Outliers_A Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Novel

by Kate L. Mary

  Readying myself for a fight, I planted my feet. I knew from experience that the creature would pounce without warning, that was how Mira had been injured before, and I was ready when it finally flew through the air, headed right for me.

  I slashed my knife up and the blade hit home on the lygan’s stomach. It screeched just before its body slammed into mine, and when I flew back a cry retched from my body. We went down together, my back slamming into the dry ground and the lygan landing on top of me. It was injured and my knife was still in its belly, but it had not given up yet. The animal wiggled and snapped its jaw, and its teeth came close enough to my nose that I felt its moist breath against my face. Its yellow eyes were focused on me, the black pupils dilated to slits. The scales were smooth against my hand when I grabbed its neck in an attempt to hold it back, and its claws scratched at my body as it tried to get the advantage.

  “Indra!”

  Mira’s voice seemed far away, but I knew she was nearby and ready to help. Just as I had been with her the day she was attacked. Her face appeared above me. The setting sun shone down on her blond hair, making it glow, and in the brilliant light her passage markings seemed twice as dark against her pale skin.

  The sun reflected off the metal when she raised her knife and I had to turn my head away. My hand was still on the lygan’s neck, holding the thing back as it snapped its teeth, but even before Mira had stabbed it I could feel its strength waning. Then she did, and when the knife entered the lygan’s body, the creature let out a shriek that left a ringing behind in my ears. The lygan jerked and its claws clamped down on my stomach, puncturing my dress and forcing a scream out of me. Mira pulled her knife from the creature and brought it down again, and this time the animal let out a drained wail that was preceded by its entire body going slack.

  When that happened, its claws relaxed as well, freeing me from the piercing hold it had on my body. I shoved the animal off and it rolled to the ground at my side. Mira was panting, as was I, and for a beat neither one of us moved. She stayed frozen, standing over me while I remained on my back, staring up at her.

  Mira snapped out of it all at once, and then she was on her knees at my side. “Are you hurt?”

  I shook my head even as I looked down to inspect my sides. Even though the claws had felt as if they were piercing my skin, they had barely punctured the fabric of my dress and there was no blood. The lygan had only been holding onto me.

  “I am okay,” I said, as surprised by the statement as Mira was.

  When she nodded, some of her hair escaped the bun Saffron forced on us and fell around her face. “Stand up.”

  Mira held her hand out and I took it gratefully. My legs were shaky, but I was whole and the lygan was dead, and even if Saffron docked my wages to pay for a new uniform, I was grateful just to be alive.

  My gaze moved to the lygan, now motionless on the ground. “We should take it home with us.”

  Mira exhaled as she worked to shove the loose tendrils of her hair back into its bun. “It will make a good stew.”

  “Yes,” I said. “It will.”

  12

  We worked together to drag the dead lygan through the borderland to the wilds. Back in our village, Mira took the carcass home to the hut she shared with her parents and younger brother. Bodhi had spent the day hunting, and I was confident that when I arrived home not only would he have a skinned animal cooking over the fire, but he would have also taken some of the meat to my mother and Anja. That was one aspect of life I no longer had to worry about now that Bodhi was my husband: meat. He was the best hunter in the village, always out early before the sun had risen and never returning home without something to show for his efforts, and thanks to him, my mother was getting stronger every day.

  The scent of roasted meat met me when I stepped through the door of our hut, along with a smile from Bodhi, and the very sight of him was enough to push every other thought from my head. At least until his gaze moved down and the smile slipped from his lips.

  My dress had holes in it from my altercation with the lygan, and there were even a few spots of blood on the skirt. I was certain that the rest of me looked no better.

  Before Bodhi’s imagination had time to conjure up another explanation for my disheveled state, I said, “Mira and I had to kill a lygan.”

  After what had happened inside the city, I was grateful to have something else to talk to Bodhi about, something that would distract him from the subject of the Sovereign. I had no desire to lie to my husband, but telling him what was going on inside the city would do nothing for either one of us. It was better to leave the city behind me when I left the walls. I had worked hard over the last three years to keep the different parts of my life in neat little sections of my brain, putting Sovereign City in a part that remained closed when I was home. Not only the bad things ended up there either. Asa also existed in that section. Good or bad, he was not an Outlier and had no business in my village.

  “You killed it?” Bodhi asked.

  “We did.”

  My husband smiled, and there was more than just relief in his eyes. There was pride as well. “I remember taking you into the forest when we were kids. Teaching you to shoot a bow.”

  “I remember you getting in trouble for that,” I replied as I worked to remove my hair from the knot twisted on top of my head.

  “It is a foolish notion that women are weaker than men. It is only that way because we refuse to teach them to do things for themselves.” He paused when my hair fell down around my shoulders in dark waves and pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “Tomorrow is your day off. I want to take you somewhere. A surprise.”

  “A surprise?” When I raised my eyebrows, the skin on my forehead stung, reminding me of the fresh passage markings, and oddly enough, of the way Asa had stared at them today.

  “Yes.” Bodhi planted a kiss on my nose. “Change out of that ridiculous dress so we can eat and head out.”

  When I undid the first button on my uniform, my mind was still mulling over the events of the day and the Fortis man who had helped me. Bodhi’s eyes followed my every move, and the expression in them pushed all thought of Asa and Sovereign City from my mind. I pulled the dress over my head and the undergarments quickly followed, leaving me bare to my husband. He stepped closer, and the hunger in his blue eyes was unmistakable.

  “Are you sure you want to leave the hut?” I asked him, eyebrows raised again despite the throb in my forehead.

  “I am reconsidering,” Bodhi said as he grabbed my hips.

  He pulled my body flush with his, his grip firm but gentle, and the feel of his big hands on my hips sent a shiver shooting through me. Compared to the Fortis men who worked in Saffron’s house, Bodhi was small, but I was a small person as well, and he was still much bigger than me. So much so that I knew he could dominate me if he wanted to. But I also knew my husband would never do that, and it was this knowledge that made his size welcome. It made me see his overwhelming strength not as a threat, but as something for me to lean on. Something that would keep me safe. Forever.

  Bodhi’s mouth covered mine and he ran his hands up my back. Our lips moved together in a dance that felt more natural than anything I had ever done, and more thrilling, and not for the first time, I wondered why I had run from this man for so long.

  “Indra.” He whispered my name as he kissed his way down my neck. “I love you.”

  “I love you,” I said, pulling at his shirt.

  Bodhi helped me, removing the animal hide that covered his chest and tossing it to the ground. Then his mouth was on mine again and we were walking, kissing as we moved toward the bed. When we fell it was in a tangled mess of arms and legs, and all thoughts of leaving the hut were forgotten, all fears from the day too. There was nothing but Bodhi and me. Nothing but the feeling of his body against mine, and the knowledge that as long as he was with me, I would be safe and taken care of.

  “Did I ruin your surprise?” I asked Bodhi, who was lying
on the bed next to me.

  He rolled onto his side and planted a kiss on my nose. “No. We can still go.”

  Bodhi heaved himself off the bed, but I remained where I was, watching as he gathered his discarded clothes. Unlike some of the other Outlier tribes, the Winta restricted our passage markings to our faces, leaving Bodhi’s back and arms and chest untouched, but not unmarked. He had picked up scars over the last twenty-five years. A long one on his stomach from an altercation with a forest cat, and another on his left shoulder blade thanks to a close encounter with a rawlin, one of the bright red birds that inhabited the wilds. They had sharp beaks and sharper talons, and even though they usually steered clear of people, they had been known to attack. Especially if they happened to be hunting the same prey. There were other marks on Bodhi’s body as well, each of them representing how hard he had worked to stay alive, and to me they also seemed to illustrate just how capable he was of being the provider and protector the men of the Winta tribe were supposed to be.

  Bodhi was lean compared to the Fortis, although that could be said of all the Outliers, but he was still muscular. He worked to survive, as we all did, but he had no need for the brute strength the guards possessed. All Bodhi needed was to be healthy and fit, and the result was beautiful.

  I was still lying on our bed with the fur pulled up to my chin, admiring my husband, when he finished dressing and turned to face me. He had a bag made of animal hides in his hand and a grin on his face that seemed to take root in my stomach and grow until it had wrapped its branches around my heart.

  “You know that I enjoy seeing you with nothing on, but I think you should get dressed. It is cold.”

  I returned his smile. “I am getting up.”

  Somehow, having Bodhi stare down at my body as I lay bare before him made me feel like a different person. As if the woman that worked inside the walls was someone whose memories I had somehow obtained, not earned, and I loved my husband more than ever for that feeling. For making me feel new and whole once again.

  I dressed, and together we left our hut. The snow that had fallen on our village had been packed down by feet and melted by the fires, leaving the ground between our huts damp and muddy. Winter in the wilds was short though, and before long the sun would grow too hot to maintain the snow at all. When spring came, life would be easier for all of us, but it too would be short-lived. Most of the year was taken up by summer, and the days were long and hot and the sun stifling. Once it arrived, my walk to and from Sovereign City would feel twice as long. Things would improve when I reached Saffron’s house since the Sovereign had the ability to cool the air in their homes, a feat that still baffled me, but the scorching walk beside the wastelands was impossible to avoid, and already I was dreading the return of the heat.

  Bodhi and I had just reached the center of the village when Isa came running up, and the grin she wore on her face was a welcome sight. Something in her had changed after Ronan’s punishment, and since that day she had been more melancholy and silent when we were in the city. I checked on the boy often and had marveled at how well he was adjusting, but also at how he had managed to keep his spirits up. The same could not be said of Isa, though. It was almost as if she were the one whose hand had been taken that day.

  “Indra, Bodhi!” She was out of breath when she stopped in front of us, but her smile remained.

  “Are you alright?” Bodhi asked, grinning even though I knew his question was not rhetorical.

  “Emori had her baby,” Isa beamed. “A girl!”

  My stomach felt as if it had fallen off a cliff, and my smile almost followed its descent. I had to force my mouth to stay stretched across my face. Isa was young, too young to understand what had happened between her sister and Lysander, and the last thing I wanted to do was scare her. Especially since she now worked in Emori’s place.

  “How is she feeling?” It was all I could think to say. Knowing what I did, it was impossible for me to congratulate Isa. The child was not at fault and I had no idea how Emori felt about the baby, but I knew too much to be happy myself.

  “Good.” Isa nodded her head so fast that her dark hair, which was pulled into a tail at the back of her head, bobbed back and forth. “And Xandra had a baby today too.”

  “Xandra?” I exchanged a look with Bodhi, but he seemed as confused as I was.

  Like me, Xandra worked in Sovereign City, but we were on different shifts so it was rare that our paths crossed. It had been weeks, maybe longer, but the last time I saw her she had not looked pregnant. Plus, Xandra, although older than me, was still unmarried. It was not unheard of for a baby to be born this way, but it was rare, and usually the mother found herself in Emori’s position. As Winta, we were held to a very strict moral code, and the risk of cursing your future marriage and taking the shame with you into the afterlife was a good deterrent. If Xandra had been with child, I was certain that someone would have mentioned it to me. Anja or my mother especially.

  “Yes.” Isa’s tail bobbed again, and a second later she was darting past us, calling out, “I have to go!”

  When she had disappeared between two huts, I turned to Bodhi. He saw more of the village than I did. Perhaps he knew what was going on.

  “Was Xandra with child?”

  Just as I had expected, he shook his head. “She was not.”

  “Where did the baby come from?”

  The sun was already going down and Bodhi had said that he wanted to get me to his surprise before it got too dark, but curiosity got the better of us and we headed into the village instead of away from it. The hut Emori shared with her mother and Isa—and now the baby—was near Xandra’s, and the closer we got, the more commotion could be heard. I was in no hurry to see the baby Lysander had forced upon Emori, but since I wanted to know what was happening with Xandra, I had no choice.

  The area around their huts was thick with people though, making it impossible for us to get close enough to see either woman or baby. Instead, Bodhi and I found ourselves at the back of a large crowd that was excitedly waiting to see the new additions.

  “Maybe we should go,” he said.

  Despite the fact that I was shorter than most of the adults in the village, I lifted myself up on my toes in an attempt to see over the heads of those around me. Suddenly the crowd parted and Adina materialized, forcing me to stumble back.

  “Indra.” The older woman grabbed my arm to stop me from falling. “I did not see you.”

  “It is fine, you were just the person I wanted to see.” It was untrue, but now that she was in front of me I was relieved to be able to get some answers without having to see Emori and her baby. “Isa told us that Xandra had a baby.”

  Adina’s eyebrows jumped up, pushing the markings on her forehead with them. “Isa is wrong. Xandra brought a baby home with her.”

  “From where?” Bodhi asked.

  “From Sovereign City.”

  Her explanation made no sense, and the only thing I could come up with was that Xandra had somehow stolen this baby from the city. That she had managed to smuggle the child out while the guards were occupied with forcing Outliers to strip. There was no way she could get away with it. Not for long. Even if the Sovereign had no idea who had taken the baby, they would know it was an Outlier. The mother of this baby, whoever she was, would send the Fortis here to wipe us out. Not just us, but every Outlier village in the wilds.

  “She has to take it back,” I said, raising my voice so it could be heard over my pounding heart, which was thudding so loudly I was unable to focus on anything else.

  Adina put her hand on my arm and gave me a smile that was supposed to be reassuring, but all it managed to do was frighten me even more. Why was she unconcerned? Like all the Outliers without jobs in the city, she avoided going close to the walls, avoided the Fortis, but she had to understand how dangerous this situation could be. Everyone did.

  “Be calm, Indra. The child was not stolen. It was given to her.”

  Bodhi spoke b
efore I could recover from my shock. “What do you mean?”

  Adina began walking, nodding for us to follow. “The Sovereign are very strict about their laws, and not just with Outliers. Population control is one of their main goals since they have no more room to expand inside the city, and when they decreed that every other generation must have only one child, they meant it.”

  “Someone broke the law and had another baby?” I asked in disbelief.

  Adina shrugged as if the Sovereign breaking their own rules was nothing new. “It happens more than you would think. The law says that these babies are to be turned out, or left to die after they are born. But not everyone obeys the law, and those who do not wish to see their child die turn to us.”

  “They just hand their babies over to the Outliers?” Bodhi asked, shaking his head. “They hate us.”

  Adina shrugged again, but I was barely paying attention when she responded to him. I was too busy thinking about something that he had not picked up on. Something that he probably would not have even considered since he had never set foot inside the city and had no idea just how difficult it was to get in and out unnoticed.

  “How did Xandra get the baby out of the city without being seen?” I asked, cutting Adina off mid-sentence. “She could not have gone through the gate. They would have seen her.”

  Adina finally stopped walking and turned to face us. “There is an underground tunnel that leads in and out of the city. It is well hidden and its location is known only by a select few, both inside and outside the walls, but it exists for circumstances such as these.”