Vicious Memories

Chapter 83

Arun wouldn't like or understand what I was doing, so I went for Gabriel instead.

He stared me down with the same weighty look he'd first given me all those days ago, and I felt a sense of relief. I had grown to trust and rely upon that stare.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing good." I told him that I had to leave the village immediately. No, I didn't know when I would be back. No, I wasn't going alone - Alice would be gone as well.

He looked down at me, contemplating the urgency pulsing through my words. Behind him a small group had gathered around Finn and Mads. "Be truthful. Is this the most important thing for you to do right now? Is there no chance you can stay?"

"I would stay if I could," I said truthfully. "But yes, this is important. I have to go."

"Will you be back in time?"

"I'll try." I paused, considering. "But I wouldn't count on it."

His face solemn, Gabriel stuck out his hand. As his fingers enveloped my own I felt a sense of gratitude for everything he had done for me. He had trusted me from the beginning, and he trusted me now.

"Good luck," he said.

On my way to the north end of the village I passed Finn and Mads. The two of them were arguing, trying their best to keep their voices low and failing spectacularly. The other villagers hung a few feet back. The sun neared its apex in the sky, and it sharpened the twisted expressions on their faces.

"I 'ave to do it." Mads's hand rested on Finn's chest. "We don't 'ave enough people, and I am done with 'ze food. I am useless 'ere."

Finn's leg was lashed tightly between two lengths of wood, a makeshift steel crutch made from scrap metal stuck under one armpit.

"No. Someone else can go."

"Je t'aime, but no. I will go."

"I'm sure there's something else here that needs to be done. You aren't being useless. They can go without you."

"But they will not. I have not left since I got back from... from..." Mads took a deep breath. "I am sick of being stuck. Je deviens fou. No! Do not not interrupt me. Why should I stay 'ere, safe, when others 'ave to go out? That is not fair. It is not right. They need one more person. I will be that person, and shame on anyone who says that I should not be."

Mads stretched up on the tips of her toes to press her lips against Finn's cheek. When she pulled away he looked at the crowd desperately, begging someone else to step in and help. His brows furrowed like black magnets straining to touch. When he sighed I knew he had accepted that Mads was right.

I slipped away without waiting to see how everything would play out. The monkeypod tree waved a sad farewell with its thousand arms as I went by.

The jungle called to me as I approached the first line of trees and tumbled into the abyss.