“Like you’re so old at twenty-one,” Ariel pointed out.
“I’m still older. And so much wiser,” Layla joked.
Gatlin took the lead, while Nile walked alongside them and Ledger behind.
“How do you know where we’re going in the dark?” Ariel asked.
Nile glanced at them. “We’ve done it a hundred times or more. We could do it blindfolded, which is why we do it at night.”
“What if we encounter wild animals?” Layla asked, squeezing Ariel’s arm tighter at the thought.
“Great. Thanks,” Ariel muttered under her breath.
Nile shrugged. “It’s rare in this area, and what few we might encounter won’t be dangerous.”
“Can we talk? Normally I mean?” Layla asked, making sure they weren’t taking a risk.
“Yep. I wouldn’t scream or shout, but no one will be out here,” Ledger said from behind. “Perfect chance to get to know each other. Let the questions fly.”
Ariel glanced at Layla. “I think I should do the vetting.”
Layla rolled her eyes. “Go right ahead. I already asked a lot of questions while you were sleeping all day.”
Ariel cleared her throat. “Remember that show we used to watch with the three bachelors? The one where the woman would ask them questions and then pick one to go out with?” Ariel’s voice was filled with delighted mirth.
“Yeah.” Layla groaned. She could see where this was going.
Ariel giggled. “Okay, so in alphabetical order, Gatlin, you’re bachelor number one. Ledger, you’re number two. And Nile, you’re three.”
The men chuckled. At least they were willing to play along.
“Bachelor number one,” Ariel began, “How old are you, and how long have you lived with The Wanderers?”
Gatlin glanced over his shoulder. “I’m twenty-seven, and my parents moved our family to live in the compound fifteen years ago when I was twelve. I have one younger sister, Brea.”
“Bachelor number two, same question,” Ariel stated in her best talk-show host voice.
Ledger laughed behind them. “I’m twenty-eight. My family moved to the compound at the same time as Gatlin’s. We were childhood friends. I also have a younger sister. Her name is Liana.”
Nile glanced at the women from the side. “I guess I’m next. My parents disappeared eight years ago when I was seventeen. I was alone with my two younger sisters, Kesia and Zelia, for a few weeks before we packed what we could carry and headed to the spot where we’d been told we could make a connection with The Wanderers.”
“Wow. You’ve all lived there for a long time,” Ariel pointed out, though some of this was news to Layla too.
Gatlin glanced back at them. “Since Jay isn’t here to speak for himself, I’ll do it for him. He left his family out east and came to join The Wanderers twelve years ago when he turned eighteen. He’s the oldest of our group. When he arrived at the compound, my parents took him under their wing and he quickly became a close friend of Ledger and me.”
“I guess it’s not so weird that Layla and I have lived our entire lives off the grid then,” Ariel noted.
Nile nodded. “No, but it sounds like you were all alone with very little outside interaction whereas there are so many people at the compound that we have almost no privacy. We live in close quarters. We’re like a co-op. We share all the work, every adult assigned to a job within the group.”
Ledger spoke from behind again. “It’s a well-oiled machine most of the time. Many of our group stay full-time at the main compound or one of the offshoots, while others of us spend a lot of time out in the world helping bring other people into the fold, harvesting crops, or finding food.”
“You make it sound like a cult,” Ariel stated.
“More like a commune. No one is forced to join and we operate as a democracy. We have elected leaders and rules. There’s no tolerance for intolerance, so we’re a diverse group representing all colors, religions, and sexual orientations. No judgment. Be kind. Live and let live.”
“I like it,” Ariel stated. “Now, let’s see what other questions I can ask… Bachelor number one, how long have you four been living as a family unit?”
Layla was all for this game. It was informing her as much as Ariel.