“What’s wrong with you?” I ask under my breath.
“Nothing at all.” She plants her feet and stares at me. “Go ahead. Tell them.”
I narrow my eyes at her in confusion, but she doesn’t say anything else. I can’t think of any other options, so I turn back to Ava and the rest of the group.
“You can’t go west,” I say. “We went all the way through the mountain, and when we got to the other side, we found out there is nothing there. Nothing but ocean.”
“Ocean?” Ava shakes her head. “That can’t be.”
I sit back down and explain to the group about going through the complex in the mountain and what we saw from the other side. I leave out the part about the task Aerin’s mother sent her to do, and I stop my story short of our discovery of the Thaves inside.
“Where are we going to go?” Layshell asks. “We can’t just wander around in the woods, and they’re burning all the Naughts’ villages.”
“What about going inside the mountain?” Milo asks. “If you lived in there all this time, couldn’t we all go there?”
“No,” I say quickly.
“Why not?” Ava asks.
“Because it’s full of government officials!” Keller yells out. “They’re the ones who ordered the burning of our towns!”
“I told you to hush!” Milo wags a finger at Keller. “We don’t need any of your conspiracy theory crap right now!”
“Actually,” I say quietly, “he’s right.”
“Talen!”
I jump as Aerin actually stamps her foot, creating a cloud of ash.
“They need to know!” I tell her. “We can’t keep it from them anymore!”
She shakes her head at me slowly, but I can’t hold back.
“Everyone, listen to me.” I stand in front of the fire and look at each of them in turn. “There is a lot you don’t know, but Keller is actually right about one thing. There are representatives from the capital inside that mountain. In fact, they tried to kill Aerin before we managed to escape. I know they’re responsible for the fires, and I’m not going to let them get away with it.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Aerin says quietly.
“The first thing we need to do,” I say, ignoring Aerin, “is to get all of you to some place safe. West isn’t the answer.”
“What is, then?” Milo asks.
“North.” Ava pushes herself to her feet and stands beside me. “It might not be a great option, but it’s the only one we have.”
“Are there even any settlements in the north?” Layshell asks. “I’ve always heard it was too cold for anyone to live up there.”
“Why are they even doing this?” Milo asks. “Over the past few weeks, four spies have been discovered in Plastictown. I heard that spies have been found across the river, too. I’m tired of guessing about their motives.”
“They need the land,” I say. “They know the west is gone, and they need the land for farming and livestock. We’re just in the way.”
“So, it’s nothing personal,” Samuel says with a grumble. “Good to know.”
“How do you know this?” Milo asks.
“Because he’s part of it.” Keller tosses a log on the fire and raises his hands in the air as sparks fly. “He’s always been a part of it! He was there in the beginning, stirring the pot and causing the quakes! Now his minions burn us alive!”
“Hush already!” Milo pushes Keller’s leg. “I want to hear what Talen has to say and not your nonsense!”
“His nonsense!” Keller says, taking a step back as Milo takes another swing at his leg. “He’s a lying sack of shit!”