The Phoenix Project

by M. R. Pritchard

  It’s only a few minutes before Kira walks in the front door letting a cold rush of air into the large atrium. She brushes the powdery snowflakes off her parka and stomps on the carpet to get the snow off her shoes. I wave to her and she walks to the stairwell where I’m sitting.

  “The file is on your desk.”

  “Great, it shouldn’t take me long. Did you tell Crane?” She takes her gloves and scarf off, stuffing them into the canvas bag slung across her chest.

  “Yeah I told him.” I don’t tell her that I slammed the phone down in his ear.

  She leaves me at the stairwell, almost running towards the lab, and I wait.

  A static energy hangs in the air of the atrium. Kira should be done soon, placing the names with the resident codes. The front door swings open again, letting another rush of cold winter air rush across the atrium. This time it’s Adam. He heads straight for the lab. I make no effort to call him over to me, especially after his warning last night, no one can know about us. He’s in the lab for a few minutes before he walks out, searching the corners of the atrium and walking over to the stairwell where I’m sitting.

  “You’re done with the pairings?” Adam asks, also seeming a little anxious.

  “Yes. How do you know?”

  “Crane is calling a Committee meeting. I’ve been sent to collect you.”

  “I don’t want to go to the meeting, Adam.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to have to explain to Crane why I removed all the District Sovereign names from that list,” I tell him.

  I’m sure Crane will be furious with me. He warned me, he’s been sending me gifts, giving me my space, he didn’t even yell at me for confronting him in the middle of the night. I know what he expects, but he’s not going to get it.

  “Don’t worry. The building will be filled with Volker. You’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” He offers his hand to help me get up from the stairs. “How do I know he doesn’t have your entire faction in his pocket, Adam? That he could snap his fingers and you would all turn your backs? Crane organized this District. He was successful with the one in Japan. I don’t doubt there are a lot of people that would look the other way if he wanted to punish me.”

  “Yes, Andie, he did, but the Funding Entities have ensured that the Volker do not answer to Crane, the Volker will always be your loophole of protection.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “How can you still not trust me?”

  I take Adam’s hand and he pulls me to stand next to him. We walk across the atrium to collect the children and Ms. Black.

  --

  “I would like to begin this meeting with a round of applause.” Crane claps his hands together, high in front of his face, and we do as we are asked. “As some of you may know, last night we had our first birth within the walls of the Phoenix District. This is a joyous day. All that we have been working towards together is finally coming to fruition.” The rest of the Sovereign smile and clap with Crane, everyone except for me, I watch as Adam even plays along. “Now that Andromeda has completed the genetic pairing of the residents the next topic on our agenda is waking up the town.” Crane pauses, waiting for objections. “I would like to suggest the same format we followed in Japan, which worked quite well. The medication will be withdrawn in a slow manner, a titration, where each resident will receive less and less over a period of time. Once the medication has cleared their systems they will be confused and disoriented, but for a short period of time. Once we explain to them what has happened they will resume their lives as they have been since the blast.”

  “How long will it take?” I ask.

  “Approximately a year,” he adds without pausing, almost dismissing me. “We will start with the laboring factions first, the Orderlies and Navigators, and those who are mostly uneducated. Then we move onto the other factions the Currents, teachers and medical staff. We found in Japan that the educated residents were able to assimilate much easier when they saw the rest of the District cooperating.”

  This means one thing to me. Over the next year Ian will wake up, and since he is one of the nuclear engineers at the plant, he will be one of the last residents. I wonder if he might remember us, knowing that everything which has happened would surely break his heart.

  The meeting continues with updates from the Sovereign. Another list of supplies is prepared for Remington. More food, clothes, medical supplies for the impending baby boom Crane is expecting and seeds to get the crops started in the spring.

  I watch Crane as he speaks, trying to control my facial expressions, trying to make it look like I am simply listening to him run this meeting, because I don’t want him to know what I am truly thinking: I need to get us out of here, soon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  It’s night. Lina is fast asleep and I should be too. But I can’t sleep. Not after today’s committee meeting. I sit in a dining room chair in front of the large windows facing the lake. The moonlight is glowing off the snowflakes, giving them the effect of tiny lights falling from the sky. The heavy grumble of a snow plow passes by the building. There is a knock at the door. When I turn around I see a Volker guard standing there. As I get closer I notice that it is Adam. I open the door and let him in. He looks out of place in the head to toe grey outfit.

  “What are you doing here in uniform?” I ask.

  “I had a late meeting with Crane.” Something is wrong.

  “Come in, what’s wrong?”

  I take his arm, pulling him towards the kitchen and as I do the cuff from his rolled sleeve rises above his elbow. He tries to pull his arm back but it’s too late, I’ve already seen it. The blood soaked bandage on the soft inner tissue of his forearm. Just like the one Remington had after he passed his training and was designated the Runner, Adam has been injected with a transmitter.

  “Adam? Why do you have a transmitter?" I try to control the panic in my voice, the realization that Crane is once again about to take someone away from me.

  "I didn't have a choice, Andie.”

  “What do you mean you didn’t have a choice?”

  “Crane keeps complaining that Remington is too slow. He takes too long. The last time he went out he was gone almost two weeks. Some supplies have been missing and Crane has seen him deviating from his travel pattern. I’m being sent to follow him.”

  “And what does he want you to do if you find Remington breaking the rules?” Adam looks out the window, at the falling snow. “Adam?” He won’t look at me. He stares off in the distance, towards the lake. “Adam?”

  “Kill him.”

  “And would you?” I’m sure he has before, killed a person. It goes with the territory of being a marine with his occupation. For some reason, this realization doesn’t bother me one bit.

  “I'm not going to give Crane anything to hold over my head and control me. But I do need to find out what Remington is doing out there for so long.” He pauses for a moment, looking back in my eyes. “But now, I have Crane’s full trust. I’ll have the codes for the Gateway and the train. It should make things a lot easier for us, for you and Lina, to get you both out of here.”

  “That’s not going to help you, Adam, when Crane pushes his little heart attack button.”

  He sighs heavily and reaches out, drawing me to him. “I know,” he responds solemnly, wrapping his arms around me, pressing the length of our bodies together. “I leave in the morning.”

  Adam stays the night but unlike last night we sit on the couch, wrapped around each other, talking. I rub my finger over the bandage on his arm feeling the hard lump from the small transmitter under his skin. I lay my head on his chest breathing in his scent, trying to memorize it. During the long stretches of silence, when I’m unable to stop my mind from running, I think about Ian waking up in a year only to find his life changed, his wife and daughter two years older, and untouchable to him, forced to move on. That is, if he remembers us at all.

  I have c
ome to the realization that Crane will use whoever he can against me, to make me cooperate and continue the pairings. This is already evident with the way he dangled Lina over my head until I agreed to work with him and the birth of Ian’s child. The only way that I can keep Ian safe from Crane’s grasp, and off of his radar, is to move on. Ian may not remember us, but as long as I hold him close to me, his life will always be in danger.

  Now, there’s Adam. Our protector, the only one I can trust right now, and for some reason I'm drawn to him, more so than I should be, more so than any wife of another man should be. And Crane is sending Adam on a mission, with the ability to take his life with just the push of a button.

  During the wee hours of the morning Adam gets up to leave. We stand in Lina’s doorway and watch her sleep for a few moments, her face peaceful, innocent, not deserving of everything that has happened.

  "I don't want you to go again,” I whisper to him as we stand there. “I don't want to be left here with Crane looming over me."

  "Now that you're done with the pairings you can prepare. Crane said you are free to do as you please until the next generation is ready to be paired. I need you to collect supplies and prepare Lina." He kisses my forehead, pulling away after a few minutes to look into my eyes.

  And now he is gone, the first of us able to get outside the gates of the Phoenix District.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  When it’s time, I wake Lina and get her ready for class. I bring Stevie with me and we sit on the curved stairway to watch Ms. Black instruct the children in writing, reading and mathematics. I run my hand over Stevie's long shaggy black hair. The process of getting out of the District consumes me. I have to take Lina, I can't leave Stevie and then there's Ian. He has no idea who we are right now and dragging him along with us would be futile. Walking back to Phoenix was hard enough, taking four days, with just me and Adam. Sneaking out with a six year old and a dog will be much harder, almost impossible. And if Crane finds us I'm sure he will put an end to our lives, all of us. Hopefully, while I'm collecting supplies Adam is formulating some type of a plan, because we can’t get out of here without him.

  While Lina is in class I busy myself with cleaning the lab and the loft. I make a pile of clothes on the floor of the closet, things we might need on a spring trek through the woods.

  Two days after Adam left to follow Remington, I was called to the hospital to check on Ian’s baby. This time they were smart enough to get his parents out of the room. While I was there I was able to collect some supplies, a scalpel, sutures, bandages, irrigation solution, antibiotic ointment and sterile gloves.

  It’s been four days since Adam left and Crane has called me to a meeting. As the Volker guard escorts me to Crane’s office I tell him, “Do not to leave my side.” I don’t trust Crane and I definitely don’t want to be left alone with him, especially after what happened last time.

  “Yes ma’am,” the Volker replies, nodding to me.

  As soon as the door to Crane’s office opens it is obvious that he is not happy.

  “Andromeda, come in. Volker, you wait outside.” He dismisses the guard with the wave of his hand.

  “No, I want him here.” Crane stops and glares at me.

  “Have it your way then.” He swings the door closed and walks to his desk to sit. “It appears, Andromeda, that you have forgotten a key piece to the pairings.” He raises his eyebrows expectantly.

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” It’s another bad lie. I know exactly what he is talking about. I pulled the Sovereign from the list. I’ve been expecting this meeting.

  “Dear Andromeda, I thought I made the details of our agreement clear. You were to pair up the residents and the Sovereign.” He taps his fingers on the smooth wooden desk expectantly.

  “I won’t do it.”

  “Why not?” Crane rises from his desk chair and starts walking towards me. Now I’m thankful that I thought to keep the Volker with me. Especially if he tries anything like he did last fall.

  “I refuse to pair myself, Crane. Besides, I’m already married.” I try my best poker face. I have already decided to set Ian free, to protect him by moving on. I just have to make sure Crane sees that. “What am I suppose to tell Ian when he is woken up in a year?”

  “I told you to forget him, Andromeda, you need to move on. Was being present at the delivery of his child not enough for you? He won’t remember you. I’ve already seen to that.”

  “What did you do to him?”

  “Nothing that you could do anything about, consider him lost to you. It’s best you move on, you and Lina both.”

  Knowing that Lina will not have her father pains at me, he won’t be there to see her lose her first tooth, get her first haircut, see her turn sixteen, get married, he’s going to miss it all. I look away from Crane, mostly because I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. “I’m not ready.”

  “You need to find it within yourself to get ready, Andromeda. The District is waiting on you.”

  “You can’t expect this of me.” I can feel my chin start to tremble; I push my lips together and take a deep breath in. “What am I suppose to tell Lina? I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”

  “Move on,” he sneers at me, thoroughly agitated.

  “Goodbye, Crane.” I turn and leave without being dismissed. Another tick on the growing list of insubordination Crane is no doubt compiling against me. I’m sure none of the other Sovereign show Crane the same blatant disrespect as I do, one of these days it’s going to get me in a load of trouble.

  “You may want to reconsider who you chose to trust, Andromeda,” Crane calls to me as I slam the door to his office.

  Thankfully the Volker follows me and escorts me back to the chemistry building. I don’t review the Sovereign data; instead, I review Crane’s genetic data, searching for anything that I could use against him.

  --

  Adam is gone almost four weeks. Just as I am about to conclude that he must be dead and may never return to us, Crane calls a Committee meeting. After we are all seated, Crane and Adam enter the room. Adam must have just gotten back. He’s covered in dried mud, with a scruffy beard, most of his knuckles are caked in dried blood and there is a dark bruise under his left eye. As I wait for Crane to start the meeting I notice Remington is nowhere in sight.

  “I regret to inform the members of the Committee that our newest member will no longer be present,” Crane tells us. “As expected, he was found to be involved in some peculiar activity which resulted in his termination.” Crane gives us all a grave look. I know it is not one of concern for Remington, but a threat, that if any of us should try anything similar we will meet the same fate.

  Crane doesn’t go into detail of the activity Remington was involved in. Instead he continues the meeting with a review of the first group of residents who have started the medication titration. I watch Alexander and Morris give meticulous descriptions of how the residents are coping, they talk excitedly and animated. I wonder what Crane has against them, what keeps them here, participating in this overhaul of our town?

  Crane commences the meeting by asking for a list of supplies which anyone may need. Morris tells us that the past two trips Remington was on, only half of the food stock that was ordered was delivered and the District already needs more. I look to Adam, who, for the first time ever in a Committee meeting, is staring directly at me. No one has to say it. If we are short on food, Crane is going to send the Runner out to get more, and since Remington is out of the picture Adam is the only one to go.

  --

  It is late. I stare across the long living space, out the window at the mist of rain that is falling. I am awake, waiting anxiously for Adam, sitting on the floor next to the door. I jump to my feet when I hear his footsteps outside the door. I throw myself at him, my arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly to me.

  “You were gone too long. I was afraid something happened.”

  “There was a situation.” He
releases me and pushes me back by my shoulders. “We need to talk.” I follow him to the couch.

  “What happened to Remington?” I can’t stop thinking about Crane saying, he was terminated.

  “He has been reassigned. Crane can’t afford to lose any more residents. He’s been medicated, assigned to work with the convicts.”

  “What happened out there, Adam?”

  “Andie, you will never believe it,” he tells me, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “What?” I ask.

  “The world is continuing on as though the town of Phoenix never existed.”

  Adam launches into a detailed account of what he saw. There are barricades on all the roads and highways, blocking any traffic from getting within ten miles of the electric fence that encompasses The District. The National Guard has set up secured blockades to prevent traffic from entering the county. The large city where I used to work has lost over half of its population, the populace have moved away, afraid of the radiation they were told was haunting Phoenix County.

  Remington had to travel to Pennsylvania and the Carolinas to collect the necessary supplies. He was unaware for most of the trip that Adam had hidden on the train, hiding in the rear cars, watching his every move. The Runner is under strict orders to collect the supplies, rendezvous with the Funding Entities’ and return. Instead, Remington was spending time in taverns where the train stopped, soliciting women. On the last stop Adam witnessed him telling a woman in the bar the secrets of the Phoenix District, that we were all there and still alive. Adam picked a fight with him before he could say much. That’s how he got the black eye, the bloody knuckles. Remington was drunk but aware enough to recognize Adam, a fellow Volker and his superior. Adam dragged Remington back to the Phoenix District and reported to Crane.

  “Now what?” I ask Adam, hopeful that he has a plan.

  “Crane is sending me out in two days. You need to be ready to leave.”