“I heard that these days a lot of their meetings are done virtually,” Lara indicated. “So, the members could be anywhere they want. I heard some of the Council members travel often to the surrounding towns and some even run their own business empires and never set foot in Vinder, itself. I suspect Dr Liverfield will keep a low profile for a while, especially after this incident. She was clever enough to get rid of her evidence so quickly.”
Once we reached the backup Resistance building the three women got out followed by us and then the first woman grabbed me and hugged me unexpectedly. It was a tight hug, which I hadn’t experienced before from anyone and I hugged her back and comforted her. The woman then looked me in the eyes and I could see she was very grateful. She seemed like she wanted to say something again, but I just smiled and nodded at her.
“You will be safe here,” I signed to her. “These are good people. They will take care of you.”
I discovered at least ten people had joined Lara after we left, but I didn’t recognize any among them.
After Lara and her people took over watching after the three women, someone came and tapped my shoulder, I turned around and recognized Claire.
“Oh my gosh! You are alive,” I signed, hugging Claire in delight.
Claire smiled. “I knew you would be happy to see me.”
I nodded. “I am glad you are here. By the way is Sam here?”
Claire shook her head. “I heard he was captured by the Council. I don’t know what they will do to him or even if he is still alive.”
I knew Lara wouldn’t want to talk about Sam and I also wasn’t sure how to help her. I knew it must be devastating news for Lara, but I decided not to ask anything about it.
Claire continued. “Okay you better get some rest with your friends. We can catch up later.”
Susie, Oliver and I went into Oliver’s room and once we were inside Oliver closed the door and glanced at me expecting an explanation of what had happened earlier.
“What was that Marinette,” Susie started without waiting for Oliver. “How are you able to do what we saw you do?”
I shared with them how sometimes the words I say had power behind them, which gave me the ability to do things physically that seemed impossible. I told them about the thing which happened at the facility holding the parents and how I prevented the guards from nearly killing the parents.
“Wow this sounds like a super power M,” Oliver signed. “The title silence breaker isn’t going to fit you anymore.”
I smiled. “Let’s not think too much ahead about this please.”
Susie agreed. “Who else knows about this?”
“No one and I want to keep it this way, okay,” I motioned. “It could just be a side-effect of the process treatment I underwent when I was a child or something else. I may even lose the ability to do it after some time. I don’t know yet.”
“I agree you cannot tell anyone,” Oliver indicated. “This secret stays in this room.”
Susie nodded.
“Thank you and I am sorry I didn’t share this before with the both of you,” I signed.
“I don’t think I would have shared it with anyone either if I had such a power,” Susie highlighted. “I think it wouldn’t be easy to have something like what you have and know when to use it or not. You have been doing great with your ability so far!”
Susie had such a way with her words, which always encouraged and uplifted me.
“It could be linked to the army Dr Liverfield is trying to build through this process,” I gestured. “I mean Dr Liverfield is very clever and she may have engineered this power as part of the process without telling anyone. This power may actually be what she is after.”
“It would make sense M,” Oliver signalled.
“Is that why she is so determined to find your trigger for making the sound?” Susie motioned.
“It could be,” I signed.
If Dr Liverfield had engineered everything around this power she may even know the trigger or possible set of triggers, but needs my confirmation to prove her theory.
Lara entered the room. “What’s going on?”
“We were thinking about what to do next,” Susie signed.
“We still need real evidence against Dr Liverfield,” Lara indicated. “And the rate at which she is destroying the evidence there may be nothing much left for us to find soon.”
Lara seemed a bit depressed in the way she talked about it and I couldn’t tell if it was a symptom of the reality the Resistance now faced.
“How are the three women?” I signed.
“They need a lot of rest,” Lara highlighted. “They went through a traumatic ordeal and it will take days or even weeks before they fully recover. We will monitor them carefully, help them recover and then move them out of the city where they can hopefully get a new start.”
“Did any of them say anything to you?” Susie motioned.
I really hoped none of them had said anything about me using my power to open their cages for them.
“Nothing,” Lara gestured. “They seemed happy to be free of those cages. You did an amazing and courageous thing rescuing them. They are really grateful, especially of you, Marinette.”
I couldn’t tell if Lara was telling the truth or not because she was very clever at controlling herself.
“There is one place where we can still find evidence,” I indicated.
The three of them looked at me.
“The secret farm back in Thomson,” I motioned. “There was so much purple liquid and stuff there. I am sure they haven’t destroyed it yet.”
Oliver smiled. “Wow! I completely forgot about it M. We need to get back there quickly.”
“Eh… we cannot use your fake id anymore,” I waved at Oliver.
Oliver nodded and winked. “At least it got me here.”
“Let me arrange it for you,” Lara signalled.
“But how?” I signed.
“Just because they captured a lot of us it doesn’t mean we don’t have people around Vinder who still support us,” Lara smiled. “There are many people who secretly support us, but are scared to openly show it. I know one of them who always helps us get train tickets when we need to travel undetected by the Council. He can do the same for you.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
The train ride back to Thomson was a quiet one as I sat next to Oliver and glanced out the window. This train ride was different from the secret one I had taken to Vinder for many reasons; it was full of regular people, their kids and their luggage and I had needed to show a ticket to actually board the train. I wasn’t nervous being on this train as we still had on our disguises and now Oliver sported a fake wig and moustache, which was funny and I had to control myself from teasing him about it.
“I like your moustache,” I signed pointing at it. “It seems to suit your face. Maybe it is a sign of your future.”
“Why couldn’t Lara find something better than this?” Oliver motioned. “The Resistance should be better than this right? I look so ridiculous in this disguise.”
“I think it fits you quite well since you are the book nerd,” I indicated. “Lara must have read your mind or something.”
“It makes me look like someone’s grandfather from another age,” Oliver gestured. “Even you have to agree this is a bit over the top.”
I smiled. “Maybe it is, but I think you blend in well with the crowd.”
I pointed my head in the direction of a family sitting across the aisle from us. The man of the family had a moustache, which was quite white already.
Oliver put his hands onto his face, shook his head and looked away while I wanted to laugh out loud, but couldn’t because I didn’t know if I would actually laugh using my voice. I hadn’t actually tried to laugh, but it was an intriguing thought.
The train ride back was much slower too than my previous ride, the views outside were more deserted and I didn’t spot any mountain ranges or flowing rivers of any kind. At one poin
t an automated robot had strolled by and we had provided our tickets as verification, but, other than that, no one else disturbed us, which was a good thing.
I glanced around the cabin I was in and everyone else seemed lost in their own worlds while Oliver was, not to my surprise, reading something. He truly was a book nerd to the core. Then, without thinking he even pulled at his fake moustache, looked up and caught me staring at him with a smirk. He frowned, dropped his hand and went back to his reading. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed my best friend until this moment and it was great we were back together.
There weren’t any guards of any kind patrolling on the train, which was a relief for me since I wasn’t sure if the Council or Dr Liverfield would expect the both of us to travel back to Thomson like this. I doubted it as by now Dr Liverfield’s people would know we had freed the women from the building and were probably wondering what else we would be up to in Vinder.
“I noticed you and Claire earlier,” Oliver signed. “What’s that all about?”
I smiled. “Of all the people I have met at the Resistance Claire is the closest I am to trusting anyone.”
"And?” Oliver started.
He always knew when I had doubts about something.
“And there is something going on between Claire and Lara,” I gestured. “Lara doesn’t seem to care too much for Claire and seems not to like me talking with her. I don’t know why, but it is in their body language.”
“I think you better be careful with everyone at the Resistance M,” Oliver signed. “It’s too early to trust any of them. And I don’t really like Lara too much.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I smiled.
“Was it obvious?” Oliver signed and he seemed a bit nervous, which was so unusual for him.
“I am just kidding,” I gestured.
Oliver smiled and relaxed a bit.
“I will be careful with all of them,” I signalled. “Even though we are all kind of stuck with each other.”
“What is the plan when we arrive in Thomson?” Oliver motioned.
“We need to get to the farm as soon as possible,” I signed. “We could be ahead of Dr Liverfield because she may decide to stay hidden for a while.”
“Or she could have gotten her men to destroy everything at the farm already,” Oliver completed my thought.
I nodded. “This is the only place left which we know of.”
“Yeah,” Oliver nodded.
“How did you know I was in Vinder?” I motioned.
“Such a random question,” Oliver grinned.
I smiled and waited for his story.
“While Susie and I were snooping around we found evidence of the secret train platform and then realized its final destination was Vinder,” Oliver indicated. “So, it wasn’t hard to put these clues together to know where you had gone. I tried to message you, but couldn’t get through and so we decided to wait for you.”
“So, you guys did do some work after I left,” I gestured.
“Of course,” Oliver signalled. “We do follow orders.”
I grinned at him.
“I need to tell you something,” I motioned.
Oliver glanced at me. “Did the temperature drop in here or something?”
“Stop it and listen for a minute,” I gestured and wanted to punch him. “I am being serious now.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Oliver could always irritate me so easily.
“I know how my sound is triggered,” I started. “It is linked to my emotions.”
Oliver’s facial expression changed. “Are you sure M?”
It wasn’t the response I had expected from him, but I shared with him about how the first few times I had been quite emotional and it was that which triggered my sound with the woman at the car explosion incident.
“You don’t seem so excited by this news,” I indicated.
“It isn’t about being excited, M,” Oliver motioned. “Ever since we lost the ability to speak emotions have been something many people don’t talk much about anymore.”
“How come?” I gestured.
“Many people over the years have said emotions are evil and were glad our inability to speak reduced the power emotions had over us. I do agree with these people that we need to watch our emotions,” Oliver highlighted.
This was the first time I had heard of such a thing about emotions, but it could explain why I didn’t see so many people showing much emotion. Was this another reason for society being so lifeless?
“But I have seen Felix be emotional before,” I motioned. “And a few people in school too.”
“Oh yeah I mean we are still emotional as human beings,” Oliver indicated. “Yet many people lost that part of themselves somehow and they don’t show it as much as they would like to.”
“But emotions make us complete,” I persisted a bit annoyed with Oliver’s view on this. “Without it I don’t think we can be truly alive and whole.”
It was the first time I was disagreeing with something Oliver had said because, being the one who knew so much, I was always the one who gave in and agreed with his opinion. Thinking about it now I realized I had never seen Oliver be emotional, at least, not in front of me.
“Woah! How did we end up in such a deep conversation,” Oliver smiled. “I am just saying you need to be careful about your emotions since it is a trigger. It could even make you lose control of your abilities, M.”
I knew I had to control my emotions so that the power behind my sound wouldn’t go out of my control, but the way Oliver talked about emotions was still a bit annoying to me as if people with emotions were looked down upon in society.
Oliver must have sensed I was unhappy. “I know you seem unhappy with what I said, but let’s take it a step at a time.”
I nodded. “I can speak without being emotional too in case you are wondering.”
Oliver clapped his hands gently. “That’s great, M. So, emotions are only one part of it.”
His happiness of me being able to speak without being emotional was expected, but sad. He didn’t get the fact that if not for my emotional state on the day of the car accident I wouldn’t have even known I had the ability to speak.
“You should tell Susie about your emotions being the trigger,” Oliver suggested, which took me by surprise. “And I know what you are thinking.”
I relaxed. “I don’t think I am as predictable as some people around here.”
“You are probably going to ask what’s gotten into me that I trust Susie so much now?” Oliver motioned.
Funny I hadn’t actually thought of it because I was still kind of upset with him for the whole emotions being evil talk.
Oliver continued. “Things have changed a lot around us and we need to stick together. You were right about Susie from the beginning. I should have been more open with her.”
I grinned.
Oliver highlighted. “We are reaching Thomson, M. Keep your head down as we leave the train. I don’t know if there are people assigned to watch the trains for anyone matching our description. You go first M and meet me at the bus stop.”
I nodded as the train rolled to a stop and the monitors instructed all of us to leave in an orderly manner. I walked off the train quickly with some of the others while Oliver I assumed followed me a few steps behind. The train platform was crowded as expected, but I didn’t notice anything unusual.
Once outside the train station I met Oliver at the bus stop and we got on a bus to Oliver’s friend’s place who was still away.
Once we reached his friend’s place, Oliver asked me to wait outside. “Let me get some stuff before we head over to the farm.”
It was still noon when we reached the farm, and, as we were standing outside it, I realized the front gate was unlocked and ajar. There didn’t seem to be any guards near the gate area.
“I guess we can walk in,” I signed.
TWENTY-NINE
Walking along the road inside the
farm I noticed the whole place was hauntingly quiet as the rows and rows of fruits on either side of us appeared lifeless. There were no robotic patrols flying around and no workers carrying any baskets to be seen anywhere and I wondered if we were too late.
“They have evacuated the place,” Oliver motioned.
“I guess it was expected,” I indicated. “Let’s see if there is anything left.”
As we reached the three buildings I waved for Oliver to go to the main building, and discovering the front door opened, we walked inside to find the place empty.
Emerging Above the Silence Page 12
