Everyone whooped and hollered out in approval. Some people clapped and some people stood.
I had never been the leader of anything. Of course, back on Earth, I had never been a follower either. I had always kept to myself and led my own path. Now, here I was, blazing the way for a bunch of people whom I didn’t know if I could get along with a couple months ago. Now they were like family. I bowed my head in humble modesty until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s get right to it. The first thing we have to do is warn the people who paid to come here. Some of them will want to join us, others will decide to stay and try to warn Leslie. Does anyone have any idea how to go about this?”
Sierra spoke up. “We would need to find a way to separate them. Or just communicate to them. That’s going to be difficult.”
“Not really,” Ronald Walsey said. Ronald had been the head architect and was in charge of room assignments when they showed up. “Every single one of them has their own room. I can tell you which buildings, which apartments, and which beds belong to who. Basically, though, they all have houses, and the crew members have huts. It’d be pretty simple to just slip a note onto everyone’s beds if you could get in.”
“How would we get in?” I asked.
“Do you seriously have to ask that, or are you just trying to be nice?” Smith asked. His voice was crisp and clear with a bit of sarcasm sprinkled in. “Look, I knew what I was getting into when I did this. You guys were my friends, and I want to help. Let me do it. I’ll tell Leslie I need to do room inspections. No big deal.”
My heart fluttered a bit at the thought of him getting caught with a threatening note like the one we would need to send. “What happens when one of them decided to tell Leslie. You’ll be the first to know about it, because you’ll be the first on the list of suspicious people, right?”
“Not if I tell him one of the crew members has been sneaking off into the woods at night. I’ll take that person with me to do the room inspections, too,” he said. “I’ll pick someone good I promise.”
I sighed. Framing someone wasn’t really on my to do list, but if they deserved it, was it wrong? We were already crossing so many boundaries between right and wrong, it was too late to turn back now. We would need Smith in the camp for as long as possible.
“Okay,” I said. I turned to address the entire group. “Someone, please find a way to write the notes. I doubt if anyone has pencil and paper on them, but if you can get something, that would be great.”
“I had a notebook in my pocket when we left,” Ronald said. “I can let someone with better handwriting write out the notes.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Okay, while we are doing that, Smith will be in his camp replicating the virus and preparing it for contagion. We will have to be patient during this period. We aren’t sure how long it will take. We can get the creek prepared and obtain the wiring needed for the electrocution at this time. Any preparation can be done during this time. After Smith has prepared the virus, we will administer the warning notes. We will wait a week. After the week is up, anyone still in the camp is fair game. Fair?”
Everyone nodded.
“It takes a little bit for the virus to take. We will also wait for that. Once the virus is in full swing, we initiate all other plans. We begin drawing them out of camp, while they’re sick. Weak. This is when we beat them. We will have to be careful to keep our distance of course, but we’ll be catching them while they’re vulnerable, which is what we need,” I said. “We’ll discuss the details of the other plans as we set them up and prepare. Until then, we have a general idea.”
“What about back-up?” Jane asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“We have the softphone. I know there’s a reason we got it. What’s the plan there?” she asked.
Chapter Seven
“Well, we tried calling. For what, I’m not exactly sure," Garrett said in frustration. "We thought we could get ‘back-up,’ but the assholes back on Earth are supporting Leslie. The government down there says there is no government on Circadia, so they have no jurisdiction to help. They basically told us to fend for ourselves. We even sent the video sequence of Leslie shooting people and you confronting him, but no one seemed to answer or care. It let us know, though, that whatever we do up here, there won’t be consequences for down on Earth. Same as Leslie. We have it on record so they can’t touch us if we ever need to go back.”
“Go back?” Jane asked. “Is that what you guys are thinking?”
“No!” Spencer said. “Not at all, but it’s always an option.”
“Is it?” I asked. “How would we get back there? I mean, when did you guys talk about this? Are there people who want to go back home? Do you?”
Garrett calmed me by putting a hand on my shoulder. “No one’s going anywhere,” he said. “It’s just a contingency plan if something goes wrong. If we can’t win, or we need to get away, we just wanted to know if it was going to be an option. That’s all. Just checking our options.”
“So, now that they said we wouldn’t be breaking any laws and we know we would be allowed back, how would we even get there?” I asked. “I don’t know if you remember very well, but when we came here, our ship broke into a bunch of little pods, so we aren’t going anywhere. They were supposed to send a ship up for our return, but it doesn’t appear that’s going to happen anymore. Right?”
“Well,” Garrett said, “when the planet went dark before, I got worried. I was working with the space team pretty closely, and they let me in on a few concerns of theirs at the time. Seems they had a contingency plan of their own if things went south.”
“How so?” I asked.
Four men approached us and held out hands for a shake and introduction. The men all wore glasses and held notebooks. Some twiddled their thumbs, notebooks under their arms and dripped perspiration from their foreheads. They seemed nervous.
“This is the space team, or what’s left of it anyway,” Garrett Said. “Like I was saying, they told me of their contingency plan. At the time, it would’ve made people nervous, but now, we’re glad they did what they did. They stole parts off of our old pods and created a ship.”
“What?” I asked. I looked to the men and they looked ready to be scalded. “I’m not mad, that’s awesome! When did you find time to do that?”
Each of the men looked at each other quietly until one of them spoke. “We started as soon as we landed. We gathered parts off the pods and started building in the woods. We figured no harm no foul. As long as no one knew about it, it wouldn’t create any panic or worry, and we used parts no one needed. It was just backup, in case something happened. It’s done though. It’s launchable, if we need it.”
“Well, I hope we don’t need it,” I said. “But it’s always nice to have options.” I shook the hands of the men standing in front of me and they took a sigh of relief. “Do you guys know how to fly the thing?” My curiosity was killing me.
“Well, we think so,” one of them said. “To be honest, though, we won’t know until we give it a try.” He shrugged. I thought about the circumstances under which we would have to use the ship, and it would be a last-ditch effort anyway. They would be our only shot, so I didn’t mind if they weren’t exactly sure.
“How many people will fit in the ship?” I asked.
They all looked down at the ground simultaneously. The bravest spoke quietly. “It will hold about eight people. Tightly.”
Garrett cut in. “I don’t plan on going back to Earth, ever. This is my home now. I won’t be getting on that ship, ever. Even if it’s just a contingency plan. A backup plan. I’m not getting on that ship. We are either going to win this war, or I’m going to die. I can’t go back to Earth.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Tired of the corruption. The greed. All of it. I need a different life, and if I can’t have it here, I would rather die than go back there. I was so upset when I was sent here in the dra
ft before, but now there’s no way I would go back. Seeing what has happened here, and what our planet has done and refuses to do just makes it concrete in my mind that this is the better place. This is my home.” His words dripped with conviction, and I knew I would never be able to convince him to leave, even if we needed to. It broke my heart a little bit but ignited a fire. A fire only extinguishable by having Leslie Marshall’s head.
WE TURNED OUR ATTENTION back to the camp in the cave. Everyone was shaking hands on the new plans being worked into place and having small talk. Spotting Smith standing over to the side, leaning against the cavern wall, I approached him.
“When do you have to go back?” I asked, leaning against the wall in front of him.
“PRETTY SOON,” HE SAID. “Leslie will notice I’m gone eventually.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” he said. “What’s that?”
“When you first caught me, in the woods, what did you mean?” I asked.
“What did I say that you’re confused about?”
“You said that maybe you and I would have a chance since Garrett was out of the picture. What did you mean by that?” I asked. “Why would you say that?”
“Aella,” he said, pushing off from the rock wall and looking straight down at me, “I said it so that you’d hate me even more. I did a terrible thing, but I figured you’d see right through me. I needed you to hate me so that you weren’t asking questions or anything around camp. I needed my story to be believable, and I figured that would be one of the easiest ways to piss you off.” He stepped closer to me and leaned back against the wall. “Was I right?”
“No, not at all actually,” I said. “But I did see right through you. The night the woman died in our apartment, I watched you walking around in the dark. Heard you burying her, and crying...”
He looked down at the ground and pursed his lips.
I spoke again. “I saw right through you, but even then, I still hated you. I still kind of do, but I also know what you did for us...and what you’re gonna do for us isn’t going to be easy. Not in the slightest...because even if you survive what you’re offering to do, you’re still gonna have to live with everything you’ve done, whether it be right or wrong, and that’s not gonna be easy either.”
Smith sighed. “I can’t take back what I’ve done. It’s too late for that...but I can try to make up for it. Even if everything has been to protect us, to protect you, I’ll still never be able to repay anyone for the lives lost. I’ll work every day until I die to make it right. Or try.”
We locked eyes. Knowing that I may never see Smith again was disheartening. No matter how much I had hated him before, I had grown to respect him. When I saw him stab Idris, I had never hated anyone more. When I found out why he did it though, my heart ached for him. He loved Idris just like we did, but he still did it. For us.
I reached out my arms, and he returned the hug, holding on for quite a while. I rested my head on his shoulder and exhaled. “I need you to make it out, okay?”
He squeezed tighter. “I’m gonna try,” he said. “No promises. Remember that.”
I closed my eyes and one silent tear fell down my cheek. I wiped it with the back of my hand before pulling away so he didn’t see. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I said.
“Are you serious right now?” he asked. “After all this, and that’s what you have to say?”
“...yeah, pretty sure. Now, you better leave before it’s too late. You can’t be in trouble with Leslie any more than you already are right now,” I said.
He bumped into my shoulder as he walked past. I watched as he talked with Garrett and Spencer for a moment, then sought out the doctor and left. Dr. Mayhew would have to give detailed instructions on where to find the vial of the virus and how to get into it. I assumed Dr. Mayhew would tell him about it on the trip out.
The ones closest to Smith from before, like Garrett, Spencer, Jane and I, watched as he left. It felt like watching a storm rolling in. I knew it was going to be a disaster, and things were going to be crazy, but I couldn’t help but be excited.
Once Smith was out of sight, Garrett turned his eyes to me and walked my way. Still leaned up against the cave wall lit with the fire, I waited. Circling close until he finally leaned against the wall in front of me, he looked around to be sure no one would hear him. “Did he tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I asked.
“Dr. Mayhew is going into camp with him. Apparently, the lock code for the virus is Dr. Mayhew’s fingerprint,” he said.
“What?” I asked. I was immediately furious. Why hadn’t he told me that when he was standing here? Why hadn’t anyone else told me?
“Dr. Mayhew is supposed to be back by the end of the night. In and out kinda thing, but I’m worried.”
“We shouldn’t have let him go. Whose order let him go?” I asked.
“No one’s. Dr. Mayhew insisted, saying it was the only possible way we were going to be able to win. We all told him no, and told him we needed to talk to you, and to the group. He didn’t listen, and said he would go with or without help, and had very strict instructions that we not tell you,” he said. “I wanted to tell you Aella, but I also didn’t want Dr. Mayhew going in without any plan or help, which is what he would’ve done.” Garrett shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “I mean, what were you supposed to do? You did the right thing. He didn’t give you much of a choice, and it was his choice to make. He’s right, the only way we are going to win this war is with that virus. Without the virus, we don’t have a chance.”
“I just hope it works,” he said. “The what-ifs are killing me. What if it doesn’t work? What if Smith can’t replicate it? What if he replicates it and it works great, and then infects us too? It’s all so unknown and scary. It’s not like I’m used to playing with this kind of stuff at home, you know? I feel blind going in.”
“We all do. That’s part of it though, I think,” I said. “Everything is unknown, but everyone is ready to dive in head first. I think that’s the only part that makes me okay with any of this.”
He nodded, and there was a moment of silence between us. When I looked up, I caught his brown eyes looking down at me. “Are you really ready for all of this?” he asked.
“No...not at all, really. But I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“We all have a choice Aella,” he answered.
“When your only choice is run or fight, there’s no choice. Not for me anyway,” I said. “There is no choice. We fight. That’s it. That’s all there is for me. And you can bet on me being ready to see the life drain from Leslie Marshall’s eyes when this is all over with. This was our planet. Ours.”
“I agree.”
We both glanced down at the ground again, quiet. The fire filled air hung silent for only a few seconds.
“I’m ready for some sleep. Are you coming with?” I asked.
“Yeah, let me go grab my things. I don’t know how well you’re gonna sleep with all these people around. It’s been pretty hard for me, but I’ll sleep easier tonight knowing you’re okay,” he said.
I turned to look around the cave. It was large, but with a sixty people crowded in with fires and supplies, it was tight. We would all feel closer after, I was sure. Walking away from the wall to find a spot amongst the people, I realized I had nothing to take with me.
As if it wasn’t hard enough coming to Circadia with my entire life packed into a tiny rubber box, I now had nothing but the clothes on my back. It was scary and infuriating. I couldn’t hold back anymore and bust out crying. A wave of emotion came over me and it felt like I was suddenly drowning. My heart pounded and I went down. The ground caught me hard, and people rushed to me.
“What’s wrong?” they all asked, but I couldn’t breathe. Everything was blurry from the tears in my eyes. I was gasping for air when something hit me in the chest. My breath caught, and I was able to calm
down. Looking up, I saw Sierra looking down at me, her hand still in a fist.
“Sorry, it’s the only way to catch your breath again sometimes. That happened a lot to me when my husband first disappeared,” she said. She unclenched her fist and looked down at me with sad eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t even know what happened,” I said. Putting my hand to my chest, I felt the beating start to slow.
“Looks like you had a panic attack...”
Everyone stepped back to give me room, and I decided I would sleep where I was for the night. Just like that, I had lost everything all at once or so it felt. I’m not sure why it hit me at that moment. Maybe it was the lack of having a home to go to, or the realization of what I’d lost many days ago, but it hit me hard. As I settled down, Sierra brought me a blanket and left as Garrett came to lie next to me. I didn’t know how well I’d sleep, but at least Garrett was with me.
Chapter Eight
Peering out into the field, I could see they were flourishing, much to my dismay. I had taught them well. It still gaulded me when I thought about it. Sneaking around camp that morning was nerve-wracking. Every footstep was agonizing. We had to be quiet and fast at the same time, which was not easy. The dead flower weed under us crunched with each touchdown of a shoe, which seemed to echo out across the empty fields.
We stayed hidden in the trees, just out of sight in the darkness that the canopy created. Watching from the shroud, we were able to see the crew and Leslie live out their lives as if we weren’t there. At first, it felt wrong to watch, but the more we watched, the more we learned. Everyone had their own cliques they hung out in, their own routines they followed, and each part of the camp had a flaw.
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