Defiance

by Hannah Hanson

CHAPTER FIVE

  As the sun set and the shadows of the evening crept in, Amelia followed the young girl through back passageways of Area Seven. Although the girl had said she wasn’t completely sure where her home was, Amelia did not believe her. All she knew was there was something unsettling about the girl.

  The girl was called Elysia, a name Amelia had never heard in all her years.

  “Does your name mean anything?”

  “Blissfully sweet.”

  Amelia was becoming accustomed to her near-silent companion. Even though she spoke little, it was comforting to have a traveling partner. It also helped that Elysia had enough money to enable them to take the route ten bus to Area Seven. At one point, Amelia wanted to ask how Elysia had come to have such money in her possession, but in fear of being abandoned, she remained silent, occasionally glancing at Elysia’s frail frame out of curiosity.

  Amelia glanced around as darkness clouded the sky. She didn’t know where she was. The houses looked just like those in Area Eleven: old, withered, and abandoned. The sky was full of stars and a soft, warm breeze rustled the leaves scattered on the ground. Even in the emptiness of the night, the air was heavy with the stench of bodies. Her nostrils flared in disgust. An expression of deepest revulsion flashed across her face for a moment. She heaved at the smell of something dead.

  “What is that?”

  “Nothing.”

  Elysia turned to face her. Her pale face seemed to almost glow in the darkness. Did a bilious, spiteful smile wander over her thin, pink lips for a fraction of a second? Amelia was certain of it. Chilled and shivering, more from fear than the cold, she stared at the girl, whose expression loosened. Elysia quickly forced an exaggerated smile and said, “This place always smells like this.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t know where we were going?” Amelia asked. Everything felt saturated with the pungent smell. It was so stuffy. Her breathing had suddenly become uneven. “I can’t…” The words came out of her mouth as little more than an indistinct whisper. Just as the smell was there, it was gone. The air suddenly became clear and welcoming. The pressure in her chest that threatened to explode into a piercing pain ceased. Amelia straightened herself. She stared at Elysia. Her eyes were met with the twinkling of innocence.

  There was something wrong. Very wrong.

  Elysia grabbed her hand and pulled her into a small path. The path was seldom used and overgrown, and the branches thrashed beside them in the wind. “I remember where home is now. You can rest there for a bit.”

  Amelia shrugged away the last tendrils of fear that gripped her and followed Elysia through the darkness. She dared not look anywhere but straight ahead. In the darkness that surrounded her, she feared even a curious glance would be dangerous.

  She screeched loudly as her foot caught on something. Panicked, she leaped forward, racing through the darkness, almost forgetting Elysia. The silence lay so heavily, she could feel it dropping over the night. Then, with no warning at all, they burst from the pathway into a dimly lit street. She felt Elysia’s small hand tugging at her coat, her eyes dilated against the unwelcomed light. Amelia felt a cold shiver trickle down her spine, tingling.

  “Where is this?”

  “You’ll become famous,” Elysia said as she laughed through her nose, her small body heaving and shaking. Amelia, confused by the sudden change in character, flinched. But by now, Elysia had once again turned into the innocent girl she had first met, the darkness that lurked within only barely visible.

  Amelia, once again convinced herself that she was merely a damaged child, nothing more. She stepped into the street and, to her surprise, it was littered with people. It wasn’t overcrowded, but certainly nothing like Area Eleven, where everyone hid inside their homes as the last streak of sunlight disappeared from the sky.

  “I know you know more than you’re telling me, Elysia.”

  “And what exactly do you think I know?” Her voice was nothing more than a contained whisper.

  “For a start, you give me the impression that you’re a poor, innocent, and ignorant waif, and yet you articulate well and beyond your age.”

  “I like reading.”

  Books, although not banned, were scarce, and those who found comfort in the pages of writing had to go to Internet stores, paying for their daily fix. There had been a time when libraries were scattered across the country, but after the War, society had no use for them.

  As Amelia became accustomed to the light, her nerves rose to taunt her once again. It was now clear that the ringing in her ears was a warning as she watched the crowd walk in one direction like zombies. She started to say something, but the words drowned in her fear.

  Someone placed a large firm hand over her mouth and dragged her body into the dark pathway. She felt a blow against the side of her head; the piercing pain left her nauseated. Yet it was not shock, but a different feeling, more like dread, that seized her. She did not recall anything else in that moment, except Elysia’s exaggerated smile and her tender hand always beckoning her. She forced herself to concentrate on staying conscious, to remain alive, but in the sinking darkness, she found comfort, a delightful peace that her body yearned for.