“Hey!” Another voice rang out from the back door. “If the kid’s got watch, then the kid’s got watch. He’s not gonna learn any other way, right? Wasn’t that what you said?”
“Yeah, I said that, so what?” The Guard spoke from only fifteen feet away from Jenny.
Go Away. Go away. Please go away.
“Well, how about this? If you’re so concerned, why don’t you stay out there with him?”
“Point taken.”
Each thud of the Guard’s ascending boots loosened the suffocating grip from Jenny’s chest.
“You wanted your chance, so don’t fuck it up, kid. I’ll be back to check on you in a couple hours. Don’t die out here.”
“Yes, sir.”
The door snapped shut.
Matt broke away to finish freeing Grant.
Jenny watched Xavier retreat from the stairs and back to the wheelbarrow to grab his rifle. That uniform… I don’t understand. Why are you with them? Why are you wearing that thing? A million more questions swarmed her mind, but she had to suppress them. There would be a time for that, but it certainly wasn’t now.
Xavier’s approach seemed to take forever, but finally he stood before her. She reached trembling fingers toward him, toward the kid risen from death. Her hand wouldn’t budge—something about the uniform prevented her. Are you still Xavier? Or aren’t you? Before she could convince herself either way, she felt his embrace, his body crashing into hers, then all around she was smothered. Each friend came together, squeezing one another.
“We gotta—” Jenny struggled for air. “We gotta go, guys. Now.”
The four of them snuck off to the far end of the yard, then bolted along the path Jenny had worn in the snow earlier, back to where she’d left Sherman.
Pawprints circled the yard, but no dog. She could see the anxiety in his pacing, his lack of direction. Where are you, boy? His absence placed a sickness in her stomach. Afraid she’d lost him, her eyes darted across the snow, winding along his tracks—no telling where he could be. Hesitant, but without a choice, she broke the stillness of the night with a hushed plea. “Sherman! Hier!”
“Who?” Xavier asked from beside her, bent over, catching his breath.
“Hier!” she called again, ignoring him.
“Where’s Danny?” Matt asked. “Seriously, Jenny, we’re gonna need him.”
She pushed the truth down. Away from her mind. “Hier!”
“What’s the plan?” Xavier tried for her attention again.
“We get out of here, that’s it, that’s all I got,” Jenny snapped, still somewhat suspicious of him in that uniform. “The plan was to get Matt and Grant. I’ll guess you’ll do too.”
“Why’d you—”
“Shush.” In the distance, a rustling caught her attention. “Sherman?” The tramping of snow approached at what sounded like a gallop. His body came into view. An exhale of relief. “You had me scared, boy.” She buried herself within his side for only a moment. “Alright,”—she stood—“we gotta get my shit out of a house over this way, then back to the Depot. At least there, we have a chance against the S.A.”
They had put some serious distance between them and the Second Alliance. But the entire time, Jenny’s suspicion had grown, gotten the best of her along the way. “Then who was it?” she continued to tear into Xavier, her brow pinched with thought, unsure of who she spoke with—friend or foe. Etched in her mind, relived more times than she dared count, was the moment the Second Alliance swung Xavier’s body from the scaffolding—his legs flailing, his struggling.
Not until now did she know it wasn’t him, not the one that died hanging in the courtyard of River’s Edge. Here, he walked in enemy’s clothing. Held the enemy’s weapon. Too much unanswered or made little sense. “No one else was missing except you and Sam. The guy they killed instead of you…” She stared at him without speaking for several paces. “Obviously, it wasn’t you, but we all thought… We all thought it was. Who? Who did they kill to hide you? Get rid of you?”
“It’s complicated,” Xavier mumbled, pulling at the bottom of his black Second Alliance coat. He looked over to her but offered nothing further.
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it is.”
Xavier’s legs seemed less eager now with Jenny’s questioning. His pace slowed—anxiety and uncertainty worn like a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder what was hidden behind it. Something worse? That damn uniform. “Xavier.” Turning toward him, she continued bluntly, “You need to tell us what the hell’s going on?”
Xavier’s gaze fell. He stopped walking.
Jenny stood, her mistrust looming over him. “None of this makes sense.” Her voice bordered on yelling. “The S.A. fakes your death, going through an elaborate scheme to do it by killing someone else. Then—Then, you show up in their uniform like you’ve forgotten everything you “died” for.” Jenny supplied the air quotes along with the sarcasm. “Do you even remember what the hell they did to us? To you? To Grant? To Sam?”
“I didn’t forget!” Xavier rattled back. “Not at all. If I had, I wouldn’t be here with you on this miserable march to wherever the hell you’re taking us.”
She bore down on him with her eyes. “What? You don’t trust me?”
He blinked and shook his head. “What are you talking about? Of course, I trust you guys, I left everything for you. The letter. The journal. I trusted both of you to continue the fight.”
“At least some of us are still fighting.”
“What the hell’s wrong with you, Jenny!” Grant interrupted. “Xavier’s back from the dead and you’re actin’ like you want to put him in another grave. We’ve all been through enough. Quit this.”
From the corner of her eye, Jenny caught Grant’s glare bouncing between her and Xavier. Grant’s right, but still… “We deserve to know the truth.”
Grant licked his lips. “Let’s worry ‘bout gettin’ home for now. Put this behind us until later. Lot’s happened and emotion’s high. Nobody needin’ to say somethin’ they can’t take back.”
“No, she’s right, you guys deserve to know.” Xavier exhaled, sending a long waft of breath into the air. “It’s probably better to get this all out now rather than wait.” He gritted his teeth, jaw flaring while he searched for the words. His eyes tore past Jenny to Grant and stayed there. “Dad found my mom. Alive.”
Grant offered a soft smile. “I knew he’d find her.”
Xavier nodded. “I appreciate that, but it’s no coincidence that’s when things started to go to shit for us. Took him awhile to find her even though she’d been only, what, six miles away from River’s Edge? It was maybe a week or two before we had our trip with Simon that he found her.”
Grant’s brow furrowed.
“He found her with the Second Alliance. My mom started the S.A. Or, I mean, not only her, it’s not like she’s in charge, but,” he stammered, “she’s been there since the beginning. And when my dad finally found her, they sent for me, for us. That’s why we were going to the Capital. But of course, we never made it. It all fell apart with Simon and the letter.”
“If your mom’s so high up,” Jenny said, “why the hell did Haverty have you locked up like that?”
“He got his.” Xavier smirked. “Mom saw to that. Haverty said he didn’t know, but he did. He was just pissed off I found his letter and wouldn’t tell him where it was.”
“Do your parents know about everything that happened there?”
“They don’t believe me.” Xavier turned to Jenny—her jaw hung by a thread. “No one would if their whole experience is the S.A. Capital. The Capital’s a whole other—”