by Dawn Husted
I sauntered over; my curls whipped my lips and blocked my eyesight. “Don’t you think we should go indoors?” I asked, pulling my hair from my mouth.
Sidnee scooted back on her heels and pushed off her knees to stand up. Her fingers swiped the hair strewn about her face.
I looked back at the bodies, not moving and still wrapped tightly, unaffected by the wind. “What about them?” I asked.
“They’ll be fine. They belong to the earth now, and we’ll finish the ceremony after the storm.” She leaned back down, kissing her husband’s forehead. “The people who live here believe strongly that upon death, our energy joins the sun and moon. Leaving those people here with the rain will not hurt them.”
I didn’t understand what she was saying, or maybe I did, and just thought it was crazy. Either way, it didn’t make much difference what I thought about the Lowers; people who’ve always been much different in my mind. I followed her back to her house and lightening cracked in various ways, dividing the angry sky while we walked. As soon as we entered, Sidnee warmed up a pot of tea, heating the water in a dark emerald vase. After, she poured the tea into two small cups with a wavy blue line painted around the center, a picture of a sun and moon on either side.
We sat silent for a while, sipping the tea and listening to the whooshing and whirling outside. Wind howled as fabric snapped against the exterior and large drops of rain pounded the roof. The sound of thunder roared, a sound slightly muted by the walls.
“Penny,” began Sidnee, “if you don’t mind me asking, what is your last name?”
I took another sip of the warm, red tea and licked the stain from my lips. “Evans,” I replied. Surprisingly, the tea was much better than any kind I’d had at home, more flavorful—like eating a fresh piece of fruit.
Sidnee blotted her lips with a small napkin from her lap.
“You know, my Jace was a special little boy. When he was little, I thought I was being punished by having such a rambunctious little one. It was amazing the trouble Jace could get himself into, and all at the young age of one. He started walking as soon as he turned ten months old, too tall for his own good. He got into anything we tried keeping out of his reach and was mobile…too young to be that mobile. When he was two, he began talking in full sentences. He spoke so clearly that everyone was able to understand him and were amazed by the questions he’d ask.” Her face lowered, looking down at the tea clutched by her hands. “I was wrong for feeling punished. In fact, he was the best gift God ever gave his father and me.” Her eyes glossed as she looked in the direction of Jace’s room. The room where I was staying.
“So what happened to him?”
She took another sip of tea before continuing. “When he was born we noticed something was...different…about him, nothing like I just told you. This was more physical. The day he was born, I delivered him right here in this house. His birth was unexpected, early, and there was a storm similar to the one like today. Our healer warned me, but I told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. An hour later, the pains started, and within another hour he was born. A quick birth. And I almost died from the blood loss.
“For days his vines didn’t appear.”
The picture in his room was of a little boy without vines; I assumed painted over like everyone else’s. Obviously, her family hadn’t been kicked off our Land like others had. They’re still here, aren’t they? Which means they weren’t executed either.
“So what happened?” I asked, intrigued by her story.
“A doctor came to visit. He called himself a scientist, and we named him the Mundunugu.”
I wondered if the person was someone I knew and what the mundung word meant.
“Understand, two years prior to Jace’s birth, there were twenty-nine others born from the Lowers, but within the Colony and using their doctors. Of those twenty-nine, twenty-three babies were born without vines. Of those twenty-three, nineteen families relocated to the other Land. The Land filled with sickness and death.”
I didn’t have to ask what happened to the other four families not relocated. Though, she answered the thought anyways and it wasn’t what I expected.
“The rest died. They fought and the soldiers killed all of them, including anyone who fought along with them. From then on, none of us would birth our children except for right here in the village.
“Mundunugu means medicine man. This man told us he came here in secrecy, but really President Falcon had sent him. Word traveled fast about Jace and the President found out about his lack of vines.”
“Did he turn you in? The Mundunugu, I mean.”
Before answering, Sidnee stood up, poured some more tea, and returned to the table.
“No,” she replied. “Instead, he gave us a bottle of pills, told us to break a capsule in half and administer it with milk every day. Then he promised as our child grew, he’d be back to give us more pills. Eventually Jace got bigger, became a toddler, and instead of mixing a capsule with milk, we mixed them in his food or drink. As he grew into a young boy, he took them every morning like any other pill and we told him they were special vitamins which helped keep him well.”
“I don’t understand. What exactly did the pills do for him?” I asked.
“Two days after giving Jace his first pill, his body grew vines all over his skin and they looked exactly like everyone else’s.”
Only one person came to my mind. One person who had the knowledge to invent a pill imitating the effects of the vaccine. “The Mundunugu was my father, wasn’t he?”
Sidnee’s hands released from her cup and she looked up at me.
“Yes. We met with him every four months. Sometimes in town, and other times in the woods secretly. We were careful. Over the years, ten more children were born without vines and Mundunugu met with them as well.”
What she told me was too much to handle. I pushed my tea away from me, suddenly not thirsty anymore. I remembered what my father briefly mentioned at the house before everything happened; my sister held captive on the other Land, him forced to work for Falcon, things that made me question everything I knew. But I never guessed my father had any connection with the Lowers or even talked with them, let alone helped them. And I wondered how many others he had helped, others that didn’t live here. Were they anyone I knew?
“The bodies you saw driving here; the ones wrapped, prepared for the ceremony, along with my husband. They died because their children had been given medicine by your father. But it wasn’t because of the medicine they were found out. That wouldn’t be possible; we were very careful. The soldiers claimed these specific children contained a virus, something contagious and capable of spreading. The kids were ordered into custody. My Jace was only thirteen years old and my husband and I were not going to allow them to take him. Jace was the oldest of all those kids. My husband, along with a few others, fought back and, in return, the guards shot them, dragging one of them behind their vehicle.”
“I didn’t see any children along the road. Were they taken into custody?”
“Yes, they were taken to the Academy.”
“Then you shouldn’t worry. Jace will be back as well as the rest.” I said this aloud, but the truth was hidden in the back of my head, wanting to be left alone. I didn’t want to think of it, much less utter the words. Was I someone my father helped, somehow without me knowing?
Sidnee began sipping her tea again. “Maybe,” she replied to my rambling about the kids’ future return. “You know, I’m getting a little tired. I think I’ll go rest.” She stood up and pushed the chair out from underneath her.
“Before you go, can you tell me this? Did those children have any special abilities like the rest of us?”
Sidnee turned around. “I guess it depends on what you define as special.” Then she walked out of the room.
I sat alone, not wanting to put the pieces together. I knew I wasn’t as strong or fast as the others were. I didn’t hear as well but I was extremely smart. That had t
o be something along ability lines, right? I looked down at my arms, at the vines still there. I forced my thoughts away from the frightening possibility, feeling like I didn’t know anything anymore.
My dad. He was deceiving President Falcon. How did Falcon find out? If my father started this thirteen years ago, then he would’ve been careful. Careful enough not to be discovered. I was eighteen now. This just didn’t add up. Still thinking, I walked into my room. The white dog laid on the ground, front paws clawing, playing tug-a-war with a bone. Slobber gathered around the bloody sections she was done chewing with. I chose not to walk near her, not while she was eating something; if she didn’t want me touching her before, I doubted she would at this moment either.
I sat on the bed.
I wished I could simply lie down, close my eyes, and wake up in my own bed—at home. Yesterday, my life began like any other and I was doing fairly well at work, happy categorizing tedious petri-dishes and helping with Doctor Benton’s research. I wasn’t running from anyone and my relationship with James was easy—not that it still wasn’t. But I felt like there was a part of him I didn’t know. The fighting. The skills. Was there anything else?
The storm outside clamored louder. Thunderous clapping and rain pounded against the walls.
Another hour passed, James wasn’t back yet. The image of him caught by a group of nasty guards wanting to kill him paused at the forefront of my mind. He might be strong, but to go against more than two others guards, just as big as him, would be tough.
A couple more hours passed and I walked around the house, counting vases, now knowing exactly how many there were. Two hundred and thirty-two vases, plus ten already cracked, placed towards the back of the stack.
Suddenly, James appeared through the curtain. Drenched. Water soaked the ground all around, dripping from his clothes. His boots sloshed as his feet moved within. However, his face looked fine, no cuts or bruises, every limb still attached, no blood. He shook his head, flinging water about the walls. I ran and grabbed a towel from the kitchen.
“What took you so long?” I asked.
He took the towel from me and wiped his neck and arms. The towel was soaked quickly so I went and grabbed a few more.
“I needed to make sure your ID was far away from here as possible. It took me a while, but I finally found a boulder to hide it under.”
“Why didn’t we just tear it or burn it in a fire?”
James shook his head trying to dry his hair. “I’m not exactly sure how to break the ID, or what the tracker looks like. Even if we did manage to destroy it, throw it in the fire or whatever, it wouldn’t lead the guards away from here. When they start looking for us, we’ll need all the advantage we can get.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Good point,” I agreed. “Well, I’m glad you’re back. For a minute, I thought you had been caught. Next time don’t take so long,” I said, backhanding him across the chest
“Stop worrying; they won’t look for us in this storm. They’ll wait until it’s clear and the sun’s bright in the sky so they can make a spectacle as they bring us in. They’ll want everyone to see; display us as warnings for what will happen if you challenge their power or violate any laws or rules.” He said the words laws and rules sarcastically. It was the first time I had ever seen him have any indication of animosity towards the Academy—ever.
“Well, I think your assumption is going a little overboard. But either way we can’t risk being caught. We need to keep moving. My sister…”
While we talked, the things James and Sidnee had told me today didn’t match the memories. President Falcon and my family had dinner together numerous times. He gave me a handmade jewelry box for my thirteenth birthday. He spent time carving my initials carefully into the top and it was one of my favorite gifts that year. It’s still sitting on my nightstand at home, holding jewelry and tiny, little glass baubles I collected. The man who seemed to care so much about my family and have high respect for my father couldn’t be a tyrant, mistreating everyone. He was a compassionate ruler with the tenacity and the power to keep us all safe. He wouldn’t have agreed with the treatment Sidnee’s family and friends endured or want to display James and me as spectacles.
“Your sister? I know you said that earlier, but what sister are you talking about? You’re an only child.”
I threw the thoughts from my head, and focused on the present. I explained to James what my dad told me and grabbed the picture from my pack. He agreed my sister looked eerily similar to me and said if my dad felt it was important to find Madeline then we would.
To my relief, it didn’t take heaps of convincing James to help me find my sister who was ALSO living on the other Land. I was surprised he didn’t protest the idea of going anywhere near the place. Instead, he was supportive and didn’t ask many questions.
The only part of the story I left out were the vials. I was afraid Lowers might be listening in on every word of our conversation. So I kept my explanation half-truth. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to worry in case they had friends living on the other Land too. Besides, the vials were important, the last thing I needed was for someone trying to steal them. I was unsure if the Lowers could be trusted. So far, they’ve been hospitable, giving James and I more than we expected, but it didn’t change the fact that just twenty-four hours ago we did not know them.
“Look, I’m ready to leave anytime. We should head towards the perimeter soon. It’ll take at least a full day to get there, and we don’t even know where there is,” I said.
James’ head straightened towards me. “What happened to the car?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, but I didn’t see it out there. I’m pretty sure the Lowers did something with it. Besides, it doesn’t matter anyway. It was completely out of power.”
James clearly wasn’t happy about the car being gone. “Not having a car won’t make it any easier for us to travel in this storm, but I’m positive there won’t be anyone looking for us until it passes. So let’s wait it out, conserve our energy, and then head there with full strength when it ends. That way we’ll both be ready for what’s ahead.”
I admit that I was a little curious wondering if James was simply waiting out the storm on my behalf—physical activity not being one of my strongest suits. However, his knowledge of how the Academy operated was much better than mine. If he thought we should wait until the storm passed, then I needed to trust him. And until recently, I wouldn’t have hesitated taking him for his word, and I wasn’t going to start now.
Abruptly, Sidnee marched back into the room and walked over towards James. Then she turned and stood next to him, “He’s right, you’ll need your strength. You are welcome to stay as long as you need. That’s the least I can do in return for what your father did for my family.” Her voice sincere. “Nice to meet you, James,” she said, looking up at him and then down at the floor. “Let me get you a bigger towel.” His pants were still sopping wet, trickling down into puddles around his feet.
“Sorry about that.” James took off his boots. “Do you have any clothes I could borrow?” That request was hard for James to ask, borrowing clothes from a Lower. Borrowing anything from a Lower.
Sidnee walked off. I was happy I hadn’t mentioned anything about the vials, because Sidnee and who-knows-else had indeed been listening.
Chapter Seven
Hours passed and the rain hadn’t stopped. Sidnee led us into another house where lunch was served.
James and I didn’t talk much about the perimeter, unsure what to discuss. We couldn’t climb over, it was impossible, and James knew this too. The only thing James could think of was the idea of making a ladder or rope out of tree vines and then tossing it over. But then we’d be stuck with the likelihood of it catching fire and alerting everyone to our whereabouts. Plus, we weren’t even sure how high the perimeter was or what to expect once we made it across. Was there a huge ditch with explosives? There would have to be something placed prior, detouring
any unwanted individuals attempting to come inside illegally.
The one thing we did know was no one would ever suspect us of attempting an insane task such as this one. If anything, they probably thought we’d try slipping by the guards (somehow) at the Academy and then escape into the port that way.
Water. What would we do about that?
How would we cross the ocean? It’s gigantic, with various mammals underneath waiting to devour whatever comes in their path.
This was going to be much harder than either of us expected.
After lunch, James immediately took a walk, checking for any guards hiding nearby. It was still raining, but he was adamant about double checking the Lowers’ perimeter and I told him I’d meet him back at Sidnee’s. The real reason I didn’t insist on joining him was I wanted a chance to inspect my body without any questions. I hadn’t forgotten about earlier. I wondered how long it would be, if in fact I were one of those individuals born without the genetic code, before my vines disappeared.
When I reached her house, I walked quickly to my room. The furry snowball sat in the corner while I tore off my shirt and tossed my pants behind me. Inch by inch, my fingers and eyes traced every vine, starting from my arms, over my stomach, around my waist, and down to my feet. Each black line looked smaller, thinner, or maybe not. Maybe it was just that I was so scared, it was causing my mind to play rude tricks on me. I calmly exhaled, focused on the picture of Jace, and wiped the sweat from my palms.
Vials. My dad. He entrusted me with them. But I knew if those could have given me the appearance of vines, he would’ve told me in the beginning during our brief exchange. He said the words ‘vaccine’, specifically meaning precisely that. They weren’t pills. They were vaccines and only that.