Sketches

by Teyla Branton

  The woman shook her head. “I don’t believe so, but I promise we’ll do everything we can for your daughter.” Her smooth, clear skin was wrinkle-free, and I pinpointed her age near mine, or perhaps a few years older. Could she be a doctor? A specialist maybe? Her attitude suggested absolute authority. Even if I could have moved my head, I doubted I’d be able to look away from her for long.

  “Thank you.” My mother sounded unhappy. Things weren’t perfect between us, but I would give anything to be able to console her, anything not to be trapped in this ruined shell of a body.

  “Dimitri,” the woman said. “The IV.” The man nodded and moved around the bed, but not before I caught a glimpse of another IV bag in his hands, though it seemed different. Larger, maybe.

  “The bags keep running out before they should,” my mother said. “I’m worried it’s not helping her condition. Where’s all the liquid going?”

  Was that a flash of excitement in the woman’s eyes? It was hard to tell with my monovision. “We’re monitoring it carefully,” she assured my mother.

  Within seconds I could feel the drip of the liquid again—different this time. Sweeter, thicker, and coming faster. I closed my eye and drew the liquid into my body, though I knew the effect had to be entirely in my mind.

  “Don’t I know you?” my mother asked the woman. “You seem familiar.”

  “Oh, I must have one of those faces.”

  “No, I’ve seen you before. I know I have. Aren’t you my mother’s neighbor? The one who teaches karate?”

  “I have a sister who teaches taekwondo. People often confuse us.”

  A lie. I couldn’t hear it in her voice, but I felt it all the same. An unease, a hint of uncertainty that marred her perfect confidence. What was she trying to hide? Or maybe my imagination was kicking in again.

  “That must be it,” my mother said.

  “Probably. If you’ll excuse us? We should be back within the hour.”

  “I’ll be here.” My mother’s hand briefly touch my shoulder as I was rolled from the room. I wished I could see her face.

  The hallway was quiet, nearly deserted, though the lights overhead blazed brightly. We passed several tired-looking nurses and an orderly mopping a section of floor.

  “Ava,” the man said from the head of my bed. “The bag’s half gone.”

  “Then we were right.” The woman walking beside me fell silent a moment before adding, “It’s about time.”

  “Too bad it had to happen like this. She’s suffered a lot.”

  “At least we’re sure. And there won’t be anything to explain to her family. They’re already prepared for the worst.”

  “She might not cooperate. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “She must cooperate. There’s too much at stake.”

  I didn’t like her clipped tone, or any of their words. They were talking about me, but I couldn’t understand the context. None of it made sense. Maybe the drugs had scrambled my brain.

  When they began discussing transfer papers with another man, icy suspicion crawled through my mind. Where were they taking me? Maybe they weren’t with the hospital at all. As they loaded me into an ambulance, panic ramped up my breathing, but no one noticed my distress. My mouth refused to utter a sound.

  The woman sat by my head while the man stayed at my side. I didn’t see who was driving. “This bag’s gone,” said the man. “I’ll get a new one. I’ll start another IV, too. The idiots already amputated half her left arm. She’ll need the extra.”

  My left arm was gone? Bile threatened to choke me. No! This was too much. I couldn’t survive another minute.

  Yet when the man put the second IV in my upper chest, I felt another rush of cool liquid, and my body gulped it down as though it were life itself. My fear numbed at this relief, and I dozed as the ambulance cruised through the streets, rousing a little each time we stopped at the traffic lights. I heard honking, a snatch of music, the throb of the engine, and my own breathing, which seemed loud and fast in the small confines of the ambulance.

  Something was very wrong. They’d told my mother I’d be back within an hour, but we’d been driving too long for that now. Not to mention that removing me from the burn center would lower what minimal chance I had of survival. Yet whoever these people were, they didn’t seem to want me dead—for now.

  I tried to move, but the only limb I could get to obey me was my right arm. I lifted it halfway in the air before the man grabbed it. “It’s okay, Erin. I really am a doctor. Best one in the world, I daresay. I’m Dimitri, and my friend is Ava. We’re here to help you.” To the woman, he added, “She’s a fighter.”

  “So it seems.” Satisfaction laced Ava’s voice, and I felt a sudden and distinct hatred for her. What did she want from me? Was she an organ harvester? It was the only rational explanation—though utterly terrifying.

  Dimitri laid something on my chest. Another IV bag. “Hold onto this.” He placed my right hand over the bag. Immediately, a delicious coolness entered my fingertips even through the plastic bag and the bandages. I blessed him silently and gave myself up to this drug-induced hallucination.

  The next thing I knew, I was being rolled into a cavernous room. I had the impression of large crates and of a woman sitting in front of several computers which she seemed to be using all at once. One of the computers was connected by a thin black cord to a woven metal headpiece the woman wore on her head like a crown. Her chair turned toward us, one hand twisting up a circular section of the headpiece that obscured one eye. “Good, you’re back.” A smile spread over her face.

  I stared. I’d been wrong thinking Ava and Dimitri were the most assured, compelling people I’d ever seen. This new woman had the same confident bearing as the other two, but it was coupled by straight dark hair, a heart-shaped face, slanted Asian eyes, and flawless golden skin. Her revealing green tank showed an ample bosom and a torso that fell to an impossibly thin waist, flaring again for perfect hips. Her delicacy and utter perfection was the kind that inspired poets and started wars between nations—and made me feel completely inadequate.

  I knew that feeling well. I felt it often in the presence of my mother.

  “Cort’s got the room ready,” the woman said. She was younger than the others, perhaps in her late twenties, though her dark eyes were far too knowing for true innocence. A chill shuddered in my chest.

  “Thanks, Stella.”

  I knew Stella meant star in some other language, and the name fit her perfectly.

  We were moving away, and Stella vanished from my line of sight. My thoughts of her cut off abruptly as I was wheeled into a smaller room, bare except for what looked like a coffin on a long table.

  A coffin!

  My heart slammed into my chest, its beating furious and erratic.

  Ava withdrew scissors from the pocket of her lab coat and started cutting the bandages from my feet and legs. Dimitri began at my head. I caught a glimpse of blackened tissue, the bloody stub of my left arm. Tears leaked from my right eye, but I couldn’t see anything through my left and I doubted I still had tear ducts there. Now I knew why Tom had felt the need to lie. No one could be this badly burned and survive.

  If by some cruel twist of fate I did live, I would be a monster.

  I tried to struggle against them, but any tiny movement sent shards of pain in every direction until it seemed pain was all I had ever known. Neither would my mouth open to scream, though hoarse sounds of distress issued from my throat, sounding grotesque and panicked. My chest convulsed wildly with the effort. Before too long, my throat became too raw for sound, and even that haunting noise ceased.

  “It’s okay,” Dimitri said, his voice gentle. “It’ll be over soon.” Somehow I didn’t feel comforted.

  When I was nothing more than a mass of burned and bleeding raw flesh, Ava and Dimitri lifted me into the coffin. Exquisite torture. My vision blurred and darkened. Nausea gouged at my insides.

  A gelatinous substance oozed aro
und me and the pain slightly eased. Dimitri pushed it up against my chin and smoothed a layer over my entire face. They’re drowning me in Jell-O, I thought, but Dimitri made sure I had ample space beneath my nose to breathe. The syrupy sweetness I’d felt with the IV bags was increased a hundredfold, as though each of my damaged nerve cells had become a conduit for an IV.

  Dimitri’s face leaned close to mine. “I’ve added something to one of these IV bags to put you out. It’d be impossible for you to sleep in this stuff otherwise. But you’ll heal better if you aren’t awake.” Already I struggled to keep my good eye open.

  Ava stood by the coffin looking in. “Don’t fight it, Erin. You’ll have your answers soon. Sleep, Granddaughter. Sleep.”

  Granddaughter? I must not have heard her correctly.

  Well, I suppose there could be worse ways to die than cradled in a coffin full of sweet gelatin. I gave up fighting and let my right eye close.

  END OF PREVIEW. To purchase The Change (Unbounded #1), please click here. You can also continue to the next section to learn more about the author and her books. Remember you will receive the bonus novella Ava’s Revenge for FREE by signing up to hear about new releases on my website.

  Glossary of Terms

  Birth order – permission to have a child. You must first submit a birth application to be awarded one of these.

  Blues, or enforcer blues – the black, bulletproof uniforms worn by enforcers with built-in iTeev connectors.

  Breakdown – total economic collapse and nuclear warfare that occurred in what was formerly known as America in 2198. Sometimes used as a curse.

  Breathers – gas masks.

  Cash credits – plastic card encoded with different credit (money) amounts.

  Chotks – an expensive, light-colored alcoholic drink that is slightly sweet.

  CivID – identification that must be carried by all CORE citizens. CivIDs constantly emit a signal that can be easily picked up by surveillance cameras. There are blockers sold on the black market to mask this signal. A CivID allows access to the sky trains.

  Clean spots – used to obscure online Teev activities. Use is directly against CORE law.

  Clipper – derogative nickname for an enforcer.

  Clud – a mild curse.

  Colonies – settlements created to support the poor, needy, and displaced after Breakdown. There are six colonies, three in Estlantic and three in Dallastar, and each is assigned to a primary industry, except Colony 6. In Estlantic: Colony 1, farming and forestry; Colony 2, farming and fishing; Colony 3, mining and metals. In Dallastar: Colony 4, oils and plastics; Colony 5 (also known as the Sty), cattle and livestock; Colony 6 (see below).

  Coop, or Colony 6 – as in chicken coop. They create raw textiles, metals, or plastics from materials created by the other colonies. Located southwest of Amarillo City in Dallastar Territory.

  CORE Elite – wealthy people who lead the government of the CORE. These include the Director (overall ruler), Controller (over all enforcers), Administrator (finances and city affairs), Regulator (controls population and gives out birth orders) and all their highest advisors and underlings.

  CORE Identification Unit, or CIU – an enforcer unit that specializes on discovering the identities of criminals. Serves all of Estlantic.

  CORE, or Commonwealth Objective for Reform and Efficiency – name of the country and government of Estlantic and Dallastar territories, short for. Often used as an exclamation in sentences like, “Thank CORE.”

  Credits – money, method of exchange, normally transferred via iTeev or Teev feed.

  Crew – gangs in the Coop.

  Dallastar – smaller territory of the CORE, located in the mid-south of the continent and borders Fringer territory.

  Data square – a tiny, thin, square, flash drive.

  Desolation zones – areas affected by nuclear fallout during Breakdown.

  Ditch digger – a person who does dirty work for someone powerful

  Empty zones – rubble-filled areas destroyed during Breakdown and not yet inhabited or reclaimed.

  Enforce weapons – weapons used by enforcers, pre-Breakdown tech that uses fingerprint identity to enable the weapons.

  Enforcer – Police officer. Called officers or enforcers. Besides their normal job hours, they must log three to six hours of physical efficiency training per week, depending on their location.

  Enforcer divisions – like police precincts. There are ten in Estlantic and five in Dallastar, with subdivisions. Some important divisions are Amarillo Enforcer Division (AED), New York Enforcer Division (NYD), Headquarters Enforcer Division (HED).

  Enhancement, or enhancing – a medical procedure where lasers are used on aggressive centers of the brain. Worse than a lobotomy.

  Estlantic – largest territory of the CORE, located on the east coast of the continent.

  Freedom Fountain, or the Fountain – a fountain erected in the plaza outside CORE buildings to celebrate the CORE’s victory against fringers during the fight for Amarillo City. Famous in all of the CORE, and almost revered in Dallastar.

  Fringers – people who separated from those who created the CORE after Breakdown. Viewed as crazy and dangerous rebels suffering from nuclear radiation, fringers still hate and fight to undermine the CORE. They dress in cement-colored uniforms on raids. People in the CORE often use fringer as a derogatory term, such as “half-witted fringer.”

  Holos – holographs; pre-Breakdown technology used by Teevs and iTeevs.

  Hover, or hover car, or hovercraft – a small personal flying ship, a technology believed to have been lost after Breakdown.

  Image receptors – a nearly indestructible, reusable screen the thickness of a paper. Receptors are pre-Breakdown tech that are now only available within the enforcer divisions or by CORE Elite. Images can be loaded into the receptors.

  iTeev – an unfoldable, portable Teev (see description below) that can be used as glasses to communicate or view holo feeds anywhere, even outdoors, without the use of holo emitters.

  Juke – a recreational hallucinogen, an addictive drug. Outlawed in all of CORE.

  Jukehead – a juke addict. Sometimes also called a “cotton-headed juke addict” or a “warthog-faced jukehead.”

  Level – nursery or school grade that corresponds exactly with a child’s age. When a child graduates, they “level out.”

  Lumper – a person who ventures into the empty zones or edges of the desolation zones and is stupid enough to get taken by fringers (or presumed taken). This has evolved into Terms like “I lumping hate you” or “I don’t give a lump.”

  Magglue – glue for metals, contains magnetic nanites.

  Nanobots – used to be common for fixing ailments pre-Breakdown. More rare now. A similar tech is used in Nuface therapy.

  Newcali – fringers’ capital city.

  Nuface therapy – nanite treatments to preserve youth.

  Punk – person who didn’t finish school, works on the underbelly of society.

  Punk bucket – any job that sucks, related to the buckets of waste a punk had to carry away from the work settlements when the colonies were being built.

  Pus bag – derogative term for a CORE Elite (leader).

  Pus licker – derogative term for a person who does the bidding of a Core Elite.

  Readymeal – a carton of processed food that is usually heated in the microwave. Subpar taste but inexpensive and convenient. Primary sustenance in the poor colonies, and for daily use all throughout the CORE. They contain immunizations and vitamins.

  RealSkin – used as bandages over repaired wounds.

  Reconditioning – psychological therapy for people who have disobeyed minor CORE laws.

  Saca – a mild curse.

  Sauce – a stiff alcoholic drink made of equal parts coarse alcohol and synthetic fillers. The drink of the poor. The taste is tart and the sour smell tends to linger on the breath.

  Sauced or sauce-crazed – drunk.

  Sc
ramblers – police motorcycles, mostly used in Estlantic.

  Shuttle, or automated shuttle – a roughly tetrahedron-shaped car that is a computer-driven taxi. Police have shuttles that are faster than normal shuttles and can be manually driven. There are also automatic ambulance shuttles people can call for assistance. The doors on all shuttles slide back into built-in door pockets.

  Skin – a collapsible membrane with a flip top that can hold water, sauce, juice or other liquids.

  Skin sealant – used in emergency as a temporary fix to slow bleeding.

  Sky train – free, pre-Breakdown public transport that runs throughout the CORE. Runs on solar energy.

  Smeg – a mildly addictive drug like marijuana that heats the entire body, giving the user a sexual reaction that emulates the flush of sex. Not outlawed in the CORE, but use is not viewed favorably.

  Smegger – a person who often uses or is addicted to smeg.

  Sonic cleansing – the no-water cleaning system used by most of the CORE.

  Stunner, or stun – a weapon similar to a taser.

  Teev (capitalized) – television, Internet, and phone hardware/software combo. You can view, search, call, or read on the Teev. Teevs provide holographic feed indoors through holograph emitters embedded in the walls and are found in every household. Hand motions are used to activate or deactivate. Guests can normally access a certain feed on any Teev, but to access all the abilities, a password can be required.

  Teev Aided Dispatch Alert System, or TAD-Alert – an enforcer system that tracks callers, prioritizes calls, and suggests names of enforcers to respond to any emergency. It can link to most home or work Teevs to have immediate eyes on any situation where enforcers might be called.

  Teev feed – the connection between all Teevs and iTeevs, owned and controlled exclusively by the CORE.

  Temper laser – mood altering laser that will calm most people. However, some are immune.

  Underground, or the Underground (capitalized) – black market organization that skirts CORE law.

  Undergrounders (not capitalized) – people who live underground in old metro tunnels. They usually work for the Underground leader and trade on the black market.