Here Skies Surround Us
Page 22
“What are you going to do to me?”
Neither of them answers. The silence grates against my patience with each click of Caroline’s shoes against the steel ground. “I said—”
“You’re going to be made into an example.” Caroline doesn’t turn when she talks to me, leaving Mason to pull me along beside him while she leads the way.
“Me?”
“The people need a reminder of what is going on outside the city,” she says. “It will refocus their purpose.”
“But I’m not dangerous,” I say, as we approach the wall to B3.
“You don’t need to be,” Caroline says, taking her key from her neck. She unlocks the panel to a button and presses it. Steel grates against itself in a high-pitched creak as the door lowers for us.
Caroline enters B3 and Mason grabs my arm, pulling me behind him. “But you don’t understand,” I say. “You need me.”
Caroline stops in her tracks as Mason closes the door. She turns slowly toward me, dark hair framing her face, and her eyes carry that mischievous glint like Evan gets when he’s hiding something. But this look on Caroline is much less endearing.
“I don’t need you, Natalia,” she says. “You made yourself an outcast the moment you arrived here. You’ve defied our ways and everyone knows this. No one will be surprised when we tell them that you tried to infect us all with the virus.”
“The virus?” I ask. “What are you talking about? I don’t have the virus.”
“You brought it here,” she says, her lips twisting into a cruel smile. “We didn’t have it until you arrived.”
“I brought the immune serum and a microchip, not the virus!”
“Did you?” she asks. “That’s what you made us think, that you came to save us. But now you’ve gone and infected our water supply with the virus—a super virus, at that.”
“This is nonsense!” I shout. “I’ve never had the virus. Evan will back me up!”
“I’ll admit it was my fault,” she says. “I trusted you. I allowed you to work near our microbiologist. How were we to know you tricked Cabri into duplicating the parts of the immune serum that are made up of the virus? Then making it stronger than the immune serum could handle. We had no chance, did we?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask. “What are you doing?”
“Thankfully the water filtration systems will work,” she says. “At least most of them.”
“You’re infecting your own people? You’re sick!”
“I’m just cleaning house,” Caroline says. “It’s time we wipe out the underbelly of the city. We can’t be our best while those bottom feeders are pulling us down.”
“But you’re going to infect everyone!”
“No, stupid girl,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me. “It will only affect the north quarter.”
“But how?” I ask. “Everyone got the water filtration systems. I saw them delivered to the north quarter—”
“They did get installed,” Caroline says, annoyance dripping from her voice, “if that’s what you’re asking. Theirs are a different version.”
I quickly consider her carefully placed words. A different version? I think back to when the filtration systems were delivered. The same boxes I saw in the trucks at the factory were the ones delivered to the north quarter—the same but slightly different. The ones in the north quarter had red symbols. The ones sent to the south quarter had blue. The ones on the trucks to go back to my home were red.
“The red ones don’t work.”
“Oh, they work just fine,” she says, “for the old virus. That should be enough to trick your people into installing them and trusting us. By the time the supervirus gets down the river, they’ll never suspect anything. It will slip into your dome, and into each person’s home. By the time we get there, they’ll have already killed each other.”
“No!” I say. “You can’t do this. We’re not a threat! Plus, you’ll wreck the water for everyone.”
“Everyone is a threat!” Caroline says. “Don’t you see that? Your being here, is a threat to the way things are.”
“My dome has changed,” I plea. “It’s about the people. My friends are in charge now. I can convince them. You don’t understand.”
“I understand just fine,” Caroline says. “I care about my people, and I care about their survival. We already took out one dome in its entirety. That dome attacked us first, unprovoked; they tried to steal our weapons and food. We lost many people who were important to us—innocent people. After that day we learned our lesson. We stockpiled our weapons. We went back to that dome and took their food, and we took care of the people who were important to them.”
“What about Ali?” I ask. “What did she do to deserve to be killed?”
“Who? The laundry girl?” Caroline asks. “She was an unfortunate necessity. Ultimately an outsider who could not be trusted.”
“You preyed on her dome,” I accuse. “She told me. You went and offered assistance and security. When they accepted your help, you took their weapons and enslaved their people in exchange for protection.”
“We will never be victims again.”
“Here the weak die and the strong prevail,” I say. “That’s no way to have a society. At least where I come from people care about truth.”
“It won’t be long until we turn our focus on your dome.” Caroline’s lip curls up. “Once we’ve weakened them with the supervirus.”
“You’re too late,” I whisper. “They’re almost here.”
“What?” Mason asks. “How do you know this?”
“And now if you kill me, you lose your only bargaining chip.” I begin to laugh at the irony of it all. I either die here at the hands of Caroline, or back home at the hands of Jak. No—neither of them would get their hands dirty. They’d order someone else to do it.
“Enough!” Caroline says. “Lock her up. She’s a liar. If someone was coming—”
“Your scouts would tell you?” I start laughing again.
Doubt spreads across her face as she purses her lips and turns on her heel. “I’ll be in my office.”
“You can’t stop them,” I yell as she walks down the hall to the elevator.
Caroline faces me as the elevator doors close. Her eyes are dark, and her lips curl up into a smile. As Caroline disappears, Mason shoves me into a cell.
“You can’t believe all this is right,” I say. “Your people will find out eventually. You might get away with destroying other domes, but you can’t hide the mass genocide of the north quarter.”
He ignores me and slams the door shut. I run up to the window and bang my hand on it, screaming out Mason’s name as he walks toward the elevators. I know he can’t hear me, but I still throw myself against the door, until I collapse in tears.
I have no idea how much time has passed; there are no clocks down here. The lights in my cell and the hallway incessantly flicker their fluorescent glow. I do know I cried myself to sleep on the floor because that’s where I woke up. I’m sitting there now, staring up at the door.
My window has a smear of blood on it. I look down at my damaged hands, bruised and cut from my onslaught against the door. It was foolish; I know it was. Nevertheless, in my hopelessness I had to try something. Now I just feel numb. I woke up this way: calm and unfeeling.
My home will be infected, and it’s my fault. I brought the serum here. I gave them the ultimate weapon they’ve been waiting for to get the upper hand on all the other domes.
But the people: they’ll have to know something’s wrong. No, Caroline covered that up as well. That woman doesn’t leave anything to chance. It started with the kid and the baker. Ohmygawd—Georgie. Did Caroline do it so I’d kill Jeb in front of everyone? And she’ll have Karl to back her up, telling them how I attacked him earlier. I handed myself over to Caroline like a neat little parcel, the perfect scapegoat. It’s an easy sell when people want to hear it.
I jerk my head up quickly at the sound of a click. Nothing happens. Then I notice the door handle move—just slightly. At first, I think it’s a trick of my eyes: I was staring at the door when I woke up, willing it to move with every fiber of my being. Then the handle moves again. I scramble to the back of my cell. Has Caroline returned already? Will I get a trial?
The door opens, and Mason appears. He looks more hurried than I’ve ever seen him. I realize he’s anxious as he keeps looking down the hallway.
“Caroline’s left to make a speech about you,” he says. “I stayed behind to start our rebuild strategy. Things are falling apart out there. You sure know how to cause a disturbance.”
“I’m not going to mourn the death of a guy who shot a kid,” I say. What does he want?
“I’m not asking you to,” Mason says.
“Don’t expect me to come easily,” I say, staying at the back of my cell.
“I’m not here to take you to Caroline,” Mason says. “I’m here to take you to Alec.”
“Alec?” I’m shocked. “My uncle?”
“Yes,” Mason says. “He’s waiting for you upstairs.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trick?”
“You don’t,” Mason explains. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but this is your only chance to leave. You either trust me, or you become a scapegoat for Caroline.”
This can’t be real. Alec would have nothing to do with someone like Mason—someone who is prepared to sentence children to death.
“All right,” I say hesitantly. “I’ll come with you on one condition. You stay a few feet away from me.”
“Oh, I’m not coming with you,” Mason says. “I’m staying here. You need to knock me out before you leave.”
“Knock you out?” I ask. “Now I know you’re full of it. You just want more fodder for Caroline to feed the people about me.”
“Mason!” Caroline’s voice comes from the opposite end of B3. “Mason, do you have her?”
“Hurry up!” Mason says. “This is your last chance.” He hands me his gavel.
I stare at the wooden hammer and look back at Mason. He is worried, I can tell: his eyes are jumpy, his hands fidgeting. I can hear Caroline’s shoes clicking on the steel ramp, coming toward us. It’s now or never.
I step toward him, and he closes his eyes as I lift the gavel up and bring it down hard on the back of his head. A muffled cry escapes his lips as his body crumples to the ground. I stand staring at him in surprise. I can’t believe I just did that.
“Mason!” Caroline’s voice comes from the hallway, much closer this time. I drop the gavel on Mason’s body and step over him, running toward the elevator.
I jump in and hit the button. As the doors close, I see Caroline come around the corner. Her eyes grow wide with surprise for a moment, and she looks down at Mason’s body, then back up at me again before lunging at the elevator as the doors close, screaming, “YOU!”
I can’t believe I’ve escaped. My hands start shaking, and the pain that I had inflicted earlier finally begins to set in. My newfound freedom has brought back my sensation.
The elevator door opens into Caroline’s office. I run out and find Alec pacing the room.
“Nat!” he says, running over and giving me a hug.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” I say, bursting into tears. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been helping out the rebellion,” he says quietly. “The time has come for the people to fight back. We attacked the factory that was making the filtration systems, and then the Health Center. We almost got Caroline there, but she slipped away. Then there was the commotion at Court this morning when they grabbed you. They’ve been setting off bombs all over the city while I’ve been trying to get to you. Now’s our time to escape.”
“We need to leave the Axis right now,” I say. “Caroline saw me downstairs. She’ll be here any minute.”
Alec pulls me from Caroline’s office, out to the elevators. We take them downstairs to the lobby. The girl who faithfully stands her post night and day is nowhere to be found, and I see papers are strewn all over the floor. At the doors, two people are waiting for us: Evan and Remy.
“Nat!” Evan calls out. He runs over, picking me up off my feet and spinning me around. “I can’t believe we got you back.” He whispers against my neck.
“Caroline must be close behind us,” I say. “She saw me escaping B3.”
“No,” Evan says. “She didn’t show up on the cameras. I watched as you two came out of her office into the elevators. No sign of her.”
“How’s it going outside?” Alec asks.
“It’s crazy,” Evan says. “Just crazy. Exactly how you predicted.”
“The others will be here soon,” Alec says. “I need to get you guys out of the colony to keep you all safe.”
“We’re not going without Quinn,” Evan says. “Mom said she’d take him back tonight.”
“If she didn’t come out of B3 this way I can only assume she left the other way,” Alec says, “which means she’s already beaten us back there.”
“Where?” I ask.
“Home,” Evan says.
Evan is right—it’s absolute chaos in the city. We make our way outside the dome, which has a giant hole giving access to the north quarter. So that’s how they got out. Good for them.
Most the businesses are on fire and people are scrambling to stop it from spreading too far in the south quarter. It will take the city a long time to recover, if it ever does. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
The residential area is quiet. Lights are off, and I picture people hiding in their homes. We pass a group of rebels shooting guns in the sky. They feel they’re victorious. What will happen when my dome gets here?
As we approach Evan’s home, light shines from Quinn’s bedroom window. Evan was right. Caroline brought his little brother back home.
The body of a man lies on the ground in front of the door. Alec checks his pulse, but there isn’t one. We slowly step over the body and enter the house, wary of what lies within.
The entire house is dark. Caroline is nowhere to be seen. We creep down the hall to Quinn’s bedroom, where his door is open. Inside, Caroline is sitting in a chair. She’s watching Quinn sleep while she taps a gun against the side of the chair.
“Mom?” Evan says quietly, so not to startle her.
Caroline looks up at us; she seems off. Her hair is messed around her face, and she has a bruise on her cheek. Her eyes seem distant, as if she doesn’t see us standing there in the doorway.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Evan asks, changing his tone.
Caroline looks at him again, refocusing her eyes, and this time she recognizes him. She shakes her head a little and then turns back to Quinn.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” Caroline says. “It was never supposed to be like this.” She leans forward, putting her head in her hands, still holding the gun as if it was an accessory.
“The colony will get past this,” Evan says, entering the room.
Caroline’s head shoots up from her hands and she waves the gun around. “Not this, Evan! It was supposed to be different. When we left the dome, we had dreams. People had hope. It was all stolen from us that one night when we lost everything.”
“We rebuilt,” Evan says, taking another step toward her. “We moved past that.”
“No,” she says, putting her head back in her hands and rocking back and forth in her chair. “We never did. Everything we have was built on a lie. We never recovered.”
“That’s not true, Caroline.” Alec enters the room. “The colony has done many wonderful things. It was a success. You’ll recover from
this.”
Caroline’s head shoots up at the sound of Alec’s voice, and she shoots him an angry look. “Do you think I care about all that out there?” she asks. “I don’t. I don’t care about it at all. It’s over, you know? Any chance we had to move on. It’s gone now. They all know it.”
“But that’s okay,” Alec says.
“Shut up!” Caroline shouts. Quinn stirs in his bed. “You shut up, Alec. Who are you to speak in my home? I’ve tolerated you all this time when really you are the reason for all of this.” She jumps out of her chair, spreading her arms apart.
“It’s not his fault,” Evan says. “He didn’t attack our dome.”
“He wasn’t there!” Caroline says frantically. “I hid it from you all these years, so you didn’t have to know the truth. I didn’t want you to hurt like I hurt so long ago.”
“I came back, Caroline,” Alec says quietly. “I came back in time to save you.”
“You betrayed me!” Caroline shouts. “You should have killed me, not Jase.” Caroline’s eyes are wide with fury.
“He didn’t kill Dad,” Evan says.
“Oh, he did.” Caroline points her gun at Alec. “He was supposed to be there to help your dad, but he wasn’t, he was gone. When Alec finally came back, we were under attack. Jase was tied up with a gun to his head—here, in this house—while they had me pinned down. Alec walked in with a gun, and they told him my life or Jase’s. I begged Alec to end mine, but your father insisted Alec save me. So he did.” She erupts into sobs, still pointing the gun at Alec with a shaky hand.
“I came straight to your home when I saw the attack,” Alec says. I can see tears welling up in his eyes. “I tried to save you both. I didn’t know what to do. Jase was my friend.”
“He loved you like a brother,” Caroline screams as she waves the gun around again. “Where were you? You should have been there when he needed you.”