Page 31 of Unrest
No.The cruelty of it made me nearly scream into the frozen, dark air.
Remy’s hand slapped over her mouth, both of us watching in disbelief. I held her tight as Rylen took careful, tentative steps away from Tater. We looked down at Tater’s left boot, which was flush to the ground in a hole of snow. If what I knew about landmines was correct, the slightest movement of his foot would set it off.
“Everyone watch the ground!” Texas Harry called down the line. They moved stealthy and quietly back toward us, kicking snow to scan the ground in the small bit of moon and star light.
I couldn’t think straight. I wanted to bend over and dry heave until my stomach turned inside out. Words. I had to form words. “W-what can we do?” I asked.
Remy had gone into a stillness that freaked me out. She watched him, like her own movement might affect him.
“Stay still, Jacob,” she said. “We’ll help you. We’ll find a way.”
Tater’s eyes were still closed, frozen in the exact pose he’d been in when he must have felt the click underfoot. If it weren’t for the severe clenching of his jaw, I’d think he looked calm. Tater had always favored Mom in his appearance, but right now his fierce, controlled look was such a Dad expression. I took three deep breaths to thwart my panic.
“Tater, hang on,” I said, looking to Texas Harry. “Can’t we switch out the weight of his foot with a rock or something?” I had zero idea what I was talking about. It was probably something I’d seen in a movie, but I couldn’t let myself believe there was nothing we could do.
“Doesn’t work that way,” he said. “Best we can do is yank him by a rope and hope he only loses a leg, not his life.”
Oh, my God.
Remy sucked in a breath and clasped her hands together under her chin, whispering under her breath. “Please don’t take him.” Matt dropped his pack and went to her side. “It’s okay,” she said, when he tried to comfort her. “He’ll be okay.” She sounded crazed in her confidence. “Right, Amber?”
My thoughts were spinning, and her words forced me to shove away my bout of alarm. Tater was in trouble.Screw you, universe, you’re not getting my brother, too.
“Right,” I said, licking my lips. We had to act. Now. “Who has a rope? Let’s do it.” I was so afraid he was going to move or pass out and end up dead. Maybe if we could all yank the rope fast enough and hard enough . . .
“I’ve got one,” New York Josh said. And just as he laid down his weapon and started to open his pack, a series of distantclickssounded, and we all stilled.
“Drop your weapons!” shouted a male voice.
We spun and it took a second for my eyes to comprehend. One of the boulders had opened, like it was on a hinge, and a man in full desert camo stood there pointing an assault rifle. Down the line, all of the rocks and boulders were cracked open with people staring out, guns aimed at us.
“Well, I’ll be,” Texas Harry whispered as he bent to the ground and settled his gun at his feet, kicking it with a puff of snow. I slowly bent at the waist, hand shaking, and placed my gun down. The others did the same.
“Hands on your heads!” The man yelled, taking a step toward us. We obeyed. All except for my brother, who hadn’t moved an inch.
“I said hands on your head!” he yelled again, this time directing it at Tater.
“He can’t!” I said in a shaking voice. “He’s on a landmine. Please,” I pleaded. “Don’t make him move.”
“It’s not a landmine,” the man said.
Tater’s jaw rocked from side to side, his only movement. “Is that right?” he challenged. “Then why don’t you come stand real close while I step off it.”
The man pointed his rifle and took a step forward. “Put your fucking hands on your head.”
I held my breath as Tater slowly raised his arms and linked them on top of his head without moving the lower half of his body.
“Now, if you all do exactly as I say, this will be quick and painless.” The guy sounded as young as we were, and his directions had a militaristic, choppy tone to them. “You have no less than twenty guns aimed at you this very moment. You will not move a muscle as your weapons are taken, and your bodies are examined.”Bodies are examined?“If one of you moves or attempts to fight, every one of you will be killed on the spot. No hesitation.”
When nobody said anything or moved, several of the men Army-crawled out from the cracks of their fake boulders and quickly snatched up the guns at our feet. Then they started pulling up coats and sweatshirts, untucking shirts and looking at the sides of everyone’s torsos, beneath their arms.
What they hell were they looking for on our skin?
When the guy got to me I held my breath so long I almost fainted. Just like the others, he yanked my shirts and sweatshirt up, flashed a light on my sides and ran a hand over my upper waist. The heat of his hand on my cold skin made me shiver. He checked my other side and then moved on to Remy.
Then the guys jogged over to the leader and faced him.
“All clear, sir.”
