Reckoning (New Haven Book 2)

  Reckoning

  Copyright © 2019 by Sara Jo Cluff

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Paperback ISBN 9781686182228

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, August 2019

  Awkward Pepper, LLC

  awkwardpepperllc@gmail.com

  Cover images from pixabay.com

  Cover design by Sara Jo Cluff

  When I opened my eyes, scarlet blanketed the snow in front of me. My vision went blurry for a second and an internal force weighed down my head. As I turned my body onto my side, pain shot through my leg reminding me of the slashing it took. My pulse beat at the wound, the sting almost too much to bear.

  “Maya,” a voice whispered nearby.

  I turned my head slowly to the other side, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust, but then I saw her lying there, helpless. From her wounds, she didn’t have much longer to live.

  “Maya,” my mom said softly. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, holding back the screams from her pain. A long gash trailed her leg, another slicing the back of her head. She pressed her left hand down on her stomach, but it didn’t stop the blood flow.

  Suddenly the vision of a sword going through her entered my mind. It had happened before I passed out.

  “Mom.” I wanted to tell her it would be okay, but I knew in my heart it wouldn’t.

  Mom reached out her hand, placing it gently on my arm. “Sweetie, you need to get out of here.”

  “I can’t leave you,” I said.

  For the first time since I came to, the sounds around me came into focus. Yelling, screaming, and the clashing of swords vibrated the air, making me shiver.

  “We both know I don’t have much time,” Mom said, her voice weak. “You need to take your brother and leave.”

  Tears filled my eyes as I stared at Mom. Her short black hair framed her round face well. Even lying there in the condition she was in, she looked beautiful. Her brown eyes stared into mine, all the love she had for me pouring out.

  I forced myself to sit up and focused my eyes on the war before me. The cold air stung my face, the fierce wind trying to push me back down.

  My fourteen-year-old brother and my dad stood not too far in front of me, wielding their swords against the enemy.

  Enemy. The word made me shudder. Not too long ago, we were all on the same side. We were friends, companions, and fellow citizens.

  But it had all changed.

  “Sweetie, stand up,” Mom said. “It’s time to go.”

  I turned to look at her, and the pain in her eyes begged me to leave. My hand brushed my side, wanting the sword where it usually sat in my sheath, fastened to my belt. It wasn’t there, causing panic to rise.

  I couldn’t leave without a weapon. I’d never get out.

  My heart pounded through my chest as I looked around for my sword. A few feet behind me, it stuck out of a man’s abdomen. He was the one who had slashed me, but I had struck him before he could get me again.

  I slowly stood, ignoring the cries of refusal from my body. With every ounce of strength I had left in me, I staggered toward my sword. I pulled it from the man’s body—the charms on my bracelets clinking together at the movement—not daring to look into his lifeless eyes.

  I hobbled to my brother, who fought with a soldier. He must have heard me coming because he dodged a thrust from the man and drove his sword through his stomach, yelling out a mighty roar that didn’t fit his small frame. He immediately turned to me and saw my injury.

  He was at my side in no time. “Maya, we need to find a place for you to hide. Once we get you safely hidden, I’ll go find someone to treat your wound.”

  “No,” I said. “Bruce, we need to leave.”

  Bruce shook his head. “The battle’s still underway. We can’t abandon everyone.”

  “There’s hardly anyone left on our side. If we stay, we’ll be dead.” I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the look on my little brother’s face when I told him. “Mom’s dying.”

  All I heard was silence, so I opened my eyes. Panic filled Bruce’s eyes as he looked behind me at Mom. He pulled me along until we were at our mother’s side.

  “Mom,” Bruce whispered, putting his hand on her head. He brushed back her hair.

  Mom smiled and brought her hand up to Bruce’s cheek. “My baby. My Bruce.” She coughed, spitting up blood. Bruce went to wipe the blood away, but Mom grabbed his wrist, sliding her hand down to his. “Honey, you need to leave. Go with your sister. Protect her. You’re the leader of this family now.”

  Even in the final moments of her life, she was still a mom. Trying to make Bruce feel important, even though both mom and I knew that he wasn’t mature enough.

  Bruce held back his tears. “Dad’s still here. We can still fight. I have no injuries.”

  “Your dad won’t last much longer,” Mom said. “The moment he’s dead, they’ll come for both of you. You need to escape. Bruce, do you still have that map I gave you?”

  Bruce touched the armor over his heart. “I keep it close.”

  “Good,” Mom said. Her voice grew weaker, her words spaced out. “Follow the map; it will lead you to your destination. It’s too late to meet up with Scorpion City, so you’ll have to make the entire journey by yourselves.”

  As the tears flowed, I bent down and rested my forehead on Mom’s head. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Maya, and my Bruce.” Mom coughed. “Now go. Head straight down the mountain as fast as you can. If you don’t get there before they do…”

  I nodded slowly. “I know.” I kissed her forehead and got up, turning to look at Dad. He was still fighting, holding back soldiers from getting to us. His movements slowed, and I knew Mom was right—he wouldn’t last much longer. Taking hold of Bruce’s arm, I started pulling him away. “Let’s go.”

  Bruce tried to shake me off. “But Dad and Mom.” His voice trembled.

  “I’m injured, Bruce, so I’ll be slow. We need to get going and get as far ahead as we can.” I pulled him again and that time he didn’t resist.

  “Maya, how can we survive?” Bruce asked as we worked our way down the mountain. “You’re too injured. You can barely walk.”

  I’d never been so thankful for the snow. It helped me slide down, so I didn’t have to walk as much. “We have to do everything we can. We’re the only hope for Juniper right now. We need to join the other revolutionaries. We need to warn them.”

  A few minutes later, Bruce stopped me. He put his finger up to his lips, motioning for me to be silent. I looked around, trying to find the source of Bruce’s worry.

  The next thing I knew, Bruce pushed me to the ground and jumped over me. Swords clashed against one another and I looked up to see Bruce fighting with a soldier. The soldier was a lot bigger than Bruce, towering over him. Bruce slowed. I tried to stand, but I fell back down, my body sinking into the fresh snow. Instead, I crawled toward them, unsheathing my sword as I did.

  The soldier didn’t see me coming. I got close enough that I could slash his leg, distracting him more than causing any real damage. Bruce took the opportunit
y to drive his sword through the soldier’s abdomen. The soldier stumbled back but started forward again. Bruce pulled his sword free of the soldier and drove it through his chest. Blood poured out of the soldier’s mouth as he slowly fell to the ground, saturating the snow in red.

  Bruce helped me up and dragged me down the mountain, not stopping at any of my cries. When we got to the bottom, he finally came to a stop, but still held me up. My head spun from the loss of blood.

  “Sorry,” Bruce said to me. “But we had to get out of there.”

  I winced. “I understand.” My injury finally got the best of me and I slipped through Bruce’s arms and onto the ground. My strength had completely gone.

  I fingered one of the charms on a bracelet—the violin by the feel of it—letting the motion calm me.

  Lying there, I looked up at the mountain above me, taking in the view. Flames burned the wood cabins and apartment buildings of the traitors, as they called us. The smoke rose high into what was otherwise a crystal blue sky, all signs of the snowstorm gone. From down here, you could see how big our city was. It covered the mountainside for miles and miles.

  I always knew that our homes and buildings were close together, the dirt paths between narrow and winding. But from here, they looked squished. From the sharp angle of the mountain, the cabins looked piled on top of each other.

  Laughter escaped my mouth when I looked at the Capitol. It sat clearly in the middle of the city, untouched and unharmed. The buildings and homes were nicer, more spread out.

  Even though I had lived in the Capitol, I loved to be in the other parts of the city. I would sneak out at night and walk the dirt paths, taking in the smell of wood and sap. I found out not too long ago that Bruce would sometimes follow me. He loved it out there, too, but thought I’d tell him he couldn’t come with me. I smiled. It was true. I wouldn’t have let him come.

  Bruce sighed and squatted down next to me. “This is going to be impossible.”

  “Not completely.” The voice came from the left of me.

  Bruce instinctively stood, his sword unsheathed, ready for battle. I turned to look at the source, the voice familiar to me. I was surprised to see ten people standing there, tired, dirty, but alive. Bruce lowered his sword. They were part of the revolution. We weren’t alone in this.

  As I sat next to her holding her hand, I brushed back her brown curls and stroked her cheek. Her skin burned, her fever still high. I thought of all the good times we had growing up. We had so many fun memories, ones I would never forget. I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, my lips startled by the heat.

  It had been three months since we arrived in New Haven. Three long, torturous months. It had been a bad winter, the snow thick and heavy.

  Building our city had been almost impossible. All of it we were learning how to do as we went along. A few of the previous Kingsland citizens had some wood skills, which helped in the building of homes and buildings. But they were small, and the foundation wasn’t firm. I’d always worried they would collapse at any moment.

  In the beginning, we slept in the headquarters we had found. Some slept out in the cave. But Eric, Mack, Terrance, Dante, and President Brown had made two trips to Kingsland and one to River Springs, bringing back more people. We were growing. With that many people, you needed your own space.

  So, we started with some small log homes. I wanted to build some for the others, but almost all insisted on one for me, my dad, and my brother Derek first.

  Vivica had put up a little fight, wanting one for her family. I didn’t know why she huffed and puffed so badly. Her dad was the president and her brother Dante, my fellow revolutionary, which was what our residents had started calling us, so they were next on the list.

  Sometimes I think she got jealous. I wasn’t sure if it stemmed from her brother, from me, or just the fact that she wasn’t getting all the attention.

  All the trips that were made went well. No injuries, no captures, and no problems. We were able to secure a few buses from both cities and were also able to get our hands on some off-road vehicles, which came in handy for hunting.

  People were hearing about our revolution and wanted to join. We’d set up communication with a member of Kingsland and a member of River Springs—Vice President Oliver’s son, Austin.

  The thought of Vice President Oliver made my heart sink. We had lost him right before we escaped River Springs. He died at the hands of the President, Whit Randall. VP Oliver was truly missed.

  With each trip, they were also bringing back more materials, weapons, supplies, and knowledge. The situation in River Springs was getting worse. Whit had shortened his leash around his citizens. Things were getting stricter and the rules were growing.

  I had a feeling our trips wouldn’t be easy for much longer. Something bad was coming. I could feel it in my bones. It made me nervous that neither of the other two cities who were to join our revolution had shown up yet. President Brown hadn’t been able to contact them, either.

  “What are you thinking about?” Her voice took me from my thoughts.

  I looked at her lying on the infirmary bed. She’d lost weight, which was noticeable because she was already so tiny to begin with. She lost some color in her skin and dark circles sat under her eyes. She'd had a hard time sleeping.

  I smiled. “Remember when we were around seven and we went on that field trip?”

  “To the river?” she asked, adjusting her light-blue infirmary gown.

  “Yes, to the river,” I said, taking hold of her hand.

  A smile formed on her lips, reaching her eyes. “You caught that butterfly in your hands. I wanted you to keep it, but you wouldn’t. You said you wanted it to fly.”

  I stroked her hand. “Nothing should be held back from its calling in life. Butterflies were made to fly, not be captured.”

  “You said that would be us one day; free to fly around without the reins of the world.” She stroked my hand back.

  “You know I love you, right?”

  “Almost as much as I love you.”

  A month after we got to New Haven, my best friend, Dee, became sick. I knew it was bad by the look on Eric and Dante’s face. They’d seen it before. Eric with his mom and Dante with his girlfriend, Whitney.

  Marie, our resident nurse, had been running tests and doing everything she could to figure out the disease, but so far, she had no luck. We weren’t sure how much time Dee had left, but it wasn’t much. I tried to stay positive, though my heart ached.

  Dee yawned, her eyes fluttering on the verge of sleep.

  I kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, Dee.”

  As she drifted off, I slowly pulled myself away, releasing my hand from her grasp.

  When I got to the door, Eric stood there, leaning on the door frame, his blond hair brushed to the side. He wore his white military uniform, identical to what I was wearing.

  Some of the River Springs residents had taken to wearing jeans and tees, typical wear for those from Kingsland. A few, though, still wore their fifties-style wardrobes, consisting of dresses, dress shirts, and ties, which was odd to see in our little wooded town.

  Eric smiled at me—showing off his perfect set of teeth—and pulled me into a hug.

  “She looks worse today,” I said.

  “Marie said she may be onto something,” Eric said. When I pulled back and he saw the hope in my eyes, he quickly went on. “Nothing to cure Dee now, Emmie. I think she’s just starting to figure out the disease. What it does to the body and the path it takes. It all stems from the brain, which they never knew before.”

  “How did they not know that?” For some reason that seemed like something simple to figure out.

  Eric sighed, his blue eyes exasperated. “President Randall never allowed autopsies. They could only see on the outside what it does to the body. But since Dee allowed Marie to do some biopsies on her, Marie was able to run the appropriate tests. She’s also been able to check her blood.”

  I pulled
away from Eric’s embrace and walked down the hall, away from Dee’s door.

  He came up next to me, taking my hand. “I know this isn’t easy, Emmie. But what Dee’s allowing Marie to do is going to be the start of a change. The start of a cure. She’s going to save lots of lives.”

  “Just not her own,” I said as tears came to my eyes.

  Eric wiped the tears from my cheeks, his hands warm. “I believe everyone has a destiny here on this earth. A place and calling. Some are going to be shorter than others, but they’re all worth it.” He smiled. “And who better to help people than Dee?”

  I offered a small smile in return. “She has the biggest heart of anyone I know.”

  “She’s also a fighter. Who knows, maybe Marie will figure it out quicker than we think? There still may be a chance to save her. She’s not dead yet.”

  “I know, it’s just hard.”

  His eyes lowered. “I know.”

  I wish I could’ve met his mother. The stories that I heard from him and his dad, Alexander, let me know what an amazing woman she was. Eric had always said that Dee reminded him of his mom. A sweet spirit and a big heart.

  Eric leaned in and kissed me on the lips. When he pulled back, he looked me in my eyes. “I love you.”

  I smiled as I put my hand on his cheek. “I love you.”

  A month ago, Eric had told me he loved me for the first time. We were out under the stars one night. A storm was on its way, so the air had warmed. We climbed up to an alcove in the mountain and sat down on a rock. He put his arm around me and held me close as we stared at the clear sky. The stars were endless, covering the sky with their light.

  I could tell he was nervous, but I wasn’t sure why. He was so fidgety, it drove me nuts. I turned to him and ran my fingers through his thick hair.

  “I have something for you,” Eric said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small package and handed it to me. When I just held it in my hands, he laughed. “You have to open it.”

  “I know,” I whispered.