Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 26 - THE LODGE

The car engine spluttered and died. Dad took the keys out and turned around in his seat to smile at us. "Not bad, is it?"

Not bad? It looked like something out of a movie. The lodge was built from actual ... well, logs, and it was bigger than the cabin at Haven by a long way. There was a neat garden out the front, a few weeds pushing up between the rose beds, and a drive lined by magnolia trees.

But none of that made me want to stay there. I didn't want luxury. I wanted threadbare tents and leaves crunching underfoot and the canopy overhead. I wanted rough and uncomfortable. It felt so much more real than this manufactured, 'perfect' place.

"Do we have to, Dad?" I whined.

He sighed. "You'll probably enjoy yourself, Eva. Your mother said you should try to stay inside the house as much as possible, but aside from that, you can do whatever the hell you want for a few weeks. Think of it like a holiday."

I made a disgusted noise in the back of my throat. I'd never taken a holiday in my life, and I wasn't about to start now. We would end up sitting around bored out of our minds, especially if we weren't even supposed to go outside. What did flockies do all day, anyway?

"You've got an entire raiding team at the perimeter in case Jace tries anything stupid," Dad went on, noticing my sullen silence. "There's a phone for emergencies, and ... um ... I'm supposed to give you this, too."

He turfed a little Motorola and a large notebook into the backseat. Liam picked them up and opened the notebook before I could even twitch. I saw his eyebrows rise sharply. "We're supposed to learn all of this?"

Dad shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't even know what's in there."

I craned over to look. My reading wasn't flawless, but it was more a lack of patience than a lack of ability. "What is in there?"

"It's about New Dawn, mostly, but there's also shit about ... well ... how to be a flockie, I guess. I already know how to be a flockie."

"I don't," I muttered. And I didn't want to know.

It was starting to rain. We had the windows open for Liam's sake, and I felt the steady patter of droplets against my bare arm. Within a few seconds, the drizzle had turned to veritable sheets of water. Liam had to tuck the notebook under his jacket to protect it.

"I'm not going to see you again before you leave," Dad told me quietly. "So how about a hug, kiddo?"

And I gave him one. It was difficult - I was leaning forwards from the back seat, and he was twisted around in his, but it was as fierce as it was possible for a hug to be. I was furious to find my eyes watery by the time I broke away. While I rubbed at them, Dad had another attempt at contortionism to shake Liam's hand.

"Stay safe," he said firmly. "Both of you. Some things just aren't worth dying over."

"We will," I mumbled, and then I got out of the car before I could get properly choked up. I didn't like all these goodbyes, and I didn't like seeing Dad upset. Liam followed me, closing the car door behind him.

Almost as an afterthought, I went to lean back into the car for a moment to say, "Oh, by the way, I made a lot of promises to Hayden about books and soapy water that I don't intend to keep. It'd be really cool if you could go and help him out for me. Maybe. Please. Yeah."

And then I ducked out again before he could refuse. We walked towards the front door. It wasn't locked, and the hallway was filled with boxes like someone had just made a delivery. The first few were full of clothes - horrible confining flockie clothes to make us smell right - and the next few were cool boxes full of Tupperware containers. Apparently, we had to eat flockie food, too, because food could change your scent. I reckoned it would just be like eating from Maggie's truck every day, so I wasn't going to complain.