Hush

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

In the morning, they packed up with a fervor, wanting to reach the next safe place as soon as they could. They covered twice as much ground as they usually did, even with the added burden of the still unconscious Tom. Before they left, Bill asked why he wasn't awake yet.

"Wasn't he supposed to wake up before?"

"I don't know. Maybe I put a little too much chloroform on the cloth. But he won't harm us if he wakes up. Or more like he can't. I took away all his weapons, remember?"

They couldn't figure out how to transport Tom with them. Andy had the idea to tie some ropes around Tom and drag him along behind them. They agreed, but lay Tom onto a sleeping bag before pulling him.

"Why didn't you just leave him without the sleeping bag? A little pain won't hurt no one." Andy muttered.

"If we don't put the sleeping bag under him, he'll probably get torn apart by the rocks we're gonna pull him over. It's not like I care about him, but think about it. We'll leave a huge bloody mess if we don't." Jake said patiently.

So they took turns dragging Tom behind them, and even though they needed more breaks than usual, they still made good time. Jake announced that the safe place was just a day away if they keep up their speed. 

"Good timing too." Bill said. "Our food supply's almost gone."

They ate the last of their main food supply, leaving behind a couple of packets of crackers and beef jerky. Bill filled Jake's water bottle with snow, and waited for it to melt beside the fire. He drank the warm water, feeling the warmth spread all the way to his toes. 

The next day, they moved at the same speed through the forest, and before long Jake pointed something out to them.

"See that?" he asked, pointing to a faraway blur on a hill. "That's the safe place."

Bill squinted.

"It looks huge." he exclaimed. "There must be a lot of people in there."

Andy nodded.

"There is." he said. "Most of the runaway Hush recruits come here for safety. We don't think the Hush actually knows this place exists."

Bill whistled.

"Impressive."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, until the sun had set and the safe place -which looked a lot like a house- loomed ever closer in front of them. At around midnight, they had managed to climb the small hill and stood shivering on the porch steps. There were a couple of potted plants on the porch, and Bill wondered what kind of plants could survive this extreme weather besides the ones in the forest. Jake knocked on the door six times, a specific beat that must've been some kind of password. After a few moments, a voice rang out from behind the door.

"Who formed the Protection Against The Hush and in what year?"

Jake's voice spoke calmly and confidently.

"Martha Flagman and Pauleen Cassidy, in 1922."

The door swung open, and a woman stood on the other side. She was of average height, had long, wavy hazel hair, and a fierce look about her. She beckoned them inside.

"Hush runaways?" she asked, as she shut the door behind them.

They nodded.

"Who's that?" she asked, eyebrows arched, nodding towards Tom.

"A member of the Hush. We have some experiments we need to do on him." Andy said.

The woman nodded, as though random people dragging unconscious bodies behind them came every day.