by Tina Chan
She was the last to wake up. As usual. Jaiden was busy making breakfast and Chelsa was sitting on her bed, talking to him. Wait, Jaiden’s making breakfast? That’s my job!
Kristi bolted upright and said, “I didn’t mean to over sleep again. You should’ve woke me up; I promised to make breakfast today.”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Jaiden said. “What else is new? It’s okay—I got breakfast covered for you.”
“Did I ever mention how awesome of a brother you are?”
“No, but you can do so now.”
“Fine. Jaiden, you are an awesome brother. And now I’m going to brush my teeth because it feels like a rat had died in my mouth overnight.” By the time she had changed, brushed her teeth and braided her hair, Jaiden had finished making pancakes for everyone.
“Best pancakes ever,” Chelsa mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes. “Beats the instant oatmeal I normally have for breakfast.”
Kristi finished breakfast before Chelsa and Jaiden. She took a look around the room; nothing about the room hinted that its inhabitants were about to abandon it. The pictures and maps were still pinned up on the wall and all of Chelsa’s accessories were spread throughout.
“Is this one mine?” Kristi pointed to the dark green backpack.
“I think so. The lightest one is yours because, no offense…” Chelsa trailed off.
“I know. I’m just a soft city kid.”
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
“It’s true though. I’ve never left my town before.” She shouldered her backpack and her knees almost buckled. This is the lightest one? How much do the others weigh? This must be at least fifty pounds. Kristi resolved to at least be able to carry her own weight. She bit her bottom lip and allowed no sounds of complaint to escape her.
“You done?” Chelsa nodded to Jaiden’s plate. He handed the empty plate to her and she deposited it in a bin beneath the cot after washing it. “Let’s get going.”
The sky was still dark and the roads were almost empty. The slimmest rays of sunlight peeked out from behind the mountaintops, hinting at a spectacular sunrise to come.
The plan was to follow Route 56, which connects the North Region to the West Region. Route 56 was a decently maintained road; most of it was paved, though parts of it were little more than a dirt path. Much of the road wound through the countryside, where only animals dwelled. The vast majority of the travelers using the road traveled by solar or hydro-cars. Others traveled by foot, droid-horses or hydro-bikes.
Thanks to Chelsa’s shortcuts, it didn’t take long before they left the city where Kristi had grown up far behind. Soon, she was surrounded by open space on all four sides; her hometown became only a silhouette in the distance.
She looked up; the sky began to brighten like a flower blooming. The thin stream of traffic thickened on Route 56—the result of people commuting to work.
They Kristi shifted off to the sides of the road in order to avoid getting caught up in the flow of movement and risk being separated from each other. The sun broke through the clouds, painting the sky a gorgeous red-gold color.
No one spoke. The only sounds to be heard were the crunch, crunch, crunch from their boots grinding the gravel beneath their feet. Yet somehow, the silence didn’t feel awkward or forced.
Kristi squinted; there was something long and tall coming up ahead. The object spanned the entire road. She slid Chelsa a quick look to see if she’d noticed it as well.
“It’s a tollbooth,” Chelsa said. “I want both of you to keep your heads down and let me do the talking when we reach it.”
Both ends of the tollbooth were submerged in a large, rushing river. There was no way to avoid passing through it, unless one wanted to risk crossing the rapid-filled water. Kristi estimated the rivers to stretch the width of at least three hundred yards; the length was immeasurable—it gushed far out of sight off into the distance. She looked down at her feet when they got near the booths.
“How many people are traveling with you?” asked the tollbooth-collector.
“Two,” replied Chelsa.
“IDs, please.”
Chelsa handed him her electro-slate and two plastic cards. He matched Chelsa’s electronic ID to her face and grunted, “I need to see Kelly and Zach’s faces.”
Kristi looked at the tollbooth-collector for a millisecond before ducking her head again. Jaiden did so likewise.
“They’re both shy,” Chelsa said.
“I can tell. Nine points.”
Once Chelsa had transferred the points, they were on their way again. Kristi turned to Chelsa and asked, “Since when did you get Jaiden and me fake ID cards?”
“Since you decided you wanted to travel to West Region. How did you expect to pass through checkpoints without an ID?” Chelsa handed them each their cards. “You should probably keep this on you at all times. I forgot I still had them on me; I would’ve given them to you earlier.”
Kristi scrutinized her card. The girl in the picture did look a little bit like her. They shared the same hair and eye color, at any rate. Her full name was Kelly Harrison; she was seventeen years old, born in the North Region and had an ID number of 012935.
“Can I see your card, Jaiden?” Kristi asked.
“Sure.” He palmed her the thin piece of plastic.
Jaiden’s cover name was Zach Ware. He was nineteen years old and lived in the East Region, according to the ID card. Although Zach Ware didn’t resemble Jaiden, the card was better than nothing. She returned his card and tucked hers into her right boot.
Jaiden pointed to a patch of trees and suggested, “Let’s break for lunch. I could use some shade from the sun as well.”
Kristi set down her weighty backpack, barely suppressing a groan of relief. Stretching out her aching shoulders, she wondered how she was going to survive the rest of the journey. They didn’t have enough points to spend on air-train tickets and none of them owned a car. Even just thinking about carrying her backpack again after lunch made her back ache. Better get used to this. She allowed herself ten more seconds of self-pitying then snapped herself out of her misery.
“I’m going to refill my water bottle from the nearby stream,” Jaiden announced.
Chelsa diverted her attention from her lunch. “Don’t take too long.”
He extracted his water bottle from the bottle holder of his backpack and headed towards the stream about twenty-five yards away from the picnic area.
Ghost ambled in front of Kristi. He sat down for a few seconds, and when he got up there was a little pile of poo left behind. Kristi stared.
“Ghost pooped,” she stated the obvious.
Chelsa glanced over. “Yeah. I can tell.”
She repeated, “Ghost pooped.”
“So?” Chelsa asked nonchalantly.
“Ghost just pooped.”
Chelsa sighed. “Kristi, what goes in one end has to go out the other.” She sounded like she was explaining why one plus one equals two to a kindergartener.
“I have never seen a droid-pet poop before. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of having a droid-pet instead of real animals?”
Chelsa suddenly let out a bark of laughter. She opened her mouth to say something, but then got overcome by a fit of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Kristi asked.
“You thought Ghost was a droid?” Chelsa wheezed between waves of laughter. She was laughing pretty darn hard. “Ghost isn’t a droid! He’s an actual living, breathing, pooping leopard!”
“Oh.” Kristi didn’t know how else to respond.
“All those days you spent with Ghost and me,” Chelsa said, “and you honestly thought he was a droid-pet.”
“Well, yeah. I’ve never seen a live animal before.”
“What’s so funny?” Jaiden asked, returning from the stream.
Chelsa and Kristi looked at each other, then both started cracking up at the same time.
“Ghost pooped,” Kristi mana
ged to say to a confused looking Jaiden before breaking off into more laughter.
This caused Jaiden to furrow his eyebrows in bewilderment, which naturally caused the two girls to crack up even harder.
The weather was unusually warm for September and the sun was blazing hot. Sweat poured from the back of Kristi’s neck.
She trekked along the road, in front of Jaiden but behind Chelsa. Although the first three days of travel had left her completely exhausted by the end of each day, Kristi was pleased to find she could now survive twelve hours of hiking without feeling near death come dinner time.
Chelsa paused in her steps. “I see smoke. There’s probably a campfire nearby—chances are it’s a trader’s fire. We could use some more supplies.”
Kristi looked off to Chelsa’s gaze and noticed the thinnest wisp of smoke escaping the treetops. “The fire could also belong to a bandit camp.”
“That’s unlikely. Bandits wouldn’t make their camp so close to the road. Jaiden, how many water purifying tablets do we have left?”
“About two days’ worth.”
“Couldn’t we just stop by the next town we pass by to restock?” Kristi watched the fragile traces of smoke diminish in the bright sunlight.
“I still don’t want to risk going into an urban place,” said Chelsa. “Not until at least a week has passed since we broke Jaiden out of jail.”
“You could always enter the town by yourself. Jaiden and I are capable of waiting for you outside.”
“Hm,” said Chelsa. “All the same, it would be better if we could replenish our provisions with the traders rather than visiting a settlement.”
Kristi shrugged. “Your call.”
They followed the smoke and came upon an abandoned campfire that was partially put out. Someone had carelessly kicked some ash over the glowing embers, leaving a trail of footprints heading away from the fire and deeper into the woods.
Kristi regarded her surroundings and realized that if they were ambushed, they’d be in deep trouble. The trees blocked the view to Route 56 and there was no one around to help them.
“I guess the traders left,” she said. “Let’s head out now.”
“They still might be around.” Chelsa knelt down by a footprint. “The fire’s not more than a few hours old and the tracks are fresh.”
“Something feels off. Don’t you think so, Jaiden?” Kristi approached her brother for support.
“Maybe. Wouldn’t there be more footprints if this was a trader’s campfire?” Traders were known to travel in groups to reduce their likelihood of being attacked by preying bandits.
“There’s always the possibility this belonged to a lone trader,” said Chelsa.
Jaiden looked torn between siding with Chelsa or Kristi.
“How do you know that this set of footprints isn’t from a spy member of the network?” Chelsa challenged. “Anyways, I’ve always gotten you out of trouble, haven’t I? Even when I didn’t cause the trouble to happen in the first place.”
Good point, thought Kristi. She didn’t have to free Jaiden. Or free me from the bandits as a matter of fact.
Chelsa stubbornly ignored Jaiden and Kristi and followed the footsteps. The tracks wound deeper and deeper into the forest. The further they went, the bigger and more imposing the trees got. Huge oaks, sycamores and pine trees towered overhead like skyscrapers. It would’ve taken five people linked together to surround the trunk of the ancient trees.
Despite the diversity of plants present, the forest sounded unnaturally silent. No birds chirped from the trees and no chipmunks chattered on the branches. Kristi’s apprehension increased; the foliage blocked sunlight from reaching the forest floor and the trees grew denser and denser together.
“I really think we should head back to Route 56,” she said.
“Five more minutes,” Chelsa insisted. “Give me five more minutes and if we still haven’t found the person we’re tracking, we’ll turn around.”
“Very well.”
Kristi could no longer see any footprints embedded in the dirt, but Chelsa seemed to be following some sort of invisible trail only known to her. Jaiden, in the meantime, had moved up closer to Kristi, sensing her nervousness.
“Don’t worry, Chelsa won’t let anything too bad happen to us.” Jaiden didn’t sound as if he believed his own words.
“I heard that,” said Chelsa. “It would be nice if you guys put a bit more faith in me, you know.”
“Chelsa, Ghost left us,” Kristi said.
This fact increased her anxiety. If Ghost detected trouble, then trouble must be coming up ahead; the feline’s eerie knack for recognizing trouble was something that didn’t escape Kristi’s awareness.
“He’ll come back eventually,” Chelsa replied, sounding distracted.
“Three minutes are up.” Jaiden tapped his watch.
Chelsa stopped. “That’s weird. The person’s trail just disappeared. Let’s backtrack a bit; I think I might’ve missed something.”
“What’s that?” Jaiden asked. He pointed to a low-lying building of some sort nestled in the shadows of a huge sycamore tree.
“Seems like some sort of cabin,” Kristi said.
The cabin looked ramshackle and desperately needed a paint job. No lights shone from inside the cabin and the roof dipped inwards, hinting of the weight of snow it bore during the winter months.
“Shh!” Chelsa whispered tersely. She pulled Jaiden and Kristi behind a large sassafras tree with a trunk at least six feet across.
“Who visited Stevey?” a croaky voice called out from behind the cabin. “Stevey likes visitors.”
Kristi peeked out from behind the tree trunk. A stooped, stout man emerged from behind the cabin; he had crazy, white hair and a long, matted beard. He wore a yellow plaid shirt with the collar unbuttoned. The sleeves carried a grayish stain on them and he looked like he could use a bath. Stevey’s wiry build and his overall appearance made him seem like a genius gone mad.
He looked around the empty area around him. When no one appeared, he called out once more, “Stevey knows he saw people here. Come out! Stevey likes to talk.” He paused in his talking long enough to waggle his eyebrows up and down. “Stevey knows many, many stuff. Stevey is smart. Stevey knows about the Revealers.” He clapped his hand over his mouth and loudly mumbled, “Bad Stevey. Stevey wasn’t supposed to say that.”
“I’m going to talk to him,” Kristi whispered and then tried to approach Stevey, but Chelsa held her down.
“Let me go first. Stay behind the boulder with Jaiden. Wait—where’s Jaiden?”
While they were talking, Jaiden had slipped away. Kristi peered around the sassafras and saw him approaching Stevey. He was too far away to stop now. She bolted after her brother with Chelsa hot on her heels.
Stevey’s eyes lit up when he saw three visitors appear. He straightened up from his stance and attempted to run his fingers through his severely tangled beard. “Stevey hasn’t had visitors for a long time!”
“I wonder why,” Kristi said under her breath.
Jaiden, being ever the gentleman he was, stuck out his hand for Stevey to shake. Stevey vigorously pumped his arm up and down. The little, eccentric man must’ve had more strength than Jaiden expected because he grimaced with pain.
“Nice to meet you, Stevey,” greeted Jaiden. Stevey reluctantly let go and grinned toothily. “So, I heard you know a lot of stuff.”
Stevey bobbed his head up and down. “Yes, Stevey is very smart.” He proceeded to rattle off the periodic table of elements then started to recite the numbers of pi.
“I also heard Stevey knows some information about the Revealers,” Jaiden said.
Stevey paused his recitation and shook his head, “Stevey doesn’t know anything about the spy group. Stevey got in trouble for interacting with them.”
“Stevey, we need your help. If you do know information about the Revealers, we would really appreciate it if you would share it with us,”
Kristi said.
Stevey’s gaze fell upon Ghost who had reappeared. “Stevey will give you information if Stevey can have the kitty.”
Ghost snarled at Stevey and spat at his shoes.
“Sorry, the leopard isn’t up for trade,” Chelsa said. She turned as if to leave. “Come on, we should get going.”
Stevey looked up in alarm. “Wait! Don’t go! Stevey will share information if you give Stevey company. Stevey is very lonely.”
“Stay or leave?” Jaiden asked.
“Stay.” Kristi faced Stevey and said, “We’ll stay for as long as you can provide us useful information, okay?”
“Okay. Let’s go to Stevey’s house.” Stevey led them into the pathetic excuse of a cabin and lit a fire in the fireplace; Kristi was mildly surprised he didn’t burn down his cabin in the process of lighting the fire. It seemed like something he would do.
Then Stevey patted on the worn-out couch for them to sit on. Ghost, still looking sorely insulted by Stevey calling him a “kitty”, had once again disappeared.
“What do you want to know?” Stevey asked.
“Who are you and why are you living in the woods by yourself?” Jaiden said.
“Stevey was a brilliant scientist. Stevey was the head scientist and worked for the government. But, Stevey couldn’t stand the pressure of Stevey’s work anymore and went coo-coo,” Stevey said, simultaneously twirling his index finger and wiping a string of drool with his sleeve.
“I can tell Stevey went coo-coo,” Chelsa muttered into Kristi’s ear.
Kristi hushed her and listened to Stevey continue to talk. “Stevey got fired and the government said Stevey had to disappear or else they would make Stevey disappear. So Stevey left Stevey’s old home and lives here now.”
Jaiden asked some more irrelevant questions, getting Stevey to grow comfortable with his presence.
Chelsa leaned over to Kristi, who was seated between Jaiden and Chelsa, and said, “Tell Jaiden to cut to the chase and ask Stevey where the Revealers are. We don’t have time to waste.”
“It was your idea to come here in the first place,” said Kristi. She kept her voice low as not to distract Jaiden from his questioning.
“I didn’t expect finding this whacko in the woods.”
“Fine.”
Kristi passed on Chelsa’s request to Jaiden, who in turn asked Stevey, “Stevey, why don’t you tell us more about the Revealers?”
“Stevey can’t do that. Stevey will get in trouble if Stevey gives away top-secret information.”
Chelsa started to speak up, wanting to get Stevey to give her the answers she sought, but Jaiden broke in before she could. “Why don’t you share some information that’s not undisclosed?”
“Stevey knows lots! 1.77245385091 is square root of pi. Some numbers are square and others are triangular. The circle has the largest area out of a group of shapes with the same perimeter. A jellyfish is over 95% water. The average government official spends 137 points a day. A lot of Revealer members visit Charleston because that is where their headquarters is. Droid-pets were invented twenty-nine years ago. Is that enough information?”
Chelsa, Kristi and Jaiden exchanged looks. At last, one vital piece of information in aiding them to hunt down the Revealers.
“So, one of the Revealer’s headquarter is in Charleston in the West Region, right?” Kristi asked Stevey.
“Stevey said too much.”
She took that for a “yes.”
Stevey offhandedly stood up and opened the rickety door of his cabin. “Out!” he commanded. “Stevey wants you out!” He wagged a finger at them and said, “You guys are sneaky. You made Stevey careless and say too much.”
They got the message and left.
chapter thirteen
[ Troop ]