The Untouchables

Chapter Fourteen: Lynn

I looked at all of the kids we'd rounded up, and had brought back to camp. I tried to count them as we were walking, but it was easier to count them now that they were all in a group.

2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and the baby.

Twelve in total.

Twelve kids from separate homes.

Losing everything in a matter of minutes.

Sage seated all of them around our unlit fire pit, and came to join me off to the side, observing the kids.

Everyone, including Sage and I, reeked of smoke, and all of the kids were in their pajamas, as they were probably asleep when the fires started.

Smoke still billowed up from the town in the distance. The fires had started to extinguish themselves on their own, but they were still large enough to make an enormous cloud of smoke.

I just hoped it didn't spread to the forest.

"All of them are ten and younger." Sage whispered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Ten and younger.

How many didn't make it out of their homes?

Where are we going to put all of them?

All of the kids clung to something, whether it was each other, a stuffed animal or blanket they'd rushed out with them or just were sleeping with and didn't put down in their sleepy panic to escape from their burning homes.

Three kids stuck out to me in particular though.

A dark haired girl who was standing on one of the logs next to the fire pit, talking to all of those who would listen. I couldn't tell exactly what she was saying, but the other kids were captivated by her. Absolutely entranced by her voice.

A surprisingly cheerful boy, considering our circumstances, who was trying to cheer up the other kids by telling jokes or doing a silly dance. He was succeeding at his mission to cheer up the other kids, but every so often, I saw him wince out of fear whenever there was a sudden noise in the forest.

And a little girl with short blonde hair, sitting by herself clinging to a pink giraffe stuffed animal, not speaking to anyone, and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

I walked over and knelt down next to the little blonde haired girl, being careful not to jostle the sleeping baby in my arms.

"What's your name?" I asked her quietly.

At first I only heard small muffled noises that I couldn't put into words, so I asked again.

"What was that?" I leaned in a little closer so I could hear her better.

"Evie." She squeaked although the sound was being muffled by her giraffe.

"Hello, Evie. It's nice to meet you." I whispered again. "How old are you?"

"Nine."

After answering, she immediately stuffed her face back into her stuffed giraffe, so I decided to not press her for information on the situation.

Sage was still rounding up the kids into a group, and trying to talk to them, presumably trying to figure out what happened.

"Anything?" I asked him when he came back.

"No." He answered. "None of them want to talk."

Understandable.

"Well, we can't help them if we don't know what happened."