by Jess Petosa
This was what Ally had been preparing for. If she was honest with herself, the ideas and plans were still evolving in her mind, and would continue to form as she found supporters, but she had to appear confident as she told her story, and shared her dreams.
“That we rebuild this country.” Just those few words made Kirk’s eyes widen.
“So something impossible?”
Ally frowned. “This country had to be built from nothing once. Why not twice?”
Kirk didn’t seem convinced but at least he was still listening. Ally continued.
“We’ll start with a new government, but a fair one.” Sabine had been teaching her about government and how the Old World was once run. Also, how it had run itself into corruption. “We need leaders who can help make the best decisions for our people, both Exceptionals and Ordinarys equally. We need to rebuild communication between the towns and cities, and reestablish electricity and clean, running water. Warm water!”
Kirk smiled at that last sentiment. “And you plan to do all of this? You and your boyfriend, and a sick friend in the transport.”
“He’s my brother,” Ally pointed out. “And no. We can’t do all of this. We can’t even crack the surface on our own, but with help….”
Kirk shook his head. “I knew there was a catch.”
“If you believe in my cause, it isn’t a catch. If you don’t, well, then I never would have had serious help from you anyway.”
Kirk shifted his attention to the side, where a few of his men from earlier were standing. He looked back at Ally. “I lost my wife three years ago to an illness. Illness that we probably could have prevented with the proper medicine. By the time we decided to ask Zone D for help, it was too late. We have three daughters at home.”
Ally’s heart sank.
“If ever I needed to believe in hope for our future, it’s now. Tell me what you need.”
Ally smiled. She knew that every meeting wouldn’t be this easy, but she was glad the first one had been. It gave her the self confidence to move on.
“Since you are the town closest to Zone D, at least in terms of friendly inhabitants, we want you to establish contact with the city and start the process of road building and communication.” Ally reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a small, yellow chip. It was one of many the General had given her.
“Send a representative to Zone D in two weeks time, entering through the eastern gate.” It was the gate least affected by the Rebels in the city. And the General had chosen two weeks because they were finally going to take care of the rebel issue in a forceful way, and hopefully most of them would be captured or gone at that point. “Hand them this chip and you will be escorted to the General. From there you can discuss what you’ll need and you can help each other with this.”
Kirk took a chip and turned it over in his hand. “How did you manage this?” He looked up at her. “We’ve always been neutral when it came to affairs with Zone D, but even so, they never seemed interested in aiding us unless there was an emergency.”
Ally leaned back against the bench. “I think this is just the beginning of people seeing that our country needs to change. Sickness, violence, greed. Not to mention the inequality between Exceptionals and Ordinarys. No one really wanted to say it but someone had to, and I guess I was the first person that the General thought truly believed it.”
Kirk motioned to his men. “I’ll need to talk with my townspeople about all of this. If we come to an agreement in two weeks, I’ll send a group to the city.”
That was all Ally could ask for.
The men grew close and Kirk whispered something to one. He nodded and left the clearing.
“One more thing,” she asked.
“Yes?”
“Well, we are kind of down a few people because of a Rebel attack in the City and…”
Kirk held up his hands. “I’ll find two volunteers.”
Ally stood. “I can’t thank you enough for how welcoming you’ve been. We weren’t really sure what kind of reception we’d get.”
“I doubt you’ll be welcomed by all, but most of the people I’ve done trade with are open to change.”
Ally felt an immediate sense of relief. “I hope so.”
The man was returning and he had brought someone with him.
Ally looked up and covered her mouth, fighting her body against the temptation to crumble to the ground.
“Po,” she choked out in a whisper.
“Hi Allona. I’m glad you finally made it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
[ marnie ]
Marnie climbed out of the back of the transport, marveling at the sight of the town around them. It was nothing like home. The homes were dirty and falling apart and not to mention small. In Zone D, everything seemed overdone and sterile. But this town? This town was cozy and inviting and put together. The homes were well-kept and of decent size, at least the ones she could see from their spot on the road, and the buildings were the same. The townspeople had started to gather, and they too were clean and dressed in near pristine clothes. Marnie couldn’t think of a time before going into Zone D where she didn’t have dirt on her knees or a rip in her shirt.
“Welcome to Champaign,” Max had said as he had let them out of the back of the transport. She and Evan had set up camp back there, while Luke and Max always traveled up front together.
The three days in the transport had been long but uneventful. Given the map that the General had provided them, navigating away from the Sectors had been easy. Eventually the map became incomplete and the road was bit harder to travel, but the transports proved invaluable and they had plenty of supplies. Each night they would set up camp in a clearing and sleep under the stars after making dinner over the fire. Max was skilled at bringing in game from his hunts and kept their bellies full of meat.
Marnie didn’t mind traveling with the boys too much. It had been hard to leave her Sector behind, but her mother seemed more disconnected than usual and her friends were wary of the fact that she was traveling with a soldier. She didn’t even try to recruit anyone to come up north with them. That had been for Ally, Stosh, and Sabine, and they hadn’t even made it to the Sector.
When they had pulled out of the gates, Marnie was afraid that Luke would head east and try to find Ally but instead they headed north.
She stretched her legs and linked her arm through Evan’s, pulling him alongside of her as they followed Max and Luke toward a brick building. Evan had been quiet most of the trip. To Marnie’s surprise being outside of Zone D seemed to make him anxious, despite his military training.
“You look like you’re going to pass out,” Marnie said under her breath.
Evan shook his head quickly. “I’m just trying to take it all in. I’ve been in my own little world for so long. I had never even left Zone D before this week, I don’t think I ever told you that. I was trained specifically for work in the capital building, never for life outside the walls.”
Marnie wrinkled her nose. “That seems… unwise.”
Evan shrugged. “I never realized just how big our country was. I mean, on the maps you can tell there is a lot of land mass, but it still feels smaller on a piece of paper. Three days just to travel here, and it isn’t even the longest distance. Can you imagine going from the ocean in the west all the way to the ocean in the east?
Marnie didn’t respond. No, she couldn’t imagine. Before this week she had barely been aware of all of the towns and cities and the size of their country. They didn’t have access to the kind of information that the Ordinarys in Zone D did. There were just stories passed down through families that seemed to evolve and change until no one knew what exactly was true and what wasn’t. For instance, there are stories of creatures that roamed the earth that were as big as buildings. She had to laugh at that.
They weren’t even up the steps of the building before an older man came rushing out. He had a kind face and
greying hair. He didn’t stop moving until his arms were around Max, who returned the embrace.
“Max, I’ve been so worried, we were just…” he pulled back and stopped short of finishing his sentence.
Marnie had been so used to blocking people’s thoughts out that she wasn’t even paying attention to what was going on around her. She tuned back in, focusing on this man.
No. No. Please, no. The man’s thoughts were screaming.
He was realizing that Max was an Exceptional now, and Marnie didn’t need to read his thoughts to tell that he was horrified by the fact. His face told it all.
“Who did this to you?” the man exclaimed.
Max shrugged the man’s hands off his shoulders. “No one did anything to me, Uncle. I chose this.”
The man’s reaction made more sense now that Marnie knew they were family.
The man turned on Luke. “Did you convince him to do this?!” he yelled.
Luke held his hands up in defense and the man took a step back. The townspeople were gathering and men were stepping forward, hands clenched into fists at their sides.
They are here to hurt us.
We should have stopped them while we had the chance.
That Exceptional is going to hurt Heath.
They want to take over the town.
Those thoughts and more whizzed through the crowd, all of them working themselves into a panic. Marnie rushed forward, stopping between Luke and Max.
“We’re back from the southern City,” she said quickly.
A hushed whisper fell over the crowd. The man stared back at her. Now she could place just who he was. Heath. Max’s Uncle and the man with whom Luke had made a deal before leaving the city. The man they had been rushing to see before he made an attack on the Northern City. From the thoughts in the crowd, he hadn’t. Yet.
“You made it?” Heath turned back to Max. “You found the Southern City?”
Max nodded. “We did, and now we’re back to stop a possible attack on the City. Unless there has already been one.”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
Heath shook his head and rubbed his hands across the stubble on his cheeks. “We took a vote and decided to wait until Luke returned to take action. We thought there could be possibles negotiations.”
Marnie could see the relief in Luke as his posture softened just a little.
“That is one of the reasons we are back,” Luke said. “And also, we have word of a large group of people moving toward the city from the west. We aren’t sure of their intentions but I need to get to the city and assemble a team of Guards to go and intercept them.”
Heath looked worried by this news. “How did you hear about this?”
“There isn’t much time to explain,” Max said. “We could use some food, showers, and some more supplies.”
Heath looked Max over. “Come with me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
[ ally ]
It had been three days since they had landed in the town referred to as Hope Town. Kirk had kindly allowed them to park their transport on the outskirts and camp there while Sabine recovered.
If she recovered.
Ally hadn’t told Kirk exactly what had happened to her, and he hadn’t asked.
Ally had spent most of her time on the first day talking with Po, and the remaining time meeting with the others from her settlement.
“When we came upon Hope Town, we were at a breaking point. We had lost several people to sickness, lost one child in the woods, and lost a few to unknown causes. The people here were so welcoming that we wondered if we had actually found the Southern City. Kirk informed us that there was a larger city further south that was most likely the one we were looking for, but we were welcome to stay.”
“Given our state, we had to stay, and we had to hope that if you made it south, you would stumble upon us. Kemp and some other people decided to continue on the journey.”
“They made it,” Ally told him. “Well, some of them.”
“What happened?” he asked. “How many were lost?”
Ally shook her head. “Kemp isn’t well. I’m not sure what happened to him or where, but he can’t even speak. Twelve of them made it to the city and they are all in the same condition.”
Po looked thoughtful. “They were fine when they left so something must have happened between here and there. He left with twenty two.”
“So many lives lost.” Ally rubbed at her eyes. “I’m so sorry I put you through this but I had no choice. The City was attacked after you left.”
“Tell me everything.”
She spent the evening telling Po about their travels and then promised to come back the next day and see all of the people that had survived the trip from the settlement. It was nice to see everyone, and she had to tell her story a dozen times over.
She was glad to see Po and others from her settlement safe and happy.
Two men had volunteered to join them on their journey, and they were given three days to prepare, pack, and say their goodbyes. Tomorrow morning they would pack up and head out. Ally had met with Kirk earlier in the afternoon to give him more information about the Rogues and give him two of the guns and one dozen darts. It was all they could spare if they were to equip each town. Hopefully he would choose to go to Zone D, where the General would have the replicated serum completed.
“How is she?” Ally asked as she climbed up into the transport.
Stosh didn’t look up. “She looks better.”
He had barely left Sabine’s side in three days. Ally walked over to where Sabine lay and bit her lip. Sabine didn’t look better, she looked worse. Lilla and Max had both looked bad, too.
“It shouldn’t be taking this long, right?” Stosh said. “It’s a good thing that she hasn’t died. Lilla died faster, right?”
Ally just nodded. Sabine had strong will, and Ally had to believe that was helping to pull her through.
“I’m going to run into town and pick up some supplies Kirk said he’d have ready for us,” she said.
He had offered for the men to bring them in the morning, but Ally wanted to go pick them up. She needed to get out of the transport and think. The walk into Hope Town was a short one, and despite the setting sun, the streets were busy. Hope Town continued to remind her of Champaign. The one major difference, and one that brought the name of the town to life for her, was that Exceptionals and Ordinarys lived here together.
When she had first come to this realization, she had immediately regretted that they hadn’t stumbled upon Hope Town rather that Zone D, or even New Eden. She knew without a doubt that, had the people welcomed her and her friends, this is where they would have stayed. There would have been no reason to leave. It was everything she wanted for the country. They didn’t have electricity or running water, but Ally had grown up without those things and could handle it.
Then again, if she hadn’t made it to Zone D she wouldn’t have been given the push she needed to go on this mission. The push she needed to start a movement in their broken world. She would have lived in Hope Town until the chaos and brokenness caught up with them and it was too late to make a change.
Kirk had showed her the building specified for the men in his “force” as he called it. It was there that the supplies were gathered. She knocked lightly on the door and walked in. The two men that had volunteered weren’t there, but three others were sitting around the table talking. They grew silent when Ally entered the room and gave her a nod.
“I’m here to pick up some supplies,” she said.
One of the men pointed to a bench where four brown packs sat.
She put two over each shoulder and headed toward the door.
“Good luck out there,” one of the men said.
Ally wasn’t sure if he meant it or if he was being sarcastic but she chose to answer with just a smile before stepping back into the street. It was the time of night where the light gr
ew thin fast. The orange glow of sunset was gone and the town was awash in a purple, twilight haze.
She hadn’t made it ten steps before the town doctor, Vinny, caught up with her. He was a short man, with kind eyes that crinkled when he smiled. He walked with a slight limp so Ally naturally slowed down as he began to walk beside her. Every night he came to check up on Sabine. Even though Ally knew it wouldn’t do any good, Kirk had insisted and she agreed so that she wouldn’t need to explain the full situation.
“Are you ready for tomorrow’s trip?” Vinny asked.
Ally shrugged. “As ready as we’ll ever be. I’m hoping that I don’t have a false sense of confidence after convincing Kirk so easily.”
“Hope Town has always been about equality and peace, but despite that we aren’t skilled in progress. Lately our people have been dying off at a greater percentage. It might not seem like a lot to the public eye, but as the doctor, I’ve noticed the difference. It’s time for a change, and I wish I had been as brave as you in making a difference.”
Ally hadn’t thought of herself as brave. She thought of herself as tired.
Tired of the way things were. Tired of the growing problems in their world.
Just tired.
“Well now we can all start making a difference,” Ally said. “I can’t imagine I’m the first to try, but hopefully I’m the last.”
Vinny laughed. “I hope so too.”
The transport came into sight and Ally shifted the packs, starting to feel the weight of them on her back.
Vinny put his hand on Ally’s arm, stopping her for a moment. “I’m not sure what exactly is going on with your friend. I don’t believe that she has some mysterious illness, and I don’t believe that you don’t know more about what is ailing her, and I think if it is important that you should tell Kirk.”
Ally looked down at him. “If I felt as though her illness was a threat to Hope Town, I’d be the first to tell Kirk.”
Ally left it at that and resumed walking. There was no fire going outside the transport, which Ally found odd for the time of night. They always tried to get a fire started before dusk so that they didn’t have to attempt it in the dark.
