Chapter 3

Abby

As much as I’m annoyed the Tavikhi followed us, I’ll admit, if only to myself, I’m also a bit relieved. I’d expected Lewis to be somewhere along the trail waiting for us to walk by, so the presence of the huge purple alien had eased some of my nerves. It doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him for his interference. He really did make things worse.

“You shouldn’t have been so mean to the Tavikhi,” Carter scolds me like he’s the adult and I’m the child as we bypass people and tents on the way to ours. “He stopped Lewis from hurting you. We should have been thanking him.”

While I’ve tried not to pass my prejudices onto my brother, it’s difficult. “You know I don’t like owing people anything.”

“How is thanking someone owing them?”

I glance down at Carter. “Because by stopping Lewis, it’s like I have to repay the alien’s kindness in some way. Which means I owe him.”

“Why can’t a thank you just be payment enough? I don’t understand what more you can owe someone once you’ve thanked them.” His forehead crinkles.

“That’s not how the world works.”

“Well, that’s just stupid,” he says with all the innocence of a child who hasn’t seen the true ugliness this world has to offer. I only wish I could shield him from it forever.

A shadow moves along the ground, and I glance up. My heart plummets into my stomach, but I steel my reaction for the sight of a red-faced Lewis. The blood on his neck has been cleaned off, but there’s still a visible wound that I bet hurts. I move slightly in front of Carter, but don’t stop walking. Up until now, I haven’t regretted my father setting our tent up at the back of the settlement. If we’d been closer to the front gate instead though, maybe we’d be home already and could have avoided this confrontation a bit longer.

“Where’s your alien friend?” Lewis sneers.

“He’s not my friend. I didn’t know he was out there nor have I ever seen him before today. I didn’t want him around either.” Like you, although I’d never say that out loud.

“Could have fooled me. The two of you were awfully chummy.” He moves in front of us, forcing Carter and me to stop or collide with him. “Is that why you keep giving me the brush off? You spreading your legs for that purple freak?”

How dare he! Especially in front of Carter. His question doesn’t dignify an answer. “If you’ll kindly step out of the way, we’d like to return to our tent.”

I move to go around him, but Lewis blocks me once again. Behind me, my brother brushes against me and I reach back as unobtrusively as possible to keep him from doing anything stupid like trying to defend either of us. A small crowd has gathered to gawk, but, of course, no one interferes.

Lewis leans in until his stale, bitter breath ghosts across my face. “I’ve been patient with you, Abby, but that patience has worn thin.” His whisper is filled with menace. “You’re going to have to give in sooner or later. Things will go much better for you if it’s sooner.”

After a lingering leer, he finally walks away. I let out the breath I’d been holding and practically deflate. My racing heart may never slow, though. With a deep inhale I set off for our tent, trying my best to keep my steps measured and unhurried. I don’t look left or right and the few gathered people part like the sea as we pass through.

“You all are useless,” Carter says under his breath. I know I should take him to task for not keeping comments like that to himself, but I happen to agree with him.

It feels like forever, but we finally reach our destination and I duck inside. I’ve barely crossed the threshold when my brother grabs my arm and spins me around.

“Why did you let Lewis talk to you that way?” Without taking his eyes off me, he half pivots and points in a random direction behind him. “He said those horrible things, and you didn’t do anything.”

“Because nothing I would have said or done would have helped the situation. Eventually, Lewis will get bored by my lack of response and move onto someone else who will give him the reactions he wants. He’s nothing more than a bully, and bullies thrive on the fear of the people they torment.” If I say it enough, maybe I’ll even start to believe it.

My brother shakes his head and scoffs. “That’s nothing but a load of bullshit and you know it.”

“Carter!”

“No.” He slices his hand through the air. “I might only be twelve, but I’m not stupid or blind. Lewis has been creeping around and harassing you for months. Ever since Dad died. No matter how many times you avoid him or try and put him off, he hasn’t stopped and he’s not going to. Especially not after today. Notuntil he gets from you whatever it is he wants. I may not know exactly what that is, but I have a pretty good idea. We both know I’m right.”

I clench my fists and my nails bite into my palms until I can’t take the pain any longer. Not for the first time, I curse my dad for leaving us alone. I curse all the people back on Earth who made it impossible for us to stay there. I curse the aliens on this damn planet, especially the one who had to be a hero and do nothing more than make my already miserable life that much worse. It doesn’t matter if he thought he was trying to help or not.

Defeat sinks in. “Whether we’re right or not doesn’t matter. I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing, which is not engaging. I’ll just avoid Lewis as much as possible.”

“You could avoid him completely if you had taken up the Tavikhi on his offer. Why did you say no? What do you have against them?” Carter’s confusion is evident. “They’ve done everything they can to look out for the entire settlement since the moment the first ship arrived.”

“I don’t have anything against them.” Nothing personally anyway.

“Then why not go to their village and live?” he raises his voice in obvious frustration. “Other people have gone and that one woman is the wife, or whatever, of their leader.”

Because he’s there and he’s done enough damage already. Finished with the argument, it’s time to put a stop to it. “Enough Carter. We’re not going to the Tavikhi village and that’s final.”

We stare at each other, both of us too stubborn for our own good, until finally he whirls around and storms out of the tent. I let loose a heavy sigh and drop my head back between my shoulders to stare up at the sky through the narrow opening. I hate fighting with him, and it feels like it’s happening with more frequency. Something tells me it’ll only get worse the older Carter gets too. Life is grossly unfair.

My stomach growls, reminding me I haven’t eaten anything since this morning and our hunting efforts were a complete failure. I rifle through our belongings, searching for some leftover jerky or any of the little root vegetable-like things I’ve found while scavenging the forest. Our stores are depressingly low. The winter had been exceptionally hard to get through, but we made it. Barely. Now it’s up to me to replenish them.

Except how am I supposed to do that when Lewis is more determined than ever to make me submit to him and I came back to the settlement empty-handed? I find a pitiful little piece of smoked meat wrapped in a scarf and drop to my bed in a defeated puddle to eat it. Taking slow, nibbling bites, I try to savor the meal and not worry about the fact Carter and I most likely don’t have anything to eat for dinner tonight. Not unless I find something worth trading for food that isn’t my body.

Lewis has made it more than clear he’ll provide for me in exchange for sharing his bed. He’s managed to acquire more things than anyone else in the settlement, and not just food. Nor by fair means either. No one will admit they’ve been intimidated or cheated by him. Gary and Adam might be the so-called decision makers of the settlement, but everyone here knows who’s really in charge and it isn’t those two. Not anymore. It’s why nobody will go up against him.

Out of nowhere a vision of the Tavikhi warrior pops in my head and the way he drew his sword on Lewis. For one brief, horrible second I had wished for the alien to finish the job. What kind of person does that make me? Lewis is a horrible human being, but to actually hope someone kills him? I’m not sure I want that on my conscience.By the time I finish the piece of jerky, Carter still hasn’t come back. Not that I’m worried. We’ve had more than one disagreement that caused him to go cool off somewhere. Although I should probably acknowledge he’s not the only one who gets heated and needs some alone time to get their temper under control. We might argue, but I still hate when we get mad at each other. He’s all I have left.

I’ll give him until dinner before I go searching. He’s getting older and I can’t keep treating him like he’s a baby. While I wait for Carter to return, I carefully go through our supplies and manage to scrounge up a few more pieces of dried meat, a couple of the edible alien mushrooms, and a carrot I recall my brother bartering for with someone. Which was one of our arguments.

I tidy up the tent and make a plan to head out to the river in the morning to do some laundry before attempting another hunting excursion. Let’s hope tomorrow reaps better rewards than today. With nothing else to do, I pull out a book I found in one of the tents destroyed during the attack that killed my dad. I don’t know how someone managed to bring a physical book to Tavikh, but I’m not going to complain. Even if the subject material is a little too similar to the rustic life we’re living on this planet.

Talk about a bait and switch, too. I always suspected the people in the upper tier wanted nothing more than to get rid of those of us in the bottom tier, but to try and sell us the idea we’d have a better life if we left Earth was a new low. It only shows how desperate some of us were that we bought it. I don’t make it far into the story before I give up. I’m having a hard time concentrating. It’s quiet in here without Carter. Too quiet. I’m not sure I ever realized how much noise he makes. I miss it.

I’ve never been great at apologizing, but if it means my brother comes back to the tent, then I’ll do it. I set the book aside and climb to my feet to go search him out. He’s probably hanging out with Felix. They’re the closest thing to friends I suppose. Carter has always been far more outgoing than me. I want to shield him from people who might hurt or take advantage of him, but it’s not fair of me to hold him back from making friends just because I don’t like or trust people.

The settlement is somber like it often is. Lewis doesn’t appear to be anywhere in sight. Let’s hope it lasts. Individual campfires burn in front of tents and people keep to themselves. There’s no sense of community. No central area where others gather to chat and catch up. A few kids dart here and there, but even their play is subdued. Just like in the bottom tier, there’s an air of oppression pressing down on everything. It’s fucking depressing.

I walk past the tent where Felix and his parents live, but there’s no sign of Carter. There’s no sign of Lewis either. He wouldn’t have done something to my brother in retaliation, would he? Oh god. Please tell me Carter didn’t confront Lewis. I start off in the direction of his tent. A small body rushes around the corner and comes to a jerky stop.

“Ab—Abby,” Felix stutters and shifts his gaze away from mine.

“I’m looking for Carter. Have you seen him?”

The young boy still won’t meet my gaze and he rocks back on his heels and forward on the balls of his feet. “Um, not for a little while.”

I study Felix. Everything about his demeanor reminds me of Carter when he’s done something he knows he shouldn’t have and has been caught. “Where is he?”

He hesitates far too long.

“Fine. Maybe we need to have this conversation in front of your parents.” I pivot, but don’t make it halfway around when he takes a step forward with an outstretched hand.

“Okay, fine,” Felix says. “He…left.”

I jerk back. “Left? What do you mean he left? Where’d he go?”

The kid winces and gives me a pained look. I move like I’m going to head for his family’s tent again, but his words stop me.

“He went to the Tavikhi village.”

My whole body goes numb. “Repeat that.”

Felix ducks his head. “He went to the Tavikhi village.”

For several long seconds I stand there trying to process his words. What is Carter thinking? Without a sound, I swivel and march toward the front gate where the first moon is slowly creeping above the wall. I’m going to kill my brother when I find him.