Aberrant

by Ruth Silver

  "No rules here about sleepovers," he teased, sitting with me on the bed. He shifted down, careful not to hit his head, lying beside me as we shared my pillow.

  My eyes narrowed, thinking it over. "Seems they plan on killing us if we fail. Might as well make the most of the time we have together." I tried to make light of the situation, but I couldn’t fake sarcasm in my tone.

  His hand reached out, gently running a soft touch against my arm. "We'll be okay," his voice assured me. But I knew he must have felt the same way I did. I felt the soft brush of his lips to my forehead as his body grazed mine. Buried beneath the covers, I was burning up. My eyes closed for the briefest of seconds as I heard his soft voice beside my ear, "The other recruits have more training, but we have each other." My eyes opened and I rolled onto my side, letting the blanket dip down my waist. I was grateful for the cool air against my heated skin. I didn't see how the two of us together would help us pass the tests.

  "Yeah, because that will save us," I huffed, closing my eyes when I heard another recruit shift in bed. I shut my mouth, not wanting anyone to hear us. What we shared was between us. Joshua reached out, his thumb traced my bottom lip as I listened for any other sounds. The room was eerily quiet, and slowly my eyes fluttered open feeling his stare on me.

  "You did amazing today," Joshua complimented me. I felt my cheeks redden from embarrassment.

  "Thank you." I leaned in, brushing my lips gently against his cheek. I hadn't felt like I'd done well in training, but it was nice to hear someone was cheering me on.

  "Don't thank me yet," he breathed. "We still have almost two full weeks of training to endure before the tests."

  "I know." I didn't want to think about tomorrow, but found it hard not to imagine all the possibilities. Would they hand us swords and expect us to fight until we bled? Would they force us to kill each other?

  "You're quiet," he mused, brushing a stray hair from my eyes. I sighed softly at his touch. It was warm, inviting and had a way of helping me relax.

  "Guess I am." I leaned in, resting my forehead against his. "Do you think we could sneak out, explore the town tonight?" It was a risky maneuver, but I wanted to see more. Did this town have a tech center like Haven? I knew their healing center was advanced – I'd seen what it had done for Joshua when we'd come here. What else was special about this town?

  Joshua considered the idea, a line of worry creasing on his brow. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, only to hear his voice interrupt my thoughts. "We could try and escape?" he suggested, gauging my reaction.

  I bit down on my bottom lip, the words playing through my head. I didn't feel like this place was horrible, it just wasn't home. They fed us, sheltered us and yes, expected something of us, but so did the government. If we left, where would we go? We'd always be on the run and risk encountering other outlaws. At least we had new lives here, and maybe fitting in wasn't the worst idea.

  "I don't know." I didn't want to say that I liked it here. That didn’t seem like the right choice of words, but I also wasn't ready to take off on foot. I had no idea where the car was, and from what I could tell nothingness surrounded this town for hundreds of miles. I sighed, rolling onto my back as I stared up at the top bunk. "I can't sleep," I admitted. Either way, I'd be awake. I'd rather know the town and familiarize myself with an escape route, should it become necessary.

  "We don't have to leave." Joshua offered, leaning up on his arms and staring down at me. "We could just explore the area." It had originally been my suggestion and now I was even second-guessing it.

  "If we get caught–" I felt the butterflies waking up in my stomach all over again.

  Joshua nodded. "It was originally your idea," he smiled. "Come on, I know you want to."

  "I do want to." It was worth looking around, and I was curious about the rebel alliance. I knew Joshua was too. I shifted carefully on the mattress to sit up, making sure not to make a sound. I didn't want to wake any of the sleeping recruits. "If we get caught–"

  "We won't," he assured me. I wondered when he had become the daring one out of the two of us. Quietly, we climbed off the bunk, grabbed our shoes and tiptoed out of the room.

  "Do you remember which way was out?" I whispered. The building felt like a maze at times, but only because I wasn't used to such elaborate setups. Here everything seemed to be in one place.

  Joshua pointed to the left. I nodded silently, doing my best to keep our voices to a minimum. The quieter we were, the better chance we had of not being overheard. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it as we rounded another corner to the right, heading for the main entrance. I hesitated before opening the door, pulling it back slowly, trying my best to peek out before pulling it wide open. I was amazed to find no one outside. No guards anywhere in fact. We walked out and perused the fields. Darkness bathed the town situated a few hundred feet away. Without saying a word, we both headed in the direction of town, using the moonlight to guide us.

  We did our best to walk in the shadows, keeping to the tall brush in the fields and avoiding the path that we'd driven in on. We held hands, refusing to let each other out of sight.

  Joshua kept his voice low, but his breath tickled my ear as he leaned in, "We should keep an eye out for our vehicle." I knew he was right. It would be helpful if we needed to plot our escape. We reached the edge of the tall grasses and continued forward. There was nothing to hide us from the town. I felt my heart quicken and walked faster trying to find cover. I didn't like being out in the open, exposed.

  Joshua didn't say a word, merely followed my lead. He must have felt the same. As we reached the backside of buildings, I pulled Joshua through an alley between two houses, grateful the shadows once again hid us.

  There was nothing to see along the row of houses and so I pulled Joshua with me, avoiding the moonlight as best as we could across the street and through another dark alley. I paused as we reached the second street, this one growing more familiar. "We drove through here," I whispered to Joshua remembering the clinic and the house we'd stayed in just a few yards away.

  The road was made of red earth and packed down, but I could make out a fresh set of tire tracks. "Ours?" I mouthed, nodding toward the vehicle marks on the street. If they were, we could follow the tracks to the vehicle. Maybe Joshua's idea wasn't so bad, escaping.

  Joshua sighed, "Who else's would they be?" We hadn't seen any vehicles in town, but we'd been cooped up in the recruit building all day.

  My eyes surveyed the perimeter. No guards were on duty. The town appeared to be asleep. I knew electricity had been used in our complex during the day, though the entire town went dark at night. It made sense. If a drone flew over and saw nothing, the city would appear to have been abandoned long ago.

  I kept my voice down. "Should we follow it?" I wasn't confident in walking further into town where we'd come face-to-face with Chancellor Collins.

  "We could, but remember we turned around, went to the clinic and the recruit center." I grimaced, realizing Joshua was right. We'd have to follow the tracks back, not the ones here. "Besides, it's not as though they'd leave it out in the open." I didn't know if they solely didn't trust us or if they worried the government would know someone was living here.

  "They hid it," I acknowledged, realizing it would take more than a little searching along the darkened streets. It could take hours of sneaking around, possibly days to find the vehicle, assuming they hadn't stripped it down to parts and destroyed it.

  Joshua's voice sounded anxious. "Let's head back."

  We'd barely spent any time exploring the town. "Not yet." I shook my head.

  "We shouldn't, Olive," he said. "That's where we got caught last time."

  I glanced at Joshua. "We were driving a car, headlights blazing." It was no wonder we were stopped. "Relax," I insisted.

  From the distance I heard a slight pop and click. I froze in place and gripped Joshua's hand as we took a step back against the building allowing the four stories to tower us i
n darkness.

  My heart skipped a beat. The Chancellor was no more than two houses away, walking outside with a lantern and heading our direction. I pulled Joshua tighter. I felt him grab my waist as he yanked me four steps to the right, into an alley between the buildings. Grateful for his quick thinking, I held my breath, frightened the Chancellor would hear. Slowly he approached the center of the road and stopped. I glanced at Joshua only to see him shake his head no. We shouldn’t move or say a word.

  Each passing second felt like a lifetime. The Chancellor stood waiting for something. I had no idea what. Could he hear my heart drumming against my chest? My hands shook, and it wasn't from being cold.

  I didn't move, incapable, and knew if we did, we'd be caught. Neither of us knew the consequences of our actions and didn't want to find out. From the distance, I could see headlights beaming, and I squinted as they shone brightly on the Chancellor.

  Joshua and I crouched down as we tried to stay out of sight, now that the town seemed to be bright as day. The car gradually approached, slowing down, though the engine hummed and rattled, awakening anyone within a ten-mile radius. The headlights finally dimmed, but I didn't chance moving.

  "Stay down," I heard Joshua's voice against my ear and nodded. There was no way I was about to get up now. The car screeched and stopped dead in front of Collins. I couldn't help but wonder if this stranger was about to be escorted from the vehicle like Joshua and I had been.

  Instead, Chancellor Collins walked around to the driver's side door and handed him something. My eyes squinted, but it was too far away and much too dark to make out what he had given the stranger. A book, perhaps?

  I kept my mouth shut for fear of being overhead. Words were exchanged for a few minutes, and finally the item was handed back to Collins before the man turned the car around and headed out the same way he'd come in. I glanced at Joshua, only to see him shake his head. We needed to remain quiet. I shifted and turned back to see the Chancellor walking toward us. I hoped we hadn't been seen! Neither of us moved or breathed. Collins strolled past, oblivious to us hiding right in front of him as he entered a nearby building, closing the door.

  Joshua was the first to speak, and I realized how long I'd been holding my breath. "We should head back, now," he told me firmly.

  "Okay." I didn't object. My heart pounded as we briskly walked by the building the Chancellor had stepped inside. I hoped he couldn't see us as we stalked past the window.

  "What do you think that was about?" I asked as we jogged back through dark allies, empty streets and an open expanse until we finally reached the cover of the tall grasses.

  "I have no idea." Joshua sighed. "I thought there were no visitors here," he remarked as we carefully opened the door of the front entrance then silently made our way to bed. I climbed into my bunk and closed my eyes, exhausted from the ordeal of almost being caught.

  I heard Joshua's soft, "Goodnight," as he climbed onto the mattress above.

  "Night," I whispered, letting my body calm down, and eventually sleep overtook me.

  CHAPTER 19

  The next day I awoke exhausted as the other recruits unintentionally woke us. I'd never been a heavy sleeper. We showered and dressed in the bathroom before heading down to the cafeteria. I still hadn't made any friends except for Joshua. Margo seemed less than pleased to talk with me, and the other girls kept to themselves.

  Joshua was seated at the cafeteria table with only a glass of water in front of him. I walked over to the line where breakfast was usually served to find they hadn’t set out any food. My stomach grumbled in protest.

  "Hey," I frowned, seeing the tired expression on his face knowing I was partly to blame. "Where's breakfast?"

  "Morning," Joshua yawned, rubbing at his eyes. We hadn't said much to each other when we'd had our wakeup call. The girls had been ushered to the girls’ showers and the boys to the opposite hallway towards their bathrooms. "I don't know. No one's saying anything. I wonder if there's a food shortage," he muttered.

  I looked back at the door as other recruits came into the cafeteria, noting they had nothing to eat, either.

  Hazel grumbled as she grabbed a glass of water. "Is this all we get? I'm hungry." She plopped down at the long table, crossing her arms on the table before she leaned forward to rest her forehead against them, eyes closed. Her short, honey-brown hair fell over her face as she pretended to go back to sleep. "I woke up for this," she mumbled into the table.

  Why hadn’t they provided any food for the recruits? We'd nearly starved to death on our journey here. I didn’t plan on standing by while they denied us food. I dropped my voice so only Joshua could hear me. "Tonight, by nightfall," my eyes darted around being careful the other recruits weren't paying attention to us, "If they haven't fed us, you and I will leave."

  Joshua nodded once. "Agreed. We've been down this road once before," he reminded me. "At least on our own, we can fish."

  "And gather berries," I tried to be optimistic. I didn't want to remember what had happened by the stream. In all the days we'd been in the Gravelands, we'd only encountered one outlaw. Maybe we'd be okay – we'd be together. Though, we didn't have matches or even a vehicle, we'd find a way to survive. I just hoped it wouldn't come down to that. "I suppose it's going to be another long day," I mused, nudging him beside me.

  Joshua smiled at me. "Yes, it probably will be." He laughed, subtly checking out the other recruits.

  "I'm still curious what the Chancellor was doing out last night." I couldn't fathom who he would have allowed in and out of town.

  "Couldn't say." He shook his head. "No sense in really thinking about it. It's not like we can ask him." It was a valid point. Asking would be admitting that we snuck out. Neither of us knew the consequences for our actions. I certainly didn't want to find out.

  I paused as I heard the Chancellor's voice interrupt us as he made an announcement over the intercom. "In twenty minutes, all recruits will meet at the front entrance." Neither of us ever knew what was going on.

  "Are we taking any bets?" I joked. Every day here was a mystery.

  Elsa sat down across from me. She shook her head in dismay. "If they plan on starving us, I won't be up for much of a fight."

  I glanced from Elsa to Joshua, thinking it over. "Maybe it's a training tactic?" I suggested. "If we were captured by the enemy and they withheld food, how would we react?"

  Jaxon climbed into the seat beside Elsa. "There'd be a riot," he noted. "They can't expect us to train on an empty stomach," he replied, turning to Margo. "Any idea why there's no food this morning?"

  Margo raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't eat it all." She rolled her eyes, sitting across from Jaxon. "Maybe the cook got fired?" Margo commented. "One meal won't kill us." She seemed annoyed by it, but not concerned.

  I nodded in agreement. "Margo's right. As long as they feed us later today, it's probably not a concern." I didn't want to worry about something that may not be trivial.

  Jaxon remarked, "And what happens if they only bring enough food for half of the recruits?" He gave me a serious look.

  I hadn't considered it. A test to see who could withstand nourishment the longest or who could win the prize of food if there wasn't enough for all the recruits. Either option seemed unpleasant. I doubted they'd be that cruel, but after the way Haven had treated me, it was any wonder what some men were capable of.

  Joshua and I stood beside one another as other recruits began lining up by the front entrance. "Any idea where we're going?" Jaxon asked us both. I shook my head no, glancing around not seeing our instructor, Maya. Did she have the day off? Were we done with our archery lessons for good?

  Before Joshua had time to speak, Chancellor Collins opened the grand double doors and counted us to make sure everyone was present. "Good, glad you're here." He clapped his hands together excitedly. "The real fun is about to begin. All of you are going to ride with me to the science center."

  No one objected. A few o
thers in the back behind us were mumbling something, obviously curious and confused. I couldn't hear much but a few words of, "We're not kids" and "Are they really going to show us a museum as a training exercise?" I ignored them, pressing forward as I climbed into the van that awaited us. The walk wouldn't have been that far, and I wondered why they didn't trust us to be on our feet. No one questioned the Chancellor, and I wasn't about to cause trouble. I'd done enough of that in bringing us here.

  Once the last of the kids had packed into the van, the Chancellor got behind the wheel. He glanced at us in the rearview mirror as he drove along the dirt road toward the town and through a few streets, stopping outside the same building Joshua and I had seen him sneaking into the previous night. He parked the car, but didn't let anyone out yet. "Now, I know the next part of training will be frightening for some of you. I can personally assure you it is completely safe. By participating we can see your true potential." He let the words hang in the air before he stood, opening the doors and gesturing for everyone to follow him.

  Already I hated him. He struck me as cold, a man without a heart. His words frightened me, though I did little to let it show. Reluctantly, I followed the recruits, joining them as they poured out of the van and inside the four story building.

  Immediately upon stepping inside, my stomach somersaulted. It smelled of antiseptic. The walls were pale gray, and as I walked further in, I shivered from the cool temperature. The group walked up the stairs, and I tried to stay in the back with Joshua, but felt Jaxon and Margo blocking me from turning around or even slowing down. Where else would I go? Everyone filtered out onto the second floor. Another long, white sterile hallway with multiple closed doors aligned the stretch of the building. The smell was repugnant.

  Chancellor Collins spoke up, "As much as it would please me to give you the choice of what you're about to embark, the choice was made when you agreed to the tests and in coming here. Again, I assure you, there is nothing to worry about. The procedure is completely harmless."