by RaeLynn Fry
“Why did he have all that? Where did he get it?”
“I have no idea why he has all that information on her. And as far as the content, most of that is available through normal recordkeeping, Marks, Medic check-ups, births, et cetera.”
“Marks collect and track personality profiles and likes and dislikes?” Raj says. “How very interesting.”
Dhevan looks from Raj to me. “Don’t make me ask.”
“Part of my job at the Corporation was to watch certain people my father deemed as interesting and to collect information on them. I never asked questions, I didn’t want to know. Karis was one of those people. He was obsessed with her.
“I began sneaking into Neech and watching her, following her, but I didn't notice anything special in her that would warrant my father’s interest. The more time I spent doing that, the more I saw how unjustly Neech was being treated. The more I saw that things needed to change.”
“Are there more files on different people?”
“I haven’t seen any, but I wouldn’t doubt it. My father is thorough, and I’m sure he has a fat file on anyone close to her.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Years. Two, maybe three.”
“That's when you started doing the newsletters?”
“That's right,” I say. “Then I went to my father and told him I wanted out of Dahn. I didn't feel like I belonged any longer. I was surprised when he said he would let me leave. Looking back, I should have seen the trap. He told me I could have complete freedom if I helped him with one more thing.”
“Getting Karis to him.”
Dhevan is smarter than I've been giving him credit for. “I'm not proud of it, but yes. At the time, my freedom was more important than some girl who had piqued my father's interest. So I agreed to deliver Karis.
“So you knew she was coming? Bumping into her when she first came to the city, that was all planned?”
“Everything was planned. Everything from the very beginning. Nothing was by chance.” The weight of giving this up is freeing. “The Corporation can’t take that risk.”
“But you didn't turn her in right away. You toyed with her!” Dhevan's fists clench at his sides.
“Not to be cruel. It was because I was having doubts about what I was going to do. I needed more time.”
“What happened during that time?”
“The more I watched, the more I noticed something about her. She was special. I was enjoying getting to know her and being near her. I was starting to like her.
“My initial motives were of my father's doing, but the end result was from my desire. I couldn't hand her over to my father. Not after I got to know who she was and how much my father really wanted her.”
“And you have no idea why he wants her, still?”
“None. And believe me, I tried looking everywhere to find out. All I know is that he's willing to kill a young boy, poison her, and go after his own son to get to her and make her his. Whatever it is, it's big enough to draw his complete attention and energy.”
“And she made a deal to go back to Dahn. This is just great.”
“To save her brother. She did what she thought was her only option. People will do desperate things if it means saving the ones they love. But this is all the more reason why we shouldn't be standing around here talking. You need to start trusting me and stop questioning everything I do and fighting me every inch of the way. I'm not here to trick you, and quite frankly, I'm tired of trying to convince you of that. I need to spend my energy surviving out here and bringing back help.”
Dhevan cracks his knuckles and scrutinizes me for a long while. “I don't know how true the words of your story are, but I do believe you when you say you care for Karis. It doesn't change what I think or how I feel about you; but I believe why you're here.” He takes a moment to collect more words. “When this is all said and done, Ethan, I don’t want anything more to do with you. You’re not the kind of person I want around in my life or my family.”
I didn’t think being cut out of his life like that could hurt as much as it does, especially since I’m not really part of his life, now. I swallow the pain of yet another tie severed and say, “So can we get moving?”
He eyes me up and down. “Yeah.” He starts to move forward.
“What? That's it?” Raj says, coming after us. “A few measly swings and a roll in the dirt and you just swallow Ethan's story without any more of a fight than that?”
“Believe it,” Dhevan says.
“Now move,” I say.
Ethan
We walk for a few more hours before Dhevan pulls ahead of our little group and says, “Let's break here and go over our route.” He shoulders off his pack. “I don't want to be completely ignorant of where it is we’re headed. I need to know our game plan, too.” We’re stopped in a cluster of boulders. They dot the landscape around us.
“What does it matter?” Raj asks, defensively. “I'm your map and I know exactly where I'm going.”
“That's what bothers me, you could be taking us anywhere and we wouldn't be any the wiser.”
“I can tell you anything I want, and you'd still be none the wiser.”
“Having you tell us in advance ties you to what you say. If you deviate, or if you lie to us, we'll know.”
I drop my pack next to Dhevan's. This arguing is getting to me. It’s been rough sleeping so far, with my dreams coming on stronger; I’ve had to double up on Eta’s tea, and it’s almost gone. Plus, I'm not one for being exposed to the elements and my temper is short. All of our tempers are short.
“He's right. If this isn't a trap, Raj, you have nothing to hide.” I sit down, leaning against the boulder that we've stopped next to. It offers nothing in the way of shade or shelter from the relentless sun. I long for the Biodome with its false fall weather and crisp chill wind. We've only been out here a couple of days, but the Further’s dry heat is leaching.
Already, we're showing signs of wear. We're all irritable, hungry, and thirsty. Our skin is dry and creased and our pace has slowed from what it was when we first started.
“This is ridiculous,” Raj grumbles and slams down his pack.
“Talk.” Dhevan takes a bit of food from his bag and starts to eat. I take a small sip from my container of water and wait.
“We keep going west.”
“For how long? It's already been two days and we don't have enough rations to keep going for much longer without replenishing.”
“A day or two. We're slowing down, we'll just have to make sure our rations last until then.”
“What will we find in a day or two?” I ask.
Raj busies himself with rummaging through his bag. “I don't know. I just know that we need to get there.”
Dhevan catches my gaze over Raj's bent head. We exchange identical looks. Neither of us likes the way he says that and aren't one hundred percent convinced. It’s time to know what we’re really in for. I pull D’mitri's map out from a pocket inside my pack. I unfold it on the ground and run my finger along its surface. I scan the markings until I see what looks like a series of rocky groupings.
“So, that would mean that we'd be walking to about here,” I press my finger into the map, right where a circle is drawn.
Raj's head snaps up at the sound of the paper. He glares at the map and then at me. “Where did you get that? You're not supposed to have that!”
“I couldn't put all our eggs in one basket. Especially a basket with as many holes as yours.”
“That doesn't even remotely answer my question of where you got that.”
“Because I didn't answer it, and don't plan to.” I roll my shoulders back.
“You can trust the person who gave you this?” Dhevan asks me, completely business.
“More than this one.” I jerk my head towards Raj.
“Let's just hope you're never put in the position of doing whatever you have to to save those you love. Then maybe you would spare yo
ur condescending judgment towards me.” He scowls at the point on the map that I'm pointing to. “Yes, another day or so would take us roughly to that spot.”
I start to read the notes out loud, “Four clicks arid waste, no resources. Well, that sounds promising.”
“What does the circle mean?” Dhevan asks.
“I don't know. Raj?”
He’s reluctant, but I can't tell if it's because he doesn't want to tell us, or he doesn't want to admit he doesn't have any idea.
“Talk or we will tie you up and leave you here.” My eyes widen slightly with respect at Dhevan's words and at the fact that he means every one of them.
“It's another Biodome.”
“Another one? Like Neech and Dahn?”
“Yes, but it's not housing a city.”
“What does it house?” I ask.
“It's a military training station. That’s all I know.”
A military training station? “How big is it?” I ask.
“I don't know,” Raj says.
“Is that what all of these circles are?” Dhevan asks of the other marks on the map.
“I don't know!” Raj punches his open palm. “You think the Corporation just tells me these things because they trust me or they like making small conversation about company secrets? They told me the bare minimum I needed to know to answer basic questions they thought you would ask.”
“That didn’t disturb you in the slightest?” Dhevan asks me, disapproval written all over his face.
“Disturbed or not, we didn't have a choice. We had to come out here. And I think we need to assume these are all military training stations.” We’re walking right into where they want us to be, and there’s nothing safe about that.
“This changes things, Ethan.”
“We're going to have to be more careful, is all. We have to assume their Biodome is the same as ours, meaning they won't see us coming until after we get through it. We'll try to get in in the middle of the night, when we're least likely to be seen.”
“We also have to assume, then, their Biodome won’t let us in, either. So how do you suggest we get in?”
“We’ll figure it out when we get there. And we have to assume that Raj is leading us into a trap.”
Dhevan nods. “It’s a risk we're going to have to take. We can always put Raj in first, that way, if it is a trap, he’ll trigger it.”
Raj's eyes go wide. “I don't know if it's a trap or not. I don't know what's waiting for you there.”
“We could go around, keep moving,” Dhevan says.
I shake my head. “We need to get more rations. There's no way we'd last more than another two days, max, out here. We have no choice, but there's a chance we can slip in and get what we need without being seen.”
“I don't like this.”
“I don't like any of this,” I say, “but our choice has been made for us already.” I fold up the map and put it back in its pocket, noting how interested Raj is in where I keep it. The sun is getting lower. “We should probably make camp here.”
“I'll get a fire started,” Dhevan says. “Go find some tinder,” he says to Raj. “There were some dead shrubs we passed a ways back. Don't dally.” He dismisses our travel companion with a turned back.
I make up a spot to sleep next to the rock. I take out the spade Eta insisted I bring with me and scrape at the surface of the ground, breaking it up and moving it aside. The dirt will be cooler a couple of inches down and I might get a few restful hours sleep.
I set my pack near my head and lay down in the cooled ground when I’ve scraped enough dirt away. I let out a long, satisfied sigh. My bones are tired and I can feel my joints swelling from dehydration. Eta was right, it happens fast. I bend my fingers and I can feel the strain and push against my skin. I can't get them to close all the way. I put my hands behind my head and turn to look at Dhevan. He's busy getting his fire kit out of his bag, along with some of his rations.
As the sun drops further down into the sky, the temperature lowers. A light shiver traces down my body, from my head to my toes. The temperature change is quick.
“What made you change your mind?” I ask. “Besides the Corporation stopping your Pairing and that you had no real choice in the matter, why did you decide to come?”
“You need supervision.”
“Straight answer.”
“Your father needs to be stopped. And I'm going to make sure that happens. Whatever I need to do to see it done, I'm going to do it.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes. Whatever I can do to keep you safe and get you back to Journey. Ow!” I jump up out of my bed, clutching my lower back.
“What?” Dhevan jumps up, too. “What's wrong?”
“I don't know,” I rub at my spine. “I think something bit me.” I turn around, and in the dying light of the day, I can make out a long slender form snaking away from where I had been lying. I lurch forward and stamp down on its body, just behind its head. “Got him!” His body jerks and curls behind my boot, three feet of solid muscle, as it tries to escape.
Dhevan comes over with a knife and places it just behind the snake's head, taking it off in a clean, sharp press. The body wriggles for a short while before it stops completely. Raj returns with an arm full of dry brush.
“What’d I miss?” he asks, taking in Dhevan bending at my feet and me clutching my back.
“Dinner.” Dhevan holds up the limp carcass. He shoves it into Raj's free hand. “Skin it.” He leaves Raj, slack jawed, and comes to me, lifting up the tail of my shirt to look at the wound. “How does it feel?”
“Sore, a little warm. How does it look?” I crane my head around to try and get a glimpse of my injury.
“From what I can see it's a little red and swollen.”
“Get me Eta’s med kit from my bag. They’ll be something in there. I'm sure it’ll be fine. We'll keep an eye on it.” My stomach grumbles. “Let's get that snake on the fire, I'm starved.”
Day nine
Ethan
I'm still not used to waking up before my body says it's time. In the Inner City, I woke up whenever I felt like it, and if it was before that, it was because I chose to because I had something I wanted to do, not had to do.
I'm gradually being forced to wake up. My brain is still groggy, but my torso is being rocked back and forth, almost as if I'm being nudged by the toe of a boot.
“Wakey, wakey, Ethan.”
I groan and smack the foot away from my shoulder. “A simple, soft melody would do a better job.” My tongue is thick in my mouth, making it hard to get the words out. Sleep did nothing for my dehydration.
“This isn't Dahn,” Dhevan says with a final light shove. “Get up, we need to get moving. The sun is almost up.”
I push myself into a sitting position and let my head settle. “You mean the sun is still sleeping? How do you guys do this, day in and day out?” I stand and dust my hands off. “I'm going to get bags and wrinkles around my eyes. This won't do.” My body and joints are stiff. It feels like they’re filled with rags, making it so I can’t bend and move easily.
“Yeah, yeah; aging before your time. Let's get going.”
“The big guy’s right,” Raj says. “We need to make up for lost ground. We've slept too long as it is and you’ve been slowing us down these last couple of days. We've got a while to go before we're where we need to be and I'd feel a lot safer the more distance we put between us and those two God-forsaken cities.”
Dhevan hoists his pack up on to his shoulders. He stares down Raj and I enjoy seeing the small rat of a man squirm. “Let's move.”
“I think we should pool our food and water together so we can have a better idea of our resources and stretch them out as far as possible,” I say. I ran out of tea yesterday and my last meat biscuit has transformed into a pile of crumbs at the bottom of my pack. “We don't know how long we're going to be out here or if we’ll find any more snakes or water.”
“That's a terrible idea,�
� Raj says, cinching the belt of his pack around his waist. “It was understood we had to take care of ourselves, not each other.”
“If we need to share, we will share,” Dhevan says. We trudge along in silence through the darkness together, heading forever west.
The Further isn't at all what I expected it to be. Growing up we were told stories of what awaited us out in the poisonous, barren wasteland. The air is too acidic to breathe, wild animals and humans waiting to eat you alive. No drinkable water, no edible food. In short, death lurked in the Further.
We've only been here a few days, and some of the stories are true, but I'm starting to wonder how many of the stories are lies. We've covered more miles than I can keep track of and I haven't seen any other form of life—Untouchable or wild animal. I don't know if that's comforting or not.
The sky is a yellow brown and the sun is a hazy orb behind what look like a dirty film of clouds. The Biodome over the cities hid a lot.
The land is flat, but not too far in the distance, are rolling hills, barren and brown with dead grass. The path we're following is level and paced with slabs of old concrete, from Before. There were roads back then that connected thousands of cities together. When the populations diminished and concentrated, there was no longer any use for them, and they eroded.
Skeletons of trees pock the landscape every once in a while, but they're dead and have no leaves. In the far distance, I can see the jagged remnants of towns, their shape like a foreboding creature lying in wait.
We have to stay far away from the old cities; that's where the Untouchables and wild animals live. It's better to be out in the open than to gravitate towards the death that waits in the empty iron structures. Our cities used to be like that, filled with cannibals, and Untouchables, and dangers. But they were cleared out and sanitized.
The bite on my back is causing me to be a liability, but I'm trying my best not to let it show. It's warm and stiff and getting more swollen. I snuck a peek at it this morning and the bruise is starting to creep around my side. My body is starting to slow down and get heavier. Mixed with exposure to these blasted elements and dehydration and lack of sleep because of my dreams, I have my doubts about how much longer I’m actually going to last.
