"Have you heard from Five?" Madeline questioned as we were sitting around the fire later that evening. The rabbits were skinned and cooking over the fire and Echo was holding Calix who was fast asleep.
Echo looked up and nodded.
"He left. He's heading to the three locations. He wrote me."
"So he's gone to start it, has he?" The corner of Madeline's mouth quirked up in a small smile. "We'll hear the repercussions soon enough, I expect."
What kind of a name was 'Five'?
Oh.
Oh!
It was a code name.
"What's the worst Sly can do?" Echo stated offhandedly. "He's already managed to divide the world, get most of the population to hate him, and make a mistake that killed millions of people this far. I really don't see how things can get any worse."
Echo's words were harsh and completely honest, but Madeline shook her head disapprovingly.
"Don't say that, Echo. It can always get worse."
"How?" Echo shot at her.
"Trust me, Child. Okay?"
Echo didn't reply, her eyes now on the ground as Madeline stood, brushed herself off, and moved over to kneel beside her, whispering something in the younger girl's ear.
Echo nodded.
"He said she was positive, but he wasn't.
Madeline looked up towards the sky, seeming worried. Echo's next words were tumbling over each other.
"That confirms it, doesn't it? Doesn't it, Madeline? He said it was possible, probable, even... but he hoped it wasn't so. Have you heard back from Alice? Dauphin? Grace? The others?"
Madeline nodded and Echo exhaled heavily.
"And?"
"Alice says it's true. Radio silence from the others."
Calix chose this moment to wake up, kicking and wining, and Madeline, with a pointed look to Echo, suggested that we should eat.
We ate in silence, me pretending not to notice that Echo and Madeline shooting not-so-secret expressions to each other. All this because I'd decided to bring her back to camp instead of playing the kill-on-sight game I played ninety percent of the time?
I put Calix to bed wrapped in a blanket on the soft grass near the stream, then I checked the horses to see that they were still well tied up. By the time I returned to the fireside, I was too exhausted even to fight.
"Go to bed, Nova," Echo told me, "I'll take first watch."
And so I went to curl up next to my brother with my own blanket, inhaling his sweet baby scent. I saw Echo approach Madeline and sit next to her, shifting close to her side as Madeline slipped an arm around the girl and they sank into a quiet conversation I could not hear.
What exactly were these people involved in?
It was my last thought as I drifted off to sleep.
What were these people involved in, and what, by connection, was I a part of, too...