“Yeah – we’re gonna party all day and all night for the next couple of weeks,” says the other, a short brown-haired guy with rosy cheeks.
“Enjoy yourselves,” I say, envying their blissful ignorance as I swish by, then quickly turn on my heel. They stand wide-eyed, expecting me to join them. “Did you see a tall guy with a long black braid come by? He was with a girl – long hair, pale face. Lives two doors down from your friend.”
They shake their heads. “They cleared that place out.”
I get closer. “Who cleared which place?” I’m aware that my voice is escalating and they probably think I’m a crazy freak.
“Hey, chill out,” says the blonde guy. “Some guys we don’t know left there an hour ago with boxes. One of our buddies is moving in tonight.”
I don’t listen to the rest of it, but run towards Chale’s door and fling it open. They’re right. The place is stripped. Only the bare mattress left. And Chale’s beautiful beach mural is gone – painted over in bright ocean blue. It’s fresh because I can still smell the new paint. I run over to the wall, searching for a sign of him and sure enough, under the rush paint job I can still see spots of pink visible from the girl in a pink bikini.
11
The next few hours are a blur. I’m like a wounded animal. In the short space of a day I’ve lost four people I care about. Yul, Jolyon, Lynette and now Chale. I’m determined to do something about this rotten corporation. It would be so easy to help myself to a giant smoothie and let all my cares simply fade away but I know that right now someone’s probably out looking for me and I’d be in no shape to think under the influence of all that junk. Problem is, apart from Edelia, I don’t know who to watch out for. Any one of the faces milling around in the Plaza could be an outsider.
I find my way to my apartment and gather up some things. Hilda and Johnny’s hologram goes back into its little digi-cube and I stow it in the front pocket of my backpack with some light clothing and another pair of shoes. My notebook of Lynette’s stories goes into the back pocket with a toothbrush and comb. Standing at the door I take one last look at my one and only home and, feeling no regrets, close the door on it.
When I step into the hallway outside, I shut my eyes for a minute and try to summon up some of the energy I found this morning. I’ll need to be completely alert. Soon my head is buzzing and I feel tuned in to everything around me – all the sights and sounds and smells. I set off at a fast pace towards the elevator, change my mind and take the stairs which is just as well because the elevator door swishes open just as I get into the stairwell and peek round the corner two men in dark overalls and carrying storage boxes are heading towards my room but there’s no time to think. I grasp the rail and leap down the stairs three or four steps at a time.
Once I’m down to the lobby level I open the door a crack and peek through. It’s all clear so I make a break across Fountain Plaza to get to the Temple. Everyone’s face seems to blur into one and the noise of chattering and laughing swirls around in my head. I feel so dizzy I could curl up on the spot into a foetal position, but the thought of getting out of here – no matter how uncertain the outcome is – drives me forward. I duck my head and weave my way through the bodies, trying not to make eye contact with anyone and when I see Borna grabbing a drink at the Juice Bar I take an abrupt turn. She’s the last person I want to meet up with. The weird thing is I don’t really know anyone else. All my friends seem to be disappearing one by one. Junius is the only one left that I can count on. Suddenly I’m spooked. Everyone around me looks like a suspicious stranger.
When I find Junius at the Temple sitting cross-legged in front of Kumaresh I rush in as if wild dogs are chasing me. They both stand up, alarmed.
“Paige – what’s happened?”
I’m breathing so hard I can barely speak, but somehow I manage to tell them, in short bursts, about everything that’s happened today. Kumaresh goes to get some water for me and I gulp it down, not realizing how thirsty I was.
“So there’s no other option for me,” I say, still struggling to breathe. “I have to get out of here tonight because I’m supposed to be part of the next shipment. They’ve already cleared out my room for some new Keener.”
Kumaresh starts to pace back and forth then stops as if he’s had a great idea. “We’re gonna send our first group outside,” he says. “and it has to be tonight.”
His hypnotic voice calms me. “How long have you been planning this?” I ask.
“About a year,” he says.
“We’re committed to liberating everyone here,” says Junius.
Kumaresh holds up one large hand. “We’ll start slowly and it won’t be easy but we eventually want to empty this place. But first we have to find out what exactly is going on out there in the real world.”
“There’s no telling what we’re facing out there,” says Junius. “We all know our immortality makes us vulnerable to all kinds of dangers.”
But how will we know where to start?” I say, realizing the huge task ahead of us. “We don’t even know who’s running this whole operation.”
Kumaresh puts a steadying hand on my shoulder. “Whoa - slow down - Junius told me you had spirit – which isn’t a bad thing. We need people like you to lead us.”
I blush at the praise. “Right now I don’t feel so brave,” I say looking at these two guys who seem to expect a great deal from me. I’m actually feeling terrified but if we’re going to find Chale and Yul and Lynette – now is the time to do it.
“Our first goal is to find out who’s in charge of the Iduna Corporation,” says Kumaresh. “All we know is that they’ve never shown themselves. All leadership decisions are made secretly and with the use of spies who travel between the outside and the compound.”
“Which means there has to be some reason why they want to hide,” says Junius, “and that’s what we need to find out.”
“We’ve already discussed the danger,” says Kumaresh. “People on the outside would kidnap or worse – kill you to get a chance at immortality.”
So what’s the plan?” I say, knowing there’s no looking back once I’ve made the commitment. “I’m in.”
“Great,” says Kumaresh sweeping me into a big bear hug. When Junius hugs me he whispers into my ear. “Don’t worry I’ll be coming too.” Which gives me a much better feeling about the whole operation.
We sit cross-legged on the floor as Kumaresh outlines the plan and as I listen my heart races since it’s about to begin in less than an hour.
First Kumaresh assembles the team. There’ll be me, Junius, a tall red haired girl named Ida and a muscular guy with brown hair and freckles named Sileas. Once the introductions are over we all join hands as Kumaresh goes through the chant I heard this morning. The strength flows between us as if we were one powerful unit. The others must’ve been briefed already because there’s no recap of the escape plans.
“Once you get out there you need to find communication devices,” says Kumaresh. “It’s important to keep in contact with each other at all times.”
“Do we have money?” asks Sileas.
“I’m giving you each some and we just have to hope they use the same currency out there,” says Kumaresh handing us each a small backpack.
“Otherwise I guess we’ll just have to find a job,” I say, wondering how many juice bars there are on the outside. Or maybe there are coffee shops like Lynette described.
“You may need to,” says Kumaresh, “but you have to be on your guard at all times. You’re always in danger of being kidnapped and becoming a feeder. And if you think you’re imprisoned here, imagine a lifetime spent in a tiny cubicle with one tube draining your blood and another pumping food into your stomach.”
The reality of that vision suddenly hits us. Until now it was just a story we saw on the TV messages from the CEO. Now it could be a reality for all of us.
“What about Chale?” I say, “What if they’ve taken him already?”
“L
et’s see if he shows up tonight,” says Junius.
“Don’t let him follow you,” says Kumaresh. “He isn’t ready.”
I think to myself that if he doesn’t show up I’ll still find him wherever he is.
We spend the next hour having a final meal though I’m so keyed up the food sticks like dry paper in my throat. I soon discover that Ida is a fitness fanatic and swims in all the Aquatic Races and Sileas’s donor parents were both scientists so he has a thing for technology. I realize I’ve never asked Junius about his donor parents but just as I’m about to, Kumaresh comes in and tells us it’s time. I make a mental note to ask him later.
Soon we’re cutting through suppertime crowds. The other three are shielding me with their bodies since it’s possible that people are out looking for me. There’s a huge Keener party setting up inside the Bay Beach Club and I feel a small pang of hurt when I think of last night and the great time I had with Chale. Things were so much simpler then and Lynette was still safe. I tear my eyes away and press on.
We pass through Fountain Plaza and I sneak a quick look upwards to see those hidden windows. I wonder who’s watching now, but my question’s answered when a pale faced, dark haired figure materializes from behind a palm tree. I nudge Junius. “It’s her. It’s Edelia.”
“Speed it up guys,” says Junius and we break into a run. Edelia looks like she’s talking into her hand but I know she’s contacting someone. Soon she’s running after us. We turn the corner and Ida pushes open a small door. “Swimmers’ entrance,” she gasps. “Quick.”
The door leads into the back of the deserted swimming pool. As we cross through the orangey darkness our footsteps echo. Only a few more steps and we’ll be in the trapdoor hallway, but just as we get out of the pool area the lobby doors slam open and we hear someone else’s footsteps slamming across the tiles. It sounds like more than one person.
Without thinking I grab one of the long-handled pool nets and shove it through the door handles blocking their way in. “OK – let’s move it,” I whisper and we run along the dark hallway where Junius is already opening the trapdoor. We all file down the stairs and Junius closes the hatch. For a moment we’re safe.
“Good thinking, Paige,” says Sileas. “I’m glad you’re on our team.”
The room with the black cars there’s an unfamiliar smell in the air – it’s heady but sickly.
“Gasoline,” says Sileas sniffing the air. “A fossil fuel. I can’t believe they’re still using it.”
The cars must have just come back from a delivery and I feel a chill. I hope Chale wasn’t in one of them. If he’s already been shipped I’ll do whatever it takes to find him.
Junius leads us to the wall beside the storage room and we stand waiting, our backs flattened against the cold concrete. The only sound in the heavy silence is the sound of our breathing though I can also feel the thundering of my heartbeat in my ears. I look around to see if the others have noticed then realize they’re probably listening to their own.
As we figured the far door soon opens letting in Carl and his two buddies with their cloths and cleaning sprays. Just as they begin Sileas makes a noise near the closet and they stop their polishing. He makes the noise again. There’s some talking, then two of them stop working to investigate while Carl keeps a lookout. But the moment they set foot inside the closet doorway, Sileas slams the door shut and barricades it with a heavy metal container.
Of course they kick up a fuss with a whole lot of scraping and yelling so Carl runs over to take a look. At that point Junius grabs him from behind and he starts up with the catlike whimpering again.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” I say, looking him directly in the eye. “We just want you to drive us to the loading dock.”
When Carl hears that he starts to writhe like a mad dog and it takes all four of us to hold him. Finally he stops, completely spent and breathing so hard I’m worried we’ve damaged his heart. “You can’t ask that,” he says. “You don’t know what’ll happen to you – and to me.”
“You’re gonna do it,” says Junius, “or we’ll make such a ruckus down here they’ll send someone to investigate.”
“Okay,” he whimpers. “Supposing I do get you up there – I’m finished – they’ll kill me for breaching security.”
“Well this is where it gets interesting for you, Carl,” says Ida calmly. “We want you to take us all the way up to the outside.”
“Yeah,” says Sileas, “we need you.”
“You just have to trust us,” says Junius. “And if we find a way we’ll help with your condition.”
Carl’s eyes open wide as he looks around at each one of us. “I’ll risk anything for that,” he says. “Let’s get moving.”
Incredibly a few minutes later I’m crouched on the floor in the back of the shiny limousine that smells of new leather and gasoline fumes. Ida, Sileas and Junius are crammed beside me. Carl is upfront driving. He starts the engine and I feel the low throb travelling through the car’s underbelly. When the gears shift the car purrs into action and carries us away from all we’ve ever known into a long, dark tunnel. From where I’m lying I can see lights swish by. Is this what you see when you’re being shipped on the last journey of your life? The car picks up speed then turns a corner and begins to slow down. I can’t see but I think this must be the loading dock. Carl shifts the gears and lowers the window.
“How many?” he asks.
“One,” says a mechanical voice. “Prepare for loading.”
There’s a whirring that sounds like a door opening and the clank of metallic footsteps on the ground. Then the back door swings open and I look up to see Chale, dressed in a black tracksuit with gold Iduna insignias on the chest. He stumbles forwards, blindfold covering his eyes and arms tied behind his back. Behind him are two tall masked figures in overalls who are about to thrust him into the car when one of them spies Ida. Suddenly there’s a loud clanging of alarms and in the time it takes to reach out my arm I grab Chale and scream jump in. He lunges into the back seat headfirst. Junius shouts floor it to Carl who revs the car, crashes through a metal barrier and barrels along an uphill ramp. A bright square of light grows bigger and bigger by the second so I clamber up onto the seat, the adrenalin flooding my veins. There’s no way I hell I’m going to miss my very first view of the world outside the compound.
12
I’m expecting a blinding flash of light and colour when we burst from the tunnel into the outside but it doesn’t happen. The square of light is only a dim floodlight at the mouth of a long underground tunnel. When we reach the end there’s a rusted metal grating across a narrow exit hole that slides open when Carl presses a button on the dash. It’s night out there and the black car glides soundlessly out into the cover of darkness. We’re in an unlit street with rundown warehouse buildings on either side. I roll down the window to breathe in the air. My first real air. It’s so damp I can taste the fine mist that settles on my face and there are so many layers to it – gasoline, smoke, soil and living, natural things.
“All the shipments are made at night. You’ll soon see why when you go further into the city,” says Carl, hinting again at the mysteries of the world beyond this street. “I’m supposed to park the car behind that building over there and make myself scarce for an hour.” He points to a broken down garage just a few yards away from us.
“Go ahead,” says Junius. “Then we’ll unload and figure out what to do from there.”
“Are you sure nobody’s gonna be waiting for us?” I say.
“It’s usually deserted when we drop off the cars but this time’s different so – who knows?” says Carl steering the car into the alleyway behind the building. “They may have already received word about the escape.”
I suddenly remember Chale’s cuffed, gagged and blindfolded body is right next to me and he’s writhing like crazy so I whisk off the blindfold and after some muffled groaning I pull out the gag.
“What the hell is going
on?” says Chale, gasping and heaving.
“You’ve just been saved,” says Junius.
Chale’s face is red and sweaty. He wipes his arm across his forehead “I don’t know what happened. I tried to find Yul – Edelia said she’d help me. She gives me a drink and next thing I know I’m all trussed up in this suit sitting on some loading dock. They took Jolyon before me – I didn’t see Yul anywhere.”
“I told you I’d look out for you,” I say to him and he smiles. Junius clears his throat loudly.
“We need to get those cuffs off him if he’s going to be any use to us,” says Junius, with a slight note of irritation in his voice that I’ve never heard before.
“I’m onto it,” says Sileas, pulling out a tiny toolkit from his backpack. By now we’re at the back of the building in a large parking lot.
I’m the first to get out of the car and stand in the fresh air letting the breeze tickle my cheeks and ruffle my hair. “Incredible,” I say, holding my arms out at my sides and taking in the vast expanse of night sky peppered over with tiny glistening stars and clouds that pass across the moon like torn pieces of grey fluff. I’ve never seen a real moon before. It’s more beautiful – more luminous than I could ever imagine, hanging in the sky like a pearly disc. The others follow me and we all take a quiet moment just to savour our first moment of freedom. I swear I can see tears in everyone’s eyes. Even Chale who’s finally shaken off the cuffs stands in complete awe of the vastness of outside. Suddenly our world has no boundaries and I can feel the excitement bubbling up inside me. I’m so ready to explore but we have a job to do first.
Carl interrupts our reflection with a jolt of reality. “I don’t want to rush you but someone’s gonna be along to pick up the goods soon and they won’t be too pleased to find they’ve wasted their money.”
The Forever Ones (The Iduna Project) Page 7
