Spectator

Chapter Nineteen: Now

"Did it rain where you were too?" Kali asked Zakariah when they found them again. Sh'an had led them to the others as easily as if he had a tracking device, and he hadn't touched her again. He'd barely even looked at her, so during their relentless march, Kali had slowly manoeuvred herself to walk shoulder to shoulder with Zakariah. Not something she'd normally aim for, but she was curious. Unfortunately, he was the only one with the answers she needed.

He looked at her as if she'd just asked if they were experiencing gravity. "For a minute or two. Soaked through everything." He curled his lips at the supposed inferior garments he was now forced to wear. The mosquitoes had certainly seemed to enjoy his exposed skin; he had even more bites than she did, with red marks in all the places he'd tried to scratch.

"And did the siblings act weird at all?" Was it some kind of sickness that had Sh'an throwing himself at her, or a custom?

"No more than usual," Zakariah said with emphatic ennui. Kali resisted the urge to throw him down on the forest floor. She hated being civil when he was acting so priggish.

"Well, they're the water clan, right? Do they have any habits, or illnesses—why do they even worship water, anyway?"

"Fuck, Kali, did you not do any reading at all? Even a little bit?"

"Oh, just answer the question, or I'll make you trip in an anthill," Kali snapped back. So much for diplomacy.

"Water to them signifies purification of the soul, free will, life," Zakariah droned.

"So the freedom to do whatever they want?"

"I guess so," Zakariah replied irritably. "Look—we have other things to do, remember? Like trying to break away to contact Jae and Nari before they're out of range. Go ask your boyfriend if you want more answers. Or was your romantic getaway too disappointing for you?"

Kali scowled, but arguing further wasn't worth it. Besides, their hushed conversation was becoming not so hushed, and their hosts were beginning to look at them. Kali knew they couldn't understand anything, but it was probably better not to risk it.

Kali didn't know if it was connected, but it didn't rain more than a light sprinkle that didn't reach the jungle floor for the rest of the day, and Sh'an barely interacted with her. She was annoyed by that, and annoyed for being annoyed. What did she care that some primitive man who still thought sticks and stones rubbing together formed the best fire wasn't paying her any heed? But she was embarrassed too, embarrassed she had given in so readily to his unexpected advances, and now pined over its loss. Well, she wouldn't. She could be just as unaffected.

That night there was no cave but a fashioned lean-to of pliable trees tied together with rope of hair and grass, to create an edifice that sort of had walls and a roof. If walls were bent trees, and roofs were leaves. But it was open enough, with two cracks that acted as doors. Kali thought it was even worse to try to slip out of than the cave would have been, but Zakariah was of another mind.

"Asila is never the one sent to watch me, just one of the men," he whispered to her as they finished eating another meal, this one of fish and fruit, as well as some boiled cassava. She knew a lot of the food here was supposed to be as close as it could be to what grew in the jungles before the collapse, although they had added a few strains of plants here and there whenever food might be scarce. Rice, potatoes even, grew in some areas simply to add more support to their diet.

"Your point?" Kali asked him, trying to break down the particularly chewy cassava.

"The other brother doesn't seem to care too much, or pay too close attention. So I need you to distract your boyfriend so that the other one takes me."