Page 258 of Phoenix's Fire

"But why?"

That made him sit up and look at me like I'd grown a second head. "To keep us from dying."

"No, for her. Why would she want to stop him? We come and hunt them like animals, but he was speaking to her. We threw her out. We told her she was worthless, but they took care of her, so why would she help us instead of them?"

"Are you sure she's helping?" he asked.

"Makes the most sense. She got kicked out, and now they're meeting us in the woods? Gideon said you used to go to their town."

He blew out a heavy breath. "Maybe she could tell us where to get food that isn't them?" he tried.

I shrugged. "I mean, if I see her, I can ask. She knows me. She might shoot me, though."

"But don't tell anyone," he whispered. "Seriously, Tobias. Not even the other guys in our group, okay? I mean, these new kids are all excited about proving they're men, but they're barely out of sermon!"

I chuckled. "And how old are you?"

"Twenty-three," he said. "Well, next month I will be."

I nodded. "Happy birthday, just in case I miss it."

"Happy marriage," he said in return, "just in case I miss it."

I chuckled. "Here's hoping we're both smart enough to make it back alive - or dumb enough. I'm not sure which one works."

Sylis groaned and leaned back onto his hands. "I figure most of us are going to get killed by grenades."

"And there still won't be any meat for the compound."

"Shit, this? I'm not sure it counts." Then he sucked in a breath and jerked upright as if trying to take the words back.

I waved him down. "I'm too stupid to think anything of that, right?"

His eyes closed as he sighed, his entire body relaxing again. "Sorry. That was dumb of me."

"Yep," I agreed. "It's delicious and good for making us strong."

"I don't eat it," he mumbled.

"Me either," I agreed. "I used to say I liked the vegetables because I carried them."

Sylis chuckled. "Okay, that's a good one. I might try a variant. I don't want to eat the meat because I know how much lead was pumped into it."

I thrust out my lower lip and bobbed my head in approval. "Yeah, that'd work."

But Sylis jerked his chin at me. "I wonder if there's going to be any meat left after we blow it up."

"Will we be able to tell if it's us or them?" I pointed out.

He made a disgusted face. "Oh, I didn't even think of that!"

"It's all I've been thinking about," I admitted. "They want us to bring back enough for three weeks of weddings. I can't imagine how."

"Does Callah eat it?" Sylis asked.

My eyes narrowed. "No, why?"

"I know a few who won't," he explained. "Most are quarantine kids. We used to pick on them because they only ate mash and tubers as babies. Well, that's what my childhood roommates said."

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