“Never. I just assumed it was code for barracks or something,” Jesse said.
“It may be something else. Have you been out far west recently, to the gathering of hills?”
“Not that far.”
“There’s a new active facility hidden in a valley out there, and we think that may be where people are being taken.”
“Taken, like the crazy rumors running through the city? You think they have merit?”
Wire jumped in. “A couple of our scouts found the location and saw people being herded inside.”
Remko glanced at Wire. “We should discuss this with the others and make a plan. Will you gather them?”
Wire nodded and excused himself. He took a couple of steps to his left and disappeared behind a tent.
Remko turned back to Jesse. “I would appreciate it if you kept this information to yourself.”
Jesse dipped his chin in affirmation and Remko moved to leave.
“I could be more useful, you know,” Jesse said.
Remko paused and glanced back toward the archer.
“I heard about your friend in the city,” Jesse said.
Remko had been pushing back thoughts of Dodson for the last couple of hours while trying to regain control of camp, but he knew their plan of action still needed to be determined. “You seem to hear a lot,” Remko said.
Jesse tilted his head to the left and ran his palm across the back of his neck. “I’ve learned to listen well.”
Remko smirked. That was a good skill to have.
“I know the city, and if you’re planning to go in after him, I could help,” Jesse said.
Remko didn’t doubt it, but he knew that wouldn’t go over well with the rest of the team. Trust was a hard commodity to come by when you were running for your life. And Remko couldn’t blame them. Although he did find himself intrigued by Jesse’s skills and presence, there was still much they didn’t know about the boy. And his sudden interest in the group and willingness to help pricked at a tiny feeling in Remko’s gut that warned against Jesse’s intentions.
“It’s a dangerous trek; it would mean risking your life,” Remko said.
Jesse scoffed with a half smile forming on his face. “I live outside the city and against the wishes of the only form of government we have left. Breathing is a risk.”
“Why not live in the city?”
Jesse’s expression changed and he dropped his eyes from Remko’s face. “That’s a long story.”
“One I’d like to hear sometime.”
Jesse eyed Remko tentatively, but not long enough for Remko to get a good sense of what he was feeling. It was clearly something Jesse wasn’t ready to talk about.
“I think for now it’s best for you to stay in camp and work with Ramses to learn the way things work around here. That is, if you plan to stay,” Remko said.
Jesse shrugged, which was becoming a very common gesture for him, and Remko nodded. “Whatever you decide is fine. I’ll send Ramses to find you later.”
Remko turned to walk away but after a couple of steps paused. He turned back to tell Jesse he didn’t have to be alone anymore, but the boy was gone.
15
Dodson Rogue sat inside his cold cell and stared up at the stone ceiling he’d now committed to memory. Each nick, each bump that protruded from the flat surface bore witness to the time and weather that had left their marks across the stone. The silence was the stone’s constant companion and had now become Dodson’s only friend.
“Just you and me,” Dodson whispered to himself.
In the beginning, the quiet itself had felt like punishment. The dragging hours had swallowed him in stillness. There had been no escape, no place to run or retreat. Dodson wasn’t a fool; he’d known what giving Remko his chip would mean. He’d actually been surprised at the length of time he’d remained free. He had imagined that within hours of Remko and Carrington’s escape from the city, the CityWatch guards he’d mentored would come for him. Lock him in this very cell and then watch as he was executed.
But time had been cruel, and it had tricked him into believing that maybe he would retain his freedom. Of course, after Ian’s demise, Dodson’s time had been up. Damien Gold was infinitely crueler than his predecessor, and since the day Dodson had been arrested, he’d waited for death.
Not that he wanted to die. He didn’t view death as some kind of morbid final freedom. Death was just death, inevitable for everyone but coming for Dodson sooner than most. He had known prison execution would be in his future. The moment that chip had left his fingers and slipped into Remko’s hand, Dodson had prepared himself for this cell. What he hadn’t expected was the time.
He’d been in this prison for over eight months, which was eight months longer than he’d expected. He had betrayed his city, the Authority, his calling. Death by execution was the only outcome. Unlike Isaac, who had insanity to fall back on, Dodson had betrayed his station with a clear mind. With more clarity than he’d ever experienced. He’d known, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that handing Remko his chip was the only move he could make.
It was the right move, and Dodson had always been a sucker for what was right. That’s why he’d always found great pride in his family’s heritage. His father and grandfather had led the CityWatch, just as Dodson had. It was the ultimate position of right and wrong.
Dodson sucked on a dying cigarette that he held between his fingers and watched the smoke rise as he let it slip past his teeth. He’d been wrong—silence wasn’t his only friend. A couple of CityWatch guards still felt some sort of loyalty to him, and he was thankful for it every week when a dozen packs of cigarettes showed up with his morning meal.
It wasn’t until Dodson had been instated into the Authority that he’d begun to see the evil that lived among the men there. Dodson had always tried to do what was right, but some things had been out of his control. So when Remko had come to him, he’d known the right thing to do was to set the boy free.
Of course, Dodson had no idea that setting Remko free would bring about such a rebellion against the Authority. He felt a smile threatening to surface. The thought that his actions had caused such upheaval initially made him feel very uncomfortable, but now he found the idea revitalizing. Although he hadn’t always agreed with the ways of the Authority, he had never enjoyed the idea of a single man disturbing the balance that their ancestors had fought for. He still suspected that Aaron was a danger to their way of life. But Damien was worse. And anything that made the vessels in Damien’s head pulse made Dodson smile. He and his original enemy, Aaron, now had a common enemy in Damien, which made them comrades-in-arms.
“Who would have thought—me and that crazed hippie, comrades,” Dodson said.
“Crazed hippie?” a man said on the other side of the steel-barred door that locked Dodson in his cage.
Dodson sat up, dropped what remained of his cigarette, and snuffed it out with the heel of his boot. “Who’s there?” He strained to see the man who belonged to the voice, but the dark prison shadowed his face.
“I’ll admit, I have been called an array of colorful names, but crazed hippie is new. I like it,” the man said and stepped closer to the bars so the small stream of light from the window at the end of the hall stretched across his face.
Dodson’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of the famous rebel. In the many months Dodson and the Authority had spent searching for Aaron, Dodson had never actually seen the man. The deep blue of his eyes was overwhelming, and Dodson instantly felt a pull at something that lay dormant inside his chest. Hope.
He shoved the odd feeling away and felt his old tactical training take over. This man was the enemy, yet he was standing inside the Authority prison. How had he managed to get past the guards? How did he expect to get away? Dodson should shout out to the guards—he knew they couldn’t be too far away—and have this man arrested. Maybe he could trade the capture of the rebels’ leader for his own freedom? Dodson knew the thought was preposter
ous, but then, so was the man standing before him.
“You look worried,” Aaron said.
Dodson cleared his face of emotions and silently cursed himself for letting his composure slip. “How did you get in here?”
“I walked.”
“You walked?”
“Yes, I enjoy walking. It clears the mind, don’t you think?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Now that’s the question, isn’t it?”
Dodson could feel irritation itching at the insides of his brain. Was all conversation with this man going to be in riddles?
“You really are a fool,” Dodson said.
Aaron smiled and nodded. “Perhaps, but I am free.”
Dodson angrily huffed. “Not for long. Eventually they’ll catch you and lock you up just like the rest of us.”
“That may be true, but you misunderstand freedom. Bars won’t change my status, just as they don’t affect yours.”
Dodson stood and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, you’re the man Arianna Carson died for?”
Sorrow and pain crossed Aaron’s face. His eyes dropped to the stone floor and Dodson felt a stab of regret. Dodson noticed a tear slip down Aaron’s cheek and he felt a heavy, uncomfortable silence pass between them.
“A terrible loss. She did not die for me, but for truth,” Aaron said.
“Your truth,” Dodson replied.
Aaron raised his head and found Dodson’s gaze. “Her truth.”
Something in the man’s words shot through Dodson’s chest and once again ignited that forgotten feeling of hope. He fought not to show any reaction and held Aaron’s gaze.
“And now you will lead Remko and the others to the same fate?” Dodson questioned.
“Remko will choose his own path, just as all of us do.”
“No, he is a soldier, trained to follow orders.”
“You’re worried about him.”
“Of course I’m worried about him! I sent him on this journey.”
“He was destined for this journey long before you sent him.”
Dodson aggressively spit to the side and grabbed for another cigarette. Why was he even listening to this madman? Again he considered shouting for the guards, but a tiny pocket of curiosity kept him quiet. Besides, what did he owe the Authority? Nothing.
Why were people following this man? It was a question Dodson had been asking himself since the first sightings of Aaron. And why was he here now? He surely knew that Dodson didn’t support his way of life. Didn’t he recognize the danger he was putting himself in?
Dodson lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply. He turned back to face Aaron and took a step closer to the bars. “Again, what are you doing here? How did you get in here—and don’t say you walked! Why come? Why risk it? What’s the purpose to all of this anyway? What are you hoping to accomplish?” The questions slipped out one after the other as if through an unplugged dam.
“So many questions,” Aaron said.
“I’m trying to figure out who you are.”
“I’m the same as you. We are all the same. Brothers and sisters, if not all of one heart and one mind. To understand me, just look for the truth you already possess.”
“And what truth is that?”
Aaron smiled. “Do you really want to know?”
The question struck Dodson as odd, and he pondered it for a moment. Did he want to know? He hadn’t been raised in a society that asked people what they wanted. Citizens were taught as children that certain things were best for them and others were not, and there wasn’t much choice in these matters. If he said yes, what would Aaron say? Would he fill his head with lies that would lead him down the wrong path? If he completely abandoned the truths he knew, what would be left? Who would he be?
His mind ran in invisible circles, searching for signs of clarity, but things had already begun to fall into chaos.
If the Authority was all-knowing, then why did he betray them and give Remko the chip?
Because Remko needed to be free.
Why? Were they not all called to follow the Authority’s ways?
But the Authority is wrong.
Can truth be wrong?
I don’t know.
Maybe the Authority wasn’t truth?
Dodson shook his head and took another drag of the smoking tobacco stick between his fingers. This man was known to brainwash his followers; surely that’s all this was.
Then why does he call me to hope? The thought penetrated his mind before he could shut it out. With it, he felt a ripple of fear.
“Change can be fearful,” Aaron said. His voice pulled Dodson from his thoughts.
“I’m not afraid. I know my days are numbered. Damien has made sure of that,” Dodson said.
“Yes, Damien. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet.”
Dodson chuckled and looked up at the ceiling before taking another drag. “Pleasure isn’t the term I’d use.” Then he sat up straighter as one thought rose above the rest. He turned his gaze back to Aaron. “Tell Remko not to come for me.”
“Remko makes his own choices,” Aaron said.
“The Authority will use my execution as a ploy. I’m not worth dying for.”
“Your fear and lack of self-worth are what keep you imprisoned. Let them go and you can be free.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a crazy person?”
Aaron laughed and his voice echoed off of the stone walls. The sound warmed the constant chill in Dodson’s bones and added another layer of complexity to the man before him. He couldn’t tell if Aaron was mad or perfectly sane, but he couldn’t deny how much he was beginning to like him. It suddenly didn’t seem quite so crazy that people were following him.
The strange man’s laughter died out and the seriousness of the situation returned. Dodson was still in prison, he was still sentenced to be executed, and Remko was still going to try and save him, endangering his own life in the process.
As if reading his thoughts, Aaron spoke. “Even if I wanted to stop Remko, I couldn’t. He does believe you are worth dying for.”
“He’s as crazy as you, then.”
“Actually, he’s much like you.”
“Stubborn and grumpy?”
Aaron smiled. “Full of fear and carrying the weight of all those around him.”
Dodson took the final drag of his cigarette and flicked it against the ground. “He should be afraid. The Authority will have them all killed if they’re caught. Fear will make him sharp.”
“No, fear will be his end. It follows him, tortures him, weighs him down. It keeps him imprisoned. It keeps him from freedom.”
“He already lives outside the city. Isn’t that freedom?”
“That sort of freedom is an illusion. True freedom isn’t defined by where we live. It is much deeper than that.”
“To be free even in prison.”
“Exactly.”
Dodson paused and considered his words. “All I want is for that boy to be free.” He was speaking more to himself than to Aaron, but his words were true.
“Me too,” Aaron said.
Dodson half smiled at the madman and nodded. “Then we are comrades.”
Aaron chuckled. “Who would have thought?”
16
Remko could feel the weight of the next couple of hours pushing against his chest. Early that morning, the Seer scouts had split into two groups: Ramses, Carrington, and Neil had gone to try to collect more information on the facility that might be the location of the missing people, while Remko, Kate, Sam, and Wire headed toward the city to rescue Dodson. His execution was scheduled for tomorrow, and they had no time to waste.
They knew the Authority would be expecting them, but the group had decided they couldn’t simply stand by and let him die. So they would risk it.
The path before them was familiar because it looked like many they had traveled before, but their approach was foreign. Usually, due to the enhanced s
ecurity around the prison, their group waited until prisoners were moved for execution before trying to apprehend them. Today, they knew they didn’t have time for that; going into the prison was their only chance.
Thankfully they had a Sleeper on the inside, a CityWatch soldier whom Remko had known while serving. The boy was loyal to Dodson and had agreed to help if he could. His assistance would be essential if they were going to be able to pull this off.
The sun was just starting to rise, warming them from the east as they reached the water main that ran underneath the city wall. They had several hours before Dodson would be transported for execution. There were only a couple of tunnels left that remained unguarded, and Remko worried about how much longer they would even have access to these. The Authority had increased its CityWatch recruiting numbers, giving them the manpower they needed to spread out like ants.
Sam moved ahead and yanked back the tunnel’s steel covering, dropping through the opening, the others following behind him. Remko entered last, closing them inside before running to catch up. Sam had their way mapped out since this wasn’t a usual route they traveled. This tunnel was like all the rest: cold, metallic, and smelling of mold and stale air.
Remko’s mind went to the other scout group. They had planned to leave camp at sunrise, as they didn’t have as far to go and weren’t limited on time. He hated that Carrington had insisted on going. She’d tried to come with them for Dodson, but Remko had fought her on it, which had only made her more stubborn and determined not to be left behind.
He’d tried to explain to her that knowing she was anywhere but safe in camp would only distract him, but she didn’t seem concerned with that. She hated feeling helpless. Ramses and Neil were with her, but still, worrying about her would only open his mind up for mistakes.
He wiped her face from his thoughts and focused on the task at hand. Remko had been trained that fear was a go-to emotion to have in battle because it made you smart and alert. Aaron taught that fear crippled and served as a handicap against seeing truth. Both teachings seemed unimportant when you were trying to fight fear off.
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