Zoe’s Tale PART II Chapter Sixteen

Were intending for Joe Loong, Jane apply saliva to, to the assembled explore team, at the edge of the forest by Joes house. Dad, who was standing with her and Savitri, was letting her run the show. Hes been stand for the last deuce days. thitherse Arlien, his companion, notifys me that he was kindle ab secrete come step up(a) the return of the fanties to the ara and told her he was pretending of trying to get contiguous to nonp beil of the herds. Were working down the stairs the guess thats what he did, and then either got lost, or perhaps got injured by oneness of the animals.Jane motioned at the line of manoeuvers. Were press release to appear the area in teams of four, spreading out in a line from present. E actu e real last(predicate)yone in a conclave girdle in voice clash with the radical members on either side e actu anyy one at the left or duty of a group also stays in voice contact with your diametrical come up from the next group over. ass ure to each early(a) e very compeer of minutes. Well do this slow and bursting commissionful I dont want any(prenominal) of us adding to the number of the lost, understand? If you lose voice contact with the new(prenominal) members of your group, stop and stay where you are, and let your group members reestablish contact. If the person next to you doesnt respond when you c exclusively, stop and alert those you are in contact with. Again, lets non lose anyone else, especi bothy when were trying to rein Joe. Now, you all issue who we are facial expression for? in that location were general nods most of the hundred and cubic decimeter or so folks whod showed up to look for Loong were friends of his. I personally had only the vaguest of ideas of what he looked wish well, scarcely I was liberation on the idea that if someone came outpouring toward us, waving his hands and saying, Thank perfection you name me, it was wishly to be him. And joining the assay ships compa ny was getting me a day out of school. You cant argue with that. each(prenominal) remediate, then, Mom tell. Lets organize into teams. People initiateed mathematical group together in fours I sour to Gretchen and reckon she and I would be a team with hickory and Dickory.Zoe, Mom state. Youre with me. impart hickory and Dickory.Can Gretchen come with us? I asked.No, Jane said. Too large. Sorry, Gretchen.Its all skillful, Gretchen said to Mom, and then sullen dressing to me. act to survive without me, she said.Stop, I said. Its not like were dating. She grinned and wandered discharge to join another(prenominal) group. subsequentlywards several minutes leash cardinal groups of four were spread out over more than half a kilometre of tree line. Jane gave the signal and we started in.Then came the dim three hours of stomping through the woods, slowly, searching for signs that Joe Loong had wandered in this bearing, calling out to each other every few minutes. I set no topic, Mom to my left demonstrate nothing, hickory to my secure pitch nothing, and Dickory to its undecomposed tack nothing either. Not to be dispiritedly shallow round it, only if I thought it would be at least a little more interest than it was.Are we expiration to comprise a break any m soon? I asked Jane, go up to her when she wandered into visual range.Youre tired? she said. I would theorise that after all the fosterage you do, a walk in the woods would be an easy thing.I paused at this com handst I didnt gather in any secret of my training with Hickory and Dickory it would be disfranchised to hide, given how more time I gave to it but its not something that the twain of us talk of the towned more or less a good deal. Its not a stamina issue, I said. Its a tedium issue. Ive been scanning the forest floor for three hours. Im getting a little punchy.Jane nodded. Well take a rest soon. If we dont find something in this area in the next hour, Ill regather race on the other side of Joes settle and try over there, she said.You dont mind me doing what I do with Hickory and Dickory, do you? I asked. Its not like I talk just about it to you much. Either with you or Dad.It hard put us the first base couple of weeks, when you came in covered with bruises and then went to sleep without very saying the pitso to us, Jane said. She kept walking and scanning as she talked. And I was gamy it broke up your friendship with Enzo. unless youre old affluent promptly to deliver your own pickaxs about what you want to do with your time, and we both decided that we werent release to stay scratch moody your neck about it.I was about to say, Well, it wasnt entirely my own choice to do this, but Jane kept talking. Beside that, we think its smart, she said. I dont chicane when well be install, but I think we go forth be. I can take allot of myself stern can take share of himself. We were soldiers. Were sharp to see that youre learni ng to take care of yourself, too. When it comes down to it, it might be the thing that manufactures a difference.I stop walking. Well, that was a depressing thing to say, I said.Jane stopped and came back to me. I didnt mean it that way, she said.You save said I might be alone at the end of all this, I said. That each of us volition shoot to take care of ourselves. Thats not exactly a happy thought, you know.I didnt mean it that way, Jane said. She reached over and touched the frighten off elephant pendant she had given me years ago. tin can and I pass on never guide you, Zoe. Never abandon you. You admit to know that. Its a promise we make to you. What I am saying is that we will need each other. Knowing how to take care of ourselves means we are better up to(p) to servicing each other. It means that you will be able to help us. specify about that, Zoe. Everything might come down to what you are able to do. For us. And for the addiction. Thats what Im saying.I uncerta inty its firing to come to that, I said.Well, I doubt it too, Jane said. Or at least I hope it doesnt come to that.Thanks, I said, wryly.You know what I mean, Mom said.I do, I said. I think its queer how bluntly you put it.To the left of us there was a faint bid. Jane swiveled in its direction and then turned back to face me her expression left very little doubt that whatever mom-daughter stick moment wed been having was at a very abrupt end. Stay here, she said. Send raillery down the line to halt. Hickory, come with me. The ii of them sped off in the direction of the scream quietly at what seemed like an near impossible high speed I was suddenly reminded that, yes, in incident, my mom was a veteran warrior. Theres a thought for you. It was retributive now I finally had the tools to truly appreciate it.Several minutes posterior Hickory returned to us, clicked something to Dickory in their native tongue as he passed, and looked at me. police lieutenant Sagan says that you are to return to the colony with Dickory, Hickory said.Why? I asked. Have they found Joe?They birth, Hickory said.Is he all right? I asked.He is dead, Hickory said. And lieutenant Sagan believes there is reason to worry that the search parties may be in risk of infection if they stay out here much longer.Why? I asked. Because of the fanties? Was he trampled or something?Hickory looked at me levelly. Zoe, you do not need me to remind you of your last commove into the forest and what followed you then.I went very cold. No, I said.Whatever they are, they appear to follow the fantie herds as they migrate, Hickory said. They harbor followed those herds back here. And it appears that they found Joseph Loong in the woods.Oh my God, I said. I have to tell Jane.I assure you, she has figured it out, Hickory said. And I am to find Major Perry now, so he will know presently. This is being taken care of. The lieutenant asks for you to return to Croatoan. As do I. Dickory will accompany yo u. Go now. And I advise silence until your parents speak of this publicly. Hickory strode off into the distance. I watched it go, and then goed home, fast, Dickory co-ordinated my strides, both of us moving quietly, as we had practiced so many times.The fact that Joe Loong was dead spread fast in the colony. Rumors of how he died spread even faster. Gretchen and I sat in front of Croatoans confederation center and watched a revolving cast of hearsaymongers contribute up their takes.Jun Lee and Evan Black were the first to talk they had been part of the group that had found Loongs body. They were enjoying their moment in the spotlight as they told everyone who would listen about how they found Loong, and how he had been attacked, and how whatever had attacked him had eaten part of him. Some flock speculated that a pack of yotes, the local carnivores, had command Joe Loong and brought him down, but Jun and Evan laughed at that. Wed all seen the yotes they were the size of small dogs and ran from the colonists whenever they saying them (and for good reason, since the colonists had taken to shooting at them for bothering the livestock). No yote, or even a pack of yotes, they said, could have done to Joe what theyd seen had been done to him.Shortly after these gory tidbits had gotten around, the entire colony council met in Croatoans medical bay, where Loongs body had been taken. The fact that the governing was being pulled into it made people umbrageous it might actually have been maul (the fact that the government in this cutting was middling twelve people who spend most of their time hoeing rows like everyone else didnt issuance). Loong had been seeing a woman whod recently dumped her husband, so now the husband was a roseola suspect maybe hed followed Loong into the woods, killed him, and then yotes had at him.This theory made Jun and Evan unhappy their version with a mysterious predator was much more sexy but everyone else seemed to like it better. The inconvenient fact that the presumed wrap uper in this case had already been in Janes grip on a different charge and couldnt possibly have done the motion seemed to escape most peoples notice.Gretchen and I knew the murder rumor had nothing to it, and that Jun and Evans theory was close-hauled to reality than not, but we kept our mouths shut. Adding what we knew wouldnt make anyone feel less paranoid at the moment.I know what it is, Magdy said, to a bundle up of male friends.I nudged Gretchen with an elbow and motioned with my head at Magdy. She rolled her eyes and very loudly called him over before he could say anything else. Yes? he said.Are you goosey? Gretchen asked.See, this is what I miss about you, Gretchen, Magdy said. Your charm. yet like what I miss about you is your brains, Gretchen said. What were you about to say to your little group of friends, I wonder?I was going to tell them about what happened when we followed the fanties, Magdy said.Because you t hink it would be smart at the moment to give people another reason to fear, Gretchen said.No ones fearking, Magdy said.Not yet, I said. But if you start telling that story, youre not going to help things, Magdy.I think people should know what were up against, Magdy said.We dont know what were up against, I said. We never actually saw anything. Youre mediocre going to be adding to the rumors. Let my parents and Gretchens pascal and the rest of the council do their jobs right now and figure out whats actually going on and what to tell people without you do their job harder.Ill take that under advisement, Zoe, Magdy said, and turned to go back to his pals.Fine, Gretchen said. Take this under advisement, too You tell your pals there about what followed us out there in the woods, and Ill tell them the part where you ended up eating dirt because Hickory dropped you to the build after you panicked and took a scene at him.A very malodorous shot, I said. One where you almost blew of f your own toe.Good point, Gretchen said. Well have swordplay telling that part.Magdy narrowed his eyes at both of us and stomped off toward his pals without another word.Think itll work? I asked.Of pedigree itll work, Gretchen said. Magdys ego is the size of a planet. The fall of time and effort he puts into doing things to make himself look good is astounding. Hes not going to let us mess with that.As if on cue, Magdy glanced over at Gretchen. She waved and smiled. Magdy sneakily flipped her off and started talking to his friends. See, Gretchen said. Hes not that hard to understand.You liked him once, I reminded her.I dormant like him, Gretchen said. Hes very cute, you know. And funny. He nevertheless needs to pull his head out of a certain part of his anatomy. by chance in another year hell be tolerable.Or two, I said.Im optimistic, Gretchen said. Anyway, thats one rumor squashed for now.Its not genuinely a rumor, I said. We really were followed that night. Hickory said so .I know, Gretchen said. And its going to come out sooner or later. Id righteous quite not have it involve us. My tonic still doesnt know I did all that sneaking out, and hes the sort of guy that believes in retroactive punishment.So youre not really dysphoric about avoiding panic, I said. Youre just covering your own tail.Guilty, Gretchen said. But avoiding panic is how Im rationalizing it.But as it happens, we didnt avoid panic for long.Paulo Gutierrez was a member of the colonial council, and it was there he found out that Joe Loong had not only been killed, but that hed been murdered and not by a human being. There really was something else out there. Something smart enough to make spears and knives. Something smart enough to turn poor Joe Loong into food.The council members had been ordered by my parents not to talk about this fact yet, in order to avoid a panic. Paulo Gutierrez ignored them. Or, actually, defied them.They told me it was covered by something called the State Secrets Act, and that I couldnt tell you about it, Gutierrez told a group that surrounded him and a few other men, all carrying rifles. I say to hell with that. Theres something thats out there right now, cleanup us. They have weapons. They say they follow the fantie herds, but I think they could have just been in the woods all this time, sizing us up, so they would know how to flow us. They hunted Joe Loong. Hunted him and killed him. Me and the boys here are planning to return the favor. And then Gutierrez and his track down party tromped off in the direction of the woods.Gutierrezs declaration and news of his catch party raced through the colony. I heard about it as kids came running up to the confederacy center with all the latest by that time Gutierrez and his crew had already been in the woods for a while. I went to tell my parents, but John and Jane were already off to bring back the hunting party. The two of them were former military I didnt think they would have any t rouble livery them back.But I was wrong. John and Jane found the hunting party, but before they could embrace them back, the creatures in the woods ambushed them all. Gutierrez and all his men were killed in the attack. Jane was stabbed in the gut. John dog after the fleeing creatures and caught up with them at the tree line, where they attacked another colonist at his homestead. That colonist was Hiram Yoder, one of the Mennonites who helped save the colony by training the rest of us how to localize and farm without the help of computerized machinery. He was a pacifist and didnt try to fight the creatures. They killed him anyway.In the space of a couple of hours, sise colonists were dead, and we learned that we werent alone on Roanoke and what was here with us was getting used to hunting us.But I was more worried about my mom.You cant see her yet, Dad said to me. Dr. Tsao is working on her right now.Is she going to be alright? I asked.Shell be okay, Dad said. She said it was not as bad as it looked.How bad did it look? I asked him.It looked bad, Dad said, and then recognise that honesty wasnt really what I was looking for at the moment. But, look, she ran after those things after shed been wounded. If she had been really injured, she wouldnt have been able to do that, right? Your mom knows her own body. I think shell be fine. And anyway, shes being worked on right now. I wouldnt be at all impress if shes walking around like nothing happened by this time tomorrow.You dont have to lie to me, I said, although per the previous comment he was actually telling me what I cherished to hear.Im not lying, Dad said. Dr. Tsao is slight at what she does. And your mom is a very fast healer these days.Are you okay? I asked.Ive had better days, he said, and something instantly and tired in his voice made me decide not to press the matter any further. I gave him a cover and told him I was going to visit Gretchen and would be over there for a while, in order to st ay out of his hair. nighttime was falling as I stepped out of our bungalow. I looked out toward Croatoans gate and saw colonists streaming in from their homesteads no one, it seemed, wanted to spend the night outside the walls of the colony village. I didnt blame them one bit.I turned to head to Gretchens and was mildly surprised to see her striding up under full(a) steam. We have a problem, she said to me.What is it? I said.Our idiot friend Magdy has taken a group of his friends into the forest, Gretchen said.Oh, God, I said. Tell me Enzo isnt with him.Of range Enzos with him, Gretchen said. Enzos always with him. Trying to talk horse sense to him even as hes following him right off a cliff.