by P. S. Lurie
“Could you show me where they’re all buried when this is over?”
Theia and I both know it will be painful but it’s a far sight better than dying today, and I’m encouraged by her conviction that we’ll triumph. “Of course.”
“Quicker to go over the Utopia,” Maddie says to no one in particular as we catch up to her.
“It’s tricky,” Selene replies, having returned there to look for Nathaniel’s body. I wonder if Dr Penn buried him too. “Too much debris.”
“This way is quicker,” Cal says, disagreeing.
“Yeah but there are kids who survived the prison that way,” Maddie shoots back. “I’ve protected them long enough and if any of you lot, I mean the bad versions of you, are still around then I don’t want to draw attention to them.”
“She has a heart,” Francine mocks. “You’d be a rubbish soldier.”
Maddie gestures that she’s taken offence and is mortally wounded. I’m curious about how many people didn’t come to the Middlelands. Maybe they couldn’t find the exit or didn’t trust what was on the other side of the Fence, like Tim and Beth in the hospital.
“As if you’re dead inside,” Cal jokes back.
“Heart of stone,” Francine says.
“Don’t pretend you don’t love me.”
I laugh at the two jibing one another, that even in the most dire situations people still have a sense of humour and their compassion is rife. Cal and Francine along with Ronan have fought against psychological torture for so long and have built their own miniature family. I don’t know how they’ll feel returning to the Middlelands, seeing where their families lost their lives but they’ll have one another for support. I catch myself worrying about the future and, as with the conversation with Theia, I’m pleased that I’m optimistic about our chances.
We opt for Selene’s route, climbing over the wreckage of the Utopia, aware that we’re exposed but as we make our way no one draws near or ambushes us. We slip and slide on pieces of steel and glass and unknown shards of materials, parts of something that should have been afloat and full of the last people on earth but is instead a ruined heap, built on and eventually destroyed by nothing but deceit. How Selene survived this was a miracle.
We cross over and find ourselves back on solid ground, drawing near to the entrance that Theia escaped through, now twelve of us and missing two of the men we started off with. I hope there are no more deaths, no more graves to dig and bodies to bury but looking up at the fortress towering above the city and heading into the showdown we’ve unwittingly prepared for our entire lives, I fear that it’s wishful thinking.
4 P.M. – 5 P.M.
Ruskin
The route to the fortress entrance is deathly quiet and something bothers me but I can’t place it. As we approach I try to figure it out but all I can keep thinking about is the fight I had with Jack.
Only a few of us have been to the fortress. Cal, Francine and Ronan know it best. Theia, too, and from what she’s explained she saw a lot of it today but was locked up for the rest of her time. I’m the only other one to have been up there but I was blindfolded and saw next to nothing; in hindsight I guess it was to prevent me from seeing past the Fence and discovering that there was no flood. Then I was marched through corridor after corridor until I went into the grand room and was reunited briefly with my parents. The only other thing I remember is the sound of children nearby, which turned out to be Ronan and hundreds of the children from the Middlelands being trained to kill us in order to protect President Callister. Even with most of the soldiers on the other side of the Fence, the fortress will be on high alert and they’ll be monitoring our arrival...
That’s it.
“We ambush them,” I say.
“There’s only one way in,” Francine replies.
“No, there isn’t.” Selene turns and joins me in looking up at the helicopter.
“They surprised us today so maybe it’s time to return the favour.”
“That’s quite an entrance,” says Claire.
Travis scoffs. “You’ll be taken out before you even make it halfway.”
“Not if they think it’s just returning as expected,” Selene says. “I killed the passenger.”
“And the pilot?” Jack asks.
Maddie jangles some keys. “Took him out before I met up with Selene.”
“Anyone know how to fly a helicopter?” Tess asks.
“Yes,” Francine, Cal and Ronan all reply in harmony.
“Of course,” says Melissa.
“It’s not big enough for us all,” Theia says, lost in thought. The last time she was in a helicopter was after the Utopia exploded. Theia, her siblings, President Callister and two soldiers. “Six, I reckon. That’s half of us.”
“I’m staying on solid ground,” Travis says.
“Had enough of me?” Francine asks Cal. “I’ll fly. Meet you up there?”
“Sure thing.”
“Theia, you should hang back,” Ronan says. “President Callister is after you.”
“No chance. I need to find Leda and Zeke.”
“I’m going with you then. I’ll fly.”
Maddie throws him the keys.
“Ok,” I say. “Ronan, Francine, Theia and me. The rest of you should take the entrance. We’ll go for President Callister before she realises we’re in the fortress and her army is focused on you.”
“No chance,” Jack says. “By your side, remember.”
“Me too,” Selene says. “Not sure I can handle that many stairs.”
Melissa snorts. “First time you’ve mentioned the pain.”
“So what?”
“So you use it to your advantage.”
“Theia, Francine, me, Ronan, Ruskin and Jack. That’s six. I’ll see you up there.”
I face Melissa. “Or you could take Jack’s place.”
“What’s your problem?” Jack asks me.
“I’m protecting you. This is far more dangerous. What if they see us coming?”
“I’ll have your back. I’m with you, Ruskin, whether you like it or not.”
I take in his serious expression, pleased to know that I haven’t lost him despite my idiocy. “Ok. Should be fun.”
“I call window seat,” he says, with a wink.
“Everyone happy with that?” Theia asks.
“Let’s go team,” Maddie says to her group with over-exaggerated enthusiasm.
Tess is silent and Claire and Melissa talk to her. I overhear snippets about hiding but Tess is resolute that she’s going with. Travis and Cal head towards our original meeting point and Selene navigates the rest of us towards the building she was held captive in for a year. I can’t help but be relieved that, apart from Melissa, I am with all of my friends and that Jack forced his way alongside me. I’m even more relieved that Ronan and Francine are here too, our personal security escorts, because if the helicopter does make it to the top then we’re going to need all the power we can get.
Melissa
Apart from Maddie, everyone I knew before returning to the Middlelands has been separated from me and I wonder if I am in the wrong group. I should be monitoring Selene, ready to support her if her hip gives out but I know I’ve done all I can with her rehabilitation and there’s no way she’ll hold back even if she starts to lag. As it is, I feel more in place to help Tess who has been catatonic since Samuel’s death.
Ruskin’s plan is smart: attack from both sides but I have the feeling that we’re in a worse position because they’re expecting our advance. Cal and Travis can hold their own, Claire and Maddie too, so that leaves me and Tess to up our game. As we approach the entrance I think about the route up but first we need to do one thing.
Tess crouches by Samuel’s side in the middle of the crossroads as the others scout for anyone ready to pounce or fire from afar. There are a few other bodies on the floor and I can also see Dante’s body through the glass doors.
“Want me to help you move him?” I ask T
ess.
“Where to? He wouldn’t want to be laid to rest anywhere here.”
“You could go back to the Middlelands with him. Claire or Travis could help, or you could hole up until we return.”
“Everyone’s written me off. Samuel too. You all think I’m weak and that I shouldn’t have come or I should leave now.” She kisses Samuel’s forehead. “I’ll return for you. But first, I’m going to make sure you didn’t die in vain.”
Sometime between the shopping mall and here Tess has acquired a gun and cocks the barrel with confidence.
Theia
“Sure you want to fly?” Francine asks Ronan, sounding as if she’s keen to pilot the helicopter. “You could put your feet up and enjoy the ride.”
“Who came first in the virtual tournaments?”
“Second wasn’t terrible. At least I didn’t crash like Cal.”
“What’s a virtual tournament?” Jack asks.
“Computer monitors.”
“Wait,” says Selene. “You’re saying that neither of you have actually flown a helicopter for real?”
Francine shrugs off her concern. “How much of a difference can there be?”
“Great,” Selene. “After all this we’re going to die in a fiery crash.”
“We’ll be fine,” says Ronan.
I watch on as my friends and brother all crack jokes at the expense of one another, throwing sarcastic accusations in all directions and trying to lighten the situation which I figure is a decent distraction away from the terrifying realisation that we have no idea what will be waiting for us. Contrasted to under two years ago, when the great cull was sprung up on us, we’ve all come a long way and we’re choosing to fight the enemy rather than letting them play us against one another.
As we approach the building the rooftop disappears out of view.
“You were really in there for a year?” I ask Selene.
“First time I left was to the arena on the morning I saw you all.”
“We looked for you.”
“Harriet, that was her name, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I remember the fourth woman I shared the room with in the barracks, who even when promoted kept my secret about Leda and continued to look for Selma. Harriet died in the prison. “She was pretty angry with me that we got locked up.”
“I bet she was.”
“Punched me in the face before she was killed.”
“Oh yeah? Believe me, there were times I wanted to punch you too.”
I find it funny and it reminds me of simpler times when we fought over Henry’s attention. “I miss him so much.”
“Me too. At least we avoided some stupid love triangle. You know he only ever had eyes for you.”
I pause, thinking what to say but struggle and turn the focus back to Selene and me. “At least you don’t want to punch me anymore.”
“I never said that, did I?”
I laugh. “True.”
Ruskin and Jack walk ahead of us in silence and Francine and Ronan exchange banter whilst checking the surroundings.
Selene looks sheepish. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back for you.”
“You did.”
“Not at the prison. In the Middlelands. I found a boat at the coast and thought we could escape. I didn’t know others had but we could have had a chance. Then I saw Henry had died and it was just you, Ronan and Leda.”
“I don’t blame you for anything that night. We were all victims.”
“I kissed Henry,” she blurts out. “He wasn’t interested but maybe you want to punch me now.”
“No,” I say to her, wondering why she’s bringing it up now, and I work out that she wants to be blamed for something she did that night and all I’m doing is pardoning her. Even with this realisation, I can’t pretend to be angry with her. “It’s in the past. I think we’ve been through enough to not fall out now.”
We arrive at the entrance to the apartment block and Selene turns her head away; she must feel similarly to me not wanting to return to my house in the Middlelands but the bad memories don’t end there because there are plenty of other places I wouldn’t want to revisit: the barracks where Leda spent months in ill health, the arena where Dr Jefferson revealed her existence, the prison where even more lives were lost, and on top of the Fence where I learnt that everything from the great cull onwards could have been avoided. The fortress is another but I’m headed there anyway.
Despite how Selene must be feeling, she enters first, braver than I’d be on returning to anywhere in my past.
Selene
I’ve already been here once today and that was enough so I’m less than pleased about returning but it makes sense to fly the helicopter up to the fortress. This time around I can avoid Nathaniel’s floor where my father’s dead body is and instead go straight to the rooftop via one of the elevators.
I press the button and the six of us wait for it spring into action.
“You’re right,” Francine suddenly pipes up to Ronan while we’re waiting. “You should fly. I’m a better aim than you anyway.”
“Oh really?” Ronan jokes back.
“You wish...”
The elevator door pings open and reveals a soldier. He looks at us and panics, firing his gun into the crowd. The bullet hits Francine and sends her flying backwards to the ground. Ronan fires barely a moment later and takes out the boy but it’s too late as Jack tries to shake Francine into action but she’s unresponsive. The bullet hit high and struck her neck.
One second alive and the next dead, Francine’s life ended. I liked her style and she didn’t deserve a meaningless death. I think of Cal and how devastated he will be to find out. It also brings home that any of us could be next.
“What was he doing up there?” Theia asks.
“Probably checking out the helicopter,” Ronan replies. “Let’s go.”
“The stairs,” Ruskin says. “There might be more at the top. We can’t risk the doors opening up and putting us in the line of fire.”
“It’s quicker to take the elevator,” Jack says in disagreement. “We’ll be prepared.”
“Too late to debate it,” I say, noticing the group of soldiers run towards the building, somehow detecting our presence. I push Theia in and Ronan, Jack and Ruskin follow as I slam the highest button. The doors take their time but close before anyone reaches us. The five of us, without Francine, ride it to the highest floor. “Maddie said the roof is a few levels up from where this stops.”
Everyone that has a gun aims it at the doors ready to shoot if need be. The pilot and my father are dead but anyone else could be lurking.
The elevator passes each floor as I calculate how quickly the soldiers can sprint up the stairwell or follow us in the other elevator. Suddenly, the compartment jolts and the lights flicker before turning off. I grab the rail on the side to balance myself but a pain shoots through my side and a yelp escapes. Everyone steadies themselves and, after a lag, emergency lighting takes its place.
“What was that?” Jack asks.
“They’ve cut the electricity,” says Theia.
Ronan explains. “We’re a few floors from the top and they have us trapped. They’ll break their way in and kill us.”
Out of nowhere, Jack snaps at Ruskin. “Don’t even start.” He must have thrown him a look as if to say ‘I told you so.’
Ronan pulls at the doors, managing to crack them open.
Jack joins in and pulls from the other direction. “It’s my fault. We should have taken the stairs.”
“Don’t worry,” Ronan says between breaths.
The doors open revealing that only the top third of the box is level with the fifteenth floor. Ronan wedges open the doors with two guns so that it’s just wide enough for us to climb through. “The guns could dislodge.”
“Or the soldiers could cut the cables and drop the elevators,” Theia says. “Zeke did that in the fortress.”
“Quick then.” Ronan clasps his hands together, h
elping Ruskin to get a step up and climb out.
Ruskin checks the hallway. “I can hear them coming.”
Theia goes next followed by me, holding my breath at the fear of being crushed, and then we help out Jack who finally turns around to pull out Ronan. I don’t mention that in scrambling out of the elevator pain rushes up my side as if something tears. I want to cry out but hold it in.
“Fun’s not over yet,” I say, encouraging myself to push on.
Ronan grabs the guns and the doors close but the elevator holds still.
“This way.” Despite the soreness, I sprint along the hallway to a stairwell, slam open the door and see at least five soldiers a few floors beneath us. They’re fast but we have some distance on them so carry on upwards as speedily as we can, whilst I ignore the throbbing in my hip that screams for me to give up.
A bullet shoots past us but I don’t stop for anything.
Melissa
In the distance the helicopter is still on top of the building but it’s too far to see any other movement. Even if they’re only just arriving at the rooftop they’ll reach the fortress before we do. I look ahead of me; it’s a long way up to the top on foot.
“Keep some distance from me and I’ll go ahead,” Cal says. “If anyone asks, I’ll say I’m reporting back and you’re all dead. We’ll attack them when their guard is down.”
He enters the tunnel from which Theia escaped and we watch him as he fades into the distance, his shadow growing and shrinking as he passes the dim lights built into the wall.
“Not too late to turn back,” Claire says to us.
“Never going to happen,” Tess replies.
“Let’s finish what they started,” Travis adds. “If I had my way we would have done this months ago. By the way Melissa, good job at the hospital.”