Horde (Enclave Series) by Ann Aguirre Read Free Book Online

fellow Morgan indicated. That told me he was annoyed that I hadn’t let him hit Fade. To me, the guard added, “I’ll leave my best fighting men with you.”
    “You’re marching with the main group?” I asked.
    Morgan nodded. “I’m not the best soldier, only the man the colonel trusts the most.”
    I could see why. He had a steady air and he gave the impression that he could handle himself in a crisis. That didn’t always equate to raw battle prowess. “Tegan will be staying with you as well. She’s the closest thing Salvation has to a doctor since Doc Tuttle didn’t make it out.”
    “She’ll be welcome. And I’ll look out for her personally.”
    “Her leg bothers her sometimes,” Fade added.
    I frowned at him because she didn’t like people treating her like she was crippled, but in a situation like this, Morgan needed to know. She’d already taxed her thigh getting from Salvation to Soldier’s Pond and back again. Tegan must be hurting but she was more concerned with those who needed her than with her own physical limitations. There was only one thing left to do, so I wove through the milling crowd to check on my family.
    Edmund was thin and hollow-eyed from the stress of the situation. As I approached, he put an arm around Momma Oaks, then reached for me with his other one. Up close he smelled of wood smoke and leather, though I couldn’t forget the why of the former. Rex stood slightly apart, wearing the dull, shocked expression of someone who couldn’t credit the sudden loss. I stepped into their embrace, quietly grateful that my family was intact when so many others weren’t.
    Momma Oaks kissed my cheek, her hand gentle on my hair. “There were just too many. You mustn’t blame yourself. We didn’t have the ammunition or the manpower to hold the walls.” She must’ve been so frightened, but there was little evidence of it at the moment.
    “And then they figured out how to use the torches.”
    Edmund nodded, squeezing my shoulder with one arm. “But I told everyone you’d be back with help … and here you are.”
    “It’s not enough,” I said softly.
    Rex started at that. When he spoke, his tone was incredulous. “It’s more than anyone thought you’d manage. When Elder Bigwater said he’d sent the four of you on a rescue mission, most didn’t think you’d come back. We didn’t expect you to save the whole town, Deuce.”
    That was news to me. Maybe it was an impossible task, but I’d set out intending to achieve it. This lesser version of success hurt. Still, I’d take fifty-odd lives over none. I hugged my parents in turn.
    “What happened inside?” I asked.
    Edmund sighed. “Like she said, we didn’t have the ammo to hold the walls. Smith fell behind on production, and once we started running out, the Muties got bolder. Then one of the monsters threw a brand. It got lucky and the wall caught.”
    “That gave others the idea,” I guessed.
    “Once a fire takes hold,” Momma Oaks said tiredly, “there’s not a whole lot you can do.”
    “Why didn’t Elder Bigwater oversee the evacuation sooner?”
    Rex’s expression hardened. “Because he was too busy dealing with his mad wife.”
    “Oh, no. What did she do?”
    Momma Oaks bent her head. “She kept ranting about how violating the covenant with heaven led to our downfall—that if we got right with our faith—the Muties would go away. Her supporters got in the way of defense and the water brigade, as if prayers ever put out a fire.”
    “I’m as devout as the next man,” Edmund said, “but I don’t believe the Lord works that way, and I don’t think these monsters are part of a divine plan.”
    Rex nodded. “Me either. I refute a god who would do such a thing to test people who have done their best to live according to his laws.”
    I had an opinion on that. “The Muties are like wild animals … or they were. Now, they seem more like us. I’d love to know where they came from … and why they’re