“Why not just ask the secretary?” he asked.
“I don’t want her to know my business. And I know you’ve handled a lot of classified information.”
He nodded. “Okay, I’ll get you in tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? I needed to get in tonight. “Can’t you just give me your code?”
He shook his head no. “You need my handprint too.”
I groaned to myself. I should have realized the records were sealed with touch pad security as well. I was going to have to walk back through the Ash zone, alone, having accomplished nothing. This trip had certainly taught me a lesson. No more rash actions. I was going to be a minister soon. I needed to act like it. But maybe there was still a way to salvage the trip.
“Can’t you come with me tonight? I’ll pay for your transportation, of course,” I offered, trying to sound more businesslike.
He laughed. “It’s not the train fare.” He looked up at the clock. “It’s after nine o’clock. Curfew’s at ten. There’s no way I’d make it back by then.”
“So I’ll pay the fine.”
He shook his head. “Too risky. You saw my mom. With the price of her pills and our taxes, we can barely make ends meet. No offense, but I can’t trust my family’s home on your word.”
“Fine,” I said. “But tomorrow?”
“Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll help. My shift starts at three. Why don’t you meet me at 2:30 outside of the Records Room. No one is ever there but me.”
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a real smile. “That’s very nice of you.”
“Who said anything about nice?” he replied. “Services provided will come to—” He did a quick mental calculation, making a show of counting the total out on his fingers. “Three hundred ostows, even. I accept cash or e-transfer.”
That was probably more money than his family made in a week, but I wasn’t about to quibble over price. It was low enough that my father wouldn’t even notice it missing. “Deal,” I said.
“I would have taken one-hundred-fifty,” he replied, the dimple appearing again with his grin. He stood up, pushing his chair back with a screech. “Now come on. I’ll walk you back to the station.”
I stood, relieved by the offer, but determined not to show it.
“And, princess,” he said. “Word of advice. Next time you visit the Ash zone, you might consider wearing something a little less,” he paused, groping for the right word.
“Elegant?” I offered.
He shook his head. “Scandalously purple,” he replied. “The resell value of that dress alone could feed a family for a month.” He winked before turning and walking down the hallway and out the front door.
I followed after him, unsure if he was joking or not. I wasn’t about to ask.
My thoughts spiraled. Who were these people? And where was I? If I got away, would I even know which way to run? I couldn’t move my hands well enough to reach my wrist tracker to call for help. And my locator was off, not that it would work this far below ground anyway. This was it. No one in my family knew I was gone. Except my mother, of course. But she’d been halfway to crazy when I’d left her. I’d have to get out of this alone.
My captors were arguing to one side, and I heard footsteps approach me. I tightened into a ball, expecting a kick, or worse. Small hands clenched around my shoulders. It was the woman again. “Fight me and I swear I will knock you unconscious.” She yanked me to my feet and led me about ten paces, then pressed me down to my knees. She grabbed my wrists and cut off my restraints. For a second I thought maybe she was letting me go, but then she twisted my arms and tied me back up around something cold and metallic. A pole, I thought.
I tried to say something, to talk myself out of whatever insanity I’d just gotten caught up in, but it came off as a jumble of sounds through the gag.
“Shut up,” the woman said, smacking me over the head for my troubles. A moment later she moved away from me. Two pairs of footsteps sounded in the air, then a door slid open and slammed closed. The man and woman argued on the other side, their voices a muted, angry buzz.
I sat in shock, breathing through my panic. Think, Dax, I commanded myself. I began to take stock of my surroundings. Somewhere a steady drip splashed against the ground. Its echo made me realize I was in what must have been a small space. The air itself was damp, and heavy. It smelled of mildew, though that could have been from the fabric over my head. Next to me, I heard something scratching and running around on what seemed like small, clawed feet. There were rats in the Tombs. That’s what everyone said anyway. Contaminated rats that could kill you with a single bite. If I made it out of here, no way was I going to be taken out by a rat. I stumbled up to my knees, wincing in pain, then pulled myself up to stand and stifled a groan.
My side still hurt, but at least I was on my feet. It was something. Now I just had to get myself free. I tested the binds around my wrist. With every tug I felt the bands dig into my skin. I was going to need something to cut through them. I decided to focus on the gag first. If I could at least speak, I’d have a chance to explain myself. I turned my head from side to side frantically, loosening the fabric.
From there I rolled the gag back and forth between my teeth and finally used my tongue to push it out of my mouth, over my chin.
I tried shaking off the bag covering my head, but I didn’t have enough freedom to move, so it wouldn’t budge. Instead I redoubled my efforts, biting down on the material and tugging up. It gave, and I felt a twinge of hope.
The next few minutes were excruciating. I bit the material, nodded my head up, and then clamped it between my chin and shoulder before I began the whole process again. Outside, the argument continued to heat up, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the man and woman returned. The cover moved inch by painstaking inch, and I almost shouted with relief when I pulled the fabric up over one eye. My elation was short-lived. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I took in the broken windows, the filthy benches on either side of me, and the metal poles evenly spaced through the narrow room. I’d seen the photos. There was no denying it. I was in a pre-Event subway car.
I turned back and forth in horror, looking around for lingering bodies. These were the cars responsible for removing the dead from the city. I was surrounded by contamination. Oh crilas. Forget the rats. If I made it out of here, I doubted I’d last the night after exposure to the toxins. The longer I stayed, the worse my chances were. I had to get out.
I crouched down, using my foot to kick over a piece of shattered glass about the size of my palm. I got it close enough to where I could just reach it, when I saw my captors turn toward the door. My fingertips wrapped around the shard, and I managed to grasp onto it and stand back up before the door slid open. I hid the piece in my hand as they walked toward me.
The man was huge—well over six feet. His arms were massive, and his head shaved. Stubble covered his face and he frowned down when he saw I’d gotten rid of the bag. “Great,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His biceps bulged through his black shirt.
The woman looked tiny when paired beside him. She ran a hand through uneven, cropped brown hair and glared at me. “That was quick work,” she said. “Told you she was trouble.”
Were they PAE soldiers? Only, what would they be doing down here? I took in the woman’s black shirt, pants, boots, and the absence around her wrist where a tracker should have been. Not wearing a tracker was illegal. Dressing in pure black was unsanctioned. You were allowed some white or black, but you had to prominently display your ring’s color at all times. Whatever I had just stumbled into I needed to get out of. Fast.
“This is a big mistake,” I said. “I just came here looking for answers that have nothing to do with you. I don’t know who you are. Honestly, I don’t care. Just let me go, and we can all forget this ever happened, okay?”
The woman ignored my words, striding toward me. She reached for my arm and I flinched, gripping the glass shard I was holding tigh
ter. I’d use it if I got the chance.
“Why don’t you tell us about this?” she said. Aldan’s wristband had fallen down from where I’d concealed it. She pulled it away from my skin and let it snap back into place. “Only a Purple would be vain enough to ruin a perfectly good Ash disguise like yours.”
“I’m not a Purple,” I said. “I’m an Ash. This was my brother’s—it was a gift.”
The woman snorted. “That’s your story? You’ve got a Purple brother who likes to share accessories?”
I glared back at her, battling anger and terror. “It’s true. Aldan used to practice above ground on the track. He died today in the loop championship, and when I saw you come down here I thought you might know something about why he did what he did. My mistake.”
The woman’s expression changed, her anger shifting to a look of worry. She glanced over at the man uneasily.
“Wait, do you know him?” I asked. “Do you know something about what happened today?”
“I’ll get Oena,” the woman muttered, striding out the door.
“Wait,” I called. “Don’t just leave. I asked you a question!” I turned back to the man. He was staring at me like he wanted to say something but was holding back. “Please, you have to tell me. I need to understand what happened.” I pulled against my restraints.
“Stop,” the man said. “I’ll untie you. Talk to Oena when she gets here. It’s not my place.”
“Who’s Oena? Are you guys PAE? Is this some kind of training facility?”
The man grunted. “We’re not PAE.”
“Then who are you, and what are you doing in the Tombs? Aren’t you afraid of getting infected?”
“It’s not true what they tell you about the contamination,” he said, walking behind me. I heard a laser crackle to life and a moment later the binds fell from my wrists. “There hasn’t been a documented case in ten years,” he continued. “That’s not what gets you killed down here.”
I took a few steps back from him, wary. “Then what does?”
He didn’t answer, and after a long pause the door slid open again. I slipped the glass shard into my pocket, waiting. Two women stood by the entrance. One was my original captor. The second one took a step forward, watching me. Like the others, she was dressed in black—black tank top, work pants tucked into tall boots. A cap was pulled down over her eyes, shadowing her face. She wore a knife strapped to her belt. Everything about her looked dangerous.
“Why are you here?” she asked. Her voice was quiet, but it carried.
“For information,” I replied, trying to sound confident. I’d made it this far. These people knew something about Aldan and I was going to find out what. “My brother, Aldan Harris, threw his destiny today. He used to practice above ground on the loop track. I noticed your—” I paused, unsure what to call them. “Your friends while I was there tonight. I thought they might know something.”
She walked closer, and I realized she wasn’t that much older than me. We were about the same height. Dark curls jutted out from under her hat and, as she stopped beside me, our eyes met. Hers were swollen and red. It seemed impossible that someone who carried a knife on her belt would cry, and yet the evidence was right there. In that instance I recognized her. She’d worn green last I’d seen her. It was the girl from the race. The girl from Aldan’s photo cube.
“We don’t have the answers you’re looking for,” she said. There was a kind of exhausted finality to her pronouncement. “You’re lucky Thom was the one who found you. Others would have shot first, asked questions later if they saw you with that cuff.” She turned back to the man. “Take her back to the surface, please. I’m not in the mood to rescue lost children right now.” With that, she turned and walked away.
I glared at her retreating back. “Wait,” I called. “I’m not some child.”
She kept walking.
“I saw you,” I continued. “At the race. You were there, with Theron. You knew my brother.”
She stopped.
“He has a picture of you,” I said.
She turned, staring back at me.
“You were the one he was always talking to, weren’t you?” I asked. “The mystery girl.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oena said.
But there was something. A catch in her voice that told me I was right. It made sense. Aldan hadn’t kept her identity a secret because he’d wanted to. He’d done it because he had to.
Oena shook her head. “Whatever you think you know is wrong,” she said. “You need to go home.” She marched back up to me, her eyes flashing. “Curfew is coming. ”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what happened,” I pressed. “Why didn’t Aldan complete his destiny? Does it have something to do with all of this?” I waved my hand, gesturing around the gloom.
“We would never have asked Aldan to risk his life,” she snapped back at me. “It was his decision. His destiny.”
I sucked in my breath. She did know what had happened. “You mean he threw his destiny on purpose?”
Oena rocked back on her boots, her eyes closed for a moment and she winced as if my words had physically hurt her. “Of course not,” she finally said. “It was an accident. He was going to wait at the finish line until some of the other athletes caught up. He knew they’d never pass him. He planned to stand there and wait, show how ridiculous predetermining the race was. He kept saying the system was a joke. That it was time to make people laugh so they’d see it too. He’d expected a huge fine. Maybe some time in the holding cells. Not… what happened. Aldan didn’t have a death wish.”
It took me a minute to process what she was saying. Aldan and I had always been close, but we’d rarely talked about the system. He’d openly disagreed with some of it. I’d listened to him debate the rings with my mom. I’d even joined in. But that was in the privacy of our home. When had that changed? Had it been this girl? I sank down into a nearby subway bench. Had it been because of me?
Oena sat down on the bench across from me. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs, gazing off into space. “I’ve gone over it a thousand times in my mind. It was just an accident. A stupid, horrible accident. From what I could see, his board somehow froze. Then that girl came flying down the incline.” She stopped, her voice going hoarse. “I still can’t believe it.”
So that was it. An accident. One mystery solved. Another sat in front of me.
“But how did you even know him?” I said. “Who are you? All of you. Thom said you’re not PAE. But if not that, then what?”
“We’re just people living as best we can outside the system.”
“Revenants?” The word was out of my mouth before I realized it.
“Some call us that,” she said.
The stories were actually true. My head was swimming with the revelation and what it meant. “And my brother? How did he fit in?”
“He didn’t,” Oena said. “He was my friend outside of this world. End of story.”
From far above the distant sound of bells began to toll from New City Center’s clock tower. It was ten o’clock. Curfew.
Oena’s tone changed abruptly. “It’s time for you to go.”
“But I have more questions.”
“I’ve told you everything I know,” she replied. She turned to Thom. “Drop her in the Yellow zone, as close as you can get to her home.”
She knew where I lived. Aldan was more wrapped up in this than she was letting on. I opened my mouth to protest, but she interrupted me.
“Dax,” she warned.
“What?”
“You can’t come back here—it will put us all in danger. You’ll be watched after this. Your entire family, but especially you. Your status makes you a bigger target.”
“You know about me—what I am?” I asked.
“Aldan mentioned it,” she said.
“Yeah, well, Blanks are scary,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Blanks create thei
r own path,” she replied. “I should know. My brother’s one.”
I looked at her, shocked. “Seriously?” I asked. I’d always been curious to meet another Blank—to see what they were like.
“Seriously,” she said. “Now I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more I can do for you. Go home. Forget you met any of us. It’s the best thing for everyone.” She turned to the man once again. “Thom?”
“On it,” he replied and nodded at me. “Let’s go.”
So that was it. I knew more than I had. Not as much as I wanted to. But they were right, curfew had come. I had to get home. I followed Thom out of the train car onto the tracks.
He stood in front of me shining a pinprick of light. “Watch your footing. There’s a lot of debris around.”
“Thom,” I asked, once we were alone. “What are the Revenants really trying to do?”
“Survive,” he answered.
He knew that wasn’t what I meant. “Beyond that,” I pressed.
“Give people a choice about the life they lead, not just accept what’s dictated to them.” He paused and put a hand on my shoulder. “None of us wanted your brother involved, but you should know his death wasn’t for nothing. Someday he’ll be looked at as a hero. Things are changing, and Aldan reminded millions of people that the system isn’t absolute. That you can alter what you’re fated for. If a Purple like your brother was willing to take a stand, imagine what else could happen.”
“Yeah, and look where it got him,” I said.
“Not everyone sees it like that. Come on,” he said ushering me ahead. “We need to be quiet as we make our way through. There’s others down here who I’d rather avoid tonight, alright?”
I nodded but there was so much I wanted to talk about.
We wound through the tunnels for what had to have been an hour. Even watching where I was going, it was hard to see anything, and I stumbled over broken track in places. In others it was just large rocks and metal scrap. I tried to memorize all of the turns we were taking, but my sense of direction became muddled within minutes. As we made our way, I kept playing my conversations with Oena and Thom over and over. More and more questions bubbled up in my mind.
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