by H. J. Lawson
“You left us… you left us…” the wind whistles as my body tumbles to the ground.
“Take me too,” I sob.
As you wish, Xander’s mind laughs.
Black matter surges towards me, wrapping itself around me before I can move off the ground. It drives itself into my nose, then pushes my mouth open from the inside. Dry darkness rushes into my mouth, taking a hold of my body, controlling it.
I finally have you, Xander’s mind greedily says. My brain throbs as he consumes it, stealing my memories.
“Get out of my head and my body. You can’t have me!” I yell, waking myself up.
I wheeze and cough as I try to get the black matter from my body. My mind thinks the dream is real. It felt real. A bitter, musty taste from the black matter lines my dry mouth. I reach out and down the contents of the mug of water beside my bed. The water only relieves the dryness, not the taste.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Dax
“We need to talk,” I whisper to Hayden, as we start to walk up the creaky wooden stairs.
“Yeah, I know,” he says shamefully.
“Damn!”
“What?”
“I forgot I had this!” I say. All these years without it … I turn my bracelet on, and the light shines up the stairway. “Could have done with this before, when I had to save your ass. I should’ve bloody left you there with the crazy butcher!”
Hayden nudges me in the back. “That’s not funny!”
“You’re damn right it's not funny … watch out for the step.”
“What … arh!” Hayden yells out. Clearly he didn’t listen to me.
We get to the top of the steps, and I move my wrist around, shining the light from the bracelet into every corner of the room. It's the same size and layout as downstairs.
“It's empty,” I say, relieved.
I head over to the window. The evening breeze blows in and brushes across my face.
Caribes are running around like they are crazy. People say it's from years of eating human flesh, that it does something to the mind. It clearly has messed up theirs.
Bang … bang! Shots ring out and several Caribes go down. The Purenet soldiers run at them like they are hunting for fun, like these people are nothing more than mindless animals possessed by the hypnotic words of their leader.
I hate that leaders have the power to rule over the weak, transforming them into something they are not. But is that really true? Or just an excuse we use to be weak and not stand up for what is right?
Xander and my father are evil to the core … always have been, and always will be. When you can read someone’s thoughts on a daily basis, you know them better than they know themselves.
But my other brother is not evil … he is just weak. Will he help us?
“Hayden, how could you do this to us?” I ask, as I turn to face him. I want to see the truth in his eyes.
Hayden averts his gaze toward the ground, ashamed of what he’s done. He shakes his head. “I … I didn’t know they were coming to the community when we were at Purenet. I said that in the hopes that your father would set me free.”
“So for all these years you’ve been a spy, filling my father in with every bit of information on the Grounders … setting them up to be hunted down!” I snap, unable to keep my emotions in. He’s the reason Ayah is trapped like a rodent in my father’s compound.
“Dax, I’m sorry. I didn’t think any of this would happen.”
“What the hell did you think would happen? You’re not that stupid, so don’t act like it!” I feel like I’m about to lose control; it’s getting hard to keep my anger in check.
“You father told me I was helping Purenet,” Hayden mumbles.
“How!?”
“Because they are dying. He thinks the Grounders have the key to survive.”
I know this much is true … Gavyn told me last night.
“He wanted all the information on them, just the normal day-to-day stuff,” Hayden continues. “You know at any time, he could have come in with his army and taken them.”
Hayden lets out a big breath. I think I believe him.
“Are you still working for my father?” I ask. I stare into his eyes, waiting for his body to give up the lie.
“No,” he snaps. He pulls down his t-shirt that was covering his shoulder blade, revealing a bloody hole. “They put a tracker in me, and I cut it out.” He pauses and looks back at me. “You are like a brother to me ... I’m so sorry, I didn't know it was going to end up like this.”
My head hurts with all the questions and betrayal. I tilt my chin back and look up to the stars, through the glassless window. “Do you think there is anything else out there?” I ask him.
He looks up as well. “If there is, they are just laughing at us destroying one another.”
I turn back to him and chuckle. “You are probably right ... for a change.”
Hayden smiles back at me. But I will never trust you again, I think to myself—and Hayden knows I never will. It will never be the same.
“How long does Skylier have before they start the Hosting?” Hayden asks, concerned. She is too good for him.
“Thirty moons.”
“Will we make it back in time?” he asks.
“No.”
Hayden gasps. “What do you mean, no?”
“We’re not going back. So we will not make it in time.”
“Then what’s the whole point of building an army to rescue them?” Hayden shakes his head.
“We are going to rescue her from the Emperor’s Palace on the eve of the Sanction games. The Hosts and Bazi will join my father and the other untouchables at the games … that’s if Trinity didn’t kill him. You know every Chancellor from all the Sanctions will be there. The outsiders will stand up and fight against the Untouchables and the Emperor; they are the reason we live like this—that is our only chance,” I explain, and Hayden nods in agreement.
“But what about the Grounders? We have to go back for them.”
So he does care....
“Reznor will lead another, smaller army into Purenet as we are storming the Emperor’s Palace. There will be fewer soldiers there, so he will be able to get in … and overthrow it.”
We check all the rooms in the tiny house, and they are all completely empty.
Every few moments, Caribe or Purenet soldiers run past our hide out. Trinity was correct to choose this place; it's completely overlooked, almost as if it's invisible.
Occasionally we hear a scream of pain … Good, let them kill each other.
Trinity sleeps on the floor wrapped up in Lowell’s jacket, her body still twitching in pain from coming down off the drugs. She lets out groans of agony in her sleep.
Lowell and Reznor take turns doing look-out. Trinity has taken care of Reznor’s arm, but he needs it stitched up—he’s lost too much blood.
Hayden and I are the upstairs look-out.
I tinker with the bracelets … these will come in useful later. The light on my bracelet changes color, and I quickly press the ‘accept’ button.
A message streams from the bracelet onto the back of my hand.
"Get out now—the soldiers are all at the front of the city. Ride away from the town. Good luck, my dear friend—Gavyn."
He’s here.
“Hayden, we have to go. Now.” I sweep up all the bracelets from the ground and shove them into my pocket, except for one.
“Catch,” I throw Hayden the bracelet. “Wear this.”
Hayden looks at it for a split second, then places it on his wrist.
“Did you have one of these when you lived in Purenet?” I ask him as he stares down at it fondly, like he’s been reunited with an old friend.
“Yeah. I’ve missed it.”
“You can only message me and the other bracelets—they are all linked together,” I inform him.
Hayden looks up and smiles. “Thank you.”
“We have to get out of here,” I
reply gruffly, as I head down the stairs. “We have to leave now,” I inform the others when I reach the first floor.
“Why so suddenly?” Lowell asks.
“I have someone helping us from the inside … we don’t have long,” I reply. “Trinity, wake up,” I say, gently nudging her shoulder. Her tiny body slowly opens up, like a newborn baby. She stares at me with her big brown eyes. I can see why Father liked her so much … she is beautiful—mesmerizing.
I can sense I’ve been staring at her for too long. I leave the room without saying a word to anyone else.
“Don’t let Reznor catch you looking at her like that. He will cut your balls off, like he wanted to when you first met Ayah,” Hayden whispers under his breath, as he walks over to me.
I remember that day so clearly. As if it was only yesterday, not months ago....
*****
I thought getting the across the desert would’ve been the worst part of the pain to get to the Grounders’ community. Sadly, I was wrong.
Without Hayden and his knife, I would’ve surely been eaten by the coyotes. We both barely survived the attack.
And that was when I met Ayah.
*****
“Hold still,” a female Grounder told me. She was smaller than others, and she had a natural grace about her, even while she told me off.
“Bossy, aren’t you?” I tried to laugh through the pain I felt each time she poured the clear, white liquid over my arm. It felt like she was sticking it into a hot fire.
“Wait till you meet my brother.” Her face lit up as she laughed back, a twinkle in her brown eyes.
“Ayah, away from the Outsider,” a deep voice announced sternly, as a man entered the hut.
Oh, jeez … he’s huge. His arms had to be thicker than a tree. He looked like he could rip me in two.
“His name is Dax,” Ayah replied to the scary Grounder. “Dax, this is my brother, Reznor … and he is our leader.” She said the last part with a deep tone to her voice as she smiled up at him. I could not help but stare at her. Ayah was not like any of the girls I had met in Purenet … she didn't know who I was, and didn't care.
Ayah pointed her finger toward me. “Don’t you look at me like that,” she said sternly, as if mocking her brother. “You’re not my type,” she added to me, as she headed out of the hut.
Not her type? What’s that supposed to mean? No one had said that to me before. I shook my head as she walked away.
I could feel Reznor’s eyes burning into me, as I clearly lingered on his sister’s behind for too long … why do women wear shorts so short? It wasn't my fault I had to stare.
He leaned over to me, so close I could smell rotting meat on his breath. “You stay away from my sister! You go anywhere near her, and I will cut your balls off! Ayah’s too good for your kind.” He growled at me through his teeth, and I gulped in surprise.
“What’s with this, my kind?”
“Your kind! The pure breed idiots who don’t have a clue what’s really going on in the world. You all live hidden away in your dome cities, thinking you are better than us. Keeping your medicines and technology from us, making us live like animals.” Reznor frowned as he paced back and forth. He really hated us … and so did I.
“I know,” I responded. Reznor stopped pacing.
“You know?”
I paused for a moment. “I found out what’s happening in Purenet, and that the sun’s UVA rays are no longer harmful.”
“What else do you know?” he asked.
“That they are poisoning the outside communities to make them still believe that the sun is harming them, but it's all a lie. The ozone layer around the earth started to heal itself … have you not noticed that the sun is not as strong as it used to be?”
Reznor raised his hand toward his lip as if he was trying to remember. The he lowered his hand and frowned again. “Are you trying to trick me? Do you think I’m an idiot?” He slammed his hand on a table beside me, and everything that was on it went flying.
“No…” I mumbled.
“I don’t like you! And if I had my way we wouldn’t allow your kind to stay here! But we are not animals like your people.”
He’s going to let me stay? A smile appeared on my face before I could stop it.
“Ha … you can stay if you survive the test….” Reznor laughed as he left the room.
“What test?” I yelled out to him.
“He can’t hear you, he’s gone,” Hayden responded. I had completely forgotten he was in the room. Even then, Hayden was overlooked by the Grounders; it was like he was invisible to them.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Skylier
I can’t lie in bed while Madison is out on the wasteland.
Enoch let Rian and me share his quarters for tonight, and the boys are both fast asleep. They both began snoring as soon as they lay down. I know I fell asleep soon after them. The toxic liquid seems to have that effect on everyone when they stop drinking.
Where is Abaven at this time of night? By the silence of the caves it must still be nighttime, but the lack of natural sunlight makes it impossible to work out the time.
I look down towards the area where the party was last night, and it’s littered with empty cups and leftover food. It looks like an explosion of garbage. In the Cueva, we never party like this. Under other circumstances I would have felt a bit of joy from the experience, instead of the guilt that weighs me down.
Now it’s time to squash this guilt and do something about it.
Great. The only person up is Gerel. Much to both our disappointment, I head towards her. She looks as if she’s ready to throw one of her favorite knives at me.
“What are you doing wandering around?” Gerel asks. I was just thinking the same about her.
“I thought you were on lookout?” I reply.
“What, you think you can ask me what I’m doing? Go to bed,” she says, walking away from me.
“Where’s Abaven?”
“Why?” she replies.
“Can’t you just answer the frigging question, instead of coming back with another one?” I snip, not in the mood for her nighttime mood. My frigging head has started to throb.
“Think you’re brave, don’t you? You think you’re better than us. You’re no better than us.”
“Look, Gerel, I don’t get why you dislike me, and I don’t care,” I say, walking away from her.
A gust of wind sweeps past my hair, making the fire-red ends of my hair dance. I see a glimmer of light reflect from the flying object. She threw her knife at me! “You threw your knife at me?” I yell. “You’re crazy!” I add.
The fire in me drives me towards her. It’s time to wipe the smug grin off her face.
“Come on, little girl, show me what makes you so special,” Gerel mocks as I run towards her, growling with rage. I can’t take this anymore.
Gerel’s hands fly up, both with blades in them. My arms reach out for her neck. Gerel pushes my hand, knocking me sideways onto the ground. “You dumb kid, next time I will make you the target and not the wall,” she laughs, walking away and disappearing into one of the rooms, dropping the sheet door behind her.
I lie for a moment on the cool floor. What am I doing? She’s right, I am just a dumb kid. How am I going to be able to help rescue Madison and my family if I can’t even fight off one crazy knife girl?
You’re weak like Dax. Xander’s words haunt me as if he is in my mind again.
“What are you doing on the floor?” Abaven asks, looking down at me, his voice full of concern.
I want to tell him what Gerel did and said, but then Gerel and Xander would be right.
“Nothing, I was looking for you,” I say, getting to my feet.
“You won’t find me down there. Come on up. I will have a word with her,” he says.
“Please don’t,” I say, shaking my head. “It was nothing.” I am standing firm; I can’t let him think I’m weak, even if I feel it.
“Why
were you looking for me at this hour?” Abaven asks as I approach him. “You don’t need to answer that. Come on, I will show you Madison is okay.” We walk to the room full of monitors.
Madison and the other girls are huddled together by the Sanction wall, trying to protect themselves from the harsh elements of the wasteland. I rub my hand over my barcode, the element that separates all of us. “Abaven.”
“What?” Abaven mutters. Damn, I hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep. He had slumped into one of the seats when we got into the monitor room, and my eyes had been locked on the screens for a while.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were sleeping.”
“Just resting my eyes. What is it?”
“If you can make me a temporary barcode and upgrade the others permanently, why can’t you do it for everyone? Then there would be no Hosts to rescue.”
Abaven smiles.
“Wait, that’s your plan?”
“One day.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“It’s one thing giving a few people the upgrade, but all of Cueva? That’s a whole different level. But I’m very close to working it all out.”
Chapter Forty
Dax
“I think we should go down the back way,” Lowell continues. “I’ve been watching, and not many people have gone that way.”
“I agree,” says Reznor.
“Back door it is.” Trinity opens the plastic door. If it was wooden, it would’ve been stolen for firewood by now.
We crank the engines of our bikes, quickly filling the small kitchen with the smell of gas.
Goodbye, little house. Thank you for keeping us safe, I think to myself.
Trinity jumps onto the back of my bike without being asked, and I pass her my gun.
“Thank you,” she replies.
I quickly rummage through my pockets. “Here, wear one of these….” I pass the bracelets out to everyone.
“Press here to speak with me.” I show them the small button on the side.
