Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  “He’s going to find out eventually. I can’t keep this up much longer.”

  “Why? Does he suspect something?” Clark asked quickly. I felt my own heart race as I thought about Mark being discovered by Dana at the wrong place and wrong time, which would cause us to lose one of our strongest allies along with our information on Dana’s dealings inside the Commission.

  Mark shook his head, writing another message.

  “I don’t want him to suspect anything before I leave.”

  “What happens to the rest of the Eight Group if you get found out?” Griffin asked, glancing at Josh.

  “We’ll be killed,” Josh answered. “Dana said that after our first rebellion.”

  Mark nervously looked at his lap as Mykail leaned over to me.

  “He went up against Dana before?” he whispered.

  I cleared my throat and tapped the side of my jaw. Mykail quickly turned back to Mark, his eyes surprised.

  “How did I not know this?” he hissed.

  “It was almost four years ago,” Griffin said slowly. “Many of the experiments who remember it don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I’m surprised Dana didn’t kill you then,” Mykail blinked.

  “Mykail,” I said quietly. I knew about the torture Mark had endured, and figured that there were times when Mark wished Dana would have killed him. Everyone else who knew of the incident also seemed uncomfortable discussing it. I glanced at Mark and saw him looking at me with an unreadable expression. I quickly schooled myself, trying not to show that I knew about his horrible ordeal.

  Eventually, his dark eyes moved away.

  “Sorry, Mark, I didn’t mean to be insensitive,” Mykail apologized.

  “Does the Eight Group have a way to get out of the Commission if everything goes south?” Griffin pressed.

  Josh nodded, tapping the band around his wrist that he had shown me briefly before. It was similar to the band that Mark and Josh had had when they were younger and someone would spot a Commission car around their hidden community. It would tell them to run and hide by vibrating quietly. It was the way the Eight Group told each other about nearby danger.

  “So, for the camp,” Tori started, pulling us back on track as she grabbed the papers, “what do you think is the best approach?”

  “I think that, as soon as possible—tonight even, if we can—we should have a group go to the camp and see what kind of guards they have. We’ll need to have some people who know what they’re doing and can find gaps in their security,” I said, looking between Mark and Griffin as the two of them looked at one another, smiling.

  “I will be willing to lead some people there,” Griffin smiled. “We can let Mark rest a little. If you want, Mark, you can come with us, but I’ll be in charge of this. You have enough on your plate.”

  Mark bowed his head in agreement.

  “Can we start that tonight?” I asked.

  “I’ll get some people together. Mark?” he asked. “Can you do this tonight?”

  Mark nodded, looking at Josh who smiled and shook his head.

  “I’ll stay and watch the fort.”

  “Can I join?” I asked.

  Mark shook his head strongly, which stopped whatever Griffin was going to say.

  “Why not?” Griffin inquired.

  Mark quickly jotted another message.

  “Too dangerous.”

  “Lily will be fine,” Tori defended as I stared at Mark. It was nice that he was protective of me, but I wanted to be a part of our attacks against Dana. “The others know that she’s a big part of this revolution. If she’s not involved, they are going to wonder.”

  “The public does not know who she is, and we should keep it that way. She needs to remain safe so the rest of the revolution can continue to believe in her if things start getting bad.”

  I sighed and turned to Griffin.

  “Fine, I won’t be part of the scouting, but I want to be part of breaking people out,” I told him. I turned quickly to Mark. “I don’t have to break anyone out, but I want to at least help in getting supplies.”

  It was obvious that Mark was not pleased with the idea of me being part of the raid at all, but I wanted to be sure that I had an active role in the effort. Mark slowly tapped the end of his pen against the pad of paper, studying me. He sighed, setting the pen down gently and closing his eyes, nodding once to show he had conceded.

  * *** *

  It was a very full and busy four days preparation. Because Mark still had to keep up appearances, he was unable to assist in the daytime preparations such as drilling numbers and escape plans. Tori and I worked together on getting the various teams in order. Griffin worked with the men and women who had handled a gun before and kept them in the shooting range for target practice while, at night, going out on reconnaissance missions and coming back to the fort with updates about the number of guards and their positions, which would shift our plans slightly.

  One of the prisoners was transferred on the second day of our preparation, and Griffin gave us the information about the increased security. Therefore, we were able to better predict how many guards would be present at the time of our infiltration.

  Getting transportation was another problem. We could easily get people out of the camp and into the secret passages under the city to the fort. However, the supplies were an entirely different matter. We had no car that we could use without being linked to the Eight Group.

  When Mark joined us the day before our raid, we asked him if there was anything he could think of that would help us get the supplies from the camp to the fort.

  He led Tori and me out of the exit near the water tanks and took us on a short hike into the snowy area around the reservoir. In one location, he pulled a large tarp from some wooden slats that covered a ramp where an old van was barely hidden underground. He got in the car, after digging up the key near the back tires, and drove the vehicle out of its hiding spot.

  When he got out of the car, Tori and I could only stare at him.

  “Is there anything you’re not prepared for?” Tori gaped openly.

  Mark just smiled.

  He parked the van in a motel parking lot about twelve kilometers from the camp site so we could access it the following night and get to the camp fairly quickly, he insisted Josh would drive because he knew which back roads to take to keep us from getting caught.

  Even though I was fully behind the idea of breaking out more people, I was not nearly as comfortable with the plan as I was with the Commission breakout. Even though I had only been back in the wards a few times before our plan, I felt as though I knew the Commission and understood the plan completely. I had never seen the camp compound. While I knew my job of getting into the supply tent and starting the train of people loading the supplies into the car, I was worried that everyone else who was playing a part in the plan might somehow fail because I did not know what they were supposed to be doing.

  It made me very nervous.

  I barely slept the night before executing the plan.

  The final twelve hours before we left were a nightmare for me. I was a tense ball of nerves, and even though I had confidence that everything would go well, I was incredibly anxious. All weapons were checked and rechecked and the plan was reviewed again and again. The first group of infiltrators, the ones who would actually be breaking into the cells, left in the late afternoon to watch the transfer of CEO Parker of Carolina Media and see if we needed to increase our numbers with the backup group we had prepared.

  Tori and I were in charge of the group getting supplies. Mykail stayed, watching over the fort and the remaining members of the rebellion.

  Tori and I slipped away from the group that was heading toward the downtown exit from the fort and headed to the motel where Josh was supposed to meet us. We would drive to a certain spot before turning off the engine and pushing the car to its final position so as not to alert the guards to our presence.

  It wasn’t until I got
in the back seat of the empty van with Josh that I started feeling thrilled, excited, and alive. It was the same feeling I had gotten when we were about to break out prisoners from the Commission. It was exhilarating because of the danger, because of the threat, and there was no way I could deny that I was excited.

  None of us spoke on the drive, watching the streetlights pass in silence, feeling the tension.

  I ran through every aspect of the raid in my head. When we broke into the Commission of the People, I did not think we would perform something similar again. But war had passed beyond the idea of forming lines and having armies shoot at one another. Now, war was secretive, taking place in the dark of night and being sure that the little acts were performed with the most publicity manageable. It felt less like a war of humans and more like a war of symbols.

  After driving on a dirt road for five minutes, Josh turned off the headlights and the engine, putting the car into neutral. Tori got out of the front passenger’s seat and went to the back of the car. Josh kept one hand on the steering wheel while the other one pushed on the outer frame of the car. I also climbed out of the car, keeping the van door open as I pushed on the frame of the side door.

  Josh tapped twice on the car, loud enough for us to hear, telling us to push.

  I had never pushed a car before, but I was sure that a car, particularly a large van despite being empty, was meant to be heavier. There was no strain. Once the car leveled at the top of the hill, the van slipped from my grasp and I watched as it moved along the road easily, the two experiments with enhanced strength pushing as though the van was made of paper. I walked near the car, one hand keeping the side door open, the other resting on the gun strapped to my leg. I kept a close eye to my right, looking through the trees for the lights that belonged to the camp.

  This was worse than deportation camps, which were notorious in their own right. This was called a “deliberation camp,” as Griffin had put it. It was where the higher level criminals were brought while their fate was decided, whether it was deportation, death or, the worst, the Commission of the People.

  Most worrisome was the knowledge that there was a mafia boss and a few of his colleagues at that particular camp. No one wanted them broken out and, subsequently, under our care. I was not sure I could trust people in organized crime.

  I began to wonder what the difference was between organized crime and domestic terrorism.

  I caught sight of lights in the distance and whistled to Josh and Tori. Two taps answered.

  The road stopped at several fallen trees and rocks used to keep people from accessing the road close to the camp. It had been the construction road when the camp was being built, but became a liability when operations started. The surrounding roads had been destroyed, leaving only one in and out of the compound.

  Josh pulled the emergency brake and very carefully placed a small block of wood between the frame of the car and the driver’s door to allow for quick access and a quick getaway. Likewise, I was sure to place a longer plank of wood along the track of the side door.

  When the van was ready, the three of us crept through the woods. My eyes were not nearly as good as the experiments’ and seeing the bright lights around the compound nearby helped illuminate parts of the forest, but I was still clumsily tripping over roots. Tori came back to me after my third stumble and guided me through the dark.

  I noticed several other people crouched in the dark as we drew closer. I approached the mixture of experiments and humans, looking over the brightly-lit compound. It was much bigger than I expected and that made me nervous about getting the supplies to the van in time.

  “There’s the supply tent,” Josh hissed, pointing. I looked over the large tent and nodded once. We had discussed identifying the supplies, knowing how limited the room was in the van, but seeing the large tent, I became concerned about fitting supplies that took priority.

  Griffin came up to the group and crouched down by Tori, motioning a few things in the experiment sign language that I still did not know. Tori nodded once and Griffin responded with a few gestures before smiling, kissing her on the cheek. He disappeared into the woods again.

  “What was that?” I whispered.

  “The convoy left twenty minutes ago,” she said, putting her mouth close to my ear. “Parker’s in his cell now, which means that we have five minutes before we can move. We’re waiting for Mark’s signal.”

  I waited anxiously, watching the two cars patrolling the outer wall in their circular pattern opposite one another.

  When the two cars turned and moved to another location, Josh jumped and placed a hand over the band on his wrist.

  “Security’s down,” he hissed.

  I wished that the imprisonment building was smaller so I could watch the other group climb over the wall and into the building to deactivate the motion sensors and cameras of the camp.

  Josh and Tori moved forward, leading the group down the slope of the hill as quietly as possible. I followed, trying to keep myself from smiling as we moved closer to the wall surrounding the compound.

  There were two other people that gathered with me around Josh and Tori. Ivo stood just behind Josh, ready to perform his task. Celina, another experiment of the Commission, stood next to me as we watched Tori jump, her hands locking on the top of the wall. She swung herself easily to the circular barbed wire on top of the wall. Throwing a quick glance around, she grabbed a few of the edges and pulled the barbed wire sharply, causing it to snap. She quietly bent the sections she had broken along the back part of the wall to open a space.

  Tori looked into the camp and then motioned Celina to join her. With the same altered strength, Celina leapt up and grabbed onto the top of the wall, swinging over and dropping to the other side.

  Ivo linked his fingers together near my knees. Supporting myself on his shoulder, I stepped into his hands and was raised to grab Tori’s hand as she remained perched on the wall. Carefully stepping on the narrow ledge, Tori grabbed my other hand and lowered me to Celina, who helped guide me the rest of the way down the wall to stand inside the camp.

  Celina and I darted to the surplus tent. When she heard nothing, Celina ripped through the canvas and made an opening for us. I ducked inside and was immediately overwhelmed. With the influx in guards that had come in for the prisoner transfer, the supplies had also grown. However, while they had grown, they were also disorganized, shoved into the tent however they could fit.

  “Great…” I groaned, studying the haphazard boxes.

  Celina came to my side. Aware that I did not have much time, I looked at the boxes closest to me, seeing crates of medical supplies. Knowing we had enough medical supplies already, I carefully picked my way through the crowded aisles, coming across bullets.

  “Here.” I motioned Celina over. “Only four cases,” I hissed. “We need more food.”

  She nodded and grabbed the first box, running it back to the hole in the tent, where she would throw the case to Tori, who would drop it to Ivo and the train would take the supplies to the car and load them.

  While Celina moved the cases of ammunition, I glanced around for boxes of rations, getting closer to the front of the tent so I took the opportunity to glance into the rest of the camp through the plastic window on the door.

  Mark and the others were taking the prisoners out of the building, but in order to get the supporters of our revolution out, we had to distract the guards.

  Mark had obviously done that already with the way the guards had moved to one section of the compound, but I did not know how long we had before things got more frantic with the second distraction.

  Moving away from the discolored plastic, I stumbled upon some boxes of rations. Seeing Celina carrying another box of ammo made me nervous that we were moving too slowly.

  I lifted one of the heavy boxes of rations and unstacked it, carrying it only a few meters before dropping it heavily and running to get another. After Celina had taken the fourth case to the back of the
tent, she took the first ration box as I set the second one down.

  We worked quickly. I knew I was lifting boxes that were far too heavy for me, but the adrenaline and excitement made me stronger and I was able to bring crates about as fast as Celina could take them. She would take the box and run to the back, stepping just outside to throw the case to Tori, glancing around each time before returning to grab another case.

  On my eighth box, just as I was getting tired, I heard four loud gunshots followed by a bellow.

  “Breach!! We’ve been breached!!!”

  I stopped immediately, my eyes going wide as yelling and gunfire filled the air.

  No sooner had I started moving again when a deafening explosion rattled my eardrums, shaking the earth and causing me to drop the wooden case of rations, the wood splintering, sending packages of dried military food to the canvas floor, blocking my path.

  That was the second distraction. The grenades were meant to take out the wall for our false means of escape, causing confusion in the guards while the fugitives were quickly moved through the front gate, pried open by Griffin.

  “Lily!” Celina snapped, grabbing the box I had left for her further up the aisle. “We have to go!”

  I grabbed one more box, determined to bring it. Celina ran toward me as quickly as she could, stopping just on the other side of the broken case of rations.

  “It’s chaos out there! We have to go, now!” she snapped over the deafening gunfire. There was a loud siren that whined angrily into the surrounding area.

  “Take this!” I ordered, shoving the box into her hands.

  “Are you crazy?!”

  “Go!”

  She carried the box to the hole in the tent. Turning once more, I grabbed another box, my ears ringing from the explosion and the continuous attack of the blaring siren.

  I heard a loud crunch and explosion before a dull groan sounded. I was forced to the ground by a sharp snap over my head and shoulders. I fell, my body contorting around the case of rations I was carrying, causing intense pain to radiate through me. It was completely dark, and I was too stunned at first to realize that something had crashed into the top of the tent and made it collapse.