by Ramona Finn
Worrying at my lip with my teeth, I start to count how many made it out of the tunnels. I come up with sixteen, including me and Skye. Turning, I walk to the edge of the dark hole. It seems too small now—smaller than it was when Skye and I left last night. There are other exits—the Tracker Clan always has backup exits. Maybe the others got out there. Edging closer, I glance down, and I worry that if I get close maybe I’ll make it cave in. I don’t trust the ground anymore.
Leaning over the hole, I call out, “Wolf?”
A hand settles on my shoulder. My heart jumps, but I turn and see only Skye. “He might have gotten out at one of the other exits.”
Swallowing hard, I nod. “I haven’t seen Bird either. Crow said she gave the warning.”
Skye glances around and then wraps her arms tight around her middle. “What happened? Why’d the ground shake like that?”
I don’t want to get into that now—I don’t want to tell her what I suspect. What I know must be true. I want to find Wolf.
After a moment, I just say, my voice flat, “I need to find Wolf.”
Turning from Skye, I head to check the other exits. I find two of them gone. There are just dips in the ground where there used to be holes that led down into the tunnels. My stomach twists as if I’m going to be sick. I keep thinking about Wolf—about his rare smile, about his strong, wide hands. About how he taught me to defend myself, how he made me part of the Tracker Clan. I think about Bird, too. We’ve had our disagreements, but what would the clan do without Bird and her odd visions?
At the third tunnel exit, I find Alis sitting on a rock, holding her sides as if she’s hurt. She’s hunched over, her shoulders shaking. Dirt streaks her pale face and coats her hair until you can hardly tell the color is red. Her braid looks more like a halo of loose ends.
I move to her, kneel and put a hand on her shoulder. “Alis, are you hurt?”
She looks up, eyes rimmed red. She opens her mouth, but no words come out. She coughs and spits out mud. I pat her thin arms and legs, searching for cuts or broken bones. She stares blankly, her green eyes dull. Alis is a Glitch, much like I was, but she’s always been chatty and it unnerves me to see her like this—she looks broken inside.
Taking her shoulders, I turn her so she has to face me. “What’s wrong?” Her lower lip trembles. Wetness slides from her eyes, mixing with the dirt on her face to leave ugly streaks. I want to shake her, but I worry she is really hurt. “We need to get you to Croc.”
I stand and pull her to her feet. She glances down at the tunnel hole and then looks at me. “Dat.” She wets her lips. “Dat went back to get some of the biogear. He said we couldn’t leave all that gear behind. He went back. I yelled at him, but he went back. And the…the rocks just fell down.”
I glance down into the tunnel. Dat is down there—and I don’t know if he’s dead or trapped or hurt. “Wait here,” I tell Alis. I head for the tunnel hole, but Alis grabs my arms.
Her fingers dig into my flesh, and when I look at her she is shaking her head, her eyes wild. “No. No use. I tried.”
Glancing down at her fingers, I see they’re bloody. She must have tried to dig Dat out. I shudder.
Alis slaps a hand over her mouth, but a sob escapes. She meets my gaze and tells me, her voice shaking, “You can’t go back. The rocks—the tunnel’s gone.”
“Maybe he got out another way. Dat’s small…and smart.”
Alis shakes her head. “He was just a Glitch. The Rogues won’t care that he was just a Glitch.”
Grabbing her arms, I shake her. “No one is just anything. I will check the other tunnels. You go find Croc. Follow my steps here. Get to the others.” I pull away from Alis and take a step back, waiting to see if she’s going to do what I’ve told her to do.
She stares at me a moment, then nods. Turning away, she staggers back, following my trail. I glance down at the tunnel hole. When Alis is gone, I slip down inside, using the ropes we always have set up to get in and out. But Alis is right—there is no going anywhere in any tunnel from here. I land on the dirt and around me I see only boulders and rocks. Sand trickles down from the top of what was once a tunnel and now is only a wall of jagged rocks—that’s what Alis bloodied her hands clawing at.
“Dat, you get out—you find another way out,” I mutter. But I know that even with biogear, no one can claw through that much rock. Climbing back out again, I sit for a moment on the ground, pulling in deep breaths. The sun is hot, but inside I am chilled. Now I fear for Dat.
Standing, I try to shake away the cold.
Find Wolf. Just find Wolf.
Wolf always knows what to do. Wolf…I have to admit now that I care for Wolf more than I probably should. I’ve been a Glitch…an outsider to the clan. I came from the Norm. I am something…different. Wolf is a born Rogue—this is his clan, his place. And he can’t be gone.
Starting out again, I check the rest of the tunnels. Two more are gone—they’re not even dips in the ground, but I see the lines where tunnels once were and now I see only jagged lines across the ground. The longer it takes to find him, the more my chest hurts. The more the idea I won’t find him buzzes inside my head like angry insects.
Wolf has to be—the clan needs him. And I do, too.
I have one tunnel exit left—one that I know about, at least. Maybe there are more, but this is the last one I was shown when we moved to the new tunnels after our last battle with the AI. I have to climb down into a canyon. Rocks skin my palms. I’m sweating. My skin shirt sticks to my back and my boots slip on the boulders. Once at the bottom, I turn the corner and for a moment I fear no one is here—and then someone moves.
Wolf crouches over the tunnel exit, pulling Bird out. She’s coughing. Dirt coats both of them, making them blend into the sand. Wolf pulls Bird to the ground and shakes the dust from his thick, long hair. His dark skin is left pale by the dirt. If I could see his eyes right now, I know they would be darker than the night.
“Wolf!” I shout, already running to him.
At the sound of my voice, he turns to me. I reach him and throw my arms around him. For an instant, he holds me. For five pounding heart beats it is only Wolf holding me that matters. And then I hear Bird coughing. Pulling back, I drop my arms to my sides.
Bird looks dazed. A jagged cut across her forehead is bleeding, mixing with the dirt to leave a black streak running down the side of her face.
She staggers a step and I reach out to steady her, but she slaps my hand away. “I’m alright.”
Wolf gives a snort and scoops Bird up into his arms. She glares at him, and I tell myself not to be jealous of Bird—she needs the help. Turning to Wolf, I see he has a bruise swelling on his cheek. Blood and dust coat his bare arms. “You sure you’re up to carrying her?”
Wolf gives me a flat look and asks, “Where’ve you been?”
“Doesn’t matter. We should get Bird to Croc.” Turning, I lead the way back to the others. We take the long way, winding through the canyon and then crossing over a ridgeline and coming back down to what was once the main tunnel entrance.
When Wolf has Bird settled with Croc, he turns to me. “Did everyone get out?”
I shrug. “Haven’t counted.” And I haven’t…but I have been looking for Dat. For his curling mop of hair and his pale, dirt-covered skin and his slim, short body. I haven’t seen him. I glance around now, and do a quick count. With Wolf and Bird here, that makes it eighteen out, including Skye and me. That means eight are missing still.
I take a breath and let it out, then face Wolf.
Wolf is staring at me, his dark eyes as unreadable as ever. But just having him here—strong, big, solid—makes me feel better. “I’m worried about Dat.”
Wolf nods. “We need to check all the exits.” He moves away before I can tell him I’ve done that. Maybe Wolf will find something I didn’t—maybe he knows about an exit I don’t know about.
Soon, Wolf heads out with three others who aren’t hurt—Pike, Crow and Sk
ye go with him. I can’t face those tunnels—or the fear that we have lost eight of the clan. Heading over to Croc, I ask if he needs help. He flashes me a tight smile, shoves water and a rag at me and tells me, “Clean up the minor cuts. Get me if anything doesn’t look so minor.”
I spent most of the day helping Croc. We have only one who is badly hurt—Elk. A rock fell on her and Croc tells me he doesn’t think she will last the night. He gives her herbs to help her sleep and ease her pain. Two others have broken bones—an arm and a hand. Croc binds the wounds, but he keeps looking into the pouch hanging from his shoulder and muttering, “I don’t have enough.”
Looking around, I realize we have so very little—our food stores are down in the tunnels. Our water stores are there, too. We have a few supplies on the ATs, but not enough to last more than a few days. Night is also coming and the Outside will go from too hot to cold. Most everyone here has only what they were wearing—meaning no coats. We’re in more trouble than I thought.
When Wolf comes back, his mouth is set tight. He comes back with only those who went out with him. I close my eyes and vow I will remember Dat—I will remember his face, his name, how he was almost as smart as Raj. My throat tightens and my eyes sting, but Wolf’s voice pulls me back to the moment.
“We need a scavenge for water—we can cut some plants, maybe risk a fire. But we can’t stay. Another tunnel collapsed just after we walked over the top.”
There is no time to think of the dead—that will have to come later. When we can have a fire and remember those we will not see again. I head over to Wolf’s side. “It isn’t just water that’s going to be a problem.”
Wolf turns to face me. So does Skye and a few other of the Rogues. Glancing around, I think everyone looks stunned, exhausted and…and hurting. But we have to face the danger—Wolf and the other Rogues have taught me that.
Pushing back my shoulders, I wet my lips. “The ground shaking—it wasn’t just ground shaking. I’m certain we felt the AI’s first test at getting the Norm ready to leave this world.”
Bird mutters something I can’t quite hear and a few others sit up, but I keep my stare on Wolf. “The AI is still active and when she finishes making the Norm into her spaceship, she’s going to leave nothing but destruction in her wake. We’re running out of time to stop her.”
Chapter Three
Wolf wants to call a council meeting, but four of the council are missing. Crow argues we should worry more about water than anything else. I am not sure that’s true—the AI wants all of us dead and this world gone. That is the big worry. But Crow is right about one thing—without water, we cannot fight the AI. Wolf agrees to a few attempts to get back into the tunnels to any who might be alive and whatever supplies we can find. But the ground shakes again, knocking me off my feet and leaving others gasping.
Where the tunnels were, the ground is a deep scar—a black gash. Throat tightening, I climb to my feet and try not to think of those buried. The tunnels no longer exist.
“That’s it—we can’t stay here,” Wolf says. When Croc starts to protest that some can’t travel, Wolf slashes a hand through the air. “We have to go. Get them ready.”
We carry what few things we have and head to the ATs, but there is no good news there. Boulders have fallen, crushing all but one of the ATs—the one Skye and I took to the Empties. We can at least pull water off the crushed vehicles, but four skins and two holders are all we get. Wolf tells Croc to use the one good AT to carry those who are hurt. The rest of us walk.
Wolf leads the way to an open space where there are a few plants and only a few flat rocks. The ground dips low here—there are no tunnels, nothing but a huge, dark sky that sparkles with glittering lights. We string up the covers from the ATs, using long sticks and ropes to make a cover over our small camp. I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for a black drone to appear or for a scab to lurch up over the horizon, heading toward us from the Norm. Instead the night is oddly quiet. Only the wind whispers. No animals seem to be out tonight. With the sun down, the air cools.
Crow and Pike take the first watch. Though we haven’t seen any drones or scabs, the AI could be waiting for us to be out in the open like this before attacking. Everyone seems uneasy. Wolf allows Croc to build a small fire, and I try to help Croc as much as I can with those hurt, but he sends me away to rest.
I can’t sleep. Lying on the cooling sand, I keep thinking about the AI.
How long will it take her to get the Norm ready to leave? Is it ready now and are these ground shakers going to get worse? If these are tests, then when the AI pulls the Norm from this world, I fear the ground will split apart. How are we going to stop the AI? She has shut down all access, which leaves us unable to attack her. So what can we do?
I keep circling around that idea and finally give up on sleep. Standing, I brush the dust from the thin leathers I wear—just like the other Rogues—and head to where I can see Wolf’s dark form silhouetted against the night sky.
Others are unable to sleep as well. I see Bird and Skye sitting close together. Bird’s hair ribbon’s flutter in the night breeze. Skye rests her head in Bird’s lap and speaks so softly I can only make out her high-pitched voice but not the words. She sounds sad, like maybe she is shedding tears. It’s a clear night and the moon is rising in a huge disc that washes pale light over the Outside. It’s almost beautiful. A night bird gives a call and small, ground animals that I hear but can’t see scurry out of my path as I make my way to Wolf’s side.
Wolf sits on a rock near the edge of the canvas covering, keeping watch. I sit next to him, close enough that the heat from his body warms me. Close enough to smell his scent—something musky and…nice
“Where were you today?” Wolf asks. His voice is low and deep and he sounds tired. I bite my lip and shrug. Wolf nods. “The Empties. Why do you keep going back? Not much left.”
I shrug again and shift a little closer to him. The night is getting cold. “I…I don’t know. Maybe…it’s because I’m like the AI. It could be Bird’s been right all along. Maybe it’s the AI that makes me want to go there. Maybe that’s how she made me.”
Wolf shakes his head and glances at me. I feel his movements more than see them. “Bird’s right about a lot of things, but what shapes us most are our choices. The AI doesn’t make your choices, Lib. You do.”
I dig the toe of my boot into the sand. “I wish I could be sure. I…Wolf, I wasn’t born. I’m not even a real Glitch. I don’t know what the AI imbedded into me, but—what if I do become a tool of the AI? What if I’m that and I don’t even know it. It is possible that the biogear was something the AI wanted me to create to make me more like—”
Wolf puts a finger over my lips. I shiver, but stop talking. He takes his finger away and he brushes a strand of my hair back over one ear and away from my face. “You think too much.”
I don’t know what to say to that so I remain silent. Tension seems to hang in the air between us, but it’s not a bad one. Wolf reaches over and takes my hand in his. My heart jumps and thuds against my ribs. I’m surprised, but don’t pull away. Despite the calluses on his fingers, his hand—big and warm—feels good.
“We need help,” he says.
Frowning, I ask, “Like from the Rejects in the Norm? They got us out of the Norm last time. Do you think they can help us now? But How?”
He runs his free hand through his hair. “Look around, Lib. We’ve lost too many to go up against the AI again. We need to reach out to the other clans.”
“Why don’t you sound like that’s a good thing?”
Letting go of my hand, he stands and faces me. “I’ll send Crow and Bird ahead. Clans—not every Rogue clan wants to give help. Some clans…they don’t share and they don’t like others in their territory. But we need help.”
I tilt my head to the side. I’ve heard mention of other clans but I never really thought I would meet any, and haven’t given the other clans much thought. Bird, I know, came from the Sees
Far Clan. But I’ve been told most of the Rogue clans aren’t friendly toward Glitches. It seems some aren’t even friendly to other Rogues. Will they see me as a Glitch since I was thrown out of the Norm? Like any Glitch, I can hack the Norm…or I used to be able to hack the platforms when they had power.
Standing, I put my hand on Wolf’s arm. “If our choices do shape us, this sounds like a big one to make. If we’re not welcome—”
“I’ll make sure we are. I have favors to collect.”
I pull my hand away. “This is a distraction, Wolf. Maybe it’s what the AI wants—to drive us away from the Norm, keep us from going after her while she’s weak. We’ve been hanging back, waiting for her to make the next move. But what if—”
“Lib, the Tracker Clan lost its council. We have little water, we have what food we’ll be able to scavenge and we have no safety. We don’t even have time to remember the dead properly. You can’t ask more from the clan now. It’s survival first—then we figure out what to do about the AI, if there is anything to do.”
I step back. “I can’t ask more? You want to talk survival, well the fight with the AI is about if we live or die. And if you want choices—running away is never a good one.”
Wolf stares down at me and I stare up at him. The silence stretches between us and it is no longer warm or comfortable. Wolf’s priority has always been his clan. But I thought he understood that no one is going to survive if Conie leaves this world with the Norm.
But he’s still a Rogue first and last.
A lump tightens in my throat. I don’t seem to have a choice here—except to go with the clan.
“Maybe you’re the one who needs to think more.” I mutter the words and turn away from him. Wolf doesn’t try to stop me.
And I start to wonder if I am going to have to face the AI on my own—but how?
Chapter Four
The night gives me too much time for thinking. Sleep seems a bad idea. I still remember the dreams I used to have after I’d been thrown out of the Norm, the ones where black tar dripped into the tunnels and flooded them, swallowing up the clan. I remember the voice calling to me, telling me I was doing a good job. And I can remember how good it felt to hear that familiar voice—the AI’s voice.