After dinner, once I’d told Priscila and Kendall goodnight, I collapsed on my bed without even changing into my night clothes and fell asleep almost immediately. And for some reason, my dreamland that night wasn’t at all nightmarish. Maybe it was because more good than bad had happened that day.
I’m standing in a beautiful garden. There are pink and white flowered hedges on either side of me. Its night time, and the stars and moon shine down on the garden, illuminating it with a strange but beautiful glow.
Eventually, I reach a large section of the garden with flowering cherry blossoms and a roaring waterfall cascading down into a shimmering pond. Everywhere there are tiny white flowers, tinged with pink, identical to the one Vanissa gave me. I reach down and pick one. Then I just stare at it, absorbed in its beauty.
Just then, a girl slides down from the limb of a cherry tree, landing soundlessly on the ground. It’s Vanissa. At the same time Owen and Livia step out from behind two trees. They’re all smiling and waving for me to join them. My three best friends, in a beautiful garden, in the cool of night—what more could I ask for? I take my first step towards them…when suddenly I hear something. “Britta!” Someone’s calling my name.
“Britta, wake up!” I sat straight up, back in my bed. Priscila was standing by my bed, looking scared.
“Britta, Every’s here. She wants to see you. I think it’s something important.”
A million thoughts rushed through my head. What had happened? It must have been something terrible if she was here at…what time was it—three, maybe four in the morning?
But, despite my fears, I forced myself out of bed. Slipping on my boots, I made my way to the door.
Every was standing there; her face pale.
“Britta,” she said in a rushed tone. “They’re here. And they’ve ordered everyone to meet in the center of town.”
4
Before I could ask who was here, I saw the lights coming from the mountain. The lights that could only come from one thing…
“Priscila,” I said, grabbing my bag. “Go get Kendall. Tell him to get dressed and bring a coat. Then I’ll meet you in the center of town, by the school.”
She seemed to already realize what a serious situation it was. She turned and hurried to wake Kendall. I slung my bag over my shoulder and snatched my jacket off a hook, pulling it on as I followed Every.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Aren’t they just bringing supplies or something?”
“No,” she said. “They don’t have any supplies with them and none of us are sixteen yet. So I don’t know why they’re here.” A dark expression came over her face. “However, I do know that the lights of their aircrafts appeared only half an hour after several of the sick kids died.”
I gasped. “We’re going to be in town. Everyone will be there. We’ll be directly exposed to every possible person who could have the disease.”
“We’ll just have to stay as far from the crowd as possible.”
It was early morning, and the first lights of dawn were just beginning to appear over the horizon as we reached town. I was walking over to the school, where I’d told Priscila to meet me, when I remembered I should probably find my friends. Fortunately, Owen and Livia were already there, it being our designated meeting place.
“Where’s Vanissa?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Livia said. “We’d better look for her.”
She was about to walk into the crowd when I stopped her. “No, we’ll get lost in there. I know another way.”
My alternative idea was to climb up to the school roof, and look for her from above. I had no trouble scaling the wall; I simply put my hands and feet into the cracks between boards. Owen and Livia however, couldn’t manage to do it. They took an unneeded amount of care to be safe. And no matter what method they tried, they didn’t even make it halfway.
“Why don’t you wait down there in case Priscila and Kendall show up while I’m up here?” I said, trying not to make it sound as if I thought they wouldn’t be able to make it to the top. (Of course, that’s exactly what I thought.)
They agreed, so I made my way to the top, holding carefully to the slanted roof.
The center of town was basically the area encircled by the buildings. In the early morning light, it was hard to pick out just one particular person. And the area wasn’t very big, so, as even more people gathered; filling the area with people, it became nearly impossible. I was about to give up, when I spotted her on the opposite side of town. She was looking around, most likely trying to find us or a way through the crowd to our meeting place.
I slid down the roof and leapt to the ground. Owen and Livia stared at me, probably wondering how I’d done it.
“I found them,” I said simply, and then hurried into the crowd.
Pushing my way through the crowd wasn’t an easy task, but I somehow managed it. When Vanissa saw me a look of relief came over her face.
“Britta, thank goodness. I didn’t think I’d ever find you.” Then she glanced in the direction of the helicopters. “We can’t trust them, Britta. They’ve never given us a single reason to.”
If someone else had told me that I might not have been worried. But Vanissa was extremely smart, so I considered what she’d said.
“You’re right. But we don’t have much of a choice. Let’s just go along with them for now, and figure something out later.”
She nodded, and we made our way back to the school, weaving in and out of the crowd. When we got there, Priscila and Kendall were there, sitting on the steps next to Owen and Livia. No one said anything, we simply sat down next to them…waiting. I suddenly wished I had a warmer coat on. In the chilly morning air I moved closer to Priscila. And then we all sat there, watching the sunrise, watching the crowd, and, in our minds, wondering what would happen to us. I don’t know how long we stayed there. Maybe it was only minutes, but it seemed like an eternity.
“Attention,” said a female voice over a microphone, startling me. I disliked her immediately. “Attention, all islanders.”
The nervous chatter and whispers turned to silence, as everyone gazed attentively up at the woman, standing on a small, makeshift platform.
“As confused as you all presumably are right now, no long explanation can be given yet. All you need to know is that, because of the disease, all of you, no matter what your age, will be leaving the island today."
Different reactions seemed to ripple through the crowd. Confusion, happiness, fear, hopefulness…I don’t know what I was thinking. I simply couldn’t believe it. An odd wave of dizziness passed over me. I’d had no time to prepare for that statement. I had a nervous, jittery feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was a feeling which could only be identified as excitement. I should have been scared. There was no telling what could await me. I couldn’t even trust these people or the books they’d given us about the outside world. But all of us leaving, at the same time, meant I’d never have to worry about leaving Priscila and Kendall. We wouldn’t be separated. My life would no longer be one long mystery. My questions would be answered. And, eventually, I’d be free. Wasn’t that what I'd wanted all along?
“That is,” continued the platform lady, “unless you test positive for the disease. Then you’ll remain here.”
Silence—no one said a thing.
“When your name is called just step forward and you’ll be given a few tests. If you test negative then proceed forward, where you’ll be organized into groups, according to age. If you’re separated from siblings, you can reunite with them when we get to the helicopter.”
After about thirty more seconds of silence, the crowd suddenly exploded into chaos. People rushed around, shoving each other, trying to find friends or family. Others talked in rushed, frantic voices. And some, just stood there staring off into the distance as if they’d already tested positive. I stood up; but I don’t know why, because there wasn’t anything I could do.
Every, and a few other fifteen-year-olds
, had just been called and she was calling Owen and Livia. I whirled around. They stood up, surprisingly calm, and were just beginning to walk away, when I stopped them.
“Wait! Remember to meet up with me after the testing.”
“Don’t worry,” Livia said. “Since the groups are being organized by age your name will probably be called next.”
She was right; as soon as Owen and Livia had reached the front I heard my own name.
“Britta Lockhart.” The name echoed around the buildings. But, I realized, I didn’t have a choice. I had to go up to the front. It all happened so quickly. I didn’t have time to think, or recover from shock.
I turned quickly to Priscila. “When they call your name, just go to the front, do what they tell you, and I’ll meet up with you on the helicopter. And make sure Kendall gets passed the test and knows what to do.”
Then I turned; making my way to the front. When I got there I was given a name tag and escorted to one of the little medical stations that they’d erected earlier that day. They did a couple of simple tests. They took my blood pressure and temperature, used some kind of special light to look in my eyes and then drew my blood for testing.
Finally one of the nurses said, in what seemed like a sort of out-of-place, cheerful voice, “Congratulations, Miss Lockhart you’ve tested negative. You made proceed forward and join the other fifteen-year-olds on your left."
I walked over to the little group and stood next to Owen and Livia. None of us said anything.
I didn’t have time to worry about Vanissa. In a moment she was standing beside me. She told me they’d put fifteen-year-olds and fourteen-year-olds together, but I only replied with an absent-minded:
“That’s good.”
I really was happy to get to be with her, but I couldn’t get my mind off Priscila and Kendall. What if they tested positive? Would these people really just leave them here and not come back? No, they wouldn’t do that…would they?
It seemed to take forever. Watching kids, rigid with anticipation, make their way up to the testing stations. Watching them walk to their group, full of relief. Or, once in a while, watching kids walk slowly away; despair in their eyes. I saw the happy reunions of those who passed and heard the despairing cries of those who were separated.
Finally, Priscila’s name was called. She walked forward; absolutely calm. They ran all the same tests they had on me and then told her something. Priscila’s expression was unreadable. She came out of the medical area and the world seemed to move in slow motion. And then, she turned towards us.
I was so relieved I couldn’t speak. But, as it turned out, I didn’t have to. Because before she could get to me, an attendant led her away to a separate group. My relief was so great; I thought there was no possible way for it to increase. I was wrong. Because, a moment later Kendall passed the testing and I felt like a thousand pounds had just been lifted off my shoulders. Even so, I knew this was only the beginning. We had a long way to go before we were truly safe.
After everyone had been tested and put into groups, we began the long trek up the mountain. The fourteen- to fifteen-year-old group was at the back, with only the platform lady and a few others with her, behind us. Everyone in my group chattered nervously about the events of the day, except me. I hung back, lagging a little ways behind.
Something was bothering me. The fact that they’d left the kids with the disease, behind. Would they ever come back for them? My guess was no. Maybe they simply didn’t have a cure, and didn’t want it to spread. My questions didn’t go unanswered however, because just then, I heard voices from behind me.
“What are we going to tell them, about why we left the infected ones behind? They’ll never believe we just don’t have a cure.”
I pretended to be interested in the conversation ahead of me, when, really I concentrated totally on the one behind me.
“We’ll tell them that the medicine has to be given within twelve hours of the first symptom,” said another voice. “And tell them that, they were all too far gone for that. Besides, we couldn’t use the medicine. It’s much too expensive to waste on a couple of them.
"It doesn’t matter anyway. They won’t be our problem for much longer. We just need them not to be any trouble for a few, short weeks. Then it’ll be over.”
What? At first, I didn’t understand. Then the shocking realization, that, they had a cure and were simply not going to use it, because of costs, completely made up my mind. I was one hundred percent sure I couldn’t trust them. I couldn’t trust anything they said or did.
I don’t know what I was thinking, or why I did it, but I stepped out of line and turned to face them. “You can’t just leave them here to die!” I said loudly.
The woman from the platform looked at me; her gaze steely. “Get back in line Miss…” She glanced at my name tag. “Lockhart.”
I stood there, and went over what I knew in my head. I wanted to tell her that I knew there was a cure and she was killing those kids. But if she left them there to die, would she be an enemy I wanted to make? No. Would it gain me anything? No. So, doing what I thought would be best for me, Priscila and Kendall, I stepped back in line, without another word.
As we walked, I noticed the chatter had died down tremendously. Now, the kids near me just kept glancing between themselves and me. Only Vanissa understood I must have figured something out.
She stepped near me and asked, in a low tone, “What?” That’s all she needed to say. I understood exactly what she meant.
“I overheard something,” I said quietly, so no one else could hear. “I’ll tell you later.”
The way up the mountain seemed to take less time than usual. Most likely it was because I had so much to think about. About why these people were here, why they were taking us away, why I didn’t trust them and how I planned to escape.
I decided to stick with my plan of going along with them for the time being; find out information about them. And if they were telling the truth, and we’d be free to go, after the test— great. If they were lying, and had something else in mind, I’d leave; find a way to escape.
When we reached the top of the mountain, (a large flat area of dry grass), I finally pulled myself out of my thoughts and into the real world.
5
Group by group, we all went up the ramp and into the huge aircraft. (The helicopters also had ladders, so you could climb on while they hovered above a place. But that would take way too long with the couple hundred people that were with us.) When I reached the top of the ramp I found myself in a sort of entryway, secluded from the rest of the helicopter.
“May I see your tag?” asked an attendant at a desk.
“Um, sure,” I replied, handing it to her. Only, I wasn’t looking at her. I was gazing around the room.
Everything here was so…nice. It was a little colorless I guess, but then, I was used to run-down shacks and torn clothing. Compared to that, the gray walls and slick floor were without flaw.
The attendant told me to go straight down the hall until I reached section five. I did so, and wasn’t disappointed. It was much better than the regular area of seats I’d expected. Section five had bathrooms, showers and a bed for each person. Everyone had their own separate space with curtains, that could be drawn for privacy and a bag filled with all the things we might need: new clothes, (which were gray and identical but much appreciated) a new pair of boots, an extra blanket, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush and other similar items. And to make it even better, Kendall and Priscila’s spaces were on either side of mine, making it like one, large space.
Once I’d freshened up and changed clothes, there wasn’t much to do, so I walked around section five, seeing how many people I knew were there. Vanissa was there but Owen and Livia had been assigned different spaces. Once I was tired of that, I looked around for windows, to look out of, but found there weren’t any.
I’d always thought flying would be exhilarating; so high up in the clouds, able to loo
k down at the land from thousands of feet above. The problem was there were no windows and therefore nothing to look down at. And the helicopter we were in was so vast you could barely feel any motion. I’d felt takeoff of course, but once we were flying steadily, it was surprisingly smooth. I’d certainly never imagined flying would be boring. Although I guess it wasn’t so much a bored feeling, as it was an anxious feeling of anticipation.
I explained to Priscila and Kendall what our plan was and how not to trust these people; simply go along with them. I wandered around some more and then, I just hung around Vanissa’s space, not doing anything in particular. Then suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
“Vanissa,” I said. “We’ve already figured out what we plan to do, and, for now there’s nothing else to do. So really, there’s nothing keeping us from enjoying ourselves is there?”
Vanissa perked up immediately. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“Well, there’s not really anything keeping us in section five, is there? So, why don’t we spend some time exploring?”
Vanissa was completely up for the idea so we spent the morning, sneaking through the halls, exploring different rooms and, only returning to our spaces to eat meals of delicious sandwiches and some sort of fizzy drinks.
Once, we had a close call, when rounding a slippery corner that an attendant was on the other side of. Fortunately we slipped into a room, before she saw us, waiting until she left.
That night my dreamland was a world of confusion and frustration. Everything I wanted or needed was just out of reach. When I woke, sometime during the night, I couldn’t remember a single one of them. I guess that’s the way it is with most dreams. During them, they make total sense, but when you wake up you can’t make sense of it all.
Since I couldn’t go back to sleep, I tried reviewing the events of the day—except, it had all happened so quickly it was a blur in my mind. So I simply closed my eyes and drifted into a half-sleep. And when I opened them again, the dim night-time lights had been replaced with the ordinary bright ones.
The Other Side (The Other Side Trilogy Book 1) Page 3