The Host(79)

CHAPTER 21

Named

I kept tight to Jeb’s side, a little in front of him. I wanted to be as far as possible from the two men following us. Jamie walked somewhere in the middle, not sure of where he wanted to be.

I wasn’t able to concentrate much on the rest of Jeb’s tour. My attention was not focused on the second set of gardens he led me through—one with corn growing waist-high in the blistering heat of the brilliant mirrors—or the wide but low-ceilinged cavern he called the “rec room.” That one was pitch-black and deep underground, but he told me they brought in lights when they wanted to play. The word play didn’t make sense to me, not here in this group of tense, angry survivors, but I didn’t ask him to explain. There was more water here, a tiny, noxiously sulfurous spring that Jeb said they sometimes used as a second latrine because it was no good for drinking.

My attention was divided between the men walking behind us and the boy at my side.

Ian and the doctor did mind their manners surprisingly well. No one attacked me from behind—though I thought my eyes might get lodged in the back of my head from trying to see if they were about to. They just followed quietly, sometimes talking to each other in low voices. Their comments revolved around names I didn’t know and nicknames for places and things that might or might not have been inside these caves. I couldn’t understand any of it.

Jamie said nothing, but he looked at me a lot. When I wasn’t trying to keep an eye on the others, I was often peeking at him, too. This left little time to admire the things Jeb showed me, but he didn’t seem to notice my preoccupations.

Some of the tunnels were very long—the distances hidden beneath the ground here were mind-boggling. Often they were pitch-black, but Jeb and the others never so much as paused, clearly familiar with their whereabouts and long since accustomed to traveling in darkness. It was harder for me than it was when Jeb and I were alone. In the dark, every noise sounded like an attack. Even the doctor’s and Ian’s casual chatter seemed like a cover for some nefarious move.

Paranoid, Melanie commented.

If that’s what it takes to keep us alive, so be it.

I wish you would pay more attention to Uncle Jeb. This is fascinating.

Do what you want with your time.

I can only hear and see what you hear and see, Wanderer, she told me. Then she changed the subject. Jamie looks okay, don’t you think? Not too unhappy.

He looks… wary.

We were just coming into some light after the longest trek so far in the humid blackness.

“This here is the southernmost spur of the tube system,” Jeb explained as we walked. “Not super convenient, but it gets good light all day long. That’s why we made it the hospital wing. This is where Doc does his thing.”

The moment Jeb announced where we were, my body froze and my joints locked; I skidded to a halt, my feet planted against the rock floor. My eyes, wide with terror, flickered between Jeb’s face and the face of the doctor.

Had this all been a ruse, then? Wait for stubborn Jared to be out of the picture and then lure me back here? I couldn’t believe I’d walked to this place under my own power. How stupid I was!

Melanie was just as aghast. We might as well have gift-wrapped ourselves for them!

They stared back at me, Jeb expressionless, the doctor looking as surprised as I felt—though not as horrified.

I would have flinched, ripped myself away from the touch of a hand on my arm, if the hand had not been so familiar.

“No,” Jamie said, his hand hesitantly resting just below my elbow. “No, it’s okay. Really. Right, Uncle Jeb?” Jamie looked trustingly at the old man. “It’s okay, right?”

“Sure it is.” Jeb’s faded blue eyes were calm and clear. “Just showing you my place, kid, that’s all.”

“What are you talking about?” Ian grumbled from behind us, sounding annoyed that he didn’t understand.

“Did you think we brought you here on purpose, for Doc?” Jamie said to me instead of answering Ian. “Because we wouldn’t do that. We promised Jared.”

I stared at his earnest face, trying to believe.

“Oh!” Ian said as he understood, and then he laughed. “That wasn’t a bad plan. I’m surprised I didn’t think of it.”

Jamie scowled at the big man and patted my arm before removing his hand. “Don’t be scared,” he said.

Jeb took up where he’d left off. “So this big room here is fitted up with a few cots in case anyone gets sick or hurt. We’ve been pretty lucky on that count. Doc doesn’t have much to work with in an emergency.” Jeb grinned at me. “Your folks threw out all our medicines when they took over things. Hard to get our hands on what we need.”