“Skylier, the guards have been looking for you. Why did you have to go with them?” A tremble runs through Lowell's voice.
“It was the only thing I could do to save my mother's life,” I say proudly, holding up the medicine.
“But, Skylier, Rian got through; he could've gotten the medicine. You didn't need to do this.”
“You know he wouldn't get through to the actual Games. Anyway, it's too late now. We need to get to my mother.” I disentangle myself from his grip.
“Come on, this way,” I say to Dax and Hayden. They follow me immediately. Lowell and Calista just stand there with blank looks on their faces. “Thank you for your help, Calista. Catch up with the group for your treatments, enjoy the fresh air. Lowell, thank you. You can go back to bed.”
“Yeah, we can take it from here,” Hayden adds.
“What?” Lowell says. “I'm not leaving you with them.” He pushes past Dax and Hayden to be at my side.
“Enjoy the fresh air? Are you crazy?” Calista asks, confused.
“They're fine,” I reassure Lowell. “Yeah, we've been lied to. It's not the fresh air anymore, it's the food.”
Lowell quickly reaches over and grabs my shoulder to pull me back. Dax swiftly grabs his hand before he touches me.
“Be careful, she's been shot, and she's telling the truth,” Dax adds as Lowell pushes his hand away.
“I'm coming as well,” Calista chirps up. I don't want her to come, but I know there is no way of talking her out of it.
Chapter Eighteen
Peering out from the bathing quarters, we see the paths and bridges above us are clear of guards. Even though I only left Cueva yesterday, it seems different from what I remember. There is a dark, depressing heaviness to the Cueva, with its artificial light highlighting the heavy metal doors, scarring the natural elements of the caves. Just like the toxins that riddle Cueva from Purenet, they have taken hold of everything within Cueva. We are at their mercy.
“The path is clear. Follow me,” I say, moving closely to the edge of the cave wall. I take the group along the incline to the sleeping quarters, which are above the bathing quarters. I silently begin running, something that is hard to do with five sets of feet. Lowell and Calista know how to be quiet, but Hayden and Dax sound like the shuttle pulling into the station. I shoot them a glare. Hayden shrugs his shoulders.
“What?” he mouths. I shake my head in response.
I go to wave my arm in front of the monitor, and Calista's tiny hand flies up, pushing it down.
Are you trying to wake up the whole of Cueva? Calista's mind questions.
Calista looks up at me as if I've lost my mind, and then smiles as she waves her hand in front of the panel.
The red light flashes and the door opens. We all pile into Mother's tiny, dark quarters.
“What's happening?” Mother's voice croaks.
Calista rushes over to swipe the light panel before Mother can set it on dim. All of our bodies block the light from escaping to the outside.
“Calista, who are all these people?” Her voice sounds so weak.
“Skylier came home.”
I step out from the crowd to see my mother's frail body covered with a thin bed sheet.
“Skylier...” she mumbles, as she tries to sit up in her bed. I rush forward to help, placing my hand under her back. She's like a baby now, unable to do anything for herself.
“What have you done? The guards have been looking for you. I heard them saying the Chancellor's son wants you.” Worry sweeps over her face. Her once-soft skin now wrinkles up like used tissues.
“I've got medicine for you,” I say bluntly, as I try to change the subject.
“How?”
“Well, that's why Xander wants me.” She doesn't need to know the real reason.
“Dax, do you know how to use this?” I ask, as I pull out flat two-by-two-inch vacuum pouches, and a square white device Dax told me to grab.
He nods and takes it from me.
Mother looks at Dax, and smiles. “I knew you would find each other,” she says happily.
Dax and I stare at each other. “Who is he?” I question her.
“He's your brother,” mother says. “Actually, he's your twin brother.” A twinkle appears in her eye, like it used to before she was sick.
Our eyes bulge out in surprise at the same time. Twins!
“It's lovely to meet you,” Mother says warmly to Dax.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Dax says.
My heart sinks, “So father isn't my father, and the Chancellor is?”
“He will always be your true father,” Mother places her hand over my heart, “but the Chancellor is your biological father.”
My shoulders slump down. “And Xander is my brother.”
“Yes, my dear.”
An awkward silence fills the room.
“Wait, so if you two are twins, do I have a twin? Is he my brother?” Calista blurts out. Mother smiles at Calista.
“Dax, would you mind giving me the treatment? I'm guessing we don't have long before everyone wakes up, and I will tell you all a story,” Mother says, as though she's wanted to tell this story for a long time. “Oh. Boys, would you mind watching the door for me? I don't want any surprises when I get to the good bit,” she adds to Lowell and Hayden. They both nod in response, and then give each other the evil eye.
Mother and I catch them doing it, and she smiles warmly at me. I shrug my shoulders and feel the heat rising in my body. I'm not used to two people liking me.
Calista takes a seat at the end of Mother's bed. I carefully sit next to her, and Dax kneels down.
“Dax, you have grown to be a handsome man, with kindness in your eyes,” Mother says. Dax stares at the medical monitor. “I never thought we would meet. I always hoped Skylier would find you. Did your mother have any children?”
“We all come from hosts. I don't think my mother could have children; too much evil runs through her veins.” He is emotionless, like he's already come to terms with the fact that his mother could not be his. “I have two older brothers and I can read their minds like Skylier's. They can also read mine, except when I block them.
“Please, can you lower the bed sheet, and lift your nightgown? I need to apply the medicine to the skin on your stomach,” he adds quietly.
Mother doesn't respond, and Dax lifts his head toward her. “I'm sorry, son. I didn't know; if I had known, I would have come looking for you.”
Dax pushes his lips forward as he holds his emotions in. “My father is the Chancellor, and I know he is my father, unfortunately, because I can read his mind. He would have sent his army to hunt you down and kill you.”
He holds out the needle. “Let me inject this into your arm.”
Mother nods and falls silent for a moment. “He tried to kill me and Skylier once before—well, he left us for dead.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Skylier, you are an Untouchable,” Mother blurts out.
“I'm an Untouchable?”
“The Chancellor is an Untouchable, and so was my ancestor. He worked in science; one day there was an explosion in his lab, and his life was taken from us. The Sanction blamed him, and his family was banished to Cueva. It became clear that the Chancellors were instructed to keep our family living in Cueva and that we would never live in Purenet,” Mother stops for a moment. “Calista, can you pass me a cup of water?”
Calista leaps up and pours Mother a cup from the metal jug.
“Thank you, my dear, you look older each time I see you.”
Calista smiles.
“Where was I?” Mother asks.
“Empire had banished your bloodline,” Dax adds, as he watches the numbers go up and down on the monitor.
“What number do you need?” I ask him.
“Not sure, but it beeps when it's ready. I'm just waiting on the white blood cells to get into her bloodstream. Then I can inject her with the treatment.” But I'm not sure how long the tr
eatment will last....
“What?” I yell out.
Dax places his hand on his head. “Stop reading my frigging mind!”
“Skylier, be easy on your brother, he's trying to help. I would take an extra five minutes with you if that's all I have.”
“Carry on with the story, Mother,” Calista blurts out impatiently.
“You see... Untouchables are extremely special, and they can only be punished by death if they kill someone. Then the family is punished with banishment. There are many rules in place to protect the Untouchables.” Mother catches her breath for a moment and her tiny ribs go up and down.
“How did your father get away with throwing you out, aren't you an Untouchable?” I ask Dax, as I give my mother a moment.
“He told people that I was out serving my time in the army, and he informed me that he would say I died protecting our great Sanction and all that rubbish,” Dax said soberly.
I glance over at Hayden and Lowell, and they are silently listening to the story.
I wonder why Hayden was banished.
Is he your boyfriend? Calista's playful voice rings through my mind. I softly push her so she lands sideways on the bed.
Beep... Beep... rings out from the monitor. “Okay, time for the next injections. We are nearly done, only one more after this one.” Dax quickly takes the needle and sticks it in Mother's arm; my stomach twinges at the sight.
Mother takes a deep breath in, as though inhaling the contents of the injection that are flowing through her veins. She looks calm.
“The Chancellor let the females in our family be Hosts; but we had to return back to Cueva. My brother Otis dreamed of moving to the Cader Sanction. If I became a Host I could pay for that, and earn bitcoins to help my parents if they got sick.
“I birthed two children, two boys,” says Mother.
Dax nods. “My older brothers.” His eyes stay fixed on the numbers on the monitor, even though he doesn't know what they mean.
“Yes, your brothers; first baby compound payment, second baby payment I gave to my brother for a new barcode. Then I found out I was having twins for my final Hosting. They informed me that the parents didn't want a female, only the boy.”
“That would be because my mother is so vain, the thought of any other female stealing her beauty from her would just not be acceptable,” Dax explains.
“She was right not to take you,” Hayden blurts out, taking us all by surprise. “You would have stolen her beauty. Everyone would have been looking at you and not her.” He playfully smiles, and I smile back.
“Well said,” Mother says. “When you were born, Dax, they swept you away from me, as they had with the others. Then they placed Skylier in my arms; even then you were beautiful,” Mother says lovingly.
“Yeah... yeah, we get it. Skylier's beautiful, get on with the story,” Calista adds as she folds her arms impatiently.
“All my children are beautiful.”
Calista smiles; clearly that's what she wanted to hear.
“Within moments of the doctor placing Skylier in my arms, the guards were there to escort me out of Purenet. They literally lifted me off the hospital bed, with you in my arms, and carried me out of the hospital and toward the compound exit. They were not taking me to the hub where I could get a shuttle home. Instead, they took us to the Purenet boundary wall and threw us out onto the desert waste ground.” Tears begin to drip down my mother's face. Dax raises his hand to wipe the tears away.
Beep... beep... rings out. “Last shot.” Dax announces as he injects my mother.
Mother takes hold of his hand. “Please, always protect her.”
“I will. I give you my word.”
“Mother, this is too much, you don't need to tell us anymore.” Selfishly, I'm not sure I want to know more.
“Oh, I'm nearly at the good part.” She smiles as the tears slow down. “So there I was, with less-than-one-hour-old Skylier, stranded in the desert wasteland. I knew there were Mutes and coyotes out there, and that most people didn't live long out in the desert. They were eaten or died from dehydration.”
Dax, Hayden, and I all nod in agreement.
“Did you cross the wasteland?” Mother asks.
“Yes,” I announce proudly. “How did you get through it alive?” I ask.
“With the power a child brings to you. I wouldn't let you die—not out there, and not in my arms. I walked solidly for a day before I got to see the sunrise. By the second day, my body felt as if all the moisture had been drained from me, my milk had dried up and you were screaming with hunger.” Mother takes another sip of water, as if the memory dries her mouth. “My muscles began to give up on me. I could see huge red rock formations in the distance... that was my goal, the Grounders' Community. The closer I got to it, the weaker I became—my legs were burning in pain, ringing headaches drilled through my head, and I guess that's when I passed out.” Mother stops, aware that everyone is waiting to hear what she'll say next.
“I woke up in the Grounders' Community.”
“How did we end up here?” I ask.
Mother smiles at the question. “Your father used to come and speak with the Grounder elders. Then one day he spoke to me and asked me to join him in the Cueva.
“I accepted the offer to be with your father and away from the harmful virus in the air.”
“Well, get this, Mother it's all a lie. The air doesn't hurt us anymore. It's the bio meat. They are poisoning it. Don't eat anything from Purenet; it's poisoned with cancer. Keep Calista away from it,” I tell them. “It’s all a lie. They inject the virus into the Outsiders themselves,” I add.
“Oh, now I see,” Mother shakes her head. “It shouldn't surprise me; nothing has since I met your father. Here’s the good part. His family was also banished, but a long time before mine. One of his ancestors was also a founding father and he disagreed with the rules. They banished him to Cueva. When they did they also took all of his memories. But his memories lived on in his dreams. Your father told me a story the first time we met, that he believed that we aren't from here, and that we were placed here by Watchers.” A little color enters her cheeks.
“By the Watchers?” I ask.
“Yes. Watchers are from a sky planet. They were originally from this planet hundreds maybe even thousands of years ago. Your father said they were called, Paige, Dave, and AJ. They were watching us destroy the planet, and they came to help. They left Watchers behind; the founding fathers aren’t from this planet originally.” Everyone in the room looks at one another, puzzled.
“Is the medication doing this to my mother?” I ask Dax.
“I don't think so.”
“Your father wasn't crazy, and neither am I. The reason the lab was blown up was because my ancestor found human and alien DNA; all the founding fathers and their siblings had alien DNA. Other founding fathers were banished; before I became sick we were searching for their bloodline relatives. They are planning to rise against the Sanctions system.”
“What?” Calista and I ask at the same time.
“People are moving down there,” Hayden says, listening at the door.
“Are you staying or coming with us?” Dax asks.
I freeze for a moment. I hadn't been thinking about what I was going to do next. I don't want to leave my mother and family, but if I stay, the Chancellor will take me anyway.
“Skylier, go find my brother, Otis, in the Cader Sanction. He is working with the descendants of the other banished founding fathers; they will protect you,” Mother says, making the decision for me. “Calista, kiss your sister goodbye, you will meet again.”
Calista dives toward me, hugging me with all her strength.
“Lowell, you go back to your room.”
He frowns at my request. “I'm not staying here, not without you,” he says, puffing out his chest.
“Do we have to bring the kid?” Hayden asks as he nods toward Lowell. Hayden is a few years older than Lowell, but Lowell is bigger. Lowell
takes a step toward him.
“Guys, this is not the time. There is probably going to be an army in here soon, which you will be fighting if we don't get the hell out of here,” Dax snaps.
“Go now,” Mother orders.
Calista runs out of the room, wiping her face.
“Mother, I love you. I will come back for you,” I say as I hug her.
She pushes me out of her arms. “Don't come back for me. They will kill you if you come back.”
“But—”
“No buts. Thank you, Dax, for giving me a chance. Now go fight your battle. Keep my daughter, your sister, safe.”
Dax takes my hand and pulls me toward the door.
Tears pour down my face.
“I love you. I love both of you,” Mother says proudly.
I want to stay, but I know I cannot. Dax pulls me forward as we leave her room. Will I ever see her again?
“Skylier, the guards are moving around down there,” Hayden says as he peers over the edge and down at the food quarters. “What's the plan?”
“We need power for our bikes, and some food supplies,” Dax answers for me, and I'm glad. Too many things are running through my mind at the moment, including the fact that I'm the Chancellor's daughter, and that my mother thinks there are other planets outside of this one, watching us.
“We are going to have to split up. Battery packs are over to the right at the opposite side of the quarters where the food is stored,” I announce, without even thinking. “Hayden, you come with me. Dax, you go with Lowell.”
Lowell scowls. “Skylier, you are not going with him!”
“This is no time to argue with me. They don't know where food or batteries are—we do. And if you two go off together you will end up killing each other. Once you've got the stuff, meet me back at the bathing hole.” With that, I take off running before Lowell can say anything else.
“You know it's just because you want to spend more time with me,” Hayden smiles, but he may be right.
Chapter Twenty
“Over there, toward the food storage,” I tell Hayden, pointing at the metal shelves stuffed with product from Purenet. “Ready?”
Wasteland: Age of Sanctions (A Invasion Survivor Series) Page 10