Silo

Chapter 17

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

Keith's crooked grin returned as he flipped the map back into Meredith's lap. "Nothing. You just worry about that new girlfriend of yours, because the way I see it, she's more important to you than anything else right now."

He quickly spun around, squaring off with Evan. "And you better wake up, Boy Scout, because even you won't be able to wrap your genius mind around what's coming."

I glared at Keith, rapidly losing my temper with his cryptic advice. We were all pissed, blindsided by the news that our enemies had full access to our silo, to our food, to our supplies. Shit, they had access to Meredith. But that sure as hell didn't mean I was going to put up with his crap. "Shut up! I'm not interested in listening to your temper tantrums anymore."

Keith laughed, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to drop him right there. It was Evan who infused a sense of calm back into the room. "Well, we know how they're getting in now," Evan said," And for once, I think we're a step ahead of them."

He crouched down by Meredith's feet and tapped his finger on the location of the ventilation shaft on the map. "They have no idea we've figured them out. Maybe ... just maybe that could work in our advantage."

A shaft. A stupid ventilation shaft whose metal tubing emptied out less than a hundred feet from my room. Sure they had an entrance point we'd never noticed before, but Evan was right - it was an advantage, an advantage we'd be stupid not to use. "Evan's right. They've been coming and going for months without us knowing. Why should they expect us to know now?"

Keith tucked his knife back into the waistband of his jeans and shook his head. "Maybe that's why she's still here," he said, moving closer to my mattress, closer to Meredith. "Maybe that's why they just came in and smacked her around rather than taking her with them. They want her here, want her to be their little mole."

Rage poured off Keith, and I slid to my left, placing the bulk of my body between him and Meredith. "That's bullshit Keith, and you know it. She just gave us the map for Christ's sake."

Meredith carefully refolded her map and tucked it deep into the pages of her journal, her gaze darting between me and Keith.

"Jake's right," Evan chimed in. "she's not on their side; she barely escaped them alive and look at her now...it's not like they paid her a friendly visit."

Keith exploded, kicking over a crate and sending my own private stock of food flying. Meredith startled upright, her hands instinctively going to cover her face. I rushed at Keith, didn't stop until I had his right arm twisted painfully behind his back.

"Stop it," Meredith yelled, bringing all of us to a halt. "They aren't coming back here. They won't now."

Keith stopped resisting, his attention completely centered on Meredith's prediction. "That what he told you to say?"

"No. I'm saying it because it's true," she said. "They're playing with you - he's messin' with your minds."

I let go of Keith and turned to face her. "What do you mean . . . they're playin' with us?"

Meredith glanced at Keith apprehensively, and I placed my fingers beneath her chin, gently turned her head so she was looking at me again. I needed to hang on to our connection. I needed her to tell me what was going on in that mind of hers and with Keith condemning her at every turn, it wasn't easy.

"They want to keep you on edge, let you know that they can come and go without you ever knowing. But that doesn't mean they'll come back now; it's not how he works. He wants...."

She paused, her eyes seeking out the corner she'd spent the better part of this week huddled into. "Go on," I urged, ducking my head so her eyes met mine. "What does he want?"

"He wants to make you crazy."

I froze, my thoughts flashing back to the days I spent trying to get Meredith to eat, to speak, to do anything besides fly into a rage every time I got near her. They'd done that to her, made her completely paranoid and scared of everything ... of everyone. And now they wanted to do the same thing to us.

"I don't exactly think you're lying," Evan started off, careful to keep the agenda of both sides in check. "But I don't think we can rely on them not coming back. We need to be prepared, be ready for them if and when they do."

I clenched my fist, enjoying the brief sting of my fingernails digging into the center of my palm. For once, the three of us were on the same page. "We'll be ready aright."

It didn't take more than those four words to send Keith flying into the hall, straight into the supply room where I heard bits and pieces of threats all aimed at the bastards we were planning to ambush. I smiled; it was nice to see Keith's anger focused on something besides me or Evan for a change.

Meredith's expression quickly darkened, and I knew she'd grasped the full extent of what we were planning. "I know you don't think they'll come back here, but they already have, and I can't let them hurt you again. I won't."

She nodded, a tear threatening to slip down her cheek. "He's dangerous," she whispered.

I thought about asking her who he was, making her give me a name, a description, something to focus my energy on, but I wouldn't do that to her. I refused to make her re- live even a second of those dark days just so I could satisfy my own curiosity.

I slid a few inches closer to Meredith, enjoying the temporary closeness of our bodies. For a girl who'd been locked underground for over a year, she looked damn good, it was hard to fight the urge to pull her into my chest. "It's gonna be okay," I soothed, silently vowing to make them apologize to her before I killed each and every one of them.

Another crash echoed from the supply room and Evan made for the door. "You coming?"

I nodded, and slipped my hand to the small of Meredith's back, guiding her into the hall. I wasn't leaving her alone in my room. No matter how close I'd be, no matter how armed we all were, she wasn't leaving my sight ever again.