Page 81 of The Souls Harvest
The penumbra of the tunnel may have tricked me when I didn’t see any trace of Harvester's blood in Mack’s eyes, but observing Merya’s- and the lack of purple in her breath - confirms that she and her brother shouldn’t be risking their lives for Tabitha and her rebels.
“Why did you join them?” I ask without thinking. “You’re not one of—”
“You?” she cuts me off, shifting her weight onto her right leg, arms crossed.
I shake my head, holding my hands up in front of me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it—” I drop my arms and sigh. “Just, if I were you, I’d stay away from the Harvesters, rebels or not, as much as I can.” I shrug.
I will not blame her if she decides to leave me here to figure out how to get inside HQ for myself.
Instead, she studies me for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip, and then she clicks her tongue, “If you think Mack and I are the anomalies in this situation, just wait until you see the inside of our building.Thatis something else. But I don’t want to ruin it for you. Mack won’t forgive me if I do.”
As if having been summoned, Mack’s voice crackles on the radio clipped to Merya’s hip. “We’re cold and hungry. Can you two please move? Mack over and out.”
Grunting, Merya snatches the radio, holding it close to her lips. She hisses, “Get off the radio. It’s not a toy.”
“Yes, Sir. I know, Sir. I built that not-a-toy, Sir.” Mack quickly replies before going silent again.
I hold back a smile, clearing my throat, “Should I…?” I point at HQ’s dark silhouette.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Merya nods. “I’ll meet you inside.”
She pats me twice on the shoulder, and a timid smile similar to Mack’s stretches on her lips - perhaps caused by her reckless brother - before she returns to the hole.
As I walk towards HQ, my knees remain rigid, and my teeth don’t stop chattering. When I finally reach Mack, I’m happy to be in his company again rather than alone in the eerie field. I smile when I can make out the outline of his fair hair rustled by a gentle wind and his surprisingly relaxed smirk.
“Thanks for waiting for me,” I say when I notice Jyn and the stranger are no longer with him.
“Everything alright down there?” he juts his chin in his sister’s direction, resembling Galen when he buries his hands in his pockets.
“Nothing to worry about,” I reply, trying to peer at HQ’s door over his shoulder.
“Well, that’d be a first.” He follows my eyes, then turns his back to me, opening his arms wide and gazing at the top of the building. “Isn’t she beautiful? I personally designed her, every curve, wrinkle and charming flaw.”
I move a few steps back to stand beside him, scratching my head. “You designed this…” I can’t call it a ruin in front of its creator, so I settle for - “Structure?” - to sound as neutral as possible.
Mack slowly narrows his eyes at me, lips pursed, arms resting again on his chest, “What—is it that hard to believe? Is it because I’m too young and handsome, or because I can’t have a creativebrainandsexy scarsanda willingness to kill if threatened?”
I didn’t sound so neutral after all. I sigh, offering a smile. “Why do you people tend to twist everything I say? Although, in all fairness…You areyoung, and this building must have been bombed; what? Ten years ago? Look at the state of its remains!” I point at the rusty metal bars sticking out of its broken stones here and there.
His smirk returns as he leans towards me, tapping a finger to his temple. “Who said I plannedherto look conventionally attractive?”
“Hang on—you mean, this devastation of a building—”
“Hey, don’t call herthat. She’s my pride and joy,” Mack snaps, hovering his hand over the ruin as if gently patting it.
I blink a couple of times, trying to spot hints of charm from the decrepit stones and windows - like toothless, agape mouths - that dot the leaning building, sprinkled with moss that hasn’t yet fully reclaimed its reign, both inside and outside of the cracks, turning the skin of the decaying body greenish and sick.
Crouching by the base of HQ, I follow the journey of a fat, green worm that wriggles close to a chipped boulder, leaving a slimy trail in its wake, as it pauses to lift its head and decides to go the opposite way. “How come nobody ever tried to occupy this place? It’s soexposed.I’m surprised the people who’ve tried to kill us haven’t found you already.”
Mack glances at me over one shoulder before kneeling beside me. He pats one hand on the grass as if studying the density of the soil. “When at war, your only hope of surviving is being anoctopus.”
I turn my head towards him, narrowing my eyes. “What’s with you and this octopus?” I ask, rocking on the balls of my feet.
“Oh, here we go,” Merya exclaims behind me, and I jolt sideways, throwing my right hand to the side to keep balance.
“Do I keep listening?” I ask, pushing myself up.
Merya shrugs, one of the ladders we used to climb out of the tunnel slumped over her shoulders. Her hair, loose and gleaming with sweat, runs down her back like molten copper against her black gear. She props her helmet under her arm, tilting her head while staring at her brother, who is still deeply lost in studying the grass. A hint of a smile blooms on her face as she says, “He will keep talking whether you listen or not. Your choice.”
