People stared at me strangely. Some of them probably recognized me from my two recent visits. Not many people who didn't belong in Litropolis went there. Sirens blared, even there. The Grims whispered to each other as I ran through. Shacks and tents became a blur as I darted around tin cans and piles of garbage.
I only noticed the pipe sticking out of the ground as I tripped over it.
An old woman helped me up. Her eyes were gray, much like her hair. She didn't seem to have many teeth in her mouth. “Child, what have you done?”
I didn't have time to answer her. I kept running. I wanted to stop so badly, but I couldn't. At the end of Litropolis was another stone wall, twice as tall as the other, for it was designed to keep Foragers out.
I turned. A man sitting outside of his tent watched me.
“How do I get out of here?” I asked.
“You don't.”
“I have to. They're after me.”
The man laughed. He was missing a few teeth. “If they're after you, you're already caught. I don't know why you're running. Whatcha do?”
I ignored him and sprinted along the wall. Maybe I'd get lucky and find another hole. I jogged, running my fingers over the concrete, hoping for any indentation or movement that would mean there was an opening. I wished I could use my Grimbilities, but I wasn't on assignment, so they were disengaged. I had to find some way to get over that wall.
Then I spotted a Watcher. Reynold, to be exact, sticking his head in and out of tents. He was no doubt asking people if they had they seen me. Reynold was actually throwing people's things every which way as he looked for me. I felt even guiltier.
The people who had seen me running through were bound to snitch. They had no allegiance to me. I was a snooty Grim from Farrington who looked down on them.
“Anyone who hides you is no doubt going to be killed,” said a young woman as she hung wet clothes on a clothesline.
“I know. I wouldn't ask anyone to do that,” I said. “I only ask that you don't tell them you've seen me.”
“Get inside,” the woman said, motioning toward a small shack with her head.
“What?”
“I said get inside,” the woman ordered. She took my duffel bag.
I obeyed and ducked into her shack. She followed me in. “Get in the corner and tuck yourself into a tiny ball.” I did. She then covered me with sheets and pillows that she probably slept on. “Don't move. I'll hide your bag somewhere.”
I heard no more movement, so I assumed the woman had gone back to hanging her laundry. I stayed still by reminding myself I could die if I moved. I would probably be caught anyway, once Reynold or another Watcher threw the covers aside.
After a few minutes, a weight pressed down on my body. The woman was sitting on me. It hurt, and I wanted to tell her to get off, but her sitting on me was probably a good idea.
Nearby gruff voices asked, “Have you seen this girl?” The voices and footsteps got louder as they neared the shack.
“Hey,” a man said. He was in the shack now. “Seen her?”
The woman shifted a little, squashing my ribcage. “No. Why? Who is she?”
The man said nothing. She was only a Litropolite, so why would he answer her question? I heard things being moved and tossed around. I prayed he didn't ask her to stand.
“Fine. Keep an eye out for her.” Then he was gone, but we still didn't move from our positions. After a few more minutes, the sirens stopped. Did that mean they had given up searching for me?
The woman got up. I was sore, and it pained me to move, especially in my abdomen. Slowly I removed the sheet from over my head. The woman released the sheets that hung on either side of the shack's opening. They fell gently, covering the doorway.
I sat up and rubbed my arms. “Thanks so much . . .”
“Odessa.”
”Odessa. You didn't have to do that.”
“I know. What the hell did you do?”
I shrugged. “I don't know.”
“You don't know? They don't sound alarms and do full searches for one Grim unless that Grim has done something horrendous. What did you do?”
I looked around the shack at the mess the Watcher had made. I would help her clean up. “I was on assignment. We were supposed to be collecting lives from a school massacre, and I stopped it. It didn't happen.”
Odessa whistled. “Wow. Forget Gattica. Dunningham's going to kill you.”
I didn't want to die, and I definitely didn't need to hear her saying that. “Not if he can't find me.”
Odessa scoffed. “That demon has eyes and ears everywhere. He'll find you.”
“He doesn't have eyes and ears over the wall.”
“No, he doesn't. But how are you going to get over it?”
I rubbed a scrape on the side of my hand that I had just noticed. I must have gotten it when Father pushed me out of the door. “There has to be a way. If the Foragers can get in, there has to be a way to get out.”
Odessa got up and began to put things back where they belonged. I moved to help her, but she raised her finger at me. “Don't. You don't know where anything goes.”
I sat against her pillows and watched her clean. Odessa was beautiful. Her olive skin was covered with black smudges, but still she was beautiful. Her dark, curly hair fell past her waist and her black eyes were large and almond-shaped.
“Stop staring. It's rude,” she said without even looking up.
I looked away and sighed, wondering how I was ever going to get out of this mess. Odessa had been in the process of straightening up some pots and dishes when she stopped and watched me over her shoulder. But I was the one being rude?
“They come every other day. They're scheduled to come tomorrow. Maybe if you ask nicely, they'll take you over the wall with them.”
“Who?”
Odessa paused, looking at the ground. I imagined she was wondering if she should tell me. “Foragers.”
“What? Foragers come here? For what?”
“That I cannot tell you. All I can say is they'll be coming over the wall tomorrow morning. Going back with them will be the only way for you to get out of here.”
My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. “Do you think they'll help me?”
“I don't know. It depends on who comes. Some of them are nicer than others.”
“But why do you guys let them come here?”
“Listen . . .”
“Naomi.”
“Listen, Naomi. That doesn't concern you. All you need to be worried about is getting over that wall. That's it.”
Once Odessa was done reorganizing her home, she made two pallets for us to sleep on. She blew out the oil lamp, and we lay in silence.
Even with the pillows, I was uncomfortable. I yearned to be in my own soft bed. I needed to kiss my parents good night and rest my head where it belonged.
I imagined what they were doing just then. They had to be safe. I'd die if anything happened to them on account of me.
The whole city of Litropolis seemed to turn in at the same time. I heard no more voices, no more people moving around, just the wind.
“Naomi?” Odessa's voice sounded far away, but she was right next to me.
“Yes?”
“Why did you stop it?”
I didn't answer her right away. “I don't know. It just felt right.”
Chapter 26
When Odessa shook me awake the next morning, it was still dark out. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“I have some oatmeal cooking outside. Help yourself. The Foragers are scheduled to be here in an hour. I have some errands to run. The bowls and spoons are over there.” She pointed to the side of the shack. Then she left me alone.
I crawled over to the pile of dishes and scrounged around until I found a wooden bowl and spoon. I couldn't imagine having to live this way all the time. I had only been away overnight, and I missed the comforts of my own home—comforts I would never have again, because I couldn't
go back.
Outside of Odessa's shack, I spotted several other Grims cooking breakfast outside. The oatmeal sat in a pot over some rocks. I assumed there had once been a fire there. Crouching, I scooped the beige mush into my bowl until it was full and then I crawled back inside. I wasn't a huge fan of oatmeal, but I was starving. I devoured it without even waiting for it to cool.
As I ate, my gaze landed on my duffel bag. Odessa must have brought it back in this morning from wherever she had hidden it. I set my bowl down and unzipped it. Mother had packed it full with several pairs of jeans, hoodies, and underwear, a black, hardcover book—my copy of the Grim Covenant, a bag of coins, and a photo of our family. I stared at it for a moment before clutching it to my chest.
By the time I finished my breakfast, Odessa had come back, carrying something in a basket. “Did you eat enough?” she asked.
I nodded, even though I could eat plenty more. There was only enough oatmeal left for her, and she had so little.
Odessa went out to fix herself a bowl and then came back in. We sat in silence as she ate.
When she was done, she grabbed the basket she had brought in. It was full of peas. She began to snap them in half and peel them.
“This will be supper,” she announced. I wasn't sure why. I had no plans to be there that evening. “We don't do lunch here. That's a luxury we can't afford.”
“That's fine,” I said, even though it wasn't. That bowl of oatmeal was going to wear off pretty fast. “You live here alone?” I asked. Singleness was uncommon in Nowhere. Grims were to be paired off with someone. Usually, there were more females than males, and the unpaired women lived in one big home together. Parents often scrambled to get their girls paired off so they wouldn't become what Grims called “leftovers”.
She sniffed. “Yes. My husband's in Gattica.”
“Oh, I'm sorry.” I was tempted to ask why, but I figured she wouldn't want to talk about it. “When was the last time you were dispatched?”
Odessa laughed. “Dispatched? Let's see. For me, it's been maybe five months.”
That was a long time. Grims in Farrington were dispatched at least every other week.
“Yep,” Odessa continued. “I have about forty-nine years left, give or take. I don't think I'll be earning many more.”
Odessa couldn't have been older than twenty-five. If she didn't earn any more years, she would die when she was seventy-five, very early for a Grim.
She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “How about you?”
My cheeks burned with shame. “Four hundred and something. Odessa, why did you help me?”
“I don't know. I saw a scared girl running for her life. Call me a big softy.”
I knew the feeling.
A sharp whistle pierced the air.
Odessa looked at me, wide-eyed. “They're coming over.”
We crawled out of the shack. About twenty feet down along the wall, five Forager men scaled down the wall. They were dirty and unkempt like all Foragers, but they were fit and muscular.
One of them, a tall one with brown curly hair and light brown eyes, ran and scooped Odessa up in his arms. He spun her around and then placed her back on the ground. The other men had gone off in different directions.
After a few moments, Odessa remembered I was standing there. “Oh, Nigel, this is Naomi.”
Nigel frowned at me. “What are you doing here?”
“They're looking for her. Nigel, she'll die if she stays here. Will you take her back over with you?”
He looked from me to Odessa then back to me again. I could tell it was hard for him to tell her no. He shrugged. “I don't care, but I have to see what the other guys say first.”
Odessa nodded, and Nigel went off, probably to join the other men.
Odessa and I went back inside her shack, where she continued to snap peas. “Don't judge me,” she said as I joined her by the bowl.
“I'm not.”
“I love Navy, I do, but he's in Gattica. He's never coming back.”
“I understand,” I muttered. Really, I had enough of my own problems to be concerned about that.
“Besides, Nigel is the one I'm in love with. There's a difference, you know.”
“A difference?”
“Yes, you grow fond of your betrothed, but that doesn't mean they're your soul mate. Nigel is hands down my soul mate, but he's a Forager, so we can never be.”
I thought about Keira and Bram. “Do they ever get caught here? The Foragers?”
Odessa shook her head. “Do you see any Watchers here? They don't care what we do, as long as we stay on our side of the wall, which is fine. It works out better for us.”
I wanted to ask again what they were doing here, but Odessa would never tell me.
A couple of hours passed. Odessa and I had snapped the peas, washed the morning dishes, and entertained three gossiping women. I worried the women might tell that Odessa was hiding me, but she assured me that Grims in Litropolis didn't snitch. I wondered if the Foragers had gone back without taking me.
Then Nigel stuck his head inside the shack, and my fear subsided. “The guys said okay.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed my duffel bag. Odessa and I crawled out of the shack. I turned to her. “Thank you for everything.”
She had saved my life. No one else had helped me. It was also because of her that I was getting over the wall.
Odessa nodded. “No problem. Take care of yourself, and good luck.” She and Nigel shared another kiss, and then we made our way to where the rope hung.
Three men were already scaling it. They made it look easy. I hadn't thought about the fact that I would have to actually climb. I didn't think I could do it.
Nigel must have read my mind. He took my duffel bag from me and put it over his shoulder. “It's okay. Hand over hand. Foot over foot. Just like you're walking, except you're walking upward.” It sounded easy when he put it like that.
“Listen, kid,” said the Forager waiting behind Nigel. “We'll get you over this wall, but then you're on your own.”
“Moore, come on, man,” Nigel said. “All right. Go ahead and take the rope. Put your feet on the wall, and I'll hoist you up.”
I did as I was told and discovered that I didn't have much upper body strength. Thankfully, Nigel was beneath me to help boost me along. I moved hand over hand and foot over foot as instructed. Surprisingly, I moved up the wall. When I got to the middle of the wall, I made the mistake of looking down.
“Keep going,” Nigel urged me, so I did.
I had gotten to the top of the wall when I made the horrible realization that going down was going to be much worse than climbing up. I rested on top of the wall. “I can't. I can't go down.” I looked down at Nigel, who was still on the rope, waiting for me to continue.
“Naomi, what are you going to do? Sit there for the rest of your life?” I nodded. “See, that wouldn’t be such a problem if Moore and I weren't stuck behind you, but we are.”
“Listen,” called Moore's rough voice. “You can either climb down, or you can jump and hope one of the other guys catches you.”
“Shut up!” Nigel barked at him, but Moore was right. They were helping me out, and I was slowing down the process. “It's okay,” Nigel said gently, and I could understand why Odessa loved him. “Just swing your legs over and roll on your belly. Put your feet against the wall, grab the rope. You can do this, Naomi. Hand under hand and foot under foot, this time.”
I followed his instructions. My heart skipped a few beats when my feet slid. Thankfully my right foot was stopped by a crack in the wall.
It became easier than I expected. I didn't look down, and I kept thinking Hand under hand and foot under foot. When I felt I was close enough to the ground, I let myself drop.
The other three men waiting there nodded at me politely. My duffel bag dropped by my feet. I'd forgotten about that. It was sweet of Nigel to carry it for me.
I placed my duffel bag around my
shoulders. “Thanks for your help,” I said, particularly to Nigel. I turned to be on my way.
“Where are you going?” one of the men asked.
“I don't know.” The plan was to just walk and see what happened.
“Get over here,” Nigel said, waving me over. The men walked ahead, and I followed.
We walked for what seemed like an hour. I wanted to stop and remove my hoodie. It wasn't cool outside the wall like it was in Nowhere. The humidity caused my clothing to stick to my body, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to slow them down.
The men kept walking as if the heat were nothing. From time to time, Nigel would look back and ask if I was okay, and then Moore would shoot me a dirty look.
Nigel took the duffel bag from my shoulder. I was tempted to grab it back, to prove that I didn't need his help, but the relief felt so good, I decided against it.
“Everything's looking good,” one man said. The others called him Eris.
“Yep. I think we're ready,” another man said. I hadn't caught his name.
“Shhh,” Moore hissed, pointing his thumb in my direction.
“It doesn't matter,” Nigel said. “She's not going back there.”
Moore glared at Nigel. “So she says. For all we know, Dunningham could have gotten a whiff of this and she could be a spy. He'd be smart to do that—send a little girl who people would take pity on.”
I didn't appreciate him speaking of me that way. “I'm not a spy or a little girl, and Dunningham doesn't work like that. If he knew about whatever you were talking about, he wouldn't go through all the trouble of sending a spy. He'd just have you killed.”
“She has a point there,” Eris said. “Moore, you are the most paranoid man I know. Relax, man.”
“I'll relax when this is all over,” Moore grumbled.
I stopped walking. “Please . . . I really need to stop. Just for a minute.” I had been trying desperately to endure, but I couldn't anymore.
“Okay,” Nigel said.
“See—” Moore began, but Nigel held up his hand.
I sat on my duffel bag.
Eris knelt next to me. “Sorry, we don't have any water to give you. We've been going through a drought.”
Naomi Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book One Page 16
