Class Zero

by Y A Marks

  “I didn’t get it.” His voice was indignant.

  “Did you check?”

  Gray-Eyed Fox pulled out his PCD and tapped the side button. A yellow message box popped onto the screen. After thinning his eyes, he leaned back even further. “So you did.”

  After Sun Hi’s mouth tightened in disgust, her eyes blinked slowly. “If we didn’t need you to have a PCD, Josalyn wouldn’t have given you one.”

  She leaned over and slapped his legs off the seat rest.

  After a moment, he displayed two rows of teeth. They were a perfect off-white, not the almost blue white of celebrities, but healthy and clean. With his mischievous eyes, he would have fit perfectly in any advertisement.

  My nerves, already a buzz from the terror of what had happened, cooled under his expression. He was more attractive than I had thought. Up close, I could see his broad shoulders, strong jaw, and deep-set eyes. His hair was a bit shaggier than I remembered, but it was cut short enough to brush his earlobes in the back and dip barely past his eyebrows in the front.

  As Sun Hi walked back to her seat, he glanced over and put his hand up to block his profile from Sun Hi. “They’re always trying to keep track of me,” he mouthed. “But, I don’t let ‘em.”

  With a nod, I dropped my gaze. His stare lingered and burned my temples before fading a moment later. When I glanced up, he stared at the ceiling. His hands locked behind his head with his elbows wide. A grin popped onto his lips. A heartbeat later, his eyes spun toward me. Quickly, my head twisted around. Fighting my urges, I forced my gaze to steady. He found my eyes and grinned again.

  Crix, he caught me looking, and I was looking. Why was I looking at him?

  After giving him my best polite smile, I turned away. Despite everything, I wasn’t in the mood for talking or anything else. My heart didn’t stop rattling in my chest until the ship landed, taxied, and disappeared into a barn-like building. Once the ship was inside, the floor opened up, and the ship descended several stories. When the ship stopped moving, Baldy tapped a few knobs, and the lights around the console faded into darkness.

  “Are we there yet?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound like a seven-year-old, but I think I might have.

  “Almost,” Gray-eyed Fox said.

  A side door opened. Baldy hopped up, strolled down the aisle, and playfully tapped the ship’s roof before he descended to a grated floor. After unbuckling my seat belt, Sun Hi grabbed a few bags and wobbled after him.

  Standing, I moved in the aisle. Grey-Eyed Fox continued leaning back as though he had nowhere to go and nothing to do. Nervousness snaked into my legs as I passed him. “Thanks well uh, thanks for earlier…” I managed.

  “No prob…” he said.

  Twisting, I headed back toward the exit. Awkwardness circling me, my legs crossed—one heading out the door, but the other pointed to Grey-Eyed Fox. My knees buckled and I fell almost onto him. Grabbing the top of the storage bin, I saved myself from embarrassment.

  My heart throbbed as he cracked open his eyes. There was something about his grin that rattled my knees.

  “You might not want to fall for me, yet,” he said before mouthing, “They’ll say I’m dangerous.”

  Flushing, I spun around and marched down the steps. It took everything not to grab my hair and cover my eyes with it. As I made my way down the steps, his words repeated in my mind. What did he even mean by that? Fall for him?

  Once outside, I was able to see the ship. It looked like a private jet with scrapper hoverdiscs on the wings. There were two massive engines that snaked over the whole plane and opened at the tail as if the whole ship was a massive engine. I didn’t want to think what they had to go through just to fuel that thing. It must have cost a fortune.

  Baldy led us to something that resembled an old-fashioned push railroad cart, the type that two people alternated a lever to move. This one didn’t have a teetering bar, but besides that, it looked about the same.

  Gray-Eyed Fox leaned over, his hand extended as though he was formally inviting me on. I got on and sat down with everyone else. Afterward, Baldy hit a few buttons, and the cart lifted off the ground. Lights spread out before us like on an airplane runway. I prepared myself for the shock of moving forward, but ended up getting caught off guard when the cart fell through the floor.

  I screamed. Sun Hi put a hand on my shoulder; evidently this was normal for them. I glanced back at her, and her whole body spun. Sun Hi looked tired, just like she did yesterday when I asked her about her hair. But this time, it was worse. Her eyes were barely cracked open, her skin was pale, and I would have sworn her body was vibrating. Not like an emotional shudder—it was vibrating like a machine going in and out of focus. Trying not to stare, I spun away and did my best to keep my fragile mind on this side of sanity.

  The cart shot through a tube large enough for only the cart and seated passengers. If I stood up, my head would be removed from my shoulders. After a few twists and turns, I came to the conclusion the original path was a diversion. It seemed the Escerica rebels were full of false information to keep their enemies guessing. The more I thought about it, the more impressed I became at their ability to thrive in such a heavily policed state like Georgia.

  The cart floated to a stop. We got off and walked into what looked like more corrugated storage containers. I clearly saw three of them stacked, but rocks and dirt masked the borders. On each side of the containers was rock that seemed to go on forever. Once inside the containers, I discovered I had guessed correctly. The container shells from the outside continued in all directions underneath the ground.

  After the main entryway, the place opened up much like a beehive, with rooms along the sides. Ladders or ramps branched off from grated walkways to allow access to each of the nine levels. Even though the storage containers had been cut, trimmed, and reshaped, the original idea must have been to wrap them around in a brick-patterned tube. There were several bridges that strung across the main opening, allowing the rebels to bypass walking all the way around. The Escerica symbol of the modified peace sign was present on a few of the walls.

  As I turned in circles trying to absorb the spectacle, I noticed for the first time the inhabitants. There were lots of teenagers, at least twenty or so. There were a few older people in their thirties, forties, or fifties. But my heart lifted when I saw the children. Dozens of them ran along the makeshift walkways or played games in corners.

  It was like a dream come true: people were safe, well-fed, and happy. Mari and Miko flashed in my mind. I wished they could be here right now, to see this place.

  “C’mon, let me show you where you’ll be staying,” Gray-Eyed Fox said.

  I followed him around the middle space in the center of the beehive area, which had six containers, stacked three units high. He guided me up a little ramp to the second floor. After a few paces along one of the ramps, we took a ladder to the fifth floor of the beehive’s outer ring. It was a good thing I was used to getting around unconventionally. This place was a maze of ladders, rungs, ramps, and walkways.

  “Here you go. Fresh laundry and everything,” Gray-Eyed Fox said.

  I glanced into the room, which was a quarter of a container. It smelled like disinfectant mixed with hints of rust. There was a bunk bed set on the right side. A desk with several cubby holes was above it, and a little shower area was across from the bunk bed on the left.

  “A bunk bed?” I asked.

  Gray-Eyed Fox shrugged. “Sometimes we have to share.”

  “Don’t tell me I’m sharing with you.” I crossed my arms and felt my cheeks rise. I didn’t want to smile, but I was having a hard time restraining myself. Mischief played in his eyes, and it made me want to give in.

  “No. While you seem like a nice girl, I just don’t know you all that well. You could be a—” he leaned in close, “psycho. I mean, you did say you were like Elsa.”

  My grin widened. For whatever reason, it amused me that he’d remembered that.

&nbs
p; Turning, he pointed across the opening. “That’s me down there off the third floor. Three-eighteen, if you need me.”

  “If I need you?”

  “Yes, for almost anything.” He just didn’t run out of witty little comebacks.

  I spun back to the room. I had to admit that it was clean and nice. The last time I remembered having something that resembled a room, I was nine. Giddiness tingled atop my skin.

  “Take some time to rest. Somebody will come show you around later.”

  “You’re not… I mean…”

  “I need to check a few things, but you never know.”

  “Sure. It’s been a crazy morning, right?” I asked, trying to not sound like the jerk I was on the rooftop.

  “Yeah.”

  I took a step into the room and put a hand on the sliding metal door. Gray-Eyed Fox was already walking away on the metal hallway. “Rylan!”

  He turned around, his expression confused.

  “That is your name, right? Rylan?”

  “Last I checked.”

  “Okay, just wanted to make sure.”

  Finally, I knew exactly what his name was. It suited him. It was masculine but easy to say with a slight uniqueness from the common Ryan or Bryan. I liked it. I barely whispered his name as my finger touched my lips.

  “No worries, Paeton,” he said.

  “You know my—?”

  “Of course. Dhyla told us all about you. Sorry you feel like I stalked you last night, but had to make sure you were safe.” After his expression loosened, he spun around a ladder and slid down to the next level.

  I walked inside my new room. My arms stretched over my head as I examined every detail. Sharing may have been normal, but I didn’t see anybody else’s stuff. I shrugged and hoped that I could have the room all to myself.

  There were no windows, just painted corrugated metal. I thought maybe I could put up a picture or something, but I couldn’t get over the feeling I wouldn’t be staying long. I just wanted to save the kids and get Dhyla into the Summit. After that, I could go back to my boring, but safe, life.

  I took a hot shower and then changed into my third shirt and first pair of jeans. I only had four shirts in total and two pairs of jeans. I used to have more clothes, but it was hard to find safe places for them at the Stadium. I resigned myself to just enough clothes to live on. I did stash a few items in lockers at the train stations, but it cost too many credits to have an unlimited supply. Even though I stole for a living, it wasn’t like I was made out of money.

  My third shirt was clean, but the first pants were a bit dirty from the first night out. I washed the jeans’ surface in the sink and doused them with some perfume I’d purchased from a guy off Piedmont. What really bothered me was the hack I’d done to my hair when I thought I’d get caught in the Stadium. One side was at least two inches higher than the other with small gaps that sort of looked like layers. Anger flared in my shoulders when I eyed the unequal strands. I was proud I had grown it out and had found a great shampoo to keep the ends from splitting. A year’s worth of hard work was down the drain. I really looked Lower-C.

  For a moment, I wondered why I cared so much, but I did. I wanted to be more like the Upper-Cs. Not snobby or mean, but just a bit more… It was hard to explain, I just liked the thought of being dolled up and having a few nice things.

  I tossed the idea into the back of my mind, just in time to hear three knocks on the steel door.

  “Yo, somebody in there?” a deep voice asked.

  I walked over to the door, but paused. Closing my eyes, I steadied my heart. The warm feeling from earlier circled and flowed outward, filling my body and caressing my skin.

  After an exhale, I slid the heavy door back. All of the electric energy coursing through my veins puffed away in a cloud of muddy, frustrated, willowy despair.

  Baldy stood there, one hand on his waist, looking bored. After a moment, his eyes widened just a little and he smacked his mouth slowly as though chewing a wad of grass.

  “There you go. You ready for the tour?” he asked.

  Drawing back, I managed to raise a doubting eyebrow. “Um, I guess?”

  “Oh yeah.” He grabbed something out of his pocket. A half-folded, half-balled up white piece of paper appeared. His thick fingers dropped it into my hands.

  “What is this?”

  A snicker left his mouth. “Oh, just a little something to welcome you to the group.”

  As he walked away, I turned the paper in my hands. Peeling the crumpled edges back, a flyer appeared with my old photo in the middle. Giant text surrounded the image at the top and the bottom. Both sets of text said the same thing, “Wanted: Paeton Washington for crimes against the government. 2,000 Credit Reward.”

  CHAPTER 14

  My nerves fired, and my eyes burned. Here was my confirmation that I’d been stupid: a childhood photo of me with a reward for my arrest. The government had a bounty on my head for things I didn’t even mean to do. I wanted to wrap my arms around myself and roll into a little ball.

  “Yo girl,” Baldy said. “You comin’?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.”

  I exhaled, forcing my body to calm down. I had to maintain control. Mari and Miko were counting on me, and I needed Escerica’s help to free them.

  Carefully, I folded the sheet of paper. After pulling off my backpack, I tucked it into one of the side pockets. It was far from a memento, but it grounded me in my current, extremely awful, reality. After resetting the backpack, I followed Baldy down to the first floor.

  My mind strung together dozens of ways I could clear my name before hundreds of ways the Escerica Rebels could get me killed, followed. I focused on Baldy. With a slack hand and a bored expression he explained a few odds and ends. However, it was difficult to focus. My life was scary enough as it was. Being a wanted criminal according to the most powerful group of people in the nation, the government, wasn’t giving me the warm and fuzzies.

  We circled the center area and went into a hallway on the other side. A room the size of two containers lay in front of me with elementary school-style fold-up tables in the middle. A few people looked up from playing a card game.

  “Hey guys, this is… What’s your name, again?”

  “Paeton,” I said. “That’s pretty much what everybody calls me.”

  “Cool. So everyone meet Paeton.”

  I smiled and waved. They waved back.

  I didn’t like people all that much. The younger a person was, the less I trusted them at all. In my world, older people looked after me, like Mr. Palmer, Dhyla, and even Sun Hi. Only Ms. Roller-Eyes ever hurt me. Almost every teenager I met, including Sarah Graham, seemed to only inflict pain in my life, either physical or emotional.

  As a Lower-C, trust was something I couldn’t afford. I was lucky to have Dhyla, but even with her, I refused to put myself fully into her care. She’d asked me to move in with her or to work at the Café several times, but I could just never let myself trust her completely to do so.

  I stared at the back of Baldy’s head and saw a faint refection of the lights above. Frustration nipped at my ears. I wished that Rylan had shown me around instead of this guy.

  Twisting around, we walked back into the main room.

  On the far side, Rylan slid down one of the ladders. He had changed shirts and appeared to have washed his face and hair. My eyes locked onto him, even though Baldy pointed down a few more rooms and hallways.

  Boots slamming into the floor, Rylan disappeared into the small crowd on the bottom floor.

  “So down there is an escape route to the surface for like fires and stuff,” Baldy said, pointing to a set of stairs.

  “Fire?” I murmured.

  “Yeah.”

  “Bald—I mean, um AJ… There are escape tunnels? For wha...” My voice faded away as AJ scowled.

  “I’m uh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean…” My cheeks heated as I considered my mistake. I didn’t want these people to hate
me, especially on my first day, in my first hour. It was just that nicknames were much easier to remember. I mean, he didn’t really look like an AJ. He reminded me more of a Brad or Michael. People should name someone at twelve or thirteen; then someone could see if they looked like an AJ, Monty, Rick, or Jason.

  “Let’s go,” AJ said in a low voice, breaking me out of my mental rant.

  After a few more rooms, I spotted Grey-eyed Fox—um, Rylan, on the first floor standing next to a tall thin girl with ample hips and a descent amount of bosom. Rolling her eyes playfully, she shook out a head full of black and red hair.

  A sigh escaped my lips and my gaze focused on the industrial lights hanging from the ceiling. Why would he be single? Of course he wouldn’t. He was too cute and had already saved my butt two times. The Elsa quip had already come to haunt me. I should have said Cinderella, no wait, Jasmine. She kicked butt, was rich, and still got the cute guy.

  Chin tightening, I glanced toward Rylan. He found my eyes and smirked, just a hint. The girl twisted her long neck around and sneered. With a fluff of her hair, she spun back toward Rylan and put a long hand with glittery fingernails on his chest.

  Another sigh escaped me, but whoever she was didn’t have to worry about me. Even though my instant girl competition had been aroused, I wasn’t after Rylan or any boy. All that mattered was getting Mari and Miko back.

  When I turned back around, AJ stood a few feet over with his arm waving wildly in the air. As heat blasted my cheeks, I leaned closer to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Um, I’m telling Rylan to come over.”

  “Uh, why?”

  “Uh, because you’re not paying attention to me, and I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about showing you anymore. Maybe you’ll listen if the tall tanned guy comes over.”

  “But… But…” Ducking, I spun away from AJ, Rylan, and the girl.

  I studied the huge Escerica symbol on the wall until two skipping steps stopped a few feet away. When I turned back around, Rylan stood there with his eyebrows perfectly aligned in a slope toward his temple.