The Forsaken

They sailed out for eighty miles. Nothing but ocean. They barely made it back alive. Veidman thinks we’re thousands of miles from dry land.”
    I mull this over. “But if any of us ever do escape somehow, won’t they just send us back here when we get home to the UNA? Or worse?”
    Liam grins. “Who said anything about going home? There are other countries on the globe. The European Coalition. Allied West Africa. Asiana. Most of them are at war with the UNA. Think of all the inside info we have that we could trade for new lives. And if it doesn’t work, at least we tried. We didn’t just sit around waiting to die before we turned eighteen.”
    He reaches out and touches my knee. The gesture is sudden. I don’t expect it. I feel a rush of longing to clasp my fingers over his. The feeling takes me by surprise. I want to tell him everything right then and there. But I can’t. Not yet.
    I see the passion to take action burning in his eyes, and I realize this is why he’s a hunter and a scout.
    I also know he’s right. There are already so many ways to die on this island that getting off it can’t be much worse. I realize my eyes are locked with his, so I look away, breaking the intensity of our gaze. I’m not a particularly romantic girl, but I have to admit that Liam is getting to me.
    It’s then that I see Gadya emerge from the forest, heading our way. I glance back at Liam. He takes his hand off my knee. I feel embarrassed, like I’m doing something wrong. I owe Gadya so much. The last thing I want to do is accidentally flirt with Liam, especially since she asked me to back off.
    I stand up quickly and say, “Hey” as Gadya reaches us.
    She holds out part of a plastic label, the kind you might find on a bottle of government-issue soda pop.
    “Check this out,” she says to us. “Edie just found it in the stream.”
    Liam takes the wrapper and scrutinizes it. There are rows of numbers and figures printed on it. A few nonsensical words.
    “What is it?” I ask.
    Liam hands it to me. “See these drawings?” he asks, pointing at the wrapper. “They’re chemical formulas. And those words? Again, lists of chemicals.”
    He and Gadya exchange a look. I can read the look well. It says, How much should we tell the new girl about what we know?
    “It’s fertilizer, or some kind of drug,” Liam finally says. “These labels must come from its packaging. We keep finding them in the underbrush. We know they’re fresh because they’re stamped with this year’s date.”
    “The chemicals could be causing the Suffering,” Gadya adds.
    Liam takes the wrapper back. “Veidman thinks the feelers dispense chemicals in the atmosphere, and sometimes these labels accidentally get dropped too. No one’s ever seen it happen, though. Or knows why.”
    “Maybe they’re just dumping garbage here,” I propose. “The wheel could be one big trash heap for the UNA.”
    Liam stands up. “I’m gonna jet this over to Veidman. I think he’s started collecting them.”
    Gadya nods.
    Liam leaves his pile of arrows and heads off rapidly into the forest. I stand there for a second, watching him disappear.
    Gadya is about to say something to me, but right then we both hear a loud scream. It comes from deep within the forest, opposite from the direction that Liam went.
    Then we hear another scream, and I realize that they’re not screams at all but war whoops. Deranged cries of elation, coming from an army of drones.
    “Crap,” Gadya mutters.
    Warning calls go out around us as the village explodes into action. Kids burst from trees, shacks, hammocks, and from around the fire pit, shouting orders. Boys rush around, getting ready to fight and defend the village.
    “I thought the drones only attack at night!” I yell.
    “Guess someone forgot to tell ’em that.” Gadya grabs my arm. “Quick. This way.”
    I catch glimpses of menacing shadows racing through the trees. Painted bodies clutching spears. Gadya and I dash over to a stash of bows, spears, and other weapons hidden in a trench near the base of a eucalyptus tree.
    “Grab something!” she yells at me.
    I have no clue how to fire an arrow with any accuracy, so I snatch up a heavy wooden spear.
    Gadya goes for a bow. She already has a knife strapped in an ankle sheath. My chest tightens with panic, but my mind remains clear. I’ve been through one of these attacks already. I can get through another.
    “You don’t know how to fight, do you?” Gadya asks.