by Eliza Green
Anya’s stomach trembled. She looked down at the cut on her arm, once a painful diversion but no longer enough to distract her. The slash was still raised and red but the skin had begun to heal. She’d stopped wearing the bandage.
Laughter filled the void between the two dorms as the boys left the dining hall. Ash led the way. A couple of smiling boys flicked their gazes between the typewriting room and the girls.
Anya watched them go back inside their dorm. Once the last boy was inside, Yasmin stood up.
‘Come on. Let’s get this over with.’
Anya smoothed down her dress. The others prepared to leave. A clearly nervous Sheila got up and followed Yasmin. Anya had never seen her so rattled. Yasmin knocked on the door.
Ash answered.
‘Welcome to mi casa, ladies.’
He stood back and, with great drama, gestured for them to enter.
The boys hovered by the sofas. Anya’s skin tightened at the thought of what was to come. Ash nodded to the sofas and the girls sat down. Yasmin, June and Sheila wore hard expressions. Lilly and the other girls looked terrified. Anya controlled her breathing and pretended she was off running somewhere.
Ash smacked his hands together, startling Anya; an obvious display for the boys. ‘Okay, let’s see who gets to choose one of these lovely ladies first.’ He stood by the scoreboard with the boys’ names listed.
The whole charade reminded Anya of her first school dance.
Boys on one side, girls on the other. Awkward staring. Shifting gazes and feet. The pressure to be picked, and liked.
Grace had not been a fan of dances. It went against her idea of matching. Anya had only ever gone to one, and that was only after her father had insisted.
‘This is no time for her to experiment with dating, Evan,’ Grace had said. ‘She needs to settle down before they come for her.’
‘They’re not looking for her yet. This is the perfect time,’ her father had replied. ‘Let her have a little fun while she can.’
Anya had hated the idea of pairing off with a boy then. Fast forward two years and here she was, in the exact same position.
Ash ran his finger along the first name on the scoreboard: his own.
He looked each of the girls over, as if they were prize animals parading in a ring. Anya’s heart hammered.
‘I want to pick you.’ He pointed lazily at Sheila. Anya hid her shock. This wasn’t the plan. She tried not to look at Dom. ‘But you scare the hell out of me. So I pick... you.’
He pointed at Lilly, who sat quivering beside Anya. She stood up slowly, her sniffling loud in a room filled with silence. Anya had thought Ash would pick her.
‘Don’t worry, Lilly,’ he said softly. ‘We’ll start out with something... easy.’
The next name on the list was Jerome. Anya stared at the floor.
Yasmin jabbed her in the ribs. ‘It’s you.’
Anya looked up to see Jerome pointing at her. She stood, and caught Dom’s eye. He nodded at her, his mouth tight. Had he made a deal with Jerome? Did Jerome blame her for Frank’s death?
She had hoped for Warren, who was glaring at Dom.
The other boys, the ones Anya didn’t know, picked Yasmin and three others. Warren was next and picked June. That pleased Anya. Warren would help June to rotate.
It surprised her that Sheila was passed over until Dom’s turn. She got up and stood beside him. He cupped her neck and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Sheila’s face softened and she nodded. He smiled at her in a reassuring way.
The intimate moment caught Anya off guard. Her jealousy, confusion—or whatever she felt—forced her to look away.
Jerome tapping on her shoulder snapped her out of it. She pulled him to a quieter section, away from Dom and Sheila.
‘So what do you want to do first?’ he said.
Anya gave him a weak smile. ‘Eat.’
Jerome nodded. ‘I think we can arrange that.’
‘Jerome, I’m so—’
His eyes hardened. ‘Please, Anya. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just get you some food, okay?’
She nodded and followed him out of the dorm. At least Sheila and Dom were together.
Not surprising, the other girls also asked for food. The boys obliged but Anya feared that some, like Ash, would ask for more in return. While Jerome wasn’t one of the hostile ones, he had a new edge to him since learning about Frank.
After breakfast, he showed her around the boys’ dorm. ‘We can play VR or there are some board games if you prefer intellectual stimulation.’
Anya shrugged. She didn’t care, as long as she could earn points fast.
‘What’s the next highest-scoring task after... you know?’
Jerome rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Slave for the day. You have to do anything I want. Get me drinks, make my bed, clean my clothes, that sort of thing.’
Anya bit her lip as she thought about it. ‘Okay, let’s start there.’ Just like looking after Jason.
It didn’t take long for her to feel like an idiot, following Jerome around like he was her master. And worse, he enjoyed the attention a little bit too much.
Ash was making Lilly do the same. She didn’t like the way Ash looked at her.
Dom and Sheila weren’t around. Anya tried not to think about how they might be earning their points. By the end of the day, her own score wasn’t far off twenty points.
After dinner, Anya and Jerome idled outside the boys’ dorm.
‘You can sleep here if you want,’ said Jerome without looking at her. Did he blame her for Frank’s death?
‘Jerome. I want to explain. I—’
‘Or you can go back to your own dorm.’
She sighed. ‘That’s probably a good idea.’
Some of the girls decided to stay in the nicer accommodation, but Anya wanted to stay in a place where she still had control. June and Yasmin obviously felt the same, as they returned to the female dorm as well. Sheila was notably absent.
That evening, they sat on their beds and discussed the day.
‘Warren’s a little creepy,’ said Yasmin to June. She pushed her straw-blonde hair back off her face and tied it up.
‘He’s okay,’ said June. ‘He’s better than Ash.’
They all agreed.
‘How’s Jerome doing?’ June asked Anya.
Anya took out her band and let her hair fall around her face. ‘He won’t talk to me. I don’t know.’
‘That’s stupid,’ said June. ‘You tried to stop Frank from opening the door.’
‘I’m not sure he sees it that way.’ Anya shrugged. ‘We’re doing the slave thing again tomorrow. We both should have more than thirty points by the end of the day.’
Yasmin lay down on the bed. ‘The slave thing doesn’t really work for me. Maybe I’ll just have sex once, you know, to guarantee rotation.’
‘Just make sure you don’t regret your choice,’ said June.
Yasmin smiled sadly. The boy who’d picked Yasmin was tall, like her, and slightly muscular. But Anya could tell from Yasmin’s body language that she had no interest in him.
‘And Jerome?’ said June. ‘Is he pressuring you to have sex?’
Anya shook her head. ‘I think he’s too scared to ask. He got embarrassed when I agreed to do the slave thing. Besides, I don’t want to upset him. I’ll do whatever he wants—within reason.’
‘Be careful. Give them a little power and they want more.’
June. Always the cautious one.
‘What about Warren?’
June pursed her lips. ‘Not so far. But I can handle him.’
Anya smiled. She didn’t doubt that.
While Yasmin and June settled under their covers, Anya headed for the bathroom, her soap and towel nestled under her good arm. She paused outside the door as another vibration ran through her bare feet, similar to the one she’d felt the night before. She rested her hand on the wall, and it was there too, stronger than the last one.
S
he looked up. Where was it coming from?
The empty bathroom gave her a quiet moment to think. But not for long. The door swung open and someone entered, causing her to spin round.
‘Warren! You can’t be in here.’ She pressed her towel to her clothed body.
‘I needed to talk to you, in private.’ He scratched the back of his neck. ‘I was hoping to pick you, but Dom screwed that up.’ He took careful, measured steps towards her.
Had anyone seen him come in? June or Yasmin? She wished there were cameras in the room.
His curious gaze flitted over her. ‘I wanted to ask what your strategy is with Jerome.’
Anya relaxed and placed the towel on the sink beside her. ‘Slave for the day. But don’t worry, June wants to progress as much as you do. She’s a stronger ally to have right now.’ Anya held up her injured arm.
‘Well, I don’t think so.’
Warren sounded odd, almost nervous.
‘What do you mean? Of course June wants to move on. Why wouldn’t she?’
‘She’s deliberately choosing the easier tasks, the ones worth ten points or less, and eating as much as she can so she spends them. That doesn’t seem like a good ally to me.’
Warren took another step forward. Anya caught the tensed filled look in his eyes.
‘I can talk to her if you’d like?’
Another step in her direction. ‘I wanted her to do the slave thing, but she wouldn’t even consider it. And it makes me angry to see you paired up with Jerome. That could have been us.’
‘Jerome just lost Frank. We all did. Show a little sympathy.’
Warren shook his head. ‘Of course. I’m sorry he died. But I didn’t really know him that well.’
His voice sounded soft, distant, but his eyes were still too alert, too focused.
‘You and I promised to progress together. But now I’m second-last in points and I need to change that.’
‘What are you talking about?’She gripped the edge of the counter.
‘I wouldn’t have asked you to do the first task on the list if we were paired up, but June is hurting my chances. Now, I don’t have a choice.’
‘I’m sure you and June will figure it out.’
His eyes were hard like marbles. ‘That’s just it. There’s only one way to guarantee rotation.’
Her pulse thrummed like a galloping horse.
‘It’s always been just you and me, and now I need your help.’
Warren reached for her and she jerked away. Her soap fell from the sink to the floor.
‘Anya, I need this. I won’t rotate otherwise.’
‘It’s only been a day. You haven’t given it a chance. Talk to June tomorrow—’
‘I can’t.’
His anger surprised her. She searched his eyes for signs of regret. But all she found were tears yet to fall.
Warren grabbed at clumps of his strawberry-blond hair and squeezed his eyes shut. Anya backed away, deeper into the bathroom, making escape harder with every step.
He moved towards her, pale eyes blazing with something darker than desire: desperation, ambition. He grabbed her left arm suddenly and pressed his fingers into her cut. She yelped with surprise and pain.
He glanced down and loosened his grip. ‘Shit, sorry.’
But when she tried to free her arm, his grip tightened.
Warren moved in closer. The freckles on his face blurred as he pressed his body against hers. She turned her face away from his hot, fast breath.
‘I promise I won’t hurt you, Anya. And I’ll make it fast. There’s no other choice. Please trust me. This will guarantee we both make it off this floor.’
Anya shook her head. Was he really asking her to do this? She tried to bring up her knee, but her dress restricted her movement. The cold of the wall seeped through the fabric and chilled her.
Warren ran his equally cold hand up the side of her leg, lifting the fabric. She tried to push him away, but he only pressed his fingers harder into her wound. She gasped when he twisted the skin.
No, no. This can’t be happening.
Warren’s weight pinned her against the wall. He kissed her neck roughly. The light-coloured stubble on his face felt like sandpaper. Her stomach heaved. She struggled to draw air.
‘Yasm—!’ He cut off her words with a rough kiss. She squeezed her lips and eyes shut and tried to forget he was touching her.
He pulled up her dress. With one hand keeping her in place, his other fumbled with his waistband.
Anya grasped at her memories from her time with Dom in the playground. She settled on one. It was hardly the same scenario, but the defensive move could work.
With Warren distracted and his body open, she drove up her right knee and found his stomach. He staggered away in shock. She stepped towards him, fists up, ready to punch him if he came at her again.
He did, and she struck him hard, her knuckle connecting with his jawbone. Pain shuddered through her hand. She bit her lip to keep from screaming. Her eyes assessed every tiny move he made. She kept her fists raised.
‘I guess I forgot to tell you I used to do boxing,’ she said through a flurry of breaths.
Warren stared at her; shocked, furious. He cradled his jaw with his hand, but he didn’t come at her again.
‘I need to get out of Arcis, Anya. This is a mistake.’
He staggered to the door.
‘Not like this,’ said Anya.
He checked the mobility of his jaw one more time, and left the bathroom.
When he was gone, Anya crumpled to the floor. Tears ran down her cheeks. The door opened again and she scrambled to her feet. But when June appeared, she dropped back to the floor. Yasmin was behind her, keeping lookout.
June slid down beside her.
‘What happened?’
Her lips were thin and white as she held up Anya’s arm. Anya glanced down to see her cut had started to bleed again.
‘Did Warren do this?’ said June.
Anya nodded.
‘Psycho bastard. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get enough points now.’
Anya recoiled from this new and angry June, who pulled her to her feet.
‘He’s not worth it, June,’ said Yasmin. ‘Don’t sabotage your own chances.’
June looked up at Yasmin. ‘Give us a minute?’
Yasmin glared at her for a moment, then shrugged and left.
June turned to Anya. ‘Dom asked me to halt Warren’s progression. He doesn’t want Warren reaching the ninth floor at the same time as him and Sheila. I’ll be okay. I can rotate the next time.’
‘Why would Dom ask... Are you...?’ She stared at her. ‘Are you?’
June shushed her. ‘You can’t tell anyone.’
‘But I thought—’
‘I was a delicate flower?’ June smiled and examined her hands. ‘It turns out my nimble fingers are pretty good at assembling weapons faster than the boys.’
‘Does that mean—’
‘Yeah, my parents were rebel sympathisers. They’re dead. My uncle trained me.’
‘And Frank, Tahlia, Jerome?’
June shook her head. ‘Sorry I was so distant on the ground floor. I had to keep up the pretence.’
Anya leaned against the counter. June supported her with one hand while she ran the edge of Anya’s towel under the water. She dabbed at the wound, causing Anya to wince.
‘You can’t stay here for another rotation,’ said Anya. ‘I need you to move on. I can handle Warren.’ Her words came out clipped and fast, but with June there, she felt her control return.
June said nothing as she cleaned the wound.
‘Promise me.’
‘You don’t know him. He killed Tahlia.’
Anya swallowed loudly. ‘No. I did.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Yasmin told me it was his idea to target Tahlia.’
‘But Warren said he’d overheard Supervisor One and Two saying they’d rotate us all if someone was consistently last. It was Yas
min who suggested Tahlia.’
‘Warren told her the last part would sound more convincing coming from her.’
‘And you believe her?’
‘Warren just attacked you. Who are you going to believe? Her group already had a plan to rotate. They didn’t need Warren’s scheming or Tahlia to do it.’
Anya looked away. ‘We were all equally to blame. Nobody put a gun to our heads.’ She looked back at June. ‘I’m begging you, please don’t risk rotation for Warren. Besides Dom, you’re my only friend in here.’
June seemed to consider this. Eventually, she rolled her eyes.
‘Fine. But I was really enjoying messing up Warren’s chances.’
40
The camp, including Jason, packed up and moved the operation to Glenvale, a town covered by the same thick forest as Foxrush, but closer to Essention. Jason and Preston had exhausted all attempts to maintain a stable corridor to communicate with those inside Arcis. The snippets of information relayed back just weren’t enough to determine the lay of the land. With the new move, Jason hoped he and Preston might have better luck.
Jason had worked on a Plan B, but the random frequency codes remained the rebels’ best shot at getting inside Arcis.
As their trucks rolled up to the entrance, Jason saw the first group was already setting up. Soldiers pitched tents and counted out food supplies on tables outside a large red-bricked building.
When the truck came to a stop inside the gates, Jason got out and looked around. He saw Essention in the distance, a few kilometres away, through a narrow clearing in the forest. Similar to Foxrush, several flat-roofed buildings sat nearest the gates to Glenvale. Had the towns been designed to fight the Praesidium machines?
Max was already on one of the buildings, looking through a pair of binoculars. A set of pre-positioned crates had been staggered like giant steps against the wall. Jason used them to get to the roof, and stood beside him.
‘Can I see?’
Max handed him a second set of binoculars. ‘There’s no movement.’
‘This town is closer than Foxrush. Surely they can see us here. I mean, it’s a pretty obvious place to check for rebels.’
Max nodded. ‘The orbs’ signatures are all over this place. But they’re faint now, which means they’ve been and gone. Thomas picked up a stronger signal heading west, away from here. The sensors on the walls are different from the independent orbs. They rely on power from Arcis to work. But since a lot of power is being prioritised for something inside Arcis, the sensors might not be as powerful as we first thought.’
