by Trisha Leigh
Her words chill me from the inside, and I pull my towel tighter. “What procedure?”
“There’s a processing station for when new people arrive. There are Others that wear all-white clothes, and they lay you on a cot and put something on your head. It kind of hurts, and when they’re done, they’re not in our heads anymore.” Emmy shrugs, reaching outside the curtain and grabbing a towel for herself.
My heart stops beating at the mention of white-clad Others, of cots and hats that hurt your head, at the memory of what happened to Mrs. Morgan. “What do you mean, they’re not the same afterward?”
“Most of the adults… they never talk. They stare at nothing. Some of them cry all the time. Like, all the time.” She pauses, tipping her head back to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. Some of them are fine, or mostly fine. Not as many.
It doesn’t surprise me, but my stomach sinks all the same. We suspected unveiling was harder on adults, maybe because they have memories of the way things were before, maybe for some other reason. It would be strange to remember two different lives. Their brains might not be able to cope with figuring out how the two combine, or if they can.
It does surprise me that the Others unveil people here at the Harvest Site. Then again, they don’t have to control their emotions to get them to comply or worry about things such as keeping up appearances or having purge rotations. If this place is as impossible to escape as Lucas says, and going outside the igloos means death, rebellion isn’t a concern, either.
I shake off my spiraling horror and try to give Emmy a reassuring smile. “Okay. So for now, Leah, the Monitor, and Reese. I can tell Reese tomorrow, and Pax can tell Leah and the Monitor. You’ll talk to the people from Station One who volunteered.” A thought sputters through my mind, one I should have considered before now. “Who are they? The people you found. Why are they helping?”
I know they have reasons but I want to hear them.
“One’s a little kid—maybe eight? He wants to find his parents. I didn’t tell him they won’t be the same. The other two are women, both looking for their Partners. They’re more okay than most of the adults. Just sad.” She steps out of the curtain and I follow, snagging her arm before she can walk out into the open.
“Wait. Where do we meet so they can switch?”
“You tell me, Althea.”
I let her go and tug on the skin around my nails. “I don’t know. I don’t want to mess this up. I’ll leave you a note after dinner, okay?”
“Sure.” She cocks an eyebrow at me. “Don’t get caught.”
Emmy saunters away, losing herself in the crowd. It occurs to me that I keep forgetting to ask who shares her furnicar. Not that it matters, but it would be nice to know exactly who I’m supposed to be avoiding.
***
The three of us get it figured out over the next day, and I leave the note under Emmy’s pillow. My paranoia almost gets the best of me, making me sure the Wardens search our furnicars while we’re out working. Lucas is right about how many of them are here, though, and there aren’t enough Wardens to patrol the mines, handle the extraction, and snoop in everyone’s private business every single day.
Which is not to say we shouldn’t be careful, but it does make it a little easier to breathe. We’ve decided having Tommy and Jas sneak Reese away and her replacement back through the tunnels is the best course of action. The kids are more mobile, and the rest of the workers are used to Tommy and Jas disappearing. They should be able to make the exchange between third count and the end of the day. That’s the plan.
We’ve decided to do this one station at a time. Reese will be first. The second day, Tommy and Jas will navigate the unused tunnels over to Station Two, get Leah and the Monitor, and exchange them for the two women from Station One. Reese, Leah, and the Monitor will have to squeeze into one furnicar, at least for now.
I waited an extra day to leave the note for Emmy because I wanted to check with Tommy and Jas first. They had to agree, and I tried to make them understand what they’re risking. Jas piped up first, eager to help, and once Tommy found out he’d be helping Pax, there was no hesitation on his part, either.
Tommy and Jas both wanted to be transferred here, too. She’s taken to clinging to my legs whenever we pass in the Southeast Main, and her spindly little arms and haunted smile make my days a little bit better. It was hard for me to tell them no. I think they understand why it’s better for me to be able to watch out for them during the day, but I know Tommy wants to see Pax.
Today’s the day. Nervous butterflies flap in my belly the entire trip in the rider, and we’re all quieter than normal. My jitters escape in the form of heat, enough to push a few beads of sweat onto Lucas’s upper lip before he gives me a look. I try to settle down but the irritated expression on Carrej’s face only makes it worse.
If this doesn’t work it could go badly for Leah and Reese, and the women who offered to swap places with them. The weight of responsibility on my shoulders grows almost too heavy to bear, and my back aches from the imagined pressure.
I can’t stop thinking about Leah. About all she’s been through since we met her, about how many times and in how many ways we’ve ruined her life.
Pax says she thinks the opposite—that we’ve saved her. Lucas sees that way of thinking but it’s harder for me. At this point, what’s Leah going to say? She doesn’t have a choice. There’s no going back.
Down in the mine my confidence returns little by little. Reese meets my gaze briefly first thing, her dark eyes steady and confident. I give her the tiniest of nods and a tight smile, and the rest of the morning and afternoon pass as slowly as they ever do. Eula glares at me, working too slowly, as though she’s egging on another confrontation.
Tommy and Jas giggle more than usual, glancing at each other and grinning, their steps light as though this is some kind of game. I can’t blame them. They are kids, and as far as I’ve seen, there’s nothing to entertain them here. Diversions are few and far between in the Sanctioned Cities but at least there kids get a free hour every day and weekends with their families. This constant, quiet control stifles their ability to simply be children.
It’s finally third count, and as I pass Reese she simply puts down her tool and falls in beside me. Eula sees the whole thing but says nothing. Tommy and Jas are in the empty corridor waiting, and they each grab one of Reese’s hands when they see us. There’s no time to panic; they have less than four hours to get her to Station One and back here with the first lady. I think her name is Ruth.
The remainder of the day drags, and as it ticks toward an end, nervous sweat soaks through my thin clothes. It gives me shivers so bad I have to heat up again to dry off, then the cycle starts over again. I’m starting to worry that something happened when Jas’s dark head darts toward me from the far end of the tunnel.
She doesn’t stop as she passes me but gives me a sly smile and a thumbs-up. My eyes jerk up, this time finding Tommy and, behind him, an older woman with graying auburn hair. There’s no light in her eyes and the skin on her face sags, but when she finds a spot big enough to squeeze into, she picks up a tool and starts working.
No one says a word. They said nothing about Reese’s disappearance and they say nothing now, but this part isn’t what worries me. I think I was scared they’d get caught somehow away from the Main, that the Others would toss them out in the cold and I’d never see them again, never know what happened.
But Tommy and Jas are back, and I’ll see Reese tonight.
I climb to the top of the elevator bank ahead of everyone and slide wearily into the rider with Carrej. We stop to pick up Lucas, the way we do occasionally if he’s working somewhere that’s on our route home, and I give him a relieved smile. Our hands find each other on the seat between us and I squeeze hard. He squeezes back. The worst part is over.
***
The next day it’s Pax’s turn. He says everything went fine, that Leah and the Monitor left after third count and never retur
ned. He never saw Tommy and Jas because he was afraid if all three of them left the North Main that someone would report it. I remind them both that people switch stations. Leah used to be here in One with Emmy but they moved her. So there’s at least a good shot that no one will say a word.
After dinner we wait in our furnicar. We left before the meal announcement, making sure we were in the front of the line, and scarfed down our cheese and bread in record time. I couldn’t even tell you what produce I ate. There was milk, though. That was different.
Emmy, Leah, the Monitor, and Reese are supposed to meet us here after they go about their normal evening routine. They’ll arrive before the furnicar locks and they’ll have to stay the night. Emmy says she’s bringing one other person we can trust. It makes me nervous.
My paranoia resurfaces, tugging at my confidence about involving Emmy in this plan. “Lucas, are we sure we can trust Emmy? I mean what if she’s only pretending not to be mad that it’s our fault she got sent here? What if she’s going to betray us to the Wardens?”
He grabs my hands, stopping me from drawing more blood around my cuticles, and waits for me to look at him. “First off, it’s my fault she was sent here, not yours or ours. Secondly, we all agree we can’t do this alone. Those kids in South Dakota are counting on us to come up with some kind of miracle, and we need help. We didn’t know them, either, when we chose them, but we have to trust that they’re good. Emmy, too. She’s not going to betray us. Even if she’s still angry, she’s not veiled anymore. She knows everything—including that the Others are to blame for her being stuck in this place.”
I take a deep breath. “How do you know all that? You haven’t even talked to her.” My shaky smile lets him know I’m giving him a hard time.
He shakes his head and drops my hands, turning back to the desk and taking a seat.
“I agree with him. Just because Deshi betrayed us doesn’t mean everyone’s going to. We have to keep some kind of faith in people, otherwise we’re no better off than them—the Others.” Pax paces near the tent opening, peering out every couple of minutes.
It seems to me that there’s something more to his behavior than anxiety. He keeps trying not to smile and wiping his hands on his pants as though his palms are sweating. I catch Lucas’s eye and tip my head toward Pax, my eyebrows raised in a silent question.
He gives me a wicked grin, then stands and pulls me tight to his side. When his lips brush my ear, the tickle of his cold breath makes my knees weak for a second. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to him touching me. I hope I won’t.
“He likes Leah. They’ve been talking more than is probably advisable.”
I take the opportunity to lean toward him and whisper back, letting my breath tickle his neck and enjoying the reaction it gets. At least I’m not the only one affected by the sparks between us. “How do you know?”
“He told me. We do talk when you’re not around.”
I’ve come back here to find the two of them laughing and talking, and they always go to the showers together. They’ve become friends as well as guys with a common foe during these cramped weeks, but I didn’t realize they talk about girls and… things.
That means they might talk about me. Aside from that, the idea of Pax and Leah twists dual reactions of protectiveness and optimism through me. I want Pax to be as happy as I am—he’s my friend. What I don’t want is for him to get hurt.
“What are you two whispering about?”
Lucas pecks my cheek and moves away, laughing at Pax’s suspicious look.
“Nothing, I just—”
The tent flaps part right then and Emmy and Reese step through together, interrupting my excuse. It takes me aback for a second to see them side by side, the way they were when they disappeared from chemistry block in Danbury. They both seem relaxed, which makes me feel better about their allegiances.
“Hi,” Emmy says to me quietly. “We did it.”
“We couldn’t have done it without you, Emmy.”
She smiles and glances around. “Where should we sit?”
“Anywhere is fine.” I catch Reese’s eye. “Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s better than doing nothing,” she replies, settling on the desk.
Emmy sits in the wooden chair, and by the time they’re settled a boy I don’t recognize sticks his head in, spots the girls, and steps inside. He sweeps his eyes over Lucas and me, then they land on Pax, whose mouth falls open.
“Wes?” Pax crosses to the new guy in a step, sticking out his hand and pumping as though he’s trying to wear it out.
“Hey, man. I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.” The boy—Wes, I suppose—has a nice voice. His thick, brown hair is wavy and his eyes are a lighter blue than ours. He’s handsome in a way that probably all girls find appealing—it’s not really a matter of opinion.
I shift toward Lucas, both of us nearer to Pax, and wait for the rest of the story.
“Of course I remember. You only saved my life.” Pax turns to us, his eyes sparkling. “On an outing in Atlanta once—to the reservoir. You know it, Lucas?” When Lucas nods, Pax continues. “Anyway, my parents weren’t paying attention and I wandered into the water. I almost drowned but Wes pulled me out.”
“You’re not supposed to go in the water. It’s not Acceptable,” Emmy says, intoning the phrase as though she’s a Monitor.
Reese giggles and Wes winks at them. “I know. But I saw him flopping around out there and no one else moved. I mean no one. It was like they were frozen for a second, then everyone went back to what they were doing. So I jumped in and dragged him out. He said thanks, and it was like… I almost forgot what happened the next second.” He claps Pax on the back. “But then this craziness happened and I got sent here. Everything came back, crystal clear.”
“Well, thanks for coming.”
“Of course.”
“How’d you end up here?” I ask. He turns my way and I straighten my back a little. “I’m Althea, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. I guess… I don’t know. Ever since I was a kid I saw things most people didn’t. There was an accident next door; a kid I was friends with burned himself helping his mom cook dinner. The Healer came and the next day he was gone. Everyone was talking about how the Wardens came to his house, but it wasn’t the Wardens. It was a Healer. Anyway, I asked about it a couple times during different blocks and that was all it took, I guess.” He shrugs, oddly good-natured about the fact that he used to be brainwashed and now lives in a terraformed bubble at the end of the earth, mining metal for aliens.
Pax shoves him a little. “You never were all that smart.”
“Guilty.” Wes moves toward the desk and flops next to Reese, who moves over to make room, her dark eyes shy.
Leah arrives then, stepping through the furnicar entrance without anyone noticing but me, and the Monitor slinks in behind her. We meet in the middle of the room and hug, her wild black curls tickling my face. “It’s good to see you, Leah. Really.”
“You, too. I mean, Pax said you and Lucas were fine. But I’m glad we figured something out.” She smiles at Emmy and Reese. “Good to see you guys again, too.”
Lucas comes up behind me, bending way down to embrace Leah as well. When they step back, she reaches out a hand to the Monitor. “This is Rita. You remember her.”
We all murmur and nod, quiet in the presence of this woman who used to be a source of authority. At the moment she doesn’t seem capable of raising her eyes for more than a half second at a time, and she doesn’t respond to any of us. She looks the same as I recall—mousy brown hair a bit longer than I recall, and limpid green eyes—but none of her bright enthusiasm remains. She’s much skinnier, too.
“She’s scared. But she knows how to help,” Leah explains quietly.
After the Monitor—Rita—refuses to sit, Pax snags Leah’s hand, dragging her to his bed and settling next to her. Lucas and I sit on the mattress on the opposite side. Everyone’s looking between the t
hree of us, and obviously we’re supposed to know what to do, where to go from here.
But getting us all together was the extent of the plan. From here on out, I’m depending on our combined brainpower.
First things first, though, so I tell them everything we know about the Others and how they change the makeup of an atmosphere, how the planet won’t be able to regulate itself after they go without the three of us and Deshi. How the Others need this neodymium to survive and that it’s abundant in earth’s crust. And I tell them about the kids back home, at the cabin in South Dakota, who are working on the same problems.
“What do you think we can do?” Wes doesn’t say it in a mean way, more of a this-all-seems-kind-of-hopeless-and-out-of-our-hands way.
“Well, you’re the only ones who have worked with this element. I thought maybe you’d have some ideas of how we can alter it, or trick them into sending the wrong substance back home, or… I don’t know.” All of the ideas sound kind of silly coming out of my mouth. “We’re hoping to find a way to use it against them.”
“Also, you guys are more familiar with the layout of this island than we are, and if there’s any way at all to get on and off without the Others knowing about it, that would be awesome,” Pax interjects.
“The only way on and off, as far as we know, is the portal in the Prime family’s tent. I told you that.” Leah smiles at Pax, her pale cheeks pink. “And we haven’t figured out how to get in there.”
“It’s not the only way. Goblert powder works, too,” Lucas mentions.
The rest of the kids turn confused eyes his direction, and he shrugs. “Never mind. I’m guessing that’s not too easy to come by.”
We’re silent for a while, but even the sound of more than three people breathing in here warms my middle. Lucas, Pax, and I need help, and if nothing else, gathering like this will make the humans feel as though this fight belongs to them, too.