Utopia

by L. J. Higgins

As we left the room, Fletcher stepped up beside me. “You okay? Your wrists look sore.”

  “They'll be fine, all I want is to get Maya and get out of here.”

  “I want Maya to be free, but I'm not sure I'm ready for you both to leave Utopia. I wish I could come with you but my parents, school…”

  “You mean Sasha, or maybe it's Angel you'd miss…” I tried to make my words sound lighthearted, but I think the lump in my throat betrayed me.

  He punched me hard in the shoulder; I rubbed it as his doubts sunk in. I couldn't help but hope he'd change his mind and decide to come with us, with me. But I couldn't understand why he would. His life was on Utopia, he had everything he could ever need.

  “Whatever happens, at least I'll know you and Maya are together, right?” His eyes were pleading as though asking me to make the situation easier.

  He had no idea how much it was tearing me up inside. Part of me wanted to yell at him, tell him he couldn't leave us. We needed him. But one look into his big brown eyes and I couldn't make him feel bad. If he wanted to stay for his parents, I'd have to support him.

  “Exactly. You don't need to worry about us. You need to do what's right for you.” I wished I could mean the words I was saying, but deep down I wasn't ready to lose the last relationship that was real in my life: my friendship with Fletcher.

  My conversation with Fletcher was still heavy in my heart as we crossed the hallway. I'd never thought of myself as a needy person. Since my dad died, I'd pretty much raised myself. But I'd always had Fletcher to lean on, to cheer me up and distract me from what I'd lost.

  A nudge in the side from Braven brought me back to the situation at hand, and my stomach clenched as I lay eyes on the door to the Medical Ward.

  “How do we get in there?” Vega whispered.

  Braven held up a swipe card with the geeky face of Alan on the front of it. Alan Nichols. That was the name of the guy who betrayed my father and got him killed. Heat rose in my veins at the thought as Braven turned towards the door. Vega nodded in approval as Braven swiped the card across the panel beside him and crouched down. Each of us followed suit, following him as he crept through the doorway. Trying to ignore the sadness and anger inside me, I followed close behind him.

  Inside, the room was bright. Compared to the duller lights in the hallways, the white light filling the lane in front of me forced my eyes to squint against my wishes. I wanted to be able to see what was happening around me. Squeezing them shut a few times until they adjusted, I managed to keep them open long enough to spot Braven scooting across the concrete floor past an open doorway. He waved for me to follow. Creeping closer to the doorway, I drew in a deep breath before crawling as fast as I could past its opening. Once next to Braven, I leant up against the wall and let the breath out. My ears strained to hear if we'd been spotted, but if there was anyone inside, they'd been too preoccupied to notice us.

  Looking up, a large room spread out in front of us. Two men and a woman in long white coats worked at the silver metal benches lining the room covered in computers, and various items you would imagine seeing in a laboratory. Cutting through the middle of the room was a tall wall that didn't quite reach the ceiling, cluttered with various items. The sudden feeling of being exposed crept over me, and I looked at Braven for some guidance.

  He looked much calmer than I felt, and pointed to the large metal door across the expansive room from us. The door to the cells. Oh sure, too easy.

  The others soon joined us crouched against the wall, and I wondered what the doctors were working on. How they hadn't noticed a group of people huddled at their doorway I had no idea. I guessed their distractedness was what Braven had been counting on, they'd be too focused on their work.

  “I swear I had it a minute ago,” a voice sounded from the room we'd crept past.

  “Alan, you'd lose your head if it wasn't screwed on,” a deep voice mocked.

  I stilled at the sound of his name.

  “Well I need access to the computers, can I use yours?” he asked.

  “Mine? What for?”

  “I have some information for Mr. Saxby, it's about Benjamin's daughter,” said Alan.

  “Ben? What about his daughter? You're not sticking your nose into other people's business again, are you? Look what happened last time,” the voice grumbled.

  “Rora,” the gruff whispered voice drew my attention from the doorway. I'd crept closer to it to hear more clearly. Fletcher beckoned me to follow him, concern in his eyes.

  “You go, I need to do something. Get Maya, I'll be right behind you,” I said.

  His eyes widened and, without a second thought, I left him there as I rose to my feet, slid my hand over the knife resting in my belt, and pulled it from its holster. I stepped around the doorway to find the two men leaning over a computer.

  “I wouldn't do that if I were you,” I growled at them, clutching the knife at my side.

  Both men turned and looked at me wide-eyed, leaning against the desk behind them.

  “Aur, Aur,” started Alan.

  “Who are you?” asked the deeper-voiced man, his hand resting over his heart.

  “Aurora Adams. Benjamin's daughter,” I said.

  As my words hit his ears, the second man's shoulders tensed with realisation. “What do you want from us?”

  “I want him to tell me why. Why he betrayed my father.” I raised the knife a little higher. I wasn't sure what I'd do if they ignored my threat and called Fletchers father, but I hoped the anger in my voice told them it wasn't a good idea.

  “He, I…” Alan babbled.

  “Your father was delving into some dangerous territory. Alan was worried about what it would mean for Utopia, and confided in me. I decided it was safest to let Officer Banks know what was going on. They were friends, after all.” The deep-voiced man stood a little straighter.

  “So it was you. You betrayed my father's trust.” I pointed the knife in his direction, anger heating up my veins. “Did you ever think to ask him why? Why he was doing it? Or did you think it was easier to sign his death warrant?” My throat constricted as I spoke, making my words less harsh.

  “I wish I could tell you more, sweetheart. This is a complex situation. Why do you think they want you?” he questioned me.

  “Because they got their test wrong, because they think I don't belong here,” my voice wobbled.

  “The test is never wrong, Aurora, you're not Benjamin's biological daughter.”

  His words hit me like an asteroid in the chest, and I stumbled against the door frame. “You're wrong, I have to be…”

  “I wish I could tell you the whole story, sweetheart, but-”

  “Don't call me sweetheart,” I snarled at him, his words helping me regain my resolve. The tightness in my throat and the wetness of my eyes lit a flame in my chest. He was wrong. I was Benjamin Adams' daughter. I couldn't let this man get in my head.

  “I'm sorry, Aurora. You need to let me contact Officer Banks, he's the one who knows all of the answers you seek. Let me…” He edged towards another computer.

  “No, you don't touch the button until I leave this room.” I pointed the knife at him.

  He held his hands up in defence. “Aurora, if I do let you leave this room, where are you going to go? They will find you-”

  Alan had remained silent throughout our discussion but, to my surprise, his body flung across the room and he tackled his friend to the ground. I trained my knife on him as he pulled a syringe from his pocket, jabbed it into the deep-voiced man's arm, and emptied it.

  “Sorry, Justin,” he whispered to himself.

  I stepped towards the doorway, knife at the ready, afraid I might be next.

  “Go, get out of here,” pleaded Alan.

  “I don't understand,” I asked, backing towards the doorway.

  “I let your father down when he was so wonderful to me, I won't let his daughter down too.” Tears welled in his eyes. “I'm so sorry, I truly am.”

  �
��What he said about him not being my father? Is it true?” I asked, my heart tightening.

  “I'm afraid so,” he replied. The sadness in his eyes shattered my defence. It was true. Benjamin Adams wasn't my father.

  Unable to find the words to say, I put my knife into my pocket and nodded a vacant thanks before backing out of the doorway in a zombielike trance. He wasn't my father. How could he not be my father?

  Thump!

  Deep in thought, I ran into Fletcher's chest. I gazed up at him in surprise and he held me out from his body, looking me over.

  “I was being backup, not that you needed it,” he said.

  “He's not my father,” I whispered to myself.

  “It's okay, Rora, we'll sort it out. But right now we have to get moving.” The sympathy in his eyes broke my heart. He'd heard the whole exchange.

  “Let's get out of here,” I replied, and he led me to the large room where two doctors and a nurse lay fast asleep on the floor. The sight brought me back to reality. “You stunned them?”

  “What was I supposed to do when you decided to go rogue? What were you doing? We were halfway across the room, and I turn around to find you and Mr. Ladies' Man are nowhere to be seen.” Braven threw his hands in the air.

  “I'll tell you what she was doing. Trying to get us all killed, that's what,” said Vega.

  “It was Alan. I had to confront him, he had answers. Answers about my father.” My voice wobbled as I spoke.

  Domino approached me and put her hand on my shoulder. “He told you, didn't he?”

  Tears threatened to spill, but I swallowed hard to keep them down. Pushing the sadness away helped me focus. This was not the time to lose it. I ignored her question and stepped past her towards the metal door to the cells. “Let's go get Maya.”

  “Oh great, now she's ready?” Vega rolled her eyes.

  Taking my words as his lead, Braven scanned Alan's card across the panel next to the doorway. The door hissed before swinging open towards us.

  As we filed through, a voice sounded behind us. “Please, you have to take me with you.” Alan stood opposite us, his eyes flitting around the group.

  “You? Are you kidding me? If it wasn't for you I'd, we'd still have Benjamin,” Vega snarled at him.

  Her slip up made my muscles tense. Why did she care about my father?

  “I know I made a mistake. But after what I did, they'll kill me for sure.” He turned to me, his eyes pleaded for me to help him.

  “And so they should. If it wasn't for you…” Vega's eyes teared up.

  “I'm sorry, Alan. We can't trust you,” stated Domino.

  “I won't be any trouble, I promise. You can't leave me here!” Alan begged.

  “You expect us to help you after what you did to Benjamin?” asked Lark.

  Alan looked down at his shoes. Vega let out a huff and turned towards the doorway.

  “Sorry, Alan, looks like we're leaving you behind. Do I need to shock you or can you keep your mouth shut?” Braven, held up the stun gun with a grin.

  “Yes,” my mouth was dry and the word was barely audible.

  “What did you say, Rora?” asked Fletcher.

  The rest of the group turned to me. I could feel Vega's glare burning into my back.

  “Yes, he can come with us,” I said.

  “Are you freaking kidding me? He got your dad killed!” Vega groaned.

  “He saved my ass back there.” I found my voice. Yes, my Dad. Why she was so defensive over him, I didn't know. “I don't trust him, but if we take him with us, at least we know he won't tell anyone we were here.”

  “Or, we could give him a zap and give ourselves time to escape.” Braven shot me a crazed smile, holding up his stun gun. Yup, the power of the gun had gone to his head.

  “Give the gun to me.” Domino snatched it from his hand. “I agree with Aurora. Plus, he might have information that can help us out. And I'd rather take him as a friend than as a prisoner.”

  We all turned to look at him, and he shot us a nervous smile.

  “Damn it, okay. Hurry up, all this zapping and finding out truths has got us behind schedule. Alber will end up leaving without us. Then what?” said Braven.

  “Then you better pray you sprout wings and can fly,” replied Domino, sliding the stun gun into her belt.

  Braven strode over and looked right into Alan's face. “You better keep up. If you get left behind, you're on your own, got it?”

  Alan nodded and made an audible gulp.

  “Okay team, roll out. Vega, he's all yours to keep an eye on.” Braven strode through the door, eyeing me as though making sure I was going to stick with him this time. We filed in behind him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  On the other side of the door, the lights were dim. It took my eyes a moment to adjust as we found ourselves descending a metal staircase. Each step echoed all around us as we made our way down to the cells. I found myself looking over my shoulder to find Alan every few steps, as though he might vanish if I didn't check on him.

  I hoped I'd made the right decision. It's what my dad would've done. Or would he? It sounds like there was so much I didn't know about my dad. Like, the fact he wasn't my dad at all. And Domino had known the whole time. Wasn't there anyone I could trust to tell me the whole truth?

  As we reached the bottom of the staircase, the echoing stopped as we all stepped down onto the concrete floor. Stretched out in front of us was a corridor lined with cubicles with bars instead of walls. The cells.

  “We're looking for Cell 2B. It should be around the corner,” said Braven.

  Most of the cells were empty. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the way everyone had been speaking I figured there would be dozens of prisoners down there. We continued down the hall until I spotted an older man sleeping on a cot. I gasped as I recognized him.

  “Fletcher, it's the man from the orchard,” I cried out, running towards the cell's bars.

  Woken by my voice, the man rolled over, his eyes lighting up at the site of me. “Young lady, they didn't catch you, did they?”

  “No sir, thanks to you I'm in safe hands,” an involuntary smile formed on my lips.

  “Vega, can we get him out?” I turned to her.

  Her eyes widened and she looked to Braven, who shrugged. Vega's gaze turned back to me. “Are you kidding me? You've already got me watching this guy. Are you working on a collection we don't know about?”

  “If it wasn't for this man, Fletcher and I would've been shot in the orchard. He got arrested, and his wife got hurt because of me,” I said.

  “Molly, they hurt Molly?” The concern in his eyes broke my heart.

  “I'm sure she was fine. Everyone was looking after her,” I assured him.

  “Alright, we'll set him free, but once we get to the flight dock he's on his own, right?” said Lark. “We can't keep dragging extra people along with us.”

  “Thank you, all I want is to go to the Undercity and be with my Molly,” said the man. “They've all but forgotten I'm down here anyway.”

  “Stand back,” said Vega, pulling the blow torch from her utility belt.

  It took no time for Vega to cut through the lock, the flame acting like a warm knife cutting through butter.

  “Thank you, dear, I can't thank you enough,” he said to me holding my hands.

  “Her? I'm the one who cut the lock,” groaned Vega.

  “All of you. Thank you,” he said.

  “Alright, let's keep moving. We're way behind schedule now,” said Braven as he took off down the corridor.

  Fletcher and I assisted the old man as we followed Braven. A few cells down, I caught sight of Maya's bobbing blonde curls. She was still pacing back and forth across her small room. She stopped in her tracks the moment she caught sight of us. Looking up, her eyes widened before she ran to the bars and gripped them tight, a wide grin spreading across her face.

  “About time you lot showed up,” her eyes glistened, on the verge of tears. />
  “Yeah well, we had to make sure you got some rest before we got you out of this place,” Lark said. “But from what we've seen, you spent the whole time pacing.”

  Maya wrapped her hands around the bars of her cell. “I wanted to make sure I was ready when you got here. I wasn't sure if it would be to rescue me or keep me company, but I knew it would happen sooner or later. How's Fletcher?” Maya's eyes searched our group before settling on Fletcher. As she caught sight of him, her brow creased in the middle.

  “As amazing as ever,” Fletcher replied, stepping closer to her and holding her hands through the bars.

  “But Dad… he's going to kill you.”

  Lark grimaced. “Bad choice of words, Maya.”

  “He'll live. It's poor Mum I'm worried about. But first we need to worry about getting you out of here,” said Fletcher.

  “So what now? How on Utopia are you going to get me out of here?” she asked.

  “With this.” Vega held up the blowtorch.

  We all stepped back to give Vega space while she pressed a trigger, sending blue flames firing out the end of her device. Soon, Fletcher had Maya wrapped in his arms.

  “What now?” she asked, disengaging herself from her brother.

  “Now we head to the flight dock to find Alber. He's acquired an aircraft for us,” Lark smirked.

  “Of course he did. And who on Utopia are these two?” Maya's happiness turned to curiosity as she lay eyes on Alan and the old man who'd been keeping quiet at the back of the group.

  “The old guy is with us until we get to the flight dock. Aurora freed him because he saved her life ages ago and she thinks it's her fault he's in prison. The other guy's Alan, he's Aurora's prisoner,” Braven shrugged.

  “Why does Aurora have a prisoner?” she asked.

  “Long story,” replied Fletcher.

  “So, he's coming with us?”

  “Looks that way,” replied Vega. “But despite him being Aurora's idea, I'm the one who has to watch him. Lucky me, right?”

  If it was anyone but Vega, I would've apologised. Instead, I rolled my eyes and turned to Braven for our next set of instructions.

  “The flight dock is out this way. It's not far. They have to make it easy access for those prisoners they want to exile to Earth, now, don't they?” he said.