by Melissa Faye
More Gray Suits appeared in front of us. The nursery was to our left, and guards stood in front of and behind us. We skirted to the right, sprinting between the dorm and what looked like an office building. The jungle gym appeared and we spread out, hopping over and under the bars. We almost reached the edge of the compound when another group of Gray Suits cut off our last exit point.
“Halt!” someone shouted. “Halt or we’ll shoot!”
Would they really shoot a mother holding her child? It wasn’t worth finding out. I stopped short, and Sven and Etta stopped only a few feet further. We were trapped.
NOW I KNEW WHY THEY had jail cells in the compound. Sven and I were in one, and Etta in the other. We waited alone in our cells for hours. Etta couldn’t stop crying; Hope had been ripped from her arms and returned to the nursery. Our weapons and TekCasts were gone.
No one spoke. A deep panic rested in my throat.
I could see a hint of sunlight in the window when the door to the room finally opened. I laughed loudly when I saw the Chancellor stride in, flanked by two new Gray Suits. I couldn’t help it. Of course this man was following us around. Of course he was here. Like a nightmare.
If Lorenzo was surprised by my laughter, he didn’t show it. He waited for it to pass. I laughed until I lost my breath, then sat down on one of the cots, panting. I looked up at the man who had tried so many times to stop us. His features were as sharp as usual. Somehow, he looked younger. His hair was darker. There were no gray hairs mixed in. His face looked brighter. Less drawn. It was like stealing children had given him his youth back.
“I would say welcome to New Waves community, but you know I wouldn’t mean it,” the Chancellor hissed. “I’m surprised you only brought three people for your breakout effort. Etta, right?” Etta wouldn’t look up at him. “You’d do well to forget about your daughter at this point. She’s part of New Waves now. It’s best for the community that she stays here.”
Etta choked on her sobs and stared at the ground. She wrung her hands in her lap. I wished I could sit next to her to provide some small amount of comfort.
“You started this community then?” Sven asked conversationally. I smirked at his brazen demeanor. “New Waves? A community made of stolen children?”
“I don’t see it that way,” the Chancellor said. He paced back and forth in front of our cells with a wicked grin. “Not at all. Our country was founded on a vision of community success. What’s best for the greater good is best for all of us. It’s in all of our best interests that we take care of our biological children. Their DNA is new and invaluable. We can’t let them live with their clone parents out in a world that may not be able to protect them, likely on the run from the very government leaders who want to help them.”
“They should be with their parents,” I said. “You have no right –“
“I have every right to make decisions on behalf of my communities. And our society has flourished for hundreds of years without our ancestors’ outdated family structures. Parents are no longer necessary. You’ve all seen this firsthand. You were raised with care by your own communities, just like these children will be.”
He talked like someone with much more power than he actually had. “Why is that your decision to make?” I asked. “You’re in charge of Young Woods. Not the region or the country. You’re overstepping, aren’t you?”
The Chancellor couldn’t seem to contain his grin. “I’m in charge of much more than you may realize,” he said. “And I will continue to be. My power extends across most of our nation’s regions. I will only gain more control as more of the biological children are collected and protected.”
“What about the parents?” Sven asked. “What about solving the fertility crisis?”
“I thought you would know by now, no?” the Chancellor asked, almost jeering at Sven. “It’s a simple mutation that let this woman here procreate. It was only by luck that she paired with a man who had a similar mutation. These pairings have been difficult to track, but we’ve started testing citizens around dozens of communities.”
“Test them for what? Why?” I said. I stood up now, holding onto the metal bars separating us. The Chancellor talked about us like we were his personal science experiments. A nation of lab rats.
“Once we know exactly who has the appropriate mutations, we can facilitate matching pairs. From there, we will increase the number of biological children in the country and after several generations, clones may be allowed to die off entirely.”
“Aren’t you a clone?” I spat. “What will happen to you? To Young Woods? How many people will be left?”
“I have people working on that,” the Chancellor replied. “I don’t anticipate my clone line dying out any time soon. As for the rest of the population...we will see, won’t we? I can retire clone lines as needed, and can keep only the best. Those who believe in what we’re doing, for example, and those who will follow the rules.
“It’s evolution, in a way, don’t you see? Survival of the fittest. Those who can breed will pass their genetic materials to the next generation. Those who have power will continue to be cloned. The rest of you...” He let his voice trail off, but couldn’t contain a small smile.
I sat back down and turned away. The scope that he spoke of was overwhelming. It wasn’t just Etta and Hope. It was all the parents and children, and all of the clones who still couldn’t have their own kids. How could one man play God with all of our lives?
“You look disappointed,” Lorenzo said, now more quietly. He started walking towards the door. “You’ll learn to be a part of this plan, or your line will be retired. We’ll use you how we can either way. It’s up to you whether you make it easier on yourselves or continue to fight the inevitable.”
He walked out of the room. The door closed heavily behind him. We sat in silence again.
“What now?” Etta whispered. Her eyes were puffy and her face bright red. I bit my lip. What could we possibly do?
“Nothing,” said Sven. “We can’t do anything else. It’s up to everyone else now.”
So again, we waited.
Chapter 17 – Yami
Community members stood on their toes to get a view of their friends as they marched towards the mansion lawn. I couldn’t see well enough to tell how many people were coming. There were a lot, from the sound of it. People on the lawn began to cheer. I looked around. They were ready to attack from the lawn without any weapons.
Within another minute, a riot broke out. Gunshots flew as the citizens reached the Gray Suits. I hobbled over to the edge of the lawn to get a better view, pushing people to the ground as I passed. I wanted as many community members out of the way of the gunfire as possible.
A Gray Suit passed and I acted on instinct. I stuck a leg out to trip him and watched him fly forwards and hit the ground. I couldn’t move far, but his gun slid across the wet grass towards me and I grabbed it. I held the gun tightly in both hands and pointed it straight at the man. People raced by me on either side, shoving me one way or another, but I didn’t drop the gun.
“What’s next?” I yelled at the man. “How do I get you and your friends out of here?” He lay on his back staring up at me.
“Why don’t you shoot me?” he spat. He panted heavily but stayed where he was. There was something on his face besides fear. It was sadness. He was miserable to be put in this position. Not the position I put him in – the one he was put in by wearing that uniform.
“I’m not – I’m not a killer,” I said. “Are you?”
“I follow orders,” he yelled. “I don’t want to –“
I couldn’t hear what he said over another roar to my left. A truck drove past people on the road, narrowly missing them as they jumped out of the way. I looked to see where the Chancellor was, and when I turned back, the Gray Suit was gone.
I gripped the gun between my hands and pointed it towards the ground as I hopped towards the mobile laboratory. If what the Chancellor said was true, we needed o
ur F-Lab back. I needed to help stop that truck.
Other people had the same idea. I ducked between Gray Suits and citizens pummeling each other. I fell over and got myself up a half dozen times. I realized there was a good sized group of people walking in the same direction. I couldn’t get a sense of who was winning, but I made it to the truck.
Two citizens with weapons had pulled the Gray Suit out of the driver’s seat and taken over the front seats. Others were fighting off the Gray Suits in the back by the equipment. A citizen fell to the ground with what looked like a gunshot wound. A Gray Suit fell next to him, unconscious. I pushed my way towards the lab equipment the Chancellor’s guards had stolen only an hour or two ago. It was intact for now.
“Don’t let anyone touch this!” I yelled at a woman from Gentle Acres who stood behind the truck, ready to fight. She frowned. “I’ll get the driver to move it! Close the doors!”
I hobbled back to the front part of the truck where two citizens sat, guns pointed out the window at Gray Suits. “Put those down!” I screamed at them over the noise. “You might hurt a community member!” They didn’t move. I pulled the driver’s door open and leaned against it. “Put the guns away and drive this truck out of here. We need to hold on to this equipment!”
The man frowned and shook his head. “They need us here – “
I grabbed his gun out of his hand. Just like the rest of us. I pointed to the ground next to the seat and, embarrassed, the man jumped out of my way. I gave him one of the two guns I was now holding and shooed him away. Then I clenched my jaw and pulled myself up into the driver’s seat.
The man in the passenger’s seat eyed me suspiciously but didn’t speak. I turned the key in the ignition and drove slowly off the lawn. I yelled at people to get out of my way. My passenger saw what I was doing and hung out the window to help. We cleared a path slowly and as gunshots zinged past, we drove the truck off the curb, onto the street, and towards the place where the F-Lab had stood.
“Where are we going?” the man asked.
“No idea,” I said. “The F-Lab isn’t there anymore, but maybe we can go down one of the side streets.”
He navigated while I drove. We could have picked up speed as we drove away from the mansion, but I didn’t want to damage any of the equipment. The man pointed out a street we could turn onto right before the F-Lab. It was covered in soot and debris, but it was otherwise empty. The man hopped out of the truck and ran back towards the lawn. With my useless ankle and single crutch, I wasn’t going anywhere. I had a weapon for defending myself, and I would stay with the truck until the Gray Suits left town.
THE CRIES AND SHOUTS lessened after a while, but I stayed in my spot. No one knew where I was, and if I left, I could easily be hurt or killed and the equipment lost. I waited, watching the sun rise over the buildings on the east side of the community. I took out my TekCast to look for a message from Charlie. They reached the school and were planning on getting some of the kids out. I sent a message updating him about what was going on at Gentle Acres.
Finally, there was quiet. I messaged Breck and Alexis and waited for more information. I looked around at the wreckage from the F-Lab explosion. Even a block away, small tufts of smoke were visible above the nearest building’s roof. My throat was scratchy. Soot blanketed the street.
With a small buzz, I heard back from Breck and Alexis.
“Gray Suits gone. Can’t find Chancellor.”
“Safe to come out. Where are you?”
I told them I would drive back towards the lawn and meet them there. I drove carefully. There were a few bodies on the ground – I couldn’t tell if they were alive or not. As I turned towards the mansion, Breck sprinted over to meet me.
“Are you ok?” he said. “Have you heard from Etta?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “They were going into the school, last I heard, but that was a while ago. No response when I told them what’s happening here.” Our eyes met. We should have heard something by now.
Alexis caught up with Breck.
“We can’t find Ann, but that doesn’t mean anything. They need your help, Yami. There are a lot of injuries. And –“ She didn’t need to say it. People were dead.
Breck took over protecting the truck with the F-Lab equipment. He found some researchers and they went through the supplies to see what was left and useable. Alexis found a storage cart and drove me around to look after patients. A few doctors had hidden in the Med and the patients there, including Matana, were unharmed.
Alexis and I drove back and forth, gathering supplies and transporting patients as needed. It was several hours before I realized how exhausted I was, but I insisted on continuing. There were a lot more people out there.
Not everyone had medical training, but everyone wanted to help. The conflict in the air from color assignments, jobs, salaries, and bigotry disappeared completely. I spent much of the time teaching medical basics to community members. Cleaning wounds, pain management, telling the difference between someone who needed immediate care versus someone who could wait. We sent people back and forth to the Med to gather basic supplies – bandages, antiseptics, pain patches. Someone organized a system for distributing food and water.
I’d seen dead bodies before. At the Med at Young Woods, even as an intern, I treated older patients before their deaths. I saw my first death a week after I started. It was a woman named Jacqueline. Her neighbor found her a few days earlier struggling to breathe, unable to walk, and stranded in her house. A doctor managed her pain while I assisted. I stayed with her after hours to keep her company and listen to her stories when she had the energy. Years ago, she worked in finance, a Silver career. She tracked salaries and started a program for finance workers to work for free in their spare time to help Bronzes and Grays manage their budgets. It wasn’t something most Silvers would have done.
I came to visit her room one morning, but she had just been pronounced dead. Her face was completely relaxed, like all the tension in the world was gone and she was completely empty.
There were bodies around Gentle Acres now, too, only they were much younger than I had ever seen. People had been shot, some multiple times, and no one got to them in time. I didn’t think I would have been able to do anything in many cases if I was there sooner. Friends and partners surrounded their bodies, clinging to each other and rocking back and forth.
I was shaken at the sight of a young boy, around six, laid out on the ground. No one knew who he was, and someone went to find a teacher who might recognize him. Meanwhile, people were removing children from the scene, but it was hard to keep them away. The aftermath of the violence spread far beyond the lawn.
Alexis was new to this work, and every death left her trembling and mute. I pulled her away from those cases towards people we could help more. She was much better at helping me treat the seriously wounded.
At one point, Alexis received a message from Javi – they found Ann. She was caught in the crowd on the lawn, but wasn’t hurt. She was working with the council members to assess damages and figure out next steps. They called in all current and former leadership workers for assistance.
It was mid-afternoon before we took a break and drove to the area near the F-Lab to find Breck. Javi was meeting with the council members and wouldn’t be back until the evening.
We drove past the F-Lab itself. It had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Metal scaffolding. Cement cut into chunks. Papers strewn everywhere. Smoke. Streaks of ash across the street and nearby buildings. They hadn’t been careful about the explosion. The commune next door was damaged; a large chunk of its side and half of the top floor were destroyed. People milled about, trying to pull all the pieces apart and figure out what to do next.
We pulled Breck away to see how the researchers were doing.
“A lot of the data is gone,” he told us as he stood next to the storage cart with Alexis. “A whole team of people have been sorting out the wreckage, but the people who understand construction
aren’t the same as the people who understand which equipment needs to be saved. They’re working together, but it’s slow. It looks like most of the servers were destroyed. What’s left on the equipment in the truck should be enough, though. Clearly, the Chancellor knew exactly what he would need.”
“He said there are other mutations that cause fertility,” I said. “Can you figure out what they are?”
Breck put his hands on his hips. “We can find out once we find more kids and parents. Have you heard from Charlie yet? I have no messages but I thought maybe something was screwed up with the TekCasts...” He flipped his open and stared at it as if willing a message to pop up.
“I haven’t heard anything,” I said. “Not from any of them. Not since Charlie said they were near the school.”
“That could be a good sign, right?” Alexis said hopefully. “Maybe they’re camping out, doing some recon.”
“It’s a bad sign,” I said. “They’re in trouble. Charlie would have messaged. Etta would have said something about Hope. Sven should be asking about Matana. And I told them what’s happening here.” I sighed. “They haven’t been in touch, so something bad happened there too.”
“We need to follow them,” Alexis said. “It’s about more than just the kids now. We need to catch up with the Chancellor. Find out all he must know already about these mutations. That means we need the kids and we need their parents.”
“How do we do that?” Breck asked. “It can’t just be the three of us. Or four, if Javi comes.”
“We’ll see what Javi can tell us when he gets out of his meetings,” Alexis replied.
“But either way –“ I was interrupted.
“No. We can’t just do this alone. We’re not going to have more luck than your friends did, Yami. We need more people. We need an army, like we had today.”