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

by M. J. Kaestli

  Without further ado, Gwen turned and darted toward the clearing. The sooner she could get herself quietly tucked behind a tree, the better chance she had of some decent game wandering into the meadow to graze.

  Laura was right on Gwen’s heels until they reached the tree line, then separated for multiple vantage points of the meadow. Once again, she waited for her throbbing heart to quiet before she could listen to the surrounding sounds. She had more to listen for now than before: wildlife, an attack, and those men from Hope acting like jackasses.

  Gwen crouched in the grass for cover. The strain on her thighs helped ground her nervous energy. She could tell Laura took this hunting trip seriously, but no one else seemed to. Maybe Laura just knew her so well, that she could sense the urgency of this trip without being told. Or maybe, after watching what the State did to the colony, she knew better than to take chances.

  Their lives had changed overnight. For countless generations, the people in their community had felt safe from the State, as long as they lived within their means. They stayed small. Hidden. And no harm ever came to them. But now, each passing day was a gift, something most were blind to.

  She figured those men from Hope were the same. Their community had always been safe, and they couldn’t accept that things were different now. Hope wasn’t safe any longer, even though the High Council didn’t yet know their exact location.

  A single mid-sized deer cautiously stepped into the meadow. Gwen’s breath hitched. Slowly, she straightened her legs, raising upright, then lifted her bow. Gwen pulled back on the string, readying her aim.

  The deer’s head suddenly snapped upwards toward the sky, then bolted back toward the tree line. Gwen’s arrow fired after the creature in a vain attempt, already knowing she had fired too late. She cursed and stalked out into the grass to retrieve her arrow.

  “Do we really have time to worry about that arrow?” Laura asked.

  Gwen threw her hands up. “Well, why not? It’s not like we’re going to hit anything with those jackasses doing whatever stupid shit they’re doing to scare everything off.”

  Laura’s gaze darted to the side as she pursed her lips. A simple movement, yet it made Gwen fully aware of her volume. Her insides were lit aflame, raging with anger. So much so, that she was now a part of the problem.

  She closed her eyes, trying to pull herself together. Her heart thundered out of control, feeling her pulse in her temples, throat, and fingertips.

  Get yourself together.

  “Gwen?”

  “Just give me a minute.”

  “Gwen,” Laura sprung through the vegetation, into the clearing, sprinting past her. “Run!”

  She wasted no time questioning Laura’s command and just placed one foot in front of the other. Laura was so fast, running as though her life depended on it, and so Gwen pushed to catch up. She didn’t see or hear anything threatening, yet she ran.

  As they cleared the trees, Gwen could see the group of men run into the lights, crossing over into the dome.

  What the…

  Then she heard it, the noise masked from the beating of her heart. It was easy enough to miss, as it held a similar rhythm. It grew louder, and louder, the rhythmic thumping. Gwen didn’t know what it was, she only knew that the sound was foreign. Unnatural.

  The other two women in her party crossed in front of her, running hard. Gwen turned her gaze from the ground to the transport device. She needed to push herself. Harder. Faster. More forward momentum with every step.

  With her single-minded focus, Gwen’s toe dipped into a gopher hole, catching on the disrupted soil. Her body flung forward, landing hard on her knee, then wrist, until the entire right side of her body smashed into the hard ground.

  She lifted her head, seeing the bright light ahead of her, then the feet of the women running through the transport device. Except for one. Laura ran past the light, looping around behind to circle back to Gwen.

  Dammit, Laura. Why’d you have to turn back?

  She knew she had to get up. Now. Or they’d both die. Gwen pushed onto all fours and instantly fell back to the ground. Pain shot through her wrist, her ankle, causing her to collapse. She rolled onto her side, gripping her wrist with her other hand. As her vision came into focus, she thought her mind was deceiving her.

  Large machines circled the air above her. The side of the flying device opened, and a rope ladder fell to the ground. A person wrapped in blue came climbing down toward her.

  Laura grabbed Gwen’s shoulder. “Get up!” Her breath laced with hot liquid splattered on Gwen’s face.

  She turned her head back to the transport device, trying to force herself to focus. Laura pulled her upright, and Gwen instantly flung an arm around Laura for support.

  She pushed past the pain as they moved forward. Each step radiated white-hot shards up Gwen’s leg, but Laura dragged her forward, closing the gap between them and safety.

  Deafening cracks reverberated through the air. The light was so close yet felt impossible to reach.

  Just a few more steps. Two more.

  A searing pain tore through Gwen. Stars flashed behind her closed eyes in a sea of bright white.

  Chapter 30

  Freya

  It was unthinkable. Freya’s hand flung over her mouth as the reality set in. They were all dead. All of them. They had abandoned every greenhouse; the vegetation left to rot. The camera displayed vines of brown dangling between the planters. No life within. Dead leaves. Dry soil. No hope.

  “I have to get down there, immediately. There has to be seeds somewhere. If everyone left in such a rush, then they would have also left behind what we need to revitalize the greenhouses.”

  She started for the door and Colin sprung to his feet. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, as they sprinted to the closest greenhouse.

  The automatic lights flicked on as they entered the space. She walked straight over to the cupboard, handing an apron and gloves to Colin. Hesitantly, he looped the apron over his head, and she loaded the pockets with the shears, spades and forks he would need to remove the old vegetation. Next, she armed herself with the same tools, and showed how to remove the remaining dried plants.

  The old vegetation crumbled under her touch, erupting into dust clouds with every tug. Freya pulled her undershirt over her nose to protect herself from a coughing fit, and Colin quickly mirrored her.

  Once she felt confident in Colin’s abilities, she went back to the cupboards in search of more supplies. She checked through each of the tools, then dug into the other shelves filled with tablets. Finally, tucked away on the bottom shelf, she found seeds and fertilizer.

  She dissolved nutrient tablets into the water and poured small amounts into the parched bed. The moisture pooled around the soil until she raked it, breaking it apart with the small claw-like tool.

  So much of her wanted to immediately push the seeds into place the moment they had cultivated the first bed, but she knew it would be best to let the fertilizer and moisture settle, and to make sure it was properly aerated. She would return in the morning, check the PH levels, and hopefully, start planting.

  “Colin, do you know how to calibrate the shading in the glass above? We should brighten the rooms right after we plant. It might speed up production.”

  Colin winced. “I’m sorry. No idea. I think it’s computerized to change on its own seasonally.”

  She huffed and continued working even faster.

  “Sorry.”

  “Colin, none of this is your fault. I’m just trying to come up with ideas for how to get through this. We’ve got the small garden in the State House grounds, but it’s not enough.”

  Colin tugged hard on some old roots deeply embedded in a solid clump of soil “We should do a more thorough search of this dome. If everyone left in such a hurry, then there are probably rations scattered everywhere.”

  “Rations that are almost 20 years old.”

  Colin stepped
back from the soil and wiped sweat from his brow in the crook of his arm. “But they may still be edible. Gross, but edible.”

  Her lips formed a pout while she dug around in the dirt. “So, if it doesn’t have mold on it, we find a way to use it?”

  He undid the top bottoms of his jumpsuit, shimmied his arms free, and tied the sleeves around his waist. “I bet there will be breakfast bars in every kitchen. They’ll be hard as rocks, but they’ll be there. Let’s steam them or boil them into mush, then remake them. Or mix it into rice. I don’t know.”

  She nodded slowly. “The common room kitchens will have rice. If it was sealed, we might be able to eat it.” She stopped and turned to Colin. “Where does rice come from? I’ve never seen it in any of the greenhouses.”

  “I think they bring it in from the mountain. There were always trucks that drove large sacks from the mountain every month.”

  A light ignited in her chest. “You’re right. There are other rations elsewhere in the dome. That garden was just for Lewis. Everything else was abandoned.”

  Freya wiped her hands on the bottom corner of her apron and took a few steps back from the plant bed.

  Colin turned to her. “Did you want to go look right now?”

  She shook her head. “No. We need to clean out this entire greenhouse tonight so we can plant it first thing tomorrow. And we could use help. I’m going to grab a few extra people. Anyone I can find.”

  He nodded. “I’ll keep working then.”

  She quickly lined up multiple watering cans, filled them, and dropped fertilizer tablets to dissolve in her absence. They needed to revitalize this greenhouse, and they needed to do it fast, regardless of what other food they found.

  ***

  She looked down at her hands, seeing dirt wedged under her nails, even though she had worn gloves. It was comforting in a way; it made her feel normal, even if it couldn’t make her feel safe.

  As the elevator doors slid open, she stepped into the underground walkway with one determined step after another. In reality, she was exhausted. She needed sleep but knew that every hour was precious. They needed to get that greenhouse prepared and planted. Immediately.

  The underground hallways were quiet. Too quiet. But it only made her push harder. She burst through the last door to the atrium to see casual bystanders lounging about.

  It was an odd combination of anger and relief at seeing such idle behavior. She was furious to see people lazing about, but also relieved to see it would be easy to grab volunteers to help in the greenhouse.

  Her eyes scanned the room until she saw Aakil leaning against the transport device. “Aakil,” she hollered and sprinted over to see him.

  “Hey, Freya. What’s up?”

  “What’s going on out here?”

  Aakil’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve got two hunting teams in Idaho.”

  Her gut clenched.

  Of course. They’re doing exactly what I asked them to do.

  She cleared her throat. “Do you need all the people here?”

  Aakil shrugged. “Depends on how many animals they kill. We’ve had one buck come through so far.”

  Freya felt her shoulder lower. “That’s some good news.”

  “Some. But not enough,” he said from the corner of his mouth. “What do you need?”

  “Colin and I are clearing a greenhouse and preparing the soil for planting. We could use all the hands you can spare. I want that greenhouse seeded in the morning.”

  He nodded. “Take as many as you need. They’re really just here to move the carcass out of the way when the hunters drag one through. But as long as the body gets pushed off to the side—”

  One hunter came through. His skin flushed, glistening, cheeks flared with every breath. And he kept running. It didn’t matter if he crossed through, he couldn’t stop.

  And then another.

  And another.

  They all watched in silence as all the men returned, all looking just as spooked as the one before. Freya sprinted over to the first man who came through. He stood far away from the group, hunched over as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

  “What happened?”

  He remained hunched over, unable to look up at her. “We heard a noise.”

  Her brows knitted together. “What kind of noise?”

  “An unnatural noise.”

  Freya took a breath. Part of her was relieved they made it back safely, and part of her worried that they were being too cautious. They needed that meat.

  “Was it a buzzing?”

  He tried to correct his posture. “No. I don’t know if I can explain it. But it was definitely them.”

  Freya nodded and turned back to the transport device. As she did, two of the women ran through. Freya’s skin blanched. Whatever it was, it had to be big, as she didn’t suspect the group was all hunting together. She took a few steps forward, her fingernails dug into her palms deeper and deeper with each breath.

  Where is Gwen?

  The women spun around after they crossed through. “Come on!” One screamed, as though Gwen or Laura could hear them through the device. “They were just behind us!”

  “Was it drones?” Aakil asked. “A missile. Do you know what the State sent?”

  She nodded, struggling to catch her breath. “Men in blue.”

  Aakil cursed. His gaze locked on Freya. Her lips parted, yet no words came to mind.

  Aakil pulled himself together and sprang into action. He fumbled with the controls to the transport device. “I have to shut it down.”

  “No!” the woman screamed. “Not without them.”

  Freya tried to tell Aakil to wait, but her voice caught in her throat. She couldn’t scream. Couldn’t yell. Couldn’t stop him. But she had to.

  He squatted down and pulled a cover from the controls. Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened to scream, but before her voice escaped its prison, Aakil was holding a white crystal in his hand above the device.

  Time froze. Her mind couldn’t process anything except the static ringing in her ears. Aakil had really done it. He shut down the transport device. Her head moved slowly, eyes pooling with tears. She could hear shouts all around her. Commotion. Movement. Fear. But she couldn’t see anything through her blurred vision.

  Someone bumped her shoulder, snapping her back to her present reality. There was blood. A lot of blood. Once she realized the source, a wave of dizziness washed over her. Gwen had returned, but she wasn’t safe.

  Before Freya could mutter a single word, a group of people lifted Gwen and whisked her toward the other side of the atrium. The clinic.

  Suddenly, it all sunk in. The blood. The commotion. The panic. Gwen was shot; Laura covered in her blood. The High Council didn’t bomb Idaho, they didn’t even send drones. They sent their military. And those soldiers had the same agenda as those patrolling outside: to ensure that everyone inside the dome starved.

  Freya turned to the group of startled bystanders, her eyes wild. “I need six people to come with me to the greenhouse. Now. We’re seeding it in the morning, and we have a lot of work to do.”

  She didn’t know if these bystanders were needed elsewhere. She didn’t know if they had already done more work than others. She only knew that the greenhouse was their only hope if they wanted to survive.

  Chapter 31

  Freya

  Her shallow breath rasped in her throat. She lay in bed beside Colin, who was snoring soundly. They had a six-hour window to sleep, and she knew she’d be lucky if she got in 10 minutes.

  There was too much to do. Too much happening too quickly. Was one deer enough to sustain them until the greenhouse yielded a crop? Could they find enough abandoned reserves to make a difference? Could they even eat anything they found?

  Just keeping sufficient guards posted at the access points was taxing enough. And that was before they went in search of food.

  Even if they had a decent supply, the only way rationing would work was if everyone’s meals
came from the same kitchen. She would feel more secure to have the food stored and handled in the State House, but then they’d run into issues with delivery. Besides, if they moved the food to somewhere easier to control, it would be utterly useless unless they reinstated the Security system.