Inner Circle

by Y A Marks

  “Right now, nothing.” Jonas took another sip. “We just relax and pray the next two days come and go.”

  “Works for me,” Travis said and made his way to his feet. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

  Devin stood, folded and placed his chair against the wall, and then slid down to the floor. After laying his bow across his lap, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Pyra jumped to her feet, leaned her chair against the wall, and shot out of the room. After Travis returned to the living room patting his belly, Shannon finally made it over to me.

  She had black hair that barely brushed her shoulders. There was a green streak in her hair a lot like Josalyn’s blonde streak, except the green streak was on both sides of her face. She had wide eyes and pink skin that had been sunburned along her chin as though the sun didn’t agree with her. Her face was youthful, and her smile welcoming.

  “What a day, huh?” she asked.

  “Yeah, crazy,” I said.

  She glanced toward the door. “Don’t worry about Pyra. She’s good peoples. Nobody likes the Death Days.” Her gaze focused on me. “So, is it true that you killed the governor, right?”

  I didn’t want to answer that question. I hated even thinking about it. But despite what I wanted my reality to be, I had done it. I had killed him. After a few seconds to gather myself I responded, “Yeah.”

  “Wow.” Her right eye narrowed a bit as her cheek raised.

  I guessed she must be thinking about it, the possibility that someone like me could kill the governor. Maybe, Jonas was right, and people didn’t think I could fight. They had forgotten that I had to survive for two years on the streets of Atlanta.

  Shannon’s expression tightened. “I haven’t killed anybody… yet, that is. I’ve shot a lot of people though. It’s not that I wouldn’t kill because I would. I just haven’t… ya know?”

  I glanced into her dark, brown eyes and knew that she may be physically my age, but emotionally she was much younger. I had experienced things that many adults had yet to go through. Shannon was still innocent.

  “If you didn’t, well, kill anybody, then how did you get put in prison?” I asked.

  Her eyes shifted. “Selling R-Eye-P.”

  Confusion poured over me. R-Eye-P was one of the most addictive and deadly drugs in the world. “You didn’t… You’re not.”

  “No, never. I’d never take the drug.” She sighed. “It was my brother. He was selling it for this guy and was making like two thousand creds a week. Our mom was having trouble with the house payments, and my brother convinced me to sell just for like a month. Just so we could help mom, ya know. I could get into places my brother couldn’t because I was a girl. I sold to a few strippers and prostitutes at this place called Emerald City. Wouldn’t you know it, my second day there was this raid, and I was caught in the middle. Prostitution is legal, but…”

  Her expression darkened. “They had a few VR machines in the basement. Just my luck, right?”

  The Virtual Reality machines were a stroke of bad luck. My heart went out to her. The government had outlawed the VR machines because many of the simulations displayed an Upper-C lifestyle which users could barely discriminate from reality. Users would plug into the machines in places like Emerald City and instantly become doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and the like. They’d have spouses who loved them, kids who jumped into their laps, and jobs that appreciated them.

  The problem was when users came out of the simulation. The desire to have these things didn’t make the users want to find the proper routes to gain them but increased the stress of not having them. Users found themselves depressed and agitated. Many of the users began breaking into houses, raping wives, kidnapping children, stealing cars, bullying employers to give them lost jobs. The VR machines twisted minds because the users couldn’t have what burned in their hearts.

  I glanced back at Shannon. “Where’s your brother?”

  “Lucky bastard was across the street in a warehouse and didn’t get caught. I was mad at first, like so mad I wanted to kill him.” I watched the anger in her eyes blaze before she calmed. Her eyes dipped for a moment and then she spoke barely above a whisper. “But, I’m glad someone is still out there with momma. Don’t want her to be alone, ya know?”

  Her passion fueled me with a desire to wrap her up in my arms. She was a lot like me. When I was stealing from ATMs, I was doing what I had to do to stay alive. Over the years I stole, I took precautions to keep myself from being caught. The problem with drugs is that you have to rely on people. Rely on dealers to give you the drugs. Rely on users to buy the drugs. Rely on places to let you linger and sell the drugs. There is too much outside your control. The money is better in drugs, and there are no paper trails or cameras to deal with, but you’re at the mercy of others.

  If I didn’t have my imitation game, I might have had to sell drugs like Shannon. Even through it all, she seemed content to know her mother would be okay. I understood her because I’d give my life for Mari and Miko. I just wanted them to be safe.

  “How long have you been here?” I asked.

  “Almost a year. Jonas took me in when only the Rattlers seemed to want me. The Circle of Life prayed for me, but said they didn’t have enough food. The Originals seemed to have interest, but I think it was for the wrong reason.”

  I glanced at her. She was pretty. I understood that she didn’t want to be reduced to selling her body for food and safety.

  “Seems like Jonas has a history with the Rattlers,” I said.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Jonas who was in the kitchen making a pot of some kind of food. “I know he doesn’t like Vogel all that much. I’m not sure what happened, but I know the Nobodys weren’t a recognized circle when Jonas was put into prison. They only got their township like three years before I got caught.”

  I exchanged glances with Shannon before my gaze lingered on Jonas. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of curiosity at the new information. What happened between him and Vogel? Was Jonas a Rattler before he became a Nobody? There was no way Jonas would have survived in prison alone for three years through all of those Death Days.

  CHAPTER 11

  Shannon placed a half-smile on her lips. Her face was relaxed, but she kept dropping eye contact. Her fingers fiddled along her bow.

  “How many Death Days have you been through?” I asked.

  “Just the two. I wasn’t lucky enough to come in right after one passed, but I made it, kinda like you, just in time. Sometimes, I think I’m just super unlucky.”

  I gave her my best grin, hoping to lift her spirits. “Well, you’re alive.”

  “Barely.” She stifled a thin laugh. “Last year, I almost didn’t make it.” Her left hand went to an area right under her ribs. She rubbed the spot with the edges of her fingers. “Stabbed—right here. I lost a lot of blood. Even when the Death Days were over, I still had to recover—two weeks just to open my eyes. It’s not like there is an emergency room in this place. A bad injury can kill you, too.”

  My motherly instincts or whatever drive I had to touch this girl was aflame. Without thinking, I put my arms around her and pulled her toward me. I don’t really know why I did it. Maybe, I saw her like I saw Mari and Miko. Maybe, I was scared myself, but she was able to express what was buried deep within me. Either way, I tugged her to me. She relaxed and tightened a hand around my back.

  “I don’t know anything,” I said. “But I think we are going to make it. We will make it.”

  I let her go. Her eyes were glossy.

  “If you, um, want to talk to Jonas about anything, you’d better do it now,” she said. “Once we get to midnight, it’ll be a bit crazy around here. Just remember that he’s survived this, a lot of times. So, he’s pretty good at it.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Shannon walked away. It took a second for me to come to grips with what had happened. I wasn’t the hugging type. I was hugged by others: Dhyla, Su
n Hi, even Rylan, but for me to initiate a hug from anyone outside of Mari and Miko gave me a weird shiver along my back. I was happy I did it, though. I was proud of myself for trying to connect with another person instead of being the person everyone else was connecting to.

  I gathered myself and went to the kitchen. Jonas lifted up a pot of what looked like vegetables and rice. The food didn’t look bad, but it was unappealing after the great dinner from less than an hour ago.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Provisions for later. You don’t think anyone will just let us take a break and cook breakfast, do you?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  He took a towel and wiped off the countertop before spreading the rice dish over the cleaned area. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow. “So what’s up?”

  “Nothing really. I guess a few of the troops are going through their motions.”

  “It’s normal. No one likes unknowns. And you’re a big unknown.”

  “Do you think we will make it through this?”

  He pressed the rice down and made a large square that seemed to jell together like a cake. “If I thought I was going to die, I’d just go out and get it over with. There’s no point in suffering. Don’t think about death. Think about living. We’ll make it through if we focus on living and act smart.”

  What he said made sense. I was learning to focus on what I could do versus hoping that something bad wouldn’t happen.

  “So, the Rattlers, huh?” I asked, not knowing how to lead into the question.

  “Sorry?”

  “Vogel. You seem to know a lot about him. Were you a part of the Rattlers first? I mean before the Nobodys started.”

  Jonas laughed and looked away for a few seconds. He slid his hand through the rice cutting it with his palm and began to make six mounds. “No matter what this place looks like Paeton, it’s still a prison. If you don’t have connections, you die. So to answer your question, yes I was a Rattler first. Vogel and I were never friends. He respected me, and I him. I did lots of bad things that Vogel told me to.”

  Every word he said was spoken with precision like he was trying to remove the notion that we were in some poor township on the edge of a larger city. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, but the desire to live, if not just for me but for my kids, is worth all that I’ve been through.”

  A pinch pricked in my chest. I wondered what he had done. What horrid skeletons did he have in his closet?

  His gaze locked onto mine before it pierced through me. After a moment, the intensity faded.

  I sighed and tried to force a smile. “So Vogel, what’s he like?”

  “He’s an old, cranky fart. But he’s lived in this place since he was a young man. He’s smart. Even smart enough to stay away from the Originals.”

  “He was never a part of the Originals?” I asked.

  “The only people that are part of the Originals are the ones the Originals choose. And they only choose the best.”

  He rolled the rice into what looked like sushi rolls. He took out a few pieces of cloth and wrapped the rolls up in them.

  I tried to lighten the conversation. “They don’t have you, right?”

  “I’m not the best. If I was the best, I wouldn’t be in here.”

  “So, who’s the best in here, then?” I plastered a fake smile on my face to hide my increasing fear.

  “Vogel is intelligent. He keeps his people alive and finds a way to suffer minimal losses during the Death Days. Raj is smart too. He’s just not a perfect people person. He can make rash decisions sometimes. His mindset is save the many, lose the few. Luckily, he has me to save his butt and curve his decisions. However, both of them are walking Neanderthals to Trivet.”

  “Trivet?” I asked, making sure I had the name right. It sounded so odd. “Who is he?”

  His expression tightened. “Trivet is the only person in this whole place who has a plan to escape. That’s why he’s smarter than all of us.”

  “So is he with the Rattlers?”

  “No, he’s with the Razorbacks.” He slid the last of the rolls to the side and wiped off his hands.

  Confusion flooded me. “So… how is that working?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, this guy Trivet is like the smartest guy in here, but he’s with the Razorbacks. I haven’t even heard you mention them in a sentence.”

  “Things in here are just like on the outside. They don’t always work like you think they will. The Originals are strong but are dumb. They are set in their ways. The Rattlers are a bit smarter, but not quite as strong. That’s why those two are always at each other’s throats. The Razorbacks are a lot like us. They try to keep a low profile. The difference is they are filled with families and people who have resolved to change their lives.”

  He put the rolls in a satchel and grabbed a stack of cups. After he placed them into the bag, he focused on me. “Trivet has worked on finding a way around the gates since he first got here. In three months, he mapped out the whole complex, examined the water supply, and found ways to test both the electric field and the stone wall for weaknesses. He even calculated the force needed to levitate one person up or down Circle One.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yes, wow is right.”

  “What did he find out?” I asked.

  “When I talked with him last, he seemed to believe that he was close, very close. He said if it worked, we could get out.”

  I glanced over at Jonas. There was more to what he was saying. Anticipation tickled my stomach. “But…”

  “But, there is a cost.”

  “Human cost,” I said.

  “Of course. Do you think I’d be having this conversation with you if I could have been out of here weeks ago?” His eyes shifted, and his jaw clenched.

  I considered stopping my questions, but I felt out of the know when I first started with Escerica. Later when I needed their information, I had to catch up. This time I didn’t have the luxury of time, so I pressed further. “You said earlier that the Razorbacks are a lot like the Nobodys, that they have decided to be better people. Is that what you guys want?”

  “Paeton,” Jonas started, standing to his full height. His presence thickened as though he were twice the size. Everything within me said that I should be backing out of the kitchen. “We are not like the Razorbacks. We like who we are. I like who I am and what I believe. I don’t want to change. I want the world to change, and I’m not be intimidated by those who are afraid of that change.”

  His response reminded me a lot of Rylan’s words. The same words I had repeated at Perimeter Market because they sounded appropriate. “Change is coming. Fear nor pacification will stop change. It is inalienable,” were Rylan’s exact words. Jonas was giving me the other side of it. The side that said that those who wanted change had an idea of the world they wanted and refused to budge on their beliefs.

  “Why are you so passionate about changing the world?” Anger stirred inside of me. Sure, I didn’t like when I was living on the street or the struggle I had in my former life, but I had almost died. Mari and Miko, not to mention Rylan, could be dead. There was no way to know for sure. And Dhyla… she did die.

  A blast of air shot through my nostrils. “What will all of this do? Do you think the mega rich will ever care about people like me? I’ve had people… I’ve had people tell me that I was better off dead, that I should be ashamed to even draw breath in their presence. Why would these people ever care about us—about me?”

  Jonas angled his body away. He seemed to deflate as the words streamed from my mouth, but there was something else within him. Something I didn’t understand. He had Rylan’s strength, but it was stronger in him—purer, more powerful. Jonas was the source.

  He turned back toward me and stood six inches taller. “I’ve lost my wife. My son is a fugitive. I’ve been locked up in a prison for five years.” His eyes met mine. His stare sliced into my back. “I was ric
h, Paeton. I was mega rich as you call it. I lived at the edge of the Summit, high above everything. I could have easily paid a guy on the street, almost any random idiot I found, a measly five thousand credits to put a gun to your head and use your brain as graffiti.”

  I took a step back. My eyes glossed over from frustration that I didn’t even know I had. Why was this bothering me so much?

  He took another step so his breath blasted into my face. I stared into the same eyes as Rylan, except these weren’t cool gray; they were a fiery brown. I forced myself to hold his stare. His face rose over mine like a mountain—a mountain that I couldn’t climb, or even see the top because of all the dark clouds floating around it.

  “I gave up everything,” he growled. “For people like you. For deadbeats, winos, prostitutes, drug dealers, and even thieves. I’ve killed plenty of innocent people just to survive, listened to them beg for their lives as I ripped it away from them.”

  Guilt flooded me, radiating my cheeks with heat.

  “Before the Five Day R, I had everything. Don’t lecture me or even think you can come close to me when it comes to sacrifice, my dear. You’ve just begun to feel pain. When all of this is over, there won’t be a part of you that won’t cry out daily for relief. If you don’t go crazy, you will. If you haven’t thought of suicide, you will. If you haven’t smelled the scent of the blood of those you hold dear, trust me, you will.”

  Tears broke over the surface of my lower eyelids and ran down my heated cheeks. My voice cracked as I spoke. “I’ve already smelled it. I’ve already cried out. I’ve already gone crazy!”

  “Good,” he said. “Then, you’ll be ready when it happens again, and again, and again.”

  I dropped my gaze, and he stepped past me. Anger burned in my body filling every pore with flames. The tension inside of me intensified until my body twitched in frustration.

  I didn’t hate Jonas. I didn’t hate Escerica. I hated this struggle, this process, this fight. This wasn’t my fight. I didn’t want to fight. I would benefit if I did, and it was for my benefit. But I didn’t want this.