Pulse Point

by Colleen Nelson

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the same voice, muffled through the adobe walls, asked. I held my breath, waiting for the door to be pushed open.

  There was a scuffle in the corridor, a child’s scream and then a thump against the wall. Silence.

  “Jacob,” the voice, clearly an overseer’s, growled. “What is she doing here?”

  The voice that answered trembled with fury. “You hit a ten-year-old!”

  “Doesn’t matter. Get her out of here.”

  I went limp with relief. We were still safe. Sy tugged on my sleeve and started walking again. There was no time to waste. The tunnel snaked underground, growing so small that Sy had to crawl on hands and knees to pass through some sections. Dust-filled air made it hard to breathe. What if there was no end to the tunnel? What if it went on forever, winding dark and treacherous underground, a cruel joke by the City to torment would-be escapees?

  We’d been in the tunnel for at least half an hour when it finally emptied into a larger space. Sweat dripped down my face and my bag felt like it weighed triple what it had when we left. Though we were still shrouded in darkness, my shoulders didn’t rub against the walls. Sy and I could stand beside each other without touching. I set my bag down, stretching my aching back. “I remember this,” Sy whispered. He felt along the walls and made a complete circle. “It’s the end of the tunnel. Above us is the windfarm.”

  “How do we get out?” I was desperate for fresh air, even if it meant being outside.

  “There was a ladder,” he murmured.

  I grit my teeth. Nerves left me impatient, my trust for his plan was ebbing away. He strained, reaching for the ceiling, but it was out of his reach. “There is a hatch above us, somewhere. I’ll lift you up.”

  “You don’t know where it is?” I looked up, unsure if he could support my weight. My spirits sank. Why had I thought his plan would work? It was ludicrous. Doubt about Sy’s mental stability flashed through my mind. What if Raina hadn’t escaped? What if she was dead and the escape was one of Sy’s delusions.

  “Kaia!” His voice was sharp. “Give me your hands. You need to get on my shoulders.” Sy bent down in front of me. I let him guide me onto his shoulders. Wobbling, I swung one leg over his shoulder, steadied myself and then let the other one follow. With me holding on to his head for support, Sy stood up carefully. We’d gained the length of my torso and when I reached up, my palms were flat on the ceiling.

  Sy took a few steps forward and caught his breath. A rock underfoot made him stumble. I swayed and tried to find my balance, but leaned too far to the right. I was going to fall off! With a startled scream, I banged against the wall, my cheek scraping against the rough stones. Sy’s sweaty hands gripped my legs. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. My cheek stung, and almost tipping off had done nothing for the lump of fear that was growing in my stomach. I reached out to the wall to begin my search for a trap door that would lead us outside.

  Going slowly, I felt hand over hand, trying not to think about how long it would take to cover every centimetre of the chamber. How long did we have until daybreak? An hour? Two?

  My hands brushed against something foreign, not the dirt of the walls. Thick wires, the diameter of my finger, ran along the top of the wall. “Wires!” I said excitedly. I followed them with my hands. “Keep going forward.”

  “Those are from the wind farm!” Sy said. “They’ll show us the way outside.”

  With fumbling fingers, I followed the cords until they curved into the wall and disappeared. I felt all around the wall, but they were gone. Despair started to creep into me.

  “There has to be a hatch,” Sy whispered, but there was worry in his voice. We’d made it down here unseen, but the City would be waking up soon. If we found a way out after dawn broke, we’d be spotted in the valley. And if we didn’t, and Sy’s absence at work was noticed…I shuddered at the thought. The overseer who had seen us go into the underland would report it. They’d come looking for us.

  And, if we didn’t find the hatch, creeping back through the underland was too risky. There was no doubt we’d be discovered. Our presence down here would be treated with suspicion; we’d be questioned. Taking a deep breath, I felt blindly along the wall and the ceiling until, finally, my fingers grazed something that wasn’t rock or gravel. “I found it!” A small square door. Pressing my palms on it, I gave it a shove, but it didn’t budge. Using all my strength and grunting with effort, I pushed trying to dislodge it. “It’s stuck.”

  “Use your knife,” Sy said. Fighting to stay balanced on his shoulders, I reached a hand down to pull the knife from its sheath. As soon as I felt the handle in my palm, I was reminded of Mae. Sy’s legs shook with the effort of holding me up. I had to work quickly.

  I jabbed the blade into the crevice between the hatch and the ceiling. There was some give, space to wiggle it. But years of no use had cemented the gravel.

  Below me, Sy trembled. “Almost,” I breathed. I pushed at the door again and this time, grains of sand and grit rained down on our heads.

  “Again,” Sy coughed.

  I hammered on it with my fist, I didn’t care anymore about the noise. I needed to be free of the tunnel. And then, an explosion of sand. I turned my head away, choking. Hot, dry air streamed into the tunnel, whipping past my face.

  I almost cried with relief at the sight of the sky. I held the knife in my hand and grabbed for the surface. With shaky legs, I stood on Sy’s shoulders, hauled myself up, and kicked my legs free. Rolling onto my back, I gulped in air that burned my lungs with its dryness.

  I was outside.

  I scrambled back to the opening and peered down, looking for Sy. He stood below me, squinting. “Take your bag,” he said and tossed it to me. I grabbed a strap and shoved it aside.

  “Grab my arm!” I dangled it down in front of him, but he made no move to take it.

  “You’re not strong enough,” he said.

  “Yes, I am. Hurry! Before we’re spotted!”

  He didn’t move. “Go, Kaia. I’ll cover for you to give you more time. You have to get to the Mountain.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Go!”

  I stared at him, shocked. “What about you?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not going with you. You need to find her, Kaia. You were never mine to keep.” He broke off, his voice thick. “Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her I wish I was as brave as she was.”

  “Sy!” I waved my arm at him. “No! You have to come!” I begged. “I can’t do it alone.”

  “You can. In a few hours, you’ll be out of sight of the City, by evening you’ll be on the Mountain.” He raised his arm, the joules shone through his finger. I reached down and our fingertips touched. “This was always how it was meant to be,” he said.

  A gust of wind swirled the dust of the valley. I ducked my head under my arm to protect my eyes. When I opened them again and looked into the tunnel, Sy was gone.

  “Sy!” I screamed. “Sy! Come back!” I lowered myself down as far as I could without falling in. “Sy!” But I couldn’t see anything but dirt walls and Sy’s bag, slumped on the ground.

  My breath came in hot, hard bursts. He was gone. I raised my head out of the hole and sat on the ground, shock rendering me numb.

  “Sy!” Panic came hot and fast on the heels of fear. I was outside. I cowered, pulled my bag to me and crouched low. My heart beat hard in my chest. The City rose in front of me like a beast. In the other direction: the Mountain. Sy had said to find Raina, all we had to do was follow the stream to its source.

  But, there was no “we.” Sy wasn’t coming. I was alone.

  And if I dropped back into the tunnel and followed Sy back to our dwelling, what then? My broken pulse point would be discovered. I’d be punished, sent to the underland. I’d have to face Sari and Lev�
��s betrayal.

  The sun would be rising soon. As soon as it did, I’d be spotted. With grim understanding, I knew I couldn’t stay at the City’s walls any longer. I didn’t have a choice. I’d left the City.

  The door fell too easily into place.

  I stared into the vastness that surrounded me. Overwhelmed. Sy had told me the plan. He’d drawn it out for me, insisted that I repeat it to him. Now I knew why.

  The stream lay to the east; if I followed it, I’d get to the Mountain. The most direct route took me through the wind farm and past the lightning conductors. Stuffing Mae’s knife into my bag, I started walking.

  Hundreds of massive windmills stretched across the valley. Their blades cut through the air, collecting energy as the wind propelled them. The whirring was deafening as I trudged towards them. The silvery blades sliced the air like whirling knives. Would they suck me up into the propeller, dice me into a million pieces? As I got closer, the draft grew stronger. I hunched my shoulders, holding my bag against me. Each step required effort, the pull of the air current strong.

  I kept going, one foot in front of the other. There was no going back now. It was hard to breathe. The wind got sucked out of my mouth before it even entered my lungs. I struggled, gasping, panic mounting at the force of the blades. Disoriented, I felt myself veer too close to the whizzing metal propellers. I fought against the pull, but the blades dragged me towards them. A scream burst from my mouth. I ducked and fell to my stomach, using my arms to crawl forward. Dust and sand whipped into my eyes, stinging my face. My cries drowned out by the drone of the blades.

  Lev

  Sy stood in his dwelling doorway, his sunken eyes surveying me. “Where’s Kaia?” I asked.

  He shifted forward, blocking my entrance. “Not here.”

  A tremor ran through me. “She has to be. She’s not at work. Her locator on my hologram says she’s here.” When he didn’t budge, I tried a different tactic. “She’s going to be reported, Sy. I need to see her.”

  “Reported?”

  “She hasn’t been to work or the gymnasium in ten days and she isn’t responding to messages.” I stared at Sy’s stooped shoulders and haggard expression. He looked beaten. “Please, tell me where she is?”

  “Not here,” he whispered.

  My chest seized and I pushed past him. “Kaia?” I called. In three strides, I was at her capsule. It lay empty, her blanket neatly folded at the end of the sleeping mat. I stared in shock. I was sure she’d be here.

  I turned to Sy. “You must know where she is. If you didn’t, you’d be searching for her too.” I took a step closer, balling my hands into fists. “Where is she?”

  “Gone.”

  “Where?” I seethed.

  “To the Mountain.”

  He’d lost his mind. The thought rammed itself into my head. I was talking to a crazy person. I pulled up my hologram. Kaia’s locator dot blinked in her dwelling. “Did you do something to her?”

  “I told you where she is.”

  I stared at him for a long minute, waiting to see if the tension would make him snap. But, he met my eyes and didn’t waver. I left the door open as I exited his dwelling. Kaia was somewhere in the City and I needed to find her.

  ⌓

  Raf was already on the balcony at the gymnasium when I arrived for my shift. “You’re late,” Raf barked. “Where were you?”

  “Trying to find someone.”

  “Who?”

  I wasn’t in the mood for his questions. “What do you care?” Raf raised an eyebrow at my tone. Below, Citizens pounded on the running mats; their feet collectively made a dull roar.

  Raf moved closer. The stubby grey hair of his eyebrows drew together. “I’m your superior. It matters.”

  If I told him about Kaia, Tar would find out. But she’d find out anyway, eventually. Raf was a senior overseer and knew the City better than anyone. If Sy had done something to Kaia, or Kaia was hiding, Raf could help me find her. And if she had gone to the Mountain as Sy claimed? I shook my head at the impossibility of it. I’d never heard of anyone leaving. “Is it possible for a Citizen to leave?” I asked, lowering my voice.

  He hesitated, narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes.”

  I took a deep breath, willing myself to be patient. “How?”

  He jerked his head at the dome above the gymnasium. “There’s an escape hatch. You’ve been up there actually. Kellan took you when you were a child.” I started at the mention of Kellan’s name. “Follow me.” He ordered another overseer to cover for us and led me towards a spiral staircase. Off-limits to Citizens, the staircase led to the top of the dome. There was a small landing and below, the whole City stretched out before me. I took in the view, speechless.

  He pointed to a coiled rope ladder hanging on the railing. “Escape hatch. See that panel,” he pointed to one above our heads. I’d been so distracted by the view, I hadn’t noticed the latch or hinges. “It opens up.” He jiggled a lock. “No one’s used it lately.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. One problem solved. Kaia hadn’t escaped, but that meant Sy had lied to me.

  “Has it ever been used?” I couldn’t imagine climbing down the dome to get to the ground outside.

  “Once that I can remember,” he said. “It was how Kellan got out the day he—” He left the thought hanging.

  Died.

  “You don’t remember, but he used to bring you up here. I’d come too. We were friends, you know. Trained as overseers together.”

  Raf held up his finger and swiped open a memory on his hologram. Kellan floated in front of me. Angular jaw and cheekbones, brown eyes. In the hologram, their voices echoed off the dome’s panels as they climbed the stairs, Kellan held the hand of a child. Me. My legs were barely long enough to climb each step. Kellan smiled down at me and looked up at Raf. “Future overseer,” he said pointing at me. The young Raf laughed.

  And then, from the top of the lookout, Kellan held me up to survey the City. “Ah! Here it is, Lev! The City!” Raf’s memory followed the stream as it meandered past the dwellings, through the garden and orchard.

  “I haven’t been up here in a long time,” Raf said quietly as the hologram disappeared. He turned and looked out over the valley below us. The sun was peeking over the Mountain, casting its warm glow over the dome.

  He pointed to a thin tower poking out of the ground like a needle: one of many conductors that dotted the barren valley. The kites attached to them waved in the wind. Meant to goad lightning into striking the metal poles, the kites provided hours of entertainment to children who watched them dip and dive.

  “Only Kellan was brave enough to hoist those.” The tendons in his face tensed as he clenched his jaw.

  What Kellan had done was legendary; it had made him a hero. A dangerous energy shortage had put the City in jeopardy. The Council came up with a plan to attach the kites to the conductors. But with a storm on the horizon, there wasn’t much time. Kellan had volunteered. It was while he was attaching the last kite that he’d fallen to his death with the whole City watching.

  “So, why all the questions about escaping?” Raf’s permanent frown turned suspicious.

  I swallowed. Once I told him what Sy had said, there was no going back. “A female Citizen is missing. Her elder said she escaped. But I think he’s lying—”

  “Did he say when?” Raf interrupted and gave me a hard look.

  “I didn’t take him seriously.”

  Raf moved in so close, I could see faint, grey hairs on his chin, thin and wispy. “Take me to him.”

  His voice made my skin prickle with fear. With heavy feet, I led him back down the stairs.

  ⌓

  From the walkway, I could see Sy on his balcony. Head bowed, hands gripping the railing, a mass of greenery engulfed him. Th
e anger I had melted away. He looked like a sad, broken man up there, waiting for us to come for him.

  “Raf, wait. If he’s gone crazy, then what? Do we take him away or…” my voice trailed off. Sometimes the hospital could settle Citizens who had temporarily lost touch and other times, they were balanced.

  Raf pressed his mouth into a thin line. “You know the answer.”

  “What if I’m wrong? Maybe I misunderstood.”

  I wanted to find Kaia, but not like this. She could be hiding within the City. There were lots of places to disappear, especially if she had someone helping her. The real mystery was that her absence had gone undetected, as if she no longer existed.

  Raf came down the two steps he’d climbed and stood level with me. “You’re an overseer now. We don’t make mistakes.” He shook his head at me for emphasis. “Come on,” he nodded his head. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  I thought of Kaia. I was doing this for her. If Sy knew where she was, if he had done anything to her….Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I raised my hand to knock on the door. No answer. I tried the handle. It wasn’t locked.

  Sy stayed on the balcony with his back to us when we entered. He didn’t even turn around when Raf said, “Sy? We have questions for you.” Raf grabbed his wrists, one in each hand and pulled him backwards into the dwelling.

  “Where’s the female?” Raf looked at me for her name.

  “Kaia,” I supplied, my voice hoarse.

  “Gone.”

  “Gone where?” Raf tightened his grip and Sy winced.

  “To the Mountain.”

  “How?”

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re too late. You’ll never catch her now,” he said.

  “Doesn’t matter, eh?” Raf said, jerking Sy towards the door. “We’ll see about that.” A faint smile touched his lips and my stomach lurched.