SAFE

by Dawn Husted

  That’s when the thought occurred to me. If Jace had been administered pills, then maybe I could find where Sidnee hid them. Just in case I needed them. Hopefully, I was wrong.

  I knew lunch was nearly finished, half the people left when James and I did, and if Sidnee wasn’t back yet then she probably would be soon. I threw on my clothes and looked into the kitchen. She wasn’t there.

  “Sidnee?” I asked quietly, carefully. Not wanting to alert anyone walking around outside.

  There was no response. No sign of Sidnee.

  I needed to be fast and opened every cabinet door, looked under every jar and vase I could find except the ones stacked in the corner. There wasn’t enough time to look through all those before she returned. I looked over at the other doorway; the one leading to her room.

  “Sidnee?” I said again, making sure.

  Nothing.

  I opened the curtain and walked into her room. A jumbled mess greeted me with even more vases and blankets strewn about. I looked under all the blankets, under her bed, before carefully putting the covers back in place and sitting on the edge. I tried to remember anything she had said that could possibly give me a clue to the pills’ location. Then I looked up, straight ahead, and spotted a metallic box sitting on a small table in the corner.

  Jackpot.

  I ran across the room and opened the box. Ugh! The only thing inside was a beaded necklace similar to the ones out her entryway, hanging on the torches.

  Feeling defeated I sat back down on her bed. What was I going to do?

  A noise outside broke my train of thought and I jumped up.

  Crap! Sidnee. I rushed through my empty realm of excuses. I was not the best liar. I ran to the doorway before slowing my pace, sauntering, and bracing myself for the inevitable accusations. I looked down towards my feet and then squinted up. “Sid—”

  “What are you doing, Penny?” James asked.

  “Oh, it’s just you,” I said, relieved. “I was searching, seeing what else she might have that could be of use.” I lied, but I couldn’t tell the truth either. We were raised our entire lives believing anyone without vines was damaged. Diseased.

  He gave me a weird look. He knew I was hiding something, but didn’t ask and shrugged in response. “Look,” he said. “I might have found a way over the perimeter.”

  My spirits perked up. “What—how? You’ve only been gone like fifteen minutes,” I replied.

  “I know,” he said, shaking the wetness around. “But when I searched outside, I spotted a few young kids walking in and out of one of the houses. They were holding pieces of metal and titanium, lights, ammo… When I walked in, the house was filled with every part of our car—dissembled. They took it apart, literally piece by piece. One of the guys grabbed me off to the side and said he knew we were trying to get over the perimeter and that he could help us. We’re meeting him tonight after everyone goes to sleep. Hopefully, the rain hasn’t completely stopped by then, giving us a chance.”

  I grabbed James’ arm and tugged him into my room; the dog growled at both of us.

  “Are you sure we can trust this guy? Do you even know his name?” I asked, quietly looking over his shoulder towards the doorway.

  “I don’t know, but if he says he can help, then we should hear him out,” he whispered.

  My eyes wandered back to the picture of Jace. “All right,” I replied.

  James pulled my chin toward him. “Hey. Are you okay?”

  I wanted to blurt everything out about the possibility of why I was really being taken to the Academy. But I just wasn’t ready yet. “Ya, I’m okay. This has all been a little much, you know?”

  James nodded. “I know, but we’re going to be okay. I will get you out of here, and we will find your sister. I promise.” Then he gave me a hug, something much needed and overdue. “Sidnee’s here.” He put his finger in a hush position over his lips, informing me to stop talking about our plans.

  The rest of the day wasted away with the rain. It wasn’t easy being stuck inside, staying closed-mouthed about my secret. James and I made up games with pebbles, seeing who could toss one closer to the vase in the middle of the room. In between rounds, he continued sweeping the perimeter around the village and after, Sidnee made him a bed on the floor in the corner next to the stacks of vases. She didn’t feel comfortable allowing James to sleep in my room, muttering something about it being improper, and we didn’t argue otherwise. We understood, already being accustomed to this sort of thing with parents like mine.

  We all said goodnight, and James assured her we’d see her in the morning—the less people who knew about our planned departure, the better. We then thanked her for letting us stay.

  A couple hours later, I woke up to James gently shaking me in bed. It was nearly midnight and I had accidentally fallen asleep. He put his finger to his lips again and I understood—no speaking. I gave him the same finger, but it meant that I needed a minute. My heart was racing and sweat covered my chest. I blinked my eyes repeatedly—trying to wake up from my jolting panic attack. Fortunately, I slept in my clothes, including my jacket, and all I needed to do was grab my backpack. James nodded at me. I nodded back and climbed out of the bed towards the door.

  James was wearing his former clothes, shirtless. The only gun we had hung across his back and his pants and shoes had finally dried, though it wouldn’t do him much good. I couldn’t hear the thunderous rain anymore, but the moisture smell lingered throughout the house and the storm hadn’t completely passed yet.

  As we approached the front doorway, James stopped and motioned with his flat palm, forcing me to halt. He looked outside to the right and began walking close to the side of Sidnee’s house. I followed him along the exterior as we moved around to the back.

  A wet noise appeared from behind me. I turned around.

  Her bright fur was now dampened, and she nipped at my heels. The rutty dog had followed us. Great, you choose now to be my friend. James saw the dog and looked at me as if I had something to do with it. I raised my hands. What could I do? We weren’t supposed to make any noise, and if I even tried shooing the darn dog away, she’d probably end up growling at me again. Which might lead to barking—alerting everyone nearby.

  James turned back around and hunched closer to the ground, taking large, hurried steps across the small gap to the next house. We moved around that house and across to the next. This pattern repeated until we came to the end of the village. The last house. The only thing ahead of us now was trees. No sign of life. James squinted and listened closely to our surroundings, and then we spotted a small flame, tiny flickers pulsating in the distance.

  At once, we darted towards the light, straight into weeds. The weeds were as high as my thighs and I was glad to be wearing pants. I covered my hands, wrapping them across my chest and under my backpack, away from the thorny plants we trudged through. I looked behind me, the dog was still there. I didn’t even know her name. The trees became denser and the weeds too. It was impossible to walk on dry land, puddles of sloshy mud every which way. I couldn’t see the ground, far beneath the plants. More mud. A ruddy swamp. Whoever decided this should be our meeting spot is a lousy planner. My feet now completely drenched, my shoes nastier with each step, and now the destination light had stopped blinking. James and I continued on a few more seconds, and then we stopped. He could hear someone close, but neither of us could see anything. The trees were thicker, blocking out the moon’s light.

  “Hey, you there?” James whispered loudly. “I can hear you. Where are you?”

  The heavy branches swayed in the wind, rustling over one another and the breeze brushed across my face. We waited. No light, the swamp was still entirely pitch black. My eyes adjusted, James stood next to me; a soft black outline of his figure was all I could see. Then I felt his hand grasp my arm tight. “Look, we don’t need your help if you’re going to be a prick about it,” he whispered louder.

  A few feet from us, a voice chuckled, “Fine
. Fine. You’re no fun messing with anyway.”

  Then I felt a presence behind me and the dog growled deeply. I threw my elbow backward, hard, into whoever had approached me.

  “Geez! You’re a spitfire, aren’t you,” the voice laughed.

  Then I felt him move around me in front of us, now close enough to see his outline.

  “I’m Lucan. Nice to meet you,” he said.

  “Are you helping us or not?” James wasn’t amused and I felt the tension from his hand leave my arm and wrap around my waist.

  “Here, take these.” Lucan placed an object in my hand, cold, hard like metal, then James let go of my waist and grabbed whatever was placed in his hands too. “Put them over your eyes, they’ll help you see,” Lucan ordered.

  I felt around for a strap and pulled the device over my head. Small. Reminding me of the goggles from work. I adjusted the fit on top my nose and then felt a hand reach around my face.

  “Hold still,” Lucan said.

  He pressed a button on the rim’s edge and all of a sudden everything was clearer—the hue, tint, was off, but still there was a little color. Mostly the shades varied through colors of green, grey, and black. I saw Lucan put his hands on top of James’ glasses and then James looked over at me.

  “You’re Penny, right?” asked Lucan.

  I nodded.

  “Where did you get these?” James asked, accusatory with his question. Obviously James hadn’t achieved the clearance level for devices such as these and wasn’t happy about it.

  “Whoa. Seriously, you have to loosen up, man. So? Can you both see?” Lucan gestured at the goggles.

  “Yes, these are fantastic!” I looked Lucan up and down. He was taller than James was, but not nearly as broad, and leaner with a chiseled jawline. A perfectly symmetrical face stared back at me from underneath his goggles. His pants were slightly too tight for my liking and so was his shirt, but he was definitely in shape. Thin vines covered his face and hands; paint completely absent from his skin.

  “All right. Here. Put these on.” Lucan handed me a pair of boots. “These should fit you. I took them from DeeZee. Don’t worry, she won’t miss them,” he laughed.

  I grabbed the boots and replaced them with my ankle-high shoes; a goofy looking balancing act being the only thing keeping me from falling in the mud while I stood on top of my old shoes putting the new ones on.

  “And you. Really? Throw this shirt on, muscle man.” Lucan tossed a long-sleeved shirt to James. “You’re gonna need it. It’s only getting colder.”

  James hesitated before taking the gun off his back and slipping the dark shirt over his head.

  “Okay, now follow me,” Lucan said.

  James’ arm blocked my path. “Hold on. You never said anything about coming with us.”

  “Look,” Lucan said. “I’ll help you get through the perimeter, but only if I can come with.”

  “That wasn’t the deal.” James’ voice raised, no longer a small whisper.

  “Okay, fine then. Take your chances and give me the glasses back.” Lucan held out his hand.

  I jumped into the conversation, not wanting to lose our only guide. “We need him, just let him come. He’s harmless,” I said. Plus, Lucan’s joking demeanor was hard not to like and a small part of me admitted he wasn’t bad looking either.

  “Why should we trust you?” James asked.

  “You don’t have to trust me. But I’m your only option.”

  James crossed his arms. “Are you sure you can get us over the perimeter?”

  “Positive,” Lucan replied.

  “Fine then. If this is a trap of any sort, I swear I’ll kill you first.” James meant every word and for Lucan’s sake, I really hoped this wasn’t a trap.

  “Great! Now let’s get out of here before we get caught. If my mom finds out I left—” Lucan continued with his yammering, completely ignoring James’ fatal warning and started walking further through the slimy swamp. I followed in the middle, Lucan in front of me, and James behind me.

  Eventually, the majority of rain stopped, though it was still misty. Large leaves from overhead had gathered rain, and they streamed down sporadically around us. A fog floated amidst the weeds as we trudged, and steam radiated from our mouths with every breath.

  We walked for an hour in silence; nobody spoke. The dog followed me, covered in mud like the rest of us, bold white fur completely caked all the way up to her neck. Fortunately, so far, the swamp wasn’t too deep, and she walked just fine among the drier parts, floating intermittently here and there. Occasionally, I’d hear a huge, dunking splash, and when I looked back, the dog was kicking her way to the next dry spot.

  Never had I been this far away from my home.

  Chapter Eight

  Another two hours passed before finally reaching the embankment of the swamp. My legs were nasty wet with the mud plastered to me, creating a suction-cupping effect against my skin. And I smelled horrible. I was in desperate need of a shower. I suddenly missed the ease and convenience of having a nice warm shower every morning. Yes, the Colony was only allowed one shower a day, water rations, but still I was allowed one a day. A sticky feeling lolled between my elbows and dirt stuck beneath my nails, pressing against that sensitive area of my fingertips.

  Lucan began unlacing his boots.

  “Let’s get a fire started,” he said.

  “Shouldn’t we keep going?” I was scared if we didn’t, the guards would surely catch us in the morning, and I didn’t want them having any better chance of finding us than they already did.

  “Look. We can’t keep hiking with wet shoes and clothes; it’ll slow us down later if we don’t take care of this now,” he warned as he tugged his left boot off.

  My cold toes moved inside my shoes, forcing me to realize the lack of feeling, numbness, whilst wiggling them.

  “How do you know we won’t run into any swamps again? Seems like a waste of time.” James disapproved of Lucan’s plan.

  “There are no more muddy swamps; it’ll be a straight shot. Okay? If our feet are dry, it’ll make it an easier, straight shot to the perimeter. I promise we’ll beat the guards there,” Lucan said. “Any other questions?” He glared at James.

  “Fine, but I’m helping.” James stormed off into the trees, pushing branches out of his way before disappearing.

  Lucan grabbed his duffel bag, unzipped the top, and pulled out a small, dry pack with matches inside. He placed the matches next to a clay vase, with a lid, and then he took out a blanket with pictures of a sun and moon like the cup I had drank from at Sidnee’s house. We still had the night goggles on, allowing us to see everything just fine. Then Lucan spread his blanket along the ground. It was large enough for him with a little extra space on the edge. He looked over at me. “It has a waterproof underside…plenty of room for you, if you like?” He patted the side of the blanket and rested his head on his bag. “Sure beats the wet ground.” His voice was playful, making me unsure if this was him attempting to flirt or simply trying to be nice.

  “No thanks. You really get on James’ nerves, you know?” I knew James was hearing every word he said.

  Lucan folded his arms over his chest, moved the goggles to his forehead, and closed his eyes. “Ah, he’ll be fine.”

  I shook my head, chuckling at his carefree behavior.

  “Why are you helping us?” I asked, certainly curious why someone from the Lowers would help someone from the Colony.

  His facial expression was plain and a smile played at the corner of his lips. “Well darlin’, that’s for me to know and you not to worry about,” he winked with his eyes still closed.

  I couldn’t figure him out.

  After a few more minutes, James returned with a couple branches and threw them in the center on the ground between Lucan and me. “Here L-U-C-A-N.” James pronounced the name as if he had suddenly taken a bite into a rotten, decomposed apple, spitting it out with clear repulsion.

  Lucan opened his eyes and adj
usted the goggles back in place, then he grabbed the pile of twigs and placed them in a careful, organized manner, forming a teepee effect. After, he poured some liquid from the vase on top and lit the match, tossing it in. A pile of little leaves caught fire quickly and puffed out ginormous amounts of gray smoke before dying completely.

  “Great job.” James clapped in amusement.

  “Well, maybe if someone didn’t grab the soggiest wood about, the fire would actually have a chance of working.” Lucan poured more flammable liquid and grabbed another match. He blew on the leaves catching fire and worked with the liquid, taking turns between blowing and waving his hands over the pile. Finally, the fire stayed lit with heaps of smoke beginning to lessen. We all took off our glasses. James brought over two short, fat logs from a fallen tree and placed them next to one another, making an easy spot for me to lay down out of the mud.

  Each of us placed our boots and socks next to the fire.

  “I’ll take first watch,” James said, sitting on the ground with his arms loosely wrapped around his knees.

  “Sounds good to me,” Lucan replied quickly, laying back down and closing his eyes.

  I gave James a look of amusement and then closed my eyes as well. My body slowly stopped shivering, an involuntary action I hadn’t notice until I became warm. The heat spread across me, causing me to instantly fall asleep.

  I dreamt of tiny bugs crawling under my clothes, biting me all over, and I woke up to somebody pulling my shirt off, causing me to fall over the side of the log and slam into the ground. Quickly, I jumped to my feet, only to realize nobody was taking my clothes off except for me. I was the one trying to undress, an embarrassing action on my part, reacting to the dream I just had.

  “You okay?” James asked.

  “Ya. Ya. Fine.” I was, if you excluded the part of my clothes now being re-wet and my hair painted with a fresh layer of mud.