The Uprising: The Forsaken Trilogy

by Lisa M. Stasse

  All of us look around cautiously. There are no drones here, or if there are, they are well hidden in the verdant trees. I’m not sure which way to go, or what to do. I can’t see the cathedral anymore.

  I hear faint gunshots coming from the tunnel.

  “We can’t just stand here,” I say. “We have to run.”

  Cass nods.

  “Which way?” Alun asks, sounding exhausted. “If we make the wrong choice, we’ll be caught. . . .”

  Liam reaches back and takes a folded sheet of crumpled paper out of his pocket. This must be the map. “Check it out,” he explains to the others. “Someone threw this into my cell to help us, along with some weapons.”

  We crowd around him as he unfolds the paper. I think that we’re going to hear more gunshots at any second, or that drones will leap from the trees. Or worse—that feelers will appear from the sky to snatch us.

  I stare down at the sheet of paper. It’s an old-fashioned hand-drawn map. I tilt my head, trying to make sense of it.

  “So where are we?” Cass asks.

  “Look,” I say, pointing at a small X that marks an area of the forest. It’s at the end of a dotted line leading out of a large square. “I bet that’s where we are right now. I bet the square is the cathedral, and the dotted line is the tunnel.”

  “How can you be sure?” Cass asks. “The X could mark our destination, not our location.”

  “There’s no other X on the map anywhere,” I tell her.

  “But how could the person who gave Liam this map know that we’d end up here?” Emma asks, straightening her glasses and peering at the map again.

  “Probably because there’s no other way out of the tunnels,” Liam answers. He gazes around. “Alenna’s right. Some of these landmarks even match up.” He points at a massive pile of rocks ahead of us, to the right. Then he points to a small triangle marked on the map. “Look. The triangle could signify the rock pile.”

  We’re all studying the confusing map now. The X orients us, possibly, but it doesn’t explain where to go. Nothing is labeled. The map just shows areas of forest, with strange demarcations, grid lines, and numbers on them. There are also additional small squares and rectangles drawn in. But without a key to the map, it’s hard to understand. And I’m not sure we can even trust this map. I wish Cass still had the GPS.

  I take the paper from Liam.

  “The squares are probably all buildings,” Cass says over my shoulder.

  I nod.

  Liam points at another square, one with thick black lines emanating from two sides of it. The lines run in either direction, off the map on both edges of the page. “If this square is another building, then it’s the largest one near us, other than the cathedral. Let’s go there and check it out. If the drones are preoccupied with the cathedral, maybe we can explore this sector and try to find more weapons.”

  “It could be another trap,” Emma says nervously. “Or another confinement house, or whatever they called it.”

  “If it’s a trap, then we’ll run again,” I tell her. “Back into the forest.” I hand the map to Liam.

  “Maybe we can find some supplies in the building, or something else to help us,” Liam says.

  “Let’s do it,” I agree.

  We begin running through the trees, with Liam using the map to guide us. I start to see a few wisps of fog on the ground again. The fog must be endemic to this sector. If it keeps getting thicker, it might help to obscure us, but it will also make it harder to see anyone heading in our direction.

  As we move, I worry about Octavio. I hope that he’ll be able to fight his way out of the tunnels. I know he told us to run, but maybe we should have waited for him. I don’t want anyone else to sacrifice themselves for me—let alone Liam’s dad. I’m trying hard not to think about what might have happened to my own mom. But maybe she’s safer not being on the wheel.

  The trees look stark and menacing in the increasingly thick fog. We run as close together as we can. None of us want to get lost out here. Liam and I are next to each other, leading the way with Cass. Alun lags behind because of his injury, but Emma is helping him. I see her inspect the gash on his neck. Hopefully her experience nursing the Ones who Suffer means that she can help him. Every now and then we stop and consult the map in detail.

  There are still no signs of any drones. I’m guessing that most of them are back at the cathedral. But I know that the masked figure will send some out after us.

  “Stop. Wait!” Liam calls out.

  Our group huddles around him.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I think we’re close.”

  We’re all looking at the map again. The fog drifts around us in banks, getting denser than ever. Liam points to our right. “The building should be over here somewhere, if it exists.”

  We stare around in the fog. A bird takes off from a nearby tree, squawking and startling us.

  “I hate this place,” Cass mutters to Emma.

  We start hiking to our right, forging our own trail through the underbrush between huge mangrove trees. Liam’s knife is raised, and so is mine.

  We keep walking for a few minutes.

  “I think I see something,” I finally say, hesitating for a moment. The others pause too.

  “Where?” Liam asks me softly.

  “Up there.” I point ahead at the trees. Everyone looks, trying to see through the foliage and the fog.

  “What the hell?” Cass mutters, as fog drifts past us and gives us a better view for a second.

  There is indeed some kind of concrete structure ahead of us. But it’s not a building on the ground. It’s about thirty feet above our heads, running through the trees. I squint, trying to understand what I’m looking at.

  Liam has the map out again. “Look,” he says to me. “The building we’re headed toward has lines coming off it.” He glances up at the thing in the trees. “The lines could be some sort of roads. Like elevated highways, or even a train system.”

  As crazy as it sounds, that’s what this thing reminds me of—the giant elevated highways back home in the UNA. The ones that passed over the poor neighborhoods in New Providence, and cast shadows across the streets. But this road looks completely incongruous here. “It’s probably some artifact from when the UNA built everything on the wheel,” I say. “Something that got abandoned.”

  “If it’s a train line, there’s no way it’s gonna be working,” Cass replies.

  “Who knows. In the gray zone, a lot of things were working,” I tell her. “They were just automated.”

  “Even if it’s only a road, we need to get up there somehow and walk along it,” Liam says. “We can get our bearings, and get a better view of the wheel too.”

  “What if the drones control it?” Emma asks, eyeing the elevated roadway uneasily as she helps support Alun. He’s looking even paler than before. “What if they’re up there waiting for us already?”

  “Then we’d better hope for some good luck,” Cass replies.

  We look around at one another in the fog. I know we don’t have too long before someone finds us. “First, we have to find a way up there,” I point out.

  Liam is consulting the map again. “The square is to our right some more. And it might not be a building. It might just be a way up to the road, like a huge staircase or a passenger terminal.”

  “Let’s find out,” I tell him.

  We begin walking forward again, blades out.

  The soil and underbrush feel mushy and swampy here. The fog is even thicker. The air is so damp and muggy that it’s hard to breathe.

  We keep walking. After another few minutes, I see a solid structure emerge from the fog, on ground level this time. We head toward it. My senses are on alert for any nearby drones or feelers.

  As the structure continues to emerge, I see that it’s made of cracked slabs of concrete. It’s partially disintegrated, even more than the cathedral was. Pieces of rebar stick out of it in places. Chunks of concrete lit
ter the ground around us. It’s like the building—or whatever it is—got hit by a bomb at some point in the distant past.

  “It’s in ruins,” Emma says. She pauses for a moment. Alun is at her side. His breathing is ragged.

  “Everything is in ruins on the wheel,” I tell her. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

  “Yeah. C’mon, Emma,” Cass says, striding forward.

  Liam and I keep walking too. The others follow. Holes are blown into the sides of the concrete structure. When we reach the largest opening, we stop. There’s nothing but silence. I know it’s possible that drones are waiting to ambush us here, but it doesn’t feel that way. I sense no presence but our own.

  Slowly, one by one, we slip inside the opening. It’s not a building, exactly. It appears to be an old access tower for the elevated highway. One that provides a way up to the road from the forest, most likely for maintenance workers. To our left, I see an elevator. It’s ancient, and partially melted. Like it was destroyed in a fire. But to the other side, I see a set of narrow stone steps, leading upward.

  The steps are cracked, but they look secure. I can’t see where they go, because there’s a bend in the staircase, as it winds its way up to the highway.

  “This way,” I say, gesturing toward the steps. Dust covers everything here, and tendrils of fog have sneaked their way inside. I glance up and see tangled vines growing through holes in the concrete above our heads.

  Liam and I walk over to the stairs. Cass, Emma, and Alun are right behind us. Cass kicks the lowest step. The noise of the blow echoes through the space.

  “Careful,” I say. “Don’t be too loud.”

  Cass nods. “Just testing the concrete.”

  “I can’t wait to get out of this fog,” Alun mumbles, shivering, even though it’s not cold. The wound on his neck is raw and continues oozing blood.

  Liam steps onto the first stair. I take his hand and he helps me up. We walk up another step. Cass is right behind us with Emma and Alun.

  We rapidly head upward. The stairs keep winding around, like a spiral staircase. In places, pieces of concrete are missing. But fortunately, the stairs don’t give way. Soon, we will be at the top, and onto the elevated highway—or whatever this road is.

  This was not what I expected would happen when we returned to the wheel. I thought Liam and I would come back with a huge army led by the scientists to liberate everyone. Instead, we’ve been reduced to a group of five, stumbling around on the wheel alone. Just trying to survive and find a way to keep going.

  We must continue forward, no matter what gets thrown our way. I think of another line from The Myth of Sisyphus. One that has been rattling around in my head: “A reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.” It scares me, but I know it to be true. I keep holding Liam’s hand. As long as we’re together, then I know that everything is going to be okay—or at least that’s what I tell myself as we reach the top of the stairs.

  15ELEVATED

  LIAM STEPS OFF THE staircase one second before I do. His knife is out, ready to strike anyone who’s up here.

  I step out behind him, prepared for the worst as well. Prepared to encounter another silent army of drones.

  But no one is standing up here but us. A cracked concrete roadway extends in either direction. We are indeed on some sort of abandoned, elevated highway.

  Up here, we’re above the fog and higher than many of the trees. I gaze out over a surreal landscape. Milky fog obscures much of it. The tops of trees poke through in places. I was hoping we’d get a better view of the wheel, but that won’t be possible unless the road goes even higher or the fog clears.

  Cass, Emma, and Alun step out behind us.

  “Wow,” Cass says sarcastically. “If only we had a car, this would be awesome.”

  “We have our feet,” Liam says. “We’re going to have to walk out of here. Get out of this sector and far away from the drones. Then figure out a new plan of attack.”

  I’m looking around. On the side of the road closest to us, I see a long metal rail, like the kind used by local trams in the UNA. Next to it is a shallow concrete gulley, filled with old leaves. “We might not need a car,” I say, gesturing at the rail.

  Alun staggers over to the rail to check it out. His bleeding has stopped again, at least for the moment. “Track’s useless without a train,” he says.

  Liam and I follow him and stare down at the foot-thick metal rail ourselves. It’s rusty in places, and has dirt on it, but it looks intact. Liam suddenly kneels down and touches it before I can stop him.

  “Careful!” I say, afraid the rail is electrified. But nothing happens to him. Liam taps it a few times with his fingers.

  Then he leans over even more, putting his ear flat against the metal. He’s listening to see if there’s a vehicle on the track.

  “Anything?” I ask.

  “No,” he says, leaning back. He gets to his feet and comes over to my side.

  “Maybe something’s farther along. Just sitting there,” I say.

  “It’s possible.” Liam takes out the map and we both stare at it.

  The others are looking around at the trees. Everything is silent and still.

  “There’s another small square marked along this path,” Liam says to me. “Look.” I see the square that he means. Dashed arrows come out of it, too. “Could be some kind of transportation center. Maybe there’s a tram there.”

  “There’s no way it’ll be working,” Cass calls out, heading over to us. “It’s just wishful thinking.”

  “We need to walk up to it,” I tell her, as Liam folds the map back up. “That’s the direction we have to go, right? We need to get away from the cathedral, like Liam said. Maybe we can even find our way to the specimen archive eventually—or look for surviving villagers in the blue sector. Now that we’re on the wheel, and everything has gone wrong, we need to come up with a new way to achieve our goals.”

  “Fine.” Cass stares ahead, gazing up the desolate road that leads far into the distance. “Then what are you waiting for?”

  She starts walking away from us, like she’s angry.

  Liam and I exchange glances. Then we follow after her, with Emma and Alun beside us.

  Soon, we’ve caught up to Cass, and we’re walking side by side with her. The road is wide, like a deserted eight-lane highway, with the metal rail running alongside one edge. But there are no markings on the road, other than old tire tracks.

  “I bet the UNA built this road when they were constructing the specimen archive, and the other stuff in the gray zone,” Liam says to me as we walk. “Seems like an easy way to transport materials across the wheel, or inland from the coast.”

  “Definitely.” This road is clearly too large to have been built by the exiled scientists. And my mom never mentioned anything about roads or cars being on the island. Neither did any villager or drone. The old tire marks beneath our feet are faded and wide, suggesting that long ago, industrial trucks and machines traveled this route.

  “Why aren’t the drones up here?” I ask Liam. “This would be a great place to watch everything from. I mean, if the fog weren’t so bad.”

  “I don’t know. But maybe it’s always foggy here or something. Or maybe they’re scared of the feelers.”

  “I haven’t seen any feelers since we’ve been back on the wheel.”

  He looks at me. “It’s weird, right? Maybe they’re not in this sector. It doesn’t really make sense.” He grins. “Not that I miss them, or anything.”

  Our blades are still out, and we’re scanning the treetops as we walk. Just in case there is another ambush.

  “Can I see the map again?” I ask Liam.

  He takes it out and hands it to me. I stare down at it. Because there’s no scale, I can’t tell how far we have to go. But so far, most of the things on the map have been nearby. So I’m hoping that the next building along this road isn’t going to take too long to reach.

  Cass is walk
ing by the edge of the road opposite the metal rail and the gulley. She’s peering into the distance.

  “See anything?” I call out.

  She turns back. “Fog and tree branches. Nothing too exciting.”

  “As long as there are no feelers or drones, that’s good enough for me,” Emma murmurs, adjusting her glasses again. She’s keeping a close eye on Alun. Hopefully she’ll take good care of him if he starts to collapse on us.

  Alun stays silent. I know that his blood loss is making him feel incredibly sick. But he’s being stoic about it.

  We keep walking. Cass eventually comes back from the edge of the highway and walks with the rest of us. The total desolation here is surprising, but it means that we can keep moving rapidly.

  Finally, I notice something at the edge of the highway, on the side with the metal rail. Before I can speak, Cass cries out, “Up ahead! See that?”

  I nod.

  We start walking faster.

  Even before we reach the object, it’s very clear what it is: a small, gray vehicle sitting right there on the rail. I can see the outline of its shape against the sky.

  It’s abandoned, like everything else. As we approach, I worry that it will be completely destroyed, just like the elevator we passed earlier.

  We slow down right before we reach it, in case someone’s hiding inside. I can see now that it’s definitely some sort of conveyance. Like a small industrial trolley, meant to transport people or supplies across the wheel. It’s facing away from us, in the direction that we want to go.

  The sides are made of thick chrome, with large, clear windows. A few of the windows are cracked, but none have been completely broken. The vehicle is firmly mounted on the metal track. It has no wheels, and no weapons jut out of it.

  I can’t believe that the villagers or drones haven’t found it and used it yet. Or maybe they tried, and it simply doesn’t work. But I’m surprised they didn’t take it apart and use the raw materials for weapons.

  We walk around to the front. The sliding door is open, revealing a surprisingly clean metal interior with about six narrow rows of seats. We walk closer.