The Ones

by Daniel Sweren-Becker

  Her mother would come during the quietest times. Cody didn’t have much to say to her; they had already talked before she went away. So they would just sit quietly, her mom taking her daughter’s hand in her own, staring into the darkness together. It hadn’t been easy, but Cody had come to terms with her mother’s decision. It’s okay, Mom, I promise. I love you. And then the truth that had been so hard to admit. Thank you. Thank you for what you did for me.

  Cody was surprised when Kai arrived one day. She realized how little she actually knew about him. She wanted to learn more, to pry into his life, but she was still intimidated by him. Instead, Cody asked him about the Ark. He smiled proudly and told her she would have to wait. Cody was irate. You still don’t trust me? After all this time in here, and you still don’t think I can keep a secret? I’m here because of you! I took over the school because of you! Margie is dead because of you! Kai answered calmly. He didn’t make her do any of that. She chose to stick with the Ones. And, he admitted, they were proud to have her. Cody wanted to stay angry, but even a tiny little compliment from him was enough to soften her. Why do I even care what you think? What’s so special about your validation that makes it so important to me? Cody was genuinely curious and wanted to see how Kai would respond. He winked at her, and Cody hated him for it. Hated him because that only made it worse.

  That was how the days piled up.

  Torture.

  Darkness.

  Visitors.

  Cody endured it. She grew stronger. She took solace in how afraid they were. She accepted that it might go on like this forever and she was helpless to change it. But she wasn’t hopeless. She knew there was a chance that the world might be changing without her. That however unlikely it had seemed when she disappeared, maybe justice would prevail. Maybe Kai and James and all the other reasonable people would win the day, and then the maniacs in charge of this place would be forced to let her go.

  Cody didn’t think like this too often. It was too painful, like fantasizing about her favorite meal when she was starving. She pictured it sparingly, conjuring up the cheesiest, greasiest pizza and then illogically piling crisp salad on top, folding it up and shoveling it all down her throat. It was nice to imagine once in a while, when she really needed it, but for the most part, Cody denied herself the pleasure. It was silly to hope like that. Because nothing ever changed.

  And then, one day, it did.

  A visitor arrived who was actually real.

  CHAPTER 14

  JAMES HAD WALKED around with the memo in his pocket for several days, agonizing over what to do about it. He couldn’t bring himself to confront his father, knowing full well their relationship would never be the same. On the other hand, Cody had been gone for a week now, and James knew he had to do anything in his power to bring her home.

  He had gone over to her house to check in with her mother, and the reports were bleak: No one in the police department would tell Joanne where Cody was, and the lawyer she’d hired didn’t fare any better.

  “That information is protected under the Equality Act,” they were told over and over.

  James saw that Joanne was at her wit’s end. She had tried everything, but Cody was in a black hole somewhere, and the conventional ways of getting her back clearly weren’t going to work. If James had to play his trump card and blow up his relationship with his father, then so be it. Surely that wasn’t as bad as whatever Cody was dealing with.

  So he woke up early the next morning and waited for his father to come downstairs.

  “I need you to do something for me,” James said.

  He could tell that his father was alarmed by his serious tone and direct request. James sat down at the table to signify that this was going to be a real conversation and tried to hide his trembling hands.

  “I know about the Hourglass Vaccine. I know that you’re working on it. I know that you’ve been lying to me.”

  “Son, I don’t know what you think you’ve—”

  James raised his hand to cut him off. “I am not here to debate with you. I just need you to do something.”

  “James, listen to me. You can’t possibly understand what you’re talking about. Whatever you think I’ve done, I promise there is a good, reasonable explanation. I can’t tell you everything, but I can see you are confused. Now tell me what’s going on, and we’ll figure this out together.”

  But James just shook his head. He knew what the memo in his pocket said. And he wasn’t going to let his father manipulate him.

  “You need to get Cody out of prison,” he said.

  “What? How can I possibly do that?”

  “You’re going to call whoever you need to at the NIH, and you’re going to insist on it. You’re going to tell them that the secret work you’re doing for them at the lab stops until she’s free. It’s that simple.”

  Arthur looked down, finally realizing the gravity of the situation. “James, it isn’t that simple, I’m sorry. I can’t just snap my fingers and set Cody free. What exactly do you think I am working on?”

  “Dad, please stop lying to me.”

  “I’m not lying. I don’t know where you heard this ‘hourglass’ word, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are dozens of projects that get worked on in the lab. Corporate, governmental, school-related … I can’t keep track of every single one.”

  James was crushed. He had hoped that at least his father would be honest with him. That he would have some explanation for what James had found. Instead, James was forced to take the memo from his pocket and lay it on the table.

  Arthur eyed it for a moment, shoulders sagging. “It’s not what you think, James, I promise. Let me explain.”

  “Dad, do whatever you have to do—just get Cody back here. We can talk about what it means after that.” James tried his best to remain stoic, but he could feel himself starting to cry.

  “James…” his dad said tenderly.

  “Dad! Just do it!”

  Arthur was silent for a moment. “I might not be able to. It truly isn’t that simple. One thing has nothing to do with the other.”

  “I’m sure there’s a connection somewhere. However high up the ladder you need to go, that’s what you’ll do. Because I know one thing for sure: Whatever this Vaccine is, it has to be more important to them than Cody.”

  Arthur took a second to think. Then he nodded and looked James in the eye. “I will try. I will give it my best shot.”

  James could barely get his next words out. Even after he had discovered what his father was capable of, it felt so low to threaten him. But he knew he had to.

  “There are crazy, dangerous people desperate to see the information on this memo. If you don’t bring Cody home, that’s who I’m giving it to.”

  James folded up the paper, put it back in his pocket, and walked out of the room.

  James had nowhere to go. He wasn’t allowed at school and was grounded by his parents, but he couldn’t stay in the house after that, so he grabbed a coat and slipped outside. As he walked down to the street, he checked his pocket for the memo again. It was becoming a mindless habit, but he didn’t want to let it out of his sight. And then, just as he reached his car, he saw Taryn sitting on the bumper, resting her legs on an old dirt bike propped up in front of her.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hi,” James said cautiously. “What are you doing here?”

  “Jesus, good morning to you, too.”

  “Sorry, I just meant…” James had felt the need to apologize, but then he remembered where he stood with Taryn and Kai. They were refusing to help him with Cody, and Taryn had admitted to wishing her dead. So yeah, he didn’t need to feel bad about being rude. “How’d you even know where I lived?”

  “It’s on a big list on the Internet, dummy, remember?”

  Oh right, James thought. That was a fair point.

  “The better question,” she continued, “is why are you so jumpy?”

  Taryn flicked her hand
at James’s face, not to hit him but just to make him flinch. He couldn’t help it; he jumped backward and knocked her dirt bike off its kickstand. He tried to catch it, and Taryn leaped up to grab it, but it crashed to the ground. They bent down next to each other and lifted it up.

  “I’m not jumpy,” he said, not very convincingly.

  “Well, sorry to catch you before your coffee, then. I just wanted to come by and apologize for the other night at the quarry. Kai was a jerk. I might have been one, too. We’re supposed to be on the same side here, and we weren’t so cool.”

  James looked at her warily, not sure if she was being serious. He knew Kai well enough by now to suspect that he may have put Taryn up to this. But she seemed like she was truly sincere.

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. You guys aren’t the easiest people to deal with, but I get it, we were all really stressed out.”

  “So no hard feelings? We can still work together?”

  “Work together? I told you, I want to get Cody out. You didn’t seem to think that was important.”

  “I know. I get why that’s important to you. And I hope you see why we can’t get involved. But I’m talking bigger picture … if we need your help, we can count on you? That is what Cody vouched for at the meeting, right?”

  James didn’t know exactly what she was asking, but he felt uncomfortable. He considered the New Weathermen dangerous, and he figured he should play along for now. He nodded at Taryn.

  “Okay, cool. Just wanted to make sure,” Taryn said, then hopped on her bike. “You’re on permanent vacation, right? Maybe try and have some fun.” She smiled, kicked into gear, and shot off, spraying James with gravel.

  James got into his Jeep, feeling a little confused over what that conversation was really about. He just wanted to drive around and clear his head. Taryn being weird could wait—he was still trying to process what had just happened with his father. The clock was ticking on his ultimatum: Either his dad succeeded in bringing Cody home or James was turning the memo over to the New Weathermen. He didn’t know if he’d actually be able to do that, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

  That was when James reached down to feel for the memo again. The only thing he felt, however, was an empty pocket. He shoved his whole hand around, disbelieving, but it was all too real—the memo was gone. As his panic threatened to explode through his temples, James fixated on two fresh, horrifying memories: the moment that Taryn bumped into him as they lifted her bike together and then the gleeful smile on her face as she rode away.

  CHAPTER 15

  CODY WAS LYING on the ground when she heard footsteps in the hallway. She darted, reflexively, into the far corner. If Norton was coming to take her to the other room, Cody always tried to delay it as long as possible. The corner was the closest thing she had to a safe haven. But when the door opened, it wasn’t Norton standing there with the bags. Cody blinked from the light and tried to make out the larger figure. After a few moments, she had a flash of recognition. It made no sense, but the harder she looked, the more she believed it was true.

  An arm reached out gently to her.

  “Come on, Cody. Let’s go home.”

  It was James’s father.

  Even as he placed his hand on her shoulder, Cody still wasn’t sure it was real. She looked up into Arthur’s face, saw a warmth she had never known from him, and let him help her off the floor of her cell.

  “I’m taking you home, Cody. I promise,” he said.

  Arthur lifted her up, and before she could even comprehend what was happening, she was taking pained, tentative steps down the hallway, his hand on her back. No one else was around, and no one was stopping them. Cody wanted to run—she always did—but that was impossible for her body. So she pressed forward gingerly, each step making it seem more and more real: She was free.

  Arthur’s car was right outside. He helped her in, and then they were driving, through a security gate and onto a featureless road. Cody had no idea where she was, having only experienced these surroundings with a bag over her head on the floor of a van. After relishing the mundane beauty of everything she saw—sunlight, grass, clouds, a bird—she finally turned her attention to Arthur.

  “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  Arthur sighed. “Cody, it’s very complicated. I’m sorry you were stuck there for so long. The only thing that’s important now is that you’re going home.”

  “Mr. Livingston … please,” she said. “How is this possible? What did you do to get me out?”

  “I really can’t talk about it.”

  Then it occurred to Cody that maybe she wasn’t going home. Maybe this was just the next step in her process of being dismantled. She had proved that the water and the bags wouldn’t work, so they had devised this. Suddenly distraught, she saw that this new strategy was already working. It had only been ten minutes, but she had begun to feel hope again. Cody had given up in her cell, and that had made things much easier. Now, in an instant, she had something to lose. They were brilliant that way.

  But why use James’s father? Cody knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t some elite government agent. And she truly believed that he wasn’t a secret Equality Movement fanatic. So how was he connected to Norton and the people detaining her? Cody realized that regardless of whether he was friend or foe, she still couldn’t answer the question.

  Cody shrank back in her seat. Arthur saw this and reached out to touch her shoulder. She flinched instinctively and shut her eyes. Arthur pulled back as calmly as possible.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. But I promise you, Cody, I came here to help you. I promise to take you home.”

  Cody opened her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. She wanted to believe him, but none of it made sense.

  “But … how?”

  Arthur shook his head. He wasn’t going to say any more.

  “Just tell me one thing. Was it James? Is that why you came here?”

  Arthur stared off down the road for a moment, then finally nodded. And Cody remembered what love was again.

  * * *

  Hours later, several states later, and two incredible hamburger stops later, Cody finally believed it was real when Arthur pulled to a stop in front of her house. She got out of the car, walked gingerly to the front door, and pushed it open. Her mother obviously wasn’t expecting her.

  “Cody!” she screamed. “Oh my God, Cody, come here, baby!”

  Joanne rushed over from the kitchen and embraced Cody so tightly that she could barely breathe. This was the good kind of not breathing, though—Cody had never before felt someone so soft and warm and welcoming. She held on tight, eyes closed, letting her mother try to squeeze their bodies into one. When her mother was done sobbing, she helped Cody to her bed, and Cody collapsed involuntarily before she could utter a word.

  When Cody woke up, she felt the familiar panic of not knowing how much time had passed. She forgot that she could simply glance outside or check a clock to orient herself now. And even though it was her old bedroom, something seemed off. Cody shut her eyes to ward off the uncomfortable feeling, but her mom was at her bedside, and she reached out to take Cody’s hand.

  As Cody tried to calm herself down, her mom forced a steaming bowl of chicken soup on her. Cody took the soup and gave her mom’s hand a squeeze. She knew her mom must have been absolutely shattered by the past few weeks, and she wanted to convey that they could both bounce back. Cody had caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror of Arthur’s car, so she knew it didn’t appear that way. There were bruises on her neck and blotches on her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and the hollows around them deeper. She barely recognized herself.

  “It looks worse than it is, I promise,” Cody said. She also took in her mother for the first time and noticed that she looked almost as bad. “Jeez, Mom, were they starving you, too?”

  Joanne tried to smile but was still teary-eyed. “I was worried sick—can you blame me? They took my baby away and wouldn’t te
ll me anything.”

  Cody nodded and pushed the soup back. She began to explain what had happened since the school takeover but left out the worst details. She didn’t need to put her mother through any more pain. And more than that, she wasn’t ready to relive them. Joanne explained to Cody everything that she had done to try to find her: the endless phone calls and days at the police station, meetings with lawyers, screaming in a federal courthouse. Nothing had worked to bring her daughter home. The Equality Act prevented that.

  They both fell silent when they were forced to consider how James’s father had managed to free her. It was still scary to think about, and neither of them wanted to unpack exactly what it meant. Joanne left her daughter to rest, and again Cody descended into a series of fever dreams. As she drifted in and out of sleep, she could hear voices coming from the rest of the house. James, definitely, pleading with her mother. Erica, some friends from the cross-country team, Mr. Oberlee … Kai? She didn’t know what was real and what was imagined.

  As the days passed, she simply stayed home with her mother, trying to recover some sense of normality. And every night, in the darkest hour, she’d jump awake in terror, imagining footsteps coming down the hallway. Joanne would come in with breakfast in the morning and find Cody on the floor, curled up in the far corner.

  Of course it was a relief to be home, but soon the joy of luxuriating in creature comforts was overpowered by a different emotion: anger. Cody began to leave the house with her mom, if only for a quick trip to the store or a walk in the park. The outings were brief, but Cody saw that things had only gotten worse since she’d been taken away. More Equality graffiti was showing up around town. Someone had hit the diner with a giant equal sign, sprayed in red paint. There were crazy headlines on the news racks. Harsher elements of the Equality Act were being enforced on the Ones. And in an odd twist, the person who accelerated all these events, Edith Vale, had apparently disappeared.