Skin Nation

by Joni Bing

Foolish and gullible. I hated those words, but they kept coming back to me. Labeling me. Describing the way I thought. But now I knew I wasn't the only one.

  “Mar was an undercover worker for Nation Resources. He was giving the Gov information.” Reno explained when we entered our commune.

  The explanation was plain and simple and I didn't really need much detail after that. A snitch was a snitch and there was always a price you'd pay for being one. It was the way of life.

  I thought of all the conversations Lary and the boys must've had with him about their lives. All of the SNR meetings he attended before I even showed up. It explained why he was always so excited when Lary mentioned SNR would discuss war strategies. He would've reaped more benefits when he ratted us out. I was glad Taurus and Briggs never discussed them. Then, my mind opened up from fear of a thought that crossed my mind.

  “What did I miss tonight at the meeting?”

  “Nothing Mar can ever tell now,” Lary responded as he walked to his room.

  I took a big step toward him. “I hate to keep asking questions—”

  “Then, don't!” Lary boomed.

  His voice made me jump, but I whispered it anyway. “Did you check him for recording devices?”

  Lary froze at that, and another shot of fear crept up to my neck. “No one sleeps until this commune is debugged. Check every room! I don't want to find a single one!”

  I raced to my room and heard Lary call for Josh. He called him—

  “Captain! Make yourself at home on that couch there. I've got a few questions for you.”

  I turned away before our eyes could meet and turned the lamp on in my room.

  Too much had happened for me to even comprehend it all at once, let alone think of places a snitch would hide his bugs. I sat my back against the wall and caught Z looking into the room. Then, for the first time all night or ever, I saw him smile. He turned away, and left for his room that was now only his and I figured that was why. It couldn't have been how I looked. I was afraid to even check.

  “If I were a bug, where would I be?” I asked myself quietly.

  I searched around the room and Lary's words from a few hours ago came back to my remembrance.

  Expect the unexpected.

  I hadn't expected anything, and the unexpected still happened. Now, I was trying to expect it and couldn't think of a place where it could possibly be found.pect the unexpected,” I repeated to myself. Then, I gasped. “The Verx!”

  I opened the drawer where I kept it and flipped it over at every angle possible looking for anything suspicious. Finally, I found a black dot staring me right in the face on top of the device. I flicked at it too see if it was only a speck of dust, but I was right. It was a camera.

  My discovery didn't come as a complete surprise because I already knew the truth, but I did have a fear. Even though we knew the truth and were finding the cameras...how were we going to kill the live feed the Gov was getting in the commune? And, we could destroy the cameras, but if we did, how were we going to survive now that they knew who we were and what we were doing from the surveillance they already saw? I ran out into the sitting room where Lary and Josh were murmuring.

  “Um, we have a problem?” I said as I flipped my hair back. They both looked up.

  Lary spoke, “And, what would that be?”

  I explained my troubles to Lary and he nodded, calm as ever. I couldn't believe how calm he was acting, considering the fact that he just killed his best man. When I finished, he sat up in his seat on the couch and intertwined his fingers.

  “There's only one thing we can do. I've talked with Josh and he's given me some advice, some information that we've been needing. He's been quite helpful.”

  I looked at Josh for a moment and caught him smirking at me. I had to look away. His green lasers for eyes would for sure be in my nightmares every night for as long as I survive.

  “From what he's told me thus far, I've decided it's time we moved.”

  As if it were planned, Z and Reno entered the room from their rooms and started explaining their complaints and disbelief in his decision. I stood quiet. If Lary thought 990 needed to break free of OYZ Stats then it was obviously for a good reason and it was for the best. Lary was always right. Done. Period. Finally, Z and Reno quieted down enough for Lary to speak.

  “It's going to be weird not living in this dump like we have for so long, I know, but we don't have much choice. With that trash assassinated, ten Requesters dead, and Josh missing as captain, it'll be difficult to make it where the Gov won't trace it back to us. What we did was

  reckless—”

  “But not uncalled for!” Reno shot in.

  Lary stood and shrugged his hands into his pockets. “I agree, but it was done.”

  “I think I could help you,” Josh pitched in.

  I saw Lary look his way with suspicious eyes when he said that, but I could feel the others around the room doing the same.

  “Oh, really? You did see what we did back there to that guy tonight, right? What could you possibly do for us that could save us from something like that?”

  “All I can state are facts. They made me Captain for a reason. Overnight, in fact. You see, I was born a rebel and no matter how the System tries to change a rebel.

  This is the moment. This is the moment—the very second—my whole universe seemed to flip around and do a 180 degrees. This is the moment Josh unfastened the helmet on his head. This is when he stripped his head of the tight cap and freed a small amount of patted down curls that were growing underneath. But, most of all, the moment that changed everything the most, this was the moment he slowly pushed up the goggles around his eyes to reveal the ones I've always known and smiled, “The rebel is always a step ahead.”

  My mouth dropped and the weight of the reveal made me feel like my mouth had dropped to the ground. I did my best to contain my joy and over surprise as the boys went crazy over how clever they thought Josh was all of a sudden. Inside, I wanted to believe that I always knew, but you can only fool yourself for so long. I've known Josh all of my life so why didn't I anticipate that he would pull a stunt like this if he ever got captured? It was nothing new.

  Still, I couldn't get over the fact that I had my friend back. I had someone who loved me around again. And, maybe, if this Pre-Ex and Seven Nation War didn't take up too much time to blow over, we could try again. For the rest of the night, after I excused myself from the celebrating and planning, that possibility was the only thought I repeated over and over again in my head until I fell asleep.