Counterfeit ✓

Chapter 15

MILA LIVED THE next few hours in a haze. From time to time, she'd visited Amy, who was getting better and better, and had tried visiting Oliver to get an explanation of everything. After Stephen, he was the person who knew more about this world, or that was at least her gut feeling. Oliver had promised to meet her, and yet it hadn't happened yet. She wondered if he kept his promises or if he was just like Stephen and fooling everyone.

Night fell over the treehouse camp. Mila pulled on her coat to brave the cold and marched to the tree house that belonged to Oliver. Her observations had come in handy. She knocked hard on the door, her shoe tapping on the wooden floor.

With hair standing in all directions, Oliver opened the door and smiled at her. "I just wanted to visit you. I needed some sleep after that hellish journey."

"Sleep?"

"Sleep is important." He nodded. "You cannot function without it."

Without waiting for an answer, he gestured she should follow him. Over the next few minutes, Oliver showed the main tree houses and explained the daily structure and how Mila could help support the people through difficult times. He took no time to listen to her questions.

Finally, after much patience, Mila raised her hand. "This is all fun. But I'm not interested. I want my family back."

"Understandable. We are working on it."

"Is that all?"

Oliver pointed to a staircase. "Let's sit down."

At this point, Mila didn't feel like obeying him, though she did follow his instructions. He seemed genuine. Wobbling her leg once she was seated, Oliver placed himself next to her and ran his hands through his hair, making it even messier.

"I understand you don't trust many people after staying in Stephen's camp."

"Are you brothers?"

He chuckled. "No. Cousins."

"Why do you hate each other so much?"

"What can't you hate about him? We have different perspectives on life."

"I bet everyone has a different perspective than Stephen, or I hope so."

Laughing, Oliver replied, "I hope so too. Honestly? He's the only person I want to kill."

"He's not dead?" Mila frowned. "I thought-"

She could only blame herself. After seeing the blood on Thomas's t-shirt, she had expected Stephen to be dead and unable to bother them again. Evil lasted forever.

Oliver shook his head. "No. Thomas injured him. Jean helped him escape. We lost them in the woods."

"Sucks."

"You tell me."

Oliver stood up, held out his hand, and helped Mila up too. The duo then walked through the camp while Mila again expected to hear a whole story. In frustration, she put her hands in her pockets, biting her lip. However, Oliver stopped at a tree house she hadn't seen before.

"I want to see my family again too," he said, pushing the door open. "This is our headquarters."

Surprised, Mila opened her mouth. The headquarters had a large round table with a map of the world she lived in, or so she thought. With precision, Oliver had marked mountains and rivers, Stephen's camp, and several other marked circles.

"What are those circles?"

"Our other camps."

Mila nodded. "Not smart to mark it that way."