by Tanya Lisle
“Then you should understand why she needs to die.” Roland’s eyes looked down at Mac’s hand. “She’s marked you too, I see. We used to say she came in the night and chose you to do her bidding.”
“What do you think she is?”
“The sibyl. My daughter used to call her Destino. Whatever she is, she can’t be human.”
“Does that mean you’re the one giving people their fates?” Clyde asked Snow.
Ed wanted to tell him not to encourage her, but Snow turned on him first. She tilted her head to one side and her shoulders lowered. She was relaxed and she took a step closer to Clyde, rising one hand and pointed at him. “I wonder…”
Ed slammed the button before Clyde hit the ground. Even after watching it, she didn’t know what just happened. Even Snow didn’t look sure of herself, looking at her hands like she just discovered a button she could press to give herself an infinite amount of sweets as she turned around. Ed kept her composure, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to do here.
“You better go see what that is,” Roland said dryly through the speaker. “She’s probably already started killing your people.”
“It’s strange without a task,” Snow said, still bewildered. “You’re supposed to set a task. I wonder if I can set it later.”
“What the hell is going on in here?”
As soon as the door fell shut behind Mac, Ed’s eyes looked upwards. “Iris, seal this room.”
The pleasant tone sounded, followed by a second set of clicks on each of the doors.
Mac got the idea. He reached for Snow and grabbed her by both hands, spinning her so that her back faced him. He pushed her into the wall, but she managed to easily pull herself out of his grasp. When he tried to grab for her again, she slipped through his fingers and walked to the interrogation room.
Despite two sets of locks, she opened the door and let herself in. Ed and Mac both lunged for it, but the door was faster than both of them as it fell shut. Mac got the handle first and pulled on it, but the door didn’t move.
“Iris, unseal the room!”
The pleasant tone sounded followed by the locks clicking. Mac tried the door again. It didn’t move.
“The fuck is happening?” Mac yelled at her.
“I don’t know,” Ed said. She grabbed her tools off her belt and started to disassemble the lock, quickly finding the first problem. The door was unlocked. There was absolutely nothing in the deadbolt to keep it shut.
“I knew you were here,” Roland said. He got to his feet. “You’ve gotten old. I was worried I was going to feel bad about this.”
“Hello, Providence,” Snow said. “If you’re watching. You spend so much time watching.”
“Are you ignoring me? After everything you’ve done?”
He leapt at her and missed. Snow kept her eyes on him, though she appeared to be looking through him as she spoke.
“I won’t return. You won’t replace me. I’ll find a way.”
“Stay -”
He went for her again, but she was beside him. She brushed her finger along the side of his neck and he fell to the ground.
“What is she?” Mac asked. He shook his head as he watched the events on the other side of the window and pushed Ed out of the way once Snow got close to the door, knocking her to the ground. “Get out of here.”
Ed looked back at Mac and Snow was already behind him, blood running down her face like tears. She got to her feet and backed away as far as she could. She realized quickly that she was as far as she could be from either door and she wasn’t willing to pass Snow to get to them. Her mind went through every possible command for Iris that could be useful, but she couldn’t remember anything.
Mac turned back to Snow and she poked his forehead. Mac fell to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Ed asked. She kept her distance. Even if Ed couldn’t quite bring herself to think that Snow meant any harm, she had seen Snow take down three very physically capable men with little more than a touch. She was a child with the power to kill with her mind and Ed couldn’t be sure if she even understood what she was doing yet.
“He may be useful later,” Snow said. Her eyes grew red with blood and it started to dribble out the side of her mouth as well. “There are more coming. I can’t tell when. They’ll be useful when the time comes. If I can… I can...”
Snow turned and faded away.
Ed stared at the spot she had been standing in silence. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what had just happened. Not watching her make people fall unconscious without even touching them at times. Not anything that she said. Not watching her disappear right in front of her eyes. Nothing.
When she finally managed to move, she stepped over the bodies and went into the hall. “Kimball,” she called, drawing the attention of those in the hall. “I have three I need taken to the Medical Wing immediately.”
Chapter 14
There were two ways to get Downstairs. The first was the elevator, which would carry anyone who needed it directly down to the bottom floors located two kilometers underground. It wasn’t always a smooth ride, but it would get you down the quickest and with the least trouble.
The other was an old path that had long since caved in with a door to it located in the abandoned Section Q. In his search of the abandoned sections, Brady found this one ages ago and frequently took the kids here to play and to clear it out. They got a little more of the debris out every time, but the other kids were reluctant to leave the light and venture further into the darkness where the real collapse happened.
He’d hoped he’d be in better condition than this when that time finally came, but there was little he could do about the matter now. He splinted his wrist the best he could and tried to stay off his sore ankle when possible, but at least his eye wasn’t so swollen he couldn’t use it. With only stolen glow sticks from the emergency kits to light his way, he needed both eyes to make sure he knew where he was going.
It was a much more difficult and longer two kilometers down than he thought it would be. The cave in wasn’t limited to just one area as he thought. There were long stretches of tunnel where he had to crawl and snake his way through the dirt and splintered wood, scratching himself on sheared metal just to get through to the other side. There were times he thought about abandoning this idea and going back, but then he remembered what happened.
He couldn’t go back now. She’d be even more upset that he tried to leave.
His stomach rumbled and he pulled out the last food bar from his pack, leaving the bottle of wine where it was. He didn’t bring nearly enough food for his journey, but he wouldn’t touch that bottle. As much as he wanted to just get drunk and try to forget everything that happened, he wanted them to let him stay Downstairs more and he wasn’t above trying to bribe them.
If he ever got down there. The last glow stick already grew dim and his ankle screamed every time he tried to put his full weight on it. He leaned against the wall and tried to move faster, but the light continued to dim. He soon walked in darkness, taking it one step at a time down the tunnel and hoping that he could find something at the end.
“I had a good run,” he muttered to himself. “I got to see most of the complex. Finished school. Never had to deal with puberty. I could drink to that.”
He laughed at that, the sound of it echoing around him. He doubted anyone ever wanted puberty as much as he did. Any chance to grow any older than he was. He watched so many people grow up around him while he stayed behind. So many people still treated him like a child. Those who knew him better always seemed to look at him with pity.
Brady needed this change. This change of dying alone in the dark of starvation trying to get to some mythical place that would solve all his problems. Maybe he really was as young as everyone treated him.
The tunnel ended abruptly with a metal wall. Brady felt along it, his fingers crawling into every crack until he realized what it was. He finally found the door.
With no light left, he had to feel his way through his backpack for his usual set of tools and immediately got to work on the door. The lock didn’t feel too complicated to figure out, even with the keypad on it, but his right hand was clumsy in the bandaging and he couldn’t see the colours of any of the wiring. Still, he knew where they all were and he knew which ones to pull out to deactivate it before he unlocked the three deadbolts.
The door opened into a lighted corridor, Brady shielding his eyes from it as he let himself in. He could see again and spotted another door at the end of the hall as well as several windows. He hesitated as soon as he realized they could see him coming, but managed to press on. He could figure his way out of this if he got caught. He was already this far. He wasn’t turning back now.
The other side was amazing. He’d seen pictures of Downstairs before, but nothing prepared him for the rows of small buildings and greenhouses, stretching out as far as he could see. He’d never been able to see so far out before, either. The haze made it difficult to tell how far anything really was, but in here he could see everything so clearly. There were no walls and he wasn’t even sure there was a ceiling, though there must be.
He made much quicker work of this door, sure to disconnect the klaxon attached to it before he let himself in. Now all he needed to do was find wherever they kept the kids in this place and blend in. Maybe they wouldn’t even notice him for a while.
If he could stop looking up. The ceiling was so high above him. There were rows of lights beaming down, but he could see between them to the dirt ceiling. He didn’t know how high up it was exactly, but it was hard to believe he climbed down even that far.
“Oi!” someone called behind him. “Kid, you aren’t supposed to — what happened to you?”
Brady turned back to find a very tall, broad man with a moustache
He kept his eyes wide on him as he spoke. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m going back now.”
“No you aren’t,” he said. “That is the sloppiest splint I’ve seen in a while and you probably shouldn’t even be on that leg. I don’t care what they need you for, you should be in bed. Who did that for you?”
“I... I’m okay,” Brady said. He was thrown by the concern and had completely forgotten what he must look like. He was covered in dirt and probably scratched up from the journey. The bandages on his arm were loose to start with given that he put them on himself with one hand and now they were hanging loose and covered in dirt. He heard that kids down here got banged up all the time from the farm work, but he wasn’t expecting such adult concern over it.
“Come on,” the man said, picking Brady up by his underarms and placing him on his shoulders. Brady ducked out of habit, but he didn’t have to here. “Someone in the big house should be able to fix you up properly.”
“Okay,” Brady said. He’d never been so high up before. From here, he could see so much more, like the fields in the distance. He wanted to stay and see everything.
“What were you doing out this way?” the man asked. “You kids don’t usually have errands out this way.”
“Uh…”
“You shouldn’t have any errands like that, though.”
Brady said nothing. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, but he did know adults well enough to know a kid shutting up was always the best option when they weren’t looking for a specific answer.
“You’re probably just playing hooky, eh? Wanted to see what it was like out here? I know I was always curious about it when I was your age. They’d come back talking about all these things they did and I always wondered if they were really telling the truth about it all. Let me tell you, they were holding back. Oh, hang on.”
Shavir looked down at his wrist. He wore a watch like those Upstairs, but his showed a message on the face. He tapped the face and the message went away, replaced with the time.
“Hey?” a woman asked as she fell in step next to them. “Why do you have an injured child on your shoulders?”
“Liah!” he said, swinging both of them around to see her. “You see the job someone did on his arm? It’s gotta be redone. You know how to handle this stuff, right?”
Liah look Brady over carefully, her eyes lingering on his backpack before she nodded. “I got him, Shavir,” Liah said. She smiled at Brady as his feet touched the ground and offered him a hand. “Come on, let’s fix you up.”
“Watch his leg,” Shavir said as he went back to work.
“Thank you, Mister Shavir!” Brady called after him.
“At least they teach you manners Upstairs,” Liah said. She set a very slow pace and let Brady lean on her hand as he hobbled with her. “Did you come down on your own?”
Brady avoided her eyes. She seemed like she was in charge, which might mean uncomfortable questions. That meant playing shy and hoping she didn’t press too hard. He should have done that with Shavir as well.
Liah led him into one of the small houses and to the first room. She sat him down in the chair and unwrapped his arm to look at the bruising. “There’s been some exciting stuff happening up there lately, hasn’t there?” Liah asked. “Trying to get away from it?”
Brady kept quiet and let her work, applying a cool liquid to the bruising before splinting his arm and wrapping it up again. She tried to meet his eyes again when applied the cool liquid to his swollen eye, but he looked away as she worked.
“Do you have a name?” she asked after a few moments. She moved back to his arm and cleaned it of more of the dirt. Brady could tell she was going slowly and being more gentle and attentive than she needed to be, ignoring her watch as it vibrated every few moments and a new message appeared on the face. She probably didn’t want to scare him any more than an injured child would already be.
And yet, even as she went, cleaning him off and affixing bandages and salve to the places that he didn’t even realize were injured, she continued to ask questions. Every few moments of silence would be broken by another gentle prodding inquiry, only to be met with no response.
“What happened to you?” she asked. “Where are your parents? Does anyone know where you are? Can you speak?”
Why hadn’t he thought about this? Clearly, he was coming in looking like he’d been beaten up. If anyone noticed that he wasn’t from around there, they would ask him questions. The cute kid routine only worked when he was also mildly annoying — just enough to make them want to shove him onto the next adult. An injured child made people ask questions.
Upstairs those questions were immediately answered by pointing out who he was. Brady was exceptionally good at getting into places he wasn’t supposed to, and injured for it. At least, as far as anyone else was concerned, that’s what happened. Him limping around wasn’t worth a second glance up there anymore.
“Hey?” Liah asked once she finished wrapping up his foot. She handed back his shoe. “Do you think you can walk just a little farther?”
Brady quickly shoved the shoe into his bag and nodded. Liah passed him a black stick that was twice as tall as he was and he got to his feet, leaning on it and taking a couple tentative steps.
“If you don’t start talking to me, I’m going to have to make a call to Upstairs to Ms. Ed,” she said. “At the very least, tell me if you came down here on your own.”
Brady faltered at the name, but forced himself to keep moving. He didn’t expect her to know Ms. Ed. He kept his eyes down as he followed her. “I did,” he mumbled.
“What was that?”
“I came alone,” he said a little louder, still not looking at her. She moved slowly enough for him to keep up and he was grateful for that, though his plans were not going as he hoped. He scrambled to think of some way to convince her to let him stay without contacting anyone Upstairs.
“And how did you manage to get in?”
“The door was open.” For now, he did what he could to be as adorable as possible, carefully slurring his words where he needed to and keeping his shoulders huddled together around the stick as h
e walked. He would be shy until he could figure out something else to do.
Liah couldn’t find out his name. Once she had that, she would probably call Ms. Ed immediately to report he was down here, and Ms. Ed would tell his mother. As it was, she was probably already going to call Upstairs to report a child regardless of what she said. Brady would need to get her phone and then…
Then he didn’t know. Then maybe he’d run and try to find a way to climb into the ceiling and live there. Maybe he’d find somewhere with plenty of access to food and live in hiding down here. Whatever he needed to do to keep from going back.
“Tammy!” Liah yelled.
Brady looked up, finding that he missed a lot while he kept his eyes so carefully averted and maintaining his shy exterior. All around him were vines in black and red and green, growing up on walls with lines of plants growing between them. Lights of different colours shone down in blocks, and each of the plants sprouted fruits in lumpy clusters and thin spirals. People moved between the rows, looking at each of the fruits and plucking those they deemed ready, throwing them into large baskets they carried on their backs.
More importantly, the people moving through the plants weren’t all full grown adults. Teens worked the fields as well as children who looked as young as five.
“I don’t need people that badly,” Tammy said as she got closer. She kept her short hair tied back and she was almost as pale as Snow, though she looked strong enough to deck Mac if she needed to. She looked at Brady and wrinkled her nose at him before looking at Liah. “Maybe when he’s in one piece.”
“I just needed to know how many you were short,” Liah told her. “We’re probably getting a couple more from Upstairs soon and I’m looking to shuffle.”
