Radiation Point

Thirty Seven

I followed the renegades out, a sense of calm over me. Even after the announcement that we were evacuating, the other refugees weren't panicking.
Families hurried out of the A building to pack for the evacuation. Children giggled and laughed as they hurried back inside. It was strange. Some were excited. Some were nervous. But no one was panicking. And no one was afraid of the renegades.
The refugees trusted them. That much was clear by how they were allowing themselves to be herded back inside. No one protested about not being allowed near the fences.
"It's for your own safety. Until we get the perimeter secured, you need to be inside," one renegade told a middle age man who broke off from the rest of the group.
After my last camp, if anyone had told me that, I would be instantly suspicious.
But the man nodded. He even looked grateful! Maybe he could see what I was just beginning to see-that the renegades weren't the bad guys.
Once all the refugees were cleared from the yard, only the renegades remained. It was a strange sight. I always thought there were a lot of renegades-part of the threat their sheer numbers. But in the yard around me, stood at most twenty renegades.
The others had probably been killed trying to rescue me, I thought with a cringe.
Bubba and Jackson stood against the gate, watching with narrowed eyes. The other renegades seemed oblivious to them. They were talking in serious tones, planning for what was to come. While the refugees weren't nervous, the renegades obviously were. Taking the refugees to safety was a huge responsibility on their shoulders.
A whistle cut across the yard, and all eyes shifted to Jackson.
"Listen up! Before we go anywhere we have some planning to do. I'm not taking these people out into the woods until we get some things straight. I need two groups. One group with Bubba to get supplies. The other with me to deal with people-I need head counts and a final sweep of the camp to make sure no one gets left behind."
I watched in fascination how without further instruction, the renegades split off into two groups. They worked together like a well oiled machine. Would I ever work with them like that?
Throbbing in my arm cut that thought short. Who knew if I would have time for that? Chances are I'd be turning into a contaminated before I ever had half the camaraderie those people had.
"You okay, Nessa?"
I turned to see Ellen standing behind me. She had a duffle bag swung over one shoulder and a gun across her other shoulder.
"I'm still not used to using your real name, sweetheart," she said with a small smile. "But what's got you looking so sad all of a sudden? They're gonna take good care of your sister. You know that."
"I know, it's just--"
"It's just nothing. I already talked to Bubba about getting her a wagon to be rolled in. And I arranged for two renegades to stay with her at all times. We got this."
Ellen's face was lined with creases of worry, but her mouth was smiling. It was obvious she was trying her hardest to make this as easy as possible on me.
"I know, Ellen," I said with a nod.
"Good. So you can stop frowning like we just drowned your kitten."
I choked back a giggle at her words. Only Ellen would bring up drowning kittens while trying to cheer someone up.
"Where's Tyler?" I asked her
"He's on his way to the front gate. We're all set to go. He's just waiting on us."
My heart quickened at her words. Soon we'd actually be fighting the commissioner. I'd be doing my first mission as a renegade And I didn't have a clue what we were doing aside from bringing out traps and supplies.
"So what's the plan?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. I hated the nervousness in it. I'd been killing contaminated on my own for over a year now. I shouldn't be worried about working with Ellen and Tyler to kill more. But knowing the commissioner, which I was doubted I actually did, he had more up his sleeve than just contaminated.
"Well, from what I understand," Ellen started, as she began walking toward the front gate. "While it's still light out, we're gonna put up traps around the camp. Then in the morning we're gonna start hunting our real prey."
The mention of hunting sent shivers down my spine. The commissioner had called us his hunting game back when he told me to keep my gun close. I had a hard time believing he was just going to let us catch him.
Hurrying alongside Ellen I continued, "That's all? He didn't go more in depth of how we're going to catch him?"
Ellen gave me an odd look.
"You're not nervous are you? I told you. We got this."
"Right. We got this," I echoed, but still doubt nagged in my head.
A scream ripped through the air, sending shivers down my spine.
It started with a scream last time, flitted through my mind, as I hurried after Ellen. The noise was coming from the front gate. Already a crowd of renegades was gathered around.
Please don't be Tyler. Please don't be Tyler, I silently chanted as I made my way to the gate. Even before I reached it, I saw what the commotion was.
A lone figure was strung from the gate; arms outstretched and blood dripping down. Below him, rabid contaminated clawed at the fence, the clanging metal the only sound registering in my mind.