by J. Andersen
“It used to be a mine elevator,” Ally explains. “Jaxon rigged the lift so it’ll bring us half way up the shaft.”
We rise into the darkness, but a few moments later, we screech to a halt. The door handle becomes my best friend as I white-knuckle it.
As if this is normal, Ally smiles and continues. “The lift won’t reach the surface, so Jaxon built another rig that takes over from here.”
“How does it work? Or don’t I want to know?”
“Jaxon’s a wiz with mechanics. He took the prongs from two forklifts and mounted them on either side of the shaft. Any cars he builds down here have a mount on the bottom to hold the forks. They’ll take us the rest of the way to the surface.”
Now that I realize what’s going on, I can appreciate the complexity of it. It gives me new respect for Micah’s best friend. Kind of ingenious, really.
“If anything mechanical breaks down, Jaxon’s the guy you want with you. It’s like he’s got some freaky sixth sense about cars or something. Never seen anything like it. It’s why our leaders hired him. He’s always building them something, either for the good of the city or some souped-up vehicle to be used topside.”
“Oh.”
The forks take us to the surface where a door opens to the forest floor. It’s only then that Ally starts the car and drives out of the old mine shaft. As we exit, I glance behind. The doors are covered in moss and dirt, and when they finally close, the entrance to the shaft is camouflaged into the hillside.
Ally drives carefully around the trees. “We don’t want to wear down a path so people know where we are.”
I nod in agreement, silently wondering how many times she’s done this.
My hands rest on my lap, and I scratch at a fingernail. “So, where’re we headed?”
“A junkyard just outside the forest. It’s pretty picked over, seeing how we’ve scavenged there for nearly three generations. Arcanus is pretty self-sufficient, but I like to come and see what I can find anyway. It’s a good way to get out, and you never know what The Institute might’ve dumped recently.
Rummaging around a garbage heap for anything salvageable doesn’t really sound like my idea of fun, but I’ll do it for Ally’s sake. She’s been like a sister, taking care of me when I couldn’t care for myself. I owe it to her to be happy for one day, or to at least try. Moping and wondering what’s happened to Micah for days on end won’t do either of us any good.
I’ll drop you off near the entrance and then drive around back. It’ll be easier for you to navigate there where the ground is flat. You know, with your foot and all. Wait for me at the gate when you’re done poking around. Don’t worry. No one comes out here except on dumping day. We’re one hundred percent safe.”
In the distance, I see a break in the trees. The closer we get the better I can make out the field in front of us. It’s surrounded by high fencing, but it’s rusted out and falling apart in places. The gate lies open, and a dirty chain hangs from either side of two swinging doors. Right inside the gate, Ally stops.
“I’ll meet you back here in an hour. Sound good?”
She’s so sweet. I know she’s trying to cheer me up, and I can’t help but appreciate what she’s doing. “Yeah, I hope you find some good ... er … garbage.”
Her face lights up. “Me too.”
“Ally, before you go ... um, what should I be looking for?”
“Anything that catches your eye.” With that, she drives off around the edge of the fencing. “One hour,” she yells out the window.
I poke around the entrance for a few minutes but don’t find much: piles of scrap metal and heaps of discarded medical supplies, mostly. Even here on what Ally calls the flat ground, I find it difficult to maneuver with my foot in a cast, so I head down the drive where I re-member passing a few boulders. I decide to park my crutches and lean against the rock while I wait for Ally. It’s been forever since I’ve enjoyed the bright blue sky and the smell of flowers and pine or since I’ve felt a cool breeze on my face. In Arcanus, there’s a permanent dampness to the air. I suppose one gets used to it after years of living there, but I’ve been there only a little over a month, and to me, it’s stifling.
The air up here is so clear. It carries with it a freshness I don’t notice anywhere else. With the junkyard at my back, I can more readily appreciate the nature that surrounds me, but I have to admit, I miss The Institute with its cleanliness and its mixture of old and new architecture. Here it’s just leaves, branches, and fields as far as I can see. I scan the horizon and watch how the shadows play on the grass.
What is that? I sit up and pull my crutches closer. Inside the tree line, something moves. Must be an animal. Then I see it again, standing up-right and leaning against the trunk of a pine, looking ever-so-human.
Micah.
Leaning on my crutches, I pull myself up and stumble toward the woods. “Micah?” It’s him. Somehow he’s made it out of The Institute, and he’s waiting for me. I’m almost to the forest’s edge when he retreats into the darkness. “No. Wait. Micah! It’s me!” The form moves again, and once I hobble to the tree line, he’s gone. My eyes take a few moments to adjust to the dimness, and I blink away the sun spots. “Micah? Where are you?” Venturing farther into the depths, I struggle to maneuver my crutches over the pine needles carpeting the ground. The damp soil is slippery, but still I press deeper in toward a clearing where the sunlight breaks through the branches and dances across the rocks. I peer down a hill and across a ravine where a man stands with his back to me.
“Micah, come up here. I can’t make it down with my leg.” But he doesn’t seem to hear me. Using one crutch for balance and tossing the other to the side, I hunch down on my good leg and try to scoot down the hill like a crab. It’s too slick, and when I step on wet leaves, my leg sweeps out from under me, sending a bolt of pain through my ankle, up my calf, and into my knee. Reaching out, I try to grasp the nearest branch or tree root, but all I catch is air as I slide down the hill, tum-bling over the mud and leaves. Sliding to a stop at the bottom of the ravine, scratched and wet with mud, hair matted to my cheek, I look up into his face.
It isn’t Micah.
THREE
OLD FRIENDS, NEW ENEMIES
(KATE)
“What? No ‘Hello?’ No ‘Nice to see you?’ I’m crushed. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you, Kate?”
His eyes glare at me from behind sharp cheekbones. And his black eyebrows contrast the sandy hair on his head, giving him a devilish look. He’s familiar, but I can’t place where I know him. When he smiles, chills run down my arms. I try to scramble back, but with my crutch ten feet away, I can’t do much.
He doesn’t wait for my answer. “At least a month. Every few days, I wait near the entrance to the Hidden City. You know, the one you revealed when your friends rescued you. I knew you’d emerge eventually. And you finally have.” The smirk on his face tells me he’s enjoying this.
My eyes widen, and it all comes rushing back to me. The horrific date I had with him near the Outerlands. “Saul.”
“You remember! Isn’t that just perfect? You missed me, didn’t you?”
“What are you doing here?”
“You haven’t seen me for months, and that’s the first question you ask? No, ‘Thank-you for helping me escape?’”
“What are you talking ab—?” But even as I’m saying it, the puzzle pieces snap together. The night I escaped The Institute. The days I trekked through the forest. It was too easy. I should’ve known some-thing was off. With the level of security The Institute normally has, I shouldn’t have made it out without trouble. But I was too busy trying to survive for reality to sink in. “That was you?”
He squats a few feet in front of me at eye level. “Of course.” His eyes flit over my face, and when he twists his head, one side of his mouth pulls back in a maniacal half smile. “Oh, you thought you got out by yourself? No, Kate. I helped you. Arranging for the soldiers to be called to Mr. Pe
nnington’s house when they met you on the street. Making sure the guards were away from the gate at just the right moment. It was all me.”
I don’t understand. Why would Saul help me escape? It would mean breaking every rule he’s been taught to follow his entire life. The same rules he enforces in others. In order to do what he says he did, he would’ve had to follow me the entire time. My heart thunders, and I tremble. I’ve been so stupid. All along, The Institute has known about me, which means they also know about Micah and his treachery.
I wipe a muddy piece of hair from my forehead. “Then it was you standing in the trees that night.”
“You thought you saw someone else the night you were rescued, didn’t you?” He clucks his tongue. “Hmm. Nope. It was me. I have to thank you, though. I never would’ve found the Hidden City entrance if you hadn’t led me right to it. Those buggers have it camouflaged pretty damn well.”
The way he looks at me sends prickly heat over my skin.
He scratches the stubble on his face, making his jaw stick out. Then he offers me a hand. “Here, let me help you.”
I shake him off and scoot into a more comfortable position, my casted leg out in front of me. “Don’t touch me.”
“Wow. I’m hurt. Here I was only trying to be nice.”
“What do you want, Saul?” As much as I try to make my voice strong and demanding, it quavers when I speak. When I glare back at him, he’s not the least bit fazed. Wishing I could run away does me no good. I can’t outrun him anyway. Not in my condition. Not with this stupid cast.
Glancing up the hill, I will Ally to stay in the junkyard longer. No telling what Saul would do if he sees her. This is, after all, the guy who creates various tortures for any rebels discovered at The Institute. Rebels like Micah. I can’t believe I actually went out with him. Thank goodness I had the sense to stop after the first date.
“I have a message for you. Actually, it’s from Micah Pennington. But I can’t show you here.”
The sound of Micah’s name makes me gasp. A surge of hope mixes with terror when I see the look on Saul’s face. I don’t believe him. “Of course not.” My crutch still lies a few feet away, so I drag myself toward it. Saul reaches down and hands it to me. Then he watches me struggle to my feet without assisting. Not that I’d accept his help if he offered it.
“It’s on video. And, sorry, I don’t bring a playing device when I travel into the forest to meet traitors like you. Wouldn’t want my equipment all dirt covered and broken. That stuff ’s expensive to replace.” His light chuckle at his own half-joke grates on me. Only a person like him would find it necessary to laugh at a situation like this.
I ignore the sarcasm in his voice and limp toward the creek bed where the ground is flatter. “What makes you think I’d believe you? What makes you think I’d trust you not to turn me in or throw me into one of your sick torture schemes? Why would I ever trust you?”
He looks amused. “Because I’d never hurt the mother of my son.”
FOUR
A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
(KATE)
I nearly choke. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.” He stands a few feet away, arms crossed, watching me as the thought sinks in. He’s still got that stupid smirk on his face. More than anything, I’d like to wipe it off with a swift kick to his head. If only I could get my leg that high.
“How is that possible?”
“It’s possible, Kate. You worked in the Creation Department. You know how it works. They take a little of your DNA and a little of mine …” He mimics shaking a test tube.
“But we didn’t apply … We aren’t even married.” My nose wrinkles in disgust. “Why would they … or did you …?”
“Me? No. I didn’t apply. Though, I wish I would’ve thought to. It would’ve been a brilliant move on my part, but it seems to have worked in my favor anyway. Besides, do you think The Institute is really going to let a little paperwork get in the way of their experiments? You should know better than that by now.”
This can’t be happening. My worst nightmares are coming true. My head swirls in confusion, and I can’t think straight. I should’ve looked up who the father was when I found out about Brody, but I was too busy reeling from the fact that I had an unauthorized child slated for disposal.
“And to think, we could have actually been a family. Well, if he wasn’t destined to be destroyed in the first place. Oh, and if you hadn’t blown me off after our first date.” The way he shakes his head makes me feel like I’m a child being reprimanded.
I want to walk away. To keep walking. Anything to get away from Saul, but I have to hear what he knows. “You and I both know it never would’ve worked out between us.”
“Course not. Not with you getting all hot and heavy with the rebel, Mr. Pennington. After that, there was no hope. Your taste in men is highly repulsive. I never would’ve had a chance, being the upright citizen I am.”
Oh, the irony.
“Actually, I was referring to the uncanny amount of narcissism you possess, but if you want to blame me, go ahead.”
“Hold on a second while I roll my eyes so far back in my head I’ll be able to see what I thought yesterday.” He pauses and rubs his chin for a second. “Who’s the narcissistic one? Who ran away because The Institute wasn’t good enough for her? You traded a society you felt was sub-par for one that was subterranean.”
I ignore him. “What would you know about Micah?” I’m hoping to anything holy that he’s okay, that they haven’t discovered his lab. He’ll be killed for sure if they find it.
“Enough.”
Then it hits me. He can’t know Brody is his. That’s classified information for the Creation Scientist and the Data Collections Agency to see. So how does he know for sure that I had a baby? Correction: stole a baby. He has to know something, and for some reason, The Institute must want Brody back. But that doesn’t make any sense. Brody was tagged for disposal. He was labeled Unviable. Why would they want him? Saul knows more than he’s letting on. Either that or he’s playing me. “How do you even know Brody is yours?”
“Brody, huh? That’s what you named him? Nothing strong like Jonathan or James?”
And I realize I’ve given away a vital piece of information.
“Kate, you forget I am Tier Two military. That means I have the highest clearance besides Fishgold and his cronies. Any information I want is at my fingertips. When I discovered you’d left with a child, I looked it up. And by golly, guess whose ID was listed as the father?”
“Here, look.” He opens a photo on his phone. “I took a picture of the conception certificate because I figured you wouldn’t believe me.”
I stare in disbelief at the ID that matches the numbers below his identification tattoo.
“But why? And who? Who would create children without parental permission? And who would choose a seventeen-year-old girl to be a mother? It’s crazy.”
His eyes narrow and his prominent brow shadows his cheeks. “I intend to find out exactly what’s going on. In the meantime, I’m not one to skirt away from my responsibilities. I’m that baby’s father, and I fully intend to raise him as my own.”
He’s got to be kidding. I shake my head. “He’s not going with you, Saul. Not back to the place that intended to destroy him. Not now. Not ever.”
“Hmm. Look, I didn’t come here today to steal my son away from you.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I told you. To give you a message from Micah. But as I said before, I can’t show you here.”
“Right. No video monitor.” He’s baiting me. He wants me to step into his trap. It’s the way he works. “Where then?” I ask.
“On neutral territory. I know you’d never come to The Institute, and as much as I’d like it, I doubt you’ll let me come to where you live now. At least, not without a great deal of trouble.” He smirks as he hands me a scrap of paper, which I unfold. On it are a few crude lines along with
some labels. A map. “Follow the stream that cuts through the forest to the north. It’ll take you to a trail. At the end of the trail is an abandoned cabin. Meet me there in three days. I’ll have equipment to show you Micah’s taped message.” He takes a few steps back toward where the ravine isn’t so steep before he starts to climb into a thick mass of trees.
If he knows where the entrance to the city is, he could attack at any moment. Something about this doesn’t smell right. But with Saul, every step is a manipulation. It’s all part of his plan, whatever that is. So if he hasn’t brought an army to infiltrate Arcanus, there’s a reason for it.
“Why should I believe you, Saul? Why should I trust this isn’t a setup?” I call over the ravine to him.
He stops and smiles. “Because if you don’t, you’ll never get Micah back.”
FIVE
A LONELY CABIN IN THE WOODS
(KATE)
“See you in a couple days,” Saul says as he jogs off into the forest.
“Saul … Saul!” I yell, but he doesn’t answer. “Saul, wait.” It’s no use. He’s gone. I don’t know whether or not to believe him. He’s not exactly the kind of guy I trust, but if there’s even a sliver of a chance to get Micah out of The Institute alive, I have to take it. But I hate my-self for aligning with someone like Saul.
Then I hear another voice. “There you are. You scared me half to death. When you weren’t at the entrance, I freaked and came looking for you.”
“Sorry, Ally. I—”
She’s coming down the hill, one hand braced behind her to slow her descent, the other holding my second crutch. When she reaches me, her eyes widen. “You okay? You’re a mess.” She picks a leaf from my hair. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I thought I saw Micah.”
She sets her jaw and purses her lips together as she examines my face for a moment as if she’s trying to determine whether I’m telling the truth. Then she glances around.
