“Don’t worry,” she assured. “Dana will not find us.”
“So you’ve heard about Dana…” I said. “I’m sure a lot of people have been talking about him and their stories…”
“People have been talking about Dana for a lot longer than that,” Amelia said, her voice going quiet. She looked between us and a smile broke over her face once more.
“It must be hungry and exhausted. I thought that there would be more of you, but considering that you two are Mark and Lily, the Mark and Lily everyone’s been talking about, I can only assume you ran into some trouble. You don’t have to talk about it now and you don’t have to worry about not being safe. You are very safe here. Let’s get some food in you and then I will show you to a room where you can get some sleep. The neighbor gave us some tamales earlier, are you interested?”
Having never had tamales before, I nodded, not wanting to be rude.
She smiled and got up once more, leaving us in the living room as she went to the kitchen.
I turned to Mark, forcing a tired smile to my lips.
“I guess we made it…”
Mark smiled, taking my hand and squeezing it gently.
Chapter Eighty-Four
When I woke, it was not because I was rested, but because I was starving and there was an amazing smell coming from the kitchen. I did not recall falling asleep, and I did not recall how I had gotten from the living room to a small, cramped bedroom with two bunkbeds in the safe house.
I got up and looked around, finding no one in the room with me. There were some folded clothes on the foot of the bed and I quickly changed out of my dirty traveling clothes. The fabric was soft and smelled of laundry detergent. It felt as though I had returned home after months of living in the woods.
Even though every safe house had afforded us every luxury they could, including clean clothes, hot food, and even a place to shower in some, I had been unable to truly appreciate such luxuries as I was just thinking about the next leg of the journey we would have to make once we left.
But Mark and I had made it to the end. We made it across the border and to the final safe house. From there, we could start a new life.
I tried to run a brush through my tangled mess of hair, pulling out various knots and feeling how dirty my hair was. I desperately wanted to take a shower but was interested in the heavenly smell wafting from downstairs.
My stomach deciding my path, I made my way to the kitchen, following my nose as I did not remember the way. I began to wonder if I had fallen asleep on the couch before eating the previous night.
There were two women in the kitchen when I walked in. One of them was Amelia and the other was a woman I did not recognize. She was taller and a bit broader than Amelia, her hair cut short and also gray, allowing me to see the dark tattoo she had over her left ear. I could not see the entirety of the tattoo, as her hair had mostly grown over it, but the light color of her hair and skin caused the dark ink to stand out. She also had other tattoos on her body and had impressively retained most of her muscle tone. Her bright green eyes were sharp, but also had a gentle edge to them, telling me that I had nothing to fear from her, but that she was fiercely protective of those she cared about.
I assumed she was Amelia‘s wife, Val.
Val saw me first, wiping her hands off on a dish towel before walking over and offering her hand.
“You must be Lily. I’m Val,” she introduced herself. I took her hand, and nodded.
“I am…”
“You must be starving,” she said. “I’ve got scrambled eggs, beans, and a few other things to make breakfast burritos. Does that sound good?”
Amelia laughed, looking over her shoulder at both of us. “I’m pretty sure she’s so hungry that she would eat anything. I don’t think she’s picky.”
“…did I…did I fall asleep in the living room?” I asked sheepishly. “I don’t remember anything from yesterday afternoon.”
“You were out like a light,” Amelia said with a gentle smile, finally turning around. “Mark was exhausted, too. He carried you up to your room, and then immediately went to sleep himself.”
“Where is Mark?”
“Still sleeping, I believe,” Amelia answered. “I checked in on him a couple hours ago when I woke up, and he was still sleeping.”
“I’m pretty sure the smell of breakfast will wake him,” Val said with a smile, returning to the stove and moving the scrambled eggs off of the burner.
“There anything I can do to help?” I asked.
Amelia and Val told me where the dishes and utensils were and asked me to set the table. It was a large table on one side of the kitchen that had a bench along the wall to allow for more seating. Not sure where it is everyone was sitting, I set the plates as I thought was best, pretending I was setting the table in my own home once more. It was a strange feeling to think about home after such a harrowing journey and the rebellion. It felt like it was not my life, but a life I had seen in a movie or read in the book.
As anticipated, Mark was down not too long after I finish setting the plates on the table. He walked in the kitchen and introduced himself to Val. Val did not seem surprised when Mark pulled out his notebook to communicate and patiently waited for him to write.
It was a mostly-silent breakfast as Mark and I were too busy diving into the hot meal to converse with the two women. They ate slower, watching us with understanding smiles.
As I reached for my second tortilla to make another burrito, Amelia smiled wider. “Don’t be shy. There’s plenty of food.”
I laughed, covering my mouth after I took a large bite of my second breakfast burrito.
“Sorry I’m acting like such a pig,” I laughed.
“It’s all right,” Valerie assured, also laughing. “Almost everyone who comes in here is starving and eager for a home-cooked meal.”
“Thank you so much.”
I had gorged myself so much that I could not move from the breakfast table. Even though Mark was not nearly as vocal about it, he had over eaten as well and was sitting quietly at the table, unsure what to do with himself.
“Well,” Amelia started, looking between the two of us, “once we do the dishes, we can show you around the house a little bit. We do ask that, until your paperwork has been processed and we’ve got you ready to go out into the world again, that you don’t leave the property. You can go into the backyard if you want and get some fresh air, or as fresh as it gets around here, but it’s not entirely safe for you to be walking around the neighborhood, so we don’t recommend it.”
“There are a few things that we need to deal with first,” Val added, turning to us. “Any injuries that need to be looked at?”
“Well…” I started slowly, glancing at Mark, “we did run into some trouble about a week ago. I’ve got a few healing cuts on my legs and my side, and Mark has some healing bullet wounds.”
“Sounds like more than a little bit of trouble,” Amelia noted.
“…it was bad night.”
Val sighed heavily. “I’ll call the doctor then, get you both looked at and make sure you’re cared for.”
Amelia furrowed her eyebrows, turning to Mark.
“You’ve been traveling for a week with open bullet wounds?” She asked. “I mean, I know the experiments are tough, but that sounds impossible.”
Mark looked at me, hoping I would explain for them so he would not have to write about the encounter with Jack.
“Actually, we managed to get away, and we ended up stumbling onto a farm. A cowboy name Jack help stitch up both of us. Used a lot of his livestock medicine for us.”
Val smiled broadly. “That was smart. A lot of those big ranchers that have horses and cattle do have a lot of vet supplies, and a lot of that can be used on humans.”
“It’s true,” Amelia agreed. “If you’re ever in a crisis, find a woman, or find someone with veterinary knowledge.”
It appeared to be an inside joke between the two older women
as they began laughing.
“Most likely the doctor will be able to see you later tonight,” Val said, turning her attention back to us. “Not to worry, he is very trustworthy. He handles all of our injured refugees.”
“Were many of our people injured when they came here?” I asked nervously.
“There were a few,” Amelia answered. “But they were typical injuries. No one that we saw had bullet wounds or other wounds that would indicate they were attacked. Mostly just the scrapes from falls, or the sprains of overworked legs. The odd broken toe here and there…”
It amazed me how casually she spoke of such injuries. After thirty years of running a safe house, it was clear they had seen they had seen quite a few.
“Is there anyway for us to see who has passed through the safe house, so we can see how many people didn’t make it?” I asked.
“We generally don’t take names down, since we don’t want anyone being able to trace any fugitives,” Val said. “However, if you want to look through the recorded stories starting from your first group, you can do that and see if there’s anybody recognizes missing.”
“If that’s all right with you, I would like to,” I said. “The Commission made some claims that they had already captured some of our group, so I want to see who was taken.”
Mark wrote something down real quick and turned it to the two older women.
“Do you remember how many Asian women came here?”
“Actually, yes,” Amelia said, nodding. “We don’t get a lot of Asian refugees. There were twenty-one Asian men and seven Asian women. Twenty-two Asian men including you.”
Mark visibly relaxed and I was also relieved that his sister had made it safely. I smiled at Mark and took his hand.
“Actually,” Val started, “we were asked to tell you where one of them went to live,” she said. “I’ll have to dig out the information, but we have it for you. I assume she is your…wife?”
“Sister,” I answered for him.
“We will be sure to pass along the information,” Val said. “So, once you’re processed, you can go meet her. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to see you.”
We helped Val and Amelia wash the dishes, which made it go much faster. Then, even though we were still far too full from our big breakfast, Mark and I got a tour of the house and saw where the bathrooms were as well as the backyard, which was surrounded by a cinderblock wall that kept prying eyes from seeing us.
I was eager to take a shower, so I immediately did so, forcing Mark to wait until I was done since there was only one bathroom with a shower in the house.
Washing the grime from our journey away, knowing that there was not another harrowing leg to hike, I enjoyed the feeling of the warm water all over my body. It was the first time that I felt a little at peace in what felt like ages. For the first time, I finally felt free of the Commission of the People. I felt as though I had gotten out, and even though it had been a fight and a lot of people had been hurt. But Dana had not captured me, which was, in a way, a victory.
Feeling clean and refreshed, despite the fact that the house was warm with a lack of sufficient air conditioning, I stepped out of the bathroom and let Mark have his turn in the shower.
I joined Amelia in the living room as she watched the news. I watched the Spanish broadcaster speak quickly, unable to understand anything of what he said.
“Does the news down here cover what goes on in America?”
“Not usually,” Amelia answered. “But ever since the attack on Central, the news has been covering the story.”
“I hope you know that it wasn’t us who attacked Central,” I murmured.
“Oh, I know,” Amelia whispered. “Unfortunately, I am very aware of how the Commission works.”
I tried to watch the news for a little bit longer, but I still could not understand anything of the stories they reported. I recognize a few country names, which told me that the newscaster was talking about world news, including news in Europe. It was a drastic change from the news that was covered in America, which almost never talked about anything happening internationally.
“They should talk about what’s going on in America soon,” Amelia told me.
Eventually, I saw the newscaster change stories to talk about America. He spoke very fast and there was no way for me to understand his exact words, but I did see familiar faces flashing across the television. I saw my father, and Clark’s mother, and even Becca’s mother holding yet another press conference that I had not seen.
Unfortunately, they had dubbed over my father’s voice in Spanish, and it was hard for me to discern exactly what he had said. I became more and more frustrated and frantic to know what was going on as that broadcast continued, so I watched Amelia, hoping that she would translate for me.
Her eyes were glued to the screen, clearly paying close attention to the story.
I had no choice but to wait until she was ready to relay the information to me.
It felt like hours that the man was talking about the news in America. When it was finally over, I leaned forward in my seat and fixed Amelia with a stare, waiting for her to explain what had been on the news.
She muted the television and turned to me.
“It would appear that their altered soldiers are going to become standard in the American military,” she said quietly, her voice cold. “They’re going to be a part of a new division of the military. They are not sure if traits of the modified soldiers will be passed down to children, so they’re going to see if their first soldier, the one called Leo, can pass his abilities down to his kids. So, it appears that this modified soldier thing is now a long-term project.”
“How was the rest of the world feeling about that?” I asked.
“That depends entirely on who you ask,” Amelia said. “I’m sure that the general population of all countries are nervous about an even stronger soldier. That could lead the entire world turning into a military state.” She sighed. “However, I’m sure that the leaders of the world are very excited about the new project. Once it’s perfected, all will want their entire army made out of these altered soldiers, which is going to completely change warfare and even the distribution of power among the countries of the world.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure that Danna is not stupid enough to just give the technology, or altered soldiers, away. He’ll make countries pay. And the more countries can pay for each altered soldier, the more powerful they’ll become, which also shows their wealth, which also means it’s easier for them to attack smaller countries that can’t afford the same soldiers.”
The older woman shook her head, rubbing her face and frustration.
“It’s likely this project is going to bring about the end of any world peace anyone hoped to achieve.”
“…do you think this will bring another world war?”
“You don’t want me to get me started on my conspiracy theories about world wars,” Amelia said with a broken laugh. “In my opinion, the world has always been at war, and ever since the Second Revolution in America, the war has never stopped.”
“I guess the good news that is that, even if the abilities of the altered soldier can be passed down to children, it will be many years before those children are old enough to fight. Which means that it will still take a long time before those altered soldiers are in the mainstream.”
“…I suppose,” Amelia agreed reluctantly.
Val walked downstairs and sat next to Amelia, putting an arm around her shoulders.
“What did I miss?”
“Those altered soldiers are now a mainstream project. They’re going to be put into the military.”
“Should’ve known he would pull something like this…” Val grumbled.
Mark came downstairs, his hair still wet from the shower, and sat next to me. I relayed the same information that Amelia had translated for me and Mark took some time to explain the Machine of Neutralization project to the two women, sharin
g his inside information from working Dana’s security. It was more information than they had received from anyone else, so they read the words he wrote very carefully and continue to ask questions, gathering as much information from him as he could give.
I tuned it out.
Being a fair distance from Dana, and likely free from the Commission entirely, I began to wonder what it was that Dana wanted of me. He had been obsessed with taking me as prisoner of the Commission ever since the beginning and I wondered if it was because of the Machine of Neutralization project. I wondered if I was meant to become one of those altered soldiers, or another test subject of different DNA infusion techniques used in that project.
There was no way to know exactly what it was that Dana had wanted, but I could only assume that Clark’s unfortunate fate had once been mine.
My heart broke thinking about Clark being trapped in the Commission of the People.
It seemed unfair that he had risked everything, and had known Dana’s torture for so long, yet I was the one to escape rather than Clark. It seems like a cruel twist of fate.
Later in the day, a doctor came to look at both me and Mark. He was also an older man, but he had a cold air about him that kept us quiet through the examination. He diligently checked Mark’s wounds, complementing us on finding someone who had some knowledge of veterinary science who could help us avoid severe infection. He told me that my wounds would likely scar, but I did not care—I would call them battle scars.
I slept easily and deeply that night, finally feeling as though my life had turned around.
* *** *
The following day, we were to go through the initial process of getting fake, temporary citizenship. That meant we had to get pictures taken so that we had an official ID to show if ever necessary.
That meant a haircut for both Mark and me.
Val cut Mark’s hair, cutting it back to the length that it had been when I had first met him. Amelia started on my hair.
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