“How much do we need to look over our shoulders?” I asked.
“He’s a good tracker, but we covered a lot of ground.”
My aching feet could attest to that. Walking Topside was nothing like traveling in the tunnels. Our cured-skin slippers worked down below, but here, we needed something heavier.
Fade said, “I hope it will be enough.”
After crawling carefully past the broken glass, we found a shop, similar to the one where we’d sheltered before, but bigger, with row after row of metal shelves. A huge blue and red sign hung sideways from the ceiling. Tilting my head, I read some of the letters: CAL’S MEGAMART. Wonderingly, I walked up and down between the shelves. Most had been picked clean, but I found a few tins. Those I slipped into my bag.
We split up by mutual consent to explore the place thoroughly. A few minutes later, when Tegan started yelling, I drew my daggers and sprinted in her direction. I stopped short when I realized she was excited, not scared. Clothing surrounded her. The styles and colors were bright and unfamiliar; the fabrics felt cool and slick. A few items tore when I picked them up, but others seemed to be in perfect condition.
“I haven’t had anything that was mine since the Wolves took me,” Tegan said, and her voice broke in a way that tugged at my heart.
“Find some that fit,” I suggested. “If these traders had food and clothes, then they probably have a bag around here for you too.”
Thanks to her work with the knife, I needed a spare outfit as well. Life in the enclave had taught me one didn’t need more than could be easily carried, but I didn’t like not owning anything to change into when what I wore got too dirty to bear. And I was getting there.
I prowled through the garments until I spotted a green combination of shirt and pants. The shirt had a metal strip running down the center; I yanked it up and down before deciding it was meant to make it easier to get dressed. The pants were as simple as I was used to with a simple string to tighten the waist. This would do; it was light, smooth and should be comfortable. The material was a little dusty, so I beat it against the wall; the slick, shiny stuff shook clean unlike any cloth I’d ever seen. That would come in handy.
I left Tegan searching for a bag to carry her stuff. In the next set of shelves, I saw a bunch of bottles, and they looked like they held water. Marveling at the luck, I took a couple with me. There might be a waste closet here, I thought. At the back of the shop, I found it, tucked into a dark hall. The shadows didn’t bother me. My ears were good and I’d hear movement.
Inside, it was dingy, but not disgusting at it had been on the platform. The mirror didn’t take me by surprise this time. I ignored the girl going about her business—even though with my brain, I knew she was me, I felt no connection to her, and every now and then, I looked up just to see if she would continue what she was doing, or stop and stare, as I did. Each time, her movements matched, but my sense of unease remained. It was like a doorway, I thought.
I cracked open a bottle. It didn’t smell like the water we boiled, but I didn’t intend to drink it. Instead I used it to wash off before putting on my clean clothes; they were warmer and lighter than I’d expected. When I’d done what I could to remove the bloodstains, I felt a little better.
“Deuce!” Fade called. “Come here.”
I expected more clothing, but he’d found another room, hidden behind a heavy metal door that read EMPLOYEES ONLY. This one was full of boxes and crates and beyond that, another space, this one smaller still, that held tables, chairs, tall storage units, and two dusty sofas. We pounded them until they looked clean enough to use.
“We can lock that door,” I said. “And hole up in here while it’s so bright out.”
“That wasn’t what I wanted you to see.”
I sat down beside him while he pulled the top off a tin. It contained a red substance that made me recoil. Surely that couldn’t be—then he lifted it to my nose so I could sniff it. It was the best thing I’d ever smelled, and my mouth watered.
“What is it?”
“Taste it.” Fade dipped his finger into the tin and offered it to me.
I couldn’t resist, though I knew better than to let him feed me like a brat. Sweetness exploded on my tongue, contrasting with the warmth of his skin. Shocked and pleased, I pulled back and dipped two of my fingers into the tin in a little scoop. This time I caught more than the sauce. A round little red thing sat in the curve of my fingertips. I ate it without hesitation, two, three more scoops until I was sure I had red all around my mouth, and I didn’t care. He watched me with amusement.
“How did you know it would be so good?” I asked
His smile slipped. “I had some with my dad, once.”
I turned the tin, which was covered in red things, and had a blue banner with white letters on it. They read, “Comstock,” and below that, it said, “More Fruit Cherry.” More new words. We were eating cherries, something I’d never had before, and they made my mouth water for more. I stopped because I wanted Tegan to taste them too.
“Do you miss him?”
Fade nodded and set the tin down. Hesitantly, I put my hand on his shoulder. I wasn’t a Breeder, so touching didn’t come naturally to me. If I was, I guessed I’d know how to comfort him. I might even have the right words instead of a throat full of silence. It was the first time I’d ever thought being a Breeder might come in handy.
For the first time, I looked at him and I didn’t see reflexes or muscles or fighting potential. I saw only a boy who had followed me from the tunnels, who had been a friend no matter what obstacles we faced. Even while the Wolves had been hunting him, he thought of saving me. My heart shifted a little in my chest; it seemed to swell and beat against my bones until I couldn’t hear.
“You were right, you know,” he said finally.