by P. S. Lurie
“That was easy,” I say to myself. I hope my luck doesn’t end there but no sooner than I push the door open does something smack me in the face and leave me stunned.
Ruskin
Jack is the next to scramble up the stairs into the room, putting his concern for me over his own safety but any relief that I’m not injured is lost to what I have done. Ronan is on the floor, passed out or dead, whilst I am standing over his body holding a strip of metal that we scavenged from the wreck of the Utopia thinking that we could build a stretcher for Selene but learning the tunnel would never allow for the space needed.
“What did you do?”
Ronan’s on his front but I can see his stomach rise and fall. “He’s alive,” I say, defiantly. What Jack hasn’t noticed is that I have pocketed the gun.
Ronan’s torch is still shining but faces the floor so doesn’t do much. One by one, the others join us in the low-light, pleased to be out of the tunnel but alarmed by my attack.
“You could have killed him,” Melissa says, as she crouches down to check on him. Selene, who knows the uniform better than anyone, flicks off the light on his sleeve.
“Hold it,” Travis says. “He might be dangerous.”
“He’s unconscious,” says Melissa. She turns him over and sits him up; his eyes are half-open but vacant. A gash on his forehead where I hit him oozes with blood. “Doesn’t take a doctor to work out it’s a nasty wound.”
Dante has already made his way out of the room to scout the rest of the area. Samuel, Tess and Claire are the last to arrive. Melissa reaches into her bag and retrieves a towel but it only soaks with blood rather than stopping it. “I don’t have anything that will stop the flow.”
“Ruskin,” Jack says. “You should put that down.”
I don’t realise until then that I am still gripping the bar. I have a flashback to being in the prison when I held onto a metal pole, similar to this but smaller. Jack, who claims he is ready for a fight, still cowers at the first hint of violence. “You still believe him? He killed an innocent person.”
“Just put it down, ok?”
Something in my head is screaming for me to listen to him but I can’t, an aggressive streak is burning bright and won’t subside. I take in Jack’s face. He seems scared of me. I manage to break my oppositional stance and drop the bar. “Happy?”
“Thanks.”
“He lied to us.”
“I’m with him,” Travis says.
Samuel joins in. “He did seem spooked by something Patrick saw.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “But...” My hand must be reaching to the gun as Jack works out that I have taken it.
“Just be careful with that thing.”
“I’m protecting us.”
“Give the gun to an adult,” Travis says, holding out his hand.
I think for a moment. “Sure. An adult.” I hand Samuel the gun, who quickly slips it into the mesh on the side of the backpack, willing to take it to break the tension but uncomfortable in its presence. “I’m sorry Jack. I know he’s just a kid but you know what President Callister did to him.”
“He’ll be ok,” Melissa says. “But I could do with some stitches. There are some at the hospital.”
“Leave him,” Travis says.
Selene smacks her hand against her forehead. “And we find the entrance to the fortress how exactly?”
“We need to get to the hospital,” Claire says.
Dante returns. “No one around. How long to get there and back?”
Melissa goes to dab Ronan’s forehead. “Maybe twenty minutes each...” but is stopped as Ronan grabs her wrist and makes her scream. I jump, as do Tess and some of the others. I notice Ruskin lifts his fists ready to fight but then regains sense and lowers them.
“I’m fine.” Ronan tries to stand but is woozy.
“He’s concussed,” Melissa says.
“Don’t feel a thing.”
I wonder if part of the training that the Upperlanders made Ronan and the others go through was teaching them how to numb their sense of pain. A fearless army of children ready to die in the name of President Callister’s new world. I crouch down in front of Ronan. “Sorry about that.”
“I get it. You don’t trust me.”
“No.”
“We’re after the same thing. I just want Theia back and I need your help.”
With that, I realise that he is our best chance to make it up to the fortress and I might have set us back. I can’t let my impulsivity be the end for us but I’m also going to monitor Ronan. Any more paranoia and I won’t let him off as easy next time. “Fine. For now, we’re on the same side.”
“That’s enough. For now.” Ronan tries to stand and I help pull him up even though he is remarkably capable.
“Slow down there,” Melissa says. “Give yourself a minute.”
Ronan checks his watch. “I would if we had time but they’re coming this way.”
Selene
I pace the room, anxious that we’re back in the Upperlands near where the Utopia exploded and by the Fence where my mother was killed when I would rather be anywhere but here. Maybe it was a mistake not to go with the community onto the boats but I know that I would be even more aggravated there. I know what I told Melissa but now that I’m here I’m not so sure I can ignore what I’m being drawn to. I need to be here or the ghosts will haunt me forever. Ruskin’s attack on Ronan may be the opportunity I was after.
“I’ve got to get him to the hospital,” Melissa says.
“Good idea,” says Tess. “I’ll go with you.” I ignore her willingness to go there; Samuel may be oblivious but I have my suspicions about a secret she is keeping from him.
“We don’t have time,” Ronan says, leaning against the wall.
“Sorry,” Ruskin repeats.
“It’s fine.” Ronan scoops up blood that hangs over his brow and flicks it to the ground. “This is nothing.”
“Where’s the entrance?” Travis asks.
“I’m not sure exactly where we are but considering the length of the tunnel it must be about twenty or so blocks back from here. It’s in the building closest to the base of the mountain. I can draw it out for you. Most of the soldiers will be on their way through the Fence but a few may hold back. Some will be at the entrance to the fortress.”
Dante speaks up. “How did you get past them again?”
“I have friends. I told you.”
“Are they dangerous?” Claire asks.
“Depends who’s around observing them. They know today is the climax of everything we’ve trained for. It depends how much they still believe President Callister. They know what I was planning.”
Jack and Ruskin are discussing something privately and Tess helps Melissa go through her bag but they come up empty. I figure a decision needs to happen soon. “We let the guards pass. Our people should be on their way to the sea so there’s nothing we can do and we’ll be dead if we try to hold an army back. Ronan?”
“I think I probably do need stitches. Doesn’t warrant all of us going out in the open.” He checks the time again. “Maybe an hour, two at most.”
Jack rejoins the group. “Agreed. So, a small number of people will go to the hospital.”
“The rest?” Tess asks.
“All of us,” Travis says. “We’re not splitting up. A detour and that’s it.”
“No,” says Claire. “A few of us will monitor the entrance to the fortress and meet you there. Ninety minutes?”
“Sure, but I’m going with them.” Travis points at Melissa and Ronan. “They’re the ones in the know. Not letting anyone harm them.”
“Us too,” Tess says, referring to her and Samuel.
“Fine,” Ronan says. “Me, Melissa, Travis, Tess and Samuel.” He bends down and runs his fingers through the gravel that scatters along the concrete floor from the comings and goings into the earthy tunnel. He draws out a map of the vicinity around the entrance to the fortress. “This is t
he only way in and out. There’s a watch-point in this opposite corner on the third floor.” He marks a spot one block away from there. “We meet here.”
“Sounds good,” Jack says. “Dante?”
“I’ll go with you.”
Ronan fiddles with the communication device but doesn’t turn it on. “It’s still working but I can’t contact my friends yet or I’ll give our location away. Ruskin, Jack, the soldiers are marching through. Don’t let them spot you.”
“Thanks,” says Ruskin.
Jack turns to me and Melissa, caring the most about the two of us. “You’ll be ok?”
“Yeah,” Melissa says. “Be careful.”
“Selene?” Ruskin asks.
I’m absent-mindedly thinking about what to do but my mind can’t focus. Hospital or towards the fortress? My mind feels heavy with murky water, as if I can’t quite see where to go but that’s because I’m trying to ignore the third option.
“Selene?”
I weigh up the two groups and work out which will be easier to break off from without resistance... Melissa, Travis, Samuel, Tess and Ronan, or Ruskin, Jack, Claire and Dante.
“Yeah, the hospital.”
“Ok,” Jack says, looking dubious that I’m on par with the plan. “Any problems and we’ll head towards you. Otherwise we meet where Ronan suggested. Weapons?”
“I have a gun,” Samuel says.
“Same here,” Travis and Claire both answer, so that’s at least one per group. “We’ll be there by two o’clock,” Travis continues. “Stay safe.”
Everyone concurs and picks up their bags to start up again. We make our way out of the room and up a flight of stairs that become more presentable, as if the tunnel was an anomaly and we are fully back in the Upperlands.
“How are you doing?” Melissa asks me.
“I’m fine. Glad I stretched this morning.” At least I figure she was asking about my injuries. We pass through a door into an exact replica of the atrium that looks like Nathaniel’s building except the view outside through the glass doors is different. Cars that line the street are smashed and blackened and a layer of dust lines the chipped walls of the apartment block opposite, within the vicinity of the Utopia. This is the dystopian version of the Upperlands; abandoned and laid to waste. I can’t see the main wreckage site but we must be close and I can’t pass up the opportunity but I bide my time until we’ve split off from the others.
I know that Ruskin and Jack were moved into apartments straight from the tunnel and then to the prison and the fact that it looks the same as the other buildings must have made it even more difficult to locate. Taking their time allowed my recovery but not long enough to independently leave the hospital and return to where the ship’s debris showered down on me. No time to bury my mother. Or unearth Nathaniel.
Claire, Dante, Ruskin and Jack check there’s no one up ahead and move off to the north whilst we’re supposed to head west from here. They push against the buildings listening out for anybody until they’re out of sight.
“You good to go?” Samuel asks Ronan. Theia’s brother is remarkably composed although it’s clear that he’s lost a lot of blood and can’t afford to lose much more.
“No problem,” Ronan replies, but doesn’t shrug off Melissa’s arm from supporting him. “All I really need is a needle and some string.”
Travis leads the way. “Heroics later.”
Melissa is looking ahead with a concerned expression on her face. “I didn’t realise where we were. It’s farther than I thought.”
“Let’s move fast then,” Travis replies.
I watch as Melissa, Travis, Ronan, Samuel and Tess start to head in the opposite direction but I don’t budge from my position.
“Melissa,” I call.
She turns around and instantly knows what I’m thinking. “Oh, Selene.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Come on,” Tess calls, as Samuel helps Ronan whilst Melissa comes back to where I am, but I’m already half-turned, looking towards the gaps between the buildings where this time last year the Utopia would have been prominent and instead I can just make out splices of the Fence.
“Once this is over we’ll go together,” she bargains with me.
“I need to see it for myself.”
“Leave her,” Travis shouts. “She’ll slow us down anyway.”
“Ignore him,” Melissa says.
“He’s right. You’ll be quicker without me. I’ll meet you back there.”
“Want me to come with?” Samuel says, having returned.
“No but thanks. You should go to the hospital. I think Tess wants you to be there.” I see Melissa scowl at me, surprised that I know about the pregnancy but I don’t give it away. “Anyway, I have to see this for myself.”
“Then take this.” Samuel gives me the gun. “Travis has the other so we’ll make do.”
I remember Theia handing me Jason Peters’ gun in Henry’s house on the night of the great cull. It came in useful when I killed the guard in the market. I’ve confused his face with Nathaniel for so long that I’ve almost entirely forgotten everything but that man’s voice. “Thanks. See you soon.”
Melissa shakes her head, annoyed with me but I’m not in the mood for apologies. I walk away from them to prevent us wasting any more time or let Melissa convince me not to go on alone. As I find myself walking through the city without company Nathaniel’s voice begins to ring in my ears. “There’s one thing you need to know. The truth is...”
Boom.
The Utopia exploded before he could complete his revelation.
I almost hope that he’s alive but at the very least I need to know for certain that he’s dead. The buildings loom over me and I have a momentary panic when I think that anyone could be watching me or that I could be shot dead at any moment. It’s the first time I’ve been out of Melissa’s reach since the Utopia exploded and I look back, wondering if it’s too late to cave and catch up to them. They’re out of sight, and I’m resolute.
I have to know.
I turn a corner and, once again, walk into the unknown.
Theia
I’m not long back in a room that is in pristine condition before I start to check if this is a different cell or someone tidied it up in my absence or, desperately, consider that this is a dream, when the door unlocks. So soon, I think to myself? I haven’t had a moment to compose myself but my instinct is to grab the closest thing to me for protection: the pillow. It’s soft and won’t do much damage although I might be able to catch whomever it is off-guard and run past them. I’ve already evaded the Upperlanders for a while today and I know I should wait for President Callister’s end game which is fast approaching but I’m not willing to be a pawn in whatever she has set up. Whatever she is planning is far beyond my imagination and my instinct tells me to do everything I can to get Leda and Ronan as far away from here as I can. Despite what she thought killing Dr Jefferson would do, I have no allegiance to her. I don’t and never will trust her.
Someone opens the door and I swing the pillow. It slams into the boy and he stumbles back, dazed. I take in his face before I launch a second blow. I don’t recognise him but it’s clear that he’s not a guard or at least not one in uniform. He also looks too old to be one of the children from the Middlelands.
He manages to deflect the pillow and knocks it out of my hands so that we’re facing one another, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. He’s in forgettable clothes, about my age, sweating profusely and seems as terrified of me as I am of him. I back away.
“It’s ok, Theia.”
“How do you know my name? Who are you?”
“I’m Zeke. We have to go now.” He glances towards the far door along the hallway as if he’s worried that I’m not the only one on the run.
It takes me a second to figure it out and then I laugh. “This is the weirdest test yet.” It explains how he knows my name. I walk away from him, towards the centre of the room, with no desire
to be tricked into being led into another fake scenario.
“I don’t know what you mean.” He looks past me, taking in my barren surroundings. “How long have you been in here?”
“Leave me alone. I’m over it.” I’m starting to wonder if killing Dr Jefferson was real but I still feel pain in my ribs from when he knocked me to the ground and I’m pretty convinced it was.
“I watched what happened. With President Callister.” He looks up at the ceiling. “I was up there.”
I notice the decent-sized hole in the vent. It’s where the heating is funnelled through the fortress and has kept my room warm. If I pull out the desk into the corridor then I could climb up into it.
“It’s too hot.” Zeke, if that’s his name, holds up a handful of watches. “But I have these.” That’s how he opened my door. It’s a peculiar move on behalf of the Upperlanders to send a complete figment of imagination to me rather than someone I know. I can’t think of the benefit of a stranger trying to break me out of here and, come to think of it, I don’t remember being knocked out or drugged after what happened with Leda and Dr Jefferson.
“What are you doing here?”
“They killed my father and they’re after me.” He sounds like he can’t fathom what he’s saying but I’m not quite ready to believe him so willingly.
“I don’t need rescuing. I’ve managed fine on my own.”
“Yeah, you look really happy. Theia, we have to go.” He pauses and adds, with all sincerity, “Maybe I’m the one who needs rescuing.”
I hear the fear in his voice. Unless this is an elaborate ruse, the boy is terrified of the Upperlanders. “Why?”
“I guess I wasn’t very loyal this morning. I knew the truth about the sea and couldn’t pretend any longer. I want to stop them.”
I have a lot of questions but if this is indeed a lucky break, and moreover with someone who knows their way around, then I’m not going to let it pass me by. I can’t leave without Leda and Ronan but staying here is also out of the question. I will be better fighting President Callister away from her mind games. “What’s happening today?”