by Unknown
“And you don’t think there’s something wrong with forcing those people to live like that? To breed them like you are breeding animals for pets?”
“Do you think there’s anything wrong with keeping the Citizens barricaded in your City with electric, barbed-wire fences?”
I open my mouth to retort to the comment, but then I shut it again. He’s right. We are doing the same things in different ways, and it bothers me all the more to hear it from this point of view.
“See? We aren’t as different from each other as you thought.” Echo grins, handsome as always. “So, what was the favor you wanted to ask of me?”
“I want to go see the Settlements.”
Echo pauses. “What?”
“You heard me, Echo. I want to go down and see the Settlements. I want to see how these people are living. I want to see what the plague is doing. I want to see the Birthing Tents. I want to see it all. Show me.” I say it a little too demandingly, but if I’m to be kept prisoner here until I’m forced into marriage, then I’m going to get my way with something.
“But, the plague … ”
“I don’t care. I want to see it with my own eyes. Maybe then I can See a solution later.”
This wins Echo over. “Fine. But we are going to keep this between us … and we’ll have to go in disguise. If they recognize me, they could easily try to overcome me.”
“Are the Citizens not happy with you right now?”
Echo finishes the spice drink and sets the cup aside. “They are not happy with the way we are handling the plague. They want the royal family to do more for them, but there’s very little we can do when we don’t have healthy Citizens to … use.”
“I see.” But I don’t. I’ll hopefully experience it first hand when I get to the Settlements. “And won’t they know we aren’t Citizens?”
“They could suspect we are Dreamcatchers, but we go in and out of the Settlements all the time. Some work in the Birthing Tents, others patrol the different districts. It’s these Dreamcatchers who are getting sick and bringing the plague back into Aura. I think my mother is about to cut them out of the city to keep the plague from spreading here.”
“Well, whatever we have to do, I want to see it for myself, see what I’m supposed to be saving everyone from.”
***
Echo is clearly uncomfortable as we walk through the streets of Aura and toward the entrance to the Settlements. Two, long metal barriers swing open as we approach, and from behind my tinted sunglasses, I watch as the guards step out of their dirt-stained stations, rifles held close to their chests.
“Let me talk,” Echo whispers to me as we close the distance between us and them.
“Just don’t talk all prince-like,” I remind him with a smile.
Echo grins as well, which is good, because when we get to the guards, we are all smiles and innocence. “Good day. We’ve come to visit some Dreamcatchers in the Settlements. We need to monitor their health.”
There are two guards, both of whom tower way above us. Their biceps are bigger than my head, and I’m surely no match for the firepower strapped across their broad chests. “And where’s your official pass?”
I hesitate for a moment. I didn’t think about having a pass. But, Echo is on top of it, and he pulls out a leather badge with what looks like a seal of some sort.
The guards look at each other, then nod to us. “Very well. You may pass.”
I smile sweetly at them and wonder what they’d do if they had any idea that they were talking to the Keeper. Our little game of disguise is amusing, and I find some enjoyment in it, despite the gravity of the Settlements. They hand us face masks to cover our noses and mouths, then open the gates.
As soon as we walk in and down one of the dirt paths that serve as a road, the fun seeps out of the experience. Sand-colored tents line the roads with little space in between them. They are maybe big enough to fit eight people in them, at best, and some are smaller than that. Children run up and down the streets in cloth tunics riddled with holes. It smells like urine and sweat, and the baking hot sun beats down on everything.
I swallow back my disgust. At least, in the City, we provide homes to the Citizens. At least they live their lives normally, and not cooped up in a tent city. Slums. “This is horrible.” I speak through the mask, which muffles my words.
“There has been an issue with over-crowding, yes. We mean to expand the Settlements and build structures, but since the plague broke out, there’s nowhere to re-home the sick and uninfected. We have to keep a sort of quarantine here.”
“Why not separate the two and find homes for those who aren’t plagued?”
“The few scientists that we have are working on finding out how we can tell who has already caught the plague and isn’t showing symptoms yet, and who is healthy. They haven’t quite got it down yet, but when they do, we will be separating them as soon as possible.” Echo leads me through the narrow roads, and we stop every now-and-then to check on other Dreamcatchers who are watching for any trouble.
“And what will you do with the sick ones?”
Echo looks back at me, his eyes also covered by sunglasses. “Get rid of them.”
I stare at him for a long moment, hoping that he doesn’t mean what I think he means by that statement. “Get … rid of them?”
“Yes. In order to kill a plague, you need to kill the source. And unfortunately, the source of this plague … is … well … the infected Citizens.”
“Echo!” I hiss lowly so that others don’t hear me say his name. “Why don’t you work on healing them?”
“We want to. But there aren’t enough healthy Citizens to use our power.”
“No. No, not with your power, with medicine. Remember that, Echo? Remember when we had medicine?” I reach out and shake him by his arms. “You cannot do that. Promise me you won’t.”
“It’s not my choice, Beatrice.” He frowns at being shaken and weaves his way out of my grasp. “And we don’t use medicine here. The Dreamcatchers have no use for it.”
“But they do!” I wave an arm in any direction. “They are sick! You need to help them!”
My yelling draws some attention, and Citizens peek out of their tents to see what the commotion is. I look down the line of dirty faces and wide, dark eyes, then sigh and return my attention back to Echo.
Echo steps closer to me and looks down over his mask and into my eyes. “This is why I need your help.”
“Well, I told you what you could do to make this better.” I decide to start walking again; we are drawing too much attention to ourselves. “I want to see more.”
Echo catches up with me and we walk in silence for a little bit. I’m glad for it, since it gives me time to think about what I’ve just been told. It’s not easy to absorb. My head starts to throb and I rub at it with one of my hands as Echo comes to a stop before a deep green tent guarded by men with guns. They all look the same to me by now, larger men holding guns that probably weigh more than I do.
“What is this place?” I search the tent for some sort of label, but it’s unmarked, and I can’t tell what it might be just by looking at it.
“This is one of our Birthing Tents.” Echo bites on his lower lip as he looks at it. “Do you want to go in?”
“Do you? You seem kind of nervous.” I follow his gaze to the sealed flaps that don’t allow for any quick peeks inside.
“I’ve never really been in one before. I’ve only heard about them, and … well, I guess that the whole baby thing just isn’t my deal.” Echo smiles hesitantly and avoids looking at me as he steps forward and shows his badge again. The two guards step aside, and Echo wastes no time stepping into the decontamination chambers.
The tent flaps are sealed tightly behind us, and someone over a speaker starts to give out instructions. “Step forward and each of you enter a personal chamber.”
I give Echo a look, which is returned with a nod. “Go ahead, Beatrice. We have to be decontaminated before
we can go inside, that’s all.”
“No one told me about this.” But, I suppose that it makes sense. With the plague going around, it would be disastrous if it spread amongst the breeding mothers and their babies.
I step into one of the personal chambers, a small section of the tent with opaque rubber flaps that encircle me into the tiny space. A metal showerhead is directly above me, and thin pipes spider down the sides of the chamber with small jet nozzles.
“Please disrobe.”
I touch the mask on my face and hesitate. Though it doesn’t completely hide my face, it covers most of it, diverting attention away from my violet eyes. And Echo? What if they realize who he is once his mask is off? Hesitantly, I duck my head down, hopefully blocking it from the view of any cameras, if there just so happened to be any, and I start to undress.
Once my clothes have been removed and placed outside of the chamber, I stand naked, waiting.
“Please take the goggles and cover your eyes,” the speaker projects again, so I do just that, happy that my eyes have been shielded once more.
Nothing happens at first, and then I hear the groan of water moving through pipes. Before I have a chance to react, hot steam shoots out of the fixtures. The water comes next, and it’s too hot when it first hits me, but I quickly get used to it. It smells like chemicals, and I gag and cough.
“Are you okay, Beatrice?” Echo calls out over the sound of quickly moving water. I can hardly hear him over my own coughing and the noise of the jets.
“What is this?” I call back, concerned about the effects that this will have on me after we’re done being decontaminated. Maker only knows what they are dousing me in, and yet here I am, helpless to stop any of it.
“It’s just an antiseptic mixed with water, is all. It’s okay, Beatrice. I think it’s almost done.”
Just as Echo says this, the water stops and air is blown out of the pipes instead. It’s like a large hairdryer, and the warmth of it is relieving, soothing. I’m dried almost instantly, except for my hair, which remains damp, but not soaking wet. The drying ends and the speaker crackles again as a voice instructs us to reach out and grab the scrubs that have been set out for us.
I feel around for the indicated items, noticing that my clothes are gone, probably because they can’t be cleaned off like we can, at least not quickly enough to be returned to us to wear right away. I hurry up and dress in the drab, gray scrubs and step back out of the individual chamber. Echo waits for me just outside, his stark blond hair beaded with droplets of water. I catch myself staring and pull my attention away from the damp looking prince. “Now what?”
“Now we can go in.” Echo puts his hand on the small of my back and ushers me forward toward the doors labeled “Birthing Tent.”
The tent is enormous, bigger than any other tent in the Settlements by far. There are separate rooms that are lined up down the halls, and nurses, doctors, and guards walking to and from this place and that. I notice that the doctors and nurses are Dreamcatchers by their blond hair and dreamy blue eyes, none of which compare to the devastating hue of Echo’s gaze.
“So far, we’ve managed to keep the plague from the Birthing Tent, if only because everyone who enters and leaves must be decontaminated first. That seems to be working, though the plague can be dormant for a long time before it triggers and becomes active.” Echo pauses by a plastic, translucent screen that serves as a window into a nursery, which is split into two parts. One side houses Citizen offspring, and the other side Dreamcatcher babies.
“The Citizen children are placed with families within the Camp.” Echo gestures to the Dreamcatcher children next. “These children will be raised by Dreamcatchers. We have a school for them, actually … much like your Institution. Whether or not a Dreamcatcher has a child on their own, or chooses to house a child from the Birthing Tent doesn’t matter.”
He puts his hand against the plastic window, peering inside. “Some Dreamcatcher children aren’t placed, though, which is normal. There aren’t enough of us to take in every Dreamcatcher child that is born, so some of the children live in group facilities. Like dormitories.” Looking to me, he grins. “Again, like your Institution.”
“Yes.” I can understand his parallels, but it’s hard having it presented to me like this. A factory for children. And of course … there aren’t any Seer children mentioned, which makes me feel sick to my stomach. “In a way, I guess.”
“We have much in common with each other. If only others could see that. But our people … well … sometimes I get the feeling we will forever be divided. That there are some Seers who don’t want to see the similarities, and there are some Dreamcatchers who don’t want to see them, either. They choose to be blind.”
I rest a hand on Echo’s forearm, glancing to all the babies just as he is. “Maybe, one day, we can change that, Echo.”
I know he’s looking at me then. I can feel his gaze on me, but I don’t turn to look up at him. I don’t want Echo to think this is some sort of consent to marry him or something. A pact to fix the future of our people. It isn’t. At least, it’s not just yet.
“Maybe.” And then he’s walking again.
Somewhere down the hall, a mother is screaming, presumably from labor pains. I’ve never heard someone in such agonizing pain. I’ve never witnessed a woman having a child, either. In the City, Citizen women had their children in their Citizen hospitals. There isn’t any reason for a Seer to be anywhere near either of those, and there’s no reason for us to understand the process, either. Seers can’t have children. It’s not our place.
“I think a new one is being born. We should wait and see.” Echo slows his pace down and stops just outside the room where the mother is yelling. Swearing.
“She sounds like she’s in an awful lot of pain.” I wrinkle my nose, not so sure I can bear the sounds of someone who is obviously dying or something.
“I heard it’s not very pleasant, no.”
But, some minutes later, the yelling comes to an abrupt end, and the sound of a newborn’s cries fill the air instead. My breath catches somewhere in my throat, and though I can see none of what is going on, I feel something strange blooming inside of me.
And then, I know why.
“It’s a Seer.”
Echo takes my hand in his and starts to tug me the other way. “Then we should go now.” And I know why he wants to get me out of here. Because the next step for this brand new life is for it to be smothered out of existence, just as we smother the Dreamcatchers out of existence back in the City.
“No.” I yank my hand out of his. “Get it.”
“What?” Echo frowns at me. “You know I can’t do that, Beatrice. They will know who we are.”
The doctor leaves the room with the tiny infant bundled up in cloth. It’s still screaming, drawing in those first breathes of air, little lungs heaving.
“I don’t care. You can’t kill it. Not while I am here.” I point at them. “Get it. I will have it sent back to the City.”
“But … we don’t do that. We can’t do that … it’s just not how things work, Beatrice. You don’t do that to your Dreamcatchers, and we don’t do it for our Seers.”
I grab Echo by both of his arms and stand directly in front of him, using my placement in order to command his attention. “Stop him.”
Echo looks from the doctor to me and then back to the doctor again. Closing his eyes, he’s still, and I’m afraid that he’s just going to let the doctor walk away and the Seer baby will disappear forever.
“Echo!” I blurt, not caring who hears me. His name is enough to stop the doctor in his path as he looks back toward us.
“My mother is going to kill me,” Echo mutters, but he walks around me, brushing his arm against mine, and moves to where the doctor is standing. “Doctor, I’m going to need to … um … take that,” Echo warily begins and shows his badge to the other man. He looks at both of us, and without my sunglasses, it’s very apparent what I am. Who I am
.
“Prince Echo?” the doctor asks for confirmation, though he never stops looking at me.
“Yes. And Keeper Beatrice. She’ll … um … she’ll take the baby. And it will be transported back to the City immediately.” Echo narrows his eyes at me when he says this, leaving no room for me to argue any other agreement.
“But, Your Highness … we can’t … that’s not part of the protocol.”
“It is now,” I mutter and hold my arms out for the child, drawn to protecting it just as I would any other Seer. As their Keeper, I wouldn’t let them be summarily killed right in front of me, and I’m not about to let this baby go through the same thing.
“Give it to her.”
The doctor hesitates, but gently puts the baby in my arms. I’m not sure how to hold it, but I lift my chin and pretend like I do anyway.
“Thank you,” I say.
“This is not right, Your Highness. She’s one of them.” The doctor continues his protest, taking a step back from me, as if I’ll pass my Seer genes onto him somehow.
Echo nods his head and puts his hand to my back again. “And so is the child. It will be sent out of Aura, so you have no worries there.” With a tiny push, Echo gives me the signal to begin to walk away now. “Have a good day, Doctor.”
I cradle the child close to my chest and shakily walk beside Echo as we near the exit. My knees feel like they will buckle from under me, and my legs feel like jelly. On top of that, my head is starting to pound again, and with my arms full with an infant, I can’t stop to rub the tension from it.
Our clothes are waiting for us at the other end of the tent, in bags labeled “HARMFUL.” We each pick up a bag and, choosing to remain in our scrubs, make our way out of the Birthing Tents
***
The baby incessantly wails, and it doesn’t take long before others are alerted to its presence in my bedroom. I stand beside Echo, and we watch as it flails around on the bed, arms and legs stretching out in any which way. My head is still throbbing, and the screaming and crying doesn’t lend to making it feel any better.