Page 7 of Mated By the Pack
Slavers. That’s who Clyde sold me to? I’m feeling the heat on my neck. Anger. More like pure rage. This is way too strong for any supplement to suppress. But anger can’t get me out of this. I’ve got to think. That will be easier when my head isn’t pounding.
“They’re taking us to The Outpost,” I mutter. “Any idea where that is? Or what that is?”
“If they welcome a cart being pulled by monstrosities like those, with a cage full of young women, and a hybrid, I’m guessing it’s not a good place.” Nara shakes her head, sighs, and looks down.
I knew there were cities other than Haven North. Settlements that sprang up after everything was devastated by the Great War, a solar flare, and deadly heat storms. Eventually, they became cities. There was even a Haven South, before my time, but it burned to the ground. I assumed most of the other cities were like Haven North. If we’re being sold as slaves, then we’re going somewhere that is nothing like the city I grew up in. Not agoodplace at all.
“I was supposed to be studying for a test, but I decided to go out with friends,” Tansy says, her voice breaking into a sob. She’s young, closer to eighteen than nineteen, now that I can see her better. Not even out of high school yet, more than likely. Her clothes, while dirty, are similar to what I had before I starteddown my assigned path. “Someone grabbed me from behind and…” She touches her neck.
“Needle?” I ask, glancing back to Nara. “Is that how they got you, too?”
“Yes,” Nara confirms, looking away. “I was leaving work after an event, and they came out of the dark like they were waiting for me.”
Our conversation is interrupted when one of the girls on the floor stirs. My nursing instincts and training kick in. I rush to her side and soothe her through the worst of it, repeating what Nara said to me.
“Where the hell are we?” she demands, looking all around and jumping when she touches the mass next to her. “Is she dead?”
I lean forward out of instinct and put a finger on the woman’s neck. I feel her pulse a few times, but then I get a closer look and realize I know her.
“Fiona?” I give her a shake. “Fiona!”
“Shut the fuck up back there!” Carl grinds out. “Otherwise, I’m going to stop and choose one of you to whip!”
Jed or Jeb, I’m not sure which, looks back at us and smirks. He gestures to the whip coiled between our cage and their seat, then points at Tansy like she would be his choice.
“No!” Tansy squeals, shrinking in on herself from the threat.
“Quiet!” Nara urges, looking at all of us.
The girl who asked about Fiona scurries to the bars with an angry glare on her face.
I wait until the cart is moving along at a good pace before trying to wake Fiona up again. I immediately clamp a hand over her mouth. She just got her first cycle of supplements, but they won’t stifle the fear that’s going to hit her when she realizes what is going on.
“Fiona, as soon as you can open your eyes, you’ll remember me,” I whisper. “Nurse Calla. I gave you your first supplement shot. Something bad has happened and you may want to scream, but you have to be quiet.”
I talk her through the headache, the pain she’s experiencing, and wait until she can focus her vision before I explain what is going on. Fiona doesn’t take the news well, but she seems to process it, and once she confirms she’s not going to scream, I slowly pull my hand away from her mouth.
“I was supposed to get my assigned path on Monday,” Fiona sniffles.
“Not me,” the girl with the angry glare says. “I just found out I’m going to be Unassigned. I’m Brenna, by the way. I went to school with you, Fiona, but… we weren’t friends.”
Fiona turns her attention to Brenna and narrows her eyes, then she nods. “I remember you. You hung out with Amelia, right?”
“My best friend,” Brenna confirms. “She always liked you.”
The cart bounces a few times as it rolls across enormous roots that have torn through the pavement that used to form a road. Tansy still looks terrified. Nara’s expression doesn’t reflect much emotion. Fiona and Brenna scoot closer to each other and exchange low whispers I can’t hear.
“I was supposed to graduate from the nursing path on Monday,” I say, looking down at the floor. “Someone wanted my spot so much they stuck a needle in my neck and sold me for a bag of silver.”
Fiona and Brenna have stories similar to the other two. They were out late and snatched off the street. They never saw who it was and didn’t wake up until they were already in the cage.
“I thought I was going to graduate last year, but didn’t make the cut,” Nara says. “I’m the oldest student teacher at the elementary school. There’s been fewer students the last few years, so they haven’t needed as many replacements as they expected.”
The threat of the whip has silenced Tansy to the point all she does is listen and cry. I think we’re all coming to terms with what this means. We’ve been taken from the safety of Haven North by slavers. That means we’re slaves, or we will be, once we’re sold. The fact we’re all women is a good indicator of whatkindof slaves we’ll be.
“I want my mom,” Tansy whimpers, finally breaking her silence and pulling her knees close to her chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I should have stayed home to study like you said.”
Tansy’s soft whimpers don’t seem to upset the slavers, so I move closer to her, and hold her hand. None of us have ever met our birth parents. Children in Haven North are placed with a guardian after they’re born, and it’s natural for a bond to develop. My guardian was a man named Saul. He never let me call him Dad, but he was the best one I could have hoped for. I don’t see him often, but he promised to come to my graduation ceremony.
