by Miria Masdan
I keep my breaths steady and calm. I feel my bed shift and a soft scrape across the floor. I hear someone breathe next to me.
Then I hear him, “I’m sorry. I promise to keep you safe.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Emma
It was all he said, and then he left. He lied to me; he remembers something. But it’s too late. I have to leave without him. Thanks to Maggie, I know why he doesn’t remember. The Federation protocol wipes Defense officer’s memories, but what I don’t understand is why I forgot him. I wonder if the people who wiped me earlier today are the same people who erased Quinn from my memories. Is he somehow involved?
A tear falls down my face and rolls over my lips. I wipe it away with my sleeve. I can’t think of him. I have too much going on, and I need to figure out how to get out of here and who is trying to kill me and what information I have stored inside my head.
I wait until the building is quiet again, and then I go and get the girls. They are both still awake. We sneak out the front door and head south.
We are in a residential area. It’s different than what Quinn and I traveled through earlier. There are people in these houses, sleeping, as we sneak through their yards. The houses are worn and in disrepair, but they are homes, none the less. Each house has a faint light by the front door. It’s not enough to efficiently illuminate, but it does mark the access point of the house.
We come to an area where there are fewer houses and more buildings. We slow our pace. We come to a corner. I peer around, but I don’t see anything or anyone. I listen. I think I can hear movement to our left. I peer again. I catch a glimpse of someone slipping in between two buildings.
“We’re not alone,” I whisper.
“Who are they?” Mandy asks.
“They might be Marcus’ men,” Grace says.
“It doesn’t matter, “I say. I take out the map and look. Maggie has the route drawn, but there are no other streets or landmarks. “I’m not sure where to go. I think if we head west we’ll be able to go around and then get back on track.”
We veer off our route and head back two blocks. There is a narrow alley between two buildings. We hide beside a smaller building. We wait, watch, and listen. We don’t hear or see anything; so we run across the street. The alley is right in front of us. There is no light, not even from the ceiling. We are cautious, but we keep tripping over debris. When we come to the end of the buildings; I stop and peek around the corner. It seems clear.
We are in an open area, but it is too dark to see if there is anyone or anything there. I step out and slowly walk along the wall to our south. I keep my back to the wall and squint to try and see in the dark.
I can feel Grace next to me, and I hope Mandy is right next to her. I take a few more steps and hit a corner. I’m confused. The building should go further. I feel it with my hand. It feels like, metal. I edge around it and take a few more steps. I find another edge it heads back to the building. My eyes are as adjusted to the dark as they can be, but I still try to squint.
I come to the end of the building, and there is another alley. I tip toe across the opening. Grace is holding my hand. I decide to turn down the alley and head back towards the street. I take one step, and a noise from the darkness stops me. I turn to look over my shoulder, but I can’t see anything.
“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you.” It is a man.
I take another step into the alley. But I run into something and then someone grabs me, covers my mouth, and it all goes dark.
When I wake up, I’m in a dimly lit room. Grace and Mandy are sitting at a table with three men and two women.
“Where are we?” I ask.
Grace looks at me, “It’s about time you woke up.”
She looks happy, and she has a drink in her hand. She motions for me to join them.
“This is Greg, Ryan, Chris and Lilly and Sam,” she points to each, as she says their names. “They are mine workers.”
“Mineworkers,” I ask? “What do they mine?”
“Yeah, they live down here and work for the Federation.” says Mandy.
“We mine coal,” he says, “but there are gas mines and gems and precious metals.”
“And the Federation takes care of you?”
“We get rations,” the man named Chris says.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “You get rations in exchange for work. Are you citizens?”
“No, we aren’t online,” Chris says.
“It’s a lot different down here,” The one Grace called Ryan says.
“They are going to get us back to the POE,” says Mandy. “They have a plan.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Quinn
I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about her. I decide to get everyone up and head out early. I peer into the room where she is sleeping. I wonder if she has any idea that she will never make it back to the POE.
I take my time, and quietly walk to her bed. I want to look at her before I wake her up. I want to see her at peace. I have looked into the eyes of someone about to die, and it is terrifying. I want to savor her now, so when I am haunted by the image of her consumed with fear and betrayal, I will be able to draw upon an image of her blissfully unaware of her fate.
The room is dark, but I am close enough to see her bed is empty. I turn and run out of the room. I check on the other girls; they are all gone.
I shake Max, “get up, they left without us.”
“What the Hell," he says.
We get Smith, and let Maggie and Ben know that we are leaving. We take the route that Maggie told them to take. We make it all the way to the stairwell, but it is still guarded.
“They didn’t go that way,” Max says.
“Where the fuck are they?” Smith seems more upset than usual.
“We have to double back,” I say. “Something must have happened.”
“Why wouldn’t they wait for us,” Smith asks?
“What did you do Quinn,” Max asks?
“Nothing,” I lie.
We head back towards Maggie and Ben’s. We keep to the shadows and take our time. We look in every back yard and every ally way. We don’t find them. We find an empty house, and slip inside.
“It’s going to be morning soon,” Smith says. “We have time to make it back on our own.”
“And leave them behind,” Max asks?
“No one knows,” he says, “and there’s no way they’re going to make it out of here alive.”
“Our duty is to protect citizens,” Max says.
“But not on the Heightening,” Smith argues. “Are we really going to risk ourselves, for three interns that we don’t even know?”
“You guys go back,” I say. “I’ll look for them and if I can’t find them I’ll leave before dawn.”
A crash from someplace outside stops our conversation. Max looks out the window and quickly steps away. “There are armed men heading to the south.”
Next we hear the gunshots. We exit through the back door and follow the sounds of gunfire. We hear screaming.
I race towards the sounds. Max grabs me and pulls me down. I look out at the middle of the road. I see Emma. Someone runs out and grabs her; whoever it is, they pull her across the street and disappear into the shadows.
The men shooting at them are close behind. We take pursuit after all of them. We shoot out the lights, giving the girls more cover. My heart is racing. All I can think about is her, and not making it in time to save her, so I can be the one who neutralizes her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Emma
“We can get you to the stairway,” Lilly says. “It’s about twenty minutes from here, but we have to go soon.”
“The patrols will be back around in about 10 minutes,” Greg says. “Are we ready?”
We follow the group out a door and back into the dark open space. We sneak through a series of alleys and step out into the street.
Greg, Lilly and Grace run across
the street. I’m standing with Ryan, Chris, Sam, and Mandy.
“Chris, Sam and Mandy go!” Ryan whispers.
They dart across the street.
“Take my hand,” He grabs me, “on three…one, two, three.”
He pulls me out into the street.
We make it half way across when I hear the first shot. Ryan yanks down on my hand, pulling my arm and hurting my shoulder. I stumble and land beside him.
Another shot and I hear Grace scream my name.
I fumble to my knees and reach for Ryan, but instead of him, my hand slips into something slick and warm. I pull my hand back, and the smell is unmistakable. It’s blood, Ryan’s blood.
I can’t hear myself, but I can feel my lungs tighten. I know I’m screaming. I push Ryan; he doesn’t move. Someone grabs me and drags me into the alley. It’s Chris.
Another shot. I hear it hit the ground right next to me. I’m running. My ankle is starting to hurt again. I can’t see. I trip over something, but Chris still has a tight grip on me and he just yanks me along.
We run down an empty road. I can hear footsteps someplace to my right. Another shot. This time it hits the street light, shattering the glass all over the road.
We come to a fence. Chris and Greg grab me and push me up.
“Grab the top rail and pull yourself over,” someone shouts.
I grab it, and I pull and hook my leg over the top. I flip over the fence and fall to the ground. I hit hard. Greg jumps down next to me and pulls me up. Chris grabs me around my waist. My ankle is throbbing, and each step jolts a sharp pain throughout my leg. I can’t place any weight on it. I know it’s broken this time.
They pull me along. I have no choice. I hear shouting from the street and more gun fire. I want to look back. I want to find Grace and Mandy. But they drag me alongside another building. The pain is unbearable. I’m crying, my chest is heaving. Each breath burns. I cry out, but they don’t stop.
We run through an open doorway, into an empty store. Greg lets go of me and opens another door.
“Can you walk?” a female voice. I’m not sure if it’s Sam or Lilly.
I try to put pressure on my foot, “ouch, I don’t think so.” The pain is excruciating.
“You’ll have to carry her,” she says.
Someone grabs me and tosses me over their shoulder. My head is spinning. I’m nauseous, and I can’t think straight. I take a deep breath. Each step is a jolt to my body. My hand starts to ache too and then I think about Quinn. He’s going to be so angry at me; maybe we should have waited for him.
We go down a set of stairs and then down a hall. We burst through a door, and we’re outside again. It’s difficult to tell down her, except for the sound. Inside the sound is muffled and outside everything echoes.
I spend the next moments in and out of consciousness. But when I finally wake up, I can see stars. I see Grace and Mandy standing over me. They look worried.
I sit up; my head is still dizzy. “Where are we?”
“You like to ask that a lot,” Grace says.
“You’re outside,” his voice, it’s Quinn.
“The wall,” I ask?
“They have a plan,” Grace says. “It’s going to work.”
“Apparently, you have someone looking out for you,” says Mandy. “It’s so romantic. He sent Greg, Chris and the rest of them to come save you.”
My mind wanders back to the street, “Ryan?
“He didn’t make it neither did Lilly,” Max kneels next to me. “Can you walk?”
“I’ll try,” they help me up and then let me go. I try to take a step but fall to my knees. “I think it’s broken.”
“Who’s helping you,” Quinn’s voice is anything but sweet, or caring.
I think for a second, “I have no idea. Adam is the only person that would have any connections, but I don’t think it’s him.”
“Any ideas,” he snarls, “it would be nice to know who were dealing with, and what to expect.”
“She’s hurt,” Grace says. “Leave her alone.”
“I’ll help you,” Smith grabs me around the waist and pulls me tight, “you know my offer still stands if you need someone to release some tension?”
“I’ll keep you in mind,” I sigh. I think about Sean. I should have just gone with him tonight.
“Sure,” he laughs, “that’s what they all say.”
We walk to the west, and directly into the woods. I look over my shoulder I have never been outside the walls. It’s ominous. I shake my head and focus on hobbling along. I lean heavily on Smith.
I allow a weak smile, glad that we’re away from the Under but scared of the dangers of the wastelands. Then I think about Quinn; I turn to look at him. He walks past me; he doesn’t acknowledge me.
“Wait,” I say. “I’m sorry. I should have waited for you.”
He turns. He doesn’t make eye contact with me. “I have nothing to say to you!”
“Well I do,” I say. “I don’t know what happened to us, and I don’t think I ever will, but I know you and not just from yesterday. I know you. I’ve always known you. Somehow you’re a part of me. I can’t explain it; I don’t even want to try. All I know is that if you walk away, I’ll be lost. I need to find out.”
“I can’t,” he turns and walks away. “I don’t want to know.”
I watch him go, and my heart breaks. He doesn’t look back. I can feel my insides tremble, but I can’t feel my hands, my face or my body. I’m weak, but I’m always weak.
Smith tightens his grip on me, and he leads me deeper into the woods. Quinn is too far ahead; I can’t see him anymore. I don’t bother to look for him. He made his choice.
“Don’t let him bother you,” Smith says. “He’s not someone you want to get messed up with, he can be brutal.”
“I’m finding that out the hard way,” I say.
We walk for about a half an hour until we come to a small clearing in the trees. The others are waiting for us. I’m not very fast with my ankle. Smith is doing his best to help me, but we’re holding the other up.
“We have about two hours before sunrise,” says Quinn. “We need to be back inside the walls before then.”
“It’s about a mile to the access,” says Max. “We should have plenty of time, even with her injury.” He looks at me.
“I can go faster,” I say. “I just need a minute to rest.”
“Max and Smith,” he says, “take the girls ahead. They can stall and make up an excuse if we don’t make it back in time.”
“We’re not going to leave Emma out here,” says Grace. “We can all help carry her.”
“What if we run into trouble,” says Quinn. “There’s no reason that everyone should be put in harm’s way for her.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “He’s right. You guys can be back and safe in no time at all. I’d feel horrible if anything happened to you because of me.”
“Are you sure,” asks Mandy.
“Yes,” I say.
Smith helps me lean against a tree. I set my hurt leg down gently. It feels good to take the pressure off of it, but it still throbs. They all say their goodbyes and I watch them leave. Quinn is standing with his arms folded. He’s looking my way, but he’s not looking at me.
“You have five minutes,” he says, “I’m going to go check something out, and I will be right back.”
“What,” I ask? He walks away leaving me all alone, in the dark, in the middle of the woods, in the wastelands…what the Hell.
I fix my eyes on the spot where he walked away. I can’t see him, or hear him. But I can hear the wind in the trees and the sounds of the occasional critter scurrying across the forest floor, and in the branches above me. I sit as still as I can. I have the sinking feeling that he left me and had no intentions of returning. I lean forward and look at the tree I am leaning against, but I don’t see anything. I swear I heard a noise, a snap like a foot on a twig. I hope to see Quinn approaching, but I don't see him.
SNAP
I close my eyes. Whatever it is; it must be on the other side of the tree. My mind goes through all the horrible images of the diseased and the banished people living outside the walls of the Federation.
I can feel the tears run down my face, and my shallow, slow breaths have turned into quick, gasping attempts to control myself. How could he have left me? I woke up this morning loving him, wanting him more than anything else in this world, and now all I feel is a betrayal.
I hear a scurrying up the tree, and I jerk my head around to see the squirrel. He sits on a branch above me and chatters at me like I am the one intruding in on his space. I let out a quiet laugh. I decide to try and stand up.
If Quinn did leave me out here alone, I’m going to have to find my way back. I walk in the direction that Max led the others. I take it slow. I find a stick that reaches my ribs. I use it like a cane to steady myself. I try to be as quiet as I can, but it’s difficult. I’m dragging my bad leg, afraid to put too much pressure on it.
I hear a snap to my right. I stop and look into the darkness. I can’t see anything. I wait a moment, but I don’t hear it again. I pick up my pace. I have to grimace through the pain, but I’m determined to make it out of the woods.
I hear the snap again. This time I don’t stop. I stumble over a root, but I don’t fall. I’m glad I found a good sturdy stick to help me walk. I hear shuffling behind me. My blood is surging through my veins. I push through some thick brush.
I come to a small creek. My stick sinks in the mud along its edge. I know I will not be able to cross it in my condition. I decide to follow it to my right and hope it will lead me back to the wall. I use my stick to feel the ground ahead of me. I don’t want to slip, or get stuck in the mud. I hobble along like this for a while until I realize I am not heading towards the wall. I should have made it back by now. I look around. I can’t see anything. I should be able to see the lights on the top of the wall, but I can’t.