Page 32 of The Outsider
“No, she won’t,” I said stubbornly. “She’ll just join another gang because she has no other options.”
“Yeah, that’s one way of adapting. Regardless, it’s not our problem.”
I bit my lip. “I can’t leave her.”
“What, like she left you?” John asked, sounding truly angry for the first time. “She didn’t double back or even try to look for you. As far as she was concerned, those cannibals could’ve been gnawing on your bones. Now she’s asking for your help. That doesn’t bother you?”
He had me there. It did bother me that my only friend had abandoned me, left me for dead. But that didn’t mean I could stomach doing the same thing to her, especially knowing what she’d already suffered.
“Of course it does,” I replied coldly. “But everyone deserves a second chance, and I can’t just let her die out here. Not when there could be a better life for her.”
“That’s just it, though,” John said with an exaggerated shrug. “We don’t know that. The Valley is not some poor saps outreach program. We can’t take in every person with a sob story; we’d have to take in everyone.”
The words hit me hard, like being doused in cold water. John’s eyes registered my look of hurt a second later; his expression softened.
“Is that what I am? A poor sap with a sob story?”
“Claire,” he said, his tone conciliatory. “I didn’t—”
“No,” I burst out, covering my vulnerability with a thin veneer of anger. “I don’t want to be the charity case you’re taking on.”
“You know that isn’t what I meant,” John shot back, frustrated. “After everything I said to you last night, how can you believe I’m only bringing you as a charity case?”
He took a deep breath and looked at me, his amber eyes piercing mine. I backed down a little.
“I don’t think that,” I said quietly. “But she’s my oldest friend. How can I go on to have this beautiful life in the Valley, knowing she’s suffering? After all the lucky breaks I’ve already gotten that she never did?”
John frowned. “Is that what she’s been saying to you? Filling your head with bullshit about how hard-done-by she is, while you’ve been coasting?”
I swallowed hard and didn’t reply, but he seemed to take that as answer enough and made a noise of disapproval.
“She’s manipulating you, and you want me to welcome her with open arms?”
My mouth felt dry. Whatever had happened, I still couldn't envision leaving her behind. My conscience wouldn’t allow it.
“Please,” I whispered. “You want me to beg? Because I will.”
He shot me a look of hurt and disgust. “Of course not.”
“I can’t live with leaving her.I can’t.”
John stared at the ground for a moment, then finally looked up at me, his gaze steely.
“Fine,” he said, uncrossing his arms. “But let’s get one thing straight: if she steps out of line, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. I won’t put us at risk for her sake. That clear?”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Crystal.”
“Good. Get your things. We’re leaving.”
He left me standing there without a backward glance.
Part II: The Wasteland
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
