Page 22 of Unrest
“I’ll go after you,” Tater told them.
We piled into the tent, and Devon came in with us. It was a tight fit, but the body heat was a necessity. Rylen went to the side, and I immediately followed, guilt be damned. Tater was next to me, then Remy and Devon on the other end. I made Remy take one more dose of meds.
Despite the small bit of sustenance, my body was suddenly as weak as pudding. Climbing into the sleeping bag felt so, so good. I had to bite back another moan of ecstasy at the warmth and the opportunity to relax my muscles.
“Aw, hell yeah,” Devon said, sliding down.
There was no chatter that night. Complete silence was almost immediately followed by sounds of deep breathing and light snoring. Once it sounded like everyone was asleep, I let my muscles relax.
I wish I could say it was a restful night, but I woke with a scream in my throat sometime in the darkness of night.
“Mom!” I sat straight up, my face damp, my heart racing, Mom’s anguished face calling my name as she reached for me through the fence of the encampment. I reached next to me for my brother, but he was gone.
“Tater!”
“He’s on watch.” Rylen’s arms were around me, his low voice murmuring soothing words. He pulled me back down and I faced his chest, curling into him until my heart slowed enough to sleep again. But I woke again soon after to give Remy another dose when she was shivering hard enough to wake Devon.
It took longer to fall back asleep that time because all I could think wasRemy’s getting worse. And even with all my medical knowledge, I couldn’t help her. Rylen held me tighter, as if he knew the horrible scenarios running through my head, as if he could rub them away with his strong hand on my back.
Eventually I did fall asleep again, only to be woken once more by a horrible, loudthwappingsound overhead. This time, all five of us sat up in a rustle of sleeping bags.
“Chopper!” Rylen whispered.
He ripped open the tent’s zipper and we all clamored out into the frozen air, along with the other six guys. I had to squint at everyone’s silhouettes. Most of the night’s stars were covered over with gray clouds, but our eyes followed the low lights moving across the horizon.
“Apaches,” Tater said, pointing the direction the helicopters had gone.
“Did they see us?” Remy asked.
“I don’t think so,” Tater said. “They were pretty far off and they never shined the lights over here.” Our camp was completely dark.
Matt pulled out his compass. “They’re going southwest in the direction we came from.”
“Nevada,” New York Josh said. “I think they’re using Nellis as a base.” The Air Force base near Area 51. A chill went up my spine that had nothing to do with the freezing air. Of all the bigger, better bases in America, why Nellis?
“Let’s try to get a couple more hours of sleep,” Texas Harry said. He glanced again to where the choppers went. “If we can.”
“I’ll take watch,” Devon said. “I’m wide awake now.”
The other four of us climbed back in the tent. Sleep came slower this time, but I think I got another hour of rest before dawn broke. I lay there in a puddle of despair as a soft light filled the tent. My body was mush. Remy and Tater were still hard asleep, but Rylen shifted next to me. I rolled over and we faced each other. I let his expression of tender concern cover my gloom and fill every crack inside me. He had a way of speaking to me with those eyes, asking questions and comforting me simultaneously. He knew I was weary. He knew I was worried about Remy. He was telling me to keep strong.
I reached up for his hand on my shoulder, and took his fingers in mine again. Our fingers curled around one another’s in a way that made me think of arms and legs, reaching, winding, pulling, needing. Our palms touched, and I swear his breathing hitched at the same time as mine. His thumb trailed slowly up and down my own. When he looked at me now, I couldn’t read a single thing in his expression. I just knew I wanted to kiss him.
I closed my eyes against a wash of emotion.
Remy let out a small whimper, and Tater sat up behind me. I let go of Ry, turning to sit up and look down at Remy’s curled body. I felt her and she was hot, her hair matted to her head.
“Hurts,” she whispered. I pulled up the sleeping bag and looked in. She was holding her lower abdomen. My heart gave a pound of fear.
“We need to get her there as quickly as we can,” I said.
Tater’s face was pinched. “Then let’s go.”
My head was dizzy, and my limbs didn’t want to cooperate in a timely manner. We packed up and stared around at one another like a pack of ravenous wolves. Remy leaned against Tater, and he put an arm around her.
Hunger clawed at my abdomen, throbbing upward with a shooting pain under my ribs and into my esophagus. I’d never known true hunger. True hunger wasn’t discomfort. It was pain. And we weren’t technically starving yet.
I forced those thoughts aside, because I couldn’t afford to panic.
“Listen up,” Texas Harry said. “We’ve got about eighteen miles to go. As y’all can tell, it’s cold as a witch’s tit. We got some water, thank the good Lord, but no more food. Remy’s sick, so we need to get her there ASAP and hope like hell this place is legit and they got meds. Basically, today is gonna blow balls. Mind over matter. We gotta push through.”
A chorus of “Hooah”s sounded.
“We can do it, guys,” Matt said brightly.
New York Josh leveled him with a glare. “You want some pom-poms to go with that cheer?”
Mark snorted, but Matt just shrugged it off. Texas Harry twirled his finger in the air and pointed northward. We were off.
