decided to try a different tactic. “What is Ra-Shet?” I asked.
Drake opened his mouth and then closed it abruptly. “Where did you hear about Ra-Shet?” He demanded.
“You were talking about it earlier today, after Conner was killed.”
A muscle in Drake's jaw twitched as he turned his back to me under the guise of scanning the tree line for more uninvited guests.
“If I'm going to make it as a Scavenger then I need to know what I'm dealing with,” I pointed out. Drake hissed in annoyance.
“You don't know anything about being a Scavenger,” he said angrily.
“Obviously not. You don't want to teach me.” I couldn't keep the tears from stinging my eyes. I was exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed. Drake frowned at me as a single bead of salty moisture leaked out of right eye and traveled down my cheek.
“I'm not trying to hurt you, Pilar,” Drake said as he stepped towards me and pulled me back into his arms. “It’s not personal. It’s just that most new recruits can't handle the truth. It breaks them.”
It was the first time I'd heard him use my name. Funny how the Spanish syllables didn't sound nearly as dreamy coming out of his beautiful mouth as they had in all my fantasies back in the Cube.
“I want honesty, Drake. When my best friend was dying in the hospital ward no one wanted to tell me that she wouldn't make it. Everyone kept lying to me and telling me that Julie would pull through because they didn't think I would be able to do what I needed to do to take care of her if I knew I was losing her.” The tears were escaping freely down my cheeks now. “My parents disappeared from our apartment in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday. The Powers That Be keep telling me that Mom and Dad must have gotten tired of Cube living and escaped to the outside. What the Powers That Be don't realize is that Mom is terrified of her own shadow. She watched her first husband turn into a zombie during the middle of dinner. He chased her into the bathroom and tried to eat her. He killed her little sister when she couldn't make it out the door in time. He killed their daughter. Mom is so completely petrified of zombies she wouldn't even go out into the brickyard. Dad couldn't even get her to go out onto one of the patios without physically carrying her outside. My Mom didn't leave the Cube on her own two feet and Dad wouldn't have made her go.”
“I see,” Drake said after a long hesitation. I very much doubted that he did. I considered telling him about the gun that I had hidden in the pocket of my jacket but Seth's warning suddenly came back into my mind.
Don't trust him.
I was surprised to realize that I didn't trust Drake. Not enough to reveal I was in possession of an illegal weapon and plenty of illegal ammunition. I couldn't trust him until he trusted me with the truth about the world I had just walked into.
“I want the truth.” I spoke the words so quietly even I could barely hear them.
After another moment, Drake nodded. He gestured for me to sit back down on the roof of the bus. “Have a seat, this is going to take a while.”
When I sat down on the cold metal roof, Drake settled down on his knees beside me. He took both my hands in his big, warm palms and gave me a small smile. “If I try to explain everything we'll be here for the next year and half, so I'm going to give you the basics. If you still want to hear more once I'm done we'll have plenty of time to go over the details during the next few weeks.” He squeezed my fingers. “Is that okay with you?”
I nodded.
“Okay, then.” Drake sighed and chewed on his lower lip as if he were having trouble deciding where to start with his explanation. We sat in silence for several minutes while Drake stared at the trees, the moon, and the clouds covering the moon and finally down at the roof of the bus we were sitting on. The smell of smoke brushed past us every time the wind blew. The smoke served as a constant reminder that I
Drake opened his mouth and then closed it abruptly. “Where did you hear about Ra-Shet?” He demanded.
“You were talking about it earlier today, after Conner was killed.”
A muscle in Drake's jaw twitched as he turned his back to me under the guise of scanning the tree line for more uninvited guests.
“If I'm going to make it as a Scavenger then I need to know what I'm dealing with,” I pointed out. Drake hissed in annoyance.
“You don't know anything about being a Scavenger,” he said angrily.
“Obviously not. You don't want to teach me.” I couldn't keep the tears from stinging my eyes. I was exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed. Drake frowned at me as a single bead of salty moisture leaked out of right eye and traveled down my cheek.
“I'm not trying to hurt you, Pilar,” Drake said as he stepped towards me and pulled me back into his arms. “It’s not personal. It’s just that most new recruits can't handle the truth. It breaks them.”
It was the first time I'd heard him use my name. Funny how the Spanish syllables didn't sound nearly as dreamy coming out of his beautiful mouth as they had in all my fantasies back in the Cube.
“I want honesty, Drake. When my best friend was dying in the hospital ward no one wanted to tell me that she wouldn't make it. Everyone kept lying to me and telling me that Julie would pull through because they didn't think I would be able to do what I needed to do to take care of her if I knew I was losing her.” The tears were escaping freely down my cheeks now. “My parents disappeared from our apartment in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday. The Powers That Be keep telling me that Mom and Dad must have gotten tired of Cube living and escaped to the outside. What the Powers That Be don't realize is that Mom is terrified of her own shadow. She watched her first husband turn into a zombie during the middle of dinner. He chased her into the bathroom and tried to eat her. He killed her little sister when she couldn't make it out the door in time. He killed their daughter. Mom is so completely petrified of zombies she wouldn't even go out into the brickyard. Dad couldn't even get her to go out onto one of the patios without physically carrying her outside. My Mom didn't leave the Cube on her own two feet and Dad wouldn't have made her go.”
“I see,” Drake said after a long hesitation. I very much doubted that he did. I considered telling him about the gun that I had hidden in the pocket of my jacket but Seth's warning suddenly came back into my mind.
Don't trust him.
I was surprised to realize that I didn't trust Drake. Not enough to reveal I was in possession of an illegal weapon and plenty of illegal ammunition. I couldn't trust him until he trusted me with the truth about the world I had just walked into.
“I want the truth.” I spoke the words so quietly even I could barely hear them.
After another moment, Drake nodded. He gestured for me to sit back down on the roof of the bus. “Have a seat, this is going to take a while.”
When I sat down on the cold metal roof, Drake settled down on his knees beside me. He took both my hands in his big, warm palms and gave me a small smile. “If I try to explain everything we'll be here for the next year and half, so I'm going to give you the basics. If you still want to hear more once I'm done we'll have plenty of time to go over the details during the next few weeks.” He squeezed my fingers. “Is that okay with you?”
I nodded.
“Okay, then.” Drake sighed and chewed on his lower lip as if he were having trouble deciding where to start with his explanation. We sat in silence for several minutes while Drake stared at the trees, the moon, and the clouds covering the moon and finally down at the roof of the bus we were sitting on. The smell of smoke brushed past us every time the wind blew. The smoke served as a constant reminder that I
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