Clasping her tightly against my chest, I kept her out of harm's way as the mudslide took us further and further down. There was no sign of her father or my family. There was only the chaotic hand of nature, and it was currently whooping my ass.
Trees were uprooted. Large pieces of my cabin drifted around us. We were flung down the hill until we hit the bottom and slid. I hit a rock and swung my hand to grab hold. Using my last ounce of strength, I gritted my teeth and climbed to safety, only stopping when I knew I could collapse onto something sturdy and gasp for air.
For now, we were safe. But at any moment, they could find us again. We didn't have much time.
Straddling my soaking wet body, she coughed out a lung-full of water and leaned her head against my chest.
"Are you… are you okay?" I asked, body shielding her from the rain.
She nodded, but her attention was elsewhere. Most likely, she was thinking about her father. I didn't have the heart to tell her that he might be gone. That he had threatened my life. As I collected my breath, I looked at the forest I knew and saw the level of devastation that had occurred. It was staggering.
"He’ll be okay," I said.
"Maybe," she whispered. "Or maybe I’ve become an orphan."
"Don't talk like that. I’ll find him," I said.
I wouldn't lie to her like the others had before. It was a vow I couldn't break. Somehow, I would find him and explain what happened. Somehow.
Nearby, there was a small cave. The flood had washed away, and the remaining flow of water had started to slow down. The landscape still needed time to relax after what had just happened, so hiding away for a few hours seemed like the best option. I got her attention and pointed to the opening of rocks. "Shelter," I said.
She nodded and allowed me to carry her over. When we got to the cave, I set her down and warmed her with my body. Goosebumps lined her arms and neck, and her hair was a mess. Still, she looked utterly beautiful.
She quickly broke the silence. "Who was my father? Before all of this. I need to know," she said.
I exhaled and let her go. "I had a feeling you would ask me that."
"Are you going to act just like them?" she asked. "It seems like everyone lies to me, over and over again. You told me things would change. How can they change when I can't even win with you?"
She turned and caught my eyes. The pattern around her pupils was a mix of earthen brown and heather green. Her lips were as red as the wild raspberries of the forest. She was absolute beauty, encapsulated in a body. I loved her for her outward appearance, but it was her insistence that brought us together. It was also running a number on me.
I already had a deep understanding with Lilly, but I couldn't tell her how everything was connected. Not yet. It would have been too much for her to handle. I decided to tell her the truth about her dad and leave it at that.
"I only know what my father told me," I said. "For all I know, it could all be lies. He hasn't been honest with me, either."
"Tell me," she demanded with tears flooding her gorgeous eyes.
I took a deep breath and nodded. "From what I’ve gathered, he met your mother in college. They fell in love and had a baby, but they soon fell into financial difficulties," I said. "Your father got a decent paying government job. He moved you all closer to the city to make it easier on everyone. He was building that perfect life for you, but things changed."
"He was let go during the budget cuts," she said. "My father told me all about this. I think it was the start of his spiral."
"It wasn't a spiral. He was just doing what he could do to survive. When he was fired, your mother found a job at Onyx Labs, not too far from here. She and my father worked together," I said.
She sat, taking all of this in. "I need to know about the Great Divide. What pact did he and your father have together?"
I put it to her bluntly, though I didn't want to say it at all. "Your father was responsible for my mother's death."
Saying it aloud stung. I tried not to think about my mother and the accident because it was the chain reaction that set everything in motion. Once their cars smashed in the middle of that intersection, my life, my brother's life, even my father's life was over. And so was hers.
"There was a car a
ccident," I continued. "It wasn't his fault. It was my mother's. She was a heavy drinker. Although Micah would never accept that as truth, the toxicology reports confirmed the suspicion. Of course, we waited for her to pick us up for hours at the laboratory. She ran a light, and… Look, there's nothing else to say. She died and everything changed. My father forced us deep into the forest, as did yours. Rules were made between the two families to keep one another away. The rest is history."
"Why here?" she asked.
I shrugged and took her hand. "It’s as I've said before. The world would never accept us. The government would have kept us quarantined until our death if we didn't band together in some way. It was the only way."
I wiped a tear away from her cheek as she came to terms with everything. "I don't understand. What turned you into a…?"