heart sinks even lower as I force myself to eat my lunch to calm my twisting stomach. I slide down the brick wall outside, the sun burning down on me.
A dirty boot billows dirt just near my side and when I look up, Ky’s kind eyes meets mine. His tall, stocky build blocks out the sun as I stare up at his shadowy figure. His black clothes are similar to my own. His dreadlocks are pulled back from his assessing dark eyes.
“How’s slop duty?” He playfully nudges my boot with his.
“As delicious as ever,” I say with forced sarcasm.
He takes a deep breath like he has a confession to make. “Your mom asked me if we wanted to join her for lunch at the compound today.”
He’s acting different, even more serious than normal. I wonder if he and my mom got into a fight last night about me having a sit down with a pike. As much as they care about each other, and as much as my mom’s thankful for Ky helping us, they disagree often, and no matter what harsh words my mother says to him, he’s always there for us.
“I could go for a quick visit,” I say, eating the last bit of cake.
“I can see you’re really working hard.” He motions to the cake crumbs Ripper is now licking up.
“I have worked hard,” I say, frowning and still ignoring the sadness that pulls at my mind. “You have no idea what Mrs. Hollis has me doing today.”
He smiles. It’s such a small and infrequent gesture that it almost makes me smile back at him.
“I’d have to guess you’ve been busy with gizzards.”
I tilt my head. “How the hell did you know that?”
He laughs a deep loud laugh before reaching down and pulling chicken slime out of my hair.
“I have my ways,” he tells me, trying to act mysterious. His laughter only grows louder when he sees my look of disgust.
The mile walk to the compound is in silence for the most part. Ky seems to have a lot on his mind, and I don’t press him to speak. Ripper prances with perfect posture beside us.
“Does he ever not follow you everywhere?” Ky asks, glancing at the happy brown and white dog at our feet.
“He didn’t dare follow me into the kitchen today to tear apart those chickens.” I cock my brow at the little traitor.
The noise of Ripper’s fast, tiny feet against the ground, and the unusual sound of Ky’s metal leg stabbing into the gravel with each step creates a strange repetitive sound as we travel.
When Ky was my age, he, too, was revealed his future plans. He was tall and muscular, similar to how he still is today, and he was told he would be a soldier. After his eighteenth birthday, he’d live his life defending our nation.
It is honorable, but a deadly dangerous duty with the creatures that lurk in the forests. My mother cried the day he left, thinking she would never see him again, but, one year later, he returned, as strong as ever, with one less limb and a completely different man than the happy, easy going man who had left a year earlier.
Ky checks his watch for the third time when the compound comes into view. As we get closer, he slows his pace and eventually altogether stops. I pause, and Ripper has to double back to us, looking as confused as I am.
“Why are we stopping?” I ask.
Ky glances at his watch again, and then back at the compound.
“I think Char will be off in a few. Let’s wait in the shade until she comes out.”
It’s an odd suggestion, but I follow behind him. Warm sweat drips down my neck and I start to lean against the closest tree. But Ky walks further into the woods, sticks cracking under the pressure of his metal leg. I can tell he’s up to something, and it now involves me.
Great…
He paces the length of the tree line, keeping his eyes on the gray metal door of the compound as Ripper and I watch him.
A sound cuts through the quiet like a knife, an alarm. The noise rings out from the compound. My heart jumps, though the sound isn’t very loud. The lights on the front of the building remain off and the siren they use to update the public is quiet, while an internal alarm is sounding from within. I wonder if another pike lashed out, and a pain stings my