Sunset Rising

by S. M. McEachern

  “What do you mean that’s it?” Reyes challenged Jack. “She’s a hero down here. No one’s going to turn her in.”

  The murmuring among the crowd was getting louder and Reyes had to raise his voice. I was getting concerned someone would overhear him.

  “Reyes, he’s right. That’s a lot of credits. I won’t blame anyone who takes advantage of it,” I said, resting my hand on his arm to calm him.

  “I’ll blame them!” Reyes said angrily. Suddenly he was on his feet, climbing up on his chair. I couldn’t believe he was doing it with Jack and me sitting right there. He might as well just turn us in himself.

  “EVERYONE! LISTEN TO ME!” he yelled above the din of the crowd. The guards stepped forward in response to Reyes’s yelling, but the room started to quiet down. In the distance I could hear noise coming from the levels above and below us. Now that he had the room’s attention, he lowered his voice slightly. “Sunny O’Donnell took on the President and his darling little daughter when NO ONE ELSE has ever had the guts to do it! The bourge treat us worse than their livestock! Our food is their leftovers!” he said, picking up his container of food and throwing it against the floor. “Our lives are devoted to making their lives better and what do we get for it? They kill us for being late, they kill us for not having a job, and they kill us for being 35 years old!” he spat. He paused and looked around the room. All eyes were on him. I noticed a guard speaking into his communicator. He was probably looking for back up. “Yesterday for the first time we saw the bourge being humiliated. We saw what pain does to them. And that pain was inflicted on them by one of us. Sunny O’Donnell is not a traitor! She’s a goddamn HERO! And anyone who turns her in to the bourge for that measly offer of 400 credits will have ME to deal with,” he raved, waving his fist in the air.

  Someone started shouting Sunny O’Donnell over and over again creating a chorus that went up among the crowd. People began to stand, throwing their fists in the air like Reyes. I couldn’t believe that it was happening. How could they see me as a hero? Leisel was the one who humiliated me, not the other way around. She used me to frame Jack as a traitor and I went along with her plan. I was not a hero. I was a naïve and stupid girl who was duped by a master manipulator.

  Jack stood and joined the crowd, putting his fist in the air calling out my name. He was looking at me with wide eyes, willing me to do something. Then I realized I was the only one in the room still seated and not shouting out my name. I stood and put my fist in the air too, yelling, Sunny O’Donnell. I felt so stupid. I knew we would be put on lockdown again.

  Just as the thought entered my mind, armed guards came rushing into the room. I saw someone at the front of the room get the butt of a gun against the side of his face that knocked him to the floor. Another guard pointed his gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. A loud bang reverberated through the room. I lowered my fist and gave everyone at our table an angry look that said stop! I did not want to be the cause of anyone being shot or hurt. Under my angry glare, Reyes stepped down off the chair and lowered his fist.

  “Lockdown,” I said for Jack’s benefit.

  “It won’t be for long,” he said.

  “How would you know that?” Reyes asked in a condescending tone.

  “Because you were on lockdown all day yesterday. They need you to cook, clean, serve, work the mines and do all the things you do. When you don’t do them, life in the Dome comes to a halt. I know we’ll be off lockdown by lunch,” Jack said confidently.

  As I listened to Jack talk, something inside me suddenly clicked and I looked at him with new eyes. All along I had only thought of Jack as the famous bridegroom; as the man who would become President one day; nothing more than a figurehead really. Now I was seeing Jack in a whole new light. I flashed back to him at the wedding, dressed in the military uniform of a high-ranking officer. I remembered his comments about lockdown to Bron – about how it was used to divide us. And now he thinks he knows when lockdown will be finished.

  It occurred to me that Jack possessed very valuable insight into the bourge and how they ran the Pit… insight that could come in handy if someone wanted to start a revolt.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We all hung back at our table as long as we could before it was our turn to start moving toward the door.

  “Take that with you,” I instructed Jack pointing to his breakfast. No one in the Pit would ever leave food behind. His full container would sit on the table like a beacon.

  I stood beside Reyes as we shuffled along. I could feel his hand secretly searching for mine, so I put my hand in his. I felt guilty for getting mad at him earlier. I gave him an apologetic look and he responded with a sad one. We both knew we could never go back to the way we were. Our future together was gone the minute I agreed to be Leisel’s victim.

  “I was hoping to see Summer too,” I mused to myself out loud. “I wonder why she wasn’t at breakfast.”

  Reyes drew his brows together and his expression became closed off. “She’s been eating breakfast somewhere else the past few days,” he said.

  “What does that mean Reyes?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew what it meant; Summer was never sent home from that bachelor party.

  “You know what it means. Someone up there has her. I’ve only talked to her once since the night you two left for the party. That’s when she told me about you and the President’s daughter. I’ve seen her a few times since, but she doesn’t look at me. She doesn’t look at anyone. She just keeps her eyes on the floor,” Reyes whispered to me.

  I knew why Summer was keeping her head down. She was ashamed. I never understood why girls who were taken as mistresses by the bourge felt ashamed and embarrassed. It wasn’t their fault. And now the thought of my best friend – the happiest person I’ve ever known – being used by those old, pompous men at the party sickened me with disgust.

  When we came to the stairs, Reyes dropped my hand to encircle my waist with his arms. I knew he didn’t want to let me go. Maybe if I weren’t so consumed right now with hatred for the bourge, I would feel the same way.

  “Stay safe,” he whispered to me and kissed me on the lips.

  “I’ll try my best,” I said, making no promises.

  Reyes dropped his arms from my waist and turned on Jack.

  “You touch her and I’ll kill you,” he said in no uncertain terms.

  Jack stared back at him unfazed by the threat. I really didn’t want Reyes to create another scene, so I ignored him and joined the flow of traffic on the stairs. Jack followed me. There were armed guards positioned along the staircase who kept everyone moving as quickly as possible. It didn’t take very long for us to get back to the apartment that was an exact replica of where I grew up, but yet was so unfamiliar.

  “I have to take this off,” I said as soon as we entered the apartment. Thoughts of Summer were weighing me down enough without the bulletproof vest adding to it.

  “Your boyfriend’s a really nice guy,” Jack said sarcastically, lifting up one of my arms to examine the bruises Reyes gave me.

  “It’s none of your business,” I stated flatly.

  “You’re right. And it’s the only reason he has any teeth left,” Jack responded.

  I ignored him and went into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I was happy to have a few moments alone. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or be physically sick. I needed to see Summer so much it hurt. I needed to tell her none of this was her fault. I couldn’t lose my best friend. She was always the brightest light in this dark Pit. I wanted to kill whoever was hurting her.

  I stripped down to the vest and undid the straps. I flipped it over my head and let it fall to the floor with a thud. The weight off my shoulders and chest felt good. I put Jack’s t-shirt back on and it hung from my shoulders.

  I heard a loud banging on the door and I knew it was the guard to do the check-in. Reluctantly, I left the sanctity of the room and went out to answer the door. I was surprised to fin
d Jack stripped down to his waist doing sit-ups on the floor.

  “What are you doing?” I asked stupidly.

  “I’m a little stressed out,” he said between deep breaths, “and exercise always relaxes me.”

  He jumped up off the floor and came to the door with me. I opened it. The guard held out the scanner, eyeing the two of us with a smirk on his face. My shirt was askew and Jack was half naked and breathing hard. Not hard to tell what he thought we were doing. We both scanned in and the guard continued to the next door.

  “Want to try?” he asked, sitting back down onto the floor.

  “Why not?” I said. It might help me work off the anger I was feeling about Summer’s predicament.

  I lied down beside Jack on the floor and fell into sync with him. I had never done sit-ups before, but it seemed easy. I wasn’t sure how it would ease my stress though. I still wanted to kill someone.

  “Try this,” he said and rolled over onto his stomach. Balancing with one leg tucked over the other, he began to push himself up and down using his arms. “Push-ups,” he informed me.

  I rolled over and did the same. Up, down. Up, down. This felt like a better exercise than the sit-ups. At least I could feel some of the tension in my neck and shoulders turn into fatigue. I heard Jack count under his breath. We were at thirty.

  “How many of these are we doing?” I asked. My breathing was heavier now too. I was starting to sweat.

  “Fifty,” he said. “I don’t want to push you too hard on the first time,” he smiled.

  “Don’t worry about me,” I said.

  “Fifty,” he announced when he reached thirty-six and collapsed on the floor.

  “You’re right, it did help to relax me,” I said. But I still had murderous energy flowing through me. “What’s next?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t have any equipment down here. Usually I lift weights, run the track, swim, that kind of thing,” he said.

  “I know! Teach me to fight - like you fought the guards at your apartment,” I suggested.

  “That’s actually a good idea. You need to learn self defense with that boyfriend of yours,” he said, getting to his feet.

  “I don’t think that’s funny,” I said wryly.

  “It wasn’t meant to be,” he responded. “We’ll start with Tai Chi - it’s a martial arts exercise that teaches you how to control your movements. Just do what I do.”

  He stood up straight and slowly brought his hands up to chest height, then crossed them, then stretched out his right hand as he extended his right leg. He curled his right leg bringing his knee waist high and then set it down. Then he repeated the movements with his left side. Each movement was very controlled and flowed into the next one. He was going very slowly so it was easy for me to follow.

  “Seems more like a dance,” I said. “I was hoping for something faster paced and a little more violent.”

  No sooner had I spoken the words than Jack sped up his movements directing them at me. His leg came up and his foot snapped at my chest, stopping just inches from making contact. Less than a second later, the back of his hand stopped just half an inch from my nose. “Like that?” he asked smiling.

  “Like that,” I agreed. His movements were so fast I didn’t see them coming.

  “You need to learn the movements before you can control them. Try again?” he asked. I nodded my head.

  We went back into the first stance he showed me and he repeated all the movements. Our hands were constantly moving, stretching one way, and then recoiling and stretching another way. Our legs were constantly moving too, squatting one minute then moving one leg up and balancing on the other leg. The movements were hypnotic.

  “So how long have you and Reyes been together?” Jack asked.

  “Why do you want to know that?” I responded. My relationship with Reyes was none of his business.

  “Just trying to make conversation,” he shrugged. “Okay, I’m wondering what he whispered to you that made you so upset,” he confessed.

  “He told me that Summer is being used by those ugly old men I saw at your bachelor party,” I said bitterly.

  “Oh,” he stopped moving to look at me. “I’m really sorry, Sunny.”

  “Are you?” I demanded. My anger came bubbling up to the surface again. I wanted to kill someone. I wanted to kill him. “How about we try out these moves you’ve been teaching me?”

  I tried to strike out at him as fast as he struck out at me earlier, but he easily blocked my punch. I raised my leg to kick him, but he stepped out of the way and I lost my balance and almost fell. I recovered quickly and threw the heel of my left hand toward his face and, knowing he would block that strike, I had my right hand ready to catch him off guard. But he just grabbed both my wrists and somehow spun me around and pinned my arms to my sides.

  “Had enough?” he asked me.

  In answer to his question, I brought up my leg up and stomped on his foot. This time I did catch him off guard and he let go of me. I spun around to face him, but he was already in a defensive stance. I took a step forward, he took one back. I sped up my movements and so did he. I threw my right hand in his direction and followed it through with my body to put more power behind my strike. But Jack didn’t see the chair behind him and he tripped and went down on the floor. I was already in motion when he went down, so instead of my strike making contact with him, I ended up on top of Jack on the floor. I tried to get my balance to jump off quickly, but Jack wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “You catch on quick!” Jack said. “Who knew sparring could be this much fun?” He caught me around my waist with both his arms.

  “Let me up!” I said angrily. I tried to get out of the hold he had on me, but he was too strong. Despite my anger, I was very aware that my entire body was pressed against his. Our faces were only inches away from each other and his blue eyes never left mine. I put my hands on his chest to push my face away from his and was surprised at how warm and smooth his naked chest felt under my hands. I breathed in his scent, a combination of soap and sweat, and my heart beat faster. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him or punch him.

  “Not until you tell me why you’re trying to kill me,” he said.

  “Because it’s your fault.” I said. “You were supposed to sign her up with some old guy who was going to fall asleep and then she would be sent home.”

  Deep down I knew it was ultimately Leisel who had betrayed Summer, not Jack. But it made me angry that he didn’t think enough of Summer to make sure the plan was followed through. And I was angry with myself… angry that my eyes kept wandering down to his mouth. What was wrong with me?

  “I did!” he said defensively, still holding my gaze. He must have seen the hurt and anger I was feeling because his expression changed to one of understanding. “But I should’ve done more for her. I’m sorry,” he said softly.

  I could see the sincerity in his eyes. He let me go and I jumped up, relieved to put distance between us.

  “Apology accepted,” I lied. Being sorry still didn’t make it okay.

  “If I let you beat me up will you feel better?” he asked.

  “Urghhhhh!” I almost screamed. Let me beat him up? But I realized that’s exactly what I wanted. Jack stood up and righted the chair.

  “Look, I’m frustrated, angry and feeling helpless too. I don’t know if Holt has my family locked up or not. I can guarantee he’s already gathering evidence of treason against me so he can legally execute me. And I’m living down here in the Pit where - what do you call us? Borks - are hated. But I’m hoping that you and I can at least be friends and help each other survive,” Jack said, raking a hand through his hair. It came away black from the coal. “I really am sorry about Summer. If there was any way I could help her, I would.”

  Once again I was seeing another side of Jack. I had forgotten about his family and the threat they were under. And I had never thought about the fact that he had a life he had to give up in order to hide down here. I
guess I had never really thought of him as a person before - only as a famous bourge that would one day be President. And there had never been a President in the history of the Dome that had ever been liked in the Pit.

  Maybe Jack and I could be friends. He had a lot of military training behind him and valuable information about the way the bourge controlled the Pit. He could be the advantage the Pit needed to level the playing field between bourge and urchin.

  “Bork?” I asked. “We call you bourge. But I think I like bork better. It rhymes with dork,” I gave him a small smile. He smiled back. “A truce then,” I offered.

  ‘That would be nice,” he said. “Because I have a feeling it’s going to get rough down here.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked genuinely interested to hear what he had to say.

  “I mean you,” he said. “You heard Reyes and his friends – you’re a hero. The one thing people needed down here was a victory and you gave them one. I know you think Leisel humiliated you, but that’s not what they saw. They saw an urchin taking down a bourge and putting her in her place.” Jack was looking at me, maybe gauging how I was taking what he had to say. I still didn’t know myself. How did I go from being a victim to a hero? My brain hadn’t accepted that information yet.

  “That’s not all they saw. They think they saw a love story between you and me. They believed what Leisel said,” I added.

  “I know,” he said quietly, “and it would seem our love story has sparked a hell of a response from everyone down here.” He took a deep breath and dragged his hand through his hair. “I’m reminded of a saying I was taught at the military academy. It went, Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. But red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. It was used to predict the weather - a red sunset meant clear skies, but a red sunrise meant a coming storm. I can’t help thinking your mom should’ve named you Sunrise, because there’s a storm on its way Sunny, and you’re at the center of it.”