62 lay on the bed and stared at the books. There were all kinds. Some were books on history and map reading that he thought might come in handy on his adventures with Blue, and others were make-believe stories like Charlotte’s Web. He’d read the small children’s book four times now, and kept it under his pillow so he could hold it in his arms as he slept. It was his favorite thing in all the world. He’d shown it to Blue and after complaining about how boring reading was, Blue explained that some of the animals in the book were real.
“They don’t talk, of course,” Blue had said. “But we’ve got pigs and goats on the farms outside of town. There’s plenty of spiders everywhere you go. I squished one just this morning.”
“What about rats?” 62 had asked. Templeton wasn’t 62’s favorite character in the book, but he had to admit that the rat was one of the most interesting. He spent all day sleeping and eating, and only did things for others when it also helped himself in some way. It was much different from the way anyone he knew lived. “Are they real?”
Blue had scrunched up his face then and made a gagging sound. “They sure are. Yuck. They’re nasty little critters. Whenever they turn up, we catch ‘em and kill ‘em.”
“Why would you kill them?” 62’s mouth hung open.
“Because they’re horrible.” Blue held up his hand and started ticking off fingers. “They eat up our food and pee and poop in the leftovers so we can’t eat the rest. They tear up our clothes to make nests in the walls. They chew through wires until the electricity doesn’t work. They run around at night and keep you awake with their little creepy squeaks and scratches. Plus, they’re dirty, they’re everywhere, and they have babies faster than you can kill ‘em.”
“But there’s so much space out there.” 62 pointed out the window. “There’s got to be room for rats to live without people killing them.”
“Ha! You find a way to teach the rats to stay in one place, and I’ll help you round ‘em up. We can even build them a dorm of their very own.” Blue balled up one fist and smacked it into the open palm of his other hand. “Until then, the only good rat is a dead rat.”
62 couldn’t understand why death was such a big part of living in Hanford. People like Blue were always talking about killing things. Killing animals to eat and killing rats to get them out of the way. Then there was the matter of Rex killing 13 on the way to Hanford because he’d wanted to go back to Adaline. When the creatures above ground weren’t trying to kill one another, it seemed like the ground itself took a turn at trying to murder the creatures, too.
“Why does everything have to die?”
Blue shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. That’s just the way it is. Maybe your teacher knows why.”
The next morning, 62 had gotten up with purpose. He was going to ask Parker why things in the above ground had to die. He woke up early and went to the bathhouse before anyone else was stirring. The water was cold since no one had been there to start up the woodstove that heated it, so 62 took his bath in record time. Although it’d been freezing, the cold bath left him feeling fresh and invigorated. He bundled himself up and trotted to the cafeteria for an early meal tab, then went and sat on the steps of the school until Parker opened the door. No one else had shown up for class yet, but 62 followed Parker in, took off his mask, and stood in front of him with a determined gaze.
“Do you need something, 62?” Parker pulled off his own mask and looked down on him with tired eyes.
“Yes. I have a question.” 62 crossed his arms and put on his most serious face.
“I see.” Parker took his time, fiddling with the woodstove. After he had the kindling arranged to his liking he looked back at the stony-faced 62. “Can it wait for class to start?”
“If it has to. But I’d rather not.”
“I see,” Parker said again. But he didn’t seem to see at all. Instead he pulled out his flint and stone and began striking sparks into the stove. It wasn’t until the fire had started and he closed the stove door that Parker settled on the edge of the desk and turned his attention back to 62. “Well, what’s this important question?”
62 had been standing for so long that he’d forgotten to look serious. He frowned and pulled his arms tight across his chest again. “Why do things always have to die up here?”
“Oh. You must have heard about that fellow from your group who died of radiation poisoning.” Parker rubbed his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Usually when someone dies we have a farewell service, but since radiation was involved, they aren’t allowing it this time.” Parker ran his hand across the stubble growing on his chin. Stubble would never have been allowed in Adaline. There, you were either bare faced like 62 or you grew a long white beard like his old teacher, 71. Parker scratched at the knobs of scruff on his cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“What?” 62’s mouth hung open a minute in shock. “Why’d he have to die?”
“I don’t know,” Parker said with a shake of his head.
62 dropped his arms. “You do so.”
Parker frowned. “No, I really don’t. I don’t know why he, or anyone else dies. They just do.”
“People don’t die in Adaline,” 62 spat. The library that Blue and Mattie had showed him was wonderful, and was almost worth putting up with the rest of the nonsense above ground. But if 62 could have one thing back from Adaline, it would be the certainty of knowing that every day would be as safe and secure as the last.
“Yes, they do,” Parker said quietly, “all the time. You just don’t see it.”
62 knew that Parker was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. He argued, “People grow old in Adaline. Nobody hurts one another. No one gets sick. We live together and help each other all the time.”
Parker was silent. He heard the outer door shut and 11 came in and took his seat. Parker nodded hello and then turned his attention back to 62. “There are plenty of people in Adaline who kill one another. They do it frequently, in fact. The people and bots that control that place pick out anyone that might be odd. Anyone who might think or feel different. Anyone difficult to control. Anyone who grows too tall or whose eyes are the wrong color the first time they open as an infant. That’s how our rescue team found you. You were one of the people they’d decided to throw away. We were only able to find you because some program inside had already sent you up to die.”
62 frowned. He didn’t say anything, just stomped over to his desk and sat down. He hardly noticed when the rest of the students arrived, and couldn’t focus on Parker when he began to explain the calendar that the above grounders used to track seasons. All 62 could think about was the truth. He’d been plucked out of Adaline because he was abnormal. Inferior to the rest of his brothers because of his dreams. He’d been sent to the furnace with the sick and the broken to be killed. All without a word of explanation to his more perfect brothers who’d been left behind to carry on as normal. He’d hidden his imperfection for so long, and suddenly here it was right in front of him.
62 had spent a lifetime believing in Adaline. He’d trusted its system completely and followed its dogma as well as he could. In Adaline, there was no option but to be flawless. In the end, he’d failed to live up to Adaline’s expectations and had broken the contract of compliance that kept him protected and cared for. Because of invisible flaws, Adaline had tried to kill 62. And now, in his growing awareness of the unfairness of life outside, 62 felt the heat of anger that had started his anomaly in the very beginning.
If 62 returned to Adaline now, the system would destroy him. Somewhere, deep down, the knowledge that he could never go back to the ease and innocence of his previous life gave 62 a growing ache to destroy Adaline in return.
CHAPTER 15
THE WORLD SEEMED EXCEPTIONALLY quiet. 62 rubbed the sleep from his eyes and kicked off the blankets only to be shocked by a chill that immersed him to his very core. He pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and stepped to the window. Pulling back the curtain, he froze. No
t only from the cold creeping up from the floor through his bare feet, but also from the horrific scene outside his window. The world had turned white.
He couldn’t move. He simply stared, open mouthed and breathing. His breath clung to the window and beaded on the glass in an icy wet fog. He couldn’t stay here. He had to warn the others. He rushed to put on his clothes, layering them to fight the chilly air. The second his boots were tied, he grabbed his mask, threw open his door, and rushed into the hall. He paused, deciding which of his friends to find first. Blue had lived here most of his life. He’d probably know what to do. But 00 wasn’t as brave and would need his help. 62 took a step toward his brother’s room. Then, thinking of the others sleeping all around him, he shouted, “Help! We need help! The radiation has covered everything! We’ve gotta get out of here!”
62 raced down the hall, banging on doors as he went. He found the stairs that led up to 00’s room, taking them two at a time. He scrambled through the maze of the housing building toward 00’s room, rattling doors and sounding the alarm as we went. He had to find his friend. Then, they’d find Blue and see if he knew what to do. If he didn’t, at least they’d all be together while they tried to figure it out. When he finally arrived, he didn’t knock. He rushed into 00’s room and started throwing clothes on the bed.
“Get up!” 62 shouted.
00 sat up and batted away the shirt sailing through the air before it landed on his head. “What’s going on?”
“The plutonium. It’s everywhere. We’ve got to get everyone up!” 62 found 00’s boots and tossed them beside the bed.
“Of course it’s everywhere.” 00 sat still, appraising his friend’s frantic movements. “It’s been everywhere since before we were born.”
62 shook his head. “Not like this. There’s so much that you can see it piled up all around. It’s covering the ground. On top of all the buildings. We’ve got to find Blue and get out of here.”
00 pushed back the blankets and pulled a pair of pants on over his pajamas. “You don’t even know what plutonium looks like.”
“It has to be what it is,” 62 said with a tremble in his voice. He marched to 00’s window and pulled back the curtain. “Look.”
00 stood up and moved across the room just enough to look out the window properly. He stood silent for a moment. His lips curled slightly. He took in a long, deep breath. Then, he turned around and beamed. “I remember the first time it snowed after I got here. I was just as scared as you.”
62 moved to the window, bewildered. “Snow?”
“Yeah. That isn’t plutonium, it’s just snow. Frozen rain that’s collected up on top of itself.” 00’s grin widened. “It’s not something to be scared of.”
“It’s not?”
“No. It’s great!” 00 cheered with his hands high in the air. “The world isn’t ending, it’s the first snow of winter!”
62 moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He frowned. “Winter, like what Parker told us about in school?”
00 spoke in a rush, trying to get the words out between excited giggles. “Yeah, it’s not poison, it’s just the weather.”
“But it’s covering everything,” 62 whispered as he looked toward the window. “Every inch.”
00 nodded, his cheeks glowing in the cold room. “The weather does that.”
“But when Parker told us about winter he didn’t say it would happen so soon.”
“It’s been getting colder, hasn’t it?” 00 grabbed the shirt hanging off the side of his bed and pulled it on, his chuckling not muffled at all by the extra layer of fabric.
“I suppose so,” 62 agreed.
“Well, the seasons just change, see? One minute it’s fall, and the next it’s winter. It sneaks up on you sometimes.” 00 busied himself with putting on his boots. Once done, he grabbed a heavy coat from deep in the bottom of his dresser drawer, put it on, and buttoned it closed. He shoved his mask into one of the coat’s large pockets. “Come on. Let’s go give you your first taste of snow.”
“Taste? Surely you don’t eat it?” 62 hesitated when 00 opened his door and stepped out into the hall. 00 only laughed in response. When 00 started to skip away toward the stairs, 62 called out, “We have to get Blue.”
00 stopped. The smile fell from his cheeks. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” 62 said as he took the lead down the stairs. “Why wouldn’t we get him? He’s my friend too, you know.”
“He’s just so...” 00 stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted face.
“So what?” 62 spun around on the stairs. He stopped abruptly and 00 bumped into him. The two brothers stared at one another a long time.
00 shrugged his shoulders. “He’s an above grounder. You know, kinda dumb. Reckless. Totally crazy.”
“He’s not dumb!” 62 shouted. “And if he wasn’t reckless, then he wouldn’t have ever found me, and then we wouldn’t be friends. I would have been all alone if it weren’t for him.”
“Except for me,” 00 muttered.
“You weren’t even in Adaline anymore.” 62 shoved his finger into 00’s chest. “You left, and we thought you were dead. Besides, I hardly knew you before you left. You didn’t know anything about me. Blue knew about my anomaly and wanted to be my friend anyway.”
“Well, I know now, don’t I?” 00 demanded. “I spent all those days walking across the desert to come rescue you, too, you know. And I use my coding to help keep these dumb above grounders safe every time they’re down there in Adaline. If you love Blue so much, maybe you should thank me for saving his skin every time a bot finds him.”
“What do you mean?” 62 growled.
“Blue gets all this credit for saving everyone. Well, if I hadn’t cracked the door codes, they’d still be going into Adaline through garbage chutes, wouldn’t they? I’m the one that gets them into the maintenance halls. I’m the one that put the virus in that makes the bots have a delay in noticing unchipped humans, and redoes the code every time the Head Machine deletes it. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have your stupid friend because he never would have made it down far enough to meet you.” 00 cut around 62 and stomped down the stairs. 62 followed, relieved when he realized they’d come into Blue’s hallway.
“I’m sorry,” 62 said quietly. “I didn’t know.”
“Nobody does,” 00 grumbled. “I’m supposed to keep it a secret. You’re the only person I’ve ever told, outside of the rescue group.”
The pair walked toward Blue’s door. 62 didn’t knock right away. Instead, he put a hand on 00’s shoulder. “Look. Blue is my friend, and you are, too.”
“I know,” 00 muttered. He looked around, his gaze pausing at each closed door in the hallway. He gave a long sigh and admitted, “I don’t fit in here.”
“That’s okay. I don’t either.”
00 stared deep into 62’s eyes. “Yeah, but you will.”
62 considered the idea. “Maybe. But maybe you will too, if you keep trying. Now, let’s talk to Blue about this snow business.”
00 nodded, then leaned forward and knocked on Blue’s door. The hinges squeaked as the door swung open. 00 pushed away his sullen expression and forced a grin when Blue’s disheveled face appeared. He shouted, “It’s snowing!”
“It’s what?” Blue’s eyes squinted back and forth between the two Boys at his door.
“I thought it was plutonium and we were all going to die,” 62 said with a grin. “But 00 says it’s snow.”
“You thought we were going to die?” The sleep swept itself from Blue’s eyes and he howled a great laugh. He leaned his head back and punched the air above him. “Man, the first snow after you dummies come up from Adaline is the best!”
They entered Blue’s unkempt room and 00 recounted the story of being woken up by a frantic 62. The longer the story went on, the louder Blue’s laughter got. Soon he was hiccupping with glee, wiping tears from his eyes.
“I even yelled through the halls to try to wake everyone up,” 62
admitted. “So that they could escape.”
“That’s what all the yelling and slamming doors was about?” Blue’s voice wheezed between laughs and he gulped in air between the words. “It was too far away for me to catch what was going on, but for a while there it sounded like everyone down here was mad as hornets.”
“You didn’t get up to see what was wrong?” 62 asked.
“Heck no, it’s too early and cold to investigate the ramblings of a dumb Adaline refugee,” Blue joked. He got himself dressed and led the way out into the hall. The trio made it to the side exit and Blue stopped just inside the door. He zipped up his coat and clapped his gloved hands together. “All right you dummies, are you ready for this?”
62 gave his friend an unenthusiastic look. “Are we ever ready for anything you show us?”
“I’ve seen snow before, but it’ll be fun to watch 62 see it for the first time,” 00 said, a forced smile appearing in a failed attempt at masking his irritation at being called dumb.
Blue grinned, pulled his mask on over his face, and flung the door wide. As cold as it had felt inside the building, it was somehow even more frigid outside. The wind blew, as it always seemed to, and kicked the top flecks of snow up off the ground and into the Boys’ faces. 62 and 00 pulled on their masks.
Blue stepped out into the white powder and his feet sank down beneath it. It piled up near his shins and he took large steps that left holes in the powder as he walked. 62 followed close behind, careful to only step in the pits that Blue’s feet had created. 00 closed the door behind them and hung near the doorway.
“It’s cold!” 62 shouted as the snow brushed around his legs. It seeped into his pants and down into his boots.
“Of course it is,” Blue answered. “It’s frozen water.” Blue knelt down and scooped a mound of the white fluff into his bare hands. He turned, tilted his head curiously, and then flung the ball of snow at 00. The powdery ball exploded in his chest.
“What the —?” 62 was caught off guard by the sight of a snowball flying through the air and tripped over himself as he watched it explode. His boot caught on something under the snow and he fell over with a quiet thud. Blue came over to him, leaning down to inspect his fallen friend.
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