Beyond The Walls by Maira Dawn

Chapter 4 with audio

Two days later, Wolf’s heart soared as he turned onto the last path toward home and breathed in the familiar scent. He patted his pack which held the medicine he’d finally been successful in getting from the store in Jayden’s town. 

They’d also told the old man where his bike was and that the hound was gone—they’d watched over the edge for a long time to make sure the thing stayed dead.

Jayden glanced at Wolf, who pushed him over the bumpy trail. “Tell me again.”

Wolf chuckled. “We have a great place—it’s all kids. You and I are some of the oldest. And we are making it! We started gardens and we hunt and fish and stuff.”

“I can fish!”

“Yep. We need that. We gotta feed the littles. They don’t have anyone else, just us.” Wolf stopped pushing and changed the subject. “Jayden, how many of those vile animals are there?”

Jayden raised his hands. “That’s the only one I ever saw.”

Wolf stared up the path toward his community. “We don’t need to tell them then. They have enough things to deal with. They don’t need to know about monsters that no longer exist.”

“If you think that is best,” Jayden said.

“It is,” Wolf said, sounding more confident than he felt. “A wild pig got in the camp once and gave the little ones nightmares for days.”

Wolf thought about his best friend, the community’s leader, Axel. He had enough on his shoulders. He’d just worry over the fire hound for nothing.

He grabbed the handles of the wheelchair again and pushed, giving a hard nod. “It is,” he repeated. “Now let me tell you a little more about sitting on the side of the Red River for an evening of fishing and watching the sun go down.”

Jayden smiled in anticipation and said, “Tell me every awesome part of it.”