It wasn’t just Zane who ate at her conscience, although, if she were to be honest, that was a good part of her unease. He was alive, and there was hope. Smoke had said they’d go back, and she believed it. But by now, it was almost sunrise. Deep bands of purple cut across the eastern sky to their right, replacing the twinkling lights of the skyscrapers behind them. Hopes of getting back to her job on time to avoid suspicion were gone. She’d never be able to go back to her old life. It wasn’t much of a life, but it was comfortable and familiar. She didn’t have much family. How long would it take for anyone to realize she was missing? How long would it take for the government to re-purpose her little apartment, divide up her things, destroy her life? Not long, she was forced to admit, slipping back to hug her knees again.
The door slammed open behind them, and Brute shouldered his way in. The cabin was small for four, never mind five. Brute stood next to Sunny and followed their progress.
“Natives are getting restless,” he said.
Smoke took a deep breath. “What did you find out about them?” she asked.
Brute rubbed a hand over his short hair, making it stick up in the front. “Some are from the City. Some arrested from the Banks. They all have an idea what’s going on.” He threw a look in Delilah’s direction, but her eyes were unfocused. “It’s not good. The Authority is amassing an army.”
“We’re going back for him,” Delilah cut in. The words Brute said sunk into her brain somewhere, words which would have fanned Zane’s flame of revolution. But Zane wasn’t here.
Smoke waited a beat and nodded. “We don’t leave anyone behind,” she said flatly. She pressed her lips together. “Though, Authority City is a suicide mission. You should know that. And it will take planning. We can’t go right now. We have to get these people to safety.”
Delilah squeezed her eyes closed and imagined Zane’s fate in the zoos of Authority City, existing for the bots’ entertainment. Bred, or tortured. “What’s in Authority City?” she asked weakly.
Smoke replied in a low tone. “Death.”
Smoke took the controls from Sunny, and Sunny came and sat down next to Delilah while Smoke and Brute conferred. The injured girl stirred in her sleep. Her skin was pale, and the sweat stood out.
“You gave her a chance.” Sunny placed her hand over Delilah’s. A single tear fell down Delilah’s cheek, and she wiped it with the back of her hand. She rarely cried since the day of her father’s accident, and there were things she’d seen in the Banks that would bring people to their knees. Zane had gone missing before, for days even, though now she could explain that. But never did she see him frozen and shipped off to Authority City. She didn’t know if she would see him again, and she needed to apologize for all the horrible things she thought about him when he disappeared for days. All the conclusions she’d come to on her own. All the curses she’d called him. She wanted to throttle him for keeping this all from her, and she wanted to just hold him and know he was alive.
Sunny put her arm around Delilah, and she rested her head on Sunny’s shoulder. The boat hit wave after wave, racing away from the bots and the City, farther than Delilah had ever gone to scavenge. In the early morning light, she saw them passing boggy marshlands, where birds took flight from the sound of their boat. When Delilah finally closed her eyes, the sun had risen enough to see the sad situation in the cabin. Smoke had a large burn on her face. Brute had bags under his eyes, and the girl on the bench was still breathing, but Delilah didn’t know for how long. She looked even younger asleep, and the dark bags under her eyes and bruises on her face were even more visible. Delilah had the urge to push the girl’s mousy brown hair off her face and tuck her in, protect her from the bots and anything else this world threw at her, but it was too late for that. Far too late.
She rested her head on Sunny’s shoulder, closed her eyes, and fell into an uneasy sleep.
Delilah woke with a queasy stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. A floral scent carried in the air and a bird tweeted as she opened her eyes to the sun’s rays, filtered through the dirty front window. The air was warmer, the sea, calmer. Waves rocked the boat almost like a cradle. The girl was gone from the bench, and instead, Brute lay there, his arm hanging off the side, snoring lightly.
Smoke was still steering, one hand lazily on the wheel. “One of the prisoners was a nurse,” she said. “They’re taking care of her in the back. They think she’ll make it, if we have the right supplies at our rendezvous.”
“Where is that?” Delilah stood carefully up and rubbed the rest of the sleep from her eyes. Sunny was with the others in the back of the boat, huddled in groups together.
“Not far.” Smoke turned back to her navigation, and Delilah noticed their route was no longer a river, but open ocean. Smoke followed the coastline north, if Delilah had to guess.
Brute snorted, then rolled over almost off the bench and opened his eyes before he could hit the floor. Delilah smiled, despite herself, as he sat up and looked out the window.
“You made good time,” he commented, rubbing the stubble that had grown on his chin.
Smoke looked over her shoulder. She looked older in the light. The lines around her eyes told of a long, hard life, and more gray than black threaded in her braid. But her eyes were bright when she shot back at Brute. “I hope you had a nice nap.”
Delilah looked from one to the other, but by their silly grins it was clear they were used to such banter. Delilah couldn’t find any humor in the situation. Every thought led back to the fact Zane was still gone.
She scanned the faces of the prisoners they’d rescued, but only Sunny and Gen were familiar. Sunny caught her eye and gave her a sad smile. Her blonde hair was out of its braid and fell loose around her young face.
“What time is it?” Delilah asked.
Brute looked out the window. “Noon, I’d say. Midday. We lost them, though. The bots.”
She looked out the window at clear, blue sky, but the calm weather didn’t make her feel any better. “When do we go?”
Brute sighed sat back on the bench. The bloodstain on the floor had dried into a sticky mess. “It’s not that simple,” he said.
Delilah swallowed. She’d have to play it cool. There was no getting to Authority City without them. She didn’t know the first thing about it.
“So, what then? When?”
Smoke cut in without turning around. “Soon,” she said. “I know that’s not the answer you want, but these rescues take planning, especially in the City. I won’t send people in blind. We’ve lost too many people to send anyone else on a fool’s mission.”
Delilah balled her fists. “Rescuing Zane is not a fool’s mission,” she said slowly and in control, but it hid the trembling that came from deep inside.
Smoke turned and narrowed her eyes. “It is if it’s not planned right. Down to the second, Delilah. The bots are growing in tech by the day. We have all we can do to stay ahead of them here, in the Rez. Never mind their home city.”
Delilah opened her mouth, but Brute cut her off. A smile played at his eyes, one that told her to step down. “Yeah, it’s not like you can swim there. We need a plan. Recon.”
Delilah pursed her lips together. “I’ll do anything.”
The smile disappeared from Brute’s face. “Just so you’re clear, the missions we’ve sent in to Authority City have all failed, in some way. Every. Single. One. The people that come out…the things they’ve seen…it’s just not pretty. You should know that going in.” His pupils focused on a spot on the wall, but Delilah wouldn’t be dissuaded.
“Have you been?” she asked softly, but Brute only shook his head, knocking himself out of whatever trance he’d been in. That same cavalier smile fell over his features, but for just a second. He was honest. And he was scared.
“Let’s get some air,” he said, opening the door to the back.
She spared one more glance at Smoke, but the woman had her back to them, steering the boat to some unknown location. Delilah followed Brute and emerged into bright daylight. They pushed past the others, but most people hung over the railings. A few held fishing poles they’d found under the seats, and low conversations that spoke of hope and fear all tied up together. Behind them, as Brute promised, were the tall buildings of Authority City. They didn’t impress her much, as she’d seen them when she climbed the dunes with Zane. Now, all they did was fuel her anger. Zane could be anywhere in that maze. Smoke was right, they needed a plan, but they needed it fast.
“This way.” Brute led her to the front of the boat, which was less crowded. They sat in front of the cabin and leaned back. The deck was wet, but the spray wasn’t dirty. In fact, this section of the ocean was a deep blue, and it didn’t smell of pollution like the river. It made Delilah think there was hope for the rest of the world. Maybe there were places that weren’t broken? Maybe they could find them someday.
Smoke angled the boat closer to shore, and Delilah hoped they were near their destination. Snippets of conversation came over the wind, and a feeling of hope. Delilah recalled many of these people were prisoners of the Authority, too.
She looked back around the cabin. “Should we ask them? About the…zoos? The location of them?” She turned back to Brute, but he was looking at his fingernails. “Maybe it would help us find Zane?”
She brushed her hair back. The bun had mostly fallen out, but the rest was a tangled mess from the wind. She’d caught her reflection in the glass, and didn’t even recognize the dirty urchin she’d become, and she wasn’t a princess before.
“Smoke will debrief them,” Brute said, dropping his hands. “She’s got a good system, Delilah. I know it doesn’t seem like it…”
Delilah leaned her head back against the cabin. “The fact no one has come back doesn’t really inspire confidence,” she said.
Brute shook his head. “It’s a hard place to describe unless you’ve been there,” he said.
Delilah was forming more questions when Smoke came around the corner. She saw them sitting and smiled, but it was a sad look. One which made it seem like it was the last time she’d be looking at them. She blinked it away, and her expression was replaced by the same hardened woman Delilah had met earlier, but the peek at her emotions was unsettling.
“When Zane told us you were stubborn, he wasn’t lying,” Smoke said. She offered her hand to help Delilah up, and then shook it firmly. She didn’t know what she was getting into, not really, but instinct told to follow through. That even if Zane hadn’t dragged her into this, their cause was just and this was where she belonged. She took an elastic off her wrist and wrestled her curls into it.
“When do we leave?” she asked, jumping right in. She looked in the window of the cabin where Gen steered.
Brute scoffed. “I told you,” he said.
“First, we need to get these prisoners to safety.” Smoke sighed. “There’s a lot to catch you up on.”
Delilah eyed the land they were traveling past. Overgrown homes and forests. Abandoned. “This is Authority City we’re talking about,” Smoke continued. “Not some abandoned land to scavenge. They have patrols and monitoring, some we’re just learning about. We have to be cautious.”
Delilah looked at the remaining prisoners and caught a glance of the girl who’d been shot. She was sitting up, leaning on someone now. Some of them were on the front deck, marveling at the view and the water. Water was the only place you were really safe from the bots. Delilah had heard a rumor there was an entire floating city, somewhere, created to be free of them.
“Who are they?” Delilah asked, watching two boys huddle together. “Where do they come from?”
Smoke looked over her shoulder. “Dissidents. Rebels. Some low level crimes even, when the Authority needs the manpower. Some of them were born in captivity.”
“What are the bots doing with them?” she asked, eyeing the towers in the distance. The clouds were building around them, and Delilah blinked tears away at the thought of anyone bred in Authority captivity.
“They’re building an army. Experimenting.” Smoke looked away and her next words were low. “Entertaining, even. Some of them have a sick sense of humor, or no conscience.”
“And when they do build this army?” Delilah asked. Her courage grew at each of Smoke’s explanations. Zane was right to be involved in this. She wished he’d trusted her earlier.
“Who knows what their motives are,” Smoke replied, looking off in the distance, “but I can tell you most of us agree they’re not peaceful.”
She turned and pointed out a landmark to Gen through the window, and Gen navigated even closer to shore. They were close to their destination, but where they would go from there, Delilah didn’t know. She bounced on her heels, eager to get off the boat. Gen angled away from Authority City. Delilah wasn’t sorry to leave, but she knew she’d be back, and soon, but armed this time, and stronger. She would get Zane out of there, or die trying. But then what?
“Where are all these people going?” Delilah asked. A couple in the back had pulled up a fish and were celebrating with a kiss so intimate she flushed and looked away.
The display didn’t seem to bother Smoke, but not much did. “After they’re debriefed, we send them south of the Rez, past the marshes. There are other cities. We can start them on their way. It’s the best we can do.”
“Other cities,” Delilah breathed. She looked in the distance but the industrial and residential zones were too far away. They’d come far, but an idea grew in her heart. “What other cities?”
“We don’t know,” Smoke replied. “But they must be better than this.”
Delilah had to agree and a plan formed in her head. Break Zane free, and get the hell out of there. But even then she wondered if she was too involved to leave. She watched the couple deposit the fish in a bucket. How could she leave all of them defenseless if she knew what was coming? If she’d seen the monsters they wanted to unleash, and once they were unleashed on the Banks and the Rez, what would stop them from going further? No, it was too late. She was in it now, as far and as deep as Zane, and for a second she understood his desire to protect her from all this. But that time had passed. She put both hands on the side of the boat and looked out at the rolling waves, wondering if her future would be all war, and if she’d ever see Zane again.
The wind blew against them and the engine occasionally sputtered and cut out, making their trip north longer than it should have been. Delilah watched General Smoke’s leadership firsthand. She handed the helm off to Gen, and walked through the prisoners, listening to each and every story and trying to reassure them. There was little else to do, but Delilah was amazed how far the seemingly small gesture went.
Delilah sat on the side of the boat which rocked as it moved forward. Smoke hoped they’d reach their destination shortly, though what she meant by that Delilah didn’t know. Instead, she tried to keep hunger at bay, and when someone sat down beside her with a groan, she barely heard.
“People want to be listened to,” the woman who sat next to her said. Delilah was surprised to see Rita from the warehouse. The woman looked older in the sunlight, old enough to be Smoke’s mother. A bun held up her gray hair, and a sheen of sweat glistened on her dark skin.
“You were there?” Delilah asked. “In Authority City?” She hated the hopeful, needy tone in her voice, but she was desperate for information.
Rita settled back with a moan, rubbing a spot on her lower back. “Mmmhmm,” she commented. “But not for as long as you think. I’d only been there a couple weeks.” She looked at Delilah with a half-smile. “They put me on work duty, if you can believe that. Sixty-seven years old and hauling boxes all day.”
“Work duty,” Delilah repeated. At least that would keep Zane out of the zoos.
&n
bsp; Rita nodded, patting down her gray hair. “It’s winding down, though. Whatever it was they had to deliver, they did it in a hurry. Rounded a bunch of us up in the Rez for work duty. We didn’t even have any infractions. They just mowed through two streets. Set fire to them in our absence. People probably thought we were dead.”
Delilah nodded. Fires weren’t uncommon, nor were rumors. “What’s it like there?” She picked at her sleeve. The boat hit a wave and spray splashed their backs.
“I didn’t see much in the city. The things we were loading though…” she paused. “Killing machines. Nothing less.”
Delilah nodded. “I saw them,” she said, her hope dwindling. Smoke walked past them and into the cabin.
Rita patted Delilah’s hand. “There’s always hope, child, if you can find it inside yourself.”
Delilah found her eyes tearing up and blinked them away. “I have to go back. We left someone,” she choked out.
“We all left someone,” the woman said. Delilah looked away. The skyscrapers in Authority City rose in the distance. “If you have a chance to find that person, even if it’s one in a million, you do that. It’s better than hiding out and hauling Authority boxes. Fight them, girl.”
“Or die trying.” Delilah stood up and wiped the tear off her cheek. Gen waved to her from the cabin. They were close. She turned back and was startled to find Rita staring.
“Your chances are better than you think,” Rita told her. Delilah could only smile and look down.
“I sure hope so,” she responded, thinking of Zane. “These zoos?” she asked. “Are they real?”
Rita shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but there are a lot of things in Authority City that aren’t what they seem.”
“Dee!” Gen called from the cabin, and Rita stood up with her. Delilah impulsively pulled her into a hug, hoping some of her hope and optimism rubbed off, but instead she caught the smell of lavender and sea, something that reminded her of her own mother.
Gen One Page 11