Ceres and I emerge from the yez for the last time, and the chilly night air wraps itself around us. I am thankful that it is spring; we wouldn’t be able to last outdoors very long in the winter. We have emerged in a clearing that leads into the thick vegetation of the plains. As we sprint forward, the door locks. I say a silent farewell to Marisa.
"Where...are w-we going?" Ceres asks as we go deeper, tall plants and thick bushes surrounding us on every side.
"Away," I say as I continue to stride forward. I wonder how long we can stay outside without cover before the baby starts to get sick. My mind is dull, fuzzy, but I force myself to think. My first mission is to get away from the warehouse—the most immediate danger for the moment.
"What h-happened?" Ceres asks after a moment, her question interrupting the rhythmic sound of our footsteps across the plains. "To E-Elara?"
I take a deep breath to control the pounding of my heart. Memories flash in my mind—the sucking sound in Elara’s chest, the puddle of blood in her lap. I am so thankful Ceres was spared having to witness any of it. “She poisoned the women, but she had to drink the poison herself to get them to trust her.” I look over my shoulder at the thin, small face of my younger sister. “She made a sacrifice for us.”
Ceres is quiet as she digests this information. I glance at her as we continue our trek, but she doesn’t seem especially disturbed, just pensive. Finally she says, “May...maybe she felt bad. F-for making you l-leave Sh-Shale.”
There is a tightening in my chest. It’s a thought I had myself, that maybe Elara acted out of guilt, that her self-sacrifice came from a kernel of self-loathing. But I don’t dwell too deeply on it. There is no time for that now. “Perhaps.”
We are deep in the vegetation now, tromping through, cutting our path. The safest thing to do after we find Shale is to run away, into the wilderness, the abandoned outskirts of Shanwei.
But first, we must find Shale.
The thought of him is like a fist to my solar plexus. I don't know where to begin to look. He can't be at the compound. Did he disappear into the wilderness like he'd asked me to when I'd left to go stay with Elara? Would he just leave, without waiting for me, because I betrayed him by leaving first?
Ceres and I walk about fifteen more minutes without talking, winding our way deeper and deeper. The moonlight casts a silver glow on everything, illuminating the swaying grasses. The movement is heating me up, and the baby begins to squawk. I reach into the sling and latch him on my breast. Having a full stomach will keep him sated for longer until I can think of a plan. Until I think of where we can go to find Shale.
"Vikki?" Ceres says, her voice a tremulous whisper behind me. I turn. Her eyes glitter with silver tears. "Are...we going to d-die?"
I grab her small chin in my hand. "No." I look deep into her eyes, more silver than gold in the moonlight, willing her to believe me. "I am not going to let anything happen to you or the baby. All right?" She just stares at me. "All right?"
Finally, she nods. "A-all right." She reaches out and strokes the baby's back through the sling. "Where are we...g-going?"
"I don't know yet." I need to do this right. I have two other people besides myself to protect now. I think hard, trying to tune out the noise of our surroundings and my body, my pounding heart, my roaring blood, insects and wind and leaves.
And then...then I look up and smile. Because that sound I'm hearing, the whooshing of what I thought was my blood in my ears, isn't blood at all. It is the Yangtze River. “Ceres.” I grin at her. “Come on.” I grasp her hand and we move with a renewed energy, forward through the grasses, toward the river. Because I have remembered what Shale and I talked about once, a long time ago.
I’d run away with you in a heartbeat, he’d said. And if we ran, it’d be to a place like this. Beautiful. Magical. Hidden. Our little secret.
We arrive at the Yangtze, and it is just as magnificent as I remember from that night with Shale. Silver water undulates over rocks, rushing, rushing, thundering past. I stand for a moment, transfixed. Then I turn to Ceres. "Follow close behind me."
She nods.
I look at the gargantuan mountains hulking on either side of the river. Which way did we walk that night? I close my eyes for a moment and then step forward, letting the image of that magical night guide me.
I walk to the right, feeling the moss- and lichen-covered walls of the mountain passes that tower over the Yangtze. The cave that Shale and I ducked into was covered with hanging ivy, like a verdant curtain. It is not as easy to see as it was that night, when we had lanterns. But then, just as I am wondering if we will ever find it, my hand grasps the hanging ivy. Fingers trembling, I part it and step through, Ceres close behind me.
The cave is dank and dark, the whooshing of the river echoing over and over in the small space. I feel, rather than see, movement off to my left. But before I can spin around to face it, an arm grabs me from behind. I gasp, my hands flying up to the muscular forearm, and the person lets go immediately.
I spin around, and Shale's voice whispers, "Vika?"