One Spark of Hope

by Campbell, Jamie

  “Yes, please.”

  “Do you have, like, permission to do this?”

  “Yes,” I said. He made a face like he didn’t believe me. “Is there something wrong?”

  “It’s just that we’ve been supplying Aria with goods for twenty years now and Stone has never told us she wants more stuff. If anything, she tries to keep it down.” He shrugged, like he was trying to work out a puzzle.

  I exchanged a glance with Wren and she shrugged too. I guessed this time the truth was warranted. “Stone has been deposed, she is no longer our president. We represent the Resistance and have taken control of the city. We will be dealing with you from now on.”

  The guy stared at me before his lips twisted into a grin. “It’s about time! Every month her guards or whatever used to come here and supervise the delivery. They were the worst, couldn’t even produce a smile. Good riddance to her!”

  “I have to agree,” I replied. So dislike for Stone radiated even outside the wall. Her evil had no boundaries, apparently.

  “Can we sell you everything now?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “We make, like, a couple of hundred things here. Stone used to only let us deliver a handful of our product lines. You want to see a catalogue?” He was so eager, he didn’t wait to hear our answer before he reached down behind the counter and whacked a book in front of us. “Pick anything you like, I’ll get you a touchpad to make it easier.”

  The guy disappeared behind a door, practically skipping away. Wren and I started to flick through the pictures. I’d never seen that many different types of food before.

  Chocolate bars with nuts.

  Ice cream.

  Cherries.

  Dinners frozen for later consumption.

  The list was endless. I didn’t know what most of them were or what they tasted like but I wanted to. I wanted to eat every single thing in the catalogue until I was ready to vomit.

  “This is making me hungry,” Wren said.

  “It’s blowing my mind,” I replied. “I never knew there were so many varieties of food. Can you imagine what these all taste like?”

  “I want to find out.”

  “Me too.”

  The guy returned and handed us an electronic version of the catalogue. All we had to do was point to what we wanted and type in the quantities. I probably ordered more than necessary, but once the people of Aria saw these new foods, they would buy them quickly.

  By the time we were on our way again, we were both starving. Perhaps it was all the food we’d been studying, but if we didn’t eat soon we were going to gnaw on our fingers.

  The guy was kind enough to direct us to an eating place before we left and I followed his directions carefully. A wrong turn now would have been disastrous with our grumbling bellies.

  “There!” Wren said, she made an excellent navigator. I quickly pulled over as the car behind me beeped his horn and sped around, accelerating quickly down the road. They obviously drove a bit faster than in Aria.

  The café was entirely white as we entered. The tables, ceiling, walls, floor, plates, silverware, everything was stark white. We sat at a table and an electronic tablet popped up from a slot in the middle.

  Pictures of the food they offered scrolled over the screen with instructions to tap what we wanted to order. Nothing looked familiar.

  “I’m going to have whatever looks nice and cross my fingers,” Wren declared. “I think I could eat anything right now.”

  We’d both definitely eaten things that looked worse than what was on the screen before us. I liked her sense of whimsy. “Let’s have different things and then we can taste each other’s selection.”

  And we did just that.

  I chose something that looked like a sandwich except it was filled with a bunch of stuff I’d never seen before. Wren chose something that looked like a form of pastry.

  The food was delivered by a robot only a few minutes after making our selection. We lifted the trays from the mechanical contraption and placed them on the table. It all looked just as good in real life as it did on the screen.

  “Here we go,” I said.

  My first bite was tentative.

  My second bite was heaven.

  The menu had described it as a salad sandwich but it had so many colorful slices on it that I couldn’t count them all. Red, green, orange, yellow, deep purple. They were all on the one sandwich, combining to make a taste rainbow in my mouth.

  The food was amazing. I could have eaten all day, making my way through the menu until I was about to burst like a balloon. Wren let me try hers and we swapped halfway, making sure to try everything we possibly could.

  If we’d had more money, we would never have left the café. The prices were actually cheaper than in Aria – much cheaper – but we couldn’t make pigs of ourselves. Not in public, anyway.

  We finished up the meal and looked for a bathroom. It was white too, from ceiling to floor. There wasn’t a spot or mark anywhere. It was like we’d stepped into an alien universe where color didn’t exist except in the food.

  I finished before Wren, waiting outside for her to finish up. After a few minutes of watching people coming and going, I noticed something not quite right. A woman passed, she had only one arm.

  She was a Defective Clone.

  I kept my eye on her and pointed the woman out to Wren when she joined me. Her jaw dropped open as she recognized her.

  I hoped that was a good thing.

  Chapter 23: Wren

  When I saw Sunny, I wondered if I was dreaming for a moment. A part of me had expected never to see her again. I ran for her, opening my arms wide until they were around her. It took only a moment for her to recognize me.

  We hugged and it felt like I was standing directly underneath the sun. Her name was given to her because she was so happy and bright. Hugging her now reminded me how fitting her name really was.

  When we parted, she held my head in her single hand. “Wren, my beautiful Wren. I am so happy to see you. How are you here, child? What happened to you?”

  “We did it, Sunny,” I replied, tears brimming in my eyes. This was news I was happy to deliver. “We took her down. Stone is gone, she’s sitting in a cell refusing to eat. The Resistance won, we run the city now.”

  Her face was a picture of shock, every pore registering the surprise of the news. “My child, that is the best thing I have ever heard. She’s really gone?”

  “Really.”

  Sunny looked over my shoulder at Reece, who nodded. “It’s actually happened. Wren isn’t joking.”

  Her eyes came back to me. They too were crying tears of happiness, joy, and relief. “I never thought I would live to see this day.”

  “Aria is open,” I continued, suddenly wanting to tell her absolutely every last detail. “The gate is gone.”

  Sunny pressed her finger to my lips to shush me. “Hold your news, child. There are a lot more people than just me that need to hear this. Will you come back and tell everyone?”

  Of course I would. “Yes, I’d love that.”

  Maybe Autumn would be there.

  And Twig.

  And all the other Defective Clones I’d grown up with and called part of my family. I wanted to share the news in person, even if it meant we would have to drive home in the dark.

  Sunny said the walk would take us about half an hour so we all piled into the van and she directed Reece back to the place where she was staying.

  “It’s not a big place, but we’re safe here,” Sunny said as she guided us up the path. “And you know that’s the most important detail for us.”

  It was.

  Living life with the fear of being killed was natural for us.

  Peace? It was foreign.

  It took a great deal of time to get used to it. Maybe one day I would know what that felt like.

  The building was made out of metal, a square that looked like it might fall down if someone breathed heavily eno
ugh. Sunny put all her weight into sliding open the metal door. It screeched on its hinges.

  Inside, it looked bigger than I expected. A quick scan of the room revealed a kitchen to one side, seating areas in the middle, and rows of beds on the other side. Another door at the back could have led to a bathroom.

  It was a lot better than the village.

  Familiar faces started to flood in front of me. Autumn, Daisy, Spider, and even little Twig – who was now able sit up and garbled to himself happily.

  Twig was never going to live in a place where his murder was legal. That thought alone seemed to make everything worthwhile. He could keep his childhood sense of innocence forever.

  I didn’t see him at first, but my eyes found him among the crowd. Our eyes would always find one another, no matter how many people were there or the distance between us.

  Rocky.

  He seemed shy at first but I didn’t have any such emotion. I ran for him, ready to tackle whoever stepped in my way. I leaped for him, almost knocking us both onto the concrete floor.

  I couldn’t believe he was in my arms again. When I woke up early the day he left and found he was already gone, I really thought I would never see my best friend again.

  Seeing him now was a miracle.

  Beyond wonderful.

  We laughed as he swung me around, holding on so tightly to me despite his defective arm. It felt like coming home, like being in my happy place where everything was right and good.

  Rocky was alive, he was okay, he was standing in front of me. There was so much I needed to tell him, so much he needed to tell me. I wanted to know it all, what he had seen and who he had talked to, what new experiences he’d had. Being outside the wall for more than a week would have given him plenty of time to see everything in this town with his fresh eyes.

  “You’re okay,” he whispered as we finally parted. I studied his face, seeing everything familiar and everything new. He had traces of wet tears in the corners of his eyes, dampening with happiness. His cheeks were fuller now, not sunken like they had been his whole life. Clothes made out of thick fabric swathed his body, keeping him warm and clean.

  The changes in his appearance sent a sudden stabbing to my gut. Rocky had moved on and changed without me being there to witness it. I’d been there for every other part of his life but not for this one.

  But I’d changed too, hadn’t I?

  Now our world was bigger so it included areas outside of Aria, we were bound to change in all kinds of ways. It was only really the beginning of our lives.

  Without the threat of losing our lives, who were we?

  All these questions flashed through my mind so quickly they made me dizzy. For now, I was happy just to see Rocky and know that he was alive and well. That was all I needed right at that moment.

  “Wren?” Reece said quietly, trying not to startle me or intrude on our private moment. “Maybe you should tell everyone the news?”

  I turned around to see everyone looking at us. We were standing in the middle like we were in a boxing match and they all had ringside seats. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

  Stepping away from Rocky so I could face them all, I took a very deep breath.

  And let it all go.

  I told them the whole story, ending with details of Stone being in a cell and the gate being open – hence the reason for us being there. Everybody listened to all my words until they ran out.

  They all cheered.

  And clapped.

  There wasn’t one dirty, sad face amongst them. In fact, I had never seen everyone look so healthy and fresh before. The majority of those gathered were Defective Clones, rescued from our village when the troopers had attacked. The remainder were members of the Resistance, escaping with us when the bunker was compromised.

  Living outside Aria had done them well, the evidence was apparent on their fuller, smiling faces. I almost wished I had been one of them, never knowing the terror of what we had gone through to depose Stone.

  “Aria is free now,” I finished. “You can all come home.”

  Nervous energy filled the room as people started to process what my words actually meant. If they returned to Aria, it wouldn’t be the same city they had left.

  It was much, much better.

  I turned to Rocky. “You’ll come back with us, right?”

  He shuffled his feet, looking everywhere except at me. “Well…”

  “You are coming, aren’t you?”

  Reece placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. “Not everyone will want to return to Aria, Wren. They have made a home here, they might not want to leave what they’ve built.”

  My gaze flicked between the two most important people in my life. Reece and Rocky, my heart belonged to both of them. I wanted them in my life, I wanted to share everything I had.

  But Rocky had moved on.

  I could read it on his face. He didn’t know how to tell me. After eighteen years of being inseparable, I guessed it was time to let go and cut the string that held us together.

  “We can visit each other,” I said.

  Rocky’s eyes lifted to mine, finally. “We can, all the time. Now the gate’s open we can take it in turns.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Me too.” Rocky smiled and it was the same grin I had seen our whole lives. He would always be my best friend and brother, no matter the distance between us. “We aren’t known as clones here, you know. I’m looking for a job and then I’ll be able to make something of myself. They’ll never know of my Maker.”

  “I’m happy for you, really. It’s a whole new world.”

  Reece turned back to everyone else. “If you’d like to return to Aria, I can take some of you today. Otherwise, I can organize for alternative transport.”

  A few of them started moving, packing their belongings to return to the city they called home. I was pleased to see Autumn was one of them.

  Sunny decided to stay with Twig, the memories of the past too much to bear in the city. She looked at everyone there, her place was acting as their mother. Home for them was wherever Sunny was.

  Most of those returning were members of the Resistance. There was only one Defective Clone that decided to come with us – Daisy. I was glad of that. We could return to being friends now we weren’t running from troopers.

  I took a final sweeping glance at the room before I stepped through the doorway. Everyone was happy, they glowed with health that they’d never had when in Aria. In the few weeks since I last saw them in the forest they had flourished, bloomed into the people they were always supposed to be.

  Not clones, but humans.

  It wasn’t a goodbye, just a see you later.

  I would return to them often, Rocky would ensure that.

  We left in the van with only five additional people. They easily fit into the back, talking excitedly amongst themselves about what they would do once they returned to a free Aria.

  Nobody knew the way to get back to the road home so we drove around for a long time through winding streets and dead ends. Reece was getting frustrated with every new corner.

  All of a sudden we stopped.

  We stared ahead.

  It was the beach.

  I had my seatbelt unbuckled in seconds, everyone else doing the same. We ran from the vehicle, leaving all the doors open in what was probably a very irresponsible manner.

  My shoes were left on the grass as I ran onto the soft, warm sand. The grains slid between my toes, burying my feet with every step I took. It felt like walking on a cloud. A warm, soft cushion of goodness.

  I’d never seen a beach before. I only knew they existed because they were in some history books I’d seen while stealing from a mansion. I never knew what it would feel like to walk on one.

  We ran all the way down to the water. The sand grew harder underfoot until my feet no longer sank but left outlines. My footprints weren’t like the others, they weren’t as straight or complete, but it didn’t matter anym
ore.

  I wasn’t a Defective Clone now.

  I was just Wren.

  Reece loved my defective foot because it was a part of me. I loved him all the more for it. From then onwards, I vowed, I would never hate my defect again. If I didn’t have it, I might never have met Reece and we wouldn’t be sharing in such a joyous experience now.

  The water was cold as it splashed on our legs. My jeans were getting wet but it didn’t matter. They’d dry. Nothing could mar the wonders of being at the beach.

  Reece found my hand and twined his fingers through mine. We looked out over the horizon together, wondering where the sea would end.

  “There are other countries out there,” Reece said. “My parents used to tell me stories of all different kinds of places. When they were babies, people used to travel all over the world for no other reason except they wanted to.”

  “We could travel,” I replied.

  He squeezed my hand. “We will travel.”

  We shared a smile that was brighter than the sun. I didn’t have any doubts that the sky was the limit with Reece. We were untouchable, able to do anything we set our minds to.

  We’d taken down Stone.

  We’d freed the people of Aria.

  We could do anything.

  All of us stood in a line as the waves crashed over our ankles and ebbed back out again. We would have to return to the van and go back to Aria soon.

  For now, we could just be.

  We could finally stop running.

  Also by the Author:

  A Hairy Tail

  Cinderella is Evil

  The Fairy Tales Retold Series

  The Star Kissed Series

  All The Pretty Ghosts

  I Am Never Alone

  We Are Always Forever

  Ashes to Ashes

  A World Without Angels

  Angel’s Uprising

  Fashion Fraud

  Gifted

  Love Songs

  The Project Integrate Series

  The Fashion Series

  Dark Eyes: Cursed

  Trouble

  About the Author

  Jamie Campbell grew up in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie as the youngest of six children. She now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.