If no one lives outside of Elpis—with the exception of the people in The Shield who have established their own ecosystem—that can only mean we are actually in Pax. Yet all these buildings are uncared for, bordering on abandoned.
A patrol of men and women in dark DMA uniforms approach the porch. I lean closer to try and listen, but the rustling sounds of movement and hushed conversations in the room make it impossible to hear anything. The troopers say something to the men on the porch, and the men respond with stiff postures and rude gestures. One of the guys strolls down the porch steps, cocky in the way he moves. He gets in a trooper’s face and says something.
A second later, the trooper has him pinned to the ground as another presses the guy’s palm against a scanning device. Zip-cuffs are fastened around the guy’s wrists, and he is dragged down the street. His friends rush off the porch after him, and a fight breaks out. A fight the DMA quickly wins as they pull weapons and shoot something at each of the men. Soon, all of them are carted off toward the end of the block. I can’t see that far.
I avert my gaze and catch Willow watching me as she sets up her sleeping bag. I expect her to act smug, but even in the dim light, I can see the sadness on her face.
Enid approaches, offering me a sleeping bag. “Hey. You okay?”
I shake my head not really knowing how to put this gut-gnawing feeling of remorse into words.
Willow has moved on, reviewing something on a handheld device and shaking her hair out of her ponytail.
“So, we expect to sneak off,” Enid says, keeping her voice low, “but if we are forced into a group with Willow, how are we going to find what your dad left behind?”
I unroll the sleeping bag and lay it out beside her. “We pretend to sleep until the others are out. Then you, me, and Sho head off to retrieve the stash and get back as quickly as we can.”
“Sho?” Enid casts a glance over her shoulder at him as he sets up beside Lily.
“I need his Echolocation unless you know where we’re going.”
“Okay, but Willow was just talking to the Protectorate people about watches,” Enid says, hugging her sleeping bag and glancing over at Willow.
It certainly makes this more of a challenge. My gaze drifts to Jayme, sitting on his sleeping bag, watching Miller slide his own bag up to his ears with his back to the room. Jayme grimaces, and his attention snaps fiercely to me. He wanted me in his group, and the anger he throws my way makes me wonder if maybe I should be concerned about my safety around him. He wouldn’t hurt me, would he?
“I have an idea.” I nod at Enid’s sleeping bag. “Get yourself in that thing. We need everyone to think we are sleeping.”
I do have an idea. A very bad one.
19
The adrenaline pumping through my body makes it impossible to sleep. I lie with my back to the room until soft snores and steady breathing make it clear most of the group is asleep. Lily takes the first watch with Sho keeping her company, and I wait patiently, running through everything I learned at The Shield, seeking clues as to how we can take down the Directorate. No answers reveal themselves.
Enid snoozes beside me, curled up in a tight ball in her own sleeping bag. Until we are ready to go, she should sleep.
In the middle of the night, during Willow’s watch, a concussive rumble rattles the windows. I jump, and a few of the others stir as well.
Willow leans close to the wall beside the window and peers out through the crack in the grime.
Arguing filters up to us from the street, but I can’t make out what’s being said. Someone is angry. That much is clear. A bang shakes silt from the ceiling and Lily coughs. Willow tenses, motioning for everyone to stay quiet as she keeps an eye on the street. Another bang, followed by a wave of heat, then the wailing of a fire siren.
Enid sits up. “I can put it out,” she whispers to Willow.
Willow shakes her head sternly, holding a finger to her lips.
Shouts of anger turn to frantic cries for help. The fire siren deafens my eardrums, and I, like several others, press my hands against my ears to drown out the noise. It takes nearly an hour for the emergency services to show up. By that time, our group is waiting to see if we will have to flee. A fire has burned up one of the houses and spread to the two neighbors. The response time of the fire services is abysmal. When they do show, Willow motions for us to go to sleep again. Everything is under control.
I need Willow to think I’m asleep, so I settle back down and close my eyes.
Enid shifts closer in her bag.
No one falls asleep for a while.
~
Jayme takes third watch. Once I’m convinced Willow is asleep, I roll over and assess the room. I need to talk to Jayme, but more importantly, I need his help. Hopefully, he isn’t truly out to get me, or I’m in serious trouble.
Careful not to stir Enid, I slide out of my sleeping bag and pick careful steps around everyone between Jayme and me. Miller scowls in his sleep at Jayme’s side.
“Get back to sleep,” Jayme whispers, glowering and crossing his arms.
“I can’t,” I say. “Not with the fires and noise that keep coming outside.”
Jayme acknowledges the comment with a half nod in the dim light but won’t look me in the eyes.
“Besides,” I say, crouching in front of him, “I’m curious to figure out why you’ve been so irritated with me.”
Chase snorts in his sleep and rolls over with a thump. Jayme and I both glance his way briefly.
When I look back, the corner of Jayme’s mouth curls up into a half sneer and he shakes his head, keeping his voice down. “And he said you were brilliant.”
I glance over to Miller. “So, his compliment made you angry?”
“No.” Jayme barks, then his lips thin and he sits up straighter, raising his chin, forcing himself to lower his voice. “The fact that he took a bullet for you—lost his Powers for you—and now is suffering because of you. That makes me angry. The fact that he insisted on coming on this mission with you when he shouldn’t be out of The Shield yet. That makes me angry.” His voice grows little by little with each proclamation, then he rises.
I stand as well, shrinking back at the way he towers over me.
Jayme continues, growling as he struggles to keep his voice down and not wake the others. “The fact that, despite all the shit you’ve put him through, he still doesn’t talk about much of anything but supporting you. That makes me angry. And the fact that he continues to put his life at risk to protect you. That…” He clenches his jaw and shakes his head, to furious with me to finish.
His logic is somewhat reasonable. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to blaming myself sometimes. But it isn’t just that. Jayme is jealous of my friendship with Miller.
“Do you think something is going on with us?” I ask. “Because there isn’t.”
“Yeah, sure there isn’t.”
“Look,” I say, leaning in close to keep my voice down. “Miller betrayed all of us to Paragon when we were preparing to escape. Do you know why? It wasn’t because of me.”
Jayme flinches, and some of the lines of anger smooth out of his face. Guess he doesn’t know everything.
“When I told him to run with the others, do you know what he said?” I aim a finger at his chest. “That you wouldn’t forgive him if he abandoned me.”
Jayme glances around the room then leans closer. “If he did such horrible things, then why do you keep hanging around him?”
“Because he deserves it.” I flick my gaze to Miller to make sure he is still asleep. “Sure, he did some dumb things before, but he’s also sacrificed so much for everyone—more than we can ever repay. I stick around because he’s been there for me when I’ve needed him, and he deserves the same in return from me.”
Jayme leans back against the wall, crossing his arms and clenching his jaw. “Fine. If there’s nothing going on between you, then just let him go.”
“As long as he is suffering, I w
ill stay by him…but only as his friend.” Frustrated, I scrub a hand over my face. “Look, I came over here because I need your help.”
“That’s rich.”
“Trust me, if anyone else could help instead, I would ask them.”
Jayme isn’t fazed by the comment.
I pull out the letter from my dad and point at the coordinates at the bottom of the page. “I need to get here, but I don’t know where it is, yet.”
Jayme grimaces and snatches the letter out of my hand. I only intended for him to read what I pointed out, but his eyes scan the page as he reads the whole thing. When he finishes, Jayme thrusts the letter against my chest. “So?”
“My dad was DMA General Powers,” I say as if that should explain it.
Jayme gets the picture now, raising his brows. “Your dad is general.”
I take the letter and smooth the page out again.
“Was,” I correct. “He died helping us escape Paragon, presumably right after he wrote that letter.”
“And what do you expect to find?”
Miller stirs and Jayme tenses, watching Miller for a moment.
“I don’t know. But Dad wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble if it wasn’t important. It could be the key to taking down the Directorate and Paragon.”
“Then we need to tell Willow.”
I should have expected that reaction. I huff out a breath. “I can’t.”
“I can.” Jayme starts toward Willow, but Miller grabs his ankle to stop him, propping himself up. “Miller, let go.”
“No. If Ugene can’t tell Willow, there’s a good reason. And that means you can’t tell her either.”
Jayme growls and crosses his arms, giving me a look that should destroy me. “I told you, there’s a way things need to be done or people get killed. You might think you’re something special, but you aren’t. Ugene, you’re no better than anyone else.”
“No.” Miller blocks Jayme’s path to Willow. “But he’s smarter.”
By this time, Enid has realized I’m not beside her and she now approaches. “Are we going?”
“You don’t even know where it is,” Jayme says, growing more irritated as Enid joins us.
“No, but he will.” I nod toward Sho, sleeping with his arm around Lily.
Jayme looms over me, his jaw so tight I’m surprised I can’t hear his teeth cracking against each other. Panic seizes my chest. Would he hurt me in front of Miller?
He growls, “You’re going whether I agree or not.” He says it like a statement of fact.
And he’s right. I nod.
“We don’t have long,” he snaps under his breath, snatching his jacket off the floor.
“Long until what?” I ask.
Jayme glances at the rest of the sleeping party. “Next watch starts in about an hour, which doesn’t leave us much time to find this thing and get back here.”
I start picking my way through the slumbering bodies behind Miller and Enid, but Jayme grabs my arm in a painful vice grip and leans close. His blue eyes flash dangerously as he stares down at me.
“No funny business,” he hisses. “I’ve been warned that you don’t like following rules. But out here if we aren’t careful, we will either die, or worse, end up in the Directorate’s hands. This trip goes against my better judgment. Only me and Enid have useful fighting Powers to protect us. So, this package better be worth the risk.”
“I hope so.” I lower my gaze to his grip and then flick them back to his still crazed eyes. “Now, can we go?”
After one last snarl, he releases me and heads for the door. Enid is already quietly waking Sho to fill him in, and in moments we are all gathered to go, leaving the rest of the group behind for now.
20
Jayme assumes the head position as he leads us into the hallway. No one else argues the fact because none of us have been here before. But Jayme has been on missions for the Protectorate in Pax before. He knows his way around. He instructs us to stick close to the wall and keep our steps as quiet as possible. Every scrape of a shoe on the dirty floor makes me flinch. Every sound echoes off the walls.
I can hardly see Sho walking in front of me in the darkened hallway. Enid is close at my back, her fist closing around my jacket.
“The rail is stable,” Jayme whispers back to us. “Hold it and step down carefully. Nine steps down, follow the wall around the landing, then nine more to the ground floor.”
Sho sneezes, and Jayme hushes all of us.
I hold my breath, waiting for something terrible to happen, but not sure what that might be. Willow catching us, maybe? With my heart pounding, I continue down, counting the steps and shuffling along the landing to the next flight.
When we reach the bottom, I see the exit—a large, rectangular window above the double doors is boarded up. An eerie yellow light from the street slips through the cracks around the doors, which also have boards over them. The dim light doesn’t offer a good view of the room. This was once a commercial building, now abandoned.
The rattle of a chain echoes off the walls, and I hold my breath again, watching the stairs. But again, nothing comes.
Jayme opens a gap in one of the doors, motioning for us to hold, then he slips outside. Enid nudges closer to me.
“Sho, what can you make of this?” I ask, waving him over as we wait for Jayme to return.
Sho takes the letter I offer and squints at the page in the darkened room. “This is where we are going?”
I nod. “Do you know where it is?”
Sho raises his head, turning in a slow circle and stops, facing a certain direction—I can’t tell which way it is from inside this building.
“That way.” He nods forward.
“Jayme told me we need to stick to the shadows and keep quiet if this is going to work,” Enid says.
I nod. “He doesn’t like me much.”
“Give him some time,” Sho says. “I don’t think any of us liked you at first.”
“Thanks,” I say, then chuckle a little, wary of making too much noise.
Miller hovers near the door, waiting for Jayme’s return. He pulls his hood tight against his mess of blond hair. Judging by the way he shifts anxiously and peers through the gap in the doorway, someone might think Jayme’s been gone forever. But after only a few seconds, Jayme slips back in and motions for us to follow.
This is the part of town I’ve been cautioned to avoid since I was a child. Dad worked out here a lot, but he never let me come along. I watched the news though and heard him complain to Mom about crime here. Pax is the worst, most impoverished part of town. People live here when they have nowhere else to go. And now it seems the Directorate is determined to drive the poor even out of this neighborhood.
Cool night air caresses my face, bringing with it the stench of rotten food and refuse. Trash piles up on the side of the street, enhancing the pungent aroma. The plumbing system in Pax is clearly far from adequately operational. It’s a wonder this place isn’t a breeding ground for disease. Maybe it is. How would I know? I’ve spent my life sheltered from the truth in the richest neighborhood in all of Elpis.
I zip my jacket and glance at Enid in her oversized sweatshirt as she folds her hands into the sleeves.
The borough was named Pax during the founding of Elpis in honor of the symbol of peace it represented. Walking the dimly lit streets, Pax feels anything but peaceful. Yellow streetlights and the glow of the moon are the only illuminations against the dangers lurking in the shadows.
The slums in Pax are some of the worst in all of Elpis. While the city was founded with Powers, it’s hard to believe looking at the state of the buildings in Pax. Wooden structures were erected as the city expanded to accommodate the growing population.
At night, it’s hard to tell which buildings have been abandoned and which are occupied. All of them have the same boarded or shuttered windows and darkness within. The roads are paved but full of potholes unfilled because vehicles don’t travel the stre
ets anymore, and DMA shuttles don’t need a smooth road to travel.
Shouts from an alley a block away make me jump, but it isn’t directed at us.
Jayme keeps us close to the buildings, moving from shadow to shadow. Sometimes I feel eyes on me and glance into the depths of the darkened alleys. Even the smallest noise makes us leap and hurry our steps. We walk in a tight mass, occupying as little space as possible.
No one speaks. Silence is our friend.
The homes in Pax are in a pitiful state. The little homes sit so close together only a narrow path offers access to even smaller backyards. Most of the homes are one story, with a few two-story homes mixed in. Aside from barred or boarded windows, the foundations are cracked, and one corner sinks deeper into the ground. Collapsed porches are rigged with metal posts scavenged from abandoned buildings. Some of the homes with sloped roofs have boards nailed in over the shingles.
Aside from hearing a few shouts or laughs from a distance, no one else walks the streets. The complete absence of people instills a deep sense of urgency in me. I know thousands of people live in Pax. Where is everyone hiding? And why? Downtown, people would still be moving around. It would be spread out, a person here, another there over a few blocks. But we manage to make it three blocks without seeing another soul.
Jayme pulls us up against one of the houses as Sho uses his Echolocation Power to try and find the right coordinates. The soft hum of an approaching engine pushes all of us into an alley as we hold our breath. A few seconds later, a DMA shuttle crawls past, making sweeps with its spotlight. Who will they find at this time? Who are they looking for? Is it us?
Sho nods Jayme to the right, and motions around a corner nearby.
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