New World Order

by S. M. McEachern

  He didn’t say anything, just motioned toward a prisoner standing in front of a hole. A guard worked a lassoed rope under the man’s arms and then sent the prisoner feet first into the hole. He disappeared. The holes were only about three feet wide—too narrow for a six-foot man to sit or lie down in. My mind traveled back to the morning, when I had thrown dirt at one of the holes. I had heard someone cough. I had heard someone cough!

  I turned on Ryder. “You son of a bitch.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Sunny

  A decent fire was blazing not far from where Jin-Sook lay under a blanket. Eli sat beside her, feeding her sips from his water skin. Summer was sitting a few feet away, eating a package of mush and staring into the fire. Two soldiers stood near the flames, their backs to me. Reyes lounged against the inflated side of our raft, eating his own packaged meal. Hayley sat by the water’s edge, arms hugging her legs to her chest and chin resting on her knees. Price and his buddy passed me on their way to the fire, having finally finished the business of burying their fellow soldier.

  Two somber groups, neither quite sure if they should trust the other, attempting to share the same camp. I wasn’t surprised by Hayley’s decision to make camp there, given that the bourge couldn’t see well at night, which made travel difficult. However, it didn’t mean I had to like it. If it weren’t for Jin-Sook’s injury, we’d have gotten in the raft and left. But I wanted to make sure her wound was closed and no longer bleeding before we set out again. A good night’s rest would go a long way to help the healing process.

  Looking around the camp, I was undecided about where I should go next. Talk to Reyes about the raft or check in on Jin-Sook? But then my stomach growled, reminding me to eat. It had been a long time since my last meal. I looked down at my belly, startled that I had forgotten all about the baby. Sorry, little guy. Mommy’s been busy.

  I did a mental double take. Had I really just called myself mommy? Such a familiar word, yet so foreign when applied to me. Giving my head a shake, I put the thought out of my mind. I had enough to worry about, but food first. I set my pack down, took out a packet of food and a water flask, and mixed up some mush. Bringing the pack to my lips, I chugged a mouthful as I made my way to the fire.

  I paused by Jin-Sook. “How are you feeling?”

  She had a sleepy, dreamy kind of smile on her face. “Summer gave me some pills,” she said in a thick voice.

  I smiled. We all had pain medication in our first aid kits.

  “Her shivering has stopped,” Eli said. I dropped into the empty space next to Summer and tossed back another mouthful of mush. “I’m worried about infection though.”

  “It’s dressed in antibiotics and we have plenty more, so infection shouldn’t be a problem,” I said. I was more worried about Jin’s ability to travel.

  “Antibiotics?” Eli asked. “What are those?”

  Two of the soldiers at the fire chuckled arrogantly at Eli’s ignorance. I ignored them.

  “Medicine that protects against infection,” I said. I finished the last few mouthfuls of my dinner and thought about opening another pack.

  “So how’d it go?” Summer asked and motioned to where Hayley was sitting. “What’s-her-name looks a little upset.”

  Pursing my lips in a brief ssshhh sign, I let my gaze wander to the four soldiers sharing the fire. It was then that I noticed Price kept darting his gaze toward Summer. He seemed always to be doing that when she was around.

  “Wilcox came clean,” I said in a low voice. “So Hayley—aka what’s-her-name—is trying to absorb the news that her friend Alex was a traitor.”

  “Do you know how many of our people have died from infection?” Eli said, completely oblivious to the change in conversation. “And we were living right next door to the cure?”

  “If it’s any consolation,” Summer said, staring at the Domers, “we lived right under the cure, and no one shared with us either.”

  One of the soldiers scoffed. “Whatever,” he said and left.

  Summer sneered at the three remaining. Price smiled back at her. “You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked.

  Summer looked a little taken aback, and her sneer faltered. She gave him a once-over and shook her head. “No. Should I?”

  He skirted the fire and moved closer to us. “Probably not. My name’s Zachary, but most people call me Zach. I worked in President Holt’s private kitchens.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Summer became visibly flustered. She shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at him. Her reaction didn’t register with Price, though. He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She stood and backed away from it as if it were toxic. I drew up beside her, ready to protect my friend. Her psyche was still too fragile to mess with.

  Price’s smile faded away, replaced by a look of uncertainty. He dropped his hand. “You’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever known. I just wanted to tell you that.”

  Summer didn’t respond, just walked away. Zach watched her go, a look of defeat shadowing his features.

  I studied him while his attention was on Summer. There didn’t appear to be anything remarkable about him. He was of average height with light-brown hair and dark-brown eyes set in a youthful face. I estimated he was a year or two younger than Summer and me. He wore the rank of private, a rank that didn’t need the extra two years of education required by officers, so it was possible he was only seventeen.

  When Summer was beyond the light of the fire and he could no longer see her, he turned back to me.

  I extended my hand to him. “I’m Sunny.” He shook. “You worked in President Holt’s private suites?” It was kind of sneaky of me, and a part of me felt badly about that, but Summer and I had never kept secrets from each other until she was forced into a life as Holt’s mistress. It bothered me that she never talked about it. The only way I knew to help her was to share her pain.

  Zach nodded. “If anybody else in the world knows what a monster that man was, it’s her.”

  “Else?” I asked suspiciously. It couldn’t be. He was from the Dome. And male. “Do you mean you know what a monster he was?”

  He nodded and dropped his eyes. “It’s not something I talk much about, though.” He pasted a smile on his face. “Just let her know she was an inspiration to all of us.” With a curt nod, he left to rejoin his comrades.

  I went after Summer and found her sitting next to Reyes. I sat on the other side of her. “What was that all about?” I asked.

  Lifting her head from Reyes’ shoulder, she gave me a sidelong glance. “I don’t like reminders.”

  Indecision about whether or not to pursue the topic gave birth to a long pause. But I didn’t want to drop it. “He kind of implied he was a victim of Holt too.”

  “Huh,” she said, clearly not surprised.

  “He also said you were an inspiration to all of them.” Her head had returned to its resting spot on Reyes’ shoulder, so I couldn’t see her reaction.

  Reyes smiled and tightened his arm around her. “Of course she was,” he said. “The glass is always half full in her world.” She raised her face and shot him a dry look. He flashed her a frown. “Sorry, poor choice of words. You know what I meant, though.”

  “You guys know I don’t want to talk about it,” Summer said.

  Resting against her, I reached over and picked up her hand where it lay on Reyes’ chest and squeezed it. “You can’t keep it inside forever.”

  She squeezed my hand back. “I’m pretty sure I can. But if I can’t, you’ll be the first person I talk to.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Reyes asked.

  She slapped his chest playfully. “Not you. You have a big mouth and too many girlfriends.”

  “Pfftt...” His smile grew broader. “I don’t talk to them if I don’t have to.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why am I not surprised,” I muttered under my breath. “So about the raft, Reyes,” I began, and I noted he clenched his jaw. “Where did yo
u get it?”

  He looked over Summer’s head at me. “Probably the same place you got your special cargo. From Doc.”

  I bit my lips together to stop my laugh and saw Summer do the same. Obviously Reyes hadn’t figured out what my special cargo was, but I had the urge to assure him that I didn’t get it from Doc.

  A shuffling noise across the rocky shoreline alerted me to Hayley’s approach. She plunked herself down on the ground facing us. “I’m interested in knowing where he got the raft too,” she said. “And whatever this special cargo is.”

  Summer straightened up, a wary look on her face. I wondered what else Hayley had overheard. Hopefully everything. She should know what the real President Holt was like, that it wasn’t just urchins who were casualties of his insanity.

  “Let’s start with Doc,” she said.

  As interested as I was in learning more about the raft, I wasn’t about to let her interrogate us. I’d never liked Hayley, and it wasn’t just because Jack had admitted that they had a little dalliance during high school. Her arrogance rubbed me the wrong way. We weren’t her prisoners, or worse, her slaves. But as much as I wanted to tell her what a self-important twit she was, I knew the words would have little effect on someone who considered me far beneath her. Instead, I decided to use her tactics against her.

  Leaning forward, I patted one of her hands and talked in a soothing voice. “I know everything’s happened so fast, Hayley, but try to keep up.” I returned to my spot against the raft and dropped the act. “We’re not your slaves or your prisoners.”

  She raised her upper lip in scorn. I remembered that Jack had also told me that if Hayley ever challenged me to a fight that I should run, so I knew she had a reputation for being tough.

  “I never said you were my prisoners.”

  “Then stop acting like it. If you want to know something, ask. A little respect goes a long way toward making friends.”

  “I never said you were my friends either.”

  “Then I guess we’re done here.”

  Hayley became pensive, her gaze skipping across the three of us, resting a little longer on Reyes. Her eyes returned to me, the contempt softened a bit.

  “We don’t have to be friends to work together, Sunshine. I just need to know I can trust you,” Hayley said.

  A spontaneous, derisive laugh escaped me, and I shook my head in disbelief. “Can I remind you that we were the ones who were attacked by Alex? You are the one who needs to prove you’re trustworthy.”

  “I think Sunshine has a good point,” Reyes said, not missing the opportunity to take a potshot at me. I narrowed my eyes at him and he returned my glare with smart-aleck smirk.

  “Alex was my friend. He was Jack’s friend!” Hayley continued. “So I’m having a hard time believing that he was on a covert mission to sabotage the search.”

  “I don’t have a hard time believing it at all, Hayley. Do you know where I first met Alex?” I paused, but didn’t expect her to respond. Her eyes avoided mine, which suggested she knew the answer. “On the range, hunting urchins for sport.”

  Reyes growled. “Well, if I had known that, his death would’ve been bloodier and a whole lot more painful.”

  She looked out at the river, her lips tightening, and then turned back to us. “You have to understand that it was a different world then. There were... pressures on us to conform. I know a lot of soldiers who hunted on the range but who never once raised a gun at a human being. Their presence there was just for show, to appease General Powell.”

  “Were you one of them?” Reyes asked in a quiet voice.

  She met his eyes briefly, and I was sure I saw something flicker there. Shame? Remorse? But it was gone just as quickly as it had come. “I avoided the range. No matter what Powell said, it went against my ethics.” She pointed to the stripes on her military uniform. “I wear these stripes with pride.”

  “There were no pressures to elect Powell into the new government, and yet there he sits,” I said. “I can assure you no one from the Pit voted for him.”

  The angry contempt returned to her face. “Look, I don’t know why Powell was elected, and FYI, I can’t change the past. But we’re getting off topic. You and I were discussing how we go about trusting each other to find a mutual friend.” She snorted in disgust and stood. “I’m giving you the opportunity to join the official, government-backed search for Senator Kenner. But it’s just like you people to complain that it’s not good enough!”

  Reyes was on his feet in a flash, his eyes blazing down on Hayley. “You’re giving us the opportunity? Well, it would be the first damn thing a bourge ever gave anyone!”

  Summer and I stood, but we didn’t interfere. Reyes was an imposing, threatening figure who would make the average man think twice about challenging him. But Hayley didn’t back down. This was the fearless girl who Jack had fondly described to me.

  Hands on hips, she returned his glare. “Excuse me? We gave you a place inside the Dome to ride out a nuclear storm. Shared our food, water, and supplies. And even after we fulfilled our side of the treaty, we’re still giving you security, food, and houses.” She directed that last word at me.

  Reyes’ eyes jerked wide open, and his lips parted in a look of shock. “You gave us a place inside the Dome? More like you forced us into slavery!”

  Summer and I stood poised and ready to break up a fistfight if it came to that.

  “We didn’t make you do anything! Your people signed a damn treaty—a treaty that contracted you to do your part in maintaining the only habitable place on earth.” She threw her hands up in question. “What? Did you think it was going to be a free ride? We all had a job in keeping the Dome going.”

  As much as my blood boiled listening to her, I knew it was the same propaganda that the Holt regime had fed everyone in the Dome. Before Jack escaped to the Pit with me, he fully believed those twisted lies too. Most people in the Dome lived in blissful ignorance of the conditions in the Pit. The truth was, very few people from the Dome ever set foot down there. Only guards and, on occasion, military soldiers if we became too riotous. The stories that circulated among Domers about the Pit were just that: stories. They were nothing more than fables to ease their collective conscience.

  “Really?” Reyes said in a threatening manner. “If all you bourge had ‘jobs,’ why is it you have to take our jobs now that we’re out of the Dome? You were there. You saw that only bourge were hired for the coalmine.”

  She let out a huff and threw her hands up in the air. “What are you talking about? You were hired. You’re from the Pit.”

  “No,” he said with a scornful look. “I was not one of the scabs from the Pit who betrayed his own people by taking a job to train bourge how to mine.”

  She looked confused. “But I thought—”

  “I know exactly what you thought.” He reached out a hand and brushed the stripes on her shoulder. “I may not have cute little stripes on my uniform like you, but that doesn’t make me any less official. And if your people haven’t already found out exactly how proud we are to wear it, then they soon will. Because, as you’ve pointed out, all the Pit has ever done is take. It’s high time we gave back what we were given.”

  The shock of what he’d said hit me like a physical assault. A shot of adrenaline coursed through me, bringing with it a kind of surreal numbness. Did Reyes just say what I think he had? I looked at Hayley and Summer. They were staring at him too.

  I stepped closer to him. “What are you saying, Reyes?” He suddenly straightened in an attempt to regain his composure. “Tell me the Pit isn’t making a move against the bourge.”

  Hayley looked from Reyes to me. “Are you telling me Alex was right? That the Pit plans to start a war?”

  Reyes bit his bottom lip and directed an apologetic look at me. “We needed you out of the way.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jack

  Fadi gave me a hard shove into the shed, and I staggered a few steps before I caug
ht my balance. I rounded on him, intent on slamming my foot into his face, but the shed door banged shut. I kicked the door instead. I was done with the mind games. My friends were in a hole. A goddamn hole in the ground! What kind of person did that to another human being? And what the hell purpose did it serve?

  The rational part of my brain—the part that wasn’t in control and that frankly I didn’t want to hear from—offered up the answer: brainwashing. It was a commonly used military tactic to control soldiers. Physical activity combined with sleep deprivation led to disorientation and loss of awareness. Add to that the horror and claustrophobia of spending the night in the ground, and it could do some serious mental damage.

  And now that I thought about it, Ryder’s men had been using a host of brainwashing techniques on us. Like keeping us dehydrated during the trip so that we were physically weak and mentally preoccupied with water. Making me live like a prisoner while tempting me with the rewards of living an obedient life.

  A muffled cry in the corner reminded me I wasn’t alone in the shed. As I surfaced back to reality, I became aware that the sound of my labored breathing was loud in the little room. I looked over my shoulder at the little bundle in the corner, and big round wet eyes stared back at me. I was scaring her. Closing my eyes, I took a moment to get my breathing under control. I just wanted to get my hands on Ryder and wring his neck.

  “Want to see my trick again?” I asked in a voice so calm I actually wondered if it came from me. My entire body vibrated with rage and the need to retaliate for Ryan being discarded as cat food, for the people who were chopped up and fed to the bears, for the women and children who were raped and tortured, and for my friends who were spending the night in a hole. I forced a smile on my face and turned around to look at Annie. She stared back at me. I worked my bound hands from behind my back to the front. “Ta-da,” I said, wiggling my fingers.

  Her tears stopped coming so fast, and she sniffed. I sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall so I wouldn’t tower over her. “So, Annie,” I began, and she gave me a weird look. “Is Annie your name?”