by Lucy Adler
Daria looked down at Jake.
I’m so sorry.
“Wait,” she said, “how are we going to move him? We can’t carry him the whole way, can we?”
“No.”
“Sooo...?”
Corey just stared at her, his face looking apologetic.
“No way! We’re not just going to leave him here! That’s not what you’re going to say, is it?”
Corey stepped closer to her and reached out his hand, just like he had in the hall earlier that evening.
“I know this doesn’t make sense, Dasha. And I know you’ve been through a lot recently. But I’m asking you, for Jake... please just trust me a little longer?”
“But what if they find him? What if something happens to him? He’s literally unconscious. He can’t protect himself.”
“He’s stronger than you think.”
What??
“He’ll be just fine,” Corey continued. “Believe me, he’s my friend, too. I wouldn’t leave him here if I thought something bad could happen to him.”
Daria knelt down and felt Jake’s head.
“What if we just give him another ten or twenty minutes? Maybe he’ll wake up?”
“He needs his full eight hours.”
Full eight hours??
“But once he has it, he’ll be able to join up with us again.” Corey looked at his watch. “He only needs another three or so, if he was sleeping in the car.”
“Then why don’t we just wait for him?”
“Because I need to make sure you’re safe, Dasha. You’re all that matters.”
“Me? You’re really gonna have to fill in the gaps here. This is beyond confusing.”
“Look, we’ll talk as we go, alright? How about that?”
Daria stood up again and sighed.
He’s gotten me this far. And Jake did do that magic thingy back at the facility. He could just show up again, right?
“Ok.”
“Thanks, Dasha. Jake would be happy, believe me!”
_______________________
They walked off across the field where they left Jake to sleep and made their way toward the hills that Corey had pointed out. It had been about half an hour before Daria finally decided to hold him to his promise.
“So, what’s going on? What was that back at the Institute? Why does Jake need to sleep so long? And why do you have to protect me?”
“Is that all?” he laughed.
“Dude, don’t. Just answer me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “It’s just a little strange for me to be telling you about these things.”
“Why?”
“Never mind,” he said, shaking his head. “So, basically, that whole place was a lie.”
“The institute?”
“Progress.”
“The city?”
“Yeah, the city. One big, fat, shining lie.” He paused and looked back at the glow on the horizon, shaking his head again. Then he turned towards the hills and kept walking.
“What does that even mean?” Daria asked in frustration.
“The buildings, the lights, the cars... that’s all real enough. I’m talking about what it stands for. Their vision and agenda.”
Daria was quiet, waiting for him to continue.
“Let me guess,” he said, “they told you that you were ‘becoming the best version of yourself’, or something like that, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you were actually getting better at things, weren’t you? Running longer, and faster. Remembering things more clearly. Solving more complex math problems. Right?”
“Yeah, I was.”
“Did they tell you how that was happening? Why you experienced such a big change in such a short period of time””
“Not really. They just told me they could help me and that I would definitely get better. And then I just... did.”
“Did you ever ask them how it was possible? And why Sendrax hadn’t been working for you before then?”
“No. I guess I was just happy I was finally feeling normal again. And I was looking forward to getting out.” Then Daria thought again about what he had just said. “Wait, how did you know Sendrax wasn’t working for me?”
“That’s the only reason they would have brought you there. And as for your sudden improvement, they were slowly dosing you with Direx. It was in your daily pills, and in the food.”
“But they told me I wasn’t going to get the shot until the last day.”
“The shot, yeah. But they had been drip-feeding you with it for weeks already. The shot was the final step. They wanted to see how you would respond to it in smaller dosses before they gave you the big one.”
Drugged? I was being drugged? And Jake Two knew about it all along! That --
Daria clenched her teeth and took her next few steps a bit more aggressively.
“But ok, so what? I mean, yeah, it was pretty sucky of them to drug me without telling me. But they said that eventually everyone was going to be given Direx. Isn’t it the wave of the future? The new Sendrax? So what if I got it a little earlier? Unless you’re going to tell me that Sendrax is a lie, too!” she laughed.
Corey was quiet.
“Shut up. No way. I don’t believe it.”
“You really don’t believe it?”
“But Sendrax is the basis of everything now. Isn’t it? Like, it’s why we don’t still live in the Former Days.”
“There are so many problems with what you just said!” Corey laughed.
“So correct me, then.”
“It’s true that Sendrax keeps people awake. It’s true that they’re more active on it.”
“So how is it a lie, then?”
“Because the premise is entirely false. Sleep is not a problem that needs solving.”
Daria thought about this for a little while as they continued walking over fields and through sparse stands of trees. She had never gone for a ‘hike’ before. No one in Progress went out into nature on purpose, except maybe some of the scientists. But her mind could only think about so many new things at once, so she focused on Corey’s last statement.
She remembered telling Brix about how she would feel so much better for a short time after she had slept 60 minutes instead of 45.
But then Miss Croft’s lessons came to mind.
“What about the... you know... the Dark? Isn’t sleep where it, like, feeds on you, or something?”
Wow. That sounded so intense in the room back at the facility. Terrifying, actually.
So why does it sound so stupid when I say it out here?
She looked up at the stars for a second as she walked. Then she noticed that she was breathing more easily than she had before, even though she never thought she had a problem breathing. Somehow, though, it was like her lungs could sense the open space around her and they were trying to draw in as much of it as possible.
Corey shook his head again. He was doing that a lot during their conversation.
“It’s amazing how they’ve managed to convince everyone with that idea,” he said. “I mean, if it were just a little off, like 90% true, 10% lie, I’d say, ‘Yeah, I could see that’. But it’s so completely the opposite, there’s no truth left in it!”
“So, the Dark doesn’t feed on...” She couldn’t even finish her question.
“No, Dasha. The Dark isn’t interested in feeding on your mind while you sleep!” Corey said with another laugh. “The irony is, Sendrax has turned the human race into the biggest buffet the Dark has ever seen.”
Daria wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that but before she could follow it up, a different question suddenly shot through her mind. And she couldn’t begin to fathom how it hadn’t been her very first question the second they had stopped the car.
“Oh yeah! So what on earth was that shadow thing back there?! You said it was you, right? And what did you do to Jake Two?”
“Who?”
“The guy who was chas
ing us. The one you touched on the head.”
Corey didn’t answer her quite as quickly this time but she could tell he was thinking about what to say.
“Well,” he finally replied, “like I said in the hall back there, it was a dream figure.”
“How did you do it?”
“I think we’re going to have to hold off on this part of the conversation until a little later. Just trust me.”
“But, what about what Jake did? Was that a dream thingy, too?”
Corey stopped for a second and turned to face her.
“Later, please?” he said quietly. “You’ll get all your answers, I promise you. You’ll get answers to questions you never even knew you had. Ok?”
Daria was reluctant to concede, but she finally did.
“Ok. I believe you.”
Corey smiled and then started walking again. “Of course, we can still talk about the other stuff, if you want.”
“Alright. Then explain that buffet thing you just said. How Sendrax was actually feeding the Dark, or something like that?”
“You’ve seen pictures of lions, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Think of it like this. There’s a nice, warm, cozy cottage, filled with the best food and softest blankets you’ve ever seen.”
Daria listened closely.
“You’re cold, tired, hungry. You’ve been walking for ages.”
“Sorry, you lost me! That’s just way too hard to imagine right now! Got anything more relatable?” she said in her best sarcastic tone.
“Aaaanyway... You spot the cottage and you’re relieved! But then some guy appears out of nowhere, telling you, ‘Don’t go in there! There’s a lion in there! He’ll rip you to pieces and then eat you for dinner! Run! Run away!’”
“Ooo-k...?”
“So you run in the opposite direction. And you know what? Hiding in the bushes is a big ol’ hungry lion, waiting for his next meal. And you’re dead.”
Corey gave her a sideways glance and smiled as he finished, appearing quite pleased with himself and his story-telling abilities.
“That was really weird,” Daria said. “I actually have no idea what that was supposed to tell me.”
He sighed. “Ok, look. Sleep is a good thing, Dasha. A necessary thing. We’re craving it - all of us. But Sendrax lies about what’s inside. And just when we think we’re doing the responsible, intelligent thing by running away - by eradicating sleep and embracing the ‘active’ life - we wind up becoming prey for the real predator.”
“The real predator?”
“The actual Dark.”
“Wait, what? So the Dark is a real thing?”
“Yes, Dasha.”
Her head was starting to hurt. Just like when he told her it was going to be a long trip, Corey also hadn’t been kidding when he told her that everything she knew was about to change. And even with all the progress she had made recently in her energy and mental stamina, the last several hours had begun to sap her strength. Her mind was having trouble processing things. She suddenly felt tired - like her old self again. And she was trying not to get freaked out by the feeling.
“Do you have any more of those bars? I’m really hungry.”
“I wish. I am too.”
“How much longer till we get to wherever it is we’re going?”
“Maybe an hour and a half, at the most.”
Uuugghhh.
Daria held her stomach and felt it rumble as she looked down at her grey shoes, plodding up the mountainside through field after field.
Can you eat grass?
12
Month: 4 | Day: 1 | Year: 60
THE CABIN
“Please say it’s just over this next hill.”
“It’s just over this next hill.”
“Really?!”
“No.”
“Can we sit down for a second?”
“Sure.”
The terrain had turned rocky. They found a small outcropping that provided some ‘seats’ for them to rest on for a few minutes. Beneath them, the land fell away in a gentle slope, which hadn’t felt quite so gentle while they were climbing it for the last hour or more. They could see over some of the stands of trees they had passed through, far enough to spot a section of the road they had taken in their escape. And, of course, beyond it all, the ever-present glow of Progress.
I hope Jake is ok.
And I kinda hope Jake Two isn’t.
Is that a bad thing to hope? Not dead, or anything... just maybe in a little pain. Right in his stupid face.
“What are you thinking about?” Corey asked her.
“Nothing.”
“You sure? That was a lot of crazy stuff we talked about back there. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
“I think until I get some food, my mind is just sort of blank.”
“Fair enough. Well, let’s get moving then,” he said as he slapped his knee and stood up. “We’re almost there.”
“But you said it wasn’t over this hill.”
“It’s not,” he said with a smile. “It’s at the top of the hill!”
“Really?” she replied, raising her voice in frustration. “You think screwing around like that is helpful right now? Or funny?”
“Wow, you’re really hungry.”
“Sorry,” Daria said, coming back to herself.
“I’m sorry, I really wasn’t trying to mess with you. People often tell me that I’m not as funny as I think I am. I just always assume it’s because they’re jealous.”
Daria laughed as they jumped down from the rocks and continued their journey.
_______________________
Finally, they were approaching the crest of the hill.
It wasn’t the ethereal glow of Progress but there was a light casting shadows and guiding them for the last few minutes of their hike.
“Ah, here we are!” Corey said as their destination came into view.
It was a log cabin that looked like it had leapt straight off the screen in one of Daria’s history classes. Except that this one seemed much bigger than the ones from the Former Days. It was two storeys, with five dormers and a deep porch that extended the entire length of the house. Through one of the ground floor windows, Daria could see three or four people around a table.
“Hang on,” she said, stopping about a stone’s throw from the front steps.
“What’s wrong?”
“Who are these people?”
“They’re friends. This is a safe place, Dasha.”
“That’s what Dr. Reston said.”
Corey stepped closer and touched her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. It reminded her of the one Jake had given her that morning at school, not long before her life got turned upside down.
“I know you’ve been lied to. I know you’ve been used and put in danger. But even if you aren’t sure about me, or these people,” he said, pointing toward the house, “remember that Jake is the one that found you. He’s the one that set all of this in motion.”
“And when am I going to see him again? I mean, we’ve been walking for like three hours. Shouldn’t he have done his sparkly shadow thing and appeared by now?”
Just then, as she uttered the last word of her complaint, the front door of the cabin swung open and someone stepped out onto the porch.
“Dash! Dash!”
“Jake!”
The two of them ran to each other and met just at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the house.
“Oh my gosh, Jake! You’re alright!”
“Yeah, I’m fine! I’m fine!”
They hugged as tightly as two people can hold each other. Daria pressed the side of her head against his and closed her eyes. A few tears slipped out but she didn’t care.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered more than once.
“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Then the few tears turned into many as she started to cry.
“It’s ok, really. Everything is ok now,” Jake said, still holding her just as close. He turned his head a little to say the words quietly into her ear. “You’re safe now.”
_______________________
The table in the dining room was set with the most beautiful spread of food she had ever seen. She felt as though her stomach were trying to claw its way out of her to get at it.
Ok, so it wasn’t technically as luxurious or as abundant as the offering at the Institute, but Daria’s hunger interpreted it as the greatest feast known to man.
“Here you go,” one of the strangers said with a big smile as she handed her a plate. “Please, have as much as you want!”
“Thank you!”
In the centre of the table was a roast, with several pieces already shaved off and lying in a small pile beside it. Daria slid her fork under the pile and transferred all of it to her plate. Corey and Jake laughed, as did the three strangers. But it was a joyful laugh, not a mocking one.
Potatoes, broccoli, and carrots followed, ultimately topped off with a few scoops of a garden salad and three small dinner rolls.
“I should probably stop there!” Daria said with a laugh of her own.
No one talked about anything more than how good the food was, or what pleasant weather they were having. There would be time for heavier topics a little later. Someone mentioned the stars and Daria joined the conversation.
“That was the first time I’d ever seen them. You know, in person. That probably sounds pretty weird to you guys.”
“I remember my first time,” one of the strangers said. “It was about three years ago. I can still see it sometimes when I close my eyes.”
“Same,” another added. “Actually, wasn’t it you, Corey, that dragged me up the hill? Or was it Brett?”
“Nope, it was me. I remember because you got even more hangry than Daria!” he laughed.
“Sorry again about that,” Daria said.
“That was nothing,” Corey continued, “you should have seen Julia here! She was ravenous, and she certainly didn’t have any time for my stories or jokes. What was it you said to me?”
