by K M Frost
I distantly noticed a light appear nearby, but was too distracted to think about it. I didn’t resurface until a strong voice spoke.
“Leah!”
I pushed away from Leah in surprise and looked quickly toward the voice. With a huge sinking feeling, I saw Leah’s dad in the open doorway, light spilling out from the open door and framing his large form.
Mortification almost choked me.
“Mr. Randolf.”
I was very aware of Leah watching me, ignoring her father. I could clearly see her smile, and I was fairly sure she was laughing at me.
“I was just walking Leah home . . .” My words died at the dark look Leah’s dad gave me.
I looked away from his murderous expression and resisted the urge to run away very quickly. “Good night, Leah.”
She was still grinning, and though I knew she was laughing at me, I also had a feeling she was grinning about our kiss.
I’m not sure if that made me less embarrassed or more.
Before I could make an even bigger fool of myself, I nodded respectfully to Mr. Randolf and then turned tail and hurried away.
Despite the disastrous end to the evening, I found myself smiling.
When I got back home Ellie was already in bed and I was glad she wasn’t there to see my silly grin.
Dad laughed when he saw me, and clapped me on the back. “I guess you had a good birthday, huh?”
I was mortified, but my grin still didn’t disappear.
I was glad when Mom swatted Dad’s arm and told him to stop teasing me.
Later, lying in bed, Mom and Dad came in to tell me good night, and Mom smiled and told me she was happy for me.
I blushed in the dark but couldn’t stop my grin.
I was still grinning when I fell asleep.
* * *
When I wake up, my first thought is that I’d had a crazy dream. I mean, really? If I ever tried to kiss Leah, she’d deck me.
But then I sit up and see Leah sitting on a blanket across from me in the middle of the Clinic—and she’s grinning.
Now, I’ve seen a lot of versions of her grin, but this one is new. I’d only ever seen it in my dream, right after I’d kissed her. But if that was a dream . . .
My face heats up as I realize it wasn’t a dream. My palms are suddenly wet, and I have to wipe them on my pants.
I glance nervously at Leah, worried she’ll either yell and beat me up, or tease me—which might actually be the worse option.
But then something I never could have imagined happens: Leah looks shy.
My shock only grows as a blush appears high on her cheeks and she drops her gaze bashfully.
Leah—bashful?
Suddenly I’m worried. Will things be weird between us now? Will I not be able to tease her anymore? Can’t we still be friends?
Before I can get too worried, Leah raises her head, and though there’s a certain softness in her expression, she jabs a finger at me in all seriousness.
“You’re in big trouble, mister. Do you have any idea how much grief my dad gave me after you left? He was teasing me for hours! I finally had to shut my door and ignore him.”
My lips twitch despite myself. “My dad did the same thing. Well, he tried to, but Mom saved me from the worst of it.”
Leah shakes her head. “Dads . . . And they say we’re immature.”
I pick anxiously at my blanket’s hem. “So . . . your dad wasn’t too mad?”
“As far as you’re concerned, he was livid. But that’s just for show.”
My tense muscles relax a little.
Then Leah points her serious finger again. “You’d better not tell him I said so. If he finds out I undermined his intimidation integrity, he’ll be really disappointed.”
I’m pretty sure her dad will always intimidate me, but I smile and promise not to tell.
I toss a look around and can’t see anyone else, which I’m relieved about. It looks like a regular night in the Reality Dreams.
I stand and offer her my hand. “Want to keep looking for your mom?”
Leah lets me pull her up. “Of course.” She doesn’t let go of my hand, but wraps her fingers around mine with a grin.
I’m surprised and self-conscious, but I don’t object, and when we pick up the search where we left off yesterday, I decide I like having her hand curled around mine.
When I see Abby watching us, I expect to feel guilty or something, but the feeling doesn’t come; and when she smiles and waves, I return both gestures. Even Leah smiles at Abby, which shocks me—not that I’m bothered by it or anything. Actually, I’m glad they seem to be getting along now, and I can’t get my grin under control.
We’ve been looking for Leah’s mom for an hour or so when Rick shouts for everyone to come.
We hurry to the computer room and beat Stewart there. Rick is sitting at the desk, like he has been for the past several nights. He waves us forward without looking away from the illuminated boxes on top of the desk.
I focus on the middle box, but there’s just a random bunch of letters, numbers, and symbols. I have no idea how Rick makes sense of anything on this computer, but I’m glad he knows what to do, because I don’t have the first clue.
We stand there in silence for almost a full minute while Rick taps at the keyboard and stares at the middle box.
Finally, Leah huffs impatiently. “What is it, Rick?”
He jumps, almost like he forgot we were there. He finally looks back at us, though he keeps his hands on the keyboard. “I found it.”
Stewart asks the question on my tongue. “Found what?”
Rick finally turns his chair to face us fully, and there’s no mistaking the excited, almost crazed look in his eyes.
“I know how to turn off the simulation.”
Chapter 22
We’re so shocked, no one can speak. When I finally manage to form a question, it’s nothing more profound than, “What?”
Rick grins. “I figured out how to turn off the simulation. Now we can wake everyone up!”
Leah’s just as excited. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“We should tell Abby,” I say, knowing she should know about something as big as this.
Rick waves his hand dismissively and turns back to the computer. “Go ahead. I’m going to get this started—I have no idea how long it’ll take.”
Abby’s reading, like always, but she looks up when I get closer and she smiles. “I guess you told Leah who you chose.” I’m glad there’s no bitterness in her voice.
I feel a blush start, but I ignore it and shrug. “Not in so many words . . .”
Abby laughs lightly, then sets her book aside to give me her full attention. “So, what do you need?”
I shake away the distraction and hurry to get my thoughts back on track. “I just thought you should know Rick figured out how to turn off the simulation. We’re going to wake everyone up!”
Excitement bubbles inside me. I won’t have to lie to my family about the Reality Dreams anymore. And maybe someone here will remember what happened to this world. Then we’ll finally get some real answers.
Abby grins. “That’s great!”
I look at all the sleeping people and feel a lift in my chest. They’ll wake up soon. And then we won’t be alone anymore. It was kind of fun to have a private world here, but I’ll be glad when someone more capable can step in and take control of things.
Abby seems to sense I’m anxious to get back to the others, and assures me she’ll be fine on her own and asks me to let her know of any new developments. I promise to keep her in the loop and then return to the computer room, where no one’s moved.
I step up next to Leah and hesitantly reach for her hand. When she smiles at me, I push my awkwardness away and look at Rick.
He’s typing quickly, completely absorbed in what he’s doing.
I lean closer to Leah, keeping my voice low. “What have I missed?”
She leans close, too. “We d
on’t have time to cover that much.”
I scowl at her and she laughs quietly, careful not to disturb Rick.
Still grinning, she waves her free hand toward Rick. “So far this has been it.”
Suddenly there’s a soft beep-beep, and the words and numbers on the middle box start to roll upward to make room for new rows of gibberish. Rick stops typing as his eyes skip across the display, reading quickly, and hopefully understanding.
I hold my breath, and then the words on the box stop moving.
Rick turns to face the room with a grin. “Begin simulation shutdown.”
I translate that to mean: I did it.
Leah tugs me toward the door excitedly. “Come on! Let’s go see!”
We all run back to the main room, ready to see the sleeping wake up. But we wait for several moments, and nothing happens. The same stillness, the same hush.
I frown. “Are you sure you did it right?”
“Of course I did it right.” Rick pushes past me and weaves his way quickly down a row of beds. He stops beside a girl with dark skin and curly black hair. Though I’ve never met her, I’m sure she’s Marianne, Rick’s girlfriend.
He reaches down to touch her face, probably to be sure she’s still breathing.
I wonder if Ellie’s awake, or my parents.
I hurry over to Ellie with Leah right beside me.
Ellie’s still breathing steadily, as deeply asleep as she was before Rick turned off the simulation. I check my mom and dad, and then we hurry to Leah’s dad—they’re all breathing still, but none of them have woken up.
I wonder if Rick has any idea what he’s doing when it comes to that computer.
A sudden gasp echoes around the cavernous room, drawing everyone’s attention.
It takes me a second to find what made the sound (which is kind of pathetic, considering everyone else in the room is comatose).
At last I spot him.
A middleaged man—late forties, maybe—is sitting up, looking around the huge room with wide eyes and a panicked look on his face.
We all hurry over to him, but Rick is the first one there. He stops just outside the man’s grasp. “Sir? Are you alright?”
The man’s still looking around frantically, and I wonder if he even heard Rick. Then he speaks, his voice cracking from disuse and anxiety. “Where am I?”
Leah’s forehead wrinkles. “You don’t recognize this place?”
The man focuses on her and shakes his head. He’s shaking so violently I worry he’s going into shock.
“Where am I?” he repeats, terrified.
I take a step toward him, but stop when he jolts. I stop walking and raise my hands. “You’re safe.” I try to sound soothing and confident, but inside I’m scared.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I’d assumed the sleepers would wake up and know what was going on—that they’d take control and be the ones to help us.
The man keeps talking, though he sounds like he’s talking to himself. “How did I get here? Where’s Tauni? Where’s my family?”
I glance at the others, but they look as uncertain as I feel.
“Who are you?” He glares at us despite the terrified trembling in his limbs. “What have you done!?”
Rick steps up next to me, making the man jump again. Rick raises his hands too, mimicking my calming gesture. “Whoa, mister. We didn’t bring you here.”
The man doesn’t look like he believes him, but he stops rambling.
I try another tactic. “What’s your name?”
His eyes dart to me and I try not to jump at the sudden movement.
His eyes drift over my face, and he answers haltingly. “H . . . Howard.”
Leah steps toward him with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Howard. Where are you from?”
Howard looks around at all of us, his eyes still wide with fear. “I live in Ghaul.”
I’ve never heard of Ghaul, but then, I’m sure there are lots of places I’ve never heard of.
Before anyone can say more, Stewart pipes up, surprising us all. “Do you want a blanket?”
Howard looks at him, startled. Then he wraps his lanky arms around his body and nods.
I take Stewart’s shoulder and lead him toward the storage room. We’re able to find a box filled with wool blankets, and in a few minutes we’re taking one back to Howard.
Stew suggested we bring him the whole box, but I told him we should wait and see how many other people need them.
Though I’d like to believe Howard is just having an especially hard time waking up, I have a feeling he’s not going to be an exception when others start to wake up.
Once Howard is wrapped tightly in the blanket and we’ve talked to him a little more, he starts to calm down and eventually stops shaking.
When he asks why there are so many people here and why they’re all sleeping, we try to explain that this is the real world, and his other life is false.
I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that he doesn’t believe us. I’d just been hoping when these people woke up, they’d remember what had happened.
We stay with Howard for an hour or so, working to calm him down and explain things, and then another person wakes up.
Rick stays with Howard while the rest of us go to the other person—a little boy, about Stew’s age.
He’s crying and looks so scared my heart lurches in sympathy. I remember my first time waking up here—I was terrified. I feel bad for putting him through this.
Leah gives the boy a gentle hug. “Hey. Shh, you’re okay.”
I wait until he’s got his tears mostly under control, and then I lean toward him slowly, so as not to startle him. “What’s your name, buddy?”
“Jack.” He wipes the tears from his face. “What’s happening? Did I do something bad?”
“No, of course not.”
He looks feverish. “My nana says if I’m bad I’ll get thrown down to Abaddon. I don’t want to go to Abaddon! I’ll be a good boy, I promise!”
“Jack.” Leah’s voice is gentle, but firm enough to break through his hysteria. “You aren’t in Abaddon. It’s going to be okay. Your family will be here soon. Everything will be fine.”
Jack is still wild-eyed, but he stops screaming and trashing, so I think he’ll be okay.
I touch his knee to get his attention. “Jack. Do you want a blanket?”
He nods, so Stewart and I go get him one.
Stew hasn’t said anything since we found Jack, and I worry he’s not handling all this very well.
Once we’re alone in the storage room, I turn to him. “Hey, Stew. Are you alright?”
He doesn’t answer right away, just goes to the box and carefully brings out a blanket. He hugs the blanket to his chest and stares at the floor. “I thought they would remember. I didn’t think they would go crazy.” Finally he looks up at me with tears in his eyes. “I don’t want my parents to be like this.”
I crouch in front of him and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, buddy.” I force my own uncertainty out of my voice. “Your parents will be confused when they wake up, but then they’ll see you and they’ll remember. They’ll be fine. I promise.”
He doesn’t answer for a while, just cries.
I just hold him tightly. I wonder if we made a mistake turning off the simulation. Maybe we should have taken more time to be sure we really understood what would happen.
But then I remember the excitement we felt at the prospect of waking everyone up, of getting answers, and I know why we did it.
When Stewart has his emotions more or less under control, we go back to Leah and Jack and give him the blanket. He doesn’t seem to be reacting quite as severely as Howard did, and I wonder if it’s because he’s younger and has a more open mind.
Either way, they both calm down enough to get up and walk around. They wander up and down the rows of beds, searching for their friends and families. We tell them they can add names to the lists if they f
ind people they recognize.
Over the next few hours two more people wake up—a young woman in her early-twenties named Allie, and another woman, maybe fifty, named Edith. It’s not until we’re trying to calm down Edith—who’s convinced we’ve kidnapped her and are planning to experiment on her—that I realize we’ll be waking up soon, and then no one will be here to help the sleepers when they wake.
For our last hour in the Reality Dreams, we try to explain to the people in the Clinic that we’ll fall asleep soon, and then they’ll be in charge of things for the day. We warn them not to go outside, and promise to explain more tomorrow night.
I don’t know how much they understand, but we don’t have time for anything more. I just hope it will be enough to keep them safe until tomorrow night.
Chapter 23
I was glad I could talk with Leah about the waking sleepers at school. She was taking it all fairly seriously, which kind of surprised me.
In Calculations and Statistics when I mentioned the waking sleepers, she admitted she had been hoping they would be more helpful.
Neither of us had expected we would have to take care of them. After all, a large majority were adults, so naturally we’d assumed they would take over.
We didn’t get to talk much during class, especially since Instructor Vorez paid extra close attention to us ever since he’d caught us passing notes a couple weeks ago. I’d thought he would’ve forgotten the incident by now, but apparently he had a long memory.
When class ended, Leah grabbed my hand, twining her fingers through mine. I glanced quickly at the kids around us, but none of them were paying attention.
Out in the schoolyard, Leah watched the other kids thoughtfully. “How long do you think it will take for everyone to wake up?”
I sat in the shade at our usual place and she sat next to me.
I looked at the kids too. “I don’t know.”
I wondered how long we had before Ellie joined us. I wanted to talk to Leah about the Reality Dreams, but I didn’t want to get a conversation started just in time for Ellie to interrupt us.
Leah leaned her back against the thick tree trunk. “I mean, if we look at how many people woke up last night, and divide the number of sleepers in the Clinic by that number . . .”
