The Renegade

Chapter 28

 I don't move a muscle as the man stares us down. His eyes are a pale, translucent color but the rest of him is jagged and strong. He looks like he could survive out here for years with nothing more than the machine gun in his hands. His dark beard is unshaven and scraggly but the skin beneath it is pale, offsetting his strange eyes. He studies us with a wildness, a ferocious barbarism that makes me want to take a few steps back or run all the way to Domus.

"Thyre, we have visitors," Kai says with a smile as she crosses her muscular arms over her chest.

"I see that," he says, his voice a low rumble.

"Why'd you bring one of them with you?" Kai asks, nodding to Audra. She sticks out among our orange jumpsuits as a Doman elite. "We don't take purebreds."

Luk shrugs, keeping his eyes on Kai instead of Thyre. "You took me, didn't you?"
Kai narrows her black eyes at him. "You were never a real Doman."

I can't tell if the words are an insult, a threat, or a compliment, but given how much she seems to hate Domans, they must be positive. When did Luk meet this girl? What was he doing out here in the middle of the wilderness?

"She's one of us," Luk says, his gaze jumping to Audra. She trains her eyes on the ground. "Just let us stay here for a few days."

I shift in the snow, my toes falling asleep. If Kai and Thyre don't take us in, we'll freeze to death out here. My eyelashes are already frozen and the rest of me isn't far behind. The two leaders trade a look, and everything in Thyre reads hostility. Saying nothing, Kai turns toward us again and nods quickly.

"Welcome to the Outskirts."
My mind is too numb to take in her words, but she beckons for us to come forward. Thyre slings his machine gun onto his back and the rest of the men and women sheath the weapons they would use to slaughter us all in seconds if we became a threat. The brutality in Thyre reflects in all of the men and women around us. They are either young or middle aged, all able bodied fighters who look prepared to kill someone with their bare teeth if necessary. How do they survive out here?

We descend the hill towards the community of igloos. A few of the buildings are actual metal constructions, painted white to disguise them against the arctic. This place may be primitive, but it's been here for years. They know how to survive.

"Let's meet with these outcasts," Thyre says, his voice gravelly. They lead us towards a large igloo, almost two stories tall. The white blocks of ice that construct the building are wider than I am and stacked in a perfect dome. We reach the door and a woman orders us to disarm. I hand her my handgun but don't reveal the knife in the waistband of my pants. They search Luk, Ryke, and a few of the others, but don't bother with me, the injured girl.

The igloo's door is only as high as my waist, so we duck to squeeze inside. Thyre and Kai lead the way and inside we find a huge room with a gas heater at the center that puts out enough heat to dispel the icy cold of the arctic. What I would give for my insular right now.

The igloo is fairly empty besides the heater. A few blankets and sleeping bags are strewn around the edges and a handful of metal crates are stand stacked on one side. Thyre and Kai stand by the heater and we join them. I lean heavily on Luk, my numbed body aching as the heat starts to warm me from the outside in.

"So what are you doing here, Luk?" Kai asks. "The truth this time."
Luk sighs, running a hand through his hair as he studies the blue pilot flame on the heater. "We were kicked out of Domus."

Kai throws her hand in the air, her eyebrows furrowed. "We don't want a war with your father, Luk. We only make it out here by cooperating with Domus."