The Complex Life (The Complex Trilogy Book 1)

by Heather Hayes

  "I could tell her that I like a boy and I can't stop dreaming about him."

  "No! Don't say anything about boys, ever. They will put you on pink medicated trays to stop you from liking boys if you do. Don't do it."

  "O-kay. What do I talk to her about then?"

  "Say you're being bullied by Julie and you can't sleep because you're having nightmares about her. Tell her every mean thing you've ever seen Julie do. That should keep her preoccupied; she'll be writing things on her clipboard for a while."

  "That isn't too far from the truth, really. I can do that."

  "Thank you, Shasta. You are a lifesaver. I will never forget you. Trust Mentor Maxine, but don't trust anyone else in this complex. This whole system is built on lies."

  Shasta looks at me skeptically. "That is hard to believe, but I do notice things that don't make sense sometimes, like the fancy cookies. If you figure out a way to come back for me, will you?"

  "Yes—In fact, move to my bed after we leave. If I figure out a way to break you out, I'll come to that window to communicate with you?at night. Learn sign language from Mentor Bridget after the chaos dies down. I will try my best to come back for you." Shasta wraps her long skinny arms around me and I hug her back.

  Chapter 26

  I lay on my bed with my covers up to my chin watching the digital clock on the side wall. The red colon keeps blinking. It reminds me of a heartbeat. My heartbeat. I would really like it if my heart was still beating in a few hours. This is a dangerous business I'm in. Two more minutes and then Shasta will get up and go distract Mentor Roberta. I look over at Avra. She is awake and staring at the clock too. Her bottom lip is trembling and so is the rest of her. We have three jumpsuits on under our pajama suits.

  I don't think anyone noticed how thick we looked as we slipped into bed last night. Shasta did a good job distracting the room full of girls as we came in from the bathroom by telling a story about how the doctor accidentally switched her medicine with someone else's. Now everyone is asleep, except for the three of us.

  11:49. 11:49. 11:49. 11:50. Shasta gets up and whispers to me, "Here goes nothing. Good luck, Elira."

  "Thank you, Shasta. For everything."

  She walks out of the room. I jump up and stuff my remaining belongings under my covers. They kind of look like a person sleeping. I look at Avra. Her eyes are closed, and a tear is streaming down her face. I take her hand and help her up. "You can do this, Avra. Scott is counting on you."

  "I know. Let's go."

  We shove her belongings under her blankets as well. Two sleeping dissidents, no one will be any the wiser until morning.

  We quietly slip out of our room and down the hall to the right-side bathroom with the laundry chute. Oh great. I see light peeking out from under the door. Someone is using it! It's probably one of the fragile reds. I hear a toilet flush. I whisk Avra into the room full of orange button girls. I hope they are all asleep. Surely whoever is using the bathroom will go into the red button room... Wrong. Mara walks through the doorway we are hiding next to and walks straight to her bed without seeing us. I push Avra through the door. I am almost through it myself when I hear Mara say, "Elira, what are you doing in here?"

  "I-I have to go to the bathroom. Oops, wrong room. Sorry." I leave the room then run into the bathroom. Avra is standing in front of the laundry chute looking into the chasm and frowning.

  "Elira, I don't want to go in there."

  "I know, but it's the only way. Now get your legs in there!" I hold Avra's hands as she puts her legs in the chute one at a time. Her whining and moaning aren't helping either of us. "Shh! Now go!" I shove her head the rest of the way in. I hear a small squeal as she disappears from sight.

  Loud footsteps and arguing outside the bathroom warn me that I must move now. It sounds like Mara, Shasta, and Mentor Roberta are all trying to talk at once. Oh no! I get my right leg in the laundry chute, then my left leg. I didn't realize that all the layers of clothing I am wearing would bulk me up this much. I should have stopped with two. My hips don't want to slip through... The door opens as I get my hips to pop through the opening, and the last thing I see as my head disappears down the chute is Mara glaring and pointing at me and Mentor Roberta yelling, "Stop!"

  Thud. I land in the hamper on a lumpy pile of dirty clothes. I feel big hands on my arms. Garth and Jefrey lift me out of the hamper. We're all there, and the two cutest boys in the complex are touching me at the same time. Ahh! I've got to keep my head in the game. Mentor Roberta will be here in a matter of minutes.

  "What kept you? We've been waiting for 10 minutes, Elira." Rocky says to me as I peel my eyes off the twins.

  I point across the laundry room. "That way, go!" I take Avra's Scott-free hand and start marching to the other side of the vast laundry room. Everyone follows me at a fast walk.

  "Someone was in the bathroom with the laundry chute. They saw me, and now Mentor Roberta is on her way. We have to get out of here now!"

  Jefrey starts lashing out. "I knew it. This was such a bad idea. I landed in barf. Now they will catch us and charge us as dissidents. They'll send us to the death doctor..."

  Rocky pushes Jefrey from behind. "Shut up, Jefrey, and move faster."

  We reach the garbage chute. The opening is twice as big as the laundry chute, thank goodness. The door and its locking mechanism are rather stiff, and the boys have to help me get it open.

  Jefrey lifts the black flap in the hole. "There might be barf again."

  "Shut up, Jefrey, and go through!" Rocky yells. Jefrey goes through with a helpful shove from his brother.

  "Stop, you dissidents!" I hear Mentor Roberta scream as she enters the far end of the laundry room. Mentor Briggs is right behind her. They run toward us. I should have poured a glass of water on Mentor Roberta's communication box today...

  Rocky sees the mentors running for us and fills with adrenalin. He picks Avra up and throws her through the hole, then does the same thing to Scott. Garth resists. "No, Elira first." But Rocky is too strong for Garth. He picks him up like he's a sack of laundry and chucks him through the hole. I push all the wheeled laundry tubs that I can reach into a blockade to slow down the mentors. Rocky is inside the garbage chute with his hands reaching out to me as the mentors push the last laundry tub out of the way. I jump into Rocky's arms and immediately feel gravity pulling us down, Rocky's feet first, but my head first. The smell of rotting garbage we're about to land in fills my nose. My mind screams, ‘I can't believe it. We're going to make it,' when something snags my foot. I look back and see Mentor Briggs holding my foot with both hands.

  Oh no. Mentor Briggs has a strong grip. I may not make it! But the rest of them can. I look at Rocky and say, "Take care of Avra for me, and tell your mother thank you. Get them away from here now." I let go of him. His face is frozen in horror as he falls.

  "No!" he screams, as he lands in the garbage truck.

  I look up at Mentor Briggs and my captured foot. I kick, wiggle and flail as hard as I can. My shoe starts to slip off. He calls me an ugly word as my shoe comes off in his hand. The other hand grabs my foot, but all he gets is toes. I feel a crack. This must be a crazy adrenaline filled idea, but if I kick really hard, I'll probably break a couple of toes, but I'll get away. It's not even a choice. I kick as hard as I can. I feel the bones of my toes separate from the rest of my foot. Mentor Briggs flinches, loses his grip, and I start to fall again.

  Thud. Pain shoots through my neck and foot as I land on a pile of rotten food. My head is dizzy, and my vision is fuzzy.

  Mentor Roberta's loud voice rings out into the night as she calls for help into her communication box. "All complex guards run to the garbage truck immediately. Six dissidents are trying to escape!" I really should have ruined her communication box.

  "Elira, we have to go! Come on!" I hear Garth's voice yelling at m
e as I try to stand up. He is the only one left in the truck. He takes my hand, leads me to the side of the truck, picks me up, and throws me over the edge. Jefrey, Scott, and Rocky have formed a human net that catches me. Garth hurls himself over the edge and lands on his feet.

  I try to get my head to clear. "We have to get through the trees. Break the branches if you have to. Ernestine is on the other side."

  "There they are. Get them!" Mentor Roberta's voice howls. Complex guards are running around both sides of the building, and the trees are still far away. My breath keeps catching in my throat as I run on broken toes. Oh no. They are going to get us.

  Rocky yells, "Faster!"

  Everyone starts running for their lives. Everyone except me. I can't run as fast as the rest of them can, my toes hurt so bad. Garth turns his head around and sees me struggling. He turns the rest of his body around, picks me up like I'm a baby, and runs for the trees. The guards are right behind us. As we burst through the trees, we see a big wheeled, thing. I want to say it's called a van. I've seen one in a book before. The side door is open, and our friends are inside beckoning us to hurry.

  Garth is panting and sweating, but he doesn't slow down. Bang. "Uh." Garth stumbles. A guard shot Garth in the ear with something. Blood is running down the side of his face. I close my eyes and start to cry. We're done for.

  Suddenly I'm flying through the air. Is this how a bird feels when it flies through the sky? How is this happening? I land inside the van. Garth must have thrown me in. Hands grab me and pull me back. A guard reaches out to grab Garth's shoulder right as he jumps into the van. Ernestine is at the wheel and she takes off with the door still open. Rocky tries to close it as we hear loud shots hitting the van. She doesn't slow down. The farther down the road we get, the quieter the shots get. Rocky gets the door shut and collapses on the middle seat. His voice is quiet, but he says out loud what the rest of us are thinking, "We made it. I can't believe it."

  Ernestine's rough alto voice laughs out loud and turns around to look at us. "Congratulations. You're free."

  Chapter 27

  Avra lays her head on Scott's shoulder and holds his hand. She is trembling, but she's not crying. I wish I could say the same for myself. Scott seems to be in shock. He's not moving and is staring straight ahead. None of us has ever seen such violence before. Now we are bumping along in some kind of vehicle, which we've never done before either.

  Jefrey looks at me and shakes his head. He is still upset that we decided to escape. I wish he wasn't so handsome. It would make it easier to be mad at him.

  I take a few deep breaths and wipe the tears from my eyes. "Do you feel toxins from the earth creeping into your body, Jefrey?" I ask as sarcastically as a bawl baby can.

  He frowns at me. "Not the toxins I thought were out here. But I have never been so filthy and lucky to be alive in my life."

  I look at Garth. He is biting his lip and holding his hand over his ear. I take his hand off and look at it. Half of his ear has been blown off.

  Rocky points to his own deformed lack-of-ear. "It looks like you're my twin now, Garth."

  Garth forces a smile on his bloody face for his friend. "Yeah. They'll never be able to tell us apart."

  Jefrey smiles at Garth for the first time all day. "I guess we're not identical anymore."

  I pull the sock off my shoeless foot and press the cleanest part of the fabric to Garth's ear. He shakes his head and tries to pull it off. "No, Elira. You need it for your foot. You have no shoe, and your toes—they look broken."

  I sit up straighter and grimace as I look at them. They are already turning dark and swelling. "Yeah, they are broken. It was either let the toes break and be free, or let them take me back to their pink trays and death doctor. I chose to be free."

  Jefrey wipes the crusty tears off my cheek with his hand and shakes his head again. Garth uses his free hand to pick up my broken-toed foot. He just holds it below the toe line in his warm hand. His warmth feels so good on my cold foot. I can't help myself; I start to cry again. I am so relieved we made it, and I'm hurting so badly at the same time. I lay my head on Garth's shoulder, blood and all. He quietly tells me, "It will be okay," as I cry.

  Jefrey looks at me laying against Garth's shoulder, grabs one of my hands, and rubs it gently. He looks at Ernestine. "Hey, I don't know your name, but where exactly are we going?"

  "I'm Ernestine, Rocky's mom. We're going to my house for now. Don't worry, I have everything prepared for you. You will ask yourselves why you didn't escape earlier when we get to where we're going."

  "I highly doubt that," Jefrey mumbles as he closes his eyes and leans against the van window.

  Ernestine keeps looking in the rear-view mirror at us all, or maybe it's just Rocky she's looking at. She clears her throat. "Rocky, climb up here and sit by me, son." She starts to choke up. "I want to look at you. I-I haven't seen you in fourteen years."

  Rocky climbs through the tangle of bodies and sits in the seat next to his mother in the front. "So, you are my mother." Ernestine smiles at him and nods. "Where is my father?"

  "He is—not here. He is alive, but he's not here. It's a long story."

  Rocky turns his head so he can listen with his good ear. "Why did you let them take me, mother? That place is horrible. No one deserves to be there."

  Ernestine's eyes fill with agony. She reaches out and takes Rocky's hand. "I didn't let them. I didn't have a choice. When you were born without an inner and outer ear, I knew that the government would take you away from me. I would have you for the first two years, but on January first after you were two, I was required to take you to the ultimate wellness check-up at the city building. Everyone who has a child is required to do so. If you don't show up, like I didn't, armed guards show up at your house to escort you there. The government is determined to get rid of all sickness, deformity, and unattractiveness from the population. So, they take all two-year-olds with any mental or physical problem and stick them in the complex for life."

  Rocky looks at his mother and decides to believe her. "Wow. I always wondered. I have a faint memory of you crying and fighting the people who took me away."

  "That was the worst day of my life. A government official once told me to be grateful that the problem children of the world go into the complex and cheap goods come out. Society is better for it." She frowns and shakes her head. "It disgusts me. I've been trying everything I can think of for the past 14 years to get you out. I've been put in solitary confinement several times for disturbing the peace. My husband told me I was crazy and left me. But I never gave up!"

  Rocky is still medicated but he recognizes the struggle his mother has had. "Thank you, mom. I saw you out my window last year several times. I didn't know you were my mother, but I knew from watching you that something wasn't right."

  Ernestine nods her head. "I've been hiding in the trees almost every night for the last 14 years, watching the windows for someone to communicate with. It was worth it." Ernestine lets go of Rocky's hand and reaches up to pinch his cheek. "You're even more handsome than I thought you'd be."

  Rocky shakes his head and smiles at his mother. "Thanks."

  We pull up to a rickety looking—house, I think. Ernestine pulls the van around back and parks it in an equally rickety looking little building. We all climb out and watch Ernestine work. She shuts the door to the building she calls ‘the garage' and latches it.

  I look at the bigger building that is kind of like the houses in our text books. "Is this your house?" I ask as I gingerly step on my broken toes. Jefrey looks at the house and scoffs.

  "Yes. But we can't stay here. They know I'm Rocky's mother and that I have tried to get him out before. We have to go somewhere they will never look for us. We will have to walk for a while. Is that okay?"

  Garth looks at me with inquisitive eyes. "I-I'll be okay." I assure
him. My foot is cold and in pain, but I can do this.

  We walk on the opposite side of the street of the tall light covered poles that come out of the ground every so often. There is a big, fancy building at the end of the street. We seem to be walking there. I bite my lip. My foot won't stop throbbing. Garth sees me cringing with every step. He picks me up and carries me the rest of the way. I can't look at his bloody ear. I feel personally responsible for it. I lay my head against him and listen to his heart. It is strong and steady, just what I need after a day like this. In fact, the rhythm makes me want to drift off...

  When we get to the big fancy building, we walk around the back and down some stairs. Ernestine pushes a button that rings a bell. I want to ask Ernestine what on earth we are doing here, but all I can handle is keeping my sobs of pain inside. So, I just watch things unfold from Garth's arms. Jefrey glares at Garth and then at Ernestine.

  "What is this place?"

  Ernestine doesn't look worried. "This is the home of my friend. We can trust her."

  Jefrey doesn't look convinced. A fancily dressed woman answers the door. "Get in. Get in!"

  We hurry inside. Garth sets me on my own feet. I worry that my dirty feet will stain the beautiful soft flooring. The door clicks shut behind us. We stand there gaping at the beautifully decorated room. Judging from Ernestine's rickety house, this woman must be rich. Why is she helping us?

  The fancy woman points to a big black box on a table thing. "You are on the news already. Look!"

  We look at the brightly-lit square thing. A fancily dressed man is sitting behind a desk and saying, "There has been a breakout at the Complex of Undesirables tonight. This is the first recorded breakout in 40 years. If anyone has seen six unappealing individuals wearing jumpsuits this evening, you are asked to contact the authorities. The individual named Ernestine Moore is also wanted for questioning as she has a record of disturbing the peace and is the mother of one of the aforementioned individuals. Now, on to weather..." The lady points a small black box at the big lit-up box and it goes dark.