Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Jenny - Day 986

Danny nodded and set the journal on the bedside table, taking a moment to adjust Jenny’s lantern for more light. He pulled the letter from inside the envelope. Something small fell to the nylon floor of the tent. “What’s this?” He pinched it from the ground. “Some wax?”

“Look closer.”

He held it near the lantern. “What’s the ‘H’ for?”

“For Haverty. He’s the one that wrote the letter.”

“Sealing the envelope with a wax seal, huh? Who the hell is this guy?”

“For sure one of their leaders. He was put in charge of my old town when they took over. Other than that, I really don’t know much about him. I have no idea how close to the top he is, but he’s someone important. He’s the…” She swallowed hard. “He’s the one who…”

“You don’t have to say it.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She nodded and lay back on her bed, keeping her eyes on Danny while he unfolded the letter. “Typed?” he said, sounding somewhat impressed.

Patiently, Jenny looked on as he sorted through the details. Each expression that flashed across his face left little doubt to which part he was reading. She had consumed this truth several times, knowing every line, every word.

If this doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. All the Depot’s hard work. Everything you guys have done to put this place together will be gone. Forever changed. We have to get the S.A. out of here, then Griffin. I don’t know what you have planned for him, but whatever it is… It better be good. If not, me, Matt, and Grant are dead.

When he finished the letter, Danny folded it up and slid it back inside the envelope. Without saying anything, he bit into his bottom lip, thinking, eyes closed. Jenny wished she had the patience to let him digest all of it on his own, but her anxiety, her passion took hold of her. His opinion mattered—it would be what pushed this forward. She sat up. “It’s crazy, right?!” Her outburst broke Danny’s chain of thought. “All of it’s true,” she continued. “After I read it, all the attacks made sense, everything that followed after Larry turned the Second Alliance away made sense. That letter was just the missing piece to the puzzle.”

“It’s a lot…” He smothered his face with both hands. A muffled groan. “So, what is this?” He lifted the journal from the side table, flicking through the pages. The amount of entries seemed to overwhelm him. “You don’t think the letter’s enough? That thing’s pretty damning.”

“The journal helps give the full picture.” Jenny took it from him. Entry 664. Nearly the last one. “Here. Look. It’s about the Second Alliance. At least read that one. It’ll give you another perspective. Someone else that was attacked by them.”

“I’m not trying to be a dick, but can’t you just kinda summarize it for me?”

“Sure, yeah, that’s fine. It’s just about this guy hunting and instead of the S.A. going for the deer he shot, they went for him. Didn’t care about the meat. They chased the guy down and shot him. The journal never tells why they did. Maybe for fun. I don’t know.” She took a deep breath. “But, Danny, you have to see what’s going on. It’s a pattern. In our town, they killed another guy for just speaking out against them. And you know what they did to my friend… The Depot is next.”

“I believe you.” He examined the envelope with Haverty’s letter again. “I—I’ll have to show this to Griffin. He’ll—”

“No… Danny… You can’t show him this stuff.” Frantically, she took the envelope and journal and stuffed them away. “It’s the only proof. Written by one of their own. If he takes it, there’s no proof, and my friend’s death would be for nothing. It was the last thing Xavier did. He made sure we’d find this.”

“How’d he get it?”

“I don’t know, but the S.A. wants it or me or both. Who the hell knows? Probably, all three of us for knowing about the letter. They gotta still be looking. That night we left they sent an entire squad out for us. Tracked us for days. We were—”

“How the hell do I do this?” he interrupted her, pushing the folding chair away from him as he stood. His words began to fade into thought, his hands rubbing up and down his face. It appeared he was sorting through a plan, or at least Jenny hoped. She sat there, waiting, her ears trying to pick up on any words that might slip from his mouth.

Danny’s got to do the right thing. There’s nothing else he can do. If he truly loves this place, he has to make a stand. They can’t make the same mistake as River’s Edge. Shit, who knows how many have fallen for this before or how many people have lost their lives because of the S.A.’s lying. It’s all too—

“I’ll talk to him.” He stopped and turned to Jenny. “I’ll tell him what you said but won’t mention what you have. Okay?”

“What exactly are you going to—”

“Damn it!” He slammed his fist into his palm. “Matt and Grant… We should’ve thought of this before. They’re not safe. Gotta find them before they do.” He retrieved a knife from his web belt and placed it in her hand.

“A knife?” Her eyebrows folded inward with disbelief. “I knew we shouldn’t have checked my guns in. You know the S.A. guys probably have two guns each.”

“With only four of their men here, they won’t do anything stupid. And you know I couldn’t let you keep a gun. One of our guards sees you creeping around with one, you’ll never get a chance to find Matt and Grant. You’d have a whole ‘nother level of shit to worry about.”

“Wait, you aren’t coming with me?”

“No, Jenny. I gotta get to Griffin before they… Shit, I don’t know, make a decision on something. But you need to focus on finding your friends. I’m serious. Be careful.”

“Right…” She started the knife toward her cargo pocket, but Danny stopped her, taking it blade-side up and into the sleeve of her coat, handle within her palm.

“Like that. Hidden but accessible.”

She nodded.

“Hurry!” Go!”

With no time to think, no time to let the doubt creep in, Jenny practically ripped the zipper from the tent’s door to exit. She needed to calm herself but couldn’t. Her heart raced. Her breaths were no better. A sense of dread seeped into her gut. With how things had ended with the Second Alliance before, she already assumed her search to be worthless. That perhaps they’d already been captured, killed, whatever doomed possibility her mind could conceive. Stop it, Jenny. Try and stay positive. You have to find them. At some point, this has to turn around for us. This can’t be our life. Today it changes.

Through the dim light of the Cave, she hurried toward Matt’s tent. Please be there. She listened before crossing each aisle, took a swift eye to each tent lined up, to the nooks where enemies could be lurking. But there was nothing. No one around. Maybe it was better that way. Easier to move and with the knife stuffed into her sleeve, the last thing she needed was to be startled.

At Matt’s tent, she discovered only darkness. No shadows inside. No sound. She playfully scratched on the nylon wall and whispered, “Matt.” But no response. Just to be sure, Jenny rolled the door’s zipper enough for a peek. An empty bed. She moved on to Grant’s and found the same. The Cave was clear, not just of Matt and Grant, but everyone it seemed. Damn. Have they already started rounding everyone up? No, Danny’s right. Not with only four of them.

Pulling the tarp from the Cave’s entrance, she took a few furtive glances, keeping her body out of sight. She caught a glimpse of Danny rounding the far corner back toward the private quarters but no one else. Where is everyone? Nervous to what awaited her beyond the entryway, she squeezed the handle of the knife within her palm. “It’s there if you need it,” she whispered to herself, then crept toward the Garden Center, careful, vigilant.