Into the Wilderness: Blood of the Lamb (Book Two) by Mandy Hager

huh?”
    She rounded on him, hands on her hips. “You know the teachings just as well as I do. The Lord sent forth his Tribulation to rid the world of non-believers. Only the Apostles and their Chosen ones were saved.”
    â€œYour head is so filled up with teachings—do you ever have an independent thought?”
    Tears welled in Ruth's eyes. “If you'd all listened to me in the first place we wouldn't find ourselves stuck here now. You knew there was nothing but death and destruction beyond ourshores, and yet you chose to disbelieve…” She stormed off to the far end of the site.
    â€œShe has a point,” Maryam said. “It's obvious no one here survived.”
    â€œYou saw the map. You think that nowhere out there in the world others exist?”
    Maryam shrugged. “I don't know. If we'd found people living here it might be different, but—”
    â€œThat proves nothing.” He kicked at a stray stone, sending it clattering across the ground. “Besides,” he said, inclining his head towards the mountain, “until we've searched the whole island we can't be sure.” He walked away from her. “Let's be off.”
    She didn't argue. Instead, she jogged across to Ruth and squeezed her shoulders tight. “Let's find Joseph, then I promise we'll take the time to talk this through.”
    Ruth nodded, misery etched across her face, but she allowed Maryam to guide her after Lazarus, who once again presumed to lead the way.
    They circled around to the back of the great building, working their way through more disintegrating ruins until they reached the northernmost edge of the fragmented wall. Again, an ancient carved head atop a tiered stone portal seemed to watch them pass, as they came upon a narrow rocky track that wound up through the undergrowth and disappeared into the trees.
    Their journey now was all uphill, the ground dry and unstable beneath their feet. The sun had risen higher in the sky, its heat growing oppressive despite the shade of the overhanging trees. Maryam cursed herself for not thinking to bring food or water. Somewhere up ahead, perhaps, they'd find a stream, but meanwhile she scanned the vegetation for somethingto eat. Eventually, through a thicket of scrubby trees, she spied the serpent-like air roots of a wild fig her people called te biku.
    â€œFood!” she yelled, launching herself off the track towards the tree. She could see that it was fruiting, but many of the figs had already been picked over by scavenging birds. She searched around the thick sinewy roots at its base and collected the ripest of the windfalls, discarding those already pecked. By the time Ruth and Lazarus broke through the scrub to join her, she'd collected roughly a dozen of the leathery purple fruit and piled them together at her feet.
    â€œEat,” she said, tearing one open and biting into the moist pink flesh to suck every last scrap of the nourishing seed mass from its skin.
    The other two fell hungrily upon the figs as well, and soon the pile was reduced to nothing more than discarded skins. The sweetness helped to boost their energy, and Lazarus climbed up into the tree's nest of branches to harvest another tasty load. He removed his shirt and cushioned the figs in its fabric before tying the improvised holdall around his waist.
    As they set off up the track again, Maryam tried to concentrate on where she placed her feet on the rocky ground. But Lazarus's bared back distracted her, and she found herself watching how his shoulder blades rotated as he swung his arms. Then a funny thought struck her, and she laughed.
    He spun around defensively. “Are you laughing at me?”
    She couldn't stop; the joke seemed so apt she couldn't resist telling him, if only to prove she was not quite as dull-witted as he thought. She gestured at his naked chest. “Perhaps you should have picked some of the fig leaves too!”
    She knew he'd