Among the Enemy sc-6

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

  He'd have to do that, or the rest of his life would not be very long.

  "Nina, I can't go on eavesdropping," Matthias whispered back, his words sinking into the darkness. He wished he and Nina were in full sunshine; he thought that maybe if she could see his face, she'd understand that he wasn't just being selfish by wanting to get away from Population Police headquarters. "Give the tape recorder and headphones to someone else — anyone in the building should be able to pick up the signals."

  "Without getting caught?" Nina challenged.

  Matthias shrugged helplessly, forgetting Nina couldn't see him. He'd gotten distracted from what he really wanted to say.

  "Nina, you knew Percy and Alia," he began. "You know what great friends they were. You know they never had the chance to eat all the food they ever wanted, to wear nice clothes, to be treated like… like some sort of precious toy. Like I'm being treated now. But they didn't ever have to act like an evil man is their best friend, either, or pretend to be grieving for a killer. Remember how nice Alia always was to you when Percy and I still weren't sure we could trust you? She wasn't pretending. She really liked you, and she always wanted to believe that people are good, underneath it all."

  Matthias stopped because the words were getting caught in his throat. There was a silence, and he was afraid that Nina hadn't even heard him.

  Then, "What's that got to do with your role in the plan?" Nina asked. She sounded like she was trying to stay harsh and businesslike, but she had a catch in her voice.

  "Nothing. Everything," Matthias said. "It may not make sense to you, but I have to do this. For Percy and Alia." And Samuel, he thought. And Mrs. Talbot. And the seventeen rebels I saw the Population Police kill. His memory stretched back even further. Maybe he needed to do this for two other people as well — a man and a woman who'd been so terri' fied of the Population Police's power that they'd left their baby on a doorstep in a dark alley.

  "I think—," Nina began, and Matthias could tell her answer was going to be no. She had to have everything making sense; she wouldn't let his emotions overrule her carefully plotted reasons.

  And then suddenly the closet door whipped open, and two Population Police guards were shining flashlights right at them.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Too bad. We didn't catch them kissing," one of the guards said.

  It was Mike. He stood there leering at the two of them, the lights of the cafeteria blazing behind him.

  "The kid keeps saying he needs a midnight snack. The girl always says she has extra work to do," the other guard said, shaking his head. 'And I'm supposed to believe them?"

  Too late, Matthias realized that this was the same guard who had been on duty the last time he'd sneaked down to meet Nina. The guard reached out and grabbed the back of Matthias's shirt collar. Mike took hold of Nina's collar too and pulled her out of the closet.

  "Think the commander will be interested in hearing about this?" the guard asked. "Think he'd give me a reward?"

  "Or a swift kick," Mike mused. He steered Nina by the collar until she was right beside Matthias. "Don't you think they're cute together? It'd be kind of a shame to thwart young love. And you've got to give the kid credit for winning over an older lady."

  Nina and Matthias stood stiffly, side by side, frozen in fear.

  "But the commander—," the guard said.

  "The commander just lost Tiddy," Mike said. "You want to be the reason he stops trusting the kid?"

  Nina tore away from Mike's grasp and fell to her knees.

  "Please," she begged. "Punish me if you have to. But don't — don't tell on my boyfriend." She lowered her head, and Matthias could see tears glistening in her eyelashes.

  "See?" Mike said. "How can you resist that?"

  "But what if they're—," the other guard began.

  "What?" Mike asked. "Spies? Saboteurs? Rebels? Con men? Give me a break. They're just a couple of kids. In love. Don't you remember the first girl you kissed?"

  The guard got a dreamy look on his face, then he shrugged it away.

  "Okay, okay," he muttered. "I won't say anything this time. But if I ever catch the two of you sneaking down here in the middle of the night again, you're in big trouble. Now go on back to your rooms."

  He shoved Matthias forward and Matthias fell over, sprawled out on the floor. As Matthias was scrambling back to his feet, he heard Mike say, "Oh, at least let them hug each other good-bye."

  Mike stood back looking thoroughly entertained as Matthias awkwardly put his arms around Nina's shoulders. She was still on her knees, so Matthias had to bend over. He kept his head on the side away from Mike and the other guard, so he dared to bury his face in Nina's hair and whisper into her ear, "You have to let me go with you now. Now that they suspect—"

  "Okay! That's enough!" the guard called out.

  Nina pulled away and stood up. Matthias could see the tears welling in her eyes, the red marks on her neck where Mike had pulled her collar too hard, the individual hairs that had escaped from her braids and reached out toward Matthias like they had a mind of their own. And he could see her head moving slowly, up and down.

  She was saying yes.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  At dusk the next day, Matthias took his basketball and stepped out of his room, latching the door firmly behind him. Nina's new instructions — which she'd passed to him at lunch — had reminded him to act carefree and playful; he just hoped he could keep his legs from shaking. Ever since he and Nina had been caught in the closet, he'd been imagining all the ways this plan could go wrong.

  God? he prayed. Are you with me?

  He strolled past all the guards in the hallway. One of them winked at him, and he didn't understand why. Was the guard trying to warn Matthias somehow? Did the guard know something that Matthias didn't? Or was the wink just because the guard had heard about Matthias being caught in a closet with a girl? People acted like that sometimes about boys and girls falling in love. Matthias didn't understand it. He didn't want to. Love made him think of the way Mr. Talbot had acted, saying good-bye to his wife when she'd gone to help Percy and Alia. Right at the end, Mr. Talbot had let his fingers linger on the side of the car, as if he couldn't bear to let her go. And then she hadn't come back….

  Because I led her into danger. My fault, Matthias thought.

  He couldn't think about that right now. Too distracting. He forced himself to walk down the stairs, out the front door, and several feet down the driveway. So far, so good. He positioned himself near the line of guards at the front gate and began bouncing the ball.

  "Anyone want to play with me?" he asked.

  Surely it didn't matter that his voice came out sound" ing so plaintive. Surely the guards would interpret that as his longing for Tiddy, not his fear of being caught in a subversive plot.

  Several of the guards looked down at him and smiled indulgently. Matthias saw a few of them elbow one another.

  "We're busy. Sorry," one of them said, not unkindly.

  Matthias kept bouncing his ball. He'd actually never played with a basketball before; he'd never before touched one that wasn't crushed and tossed out in the trash. Matthias was surprised at how quickly this ball bounced back up, how hard it smacked his hand.

  Just bouncing the ball's not good enough, he reminded himself.

  "Watch this," he said, and tried to balance the ball on the tip of his finger. He was supposed to make the ball spin, but he couldn't even get it to wobble. It kept falling off and rolling down against the guards' feet. They kept gently kicking the ball back to Matthias. Then one of the guards picked it up.

  "I'll show you how it's done," he said. He placed the ball on his finger and sent it whirling.

  "Wow," Matthias breathed out, and his awe wasn't faked. How could anyone do that?

  "Oh, that's nothing. You should see Chester from over in the control room," the guard said. "Hey, Jim, go tell Chester to come out here for a minute."

  Another guard walked ove
r to a booth right at the gateway. An unbelievably tall guard poked his head out of the booth's doorway.

  "Yeah?" he said.

  "The kid wants to see a basketball demonstration."

  The tall guard — Chester — glanced down at some monitor in the control booth, then stepped out.

  "I guess I could do a quick show," he said.

  He leaned down and scooped up the ball. It seemed to jump from one hand to the other, now spinning, now running down Chester's arms and across his shoulders, now bouncing from back to front between his legs. Matthias watched, amazed, and cheered along with the other Population Police guards.

  But Matthias kept only one eye on Chester's stunning show. He was also watching the control booth.

  Nobody had stepped in to take Chester's place.

  A few minutes later, Chester caught the ball behind his back on the toe of his shoe and took a huge bow. Then he tossed the ball toward Matthias.

  "Okay, back to work," he said reluctantly.

  Matthias fumbled trying to catch the ball. It rolled back toward Chester.

  Just a few more seconds, Matthias thought. Show off just a little bit more.

  But Chester kept walking toward the control booth.

  Matthias leaned down to pick up the ball himself. He was glad he was facing the ground so he didn't have to keep the glee out of his expression when Chester cried out, "What? Our monitors are down! So's the electric fence!"

  Other guards rushed in behind Chester. They were punching buttons, shouting into walkie-talkies. Matthias thought it was safe to wander over behind them and stand on tiptoe to get a glimpse of the defective monitors.

  A walkie-talkie crackled.

  "Found the problem. Some animal chewed through two wires back here. We'll have them fixed in a few minutes."

  Matthias put his hands over his mouth and tried to look horrified, but he was hiding a grin. Alia had been the one who'd taught Nina that make-it-look-like-an-animal-chewed-the-wire trick.

  It wasn't long before Chester's monitor screens flickered back to life. From his vantage point, Matthias could tell that the screens showed long stretches of the stone wall and electric fence that completely surrounded Population Police headquarters. He caught no glimpse of shadowy figures climbing through.

  That means the others are out! he thought joyfully. Or. . maybe they couldn't make it in time and gave up.

  He had no way of knowing which was true. All he could do was stick with his part of the plan.

  The guards resumed their strict, straight-line formation. Matthias went back to bouncing his basketball. He made a few feeble attempts at some of Chester's tricks. The basketball refused to roll in a smooth line down Matthias's arms; it banged his shin rather than jumping smoothly under his leg.

  "That toe trick looked cool," Matthias said.

  He turned around, took a deep breath, and tossed the ball over his shoulder. He glanced back and saw the ball sail out into the open air, past the line of guards, past the control booth, past the gate. It hit the ground and started rolling, beyond the boundaries of Population Police headquarters.

  "Oops," Matthias said. "I'll get that."

  This was the decisive moment. If one of the guards said, No, you're not allowed, I'll get it, or No, too bad, your ball's gone for good, or 1 forbid you to go out there, then all would be lost and Matthias might be stuck at Population Police headquarters forever. The thought seemed more unbearable than ever. The very air around Matthias seemed to cage him — air that any minute might carry words to his ears that he desperately did not want to hear….

  Nobody said anything.

  Matthias trotted after his ball, past the guards, past the control booth, past the gate.

  Nobody objected. He'd been set free by a child's toy.

  When Matthias reached the place where the ball had come to rest against a tuft of frozen grass, he faked clumsiness, kicking the ball and sending it even farther beyond the gate. It rolled into thick woods that had sunk into near darkness now. Matthias could barely see, but that was good — the guards wouldn't be able to see him now either.

  He peered around for a pinprick of light in the darkness—Oh, please, let the others be waiting—and there it was, a tiny red glow off to the right.

  Matthias crashed through the woods, not worrying about the noise, just concentrating on speed. How long did he have before one of the guards came out looking for him?

  He was closer to the red light now. It was coming from inside a long, dark car parked on a dirt road in the shadows. Matthias covered the last few yards in a mad rush. He yanked on the door handle of the car and dived through the opening.

  "Go!" he burst out before he'd shut the door, before he'd seen who was holding the light, whom he'd landed next to.

  "Sure thing," a voice drawled, and the car shot forward into the dark night.

  Matthias jerked the door shut, and it dawned on him: He knew that voice. He looked over, squinting into the darkness. The driver was illuminated only in the glow from the dashboard, but Matthias recognized his face.

  It was Mike.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “You?” Matthias asked. He glanced around frantically. The rest of the car was empty. “Where’s—?” He stopped himself just in time. He couldn’t give away Nina and Trey.

  "Relax," Mike said. "I'm on your side. Didn't you figure that out when I gave you and Nina that great cover story last night?"

  Now that Matthias thought about it, Mike had tried awfully hard to keep the other guard from telling the commander.

  "I thought you were just obsessed with people having girlfriends," Matthias muttered.

  Mike chuckled.

  "Everyone wants to believe in love," he said. "Even ugly Population Police guards."

  Mike was speeding up. He rounded a bend and hit a staightaway that allowed him to zoom through the woods. Matthias looke cautiously over his shoulder. No headlights were following them — maybe Matthias could dare to believe that he'd get away safely.

  That is, if he was safe with Mike.

  'Are we meeting Nina and the others somewhere else?" Matthias asked hesitantly. Mike obviously knew about Nina; it wouldn't be a betrayal to mention just her name.

  "Nope," Mike said.

  "But the plan—"

  "We had to modify it a little," Mike said. "It took everyone working together just to get you and me away from headquarters. Someone to watch you at the front gate and signal the person cutting the wires, someone to plant the dead squirrel beside the cut wires, someone to hide this car outside the fence… We're just hoping that everyone back at HQ is so busy looking for you that they don't check out any of the other suspicious activities this afternoon."

  "Oh," Matthias said.

  He still wished Nina were with them, or someone else he was sure he could trust. He shrank lower in his seat. The car was going so fast now, it made him feel a little sick.

  "You think the two of us can do everything in time?" Matthias asked.

  "Of course not," Mike said calmly. "We're getting help with that. From people who aren't on our side."

  "What?" Matthias asked, thoroughly confused now.

  "There's a zipper on the left side of your seat," Mike said. "It's hard to find, but if you can, open it and pull out one of the flyers."

  Matthias obediently felt along the side of his leather seat. The zipper was in a seam near the top, and its teeth gave way reluctantly as Matthias pulled on it. By feel, he found, first, foam stuffing and then a stack of hundreds of papers. He eased one out.

  "Here," Mike said, handing Matthias the penlight.

  Matthias switched it on and directed the tiny red glow at the paper. In huge letters at the top, the paper read: THE POPULATION POLICE NEED YOUR HELP! Smaller type below proclaimed:

  Under the leadership of President Aldous Krakenaur, we have uncovered a plot to steal and/or destroy food that rightfully belongs to all the legal citizens of this great nation. With your assistance, we can pro
tect our food supply. We need all loyal citizens from your sector to go to 108 Warehouse Row at 1:00 a.m. on February 2….

  The red light and the tiny words made Matthias feel queasier than ever. He shook his head dizzily.

  "This can't be right," he said.

  "Why not?" Mike asked.

  "This makes it sound like the Population Police are the good guys," Matthias said. "Like they're just trying to pro' tect the food from the rebels. Us. That's wrong — we're the ones who want to hand the food out."

  Mike took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot a sharp glance at Matthias.

  “And what do you think the people would do if we passed out notes saying, The rebels invite you to take food away from the Population Police'?" Mike asked. "Do you think anybody would show up? I don't know about you, but I think I'd cower in my bed. I'd avoid Warehouse Row as if my life depended on it."

  Mike had a mocking tone in his voice — it was almost like he was mocking Matthias's original idea.

  'And there aren't enough of us rebels to pass out all the notes in time," Mike continued. "No, we have to do this under the guise of the Population Police. It's the only way this can work."

  Matthias was still shaking his head.

  "But. . does the commander know? Does the president?" he asked.

  "Of course not," Mike said. "We're using flunkies who are supposed to think that I'm a top-ranking officer."

  Matthias noticed that Mike had extra medals and ribbons pinned to his chest, extra patches sewn to his arm.

  More lies, Matthias thought. He'd seen the food giveaway as something straightforward: Here, poor people, take this food that the Population Police have been keeping from you. Go and starve no more. But his plan had been tweaked and twisted almost beyond recognition. Did he even want to be a part of the plan now?