“She’s the only one I liked,” Reyes said, his smile broad.
Wiping a tear from the corner of my eye, I got my giggles under control and squeezed Summer’s hand in mine. “We never thought we’d get to see the mountains for real.”
Behind us, Reyes ducked down and put his face between ours. “You guys gonna cry or something? Do you need a moment?” Summer playfully shoved him away with her shoulder. He stood up straight and turned to Jin and Eli. “They’ve been like this since they were little kids.”
Jin-Sook looked on with an amused expression, but Eli seemed a little confused. “Well, whenever you’re done, we should get off this ridge. We’re visible to everyone, and everything, around here.” He pointed down at the river, moving his arm to follow its path. “River bends there, through a gorge. We’ll hike around and meet it a few miles south of here.” He looked at the gathering clouds. “We won’t make it tonight, though. Storm’s coming. We should find some shelter.”
My heart plummeted at the mention of stopping for the night. The recruiters had a nine-day head start, so we had a lot of catching up to do. And the darkness of night didn’t bother Summer, Reyes, or me. In fact, we preferred it. Without the blinding glare of the sun, we could take off our sunglasses and see our surroundings unassisted. Yet I knew Summer needed to eat, drink, and recoup her strength, and we all needed the rest or we’d soon succumb to exhaustion.
The sun didn’t have a chance to dip behind the mountain peaks before the black clouds swallowed it up. A flash of jagged light streaked across the sky followed by a low rumble, and then it was as if someone had poured a bucket of water over us. Summer, Reyes, and I pulled the loose collars of our exoskeletons over our heads, but Jin-Sook and Eli were soaked within minutes. The topsoil turned to gooey mud sliding over the frost layer below it, and it soon became difficult to walk.
Summer was the first to spot a rocky overhang that could serve as protection. We rigged our blankets to act as barriers against the driving rain and soon had a cozy little shelter. We didn’t really need the warmth from the blankets since our suits were insulated.
“We should build a fire,” Summer said, looking at Jin and Eli.
Jin-Sook shook her head. “No fires.”
“But you’re soaked and it’s cold,” Summer said.
“The blankets will shield the light,” I offered.
“Jin’s right,” Eli said. “No fires. Even if the light could be hidden, the smoke can’t, and there’s no way we’re finding dry firewood tonight.”
“Then maybe we can get some rest so we can have an early start tomorrow. I’ll take first watch, and you two try to dry off.” I was about to invite Summer to take first watch with me when Reyes went to the opening of the shelter. He pulled his hood up and stepped outside. I looked at Summer and said, “You eat.”
Summer pulled out a food pack. “Have fun. I’ll take next watch.”
I pulled up my hood and stepped out. The driving rain had let up, and the sound of thunder grew more distant. Reyes stood a few feet away from the opening of our shelter.
“Hey, Heidi,” he said when he saw me.
“Fraulein,” I returned.
He laughed softly. “Looks like we have a couple of hours to kill together.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Was that deliberate?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe.” He paused and gave me a sidelong glance. “I might be a little curious about the special cargo you’re carrying. You know, the one Doc asked me to protect.”
I didn’t know what I’d expected him to say, but it wasn’t that. Did he know I was pregnant? He couldn’t. There was no way. I let out a ragged breath. “Doc’s just being...Doc,” I said lamely. “You know how he is.”
Reyes nodded and turned his dark eyes on me. “I do know how he is.”
I wondered if I had imagined his emphasis on the word “do” but preferred not to pursue it. “I’m the closest thing to family he has. I think he was just feeling fatherly protection when he asked you to come with me.”
He stared at me a moment longer before he redirected his gaze. “I’m sure that’s it.”
I knew Reyes well enough to know he wasn’t convinced, yet it wasn’t something I wanted to discuss with him. My memory wasn’t so short or selective that I’d forgotten he had wanted to have a child with me. I was the one who hadn’t wanted one. So how would he react if he knew I was pregnant with Jack’s baby?
He motioned toward a smooth boulder that encroached under the overhang and walked toward it. I followed.
Maybe I was overthinking it. Probably he wouldn’t care at all. He had gotten on with his life and according to rumors, Reyes loved the girls and the girls loved Reyes. And why not? He was tall, lean, and muscular with expressive black eyes, a pouty lower lip, and a fringe of unruly dark curls that brushed across his forehead. Physically he was beautiful. It was his personality that could use some work—brooding, forceful, and a pride that demanded constant attention. As a boyfriend he had been high maintenance, but I reminded myself again that in our early years, he had always been a good friend.
I sat down next to him on the boulder. “What about you? You jumped at the chance to come.”
“More like jumped at the chance to leave.”
I snapped my head in his direction. “Why? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
He breathed out a curt laugh. “No, Sunny. I’m not in trouble. I’m just like any other unmarried guy my age who’s from the Pit—homeless and unemployed.”
“What do you mean, homeless? I thought you lived with your parents?”
“My parents?” The scowl he turned on me made me lean back to put more space between us. “I’m no more a child than you are. I’m all grown up, with no desire to live with a fink of a father who likes to take his crappy life out on his family.” He pushed himself off the boulder and stepped away from me.
For a second I was stunned. I had never liked Reyes’ father, but I never suspected he was abusive. I mean, everyone in the Pit walked around with bruises and broken bones. It was polite not to enquire how one had come by them. But Reyes had been my intended. The man I’d promised to marry. I should’ve asked.
Slipping off the rock, I went to stand behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about your dad, but I should have.”
“That’s not my point,” Reyes said quietly. I dropped my hand, and he turned to look at me. “My point is that nothing has changed. Everyone from the Pit is still suffering under bourge rules.”
I shook my head. “We’re no longer slaves. No one has the right to make us clean their filth, or beat us, or condemn us to be killed at thirty-five.”
“No, they just have the right to ensure we never make enough credits to feed ourselves and put a roof over our heads.”
“The lottery for the houses was done fairly, Reyes. Jack oversaw it himself. I’m really sorry you were still considered a legal ward of your parents when it happened,” I said, feeling a hint of guilt. I knew I shouldered some of the blame. If we had been married when the Pit was liberated, he would have been eligible for the lottery.
“And how much longer do you think anyone from the Pit will be able to afford to keep their homes?” he demanded. “When their jobs are being snapped up by unemployed bourge?”
Understanding dawned on me. “You went to the Employment Center when they started hiring for the new coalmine.” He nodded. “Doc told me there was a riot.”
“Did he tell you that almost everyone hired was a former guard from the Pit? Or should I say scum?” His black eyes shone with hatred, and I recoiled from it.
“Not every guard in the Pit was scum, Reyes. You know that. There are hundreds who belong to the Alliance, all of them in need of jobs too.” He opened his mouth to make a retort, and I held up my hands. “I’m not saying that justifies what happened. You’re right. It wasn’t fair. And getting Jack home and back into the Senate is one way we can fix that.”
He brought his face closer and gave me a hard stare. “Are you really so blind sitting pretty in your big house with your senator husband and attending your exclusive little Academy that you don’t even see what’s really going on?” His lip curled into a sneer. “You’re more bourge than your husband.”
If anyone else had said that to me, I would have shrugged it off. But I knew Reyes was referring to when Jack was the heir to the presidency and the most hated man in the Pit next to President Holt. Reyes’ comment was more than just unfair—it belittled everything Jack and I had worked for. “How dare you judge me!” My hand itched to slap him. “While you were busy moping around pissed off at the world, my bourge husband and I were outside the Dome risking our lives to find a way to open the doors so the Pit could go free.”
Reyes stood up straighter and looked down his nose at me. “You did open the doors, Sunny,” he said calmly. “And then you just walked away.”
Chapter Seven
Jack
The days and nights began to blend together as I used sleep to escape the torment of my captivity. I couldn’t break free of the plastic ties securing me no matter how much I struggled against them. Even when I felt them cut through the skin of my wrists, felt the blood flow down across my hands and drip from my fingers, I kept working to break free. I should have bled to death, but my wrists always healed within hours, thanks to Doc’s nanobots.
Sleep also brought a reprieve from my constant thirst. The water bottles were always in our view but out of our reach. Keeping us insane with thirst without actually killing us was a fine balance to maintain, and two recruits from another cart had died. Sanjay had mentioned something about cats before, but with the stench of death reeking from our caravan they were coming brazenly close. Tigers. I hadn’t seen one yet, but their low, throaty growls were getting louder every night. I overheard Kane say they were getting too close and to leave a body behind to get them off our tail. So one of the dead recruits was chopped up for bear food while the other was left behind whole as a distraction for the cats.
The carnage of a few nights ago was settling into a disturbing memory that took up a lot of dark space in my head—space Sunny wasn’t allowed to go. She belonged in the light, where hope resided. Maybe it was stupid to try to keep so much separated in my head, but I was afraid if I let the light mix with the dark that I’d soon be living in the gray. I was pretty sure that was the color inside the minds of the recruiters, because it was obvious they didn’t know right from wrong. I did. And I wanted to stay that way.
My eyes drifted open as a breeze blew the stench of Ryan’s now-infected leg in my direction. Propped against the rails, he half-lay beside me unconscious, his wound stewing in his own waste. Naoki’s eyes were closed, but I knew that didn’t necessarily mean he was asleep or dead. He just did a lot of meditating lately, a skill I had come to envy.
I bumped my foot against his leg. “You awake?”
His eyes opened halfway. “Yeah,” he said. He pulled himself into a sitting position and leaned his head against the rails.
“What do you think about when you’re meditating?”
His lips formed a crooked smile. “Water.”
I managed a weak laugh. “And here I thought you had some kind of higher power.”
He rolled his head back and forth on the slats in a drunken manner. “Nope. Although I have been considering licking the sweat off my arms.”
Talon opened his eyes. “That’s disgusting.”
Naoki and I didn’t say anything, probably because we were both thinking the same thing—Talon wasn’t quite as desperate for water as we were. He had attracted Phillip’s attention, and not in a good way, although I was pretty sure Talon didn’t find the man’s attention suspicious. Even though he was eighteen, Talon still possessed boyish qualities both in mind and stature.
“What do you think about?” Naoki asked me.
Sunny, I thought to myself. But they weren’t thoughts I wanted to share with anyone. “Aside from the obvious dehydration issue, I’m trying to figure out where the tigers came from. Sunny would probably know. She loves science and nature.”
Naoki cocked an eyebrow. “What do mean? There have always been tigers.”
“Not on this continent,” I said. “Although I learned at the Academy about a very narrow strip of sea in the north, called the Bering Strait, that’s the only geologic feature separating us from Eurasia. Back before the nuclear war, the Strait was well patrolled because we were locked in a Cold War with Russia, the country that occupied that region. Anyway, there’s enough evidence to suggest that narrow strip of sea can freeze if temperatures are cold enough, forming an ice bridge between Eurasia and North America. So what if the Strait froze during the nuclear winter? Siberian Tigers could just walk across it to our continent.”
Naoki’s eyes were glazed over and I wondered if I had bored him back into meditation. Sometimes Naoki found my history lessons interesting, but other times I could tell he was tuning me out.
“Oh,” he said when he realized I had stopped talking. “Is our afternoon water ration late, or does it just feel like it?”
“It’s late,” I said.
Ryan’s head lolled to the side and slumped heavily against my shoulder. He was soaked in his sweat.
“How’s he doing?” Naoki asked.
“Not good,” I said. Then, in a louder voice, “He needs his wound cleaned.” I craned my neck to look pointedly at Hollywood.
“He shouldn’t have run,” Hollywood said. “Now he can set an example for everyone else.”
I shifted, resting against the front rails, so I could continue to look at him. With the exception of Damien Holt, I had never hated anyone so much.
“Hollywood...” I said thoughtfully. “That can’t be your real name.”
Sanjay laughed. “It’s not!”
“Shut up,” Hollywood snapped.
“He found an old picture of a man surrounded by half-naked women with the word Hollywood written in big red letters. He put it up on his wall and changed his name,” Phillip said. Hollywood punched him in the arm. “Ow! What was that for? It’s true, isn’t it, Ral—”
“Shut up!” a red-faced Hollywood snapped. Phillip closed his mouth. Hollywood turned his scowling face on me. “Since we’re talking names, maybe it’s about time you told me yours.”
“Aw, I was kinda warming up to asshole.”
“I didn’t say I was going to start calling you by it.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “Jack Kenner.”
“That doesn’t sound Koreen,” Sanjay said. “You don’t look Koreen either.”
Naoki sniggered. “It’s pronounced ko-ree-uhn, dumbass.”
I had almost forgotten that they lived with the misconception that Korea had started the war. But I knew better. The real evidence of how the war began was preserved inside the biodome with us. Although even if Holt’s treachery hadn’t started a domino of nuclear warheads, widespread global drought, dwindling resources, and a race to gain control over the last of the earth’s oil reserves would have.
“That’s because I’m not from Korea,” I said. “In fact, it’s been almost three hundred years since the War, so I’d be surprised if there’s anyone actually from Korea living on this continent.” Then I thought about it some more. “Or even if there’s still a Korea.”
Sanjay began a retort, but closed his mouth and suddenly looked pensive.
“You know what he means,” Phillip said.
“I told you,” Hollywood said, pointing a finger at me. “He’s a scorchedlander, and Father Ryder’s going to be really interested in meeting him, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives me an extra reward.”
I flashed the biggest smile I could muster. “Now you’re just making me feel special.” And as sarcastic as I intended my comment to be, I knew there was a grain of truth in it. Hollywood talked a lot about my clothes, especially my boots, insulated jacket, and rifle. “I’ll make a deal with you.
If you stop and clean Ryan’s wound, I’ll tell Father Ryder whatever you want me to so that you can get a big, fat reward.”
Just as I said it, someone farther up the line called for the afternoon break.
Water. Thank God.
Phillip and Sanjay grabbed the reins on either side of the two beasts hauling us and called for them to whoa. Kane’s voice boomed out for all captains to gather at the front.
Hollywood narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t make deals with scorchedlander freaks.” He turned to Phillip and Sanjay. “Give them their rations.” And then he left us to join the other captains.
Phillip scrambled to be the one to give Talon his water. I noticed he touched Talon a lot when he gave the boy a drink. Holding his head for him or resting a hand on his shoulder. So far he hadn’t tried to get Talon alone, but that was probably because Hollywood distrusted us so much that he wouldn’t let us stray from the wagon.
Sanjay gave me my ration, and when he pulled the bottle away, I appealed to him to help Ryan. “Pour some on his wound. It needs to be cleaned.”
Sanjay looked at Ryan, who was soaked with fever. He moaned on occasion, but didn’t wake up. A yellow-crusted scab slick with weeping fluid peeked through the tear in his trousers where the arrow had struck. The small opening wasn’t large enough to really examine the injury, though.
“It won’t do him any good,” Sanjay said.
Deep down I knew he was right. There were no antibiotics or nanotech cocktails to give him. Just water, and that was too little too late.
“We can at least try,” I said. “He’s worth payment from Father Ryder, right? That means more for you if he lives.”
Sanjay shrugged one shoulder and poured some water on Ryan’s injury. Then he tried to give him a drink, but the water ran out the side of Ryan’s mouth and down his neck. Sanjay let go of his head, and Ryan slumped against me.
“Told you,” Sanjay said.
New World Order Page 7
