by Lucy Adler
“We’ll go over the details on the drive there.”
“Um, I might have a problem,” Daria said hesitantly, raising her hand partway as if she were in a classroom.
“What is it?” Jake asked.
“I sort of didn’t dream last night.”
She cringed as if she were disappointing the group. But instead of looking concerned, they all laughed.
“It’s about time!” Max said. “You were making the rest of us look bad.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Julia said. “It’s stranger that you’ve had so many dreams, not that you’ve had a night without one!”
“Yeah, dreams are always significant,” Corey added. “Accessing the dream-state like I did when I rescued you, or Aury did here, is one thing. That’s a momentary, focused act. But passive dreams at night, those aren’t your choice.”
Daria sighed and smiled with relief.
“That’s good to know. I thought I had messed something up.”
“That’s the thing about this gift,” Jake said, “you can’t really mess it up. It’s bigger than you, Daria. All you can do is choose to listen or not.”
“What if I don’t hear it?”
“It’s inside you. Don’t worry, it knows how to get your attention.”
“That’s for sure!” Max added.
Cory was checking his watch again as they talked.
“Alright, we gotta go,” he said, hopping up and grabbing his bags. Everyone followed suit and they loaded the van in under a minute. They arranged their bags, along with a few blankets, so that Aury could sleep comfortably on the floor. The rest of them squeezed in around her however they could.
Corey rode in the back this time, so that he could fill them in on the details of the Institute, since most of them had never been there before. Jake took the wheel up front, and Daria joined him.
_______________________
“So, Jake Two?”
Daria didn’t say anything at first but Jake just let the words hang in the air.
“Just some jerk from the Institute,” she replied, looking away from him, out the window.
“So, is Two his last name, or...”
“His name is actually Eric. But when I first met him, he called himself Jake.”
“Oh.”
She glanced over and could see Jake frown briefly. Then he seemed like he was deep in thought.
I guess I just get it over with. Like ripping off a band-aid.
“We were kinda, together. Just for a short time. And I might have kissed him.”
As much as she wanted to see Jake’s reaction, she couldn’t bring herself to keep looking at him. She stared out the window again, her heart beating heavily, her hands feeling weak. Then she continued.
“There were so many things going on, so many changes. They blocked all my messages, so I couldn’t talk to you. I had no idea how long I would be there. And I didn’t even know if...”
She trailed off, shaking her head. All her reasons just felt silly, now that she was sitting next to Jake. Real Jake.
Please say something. Say anything.
“It’s ok. I understand.”
“Really?”
“Well, it’s not exactly like I had told you how I felt before they took you away. You didn’t know.”
Daria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her heart settled and her hands felt steady again. She smiled as she looked at him.
“I had my suspicions,” she said. He removed his right hand from the steering wheel and reached out for hers. Their fingers wrapped around one another and their palms pressed together.
“And I’m sorry about Justine,” he said.
“Why? As Brix loved to remind me, it was my own fault. I pushed you away.”
“I never really liked her like that, though. I was just trying to be as normal as possible so I didn’t attract attention.”
Never really liked her??
Daria’s mind flashed back to all of the times she wished she were in Justine’s place. All of the times she watched them walk down the hall together, holding each other’s hands. Or saw them across the cafeteria, laughing and having fun during lunch.
Then Jake glanced over at her, his eyes as sincere and genuine as she’d ever seen them.
“It was always you, Daria.”
A warm feeling flooded over her. It was comforting, peaceful. She would probably have leaned over and kissed him on the cheek if it weren’t for another feeling that challenged it. A cold, uneasy sensation gnawing in her stomach.
“But wasn’t I just your responsibility? Like a job, or a chore? You were assigned to me, right?”
Her grip on his hand loosened a little but his got tighter.
“Well, yeah, I was assigned to you. There were several of us watching out for you. But no one ‘assigned’ my feelings, Dash.”
She wanted to believe him but the warmth and the cold were still wrestling inside her.
“During the two years that we were friends, I helped out on a few other missions around Progress, getting other sleepers out of the city. There were even two other girls our age that I helped through some pretty intense stuff as they were being extracted. But I never felt anything like I felt for you.”
He glanced at her again, then added, “Like I still feel for you.”
Daria finally felt the warmth sink into the deepest recesses of her soul. It was like the cosiest blanket she’d ever pulled over herself.
Then she leaned over and gave him that kiss on the cheek.
_______________________
They pulled off the road and parked outside a mall about ten minutes away from the Institute.
“So, how’s everyone?” Jake asked as he and Daria came around and released the rest of the group from their prison in the back of the van. Max was the first to emerge, stretching his legs and arms with a groan.
“It’s all Robin Hood back here, mate.”
Aury was the next to climb out.
“You’re awake!” Daria said, giving her a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel great!” she replied with her usual chipper tone and glowing smile. “Just in time, too, from what Corey has been telling us. They’ve got your friend, don’t they?”
“Yeah, seems like it.”
“We definitely have to get her out of that place.”
By this point, everyone had formed something of a loose circle beside the van. It may have been the middle of the ‘night’ but the lights of Progress were shining down on them. Business operated 24/7 in the Advanced Cities. Even at three o’clock in the morning, there were shoppers coming and going. Not as many as during the ‘day’ but enough. So Jake had parked on the outskirts of the lot to maintain some privacy.
“So how is this going down?” Julia asked.
“Our best bet is to enter through Corridor F,” Corey answered. “The same one we used during your escape,” he said to Daria.
“But how do we get through those double doors at the end? Won’t they be locked?”
Corey looked at Jake.
“You up for it?”
Jake nodded.
“Ok, then. Jake will translocate to the other side and let us in.”
“Doesn’t that drain you, though?” Daria asked Jake. “I mean, when you guys rescued me, you could barely walk after.”
Corey answered for him.
“That was only because he hadn’t been able to sleep much in the days before, because of that prison cell. But he’s fully charged now, eh?” He gave Jake a slap on the back. Jake just smiled and nodded.
“Ok, but aren’t the doors locked from the inside, too? Don’t we need a wristband?”
“There’s an override. He knows how it works, I showed him when we were there for you.”
“Then what?” Julia asked. “We just stroll down the hall, one big, happy group?”
“Well, yeah,” Corey replied. “There aren’t any cameras in the Corridors, not until yo
u get inside the facility itself. Each Corridor is what’s called an external entrance. Then there are the internal entrances. That gets a bit trickier.”
Daria was remembering her arrival and the metal hall, then the strange juxtaposition of the comfortable, spacious common area on the other end. And the creepy smile of Dr. Reston as he welcomed her.
We’re honoured to have you at our facility! I bet you were. Lying...
Daria couldn’t think of a word strong enough to finish the thought, so she just squinted her eyes and grit her teeth.
“Can’t Jake just do his little trick and let us through that one as well?” Max asked.
“He could but we have no idea what’s on the other side. No one is watching the first set of doors. The internal entrance, on the other hand, will have cameras on it at the very least. It’s possible no one will be watching them but we probably don’t want to bank on it.”
“So, what do we do?” Daria asked.
“Do you remember how you heard Jake’s voice when you were there?”
“Of course. The first time was through the ventilation duct in the gymnasium. But the second time just seemed like it was from the ceiling.”
“Exactly. The ventilation system. There are a few openings in the Corridors and I think we should be able to access the facility that way.”
“You think?” Julia asked.
“Ok, I know we can access it that way,” Corey replied, “the part I’m not entirely sure about is whether it’ll be safe for all of us to climb in there. It’s a heavy duty system but six people is going to make a heck of a racket. I was thinking three, or even two, would be safer.”
“So what do the rest of us do?” Aury asked, assuming she would be one of those left out.
“You wait. You wait just outside the internal entrance, and when I signal you,” he said, tapping his wristband, “then Jake does his ‘little trick’, opens the door, and you meet us on our way out.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Aury said, shaking her head in confusion. “Two questions. First, didn’t you say that if Jake appeared on the other side, the cameras might see him?”
“The reality is, once we grab this girl, I can’t imagine escaping with her quietly. If all goes perfectly well, then maybe. Maybe we can sneak back out the ducts before anyone notices she’s missing. But more than likely, we’ll be coming out with the little dogs nipping at our heels - and you guys will need to be ready for anything.”
“Ok,” she replied, “but when you said two people, I sort of assumed it would be you and Jake going in. If he’s waiting outside, then who’s going with you?”
Corey looked down at the ground, then across the circle at Daria.
“Me?”
He continued staring at her.
“Why me?”
“I’m not sure what they’ll have done to Brix. And even if they’ve done nothing to her, after the trauma of being kidnapped and held hostage, I think it’ll be wise to have a familiar face there to reassure her. The last thing we need is for her to freak out and take off on her own.”
“But she knows Jake.”
“But Jake’s the only one who can translocate and override the door.”
Now Daria looked down at the ground. She turned and took a few steps away from the circle, then back again.
“But if things get sketchy in there - or I guess, when things get sketchy - I don’t know how to do any of this... stuff,” she said, not yet having the right vocabulary to express herself. “I mean, Aury’s probably more dangerous than me!”
“That’s probably true,” Aury said with a cheeky grin.
Jake touched Daria’s shoulder as he spoke for the first time since they started their briefing outside the van.
“Don’t worry. Corey can protect you, just like he did when you escaped.”
Daria looked at him, concern and anxiety heavy on her face.
“But don’t forget,” he added, “you’re one of us, too. Even though it’s all still new and you’ve barely scratched the surface, there’s more inside you than you realise, Dash.”
“He’s right,” Julia said. She was standing on the other side of her, so she placed her hand on Daria’s other shoulder.
“Aww, this looks like the start of a group hug!” Max teased them.
Daria smiled a little, then looked down at the ground again.
“But what if I screw this up? Like, what if I need to do something and I can’t do what I’m supposed to do when I’m supposed to do it?”
“And she thinks I’m hard to understand,” Max joked again. Aury gave him a punch in the shoulder.
Jake stepped in front of her now and looked her in the eyes.
“It’s always been about what you should do, or need to do. About trying harder and not failing. That’s just this place,” he said, glancing around and motioning with his head. “This city is a prison. You have to let it go.”
“But I really could screw this up.”
“Remember, the gift inside you, the power, it knows how to get your attention. All you have to do is listen. All the worries and what-ifs only make it harder and harder to hear.”
“Seriously, Dashy,” Aury piped up, “like, when I went into that house, I had no idea what was going to happen, or what I was going to do! It just happened. You just feel it, and then you go with it. Easy peasy.”
“Normally, you’d have gotten the chance to experiment up at the cabin,” Corey said. “But these visions were pretty strange, so you’re kind of getting thrown into the deep end. But really, like Jake said, I can protect you. You don’t have to be afraid.”
“That’s right, skin,” Max said, trying to be more encouraging after Aury’s reminder, “if you end up in a right Two and Six, you’ll know what to do.”
“Thanks?” Daria replied slowly.
“Fix,” Aury clarified.
“Ah, yup, gotcha,” she said, starting to smile again.
“He’s trying,” Aury teased him, giving him another jab. “So how about that group hug?”
“I’m alright, I’m alright!” he replied, waving his hand and pulling back a step or two.
“Oh, come ’ere, Maxy boy!” she said, grabbing him from the side and squeezing him as tightly as she could.
He tried to pretend it was paining him as he winced and leaned away from her embrace. But the act wasn’t convincing.
The mood had lightened but Jake interrupted them with one last bit of preparation.
“If any of us are separated at any point,” he said, looking at each of them in turn, “we’ll meet back at the cabin, so make your way there as soon as possible.”
They each nodded in agreement.
“And if only some of us end up there, give the others three days, then move on. Ok?”
Their consent wasn’t as obvious this time.
“I mean it, guys. Three days. Then head for the Gates and the settlement.”
Despite their reluctance, they nodded again.
22
Month: 4 | Day: 5 | Year: 60
WELCOME TO THE NEW HUMANITY
The guards were discreet, mostly watching various angles from cameras or vantage points within or on top of the building. A few strolled the sprawling grounds outside in plain clothes, as if they were on a leisurely walk instead of patrolling for suspicious activity. And that was exactly how Caxton and Meyers had intended it. Despite its dedicated security, the Caxton-Meyers Institute was supposed to be accessible to the public. With humanity now happy and fulfilled in their active lifestyles, crime was at an all-time low. What was there to fear or protect themselves against? Except, of course, those who lived in the Dark. Those sleepers.
“Is that Corridor F?”
“Yup. Just wait, though.”
The six of them were crouched behind some shrubs just within the small line of trees that bordered the CMI grounds to the north. Between them and the giant cube-shaped buildings was an open lawn leading up to a paved parking lot. There was no one around, as far
as they could tell.
But then, off to their left, a man came walking along the edge of the field. His hands were in his pockets and he was glancing around casually, sometimes looking up at the sky but obviously aware of his surroundings.
Corey waved his hand and they all got a little lower to the ground.
Except for Max.
As the man drew closer, Corey looked back and nodded, and Max quietly inched between the shrubs, closer to the grassy lawn. The grounds at the CMI were actually the finest in the entire city of Progress. But now was hardly the time to admire them.
Daria watched anxiously.
Maybe he’ll do one of those dream figure things and I’ll see how it works.
The man was only a few feet away and Max looked like a jaguar ready to pounce.
As he passed directly in front of the group, the situation suddenly unfolded in a way Daria had not expected.
“Hey, pssst!”
The man spun to his right and looked into the bushes, just in time to catch Max’s fist squarely in the nose.
He stumbled, holding his face and groaning, then toppled over onto the ground. Corey jumped out of the bushes and he and Max grabbed him, dragging him into the darkness of the tree-line. The man barely struggled.
Daria felt a mix of shock and adrenaline. She certainly didn’t want the guard to catch them. But at the same time, she had never witnessed violence up close like this before. She had never seen one person cause another to bleed.
And bleed he did. A broken nose has that effect.
She kept her distance as they sat him up against a tree. Corey had brought one of the backpacks with him and he was fishing around inside it. Finally, he pulled out a rope and set about tying the man in place.
The guard looked dazed and disoriented.
“It’s not like the old movies, is it?” Max said. He must have noticed the look on her face.
Daria just shook her head.
Even though movies were no longer a thing, every student watched a few in the course of their education. Just to help them understand all the multitude of ways people wasted their lives in the Former Days. Those were the only times Daria had seen people hitting each other.
