The Condemned by Claire Jolliff Page B

one time have probably held supplies; food, bandages, medicines, but she knew that it wouldn’t anymore.
       None of them did.
       These places had been looted years ago and the only thing they were good for was a roof over your head for a couple of nights. On top of the cabinet stood a small, stubby candle that provided what scanty light there was. Flickering shadows stretched across the small space, dancing around the room and providing a somewhat eerie atmosphere. She looked at Amato. One side of his face glowed orange from the light of the candle, the other fell in shadow.
       ‘Where are we?’
       ‘Fallout Shelter. They’ve been around sin-‘
       ‘I know that.’ She interrupted him. ‘I know what this place is, but where is it? Where are we?’
       Amato shook his head and looked away.
       ‘Not far enough away yet. But we had to stop and rest. We’re not too far from a couple of small towns and if we can steal some horses we can put some distance between us and them, but that’s gonna have to wait until we’ve all had some sleep.’
       She suddenly realised that she hadn’t seen the Clones since she had come round.
       ‘Where are the others?’
       ‘Outside, keeping watch. I should let them know you’re awake, they wanted to talk to you.’
       ‘No...’ She held out a hand feebly to stop him as he rose, he frowned at her for a moment but sat back down again. Leci watched the flame of the candle and chewed nervously on her lower lip. She didn’t want to see the Clones, didn’t want to face Beriael’s accusing eyes or his wife’s curiosity.
       Not yet.
       Not just yet.
       ‘I had a nightmare.’ She whispered, her words barely audible, she looked up at him to see if he had heard her. He was leaning back against the wall, sat on the bed, his hands folded behind his neck and he was watching her very carefully.
       He nodded slightly.
       ‘I know you did. You were thrashing about all over the place. I was over at the side of the cot waiting to catch you, half expected you to roll out. Then you screamed and I had to shut you up, we really can’t be bringing attention to ourselves out here.’
       She nodded to show she understood why he had done it and that he didn’t need to explain himself to her.
       ‘I woke up and I was back in the cell. I was sure that this had all been a dream.’
       He said nothing but the gentle look on his face encouraged her to continue.
       ‘I was confused. I thought that maybe it would all happen again or that they’d drugged me. And then two of them came in with a table.’ She hesitated, shivering at the memory.
       The dream hadn’t faded as most of the bad ones and all of the good ones did, it was clear in her mind as though it had really happened.
       She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, tugging the blanket up around herself. She kept her gaze on the slowly moving flame in the corner of the room, it soothed her somehow.
       ‘They got me on the table, shackled me down so I couldn’t move and then one of ‘em opened up a drawer and took out a real sharp knife. The other one was laughing at me. I looked up at him an’ he took off his hood...’ Pausing, she tore her attention from the candle to watch his reaction to the revelation that was coming.
       ‘It was you. You were a guard.’
       Amato frowned, leaned forward and brought his hands to his lap, gripping one fist inside the other; his knuckles looked white, strained.
       ‘I was a guard.’
       It didn’t occur to her that he wasn’t phrasing the comment as a question for affirmation, as though he disbelieved her, but that he was confirming the statement to be truth. She merely nodded.
       ‘Yes, and you sai-‘
       ‘No, Leci. I was a guard.’
       Alecia found herself nodding very slowly and speaking as though trying to explain something to a small child. The rational part of her mind refused to