The Forsaken

one of us now. Make her feel at home.”
    Everyone just keeps staring at me. I wave awkwardly at the crowd like an idiot. A few kids wave back, but most of them keep staring. Am I supposed to say something? Make a speech? That’s not going to happen.
    Meira steps up beside Veidman on another rough-hewn stump. Her voice rings out over the crackling fire: “We finally have some news about the gray zone too.” All eyes turn to her. “About what Liam found there last night.”
    The crowd starts chattering with excitement and anticipation when they hear his name. I glance over at Gadya, eyebrows raised. “Who’s Liam?” She either doesn’t hear or pretends not to.
    “Spit it out, Meira!” a boy’s voice bursts from the crowd.
    “I don’t need to. Liam has recovered enough to speak for himself.”
    At Meira’s words, the lithe silhouette of a boy emerges from behind her and Veidman. Most of the kids start clapping. Some even stand up. They all seem to love this boy, whoever he is. His silhouette moves closer to the light. Meira steps down from the tree stump so that he can take her place.
    The boy’s face finally becomes visible, the flickering flames illuminating his chiseled features as he steps up onto the stump.
    For a second, I just stare. Then my heart literally skips a beat, losing its rhythm for an instant.
    It’s him.
    The blue-eyed boy from the museum screen.
    I can’t believe it.
    I don’t know what to do. Not in the slightest. So I just sit there watching him, my mind racing madly. I feel overwhelmed.
    In person, the sense of some kind of weird connection with him is even stronger. I feel even more drawn to him, and not just because he’s so good-looking. It’s different from that, but I don’t know how to explain it. He starts talking before I can puzzle out what I’m feeling.
    “Hey, everyone,” Liam says, one hand jammed into the pocket of his jeans. His voice is low and husky. He’s wearing a gray T-shirt, and his left arm is in a sling. “Like Meira said, I’ve got news.” He looks around. Surprisingly, given his obvious status in the village, he seems a little uncomfortable with the attention. “Last night I was in the gray zone, right before the tunnel collapsed. And I finally saw what we’ve been looking for all this time. An aircraft overhead—”
    The hubbub of the crowd grows louder again, drowning him out.
    “Anyway,” Liam says, talking over the noise. “I tracked it in the sky for a few miles through the gray zone. I saw its lights. I think it was landing—” He breaks off.
    The crowd has gone completely nuts. Some of the kids high-five each other as they hoot and holler.
    I turn to Gadya. “What’s this all about?” I ask.
    “It might be our ticket off the wheel,” she says, eyes shining. “We’ve been trying to spot a UNA transport aircraft for as long as I’ve been here. And it sounds like Liam might have seen one, and maybe even found where they land and take off from.” Before I can ask another question, Liam starts talking again:
    “I tried to keep after it, but there were too many drones in the trees. They must have followed me through the tunnel. I had to hide for a couple hours before things cooled down. . . . You all probably know what happened on the way back. The tunnel got detonated by some crazy drones, and I barely made it out alive before sunrise.”
    I’m still trying to understand what Liam is talking about, when Veidman speaks up. “Now that the tunnel’s gone, we need to find another way back into the gray zone as soon as possible, to learn where the landing strips are. If we can figure out how to hijack one of these aircrafts, then we can start—”
    A sharp pop interrupts him.
    At first I think it came from the fire. But then it comes again, an instant after a distant flash of light. My heart starts beating faster. I recognize this sound from back home when I was young.
    Gunfire.
    “The Cannibal Monk!” a boy yells, his voice taut with panic. I hear distant screams and more popping sounds. Kids start jumping to their feet all around me, grabbing homemade spears and bows. Preparing for battle. I see Liam hop down from the stump, snatch up a spear with his good arm, and dart forward in the direction of the sounds. The other hunters follow.
    The dark sky above us suddenly lights up with a starburst of colorful red and blue embers.
    I stand up, finally realizing what those popping noises actually are. It’s not gunfire at