Rebels

by Jill Williamson

  She pulled back and stroked his face, hair, shoulders. “You look well. Are you?” Her eyes were filled with tears. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Terribly mortified at my new living arrangements, but Mr. Rock Fist has, thankfully, come to my aid.” He gestured to Rock Fist, his arm trembling with adrenaline. He hadn’t realized just how terrified he’d been of Rock Fist until now. But God was good. He’d given Mason a guardian angel.

  Mother took hold of Mason’s hand and turned to grin at Rock. “Yes, he’s wonderful, isn’t he?” And the sound of adoration in her tone gave Mason pause. “Sit down, here.” Mother all but pushed Mason into the booth beside Shanna, who slid farther in. Then she sat next to Rock Fist, across from Mason.

  “Mason, my children?” Shanna said. “Are they okay?”

  “And Levi and Omar,” Mother added. “Everyone, really. We never thought we’d see any of you again. Tell us everything.”

  “Okay, well, everyone is fine, the last I heard. Naomi had her baby. A boy they named Harvey.”

  “Oh!” Shanna cupped her hand over her mouth as tears materialized instantly and rolled down her cheeks.

  “And Jordan performed a wedding for Levi and Jemma about a month ago.”

  “Good,” Mother said. “Are the women still in the harem?”

  “No, we helped the women escape the night of Lonn’s liberation ceremony, which was almost two months ago.”

  Rock Fist grunted. “Two months ago?”

  “That’s right. And the children are free as well. We helped them escape from the boarding school just last week. Levi befriended some rebels, and though some betrayed us, some did not. Last I heard, everyone was moving underground into the basements.”

  “And Omar?” Mother asked.

  “Omar is here somewhere, though they did not tell me where and I haven’t seen him in my building. We were liberated together. Omar is struggling. He’s become addicted to vaping opiates. He’s likely in a great deal of pain right now. He’d been suffering from withdrawal while we were in the RC.”

  His mother turned to Rock Fist. “Can we find him?”

  “He won’t be in sector six,” Rock said. “They never put friends together.”

  “Is there anything worse than the feedlot?” Mason asked. “The liberator let on that the task director general was punishing us.”

  Rock Fist chuckled at this. “You lucked out then. The feedlot isn’t bad at all. Though you do have the worst housing. As far as worst tasks, sewage cleaner or tasking in the waste treatment plant rank highest. Chimney sweep is a pretty rough job. And any slaughterhouse, I’d say. The dairy isn’t too pleasant, either.”

  “What sectors are all those?” Mother asked.

  “Dairy is eight and there’s a slaughterhouse in five, six, and seven. Chimneys and sewage tasks in all of them.”

  “Is this just a prison for Xed people? Strikers?” Mason asked. “Where do the other liberated people go?”

  “Everybody is here,” Rock Fist said. “See, Loca and Liberté, the founders of the Safe Lands, wanted to be young forever. They were terrified of old age. Plus, no one wanted to work hard. People just wanted to play. So they decided it would be better to play when you’re young, then work when you’re old.”

  “Why were you and Omar liberated?” Shanna asked Mason.

  “We were caught after breaking into Champion House. General Otley and a rebel named Bender had colluded to frame Lawten Renzor for several crimes. To do so, Bender had kidnapped Shaylinn to make it appear that Renzor was helping the pregnant Outsider fugitives get medical care. So we went in to rescue Shaylinn.” And Ciddah.

  “Shaylinn is pregnant?” Shanna asked.

  “I’m sorry, yes,” Mason said. “With Omar’s twins.”

  “Omar?” Mother choked on her water and set down the glass. Rock rubbed her back

  Mason berated himself for his lack of tact. “I’m sorry. I should have said that first.”

  “Omar and Shaylinn?” Shanna asked. “I didn’t even know they were friends.”

  “It didn’t happen like that,” Mason said. “Shaylinn was in the harem. Omar was the donor whose sample they used to . . . create the children. He was the only man from Glenrock who complied. I expect at least one woman from Jack’s Peak will be matched with his donation as well. The Surrogacy Center tries to vary the DNA pairings, though I checked Jennifer’s chart, and she was not impregnated with Omar’s sample. Nor was Mia.”

  “That boy,” Mother said. “What has he done to himself? To all of us?”

  Mason hadn’t meant to make Omar look bad. “You should also know that Omar came back to us. It’s still difficult for many people, Eliza and Jordan especially, but the new elders of Glenrock offered forgiveness to Omar and he’s been working with us against the Safe Lands. Shaylinn’s pregnancy has given Omar purpose, I believe. He risked his life to save her from the task director and General Otley.”

  “Did General Otley succeed in framing Renzor?” Rock Fist asked.

  “No. A rebel named Bender shot and killed General Otley after Otley killed Bender’s son, Rewl. And we helped Shaylinn and Ciddah and Baby Promise escape before Otley’s men could confirm they were there. We took away all of Otley’s planted evidence.”

  “Baby Promise is Kendall’s child?” Mother asked.

  “That’s right,” Mason said.

  “And who is Ciddah?”

  Mason looked at the tabletop. “She was the medic in the Surragacy Center.”

  “The blonde girl,” Mother said. “I remember. She told me I was too old to conceive.” Mother laughed. “As if I didn’t already know that.”

  “This was your medic?” Rock Fist asked. “The one you stole from Renzor?”

  Mason’s cheeks filled with heat. He’d forgotten that he’d told Rock Fist that he’d been liberated for stealing Lawten’s girl. “Yes, I tasked under her in the SC.”

  “Who did you steal?” Mother asked. “What does that mean?”

  “How did the medic play into Otley’s plan?” Rock Fist asked. “And Baby Promise?”

  Mason was happy to answer Rock’s question over his mother’s. “Right, well, Renzor had taken Ciddah to be his lifer — against her will,” he added, reminding himself of the fact. “And Baby Promise is his own blood, a child he conceived with Kendall Collin after purchasing her from Wyoming. Ciddah says Lawten has always wanted to have a family of Old. Someone told me Lawten saw it as an experiment, though that doesn’t make sense to me. Otley said that Lawten had the medic to provide medical care for the outsider women. And he said Lawten had kidnapped Baby Promise, but I don’t recall the motive for that accusation.”

  “Who’s the rebel friend Levi is working with?” Rock Fist asked.

  “Ruston. And Zane.”

  Mother turned to Rock, her eyes searching his.

  “Good men. Honest,” Rock said to her, and she seemed to relax.

  “Is anyone else pregnant?” Mother asked. “You said Mia and someone from Jack’s Peak?”

  “Yes. I don’t know which of the Jack’s Peak women, as I wasn’t able to confirm that before I went into hiding. But Jennifer and Mia are. Mia by natural means, as she fell in love with a piano player, so she and her child are infected. Jennifer became impregnated because Mia refused to be rescued when we freed the women from the harem — Jennifer insisted on staying with her daughter. Jennifer’s donor is from Wyoming, and I don’t believe she or her child are infected.”

  “Foolish women,” Mother muttered.

  “Mason, I’m so sorry,” Shanna said. “I know that you and Mia were to be married.”

  “Oh, I’m not sorry for that reason,” Mason said. “My marrying Mia was my father’s idea, not mine.”

  “And now you have the medic,” Rock Fist said.

  Mother looked at Mason, eyebrows raised. “You have?”

  “No, now I am here,” Mason said, hoping to change the subject. “So liberation is nothing more than a penal colony?” />
  “Someone has to do all the hard labor so that those in the Highlands and Midlands can task and play,” Rock said. “Did you never find it odd that Safe Lands nationals only tasked four to six hours a day, four days a week?”

  Mason had not, though he should have. He’d been too busy worrying about finding a cure for the plague to think about the economy. “I did notice the exorbitant wealth, but I did not take the time to consider where it was being manufactured. And Ruston mentioned factories in the Midlands, so I assumed . . .”

  “Oh, there are factories there, sure,” Rock said. “We can’t do everything down here. But we do the hardest labor. Without us, there would be nothing for the people to find pleasure in.”

  “Mason, you need to eat,” Mother said. “And then I want to find Omar. He might not be as lucky as you to find a rebel in his prison block.”

  “Wait, you’re a rebel?” Mason asked Rock Fist. That explained how he would have known Ruston and Zane.

  “He was their leader!” Mother exclaimed, her expression beaming with pride. She clutched Rock’s arm, and understanding settled over Mason with a chill. His mother and this man were together. Romantically. A couple.

  “Rock Fist isn’t my name, kid. Scorpion and the rest of 2C, they give everyone nicknames. I got mine when Scorpion tried to claim me and I turned his face into road kill.”

  Mason shuddered at the very thought. “So your name is . . . ?”

  “Richark Lonn.”

  Mason limped back to the feedlot in a daze. Rock Fist was Richark Lonn, the Safe Lands rebel he had been researching back in the Midlands. Worse: His mother was romantically involved with Richark Lonn. He wanted that story, for sure, but there was so much Mason wanted to ask the man about the thin plague and why he’d been fired from his medic task, and what he’d been looking for in the MC, but they’d taken too long reminiscing and there hadn’t been time. Lonn had said Mason would get in trouble if he were late to return. So Mason had left with plans to go back for dinner.

  He was making his way up the feed alley between the first and second rows when he caught sight of a penrider in row two. A bald one. With SimArt all over his head. The closer Mason got, the clearer the artwork became. Puzzle pieces.

  It was Scorpion.

  Mason stared across the pens, shocked to see the bully outside their bunk. And then Scorpion looked his way and grinned. Not in a friendly way.

  “That’s one you don’t want to mess with,” someone said.

  Mason looked behind him and found Wayd standing beside a wheelbarrow, holding a shovel.

  “Who is he?” Mason asked, curious to learn how those outside bunk 2C viewed the man.

  “Score Pinion. But people call him Scorpion.”

  Mason shuddered at the sound of that name. “Does Gacy like him? I mean, he got promoted to penrider, right?”

  “I don’t think anyone likes him. But believe it or not, he’s a hard worker.” Wayd scooped up a shovel full of manure and dumped it into the wheelbarrow. “I heard he was a murderer in the Midlands before coming here. And not because he was angry or vengeful. He just likes killing. Be thankful you’re not in the second row.”

  Mason was desperately thankful he wasn’t in the second row and that Richark Lonn was in bunk 2C, and he spent the remainder of his shift telling God just how thankful he was.

  Mason returned to the Get Out Now Diner for dinner, where Lonn had promised to show him something worthwhile. Mason didn’t think anything could top the discovery that his mother was alive and well and romantically linked with the leader of the Black Army, but who knew? He wasn’t about to spend another meal in the striker’s cafeteria when he could be with his mother.

  Mason entered the diner and found his mother, Shanna, his aunt Janie, and Lonn in the back booth. Had they even left?

  “Sit, Mason,” Lonn said. “I want to explain how our rebellion works in the Lowlands.”

  Mason sat beside Shanna. “You have a rebellion here?”

  “Of course. But they make it difficult. Were you told about rebel tags?”

  “Only when you asked me if I’d been tagged a rebel.”

  “Rebel tags keep rebels from gathering at once. If two or more rebels are within ten yards of one another for more than ten minutes, their SimAlarms will go off.”

  “Must make going to the movies troublesome,” Mason said.

  “Most theaters will let a rebel know if another rebel bought a ticket before you,” Lonn said. “But you get the idea. It’s rather unpleasant, and it’s forced us to get creative.”

  “How?” Mason asked.

  “By some miracle, you outsiders weren’t tagged rebels, not even after you broke into Champion House. That’s fortunate — for all of us.”

  “Did you find Omar?” Mason asked.

  “He did.” Mother beamed at Lonn.

  “He’s in poultry. Sector six,” Lonn said. “And he’s living in the sector six Strikers’ Residence, which is safe compared to where we live. I’m going to try and contact him over the next few days. Just need to figure out where they have him tasking.”

  “Why did Mason get put in maximum security? Omar had three strikes, right, Mason? And you only have one.”

  Mason didn’t answer. His feelings for Ciddah were private. He’d acted like a fool in front of Levi when he’d thought Ciddah’s life was in danger, but now he was just embarrassed that he’d said anything.

  “Task director is punishing him,” Lonn said.

  “Why? What did you do to make him so angry?”

  A smile broke out on Mason’s face. He tried and failed to fight it. It was kind of funny, he supposed.

  “He stole Renzor’s girl,” Lonn said. “Like we said at lunch.”

  “You stole a girl?” Shanna shot him a skeptical glance.

  For some reason that comment made Mason defensive. “She likes me. Is that really so difficult to believe? She’s a medic, if that helps you.”

  “That does, actually,” his mother said. “But Mason, a Safe Lander? You don’t actually care for this girl, do you?”

  Mason was pretty sure he loved Ciddah Rourke, not that he was experienced enough in such things to know for certain. But he wasn’t about to tell his mother any of it. “So how do the rebels make plans if you can’t meet?” he asked Lonn.

  “The conversation about the medic is not over,” Mother said.

  Lonn chuckled. “It’s not easy. Everything takes a very long time. But we’ve set up a meeting chain. Each rebel is assigned another. When a message needs to be spread, it starts at the top and works its way down.”

  “Does it work in reverse as well?” Mason asked. “If someone wanted to talk to you?”

  “Yes,” Lonn said, “though it’s not as fast that way. There are no transmitters down here. Reputables can communicate through their Wyndo wall screens, but everything is monitored heavily. So those with Wyndos can make plans to meet through the wall screens, but no one passes messages that way. We’ve learned the art of patience. We’re working on a plan now, but it’s taking awhile to get everything in place.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “Trucks take raw goods into the Midlands for distribution. From what I’ve learned, those drivers only move the goods as far as the wall. Then there are the turnstiles.”

  “Which are what?”

  “Think of that chamber the Midland enforcers put you in, that the Lowland enforcers took you out of when you came here. The one with a door on each side. Like that, only big enough for a truck. They use the turnstiles to keep Lowlanders from speaking with anyone else. They’re what keep us from getting back to the Midlands. There are no other doors. There are no storm drains down here, at least not big enough to walk through. And we can’t get into the tube.”

  “What’s the tube?” Mason asked.

  “The road that cuts through the Lowlands from the entrance to the Safe Lands to the Lowland/Midland Gate. The Lowlands is a prison, even for the reputables. And the Safe Lan
ds government can’t afford to let that secret out, or their way of life is over.”

  “You said that before. What’s a ‘reputable’?”

  “Someone who was liberated at forty,” Lonn said. “Or in your mother’s case, because she was an outsider and could no longer bear children.”

  “I see. So you plan to sneak into one of the turnstiles?”

  “We figure one of us can hide in the back of a truck, buried under lettuce or something. As long as we cut out our SimTag first.”

  “Someone must have tried that already.”

  “People have cut out their SimTags, yes. They’ve tried to sneak through the turnstiles. And they’ve even tried to scale the walls, but there are motion detectors on them. And they’re much higher here than in the Highlands and Midlands too. But from what I’ve been able to learn, no one has tried to hide in a truck. So we’re going to.”

  “When?”

  “In a few weeks.”

  “And who are you going to send through?”

  “Guy by the name of Grady. He was one of my men. Liberated a few years before me. He’s high up in the rebellion down here. Earned the right to be the one to go.”

  “I hope it works,” Mother said.

  “I think it will. Unless there is technology I don’t understand or know about, which is always a possibility.”

  Mason ate his salad in silence for a few bites and thought about the technology in the Safe Lands, which made him think of the advanced health care and their failure to find a cure for the thin plague. “I have a lot of questions for you,” Mason said to Lonn.

  Lonn narrowed his eyes. “About what?”

  “Why you got fired from the MC. What you were looking into. And what part Lawten Renzor played in the whole thing.”

  “Later,” Lonn said, tapping the location of his SimTag. “It’s almost time to go.”

  Sure enough, a few bites of salad later, Mason’s SimAlarm warned him that it was ten minutes until curfew. He stood to leave. Shanna and Janie followed him to the door. And when Mason turned back, he saw Lonn and his mother lingering beside the table, holding hands and talking to each other. Then Lonn quickly kissed his mother on the lips and they embraced.