Live Another Day by Baileigh Higgins (finding audrey .txt) 📕

head. “Do you bring me anything useful? A head, perhaps?”

“I...I have information,” Kabelo said as sweat beaded his forehead.

Ke Tau smiled, and his face twisted as the scar pulled it awry. “Let’s hear it then. Go on.”

Kabelo stuttered something in garbled sentences, his words barely audible, while the rest watched him in silence. Carlito shoved Mpho aside, his predatory instincts awakened, and reached for his knife. She took the opportunity to scramble away and hide in the corner with the other girls.

“Don’t mumble,” Ke Tau said. “Speak up, boy, so we can all hear you.”

Kabelo cleared his throat and in a slightly louder tone of voice, relayed what he knew. The camp’s numbers, leaders, fighters, and the layout, all of it.

“But I already know most of that. We’ve been watching them for months, after all,” Ke Tau said. “Is that it?”

Kabelo nodded, his expression miserable. “Yes, Sir.”

“And how did you get away? Tell us. It must be a marvelous tale of courage and bravery.” Ke Tau’s voice had now changed, becoming much like that of a father speaking to a favored son.

Taking heart, Kabelo told the tale of how he stabbed Joanna and ran away under cover of the storm while his guard, Lisa, was gone.

Ke Tau bared his teeth. “Your guard this entire time was a woman? That’s why you stayed for over a month? You stabbed an old lady and ran away?”

Too late, Kabelo realized his mistake. Tears filled his eyes as he uttered garbled pleas and explanations.

Ke Tau’s expression changed to one of disgust. “You shame me. Carlito, get rid of him. Feed him to our guests, the infected.”

Carlito grinned. “With pleasure.”

Mpho watched in horror as the gleeful Carlito dragged the unfortunate boy outside. Kabelo’s screams filled the night, and the table emptied as men streamed out to watch. Finally, only Ke Tau and Hiran remained.

“You understand, don’t you, Hiran?” Ke Tau asked.

“Of course. He's a disgrace.”

“Yes, but he was good for something, though.”

“What’s that?”

“His arrival has served to remind me that every day those people live free, they mock my authority. Tomorrow night, we attack.”

Mpho’s terror grew when she heard his words. No, not tomorrow. The full moon is four days away. They’ll be caught by surprise. Annihilated.

A firm hand gripped her elbow, and she whirled. Rebecca’s old face peered at her from the gloom. “Grandmother!”

“Come with me, child.”

Mpho followed Rebecca from the room to the kitchens in the back. There, her grandmother shoved a knife and a small cloth wrapped bundle into her hands. “Grandmother? What’s this?”

“You must warn them. Now. Tonight. Or all is for nothing.”

“But...I can’t. How?”

“Go now. While they’re busy killing the boy. No one will notice. Slip out the back and over the wall. You know where.”

“But...they’ll come after me.”

“I’ll make an excuse. Do not worry.”

“I can’t do it. I’m scared, grandmother.”

Rebecca grabbed her hands in a painful grip. “Do not fear. Be brave, my child. Remember your father. We cannot live here like animals under that man’s rule.”

“I...I know.”

“Then go. Now.”

Mpho nodded and squared her shoulders. She slipped out the back and into the cold night, shivering with fear. She ran to the old wooden bench that sat next to the wall and climbed up. She reached up to grasp the edge of the wall and paused. For a brief moment, she remembered Michael and how brave he’d been. She remembered the way he’d held her and spoken to her. I can be brave too.

She scrambled up the wall and slipped over, landing on the other side with barely a sound. She was at the back of the building in a rubbish-strewn alleyway. It was deserted except for the rats and cockroaches that rustled for food beneath her feet. Her breathing sounded harsh in her ears, and she paused to regain her composure.

Fear pumped through her veins as she thought of the terrible punishment Ke Tau would mete out if he caught her, but thoughts of her grandmother and Michael sustained her. She looked into the darkness and blinked. I can do this.

Chapter 16 - Max

Max woke up to find himself sprawled across an empty bed. He was fully clothed and still had his boots on, a sure sign of the exhaustion that prompted him to pass out.

He sat up and checked his watch. It was a quarter past four in the morning and still dark outside. He yawned and stumbled to the bathroom where he splashed icy water on his face and brushed his teeth. Only then was he ready to look at himself in the mirror.

His hair had grown long and unkempt, curling down past his collar. A three-day stubble lined his jaws, and purple shadows underscored his eyes. “I look like shit.”

In the cold pre-dawn light, he faced several facts. One, Breytenbach and his party had not returned the day before. Two, neither had Kirstin. Three, they were short-handed to the point where every man, woman, and child had to work around the clock. Four, supplies were running out. Five, they had an attack to plan for three days hence. An attack they’d be sure to lose if Breytenbach didn’t show up. “Hell, we’ll probably lose anyway.”

He thought of Kirstin then and blushed. She’d have no time for a pity party. “She’d tell me to get my ass in gear and be the leader these people need.”

With numb fingers, he soaped up and reached for the razor, dragging it across his skin. Bit by bit, the stubble disappeared. The clippers were next. Long locks of hair fell into the basin. It had formed a golden pool by the time he finished.

Max stood up straight and squared his shoulders. Now his old army uniform looked like it belonged. He smoothed his hands over his shorn head and patted his clothes into place. “This is where it starts.”

He closed the door of his bungalow behind him and headed for the walls. The grass crunched beneath his booth, the faint crackle of ice betraying the thin layer