Luna's Arc

Chapter 11 of 29

Luna followed the oldest boy through the farmhouse. Children packed every room. A baby cried somewhere upstairs. Two boys chased each other past a broken window. A girl in a green hood held Luke's hand and pointed things out to him. Luna counted heads without meaning to. She stopped at twenty. There were more. The boy led her down creaking stairs to the basement. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with cans and boxes. He pulled one down and set it on a crate. Inside was real food, arranged like a picture. Grilled meat, roasted carrots, bright greens, a swirl of sauce along the rim of the plate. Luna had eaten fish and blackberries for weeks. Her mouth watered so hard it hurt. "Eat," the boy said. He handed a fork to Luke, who had followed them down. "There isn't much left. But you two look worse than us." Luna sat on the cold floor and ate. So did Luke. For a moment she forgot the woods, the deer, the book of names. She just tasted warm food. Luke smiled with his mouth full. She had not seen him smile since the graveyard. Then she noticed the boy watching the shelves. His face was tight. "Where does this come from?" Luna asked. He shrugged. "It shows up. Boxes by the trees. Every few weeks. Never anyone there. Just food, and sometimes other things." He rubbed his neck. "It's slowing down. Used to be full shelves. Now this." Luna set her fork down. Someone was feeding these children. Someone knew exactly where they were. The same someone who wrote her name in a note weeks before she came. The same hand that filled a book with hundreds of children. "Other things," she repeated. "What other things?" The boy crossed the room and lifted something from a low shelf. He set it in her lap. An old camera, scratched and heavy, and beside it a worn video tape. "This came in a box last winter," he said. "None of us have a way to play it. But your name's on the tape." Luna turned the tape over. Faded ink spelled her name across the label. Her stomach dropped. She held the camera up. The little screen was cracked but not dead. Luke leaned close. "Play it," he whispered. Luna pressed buttons until the tape clicked inside. The screen flickered gray. Then a face appeared. A young woman. The same woman from her locket. Her mother looked straight into the lens. "Luna," the woman said, her voice thin through the speaker. "If you're watching this, you found them. The others. Good." She glanced over her shoulder, afraid. "You have to get them out before the harvest. All of you. Please. There isn't much—" The screen went black. The tape had run out. Luna stared at the dead screen. Before the harvest. She did not know what that meant. But she knew now they were not safe here. And she knew she had to move all of them, fast.