Outpost

by Kellee L. Greene

  “Good luck, Sadie,” Grayson said and after the words left his lips, the four of them turned and vanished down the street.

  Lillian and Hayes stood there staring at me. I couldn’t see any of the elevators from where we were but I figured out chances would be best with the south.

  We were lucky that no one was around. The streets were awfully quiet and seemingly abandoned but maybe I just didn’t remember what life was like inside the wall.

  “This way,” I said and Hayes followed behind me. Lillian lingered behind him, her eyes glowing with paranoia as they darted around in every direction.

  As we got closer to the elevator, I saw the guard sitting on a nearby bench, resting his chin on his fist. He would definitely notice us if we tried to use the elevator.

  “What now?” Hayes asked as we hid behind the corner of the nearest building.

  “I’m not sure,” I said wishing Gina would have been there. She was good at making distractions.

  We weren’t hiding long when another guard walked over to the man on the bench. They talked briefly before the guard that was standing showed him a small bottle tucked inside of his jacket. It reminded me of the bottle Mister Paul had held like a security blanket.

  The guard on the bench shook his head but it didn’t take much convincing from the other guy before he stood up and followed him down the street. We wouldn’t have much time and the elevator would make noise but I didn’t think we’d get another chance.

  “Now!” I said in a harsh whisper as I pulled on Hayes’s arm.

  Our feet tapped the ground as we ran to the elevator. We rose upward much too slowly and the guard came running back.

  He stood there, watching as we rose slowly to the second level. The guard didn’t do anything. He was frozen in place too afraid to move. Perhaps it was because if he said anything, he’d be caught for drinking on the job. Something my father would surely consider banning him for.

  The elevator came to an abrupt stop and we stepped out onto level two which unfortunately was much brighter. I didn’t bother to send it back down and instead lead Hayes and Lillian through the shadows created by the trees toward my house.

  We stopped behind a tall shrub across the street from where I once lived. The lights to my home were on and it made my stomach turn to think that someone was walking around my place. I should have figured that my father would have given my house to someone else.

  “That’s not going to work,” I said.

  “What’s not going to work?” Lillian asked softly.

  “That was my home. Guess dear old dad decided to give it to someone more deserving,” I said.

  Lillian looked at me through half-closed eyelids. “I doubt he gave it away.”

  “I have another idea,” I said looking down the road before stepping out onto the sidewalk.

  Even the streets of level two seemed to be dead. I couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened since we were gone.

  I turned down the short street near Hayes’s house. His eyebrows squeezed together as he looked at me with utter confusion.

  “We can’t go to my home. It could put them in danger,” Hayes said.

  “I’m not going to your house,” I said pulling them around the side of their storage building. “Wait here.”

  I knocked on the door and it wasn’t even a full second before Linus opened the door.

  “What the hell?” he said with wide eyes.

  I waved at Hayes and Lillian and they both darted over. The three of us slipped into the storage room.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hayes and Linus stared at each other for a quick breath before they aggressively wrapped their arms around one another. Patting each other hard on the back. The love they had for one another was practically pouring out of their eyes.

  “I never thought I’d see you again,” Linus said. “They wouldn’t tell us what happened to you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hayes said. He was so choked up, it was all he could say.

  “We need to stay here for a while,” I said feeling horrible for interrupting.

  Linus turned to me as if he just remembered I was there. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to confront my father,” I said.

  “Your father?” Linus said scrunching up his face. “Oh…,” he swallowed hard. “You don’t know.”

  I shook my head, shooting a quick glance at Lillian. “Know what?”

  “Your father is dead,” Linus said looking down at the ground as he spoke.

  I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. Dead?

  “How?” I asked.

  “It wasn’t long after you left,” Linus said. “No one really knows what happened but your brother announced his death to the entire city. Said his heart stopped.”

  “His heart stopped?” I repeated the words to make sure I’d understood. My eyes were locked with Lillian’s.

  Linus shook his head and crossed his arms. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I said much too quickly. “He wasn’t even my father.”

  Linus stared at me. “I don’t understand.” He didn’t take his eyes off Lillian as I explained. “That explains why you were nothing like him,” Linus said after I finished. He lowered his gaze. “Things are much worse now.”

  “How can they be worse?” I asked.

  “Your brother is a tyrant,” Linus said crossing his arms. “Is he your actual brother?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” I said.

  Lillian’s eyes were filled with sadness as she shook her head vigorously. “He has a good heart. I know he does. He was raised by an evil man.”

  Everyone was silent.

  After a long moment, I cleared my throat. “Is that why the streets are empty?”

  “People are only allowed to walk to and from their jobs. The rest of the time they must be in their homes,” Linus explained. “He’s trying to stop whoever is helping level one.”

  “Does he know you’re involved?” I asked.

  Linus sighed. “I think he’s getting close to figuring it out. He’s invited me over several times. It’s very bizarre.”

  “Is he still living at his house?” I asked already knowing the answer.

  “Your dad’s house is Ezra’s house now,” Linus said. “He has several guards and that guy who used to be your dad’s butler—”

  “Davis,” I said.

  “Yes, Davis,” Linus said. “He’s practically Ezra’s slave.”

  Hayes took my hand into his. “This is too risky.”

  “What choice do I have?” I asked.

  “The guards switch after dinner time,” Linus said. “Maybe that will be your chance.”

  “Do you bring him dinner?” I asked.

  Linus’s lip curled up at the end. “I do. I like how you think.”

  “I don’t like any of this,” Hayes said.

  “She can hide in the cart,” Linus said staring at his brother. “Or now that I know you’re both back, we could just poison him.”

  “No!” Lillian said her eyes nearly popping out of her skull. “No poison.”

  I swallowed hard. “What can I do? I can’t kill my brother.”

  “I have an idea,” Hayes said grabbing something off of one of the shelves. He held up the brown little disk-shaped items.

  “What are those?” I asked.

  Hayes smirked. “Mushrooms.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  My legs were pulled in so close to my chest that it was hard to breathe. The cart was a bit smaller than I had anticipated but I was tucked under the tablecloth just perfectly.

  At the last second, Hayes had asked me not to go. He was worried about what my brother would do to me.

  He suggested Linus could simply deliver the food and my brother would fall asleep but that wouldn’t be enough. I would need to be there when he woke up, otherwise, everything would go on as usual. And my brother would punish Linus.

  Lillian had wished me good luck as
she helped me into the cart. Then she reminded me not to harm him. I couldn’t promise her but thankfully she hadn’t asked me to.

  Hayes had told me he loved me and it was all I could think about as the cart noisily bounced down the street.

  Linus was silent.

  Every bump in the sidewalk felt familiar. I knew exactly when we were going up toward the house.

  The squeak of the door made my bones ache. The sound of Davis’s voice made my heart pound.

  “Hello, Mister Dealy,” Davis said. “Glad you’re a bit early. President Keane is famished.”

  “Great. He’ll be quite pleased I made his favorite then,” Linus said and I could tell he was smiling.

  “Indeed. Indeed,” Davis said. “Go ahead, set it up in the dining room. He’ll be down soon.”

  If Linus responded I hadn’t heard it. He’d probably simply nodded his head.

  The cart rattled deeper into the house and soon came to a stop. Linus moved around the room but I stayed still.

  “You going to be okay?” Linus asked in a voice lighter than air.

  “Yes,” I replied even quieter.

  He tapped the top of the cart before his feet shuffled away. I was alone in what used to be my father’s house waiting for my brother to eat his stew.

  My nerves were shaking as if they were bolts of lightning from the other side of the wall. I worried that everything was going to go wrong. I also worried that everything was going to go according to plan but even when I confronted him, there was no guarantee about what would happen afterward.

  When I heard the creaking of the stairs, I knew I didn’t have time to worry. Time was up.

  There was only one set of footsteps that had entered the room. I couldn’t see anything. The tablecloth blocked out nearly all of the light except for what bounced upward from underneath.

  The sounds of a metal spoon clanking against a bowl chopped through the air. My leg started to twitch from being cramped-up into such a tight spot.

  The cart squeaked at nearly the same time Davis entered the room.

  “Everything good, sir?” Davis asked.

  “Excellent,” Ezra said. His voice felt like there were razor blades slicing up and down my spine.

  “Wonderful. Anything I can get for you?” Davis asked.

  I could hear Ezra yawn. “Nothing. I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the day,” Ezra said setting down his spoon noisily.

  “Very good,” Davis said his feet padding softly against the floor as he left. Each step quieter than the last.

  This was going to be easier than I anticipated.

  “Davis!” Ezra shouted.

  He appeared faster than what seemed possible. “Yes, sir?”

  “You forgot to clean up.” His tone disgusted me more than his order.

  “I didn’t think you were finished yet, sir,” Davis said.

  “I am now,” Ezra said as he roughly pushed his chair away from the table.

  “Good night, sir,” Davis said. I could tell that his head was down by the softness of his voice.

  Ezra’s steps weren’t as gentle as Davis’s had been when he’d left the room. The steps creaked in a familiar way as he ascended them.

  My leg tapped the side of the cart and it jerked ever-so-slightly as it made a tiny clanking sound. If Davis noticed, he didn’t do or say anything. He placed the dirty dishes on top of the cart and started wheeling me from the room.

  My body felt numb and not just because of my nerves being pinched. The front door opened and I instantly realized I was being driven outside.

  I had to get off the cart before it was too late. The air outside of the house wasn’t much different than that inside, perhaps a bit warmer, but somehow, I could feel the second I was out of the house.

  “Davis!” my brother bellowed.

  Davis walked away from the cart. “Sir?”

  “There are some items in the kitchen that need to go back to the cook,” Ezra shouted.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Davis called back before pulling the cart back into the house and closing the door.

  He wheeled me toward the kitchen but stopped the cart just outside of the room. The second I was certain he was away from the cart, I ungracefully dove out onto the floor.

  My eyes darted around the room to make sure Davis was nowhere in sight. There were sounds coming from the kitchen but no one was anywhere around as far as I could tell.

  I tried to stand but my legs wouldn’t work. Painful pins and needles stabbed at me from my toes all the way to my hips.

  I dragged myself out of the room, using mostly my elbows. Even when I was certain I was out of sight, it still didn’t feel like my lungs were filling with enough oxygen to keep me from passing out.

  My hands moved up and down my legs trying to massage the life back into them. The sheathed knife in my back pocket pressed against the side of my back.

  Lillian had made me promise I wouldn’t harm Ezra but Hayes insisted I bring something just in case. Hayes knew that Ezra wouldn’t hesitate to harm me if it came to that. And deep down I knew he was absolutely right.

  The pins and needles in my legs seemed to get worse as I sat there with my back against the wall listening to the sounds of the house. Davis finished whatever he was doing and rolled the cart away before he vanished to his quarters. Ezra was upstairs but I couldn’t hear him moving about. Perhaps the mushrooms in the soup had worked.

  I waited for a long while before I attempted to stand on my legs. The house was dark but not completely. There was a light on the outside of the house that glowed through the front windows and Ezra had left a hallway light on upstairs.

  It wasn’t like I needed the light… I could navigate the house with my eyes closed. As I made my way to the stairs, I kept my back to the wall hiding in the shadows.

  The house was silent but so was I. I knew where to step to ensure my footsteps were soundless.

  My eyes darted around as I crept up the stairs. There wasn’t a sound inside the house but I couldn’t help but feel like an elephant maneuvering their way around in a space that was much too small.

  At the top of the stairs, I paused to take in a breath. I could feel my lungs balloon inside my chest.

  My breaths were quick and shallow as I stopped in front of my brother’s bedroom. The door was wide open and the lights were off.

  My heartbeat echoed in my ears as I leaned forward and peeked inside the room.

  Empty.

  Where was he?

  There was no movement. No sounds. And the lights were off.

  Had he fallen?

  I walked down the hall, passing my old room. It was empty although there was zero chance he’d be in there.

  It wasn’t until I checked the bathroom that I realized he’d taken over my father’s room at the end of the hall. I should have guessed considering it was the biggest and best room in the house. It had the largest bed, a hot tub, a mini-kitchen — it could have housed a small family from level one.

  The door was closed. I placed my ear against the wood, listening for any sound.

  Nothing.

  Silence.

  The doorknob felt cool as I rested my hand down on the metal before slowly curling my fingers around the knob. It squeaked out a high-pitched noise as I turned it and pushed the door open.

  I inhaled an icy breath. My body was stiff as I leaned to the side.

  Ezra was in there.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Ezra was sprawled out face-down on the mattress. His right leg was hanging off the bed, almost touching the floor. It was as though he had just made it to the bed before passing out.

  I drew in a shaky breath as I turned and closed the door behind me. I dragged his desk chair over to the door and pinned it under the doorknob.

  Ezra groaned as he rolled and pushed himself to his feet. I held absolutely still.

  His back was to me as he dragged his feet to the bathroom. He turned the light on but didn’t clos
e the door.

  The sounds of him emptying the contents of his stomach caused my own stomach to swirl. I covered my mouth with my trembling fingers to hold my lips together.

  Ezra turned on the water. I heard him spit into the sink before turning off the light and stepping into the bedroom.

  He took three steps before stopping. I hadn’t moved.

  “Sadie?” He squinted at me. “Is that you?”

  I sucked in a breath and swallowed down the sourness at the back of my throat. “Yes. It’s me.”

  “How did you get in here?” Ezra asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “I guess not. What are you doing here? And yes, that does matter.”

  My eyes were locked with his. “What happened to dad?”

  “You answer first.”

  “I’m here to talk.”

  “Bull shit.”

  Even in the dark room, he could tell I was lying. “I’ve been out there and look at me.” I held out my arms. “Alive and well. Everything we’ve been told has been a lie. Everything.”

  “We see the storms,” Ezra said pointing to the ceiling. “There isn’t anything that’s been a lie.”

  “The storms are bad but people can survive. We’re not alone. There are people out there.”

  “Why should I care about them? The only thing I have to do is take care of the city and now that you’ve been banished or more accurately now that everyone thinks you’re dead, I have to do it alone.”

  “That’s what you’ve always wanted anyway,” I said exhaling. “But it’s time for a change.”

  Ezra snorted. “Things have changed if you haven’t noticed. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. Everyone is happy and everything is running smoothly. I’ve nearly eliminated the entire operation you were working for.”

  My thoughts quickly flipped to Darlene and the others on level one. How were they surviving?

  “You’re delusional,” I said.

  “The prison is nearly full and others had to be banished but it’s been lovely since father passed,” Ezra said pressing his palms to his thighs as he took a step forward.