Steel Lily ARC

by Megan Curd

  “No! It might be a trick.”

  “Do you think they’d waste stunning bullets to trick us?”

  Alice said nothing, and the scuffling downstairs became louder. The sound of boxes and junk getting tossed around echoed up the stairs, and I pressed my ear against the cool metal lining of the door to try to get a better listen.

  “What were you doing down here, squatter?” An unfamiliar voice questioned.

  A squatter? Downstairs? Alice and I were the only ones here. Who had the misfortune to hide down there tonight?

  Then his voice floated up the stairs. It was Legs.

  “I was running late getting home,” he said in a muffled tone. “I saw you good soldiers coming down the road and panicked. Slipped in here. Didn’t think you’d take well to me being on the street.”

  “And you thought we wouldn’t find you? It looks like you’ve been here quite a while, what with all the shit you’ve got down here. Do you have buddies upstairs?”

  “No, Sir, just me. No friends.”

  A cold laugh echoed. “Of course not. Who’d want to be friends with a scab like you?”

  What sounded like a punch and then Legs groaning floated up the stairs. I cringed. A warm hand rested on my shoulder, and I jumped. “Shhh!” Alice whispered as she covered my mouth. She nodded toward the door and mouthed, “Who’s down there?”

  “Legs.”

  Alice’s mouth formed an O, and it was my turn to cover her mouth. We both pressed our ears to the door, glued to the spot in horror.

  My stomach lurched as Legs cried out in pain from another blow. “I’ve seen you in the market before, selling junk that nobody wants,” a Polatzi said, “so where’s your stash? Are you going to give us anything of use?”

  Another punch. Legs coughed and gasped for breath. Alice covered her ears. I squeezed my eyes shut in hopes to block out the world.

  It only took me back to the day Alice and I came home from the market to find my home in disarray. My desperate attempts to get in the house. The Polatzi stopping me; Legs watching it all from across the street as his parents pulled him into the house and shut the door. We had been the first wave of people from outside of Detroit to make it to the Dome, and our homes were all situated together. Who could have imagined we would be forced to live on our own, to grow up so quickly, in such a grotesque way. Our lives had forever been changed by the war. Alice and Legs, forced to survive without family for their own reasons and me, forced to give of myself until the government felt I’d given enough.

  Damn radiation.

  If only my parents and I hadn’t gone on that vacation to Indianapolis. If only the bomb hadn’t hit a mile away. If only we could have gotten away quicker.

  If only we hadn’t been exposed.

  Alice gripped my shoulders and shook me. “Avery, don’t you dare cry; they’ll hear you.”

  I opened my eyes and saw Alice had gone into self-preservation mode. Steps sounded up the stairs once more, and the voice of the Polatzi came closer. “Legs, is it? You’ll sit there if you know what’s good for you while I go check and see what you’ve got upstairs. Jennings, watch him. We haven’t hit this house before; there might be something good. Effing Governor doesn’t pay us well enough to deal with Traditionals.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  We scuttled away from the door as fast as we could, but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. The door shuddered under the weight of the Polatzi on the other side trying to break it down.

  We should have squeezed into that nook when Legs gave us extra time. But why had he come? He was safe over in the other house. What was he playing at?

  “Hey, stop that! Stop, I tell you! No! Officer Patton, Sir! We’ve got a runner!” The voice from the man named Jennings hollered.

  The tumble of junk and then a loud oomph! filled the air. Expletives—from whom, I wasn’t sure—followed.

  “This little twat bit me!” yelled Jennings.

  I sucked in the manic laughter that filled me. That’d show them, dirty Polatzi. Legs wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  Alice shook me. “Avery, run! This is your chance to get out. Legs is gonna keep them busy. I’ll hide. It’ll be fine.”

  Her urgency brought back my guilt. Pain and remorse filled my chest, and I felt tears welling in my eyes. “I didn’t mean for this happen. I came right here after the market. It was still light; I thought there was time. I wanted to see you on your birthday—”

  Alice cut me off. “I know. Just go. Get out of the housing district and—”

  The droning roar of a hovercraft shook the house and cut off Alice. She and I crept to the kitchen window and peeked through the wooden boards. Lights from the hovercraft flooded the alley with merciless blaze. A dozen black jackets gleamed in the limited light. Each one was tailored, marking the rank of the person by a specially designed cog with engravings. Their molded masks were made of leather and steel, honed in the center like the beak of some perverse bird of prey. A visceral shudder ripped through me at the sight of them.

  “No! No! You can’t do this!” Legs’s voice ricocheted off the old houses.

  His feet dug into the mud as he searched for traction and he twisted his body away from the Polatzi soldier who dragged him toward the hovercraft.

  Legs yelled over the din of the hovercraft that floated barely above the ground. “All my goods are government approved! I live in government-provided housing! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

  But the Polatzi didn’t negotiate. The leader of the bunch turned on Legs and punched him squarely in the stomach, causing Legs to fall to the ground. The man jeered at him as he gasped for air like a fish out of water.

  “That’s for biting me, punk. That’s assault of a Polatzi. Easy one year of military service. Welcome to the ranks, soldier.”

  My hate for this life—the way the Polatzi took what they wanted and provided no reasons—stirred within me, begging for me to act. I couldn’t let this happen. Not to Legs. He couldn’t become one of them.

  Before I could think, I was out of the kitchen and running to the front door. Alice was fast on my heels. “Avery, stop. You can’t help him.”

  “I’ve got to try!”

  “Do you want us all arrested?”

  I didn’t listen to her. My fingers scrabbled at the locks when I felt Alice’s fingernails bite into my shoulders. “Seriously, Avery. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to save him!”

  “You and what army? Come on, you’re no good to him right now.”

  Alice was stronger than I gave her credit for. She wrenched me away from the door and wrapped her arms around me. We tumbled to the ground and my face connected with the cold floor, sending a shiver of pain down my left jawline. “I know you want to help him,” she said in a whisper, “But running out there like a wild woman won’t do anyone any good. Think of the Dome. If you get thrown in jail, where will our power come from?”

  “There are other Elementalists.” My voice sounded wooden, defeated.

  “None as good as you, and you know it. Stop it right now. Legs is gone.”

  I relaxed, and Alice released her grip. We snuck to the window and watched in horror as the Polatzi cuffed Legs, bound his ankles, and threw a black hood over his head. They shoved him into the hovercraft and followed behind. Without so much as a second glance, they disappeared into the night, leaving behind a sinister silence.

  “They’re going to start looking for me, you know,” I said tonelessly.

  Alice sucked in a shocked breath. “Why do you say that?”

  My mouth felt like it was filled with cotton, and it hurt when I tried to swallow back my fear. “I’m the best element manipulator, and I haven’t checked in tonight. They’re probably already searching Wutherford for me. I skipped Histories of America to come over.”

  Alice sighed in the darkness. “It’s not the first time you weren’t home on time. We can come up with an excuse. We always do. Maybe you shouldn’t stand
out quite so much,” she squeezed my hand. “I know that goes against your personality, to fly below the radar, but…”

  She trailed off, leaving me to finish the sentence. “But we’re the closest thing to family we have. I can’t draw more attention to us.”

  “Exactly. I can’t imagine losing you, Avery. You’re like a sister to me,” Alice said quietly. Now that the hovercrafts were gone, the world was as silent as the inside of a tomb. “Get out of here. Stay to the edge of the dome. The Polatzi have their toy for the night,” she added bitterly. “Stupid Legs. What’s going to happen to his sister?”

  I shook my head as I thought of his little sister. Now she was as alone as we were, and it was our fault.

  Alice grabbed my bag from beside the couch and tossed it to me without a word. We didn’t need to say anything.

  There wasn’t anything to say.

  We’d just cost Legs a year of military service, if he was lucky. If he wasn’t…well, I shuddered to think of what they would do to him.

  I opened the door to the basement cautiously. The stairs were a mess. I sighed. “I’ll get those fixed this weekend when classes are out.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just go.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  Alice’s sigh was one of defeat. She tried to stay upbeat, more for my cause than her own I sometimes suspected, but I could tell this place was sucking the joy out of her. It took everyone’s joy. I looked back in time to catch her pull a smile together, but I knew it was a façade. No one wanted to live like this. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you want me to meet you at Wutherford? I could come up with an excuse.”

  “No, don’t risk it after tonight. I’ll come here.”

  Alice smiled. “Because that’s so much safer.”

  “They need me for steam, remember?”

  “God bless radiation exposure making you go all night-light and what not.”

  I pushed her shoulder, then hopped over the missing stair. “Yeah, well, this night light needs to get back to Wutherford. Lay low tomorrow, promise?”

  “Promise.”

  She shut the door and left me in near darkness. I fished my oxygen mask back out and stood there for a moment to allow my eyes to adjust to the automatic night vision of the contraption. The muffled click of Alice locking the door reached me, and I headed out.

  Keeping to the edge of the Dome, I looked through the rippled glass to the abandoned world beyond. Buildings and cars were swathed in an eerie green glow by the goggles. Suitcases littered the ground, like their owners would be right back for them. A tattered teddy bear missing one eye laid face up, staring into the nothingness.

  And yet it felt as though the bear was staring at me. Accusing me. Expecting me to fix the mess that humanity was in, one steam donation at a time.

  I wondered if there were people out there trying to get in when the Polatzi sealed the gateway. I wondered if people begged to get in here; begged for their lives.

  And here I was, practically begging to get out.

  Funny how the grass was always greener on the other side, even when I knew the other side was dead and desolate.

  CHAPTER

  FOUR

  Sleep hadn’t come easily last night, and even now I knew I should sleep, but my mind wouldn’t shut off.

  The image of Legs kicking and screaming as the Polatzi pulled him away still played over and over in loops in my mind. A fresh wave of guilt washed over me, and I vowed I would somehow repay him.

  To my left, cogs whirred to life and pulled back the curtain of my ceiling-to-floor window. Out the oversized window I could look down on the rest of Dome Four, literally.

  It made me sick. I hated heights, and watching everyone else struggle below was something a sadist might enjoy, in my opinion.

  My room wasn’t anything spectacular. An old cedar chest of drawers sat against the wall across from my bed. On top was a steam-powered clock that I kept running on my own. I wouldn’t use any of the Dome’s steam. There were others that needed it for more pressing matters.

  I peeled myself out of the cotton sheets of my bed and went to shower. The intercom spluttered and informed me of the date, time, and temperature. I had twenty minutes before the airbus left for the other side of the Dome, where my Elemental Concepts course was held.

  There was no time to dry my hair, so I grabbed the first beanie on the pile of Alice’s creations and put it on. It was green and matched the old military jacket I’d found in an old surplus shop.

  With my bag and mask in hand, I headed to the door.

  Except when I opened it, there was someone standing there, waiting on me.

  A Polatzi woman stood in front of me, her broad body blocking the view of my intended hallway. Her hands were on her hips, and her piercing gaze felt like it might actually impale me. I wondered if they taught that death stare to every Polatzi, or if this woman was particularly nasty. “Avery Pike?”

  I jutted my chin in the air. “Who’s asking?”

  “You were off the grid last night.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The woman smiled. “No? I don’t see your name on the sign-in sheet from last night. Plus your friend, what’s his name?” she stroked her chin in mock thought. “Legs, is it? Yes. That’s his name. He seemed to think you and a Traditional were running around near where we found him. Interesting, since you have a curfew you’re to uphold here, and squatters in condemned houses are being prosecuted.”

  I arched my eyebrows and hoped I looked innocent. Polatzi had never come to my room before. “I must have forgotten to check in last night. It won’t happen again.”

  She leaned toward me, her expression that of a wolf who smelled fear on its prey. Up close, her nose resembled the hooked beak of her military-issued oxygen mask that hung on her utility belt. “We wouldn’t want anyone else going missing, would we? You of all people should understand the need to keep everyone accounted for.”

  I tried to formulate a response after the allusion to my parents. I flushed, unable to come up with a retort.

  The woman smiled hatefully. “That’s what I thought. Don’t let your friend be right about you and another person being in that house. We’re watching. Maybe we can look into your parents’ disappearance again if you cooperate with us.”

  Her comment spurred me on. “If you know anything about my parents, I’m sure the rest of your Polatzi friends would be interested. It’s the only cold case you’ve had in the Dome.”

  It was her turn to be speechless. “That’s what I thought,” I spat, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to class. Learning to keep your oxygen levels tolerable, keeping your house lit. You know, those kinds of things.”

  I pushed past the woman before she could say more and felt the smooth fabric of her cape slap my legs as I passed. Fiery anger consumed me, but I kept my expression neutral. Damn Polatzi. They gave me nothing but unanswered questions and a lice-ridden bed at an over-capacity orphanage, yet expected me to revere them. Providing steam—being an asset they couldn’t get rid of—gave me immunity to the Polatzi as long as I didn’t do anything stupid.

  Like skipping class and going to see Alice during a night of sweeps.

  Yeah, that would fall under the category of life-threateningly stupid, which was a couple notches above incredibly stupid.

  “You skipped Histories of America yesterday,” called the woman.

  I kept walking. “I missed the airbus.”

  “No, you didn’t, and if you keep walking away from me, I will hunt down your little friend and make sure you never see her again. Do you understand me?”

  Her words paralyzed me, but I didn’t turn around. “What do you want?”

  “Steam shortage. Your Dome needs you,” she said, and I heard her boots clicking against the floor as she neared me. “You wouldn’t want to lose your home at the top of Wutherford, now would you?”

  I turned to face her. “It’s not my day
to provide steam.”

  “Not officially, no,” she said, and cruel smile formed on her lips. “But I need a little extra steam, you know, for personal use.”

  She shoved a hand into her black cape and pulled out a small cistern. I could hear the bottom slosh with water, and I knew what would happen.

  “Fill this,” she ordered.

  I opened my mouth to protest, but then another Polatzi—this one male—came out of the stairwell and stood by the woman. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, not at all,” I said tersely as I took the cistern from the woman. I opened the top and focused on the water.

  I felt the canister warm under my touch, and felt the electricity surge through my veins. My ability to manipulate water—to create steam—manifested after I was exposed to the radiation. Too bad I hadn’t gotten something amazing like super strength or x-ray vision. Instead, I hit the jackpot and could heat things up. Go me.

  Steam rose and filled the cistern, then billowed out and over the top. The woman quickly screwed the top back on and took the cistern from my hands as I swayed on the spot. The man laughed as though he was amused. “So she’s the little superstar the Governor was telling us about, eh?” He pulled a larger cistern of his own out of his cape and handed it to me. “Since you don’t have anywhere to be, how about you fill mine as well?”

  My vision was already swimming before me from my previous donation. Using my ability wore me out for short periods of time, but the more steam I created, the worse the dizziness was afterward. “Please, no…”

  “I heard she has a friend living illegally,” the woman said to the man.

  His eyebrows rose. “Oh really?”

  I took the canister from his hands, and he smiled. “I guess she doesn’t.”

  “Guess not.”

  Once again I focused on the miniscule amount of water in the bottom of the aluminum canister, and felt the surge of energy leave my body. Steam appeared almost instantly.

  I felt my knees begin to buckle, and the hallway felt like it was closing in on me.