The Blood That Binds by Madeline Sheehan
Willow
We’d left camp on foot, traveling east of Silver Lake, headed to a creek that split through the thickening forest, where uprooted trees folded over the winding water like clasping hands, and wildflowers and weeds grew in abundance. It had been an uneventful journey, without a single Creeper sighting and very little conversation.
“See this?” Doc rose from her knees, where she’d been hidden almost entirely among waist-high foliage. In her hand, she held out a small green and purple plant, its dangling undergrowth still covered in wet earth. “You’ll have to look for them—they like to hide. And be careful when you’re digging them up—it’s the roots I need.”
“Got it,” I said, as Doc ducked back into the grass.
Following along the water’s edge, I dug through the soft soil, pulling up the plants and placing them in the burlap sack slung over my shoulder. To try and keep my mind from wandering down a dark path fraught with foreboding, I made a concerted effort to work diligently, even humming along with rhythmic sounds of water rushing over rocks each time my anxiety began to rise.
Bugs buzzing in my ears, salamanders slithered out from under rocks and toads jumped quickly out of sight as I dug around, disrupting their hiding places. Before long, the forest had dimmed considerably. My bag was bursting with green and purple plants, each with their roots intact.
“Time to go.” Doc emerged from the tall grass, holding up the limp body of a white rabbit. “Found us a snack, too.”
It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before—in fact, I’d arguably seen far worse things than a dead rabbit. Even so, sorrow struck me fast and hard and I found myself sinking to the ground in tears.
“Willow?” Doc dropped beside me, pulling me into a hug. “Oh, Willow—talk to me, honey.”
“I can’t do this,” I sputtered over her shoulder, glaring at the peaceful sight of the creek beyond. “The only reason I survived losing my parents was because of Luke, and the only reason I survived losing Luke was because of Logan. I can’t survive losing Logan, too. I can’t do it… I can’t…” I trailed off, gasping, my tears falling faster. “I’ve got nothing left.”
“Alright, alright, slow down. Take a breath for me—that’s it. Now take another—there you go.” Pulling away, she placed her hands on my cheeks. “Now you listen to me—you might think the only reason you’re here right now is because of those boys but let me tell you what I think—I think you all survived as long as you did because you had each other.
“You were a family, Willow, and families hold one another up, each of us in different ways—no one way being more or less important than the other.
“And now you’ve got an even bigger family. You’re not alone in this pain. We are all here with you, each of us holding one another up. And whatever happens next, if they don’t come home again, I promise you, we will keep holding one another up.”
If they don’t come home again. My ragged breaths stopped short as sharp pain sliced through my chest. My hand flew to my heart, as if it might beat its last beat if I didn’t hold tightly to it.
“Hey, now,” Doc soothed. “I didn’t say I’m throwing in the towel just yet, did I? Leisel and Xavi and Logan—those are some of the strongest people I’ve ever encountered. Let’s give it a few more days before we really start to worry, alright? Come on—up we go. One foot in front of the other. There you go.”
Tucking me to her side, Doc steered me away from the creek. “Now let’s get ourselves home before nightfall.”
“They’re back!” a woman shouted down from the guard tower, pounding on its wooden ledge. “Open up, they’re back.”
“You see anything out there?” a second voice called down.
“Just dinner, I’m afraid,” Doc replied, holding up the rabbit by its ears. “I’ll share, if you cook.”
“Doc, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
As the gate slid open and Doc paused to speak with guards in the tower, I continued on, with plans to change clothes and then hurry back to Britta. I was halfway home when I saw EJ running down the path; doing a double take when he spotted me, making a hard swerve in my direction.
“Willow!” he shouted, waving his arms around. “Willow! It’s Leisel—she radioed! She’s on the radio!”
“Radioed?” I stammered. “Where?”
“Their cabin,” EJ said, beckoning me to follow him. “It’s in their cabin.”
The run from one side of camp to the other was little more than a blur. I burst into Joshua and Leisel’s cabin, tripping over the threshold into a scene inside that was nothing short of chaotic. The room was overly full of people, with too many voices talking at once—though I only had eyes for one. Seated behind the desk piled high with radio equipment, was Maria. With tears streaking down her cheeks, she clutched a radio mouthpiece between trembling hands.
The many voices mixed and melded together. My heart began to pound, its fitful rhythm ringing loudly in my ears. “What happened?” I asked hoarsely. No one answered; no one even looked at me. “What happened?” I screamed. “What the fuck happened?”
The cabin fell silent, all eyes on me. Joshua, who’d been pointing to a large map on the wall, hurried through the crowd. “Willow,” he said gravely, his solemn expression as serious as ever, his eyes shining with tears.
My vision wavered and narrowed until Joshua was all I could see—every line, every unruly hair, each and every pore. “He’s gone?” I gasped through air that felt too thin.
“No-no,” Joshua rushed to say. “Willow, no. He’s alive—they’re all alive.”
“What?” A wave of relief washed over me, so strong it caused my knees to buckle. “He’s alive?” I rasped, grasping for the wall. “Logan’s alive?”
Maria pushed through the throng of people, grinning through her tears. Pulling me into a crushing hug, she cried, “They’re safe. My Jimmy, your Logan, Xavi, Lei—they’re all safe in Everdeen.”
What followed was a celebration amid a whirlwind of information—Leisel’s team had managed to locate Xavi’s team, trapped only a handful of miles up the highway from where we’d lost Davey. Together, both teams managed to finish turning the second horde away from Silver Lake. Though, try as they might, they couldn’t turn the original horde from its current path—a road that would take them straight to Everdeen if they were to continue on unobstructed. Making a split-second decision, Leisel decided to head to the lesser camp and alert them of the approaching danger.
There was talk of evacuating Everdeen, of possibly helping to fortify their gates, and a dozen other strategies that I’d already forgotten by the time I’d slipped into bed for the night.
All I cared about, all I could focus on, was the grainy sound of Logan’s voice coming through the radio, telling me he was coming home.