A few windows were boarded up, and shattered glass littered the sidewalk in front of the brick building. Dingy, shadowy letters spelled out G—O-C-E-R——S, missing letters fallen off and never replaced. There was garbage strewn across the sidewalk on both sides of the street. It was perfect. The only trick would be getting inside.
Evalene drove into the parking lot, discovering the store was shaped like an L. If they parked the car in the corner, right up against the building, it couldn’t be seen from the road. The perfect hiding spot. But would the inside of the building be as accommodating?
Kevra got out the moment Evalene put the car in park. With a quick glance around for watching eyes, she trotted up to the door and knelt to peer at the lock. Evalene turned off the engine and climbed out of the car, shutting both her door and Kevra’s. She pulled the license plates off the front of the car, just for good measure before walking up to the door to join Kevra.
They stared at the old-fashioned sliding door. Neither of them had experience picking locks, but this one looked complicated. Kevra whipped a couple of the pins from her hair, shoving them into the latch. She squinted, face stiffening in concentration.
Evalene stood in front of Kevra, acting as lookout, though not sure what she would do if someone actually appeared.
Five minutes later, after Kevra had poked the pins into the tiny lock every way imaginable without success, she threw them on the ground in frustration and smacked the door with both hands, “Ahh!”
Evalene jerked around in surprise. “Maybe there’s a back door that would be easier,” she tried to pacify her. “I’ll go look.”
But Kevra grabbed her arm to stop her. “No, I’ll go.” She picked up the pins from the ground, heading past Evalene around the side of the building.
Evalene shrugged, feeling helpless. She could circle the building in the opposite direction, she supposed. But instead she stepped up to the glass sliding door, cupping her hands above her eyes to shade from the sun, trying to see inside.
Without thinking, she casually pushed on the door. It shifted! Evalene put her whole weight into an intentional shove, and the door immediately began sliding open! Evalene grinned to herself as she pushed the door wide enough to enter, stepping inside the store.
Glancing around the dimly lit room filled with empty shelves and small, high windows, Evalene’s eyes caught on the back door on the opposite side of the room. She laughed. Kevra was undoubtedly on the other side of that door, struggling and failing to pick the lock again.
Evalene scanned the road. It was empty. She shoved the sliding the door closed, just in case someone did drive by. Then she skipped across the room to the huge black door on the other side. Flipping the big deadbolt on top and unlocking the lock on the doorknob, she flung the door open.
“Ta-da!” she sang, and burst out laughing at the expression on Kevra’s face. Startled at the sound of the door unlocking, Kevra had jumped up to run, but had tripped and fallen backwards onto her rear end.
“Oooh, Number One save me,” Kevra said, her words muddled as she clapped her hands over her mouth. She said something else, but it was blocked by her fingers and came out mangled.
“What?” Evalene shook her head at her friend, smiling. “You don’t want to come in?” she teased, and held out a hand to help Kevra stand.
“Not cool.” Kevra spoke more clearly now as she grabbed onto Evalene’s hand and pulled herself up. “You could’ve come around to get me. Or at least yelled so I knew it was you before you opened the door.” She crossed her arms and marched past Evalene into the store.
Evalene rolled her eyes and followed her inside, slamming the door shut.
Crossing her arms as well, she watched Kevra investigate each aisle of the store, exploring their hideout, and double-checking they were the only ones there.
Evalene moved to lock the front sliding door, only to find the latch was broken, which explained why she’d been able to open it so easily. She wandered back into the middle of the room.
The store, just one big square, didn’t have too many corners to search before Kevra was satisfied it was empty. She came back to the center, glancing at Evalene, then away, hands on her hips. “Where’s the bag with our food?”
“I don’t know,” Evalene said. “Probably still in the car.”
Kevra’s eyes flashed at Evalene. “Well, go get it.”
Evalene raised her eyebrows and said, “Excuse me?” She felt conflicted. Standing up to a higher Number was wrong, yet her pre-Numbered self surfaced. She hated being bossed around.
They were both silent for a beat, stubborn.
“Nevermind, I’ve got it,” Kevra said abruptly, right as Evalene was about to give in. Evalene’s jaw dropped. Technically Kevra was right to tell her what to do, and if not for the fact that they were hiding from the law, she could’ve reported Evalene.
But Kevra rushed towards the back door and swung it open. Pausing, she picked up a roll of duct tape from a shelf, carefully placing it in the crack so the door wouldn’t lock behind her.
Evalene’s stiff spine wilted. That didn’t feel like a win. Sighing, she spun around, deciding to explore while she waited.
As she wandered down the closest aisle, she turned the corner and meandered through the next row and the next, taking in the details of the room now as she went. The ceiling was high, with mirrors all around the edges of the room, so you could see what someone was doing from one end of the room to the other, no matter what row they were in.
Since the lights were off, and only a handful of tiny windows placed sparsely around the room allowed light in, the room was dimming quickly as the sunset. As tempting as it would be to test the lights for electricity, Evalene wasn’t willing to risk it.
Moving towards what would’ve been the cashier’s counter when the store was open, Evalene walked around behind the long counter and began opening the cabinets underneath it, one at a time, exploring.
She felt the hairs lift on the back of her neck and a tingly sensation of dread hit her, right before she felt it. A loud crack sounded as something hit her, heavy metal smashing into the back of her skull, sending sharp spikes of pain through her head before the room faded quickly into black.
13
The Betrayal
WAKING UP SLOWLY, EVALENE’S head felt like it was splitting open. She felt numb. What had just happened?
She tried blinking, squinting, trying to see, and felt her eyes tear up from the pain. She was sitting in a chair against a wall. Her head hurt. Eyes watering, she tried to touch the back of her head, but both hands were stuck behind her back.
Straining, she felt around her wrists and discovered a scratchy, thin rope. Evalene moved her fingers along the rough edges of the rope, feeling where it was tied around her wrists and to the base of the chair.
The muffled sound of footsteps came from her right. As she turned her head to look, she groaned and was forced to close her eyes. It felt like someone was hammering sharp nails into her skull.
What’s going on? Her thoughts were groggy but getting clearer. Where am I? Where’s Kevra? She blinked and looked to the right, more carefully this time. The first thing to catch her eye was the puddle of something dark red near the corner of the cashier’s counter in front of her. Blood. Her blood.
Someone was making noise out of sight behind the shelves. There was movement in the mirrors above her. Evalene looked up and made out a dim reflection. Her attacker.
Evalene felt icy cold as her eyes took it in. Her mind refused to comprehend what was happening. This didn’t make sense. A sharp stab of pain registered on her forehead, overpowering the pounding coming from the back of her skull. She sensed something wet trickling down the right side of her face. She must have hit something sharp when she fell.
Kevra appeared around the corner of the shelves, walking towards Evalene. Her face had an odd calm, not smiling, not frowning. Just an emptiness in her eyes when she stared at Evalene, except for a flicker of some
thing Evalene couldn’t name before she looked away. She stopped a few feet from where Evalene sat.
“I never wanted to do this.” Kevra crossed her arms, sighing. “I didn’t have a choice.” She stepped closer, and knelt on one knee, grasping an arm of the chair as if desperate to connect and be understood. “Evie, I found every ship headed to the FreeLands. I talked to every captain. They all said the same thing. Passage requires proof of ID. They confiscate your Identity Card when you board, and keep it until you land. I spent weeks trying to think of a way around this if we ran into it, but I’ve come up empty.”
Evalene was having trouble concentrating. Her head throbbed and she felt overwhelmed. “Did you say... weeks?”
For the first time since she’d woken up, Evalene thought she saw remorse flash across Kevra’s face. “I had to plan for the possibility,” she whispered, expressionless.
“Is that...” Evalene felt the words forming in her mind, but could barely speak them, not wanting to believe it, “the real reason you dyed your hair before we left?” Then an even worse thought came to her. “Is that why you needed me?” Her voice broke. She felt tears come to her eyes again, but not from the pain in her head this time. “You needed me to steal Ruby’s Identity Card,” she whispered the last words, “because that was the one thing you couldn’t get by yourself...”
“Well, not exactly,” Kevra defended herself. “I mean, I hoped we wouldn’t run into this problem. The ID was just supposed to be a backup. In case we ran into trouble and needed proof. But Evie, it’s not like it’s over for you. I’m not turning you in or anything.” Kevra took a deep breath, stood and continued, “In fact, I think you can still make it. We just can’t go together.”
Evalene gave a short laugh without any humor, then winced at the pain it caused her head. “How do you imagine I’m going to make it?” she snapped, ignoring the pain that made lights dance in front of her eyes. “You just told me passage on a ship requires an Identity Card, and you’re taking the only one we have. Across the sea. It’s not like you can mail it back to me.”
Kevra started to pace back and forth in front of Evalene, waving a finger back and forth. “No, listen. You could steal someone’s purse, use another high Number’s Identity Card.” She gestured wildly, the way she always did when she was trying to emphasize her point. “You could be just a day or two behind me!”
“With. What. Money,” Evalene said through clenched teeth.
Kevra spun to reach into her pocket. She’d been carrying the wallet since the harbor. Everything made sense now. Counting out a few coins, Kevra tucked them into the pocket of Evalene’s jacket. “This is how much it costs. And,” she sounded almost cheerful as she pulled out a couple more coins and added them to the pile in Evalene’s pocket, “here’s a little extra for food, in case it takes you a couple days to get the right ID. Ruby was loaded.”
Evalene gritted her teeth so hard the ache in her head turned into a piercing pain. She tried to relax her jaw. “Thanks so much for the advice,” she snapped sarcastically. “Could you please also give me some directions on how to get to the nearest Regulator Station and turn myself in?” She bit out the last words, “I think that’d be faster.”
Kevra had the nerve to act like they were still back home at their tree, planning. “You could also go back home, if you’d rather. I know your father would keep you safe, make up some reason you’d disappeared... You could go right back to the way things were. But Evie, I can’t.” Her voice broke a little, and she shook her head. “I can’t live like that anymore, you don’t understand. I couldn’t say no... I couldn’t report him... I couldn’t do anything.”
Kevra took two steps to the back door. When she turned back she’d wiped her face of all emotion. She pointed to the duct tape where it sat, jammed between the door and the wall, “I’m going to block the door open with this. I haven’t tied your feet on purpose. Once I’m gone, you can wedge your foot in the crack to get it open and get outside. You’ll still be tied to your chair, but I’m sure someone will drive by and see you.”
“Sure.” Evalene glared at her. “And they definitely won’t call the Regulators. Or have me arrested.”
But Kevra acted as if she hadn’t heard. “All you’ll have to do is be your pretend high-Numbered self, and tell them you were robbed.” She took two steps back to Evalene and gently rearranged her scarf. “There,” she said softly, “no one will be the wiser.”
Speechless, for a moment Evalene just stared at her, feeling as helpless and alone as she had back home. Maybe freedom had never been in her grasp.
She found her voice. “You honestly think someone will not only NOT check my tattoo while I’m tied up,” she grew louder as she spoke, “but they will also NOT report to the Regulators that they found me?” By this point she was yelling, something she hadn’t dared to do since she was 12 years old. “And you believe I’ve somehow developed the skills to steal a high Number’s purse, right from under their nose in the middle of a crowded public space?” The tears poured out of her eyes now, unbidden, as she cried out, “You can’t honestly expect me to believe this is a legitimate plan!”
Kevra wasn’t quite meeting her eyes anymore. That was answer enough for Evalene. She stared at her supposed friend with tears flowing freely down her cheeks, watching Kevra turn and walk towards the door, where she paused, holding the door knob. The fading light made the red tints in her hair shine, and she spoke quietly to the floor. “I really am sorry. You have to believe me, I never wanted this to be the case... it was just supposed to be a backup plan... just in case.”
Repeated apologies meant nothing to Evalene, and they didn’t seem to reassure Kevra either, although she kept trying as if she hoped they would. “I have to look out for myself, you know,” she tried one last time. “It was between you and me, and I had to make a choice.” The last part came out so quietly Evalene almost didn’t hear it. “But I really do hope you make it...”
And then the door swung shut and she was gone.
In the fading light of twilight, as the sun set and the last bit of golden light started to disappear, Evalene sat tied to the chair, unable to move.
She turned her face to the wall, rested her head against it, and wept bitterly.
14
Jeremiah, Age 22
JEREMIAH STOLE INTO THE gazebo as the sun set over the lake behind him. The little building sat just a few dozen feet from Lady Beryl’s main home, and was just a roof over a porch with some comfortable chairs. But it was the perfect place to meet because it was surrounded on all sides by the lake, except where the path led to it from the house. No one could eavesdrop without them knowing. He was early, so he settled in to wait.
If not for Beryl, Jeremiah couldn’t imagine where he might be today. Dead probably. Instead, she’d changed him by being the family he’d so desperately needed, making sure he got an education far past his Number level, and dragging him to her house church every Sunday during the five years he’d lived in her home, and even in the two years after, when he was around.
There were Numbers across the entire range of classes at her house church, mingling and actually enjoying each other’s company without imposing their will on each other. This was the first time Jeremiah had truly seen past the Number system and understood what his parents had been fighting for. Equality and freedom could exist, and did exist, right there under the Number One’s nose.
The house church was highly illegal for this reason. But also because each person had their own Bible, or pieces of one, and they read it themselves without the help of a priest, even praying to God by themselves. Jeremiah’s parents had only ever done so in the safety of their own home. But these people did so together.
Beryl attended faithfully and insisted on Jeremiah joining her. “But I could inform on you,” Jeremiah said once, testing her.
“You won’t, child,” Beryl replied, shaking her head at him.
It took him a few months after that to realize he trusted
her too. He was not so quick to let his guard down with the others in the church, although one in particular struck him as highly interesting, an older man, around the same age as Beryl, named Welder. A Number 11 Regulator, yet he broke just about every law to attend the little church with them on Sundays. Jeremiah was especially fascinated when he learned that Welder worked in the Number One’s navy.
Welder humored him, describing the many ships and submarines in the navy, and how they worked. Beryl sat with them as Welder taught Jeremiah everything he wanted to know about how to captain a ship. He hinted at his work often, but Jeremiah was nearly 18 years old before he truly grasped the role Welder held in leadership. That was when the first seed of an idea began to form in Jeremiah’s mind. He read every book he could get his hands on, studying geography, armies and battles, politics, dictatorships versus voting systems, learning about leadership and planning. His confidence in the idea grew gradually over a year before he brought it to Beryl.
“Welder says there are a lot of outdated submarines from countries before the war, just sitting there collecting dust,” he’d told her. His idea felt far-fetched when he said it out loud. But Beryl had surprised him as she always did by adding to it. Many in the house church would be willing to join them, she was sure of it. And if they were to operate one of those old vessels safely, they would need everyone’s help.
Not everyone in the house church liked the plan, feeling the risks were too many, but most agreed to help, and one even told them stories of a large island that had formed during the war, about two days off the coast of Eden, which was now inhabited by a new country entirely separate from Eden. Jeremiah and Welder talked of making a trip there, a practice run with whoever would join them, but for a long time it was just talk.
It wasn’t until Beryl created the first draft of the Lower Level Employee Work Rule document that Jeremiah truly began to believe their plan could work. The document requested all available lower Numbers report for duty on a vague assignment at various times, dates, and locations, indefinitely. Between Beryl’s connections with the different diplomats and politicians and her knowledge of the Number One’s policies, the Work Rule sounded real. She was a genius. But Jeremiah had known that for years.
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