by Ramona Finn
Mom pointed to my helmet. The EFs must have picked it up for me. “You need that,” she said.
“If I haven’t caught the Cough yet, I probably never will,” I said with a laugh. “Maybe I’m immune to every disease in our world.”
Mom smiled, patting my hand. “My lucky girl,” she said.
Dad shifted in his seat. “We’ve been trying to communicate with you, but we keep coming up against a wall,” he said.
“I have, too. Ben tried, as well, and there was always some glitch in the system. It made me think the coders weren’t doing their job keeping the comms working.”
Dad shook his head. Mom sighed.
“This is a nice place,” I said, looking around. There was no point talking about the past now. We were together and we could make arrangements for the future.
Mom took in a labored breath.
Dad leaned in and whispered, “We’re being watched…all the time.”
“What do you mean?” In the past, I would’ve dismissed his fears as paranoia or gossip, but I knew better now.
“There are cameras in every hallway,” he said quietly, his eyes darting to the ceiling. “I think there might even be one or two in here.”
Mom coughed and it set off a whole coughing fit. After it was over, I held her up while Dad tilted a glass of water to her lips. She drank a bit, but then spit it all back out in another cough. It took us a while to clean her up and calm her down.
“This doesn’t look like she’s better,” I said, frustrated.
“It’s the best Nari can do,” Dad said. “With the new strain of Cough going around, we’re just grateful Lia hasn’t gotten too much worse.”
The knot that had been in my stomach the whole time we’d been looking for my parents burst into flames. This was not what I’d won the Acceptance for. R.L. had been putting off his promise, and I couldn’t sit still any longer.
“You’re coming back with us,” I said, pacing the small living room. “I’m not leaving you here to rot anymore.”
Mom sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “I’m…all…right,” she wheezed. “We’ll be all right.”
“No, you don’t understand!” I’d never felt so helpless in my life. “R.L. promised he’d fly you up in his private transport. But now he keeps saying the new strain hasn’t been studied enough and that he doesn’t want to contaminate the Labs.”
“He’s right, Ty,” my father said. “It’s stronger than the old strain, and the medics haven’t been able to find a treatment for it yet.”
“The Cough down here, the Virus spreading up there,” I said, gritting my teeth. “It’s time we all moved to the Labs.”
Dad’s eyes widened and he put his finger to his lips. “Don’t say things like that!”
He leaned over Mom and gestured for me to help him with a pillow behind her head. Then he whispered words that sent chills through me.
“People have disappeared lately for saying things like that. And their families have lost food rations. It’s not worth getting into trouble.”
“That’s the problem, Dad! If we don’t fight back, nothing will change.” I could hear Skylar Two’s voice in my head.
His brows knit together. “That’s a strange thing to say, coming from an Elite.”
“I’m not an Elite,” I hissed. I so badly wanted to tell him that I was going to help the Rejs. I hadn’t even known for sure until this very moment. But Skylar Two had been right all along. I couldn’t turn my back on my people just for a brief enjoyment of luxury. And as Ben had said, if we did anything wrong, if our genes turned out to be faulty in any way, we could fall from grace as fast as I’d risen into it. Being a Farrow meant living in constant fear of being rejected. All of the luxury in the world wasn’t worth that kind of stress, or the stress of knowing my parents and friends were here, suffering in the Geos like always before.
“Dad, I need your help,” I whispered to them both.
Mom stared at me, and it was as if she could read my mind. She looked so scared. “No,” she said, through raspy breaths. “Don’t make trouble.”
She knew me too well.
Dad looked curious, so I continued.
“Talk the Unions into cooperating,” I said, fluffing up a pillow and hoping that noise would mask my words. “We need to unite.”
Dad sat back up, brows furrowed deeply. “That’ll never happen.”
“We have no choice,” I continued. “The Virus is spreading. The Cough is mutating. We don’t have time for petty squabbles anymore. Please, try—”
The door slid open and we stopped talking. Had they been listening in on us? Were we now in trouble?
Killian and the female EF rushed in, followed by Ben. His face was red with exertion and his dark eyes shone with alarm. “We have to go, Ty,” he said breathlessly. “Now!”
I jumped to my feet, looking from Ben to my mother, then my father.
“What about them?” I asked Ben. “They have to come, too.”
Ben shook his head, looking apologetic. “I can’t…not without Father’s permission.”
“No!” I stood my ground. “I’m not leaving without them.”
Ben sighed loudly. “Tylia, there’s been an attack. The Rejs have bombed our transport. Father’s sending an emergency shuttle. He’s afraid they’re coming after you and me. We have to get home—now.”
Home.
I was home, and yet I wasn’t. The Geos weren’t my home anymore. The Labs weren’t, either.
“We’ll be fine, Ty,” Dad said, moving me away from my mother. She reached her frail hand out to me and I grabbed it. “You should go. We’ll be together again soon, I’m sure.”
I turned to hug my father and whispered into his ear. “Don’t believe everything you hear. Talk the Unions into cooperating. It’s our only chance of survival. Please.”
I felt my father nod as he buried his face into my hair.
“Stay safe,” he said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Am I capable of that?”
I kissed my mother goodbye and wished that she would get stronger. Ben grabbed my hand and practically pulled me out of their home while fitting my helmet over my head.
“We’re going to meet Father’s shuttle on the other side of the Geos from where we landed. The Rejs won’t be expecting it.”
We ran through corridors I didn’t recognize. I hadn’t been to the medical sector other than to see a doctor, and I had no idea there was a labyrinth of corridors behind the homes that led up to the surface. Did Skylar Two know about them? Was this how he’d been getting in and out?
In the elevator to the surface, Ben fidgeted as the EFs checked and rechecked our suits to ensure everything remained sealed.
“How do you know it was the Rejs?” I asked. It didn’t fit with my discussion with Skylar Two just moments ago. None of these attacks ever made any sense.
Ben gave me a strange look. “Who else would it be? And it’s the same explosive as the last time.”
Again, Skylar Two’s words echoed in my head. The Rejs had limited resources. Why would they waste such an explosion on a small shuttle? Were they after Ben? Me? If I hadn’t seen Skylar Two, I might’ve thought they’d given up on me helping them, and simply expected that I would become collateral damage in their mission to get the Farrows. But, when I’d looked into Skylar Two’s eyes, I’d seen earnestness. He still wanted my help. So, it made no sense to sabotage our shuttle. There had to be a good reason for them to put themselves in such a risky position.
“You must be right,” I said quickly. If I was going to help the Rejs, I would have to make sure Ben suspected nothing. I would have to behave. I slipped my gloved hand into my pocket and squeezed the tiny chip that Skylar had given me.
Behaving like nothing was happening was going to be hard, but not as hard as getting the information the Rejs needed. I could lose more than just my privileges if I got caught. This new mission was scarier than entering the Ac
ceptance.
Chapter Twenty-One
As soon as we arrived back at the Greens, Ben disappeared. During the flight back to the Labs, he was on the comms to various departments and to his father. I’d never seen him so angry. He said it was because I had been put in danger, but I felt like there was more to it.
Ben had taken every precaution to protect our shuttle and our mission. The fact that the Rejs had gotten through somehow really shook him. Or it insulted him. He prided himself on being careful, and yet Skylar Two and his people had thwarted his efforts once again.
“Don’t worry,” he said to me as we parted ways. “I’ll get back at them for their terrorist acts this time.”
He didn’t wait for me to ask what exactly he meant by that.
Alone in my apartment, I tried to get access to the EF schedules. I’d picked what I thought was the easiest of my ‘assignments’ for Skylar Two. How hard could it be to get schedules? Those couldn’t be considered a high-level secret. Yet…I couldn’t get into the relevant files. I tried everything—I searched the Greens’ open files and asked SKY for help. Finally, I used every hack I knew, but I kept getting locked out. Ben had said I had the same access he did. Clearly, that was another lie. I sent him a message, hoping he’d stop long enough to answer. A whole six minutes later, he replied:
I made sure you have full access. You must be doing it wrong. I’ll help you when I get back.
Ben? Help me? I was the coder. And I was the best hacker in the Geos that I knew of. It was ridiculous that Ben thought I needed his help on something like this.
But, as I thought about it, wasn’t that his entire attitude? Ben looked after me; he told me what to do, how to live, and what friends to make. He saw it as caring for me.
I was beginning to see it for what it was—control.
I needed a better plan. I had to clear my head. So, I went for a walk. I wandered around the family’s sector, walking through empty corridors and feeling more and more uncomfortable with each level. Every other Farrow was at the studio filming today’s episode or working in the labs. I passed a few clones who were cleaning, but none of them were the ones I knew, so they didn’t even look up at me.
I had to get out of this sector. At least, in the outer areas, there were other people. Sure, they were Elites and they didn’t like me, but that didn’t matter. The silence in this sector was deafening.
The sun had set by the time I reached the nearest cafeteria, and the moon was shining large through the ceiling dome. Elites occupied most of the tables. They gathered in groups and were talking loudly. Most had large mugs of some drink. It made me want one, too.
Heading to a small corner table with my dinner, I caught the sound of a familiar voice.
“Kev?”
I put down my tray and walked two rows over to a long table filled with Elites. They all stopped talking when I arrived and turned to stare. The smirks on some of their faces made me want to smack them. Kev was sitting among these Elites, dressed in the same silky white tunic, and looking as if he’d been born into this life.
“What do you want, Tylia?” Kev’s tone was flat, but there was a coldness to it. I wanted to apologize for keeping secrets from him. I wanted us to be friends again, but how could I say that in front of all these Elites? Just looking at their expressions told me I wasn’t one of them.
“How are you?” I asked stupidly.
A couple of Elites chuckled, and others rolled their eyes. The two girls closest to me sighed in an exaggerated manner. I felt shivers run up and down my arms. I was exposed, flayed open for all these scavengers to pick apart.
“I’m absolutely perfect,” Kev said with the ugliest smile I’d ever seen. “Not like your perfection—I mean, there isn’t a Farrow available for me to seduce.”
“What? I didn’t—”
More giggles shut me up mid-sentence. This was what they thought of me, that I’d seduced my way into the Farrow family. I shuddered at the thought.
I looked at Kev, silently pleading with him to come to my aid, to stand up for the person he knew I was. But he didn’t. When I didn’t say anything more, he just turned back to his friends. They continued chatting as if I were invisible.
It felt like forever before I had the courage to walk away. I headed to the entrance, no longer hungry. Someone else could have my dinner. Or they could recycle it. I didn’t care.
As I reached the cafeteria door, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.
“Keep walking,” he said. It was Kev. “Don’t turn around.”
We left the cafeteria and made a sharp turn to the right.
“Hey, I’m sorry for that back there,” he said, looking genuinely remorseful.
A ray of hope made my stomach flutter. Kev was still my friend. He’d forgiven me. I would forgive him for trying to fit in by being mean to me. I knew it was hard for him to belong to any group, and I certainly didn’t want to be the one to keep him from fitting in.
I understood.
Even I’d wanted to belong, before it had become my mission to destroy their way of life. My friend was still my friend, and that’s all that mattered.
“It’s okay,” I said, doing my best not to show how much it had hurt.
He tilted his head, looking down at me. “Look, Ty, I get that you and I have a history, and I’ll always be grateful that you were nice to me in the Geos, but that’s long in the past now. I finally fit in here. I have friends.” He raised his chin in the direction of the cafeteria. I nodded. “R.L. came to see me. He’s a cool guy. He gave me this new assignment, and I’m doing well.”
“That’s great—”
He raised his hand to stop me. Looking down at his feet, he continued, “I forgive you for not telling me about Ben and all that.” He exhaled slowly, which made me think he still held on to the hurt. I felt awful. “I get it. I do. But I have a new life now. And I intend to make the most of it. I don’t want to rock the boat. I just want to do a good job for R.L. He believes in me, and I want to live up to his expectations. I intend to be the best Elite there is.”
“I get that,” I said, trying desperately not to show how much his words worried me. He had fallen right into R.L.’s web of lies. Sure, I had, too—for a while—but from looking at Kev’s face, he seemed to have been sucked in completely. “What about your parents?” I asked. “Have they been moved up yet?”
Kev’s brows furrowed for a brief moment. “My parents? R.L. says that no one is moving up from the Geos because of the new strain of Cough. He’s even suspended the next group of Acceptance candidates. Didn’t you know that?”
“I’d heard something…”
“Well then,” he said, “you should trust the Farrows. R.L. knows what he’s doing. My parents understand that they have to wait. It’ll all be fine in the end.”
His total trust in R.L. sent shivers through my body. He didn’t question anything. This was a different Kev than the one I’d known. Perhaps finding his ‘purpose’ overshadowed everything he’d ever known.
“Have you even spoken to your parents?” I asked.
He shrugged. “R.L. says they’re fine. I believe him.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure yours are, as well.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that I’d just seen mine, but then thought better of it. Why give Kev more reason to see how far apart we were in status?
“And anyway, it isn’t safe for my parents to come now, Cough or no Cough.”
“What do you mean?” I looked up into his brown eyes.
“You know.” He shifted his feet. “Those dirty Rejs. They keep sabotaging our efforts to help the Geos. They’re such terrorists.”
The language he was using was the same as Ben’s. The Elites believed the Rejs were terrorists. I took a step back.
“They’re not terrorists; they’re just trying to survive. Just like us, remember? We both come from the Earth, are born and live in the same dirt, and suffer the same diseases.”
“Whoa!” N
ow it was Kev’s turn to step back. He checked over his shoulder as if he was afraid someone had overheard us. “Where’d you get that theory? You know, even in the Geos, people hate the Rejs. They’re nothing but scavengers and war mongers! They live to make our lives miserable. And, as a Farrow, you shouldn’t have any sympathy for them.” He leaned in. “Do you?”
“No, of course not!”
It was no use. Kev was no longer the Kev I knew. I would never be able to persuade him to believe the Rejs were just like us, only trying to survive in a sick world.
He exhaled loudly. “Good. Cause for a moment there, I thought—”
A few Elites entered the cafeteria from the other side of the corridor. They glanced at us and frowned. Kev spun on his heels, scratching the back of his neck. It took me a moment to realize he was pretending not to know me. As the Elites disappeared inside, he turned back to me and whispered.
“Look, Ty. I forgive you, for real. But you and I just can’t be friends anymore.”
That statement hit me like a giant boulder, right in the chest. “What?”
Kev shook his head, giving me a look of pity. My stomach roiled.
“I don’t want to be seen as a suck-up. You’re going to be a Farrow, and as much as we love the family, we’re not one of you. If we were friends, others would think I was trying to raise myself to your level. You get it, right? You have your new life and I have mine. We don’t really need each other anymore.”
He looked over his shoulder, as if to check on whether more Elites were coming.
“I’d better get going,” he said, not bothering to wait for my answer. “I told my friends I was headed to the bathroom. Don’t want them to think I’m talking to you.”
And, with that, he jogged off into the cafeteria, leaving me standing stupidly stunned in the corridor.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ben walked into my apartment just as the second re-run of The Cure was rolling end credits. I had barely paid attention to anything on TV—even the new episode. It was all just background noise. My mind was too preoccupied with Kev and Skylar Two, and my mom getting weaker by the day. My mind whirled with all kinds of awful scenarios as my heart thumped hard in my throat.