Rite of Revelation (Acceptance Book 2)

by Sarah Negovetich

  Daniel nudges me with his elbow, his hand holding a small square of gauze on his arm. “You’re up.”

  I step into the light at the end of the truck and hold up my sleeve. Eric moves the knife with a sharp flick, but I barely feel it. My eyes are glued to the darkness.

  “How many?”

  “What?” Eric holds the black ball to my arm.

  “How many people have you found out here who thought they were free?”

  Eric is silent while the capsule works its way out of my arm. At the clink, he pulls the device away and hands me some gauze to stop the bleeding. He says nothing while he cleans off the black orb and packs everything away. Everyone else must have gone while I was contemplating just how dark the Cardinal is. Eric zips up the bag, turns off the light, and finally faces me. Wet eyes meet mine for only a second before darting away again.

  “At least one every week. Sometimes more. Sometimes a lot more.” He throws the bag inside as if it wronged him personally. “It’s why we have these trucks. Every morning, just before sunrise, we drive the perimeter and pick up the bodies of anyone desperate enough to escape.”

  “All those people back there. So many innocent. How many will die tonight?”

  “We can’t save them all, Rebecca.” Eric reaches out a hand, but pulls it back before it reaches my shoulder. “Right now, the best we can do is get ourselves out alive.”

  I nod in the darkness, but it feels wrong.

  “We can’t wait any longer. Let’s go.” Eric climbs into the driver’s seat and we all load in, Patrice in the cab with Eric and the rest of us hunched in the back where they pile up the poor souls desperate enough to risk death and uninformed enough to court it.

  I help Daniel into the back of the truck. We sink to the floor, our arms wrapped around each other in a silent hug. I can’t even begin to process my emotions. Relief, guilt, joy, fear. All of them wrap around my head and spiral around my torso only to somersault in my stomach and swirl up again for another pass. Another set of arms, I don’t know whose, wrap around me from behind. More warm bodies crush around us, the overwhelming emotions of freedom pulling us together. The engine fires to life and we ride out, still holding on to each other.

  The front of the truck lifts up as we ride out of the gully. A few more minutes of bumpy silence and the wheels hit some kind of paved road.

  Eric calls back through the open space behind his seat, “There’s an old access road we use to take these in for service. We’ll have a smoother ride from here.”

  The group hug pulls apart, but Daniel’s arm stays tight around my shoulder. “Patrice, I’d like for you to meet Rebecca.”

  From her spot in the seat next to Eric, Patrice gives zero indication that she heard a word of what Daniel said. “Patrice…” Daniel reaches to the front seat and places a broad hand on her shoulder. She shakes him off without turning around or speaking a word. Daniel tenses for a second before his shoulders sink forward.

  I lean in closer and squeeze Daniel’s leg. He has so much pain, and there isn’t anything I can do to fix it.

  “So who wants to explain exactly what happened back there and what the plan is now?” Elizabeth leans forward from her spot on the floor so everyone can hear over the engine. She holds one of the burlap bags that Molly made us close to her chest, the way a small child clings to a teddy bear. “Everything went crazy by the dining hall, so we made a mad dash back to the bunk and waited.”

  “Thomas,” Eric calls back without taking his eyes off the road, “can you fill them in so I can focus up here?”

  In the back, we all scoot closer to Thomas. From the front seat, Patrice leans back a little closer, but doesn’t turn her head from the front window.

  “Everything was chaos on the men’s side of the fence. The big bosses were going crazy trying to keep their men under control, but without the women there, they didn’t have anything to dangle in front of them. By lunch, the bosses were all dead, killed by the muscle that had been keeping them safe.”

  Constance nestles up closer to Thomas and he wraps his huge arm around her, kissing the top of her head. “I stayed out of sight as much as possible, and for once I was thankful for the lasting effects of my illness. This face tends to make others uncomfortable, and last night was no exception. No one messed with me during the few times I ventured out for meals. After dinner, Eric found me.”

  Eric calls back, a touch of humor in his voice, “Hard to miss the guy who stands a head taller than everyone else.”

  “He told me Constance and the girls were safe for now, but you two,” he gestures to me and Daniel, “were in Quarantine and wouldn’t last longer than another day.”

  “If I had read that statement, he was going to kills us both.” It’s not a question. I already know the truth.

  “Son of a…” The truck lurches to the right and bounces off the paved road, sending all of us sprawling around the floor. We pick up speed and it’s all I can do to keep from being bounced from one end of the truck to the other.

  Just as suddenly as our crazy ride started, it ends, and Eric shuts off the engine. Daniel groans next to me and wraps both his arms around his body.

  “Eric, what in the world are you doing?”

  “Trucks on the access road.” Eric’s words come out in between heaving breaths. “They must have called in reinforcements to handle the riot.” He shoves Patrice into the back. “Everyone get down on the floor and stay quiet like your life depends on it.”

  Daniel pulls Patrice down next to him and the six of us lie in the back of the truck. Eric fires the engine back up and the soft hum helps me to not feel so exposed.

  “Shit, they saw us. One of the trucks is headed over here. Don’t make a sound or we’re all as good as dead.”

  Patrice whimpers softly and Daniel holds her tighter. An engine sounds closer and a door slams shut. I close my eyes as if they can make me quieter.

  “Dunstan, what are you doing out here?” A deep, but jovial voice sounds from right outside our vehicle.

  “Hey Murphy, they sent me to town to get more supplies. We’re almost completely out of restraints and Quarantine is nearing capacity.” Eric spits the words out too fast. He needs to calm down before he gives us away.

  “Damn animals. Though I guess we were due for something big to happen with the fence going up yesterday. What are you doing driving around in the field with your lights off?”

  “I thought I saw someone running around out here, but it must have been my imagination.” Eric thumps the steering wheel. “The lights are busted on this one, so it’s hard to tell apart the shadows.”

  I hold my breath. This is where it all goes south if Murphy decides Eric’s excuse is full of garbage.

  “I doubt it’s a Reject. We don’t ever find them this far out. Probably a dog.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. Better let you go. They need every guard available in there. It’s chaos.”

  Daniel squeezes my hand in the darkness and I mentally wish Murphy would leave and never look back.

  “Great, just how I wanted to spend my evening.” Murphy slaps the side of the vehicle and I tense every muscle in my body. “See you back in the PIT.”

  No one moves. A door slams again and the engine of Murphy’s truck fades off into the night. I make it to a count of seventy-four in my head when Eric throws the truck back into gear and sends us bouncing again.

  Patrice helps me move Daniel into a sitting position before climbing back into the front with Eric. The rest of us stay on the floor. Every rock under the tire would send us spilling off the benches.

  “Is that it? Are we okay?” Elizabeth sticks her head into the front cab and stares out the windshield.

  “Who knows? That’s why I’m getting us out of here as fast as possible.” Eric swivels his head back and forth, scanning the horizon. “The road is too risky if there’s a chance they’ll send more guards. With the reinforcements, they’ll have the riot calmed down faster than I’d planne
d.” Eric tugs his seatbelt on and grips the steering wheel. “We’ll just have a bumpy ride for a while.”

  Elizabeth settles back down on the floor and Eric speeds across the uneven ground.

  “So how exactly did this riot get started, anyway?” Elizabeth lounges against a bench as if we didn’t just narrowly escape discovery.

  “Ah, that would be me.” Thomas raises his hand in the darkness. “Eric told me we needed a distraction at just before sunset. Something big enough to pull all the guards away from their assigned tasks. The only thing I could think of was a full scale riot with every man involved. So that’s what I did.”

  “How?” Constance stares at Thomas with a mix of admiration and wonder.

  “After lunch, I sneaked into the back of the dining hall and barricaded the door, but only on our side. Dinner time came and none of the men could get in. That should have been enough to get the riot going, but I couldn’t take any chances. So, I started a rumor that we got a shipment of fresh bread, but they were only giving it to the women.”

  Daniel whistles beside me and I agree. There are a few things you don’t mess with in the PIT, and food is one of them. If the men thought the women were getting better food and then saw them all able to file into their side of the dining hall while they were locked out…I can’t imagine the outrage.

  “It was like dropping a lit match onto a pile of firelogs.” Thomas smiles in the darkness, as if he enjoyed watching the PIT explode into chaos. “As soon as the violence kicked in, I took off running for the place by the fence where Eric told me to wait. Then you guys came running, and I knew this was it. We were getting out.”

  “Eric found me, too.” Elizabeth’s voice cuts into the dark. “My only job was to round up Constance and Patrice and make sure we were in the bunkhouse by nightfall. I was hoping we could get dinner first, but as soon as the shouting started I knew that was out of the question. Any chance you have some food with you?”

  Eric turns partially in his seat and it’s clear he’s smiling. “Not here, but you’ll be able to fill up once we get to the city. It should be only a few more minutes.”

  My head snaps up to meet his eyes. “A city? Is that safe?”

  “It’s not permanent. We’ll stop there to resupply and then head out before the sun comes up.”

  Patrice comes alive in the front seat. “What do you mean the city’s not permanent? You can just drop me off at the nearest Airtrain station. I’m going home.”

  Home. An image of a cheery, yellow kitchen from my parents’ house pops into my brain. It feels like a lifetime ago that I called that home.

  “Patrice.” Daniel’s voice wavers a bit. I wrap his hand in both of mine to lend strength for what he has to tell her. “You can’t go home.”

  “Yes I can. You should have seen Dad after you were Rejected. He would have done anything to get you back, and when I show up, he’ll welcome me with open arms. Just you wait and see.”

  “Let’s assume for a minute that you manage to travel all the way back to Cardinal City without a penny to your name or your own OneCard without someone realizing you don’t belong and turning you in. Even if you made it home and Dad does let you in. Then what? You spend your entire life hiding inside his house. You couldn’t go outside because people would recognize you and know you’re supposed to be in the PIT. You could never see your friends, get married, or have any future. You’d live like a caged animal, constantly in fear of being found out.” Daniel reaches out a hand, and this time Patrice doesn’t shake him off. “I’m so sorry. I know this isn’t what you wanted. It’s the last thing in the world I wanted for you. But this is reality now, and you can’t go home.”

  Patrice pulls away and leans into the side of the car. “I hate you, Daniel Whedon.” Her quiet sobs ring out like tower bells.

  Daniel slumps back onto the floor next to me. “Not more than I hate myself.”

  Five

  City lights flood the front of the car. Eric pulls off the main road and down a side street that seems to run around the edge of the city. He drives another few minutes in silence until the road dead ends at the back of a long, low building. Eric cuts the engine, but no one moves. Everything now is one big series of unknowns.

  “Welcome to Ricksburg. The lights are from the Airtrain station, but we’re hidden behind the utility building. We need to get to my apartment. No one should be out at this hour, but we can’t take the chance of someone seeing a PIT truck driving down the road. We’ll have to walk, but it isn’t too far.”

  What he doesn’t say is that if someone does notice us, that’s it. The Cardinal might haul me back to the PIT to film his ridiculous apology video, but everyone else would be dead before the sun comes up. Goosebumps dot my arms and I shiver, though my new dress is plenty warm in the spring night air.

  Eric clears his throat and everyone leans a little closer. The lights from the station cast a yellow shadow over his face and he looks even gaunter than he did yesterday. He has just as much to lose as the rest of us. More, even. For us, it’s get out or die trying, but Eric didn’t have to leave. No matter how hard his new life is, he had a life. That’s all forfeited now. The guards from Quarantine will know he helped us the minute they realize Daniel and I aren’t in our cells. If we’re caught, there won’t be any second chances for him either.

  His voice is barely more than a whisper, but it feels like he’s shouting. “We’ll move through the back streets as much as possible. We can talk more when we get to the apartment, but unless there’s danger, try to stay silent until we’re inside.”

  We all nod and take off two-by-two, Daniel and I right behind Eric. I’ve never heard of Ricksburg, but it’s got to be part of the AtlanticCoast Territory. This must be where everyone who works in the PIT lives since there isn’t any employee housing there. And why would there be? No one would want to live that close to us. All this comfort is probably no more than a quick Airtrain ride to the horrors of the PIT.

  Eric leads us through enough small alleys and walking paths that I lose track of how many turns we take. If anyone is following us, they’ll have a hard time making sense of our random path. I want to go faster, but I slow my pace to help Daniel. I let Daniel keep an eye on Eric while my head swivels from side to side. Even though the Cardinal lives in the capital, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s watching us from every corner.

  I’m desperate for a break when Eric stops suddenly and holds up his hand for us to wait. He walks casually around the corner where there’s a noticeable glow and my heartbeat jumps into overtime. We can’t see him and anything could happen out there. Eric never told us the rest of the plan. If he’s captured, I have no idea where to go from here.

  Eric walks back around the corner and rushes back to where we’re waiting, sending my pulse back to its regular frantic pace. “The courtyard in front of my building is empty, but that doesn’t mean someone isn’t watching from their window. My place is on the second floor, first door on the right. We’re going to walk there, quickly, but don’t run. Running looks suspicious. No talking. Is everyone ready?”

  Daniel grabs my hand and I move into the courtyard, resisting the urge to run. Casual. We’re just a group of friends walking to a friend’s house for a get together. Nothing to see here.

  We head up the stairs, pausing only long enough for Eric to swipe his OneCard against the door reader. He pushes the door open and we all file into the pitch black room. Eric slams the door shut behind Thomas and the lights blink on as he moves through the apartment, revealing a cramped living room filled with a group of dirty and beaten down ex-PIT prisoners.

  “Rebecca,” Daniel whispers in my ear. He’s here, really here right next to me. I reach out and touch his cheek with the palm of my hand, simply because I can. He covers my hand with his and pulls me in with his eyes and wide smile. I could stay like this forever, just keeping him next to me.

  “I know this is hard, but we need to keep moving.” Eric comes out from another ro
om carrying an armload of clothes. “As soon as the guards get the riot at the dining hall under control, they are going to go back into Quarantine and find you two missing. It won’t take long for them to put two and two together and realize I helped you escape. They’ll head straight here, which means we have to be long gone before that happens.”

  I pull Daniel in close to me, my hand on his cheek not enough anymore. I felt safe for half a minute, but Eric brought reality back into focus. We aren’t free yet.

  “I have clothes for the girls in my room.” He lifts up the bundle in his arms. “These are for Daniel and Thomas. None of it is great, but it’s the best I could do on such short notice. Anyway, it’s better than what you have on now. When you’re changed, I have some food in the kitchen and then we need to leave.”

  Daniel kisses the top of my head and lets go. The separation causes a momentary twinge of pain in my chest. It’s silly. He’ll be right here in the next room, but yesterday I thought we’d be dead. Every moment now is a bonus I never thought to ask for, and I don’t want to let him out of my sight.

  Elizabeth loops her arm through mine and we walk together into the bedroom. Laid out are four sets of clothes, but they aren’t at all what I was expecting. Long sleeved stretchy shirts without buttons paired with thick pants and men’s boots. What in the world was Eric thinking?

  “Will you help me?” Elizabeth turns her back to me and points to the buttons on her threadbare dress. I release the last one and she turns back around with a conspiratorial smile and a wink. “Women in pants? The Cardinal would have a fit.”

  That’s all the motivation I need. I turn my back and let Elizabeth return the favor.

  The shirt is soft against my skin, even if it is a little big. The material snaps back when I pull on it and despite the light weight, I’m instantly warmer. Encouraged by the shirt, I slide the pants on and struggle to do up the buttons and zipper. It’s weird to feel the material move between my legs. Unlike stockings, it doesn’t stick to my skin. Instead, the baggy material bunches up at my waist and hips, clearly several sizes too big since they were made for a man. I walk around a bit, testing the feel. Awkward for sure, but these are definitely more practical than a skirt.