me to handle it. Which I will. That's a promise."

Zephy dropped to the ground and one by one everyone else followed suit.

"My name is Lenny. Like Eero, I am a guide. These are my friends, Rachelle and Chloe. We planned with Eero to meet and bring Delta into our community but," he looked around, "apparently none of us knew there would be a group."

"Because only stupid people would make a stunt like lying to someone who is going to help you out here," Rachelle commented. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't know!" Delta defended herself. "It was an innocent mistake."

"No. Not so innocent. Now you have a child killed. Eero told you it is dangerous out here!" Rachelle sniped. "Now it is too late to believe it. And look! You have too many people! Our community is small."

Lenny held up his hand and Rachelle closed her mouth, shaking her head at how anyone could be so stupid.

But the girls words were insignificant to Delta right at this moment. "Even if you are right we still need to find Jenaro. He has taken Quill and," she looked at Eero, "you know why."

"I do know, Delta. Jenaro told me who they were and there was no way in hell I was bringing them to any community out here."

Delta opened her mouth to speak but Eero held up his hand. "No. Listen for once. My intention was to send them back. Jenaro had connections within Oracle. With more than one bounty hunter. That's all. He was to take them and turn them in. But the risk factor was raised after he told me what she, Quill did. Jenaro could only play both sides of the coin as long as it was kept secret. Quill ruined that little perk."

"That's not her fault!" Solaris yelled. "She wanted to be free as much as any one of us you asshole!" She sobbed. "You know they'll kill her if she goes back!"

Eero shook his head. "No. They won't kill her. She's like royalty Solaris. She belongs to the Elite. Not out here. They always protect their own and you know it." Eero rolled his eyes.

"You may be right Eero," Delta butt in. "But that doesn't change anything. We need to find her."

Everyone looked around at each other not daring to voice their thoughts. Both Delta and Eero were right. Quill was way to much of a liability to them, but at the same time she had worked just as hard as anyone for her freedom. No one had reasoned the final effect of bringing her and Zoey, except Delta.

Delta and Eero looked at each other neither wavering from their stubborn ideas.

Zephy watched it all with hidden amusement. She knew exactly where Jenaro had gone. She had successfully followed him as he carried Quill to a large, fenced off factory hidden deep in the forest and overgrown with time. If he had at all detected her presence he never once showed it.

Unfortunately for Delta, Zephy agreed with Eero. And as such, she held her silence.