Delivered: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance (The State Series Book 7)

by M. J. Kaestli

  Gita wouldn’t meet Freya’s gaze. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how I’m going to do this either. I’m afraid I’m too old for this. My knees have been grinding with every step, and now they’re swollen. I just keep asking myself why I thought I could do this and wonder how long until I get left behind?”

  Freya stopped. “No one is leaving you behind.”

  Gita’s eyes welled with emotion. “Well, not with your injury. I think you just ensured I’ll make it through the mountains. They’ll definitely wait for you.” Freya shook her head, gearing up to protest, but Gita cut her off. “I know you mean well, Freya, but eventually, these people will grow impatient. It’s inevitable that they realize I’m nothing more than a liability. When we set up a homestead, I have nothing to offer.”

  Gita was always one to speak her mind. She may be candid, but Freya knew she was also wrong. “There are lots of things you can do. You could sew clothing or cook meals, or maybe help me plant our gardens once we build a home. You may be the oldest woman here, but we don’t do things like the State. You won’t mysteriously die in your sleep because you can’t work like you once did.”

  They fell into silence as Colin stepped up on a boulder and shouted. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” It took him a few attempts before the crowd fell silent. “Now that everyone is here, I want to announce that we’ve decided to take at least one full day’s break at this camp.”

  An eruption of responses rippled through the group. Most of them conveyed relief.

  “There is a stream near this outpost. Tomorrow morning, we’ll arrange shifts for people to bathe and wash clothing. I know that Freya may have sustained the worst injury of our group, but she’s not alone in feeling pain. We all have aching muscles and joints, blisters, and are thoroughly exhausted.” A collective murmur of agreement passed around the group. “Also, we need volunteers as we need to start butchering the bear. Fresh meat is on the menu for dinner tonight.”

  As Colin stepped down from the rock, the group broke into applause—the first joyful sound they made since embarking on their journey.

  Gita turned to Freya, looking weary. “Will you be all right if I leave you here? I believe butchering is something I can help with—something I can do sitting down. I best go show everyone how this slow, old lady can contribute.”

  Freya smiled softly at her. “See, you’ve already found a job and we haven’t even got there yet.”

  Gita reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before wandering off. Freya slowly approached Colin and Aakil, who were working together to unload one of the sleds. A foreign object caught her eye. “What is that?”

  Colin casually pointed at it. “It’s the old radio that we found in the shelter. Aakil’s going to work on it while we’re stopped.”

  “Do you think there’s anyone out there to talk to? I mean, do we have anything else to go on than a bedtime story? I knew your mom. She talked about how some people believed in living on the surface as though she wasn’t one of them.”

  “The thing about my mom is she always read her audience. My dad asked me to smuggle people out an access while we were coupled. She definitely believed in life on the surface.”

  That information made Freya’s heart ache. Although she understood the risks Ursa had taken with her, it still felt like a betrayal from both of them. Suddenly, it made sense why Colin was so scared when he received the message to report in for an award. And he had been right.

  “I don’t think it’s about if there’s someone out there to talk to,” Colin continued, “but if they have a radio to hear us.”

  She looked over at Aakil, already setting out tools. “And you think one day is enough for you to fix this thing?”

  “I don’t know how long it will take,” Aakil said. “But if we’re staying put for a full day or so, I may as well get to work on it.”

  Freya nodded and turned back to Colin. “I’m going to find a place to sit—you know, where I can both sit and get back up. Please bring me some dinner when it’s ready.”

  Colin gave her a small kiss, then pointed off to the side of them. “I think that rock I stood on will be your best bet.”

  She thanked him and headed toward the boulder. It was challenging to sit idle while watching others scuttle around. Even Gita was already slicing into the bear as instructed. Her logical mind knew she needed to rest, yet her mood sunk lower and lower with each passing moment.

  What if Gita was right? What if she was too great of a burden to bear? Colin would always stand by her side, but what about the others? Winter would come, regardless of if they had a home, or a community of people to help them build.

  Chapter 7

  Colin

  Stars danced behind his eyes. Colin mis-stepped, stumbling before he caught himself and Freya.

  “Colin, you need a break,” Freya called out to him.

  He shook his head, the movement making his vision blur. “No. Not yet. We’re so close. Just a few more steps.”

  Reaching the top of this hill was more than a few steps away, but the sharp incline would be too difficult for Freya.

  Their group had spent three days at their last camp. He nearly went crazy. So much of him wanted to press on, knowing that a three-day rest was three days closer to winter. It was three days less to build shelters, hunt, and gather plants and herbs.

  But with each day passing, he wore a smile. Freya needed time to heal. The bear skin needed salting. The entire group needed to soak their aching bodies in the cool stream. Now that they were mobile again, he wanted to make up for lost time.

  He heaved a heavy breath, struggling to remain lucid. Sweat poured down his temples, his neck, everywhere. His biggest concern was Freya catching pneumonia in her fragile lungs. If she did, there was little they could do to save her. His dehydration didn’t make his list of grievances.

  Just keep going. You’re so close.

  With a deep breath, he powered through six more steep steps before he teetered to the side.

  “Colin, stop!”

  It was her tone, more than his loose grip on consciousness which made him comply. His vision blurred as he fumbled with the leather straps that bound Freya’s sled around his waist. Next, he turned to untie the straps that secured Freya to the sled, and then slowly helped her to her feet.

  He gripped the end of the long, billowing cloth secured around his head and wiped at his drenched neck. Everyone wore head coverings; it was a matter of survival. The sun pelted down, creating heat ripples in the air everywhere he looked.

  He expected to get dehydrated from dragging Freya, but nothing like this. It was impossible for him to carry enough water to keep up with the strain. Between the heat and hilly terrain, he lost sight of logic, simply numbing himself to all discomfort.

  She lifted her water sack to him. “Here. Drink.”

  He winced. “That’s yours. You drink it.”

  “Colin.” She raised an eyebrow. “I know yours is empty. Drink. Now.”

  He hesitated for only a moment. He needed it. His tongue was so swollen that he would soon lose his ability to speak, possibly breathe. He took a few slight sips, feeling instant relief of the crisp water as it rinsed through his acrid mouth and throat. A voice called out from above the hill’s crest, announcing the group’s next break. Without hesitation, he lifted Freya’s waterskin to his lips and drained the entire sack.

  Freya waited for him to recover before grabbing onto his hand. Sweat beaded his skin, but Freya needed his hand for support. Together, they slowly hiked the remaining distance to the plateau where the others were resting.

  “Colin,” Aakil shouted from across the way. “It’s too hot. We don’t want to go any further in this heat.”

  Colin glanced up at the sharp incline ahead and he nodded his agreement. That slope would be easier early in the morning than in this scorching sun.

  “Are you going to help Aakil?” Freya asked.

  “If by helping him you mean t
o sit on my ass and relax while he tinkers with the radio, then yes. I’ll go help him.”

  She smiled wearily. “I’ll find Gita then.”

  Aakil had jerry rigged a power source during their last camp. But when they powered up the radio, there was no answer.

  It was disheartening. Devastating. Colin didn’t realize how much he held a silent hope for some sort of calvary until the only sound coming through the radio was static.

  They agreed to try the radio each night when they set up camp. The problem was, the more failed attempts they had, the lower their energy sunk, making it harder to climb what remained of the mountain.

  Aakil was already setting up the radio, sitting a distance from others when Colin caught up to him.

  “Hello?” Aakil tapped on the microphone. “Is anyone there?” At seeing Colin’s approach, he leaned back, resting his back against his sled. “How’s the back of the line treating you?”

  Colin replied with a shrug.

  “We’re making it over this mountain.” Aakil looked over the valley, contemplating silently for a time before he looked back to Colin. “We’ll be there before you know it.”

  “Sure,” Colin grumbled.

  Tap. Tap. Tap

  “Hello?” Aakil tried the radio again. “Is anybody still out there? We’re looking for… literally anybody. Anybody?”

  Colin lifted the waterskin halfway to his mouth before remembering it was empty. He turned away to get a refill when a crackling sound came through the radio.

  “Hello?” A female voice said. “Is there someone there?”

  Colin could feel his heartbeat throbbing in his throat. His body froze in place and multiple thoughts in his mind collided. How could they know who was on the other end? Was this a trap? Could the State have planted the radio as a tripwire?

  “Yes, hello there,” Aakil responded warmly. “Thank you for answering.”

  “And who is this?”

  Aakil hesitated briefly before responding. “I could tell you that, but my name won’t mean anything to you. We just found this old radio and got it working.”

  “Well, my name won’t mean anything to you either, but if you’d like it, it’s Gwen.”

  “Aakil. And I’ve got a friend with me named Colin.”

  “What lands do you come from?”

  Colin looked to Aakil and silently pleaded with him to remain silent.

  We need to get her to talk first.

  “Well, I’m not sure, but I think the area we’ve been living in used to be called Portland.”

  Colin yanked the microphone out of Aakil’s hands. Before he could chastise Aakil for being abrupt, her voice came through the radio again.

  “That’s not possible. We’ve sent scouts over the mountains. That area and everything surrounding it was destroyed.”

  Aakil wrestled the microphone back from Colin. “What the hell are you doing? We’ve contacted a real surviving tribe. This girl might save our lives.”

  “But what if it’s the State?”

  Aakil shook his head. “Mate, you’ve always been paranoid, which is what I like best about you. But I can assure you, this radio is from a time long before the State took over. They don’t use radio waves inside the dome or mountain; it’s too archaic. Everything bounces off satellites in orbit. This girl is legit, and about to save our collective asses. So, if you don’t mind.”

  Aakil gave a half-turn away from Colin before pressing the button again. “We settled there much after the Great War.”

  “Really?” Gwen asked. “Not your best idea. The State likes to test weapons or something there.”

  Aakil gave Colin a pointed look. “Oh, do they? How often do they do that?”

  She hesitated before responding. “We don’t know exactly. We just know that we sent scouts out to that area and it had been bombed many generations postwar. We contemplated migrating over the mountain to have milder winters, but once we realized the State had some kind of interest in that area, we’ve never crossed through the mountains again.”

  Aakil scratched his chin. “Yeah, they definitely still have an interest in the area all right. Us. I just don’t know why it hasn’t been bombed already.”

  Colin groaned.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Gwen asked.

  “Well, we were all born inside the dome. The State told us they wanted us to set up a colony. We’ve been there for far too long, and only just figured out that they tricked us. The State told us we were colonizing a different planet, but we never left Earth.”

  She sighed into the microphone. “We knew the State was planning to colonize, we just didn’t know it was a trick. Is everyone the State sent there with you?”

  Aakil laughed into the microphone, shaking his head. “Nope. Most people didn’t believe us or didn’t want to take the chance of crossing the mountains. We’re a small group of about 50 traveling together.”

  It seemed a little too odd they somehow knew about colonization, or even knew the term the State.

  “And how did you know about colonization?” Colin pressed. “Or anything else that happens under the dome.”

  “We aren’t the only community with a radio. All of us who can talk, share as much information as we can. The State keeps our communities from getting too big. There were many more, in the beginning. We have to live in hiding. But our friends living close to the dome helped some people who escaped.”

  There really is a survivors’ group near the dome, and people made it there safely. I wonder if any of them made it from the group I helped escape.

  “You have friends near the dome?” Colin’s voice cracked. “I thought that might be you. So where are you located?”

  “I doubt this will mean anything to you, but we are from a place formerly known as Idaho.”

  “Yes!” Aakil yelled. “You’re still alive.”

  Colin grabbed the microphone where Aakil dropped it in his excitement. “We found a map with this radio in what we think was an old shelter in the mountains. It had markings with coordinates of a surviving tribe in Idaho. We were heading your way, hoping to either find survivors or an old homestead.”

  “How far through those mountains have you come?”

  “Ahh,” Colin scrambled, “I’d say we’re about halfway through.”

  “Are you guys lighting fires along the way?”

  Colin winced as Aakil leaned in and responded. “Yes. Is that bad? Are we leading the State right to us?”

  “No. I doubt they’re paying any attention to you. Not yet. But if you want to start a real smoky fire each time you stop, I may be able to send some scouts for you, if you still want to come here knowing you won’t have it to yourselves.”

  They stared at each other, jaws hanging open before Colin finally answered. “That sounds nice.”

  An established home would make things so much easier for them. Having guides keep them safe in their travels would save lives, especially for the injured.

  “Yeah.” Aakil agreed. “Our group needs a stable home, and we left most of our people behind. If you could help us get to you and take us in for the winter, we could come up with a long-term plan for later.”

  “You’re welcome to come here and stay as long as you like. We’ve survived from the State since the beginning; you’ll be safe here. We lost our men a while back, and to be honest, you’d be doing us a favor.”

  Colin leaned in toward the radio. “And you said lighting fires is enough for your scouts to find us?”

  “You just keep traveling toward us and light a smoky fire once a day before sundown. We’ll find you and bring you here. We’ve got lots to eat and plenty of space.”

  “Okay,” Aakil responded. “As Colin said, there are about 50 of us traveling together, but we hope more will join us later. Can you take all of us, or more?”

  “We might be a little cramped to start, but we’ll be fine. There will be four Scouts coming your way on horseback as of tomorrow. I’ll personally see to it.”<
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  “What’s horseback?” Colin asked.

  She laughed before responding. “It’s an animal that we can ride. It makes us travel faster. We’ll teach you how when you get here. But those scouts will leave in the morning and meet up with you in a few days’ time.”

  “I’m really excited to meet you.” Aakil leaned into the microphone. “I’m excited to learn from you and your people. I’ll see you soon.”

  There were so many more questions Colin wanted to ask, but he knew that it would be better to wait until he could talk to Gwen face-to-face. He wanted to know more about the people who escaped from the dome, and if he could talk to them, or even go there. Someone had to know his parents, and hopefully the answers he so desperately wanted.