by Kelli Kimble
When I came out of the bathroom, he had moved down the hall and was standing right outside the door.
“Oh! You startled me,” I said.
“I didn’t want you rushing off to somewhere else.”
“Don’t be grumpy,” I said. I kept my tone light. “You interrupted my day first.”
We started off down the hall, and I watched from the corner of my eye as emotions played across his face. First annoyance or anger, but then, a slight smile and perhaps a touch of pride. He liked that I had teased him. He wanted me to act familiar. I slid my hand into his. His eyes flicked down to our hands, and then up towards my face.
I pretended not to notice. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Downstairs,” he said.
It was difficult to get downstairs, because every few feet, someone stopped us to say hello to him. He introduced each of them to me, but they were clearly not interested in knowing who I was. He was polite and charming to everyone we met, but firm in his efforts to move on. I appreciated that effort, since I was worried about Elliot.
He took me to the stairwell, and we went down. My heart sank when I realized we were going to the same level where my cell had been.
“Is Elliot in a cell? Locked-up?” I let go of his hand.
“Elliot hasn’t been himself,” he said. “Ray has been with him, trying to convince him to be reasonable.”
We went down the hall, towards the cell where I’d been held. The same meek woman was sitting at the desk. But, he continued past my cell and went to the end of the hallway. He opened the door, and another set of cells came into view.
“Leo!” someone shouted from inside. “Come down here and face me like a man! Leo! I know it’s you! I can tell by your womanly stride!”
I looked at Leo, who had stopped. He nodded, and I continued forward to the cell, where an arm was reaching out between the bars. I kept back far enough that it couldn’t touch me.
Then, I saw that it was Elliot’s arm. I rushed forward and grasped him by the hand. He saw but didn’t really look at me. He was obviously intent upon Leo.
“Elliot! Are you all right?”
His face was scraggly with unshaven whiskers, and his hair was rumpled and dirty. But, the disturbing thing was the injuries. He had bruises and cuts all over his visible skin. His face, his arms, even his feet.
I reached a hand between the bars tentatively and touched his cheek, right below a particularly nasty bruise. “Did they do this to you?” I whispered.
“Fiona?” he said. “You’re all right.”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine. But what happened to you?”
His face contorted, and his knees buckled. I tried to hold him up but could not gain the leverage with the bars between us, and he sank to the floor.
I looked to Leo. “Please, may I go into the cell?”
Leo didn’t move from where he was, but he held out the key. I rushed back to take it from him. I worked hard to push the anger down, because I knew that Elliot must be suffering and that Leo was likely inflicting the suffering on him. But if we were going to escape, I needed Leo to think that I was cooperative.
I fumbled with the key and finally got the cell door open. Kneeling beside him, I carefully rolled him onto his back, then cradled his head in my lap. “Elliot?”
Tears were running down the sides of his face. I wiped them away as carefully as I could. There were so many bruises.
He reached up and held my hand. “Fiona. I was so worried for you.” His voice was rough.
“I know,” I said, smoothing the hair from his forehead with my other hand. “I was worried for you, too. Tell me what happened.”
His eyes flicked to the bars. “Leo?”
“He’s out there. Did he do this to you?”
“No. He wouldn’t get his hands dirty,” he said.
“Did he make someone do this to you?”
“No. It was Ray. Ray did it.”
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. “Ray beat you?”
“He blames me. For Genesee. Maybe he’s right.”
“He could have gone back with her. It isn’t your fault any more than his.”
“I know. But, he’s grieving. He misses her.”
“Are you saying you forgive him? That it’s okay for him to lock you up and beat you while you’re defenseless?”
“No. But, I can see his pain. And besides, they want something. They want me to convince you to do what Leo wants.”
I released his hand. Knowing they were beating him upset me. Knowing that they’d done it partly in the hopes of getting to me sickened me. I lifted his head from my lap and tipped onto my side, the cool cement against my cheek. The room was spinning, and I struggled to keep my breakfast down.
“Fiona, it isn’t your fault.”
“They have to let you out of here. I won’t cooperate. Not with anything. Not until you’re out of this cell, and your wounds are tended to.” I raised my voice a little louder. “Do you hear me, Leo? You have to let him out.”
Leo walked slowly into view. The cell door still stood open, the key fob on the floor, where I’d carelessly dropped it. He could have easily swung it shut and left us both there.
“I didn’t make Ray do this,” he said. “He did that on his own. I’m afraid Elliot is right about Ray’s placement of blame. It was an unfortunate thing, what happened to Gen. I’ll miss her, as well. She was my little sister.”
Stunned, I looked up at his face. His eyes were wet, but his cheeks were dry. His mouth stretched downward, not in a frown; rather, in true sadness.
“I didn’t realize,” I said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes. Well. I didn’t ask Ray to do this. But, I did allow it. And I confess that I allowed it because I wanted someone to suffer for Gen’s death. Though I know it was likely an accident.” He looked at Elliot. “Did Ray tell you my proposal, then? That I want to form a single group?”
Elliot sat up. “Yes, he told me that. But, he didn’t have specifics, and I don’t see how it would work.”
“You’re entitled to your opinion,” he said. “Regardless, I have failed to see the cruelty of allowing Ray to keep you here. I apologize. Fiona is right. I must not allow this to continue. You may leave the cell right now, if you wish.”
“Of course, he wishes to,” I said. I shook the rest of my discomfort from my head and stood, then helped Elliot stand, as well. “Where can I take him?”
“The room next to yours is empty. He’s welcome to it. I will send my personal physician to check on him immediately.” He took a step back. “I’ll leave you two in peace.” He reached his hand out to Elliot, but Elliot just looked at it. He dropped it and turned his eyes to me. “Fiona.” He nodded, turned, and walked briskly out the door.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“If it meant getting out of this cell, I could fly,” he said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I put his arm around my shoulder, and we made our way out of the cell and out the door, then past the woman at the desk.
“Goodbye, Elliot,” she said in a nearly inaudible voice as we passed.
“Bye, sweetie,” he said. He didn’t look at her, and she didn’t look at him.
“You made friends with the guard?” I said, once we were out of earshot.
“She isn’t the guard, Fiona. She’s supposed to make sure the prisoners are treated humanely.”
“I don’t think she is doing a very good job.”
“Actually, she chased Ray off more than once. And she saw to my injuries as best she could.”
“Seems like someone in such a position should have a little more backbone,” I said.
“Her lack of backbone is probably exactly why she’s in this position.”
We arrived at the steps. I felt him tense when he saw them.
“You can do this,” I said. “It isn’t as far as it seems.” Though I knew it would actually be much farther, sinc
e the stairs doubled back out of sight at the landing.
He nodded and gritted his teeth. It was difficult for him to lift his left leg, and I began to wonder if he had a broken bone.
“Tell me about it,” I whispered.
“I wouldn’t burden you with such things,” he said, huffing between his words. “Let’s just say that my lack of cooperation and Genesee’s death combined in a volatile mixture.”
“Have they been feeding you?”
He grunted, and then nodded. “Yes, she made sure I got something to eat every day, though it was often that awful, green stuff.”
“It is awful,” I agreed, laughing weakly.
Someone was coming down the stairs, and we stood to the side to let them pass. It was a man and a woman. The woman eyed us with interest, while the man tried to rush her past us. Neither of them spoke, nor did they acknowledge the smile I gave them.
After they cleared out of earshot, I told Elliot how the people there did not seem to like me, though they tolerated me politely when forced to.
He didn’t seem surprised. “Ray tried to tell me before that people here would not easily accept my presence. I see now, he was probably right. But there’s still time to change their minds.”
A shiver ran down my spine. “How would we do that? Change their minds?”
“Show them that we’re people just like them, I suppose.”
Relief washed over me.
We finally reached the door to our level. We emerged from the stairs into the hallway. Elliot grunted softly, and then asked to have a moment of rest.
He leaned against the wall while I stood beside him. As usual, the passersby didn’t acknowledge me, though I saw some steal furtive glances at Elliot. Maybe I was a familiar intrusion. Or maybe, his injuries made him more interesting.
Elliot gritted his teeth and pushed away from the wall. “Let’s go,” he said.
I directed him down the hall. I pointed things of interest out as we passed them, but I knew he was likely overwhelmed, the same way I had been. He gave an interested look at the commissary, but otherwise, showed no sign that he’d heard me.
“Once you’re settled, I’ll bring you something to eat. They do have some things we’re familiar with—meat, vegetables, some fruits. But, they mostly favor that spyro drink. I’ve gotten more used to it, but it still tastes pretty bad.”
We approached our hallway, and I reached into my pocket for my fob. That was when I realized we had no fob for Elliot’s room. Was it open already? I went to the door and turned the knob. Thankfully, the door was unlocked, and it swung open.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to the fob in my hand. He didn’t enter the room.
“It’s the key for my door.”
He narrowed his eyes and leaned into the room slowly. I reached around him and flicked on the overhead lights.
“Ugh, turn those off,” he said. He threw a hand over his eyes.
“Why? They’re the same lights as in the hall. Those didn’t bother you.” But, I turned them off to appease him.
“I don’t have to sleep in the hall,” he said. He entered the room and slowly walked around it. “Where did you get the key for your door?”
“Ray gave it to me. He showed me my room after I left my cell.”
Elliot swung around. “You were in a cell?”
“Yes,” I said calmly. “For a few days. But, I was fine. They didn’t hurt me. Except for when Ray used that weapon on me.”
“He used that on you?”
“Yes, right after he did it to you. It made me sore for a few days, but other than that, they fed me and kept me warm and dry. It wasn’t ideal, but nothing like what they did to you.”
He sat on the bed. It made a squawking sound as it sunk beneath his weight. “I’m sorry, Fiona. I just don’t understand where he’s coming from. I had no idea he would hurt you.”
“I’m fine. It’s fine. Really.” I sat beside him. “We have to figure out how to move forward. Do you want to leave?”
“No,” he said. “We can’t leave. Not now.”
“But—”
“Fiona, our best chance at helping our group is here. Inside this colony. We have to see it through.”
I nodded. The door swung open, and the doctor that Leo had sent came in. I was glad for the interruption; I didn’t want to discuss Leo’s proposal yet.
It was still too soon for that.
Chapter 10
The doctor bandaged Elliot up and gave him the same pebble-shaped pain medication I’d taken. I watched as he used unfamiliar instruments to make observations about Elliot’s state. He wrote his notes on a tablet.
“That device,” I said, pointing to the tablet. “Can anyone have one?”
“I suppose so.” He studied me. “Haven’t you ever used one before?”
“No. We don’t have things like this outside,” I said.
His eyebrows inched up under his bangs. “So, you are from outside.”
“We both are,” said Elliot. “Are you finished?”
“Almost.” He turned back to me. “What’s it like to live out there? Do you live in a cave?”
“Of course not. Most people live in huts. A few live in cabins.”
“Ah. Like the indigenous people, so long ago. I bet you have much in common with them.”
I didn’t know what indigenous meant, but I didn’t like the sound of it.
“We aren’t a curiosity,” said Elliot. “We’re human beings with thoughts and feelings, just like you.”
“Of course,” he said. “I only meant that it would be fascinating to study your way of life. It’s so different from our own.”
“And your way of life is quite fascinating to us, as well. I mean, this is basically a big cave,” said Elliot.
The doctor pursed his lips, then slid his tablet back into the case, where he’d stowed his other instruments. “You should be fine in a few days. No broken bones; I don’t detect any sprains. You’re quite lucky, actually. It probably looks much worse than it actually is.”
“Yes, lucky me,” said Elliot.
The doctor left without further comment.
“Why were you rude to him?” I asked.
“He just said I’m lucky I was beaten.”
“That was the last thing he said. You were rude before that.”
“I’m not going to be something for them to study. We’re not an experiment.” He collected the bedding from his sleeping pad and handed it to me. “Here. We’re moving my bed to your room.”
“Why?”
“This door has no lock on it. I don’t want to be in here.” He tipped the metal frame of the bed onto its side, and then hefted it under his arm. “Get the door for me?”
I opened the door and held it. After he passed, I scuttled to my own door and held that door for him, too. Thankfully, nobody was in the hall to question our actions. “Can I point out that you just spent two weeks locked in a cell, and now, you want a room to lock yourself up in?
He set the frame next to my bed. “I won’t be able to sleep if anyone can walk in whenever they want.”
“Oh.” I pushed aside the question of who might come in, even though the door was locked.
I made his bed up the same way Ray had made mine, and Elliot settled into it. I went back to his room for the medicines the doctor had left. I looked in the cabinet for a change of clothing for him, but it was empty. When I returned, he was sleeping soundly. I set the medications on the table and crept out to get him something to eat at the commissary.
“We’re out of meat today,” the attendant said, as I reached the front of the line.
“Do you have anything that isn’t spyro?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “There’s some oatmeal left from breakfast. Doubt it’s edible.”
“I’ll take that. And some spyro, too, I guess.”
“Suit yourself.” She scooped a glob of oatmeal into a bowl and handed it to me, followed by a mug of spyro.
I turned to move away and noticed nobody was waiting behind me. “Can I ask you something?” I said to her.
“You can ask. Can’t say I’ll have an answer.”
“Do you know anything about me?”
“Nope.”
“So, you don’t know that I’m from outside?”
She stared at me, her eyes blank.
“And do these other people—do they know that I’m not from your colony?”
“You sure ask a lot of questions.”
“I just want to know why people won’t talk to me.”
“You’re different,” she said after a long pause. “People can sense you aren’t the same.”
“What isn’t the same? I’m a person, same as you.”
She leaned forward. “Listen, I already said more than I should have. Why don’t you just go enjoy your oatmeal?”
“But—”
She cut me off by picking up the oatmeal pot, which was now empty, and taking it to a bin of soapy water behind her. She hunched over it and hummed loudly while she scrubbed it with her back to me.
I looked around at the few people lingering in the room. Most were seated, but a group of three was standing near the door, talking. Before I could lose my nerve, I strode over to them. “Excuse me,” I said. They seemed to start, as if they hadn’t even seen me until I spoke.
“Yes?” one of them asked. She was tall, taller than the rest. And gawky.
“Is there something different about me? About the way I look?”
Two of the people murmured excuses as they turned and walked away. But, the gawky woman stayed. “No, not really,” she said. She noticed my food and pointed to a table. “Would you like to sit down?”
“Together?”
She cocked her head and smiled. “Of course.”
I sat down at a nearby table, and she sat across from me.
“You can call me Willow. And you are?” She stuck her hand out for me to shake her wrist.
I managed to do it almost correctly. “Fiona.”
“I saw you with the president the other day.”
“Yes, he was showing me some things.”
“He seemed to like you.”
