She grabbed a few cans without reading the contents and ran back to the kitchen. Her whole class stood in the back of the room, craning their necks to look out the window.
“I can’t believe they thought they could get away with that,” Jeremy growled. He was taller than most of the class and had a clear view of the street below.
“What happened?” Nola stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the heads of her classmates.
“After they neutralized the first guy, people got crazy,” Jeremy said. “More people started shouting. Then people were pushing to get to the food. Mr. Pillion got knocked off the counter. Then the guards took a few more people down, and everyone else just sort of ran away.”
“It was terrible.” Lilly’s voice wavered. Marco wrapped an arm around her, and Lilly turned to cry into his shoulder.
Mr. Pillion burst through the doors to the kitchen. “Everyone back on the bus, now.”
Nola turned to go back to the hall to put the cans away.
“Leave it, Magnolia!” Mr. Pillion said.
Jeremy grabbed the heavy cans from her and tossed them onto a table before grabbing Nola’s hand and dragging her back through the door they had come in less than two hours before.
Only two guards joined them as the students scrambled to their seats. The door shut, and the bus jerked forward.
Nola stumbled and Jeremy caught her, holding her close as they drove away.
Groups of people lined the sidewalk. Whether they had been in the Charity Center or only come to see what the commotion was, Nola didn’t know.
A terrible crunch sounded from the front of the bus as a brick hit the windshield, leaving a mark like a spider web in the glass. The bus accelerated as the shouts of the crowd grew.
They reached the outskirts of the city. The domes rose in the distance, shining across the river, high in the hills.
“Class,” Mr. Pillion said, holding a hand over his heart as he spoke, “our world is falling apart. It has been for a long time. The greatest trial of those who survive is to watch the continuous decay that surrounds them. As the outside world grows worse, so too does the plight of the city dwellers. We witnessed the desperation that plight is causing today. Let us not dwell on the harm they might have done to us. Rather, let us be grateful for all we have. For if our roles were reversed, I promise you each of us would be as desperate as those we saw today.” He took his I-Vent from his shirt pocket and held the silver tip to his lips, taking a deep breath. “We must be grateful for even the simplest of things.”
Mr. Pillion sat, and the students dug through their pockets for their I-Vents.
Jeremy took a deep breath from his before turning to Nola.
She stared down at her hands, willing Jeremy not to look at her. There were scratches on her fingers. How had she gotten them?
“You need to do your I-Vent.” Jeremy nudged Nola.
“I lost mine,” Nola whispered, “I—” Jeremy had known Kieran. They had been friends. But Kieran wasn’t one of them anymore. “I think it fell out of my pocket when things got crazy.”
“Use mine.” Jeremy pressed the silver tube into her palm.
Nola stared down at it. Kieran had come to find her for a tiny tube.
To save a life.
“Look, don’t be nervous about asking for a new one,” Jeremy murmured into Nola’s ear, wrapping his arm around her. “I’ll go with you. And after what happened today, I don’t think anyone is going to blame you for losing it.”
“Right.” Nola gave a smile she hoped looked real before holding the tube up to her lips and waiting for the metallic taste to fill her mouth.
Chapter Five
Nola flopped down in bed.
It had taken hours to get a new I-Vent from the medical department. There were forms to fill out and questions to answer. Jeremy had wanted to stay with her to keep her company, but the doctor kicked him out. A quick “See you tomorrow!” was all he managed to say before the door swooshed shut in front of him.
They drew blood and performed a chest scan to be sure she hadn’t been skipping her doses. Nola was too tired to argue that she hadn’t been skipping anything. That she had used Jeremy’s I-Vent on the way back from the Charity Center.
After a few hours, the doctor finally declared her lungs undamaged and gave her a new I-Vent. None of them seemed to suspect the old one had been stolen. And no one mentioned Kieran Wynne.
Nola lay on her back, staring at the new I-Vent in her hand. She held it up, watching the light reflect off its silver surface.
Such a simple thing.
Medicine in a tube. But Kieran needed it to save someone. Nola dug her fists into her eyes, trying to wipe away the thoughts of Dr. Wynne ill. Or Kieran himself.
It’s just a little tube.
She had been carrying one in her back pocket every time she left the domes for as long as she could remember. Was that why Kieran had come to her, because he knew where she kept her I-Vent? Or had he simply been waiting in the darkness for one of the students to be alone?
Her skin tingled where he’d held her hips, pulling her close. All he had wanted was a chance to steal the I-Vent.
How had she not felt him take it? Was she that mesmerized by seeing him again?
Nola shoved her hand in her back pocket. Her fingers found something crisp. She pulled out a piece of yellowed, folded up paper.
Nola
Her name was written on the paper in Kieran’s untidy scrawl. She recognized the careless way he swished his pen. Her hands shook as she unfolded the note.
* * *
Dear Nola,
I’m sorry I had to get you involved in all this. I needed the medicine, and I had a feeling you wouldn’t turn me in. If you knew the girl who needed it, you wouldn’t be angry at all. She’s sick, Nola. Lots of people out here are. I know I can’t save everyone right now, but I need to start with her.
I wish you could meet her. I only hope the I-Vent can buy her some more time. I wish I could repay you. If you ever need me, the folks at 5th and Nightland know how to find me.
I miss you, Nola.
Please forgive me,
Kieran
* * *
Nola buried her face in her pillow. He had planned to see her. He had written a note for her.
He came for me.
She couldn’t breathe. The pure air of the domes crushed her lungs. Nola’s heart raced. The energy pulsing through her veins begged her to run away or break through the glass. She opened her bedroom window and climbed up onto the sill. With a practiced motion, she grabbed the groove at the edge of the roofline and, using the wall for support, pulled herself up onto the soft moss that covered the roof. She lay down, taking deep, shuddering breaths. Her arms stung from pulling herself up, but she was grateful for the ache. The sting took her mind off her racing heart. And Kieran.
If you ever need me.
What would she need him for? He was an outsider. A city dweller. She had everything she needed in the domes.
Everything but him.
She dug her fingers into the moss. The thin layer of dirt beneath still held the heat of the day. Kieran had known her better than anyone. He had been her best friend. They had held hands, supporting each other at her father and his mother’s funerals.
He was the only boy she’d ever kissed.
Three faint beeps echoed throughout the dome. Then there was a little pop and a hiss as the rain system turned on.
The cool water spattered her skin. Nola didn’t move as it soaked her. If she lay there long enough, would she disappear into the soft moss of the roof?
The dome-made rain drenched Kieran’s letter, washing the ink away. Nola tore the letter into sopping pieces and let them dissolve with the rain. No one could see that letter. No one could know she had seen him.
5th and Nightland. That was all she needed.
“One of the most elementary lessons farmers learned early on was crop rotation.” Mrs. Pearson drew the words on
the wall with her silver pen. “Why is crop rotation so important?”
Nikki’s hand shot up in the air.
Mrs. Pearson’s eyebrows arched high. “Yes, Nikki?”
“You have to change what crops you grow where so you don’t exhaust the soil,” Nikki said.
“Very good,” Mrs. Pearson said.
The concept of crop rotation was something they covered every year. Just like studying the importance of the ozone when the summer heat scorched the city beyond the glass—an inescapable measure of the passing of another year.
Mrs. Pearson slid her hand on the wall, and the words she had written flew away. She began to scrawl out equations. Tapping the corner of the wall, pictures of plants and soil sprung up around the border of the screen.
Nola let her mind wander, staring out the tiny window in the corner. She knew the equations. She knew how to test the soil and how to make it fertile again. Her mother had been training her to join the Botanical Preservation Group for years. Some kids got to choose which branch of the domes they wanted to work in once they turned eighteen and finished school. Nola had known her path since she was a little girl.
Her eyelids grew heavy. She hadn’t been able to sleep last night. Hadn’t been able to keep thoughts of Kieran from racing through her mind. What if he needed her?
What if I need him?
The bell beeped softly in the corner. As one, the class stood, putting their tablets back into their bags.
“Nola,” Mrs. Pearson called as Nola reached the door to the hall.
Nola gritted her teeth and turned around.
“I wanted you to know I spoke with your mother over the com system yesterday,” Mrs. Pearson said, her tone serious as she folded her hands in front of her.
“My mother?” Nola asked. “What happened? Why did she call?”
“We were discussing the progress of the Green Leaf Conference, and the topic of the incident at the Charity Center came up,” Mrs. Pearson continued. “You reacted so poorly to the unfortunate woman outside the Green Dome, and then to have another shock so near after…” Mrs. Pearson pursed her lips, giving Nola a pitying look, like she was ill. Like there was something wrong with her, Nola, for being upset.
“I’m fine.” Nola pushed her face into a smile.
“After losing your father—”
“That was three years ago,” Nola cut across. “I’m fine.”
Nola turned and walked out of the room, ignoring Mrs. Pearson calling after her.
As she turned into the hall, a hand caught her arm. Nola gasped as Jeremy fell into step beside her. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“You all right?” he asked.
“Why does everyone think I’m not okay today?” Nola twisted her arm away from Jeremy.
“Maybe it’s the full moon.” Jeremy took Nola by the shoulders, turning her to face him. “Maybe you’re a member of one of the new packs.”
Nola caught herself smiling a little. “Pack of what? Did the wildlife department bring in coyotes?” Nola rubbed a hand over her face. “I mean, I get we’re the new Ark and we’re supposed to preserve living creatures in a dying world and all, but I still think the insect habitats are creepy. And now they want to bring in coyotes?”
“I never said anything about coyotes. It’s the new big thing in the city. I was talking to my dad about it.”
“So, pack of what then?” Nola asked.
Jeremy draped an arm around her shoulders and started walking slowly down the hall. He spoke in a low voice as though telling a frightening bedtime story. “Werewolves. It’s the new drug craze. Lycan. Outsiders have started injecting it.”
“Isn’t Vamp bad enough?” Nola shuddered. “Exactly how many drugs do people need? And why would they risk taking something that dangerous?” The woman outside Green Dome flashed through Nola’s mind. Fighting to get through the glass, seeking out flesh to tear with no thought left for anything else. A zombie.
Jeremy shrugged. “This one is different. It makes you stronger, faster. You heal more quickly.”
“Just like Vamp,” Nola murmured.
“But Lycan changes your pheromones. The riot two nights ago. The guards tried to arrest a man for prowling around during the raid on the Vamp lab. Turns out he was the alpha of one of the packs.”
“Like wolves.”
“Just like wolves,” Jeremy said, his voice shifting from conspiratorial to angry. “And when the pack found out the guards had their Alpha, they attacked. They’re the ones who lit that building on fire. It destroyed a whole block, and the guards had to kill a few of them just to get away.”
Vampires, zombies, and now werewolves.
A thousand horrible images of blood and fear tumbled through Nola’s mind.
“So, they’re still out there?” Nola asked, wishing she were aboveground, not just so she didn’t feel like she were being crushed by the earth, but to be able to see out the glass—to be able to see if the wolves were coming.
And to escape.
“For now,” Jeremy said.
Nola stared at Jeremy’s face, trying to see the color of his eyes instead of streets painted red with blood.
“How do you know any of this?” Nola asked.
“My father,” Jeremy said.
“Why did he tell you?” Nola asked. “You’re always complaining he doesn’t tell you anything about what he does outside.”
His father was the head of the Outer Guard who patrolled the city. What they did, most people didn’t want to know about.
“Because”—Jeremy paused, stepping forward to face Nola—“I just found out that, as of my birthday, I’ll be training to join the Outer Guard.”
“What?”
“Dad told me.” Jeremy beamed. “It’s everything I want.”
“That’s amazing!” Nola stood on her toes and threw her arms around Jeremy’s neck. He pulled her in close, his chest rumbling against hers as he laughed.
“He’s been telling me things so I’ll be up on all the business of the city when I start training,” Jeremy said. “Just don’t tell anyone. About the Outer Guard or the wolves. The ‘guard’ thing won’t be announced until next month, and my dad doesn’t want people freaking out about the werewolves.”
“Why would they want to be called that?” Nola shivered.
“When I get one, I’ll ask.” Jeremy winked. “But don’t worry about them.” Jeremy took Nola’s hand, pulling her more quickly down the hall, almost running in his excitement. “We’re safe here. No one can get into the domes. There isn’t a way in or out of this place not covered by guards.”
Nola stumbled, but Jeremy didn’t notice.
There is a way out.
It had been pouring outside the domes that night. Dark sheets of rain that roared as they struck the glass. Nola’s mother had gone to a conference at the domes on the far western side of the country. Dr. Wynne had been charged with watching Nola. Not that she needed it. She was fourteen. But it meant more time with Kieran. And Dr. Wynne had been too distracted to pay Nola or Kieran much mind anyway.
His research had been keeping him in the lab until all hours. His face had been growing paler and thinner for months.
“There has to be a way,” he would mutter over and over as he wandered through the house. Kieran cleaned and made supper as he had done since his mother died. But there was something more to Dr. Wynne’s ramblings now. More than his brilliance-bordering-on-madness, more than missing his wife. He had a secret.
Nola had spent many nights lying out on the roof of her house. She liked it up there. If she squinted, she could pretend there was no glass between her and the stars. More than once, she had seen a shadow coming out of the Wynne’s house and disappearing into the night.
The last night Nola was to stay at the Wynne’s, there had been a riot in the city. Nola had curled up on the couch, covering her ears, trying to block out the sounds that were too far away for her to hear. She watched as fire sprang up around the city. Flam
es danced on the glass. A fire so large, even the pounding rain couldn’t douse it. The flames sent shadows swaying in the orange glow of the burning city.
“There won’t be anything left if they keep burning sections of the city down,” Kieran had said. “Don’t they know they’re destroying their own homes? Once the city is gone where will they live? Build huts and tents?”
“The rain will burn them like the fire,” Nola had muttered, burying her face on Kieran’s shoulder.
“Not tonight. The rain won’t burn tonight. The clouds were white. There are still good days to bring hope. But they’re hungry,” Dr. Wynne spoke softly, the red glow of the city reflecting in his eyes, giving him the look of the mad scientist he had always threatened to become. “The rain didn’t come this year. And the clean water that fell wasn’t enough to feed the plants. If you were starving, if you were watching your child starve, your anger would outweigh your reason. Their homes have been on fire for years. Only tonight, we can see the flames.”
Tears streamed down Nola’s cheeks. There were guards out there trying to protect the city dwellers, but the outsiders wouldn’t see that. They would only see attack… never help.
“It’s okay, Nola.” Kieran wiped the tears from her face with his sleeve. “We’re safe here.” He laced his fingers through hers. “There are guards at every entrance and exit. No one could get in here without the guards stopping them.”
“No,” Dr. Wynne snapped, lifting his son by the collar.
Kieran staggered, his eyes wide with shock.
“There is no such thing as safe when the world is descending into madness. When the people burn the city, the palace will fall, too.” Dr. Wynne clung desperately to his son. “One day, the outsiders will have had enough, and they will find a way into our paradise.”
“But we can’t have them all here,” Nola said. “We don’t have the resources.”
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