Altered Earth (Soldiers of the Earth Book 2)

Chapter 3

Dawn doesn't come quickly enough. I'm up before the sun, and to my surprise, I discover Annie is too when I go to my family's cabin. I let my parents sleep as her and I start building a little house out of twigs she collected. We've pretty much made a neighborhood by the time the sun starts to rise. She takes my hand and leads me to the broken window where we gaze at the sky.

"Are you leaving again?" She asks. Her voice isn't sad at all, which is unexpected.

"Yes, I wish I wasn't," I tell her. "I want to stay with you. And you've had enough family leaving you for a long time."

"It's alright," She beams up at me. "You always come back. Daddy, mommy, you...and Mary will too someday. It's how families work, you know. Maybe we say goodbye for a while sometimes, but we always come back together one day."

I hold her even when I can hear my mother packing, not letting go until there's a knock on the door. When I open it, Leah is grinning from ear to ear as she lifts her hand to my eyes. Dangling from her fingertips is a filthy pink ribbon.

"Lose something, princess?" Her laughter fills the room when I hug her.

I expect to say goodbye to Elliot for who knows how long, yet he ends up finding me first and insisting he changed his mind and will come with us. Saying goodbye to my family was as miserable as I expected, but I'm glad it's over. And it's easier knowing my mom is coming with me. I stick with her as we walk with the other rebels, who I am briefly introduced to.

Trina, the woman who pointed a spear at me when I left the Peterson base. Eric, a tall man with cobalt eyes that remind me of Molly. Regina, a woman whose long blonde hair somehow doesn't seem as disgusting as mine. Craig, a man who looks so much like Garret but lacks the toughness and charm. Harrison, a 20-something that likes to whistle softly as we walk. Bob, an older man who seems just as normal as his name suggests. Annie, a girl around my age whose fierce jade eyes and constant scowls prove she is nothing like my sister. Familiar faces Damien and Grace lead the way on a paved city road, while Rebecca hangs back with Leah and Kieran, keeping her distance from me.

It feels weird being so out in the open, but the roads must help Damien figure out where to go. He clutches Kira's tablet like a lifeline as he leads us. To pass the time, my mother and I share memories back and forth. The one Christmas where we shoveled snow off every driveway in our cul-de-sac, and we figured with five of us shoveling it wouldn't be so bad. By the time we were working on our driveway, we had started a snowball fight with each other. There was also the day Annie got a detention for shoving down a boy who had be mean to her friend. The Thanksgiving where my dad forgot the mashed potatoes and pecan pie he made at home. The day I ran into a glass door at the mall because I wasn't paying attention. The time mom baked brownies for Mary's birthday and used salt instead of sugar, yet we all pretended they weren't that bad.

I feel like I don't deserve to be sad, since I have most of my family whereas people like Elliot have no one left. Moments like these with my mother are something I should cherish. Even if they seem miniscule and ordinary. We're in a war now, and at any moment I could lose her forever. Just the thought alone makes me sick. I take her hand in mine, and when she smiles at me it's so full of love that I tighten my grip. Again, my mind always tells me that as long as their hand is in mine, they will never leave me.

Memories of Tyler hit faster and harder than they ever have before. I can see the guarded, calculated look in his eyes when he saw me for the first time in the Divide. Hear his scream when darthra fangs sunk into his flesh. Feel his anger, his determination, his fear, his sadness. The need to have my father back, and to have Mary back, was a force that pulled me forward relentlessly. But Tyler's absence is different. It's an ache, as though I'm missing something but I don't know what it is.