Read Reaping for Free Online Page A

a tremor in his voice.
    “They were as of an hour ago.”
    I think of my words to Eli before we all split up.  Half of us could die and the rest of us would never know.  Soren wraps an arm around me, and I allow myself to fall against him as the room slips away, black clouding my vision, because I know what Eli is going to say.
    “There’s nothing there to receive the signal. There’s no one there.”
    The words ring in my head like the endless tolling of a thousand bells. Nothing there ...  no one there.

 
    3 - VALE
    Winter 32, Sector Annum 106, 16h14
    Gregorian Calendar: January 21
     
     
    A bush to my right bristles and I hiss on my inhale. I am aware of every sound, every movement, my nerves like a company of soldiers at attention. In the day’s last light, as we near Waterloo, I look through the bleak, leafless trees for any sign of a man-made structure, wishing as I have a thousand times since I left the Sector that I’d brought more mission-ready contacts with me. Without them, I feel blind and claustrophobic, trying to see into the growing twilight with only my natural eyesight. It’s windy, the air is clammy and cold, and a thick layer of fog in the distance signals either a change in the terrain or the temperature. We’ve only got another hour of light left, and the woods are eerie and beautiful, every sound amplified, every shadow exaggerated. I imagine walking straight into that fog and stepping into a different world, or stepping off the edge, into a void, instantly dissolving into a million fragments. Little wisps of myself floating away.
    Firestone’s map says the building should be in this area, but it’s not detailed enough to pinpoint exactly where. Kenzie and Jahnu claim they know what to look for once we’re there, but finding the exact spot is the challenge. We’ve yet to see any sign of human occupation and the woods grow oppressive and quiet as the fog thickens. Used to the big skies, wide avenues and welcoming buildings of Okaria, getting acquainted with the verdant Wilds has been difficult, too many places to hide, too many secrets.
    We spread out. I prowl ahead, trying to look everywhere at once. If the fog clears, there will at least be a moon tonight. I’m not happy about the idea of pressing on to find the base once the sun sets, but with a little moonlight we’d have a chance at finding it. We’re so close there’s no point in making camp. All of us are on edge, low on food, sleep, and spirit. Even Kenzie’s shoulders droop, and Firestone’s fiery vocabulary has been less explosive than usual these last two days. When he's not cussing, things are really bad. We need to find the outpost.
    A whiff of something burning causes me to stop in my tracks. The now-familiar smell of a wood fire drifts through the trees. The thought of stumbling across a few Resistance fighters with a wild pig or some fowl roasting gets my stomach growling. Maybe they’ll even have a few extra homebrewed beers. I try not to get my hopes up, but I’m so hungry I can’t keep my imagination in check. I’m salivating over food I can’t begin to picture. But I start to notice something more in the air, too. Something acrid. More pungent than the simple smell of burning wood.
    I cup my hands to my mouth and hoot like an owl. I wait a few second, and then hear crunching leaves at my side. Firestone’s narrow, slouching figure appears through the trees. A few seconds later, Kenzie and Jahnu materialize from my other side.
    “Smell the fire up ahead?” I ask. The others nod in answer. “I say we fan out and head into the fog.”
    Three heads bob at me in silent accord.
    “Jahnu, lead,” Firestone whispers. Jahnu, the quietest of all of us, turns at once and heads downwind. Firestone, Kenzie, and I follow at a distance.
    The burning scent turns from appetizing to horrifying. The closer we get, the more obvious it becomes; it’s not just fog that is spreading like a massive plume through the woods.