“This area was supposed to be left open for future construction of a school, but someone messed up.” He points toward the far left corner. There’s a large circular building with a silver domed roof. “The construction crew didn’t realize the astronomy building was part of the future school plans until it was already built. It’s completely unoccupied and unused.”
I follow Ryan into the building. Someone
really
messed up. The building is completely finished and sits collecting dust. The bottom floor of the building is a giant auditorium. Ryan leads me up to the observation deck which has a giant telescope in its center, the kind that comes with its own seat. Ryan has the dome cracked open just enough for us to view the sunset. Next to the telescope, he has set a small table with service for two, complete with candles.
Ryan’s playful mood continues as he pulls packages from his bag, but as he fumbles to open one, I realize he’s trying to mask his nervousness. As he finally opens all of them, I softly laugh. I’ve never seen this side of him – it’s sweet. He pulls a chair out for me. I sit and enjoy the aroma of steamed baby artichokes, roasted asparagus, and a chicken sauté that I don’t remember ever telling anyone that I liked.
“So this is what you were doing all afternoon?” I ask.
“Yeah, mostly. I hope you like it,” he says as he lights the candles and sits across from me.
“It’s perfect.” I reach across the table, take his hand, and run my thumb across the faint scars etched on his hand, the only physical reminder of our time lost in the wilderness.
After dinner, Ryan leads me back down to the auditorium. He spreads a blanket on the stage, and memories of Brody trying to pressure me into things I wasn’t ready for flash through my mind. I remind myself that Ryan is
not
Brody.
Oblivious to my doubts, Ryan sits on the blanket and pats a spot next to him. “Come here, I have something for you.” He crooks a finger and beckons me over.
I drop down into a crossed-legged position next to him.
“Hold out your hand,” he directs, “and close your eyes.” I play along. He slides something onto my wrist. I open my eyes and examine the deep green braided bracelet. I run my fingers over the soft material and realize the individual strands are actually from the long curly tendrils that sometimes grow on the opal berry bushes. Amazingly, the tendrils haven’t lost any of their original color or suppleness.
“I wanted to give it to you when we got back onto the base…as a welcome home gift, but well, you know what happened. I hope you like it,” he explains while watching my reaction.
My eyes are moist with tears. Anyone can get a silly piece of jewelry, but he took the time to create this beautiful and intricate pattern. Then, he kept it, through my hating him and pushing him away. “It’s wonderful,” I whisper.
“Lie down and close your eyes,” Ryan instructs, but I hesitate. “Come on, trust me.”
Hesitantly, I lie back. When he tells me to open my eyes, Earth stares back at me. After a minute, Earth disappears and is replaced by the entire solar system. Finally, only the night sky remains in my view.
“It’s a summer view of the sky from Rhode Island,” Ryan explains. “It doesn’t specify where in the state it was taken, but we can pretend it’s from your back yard.”
“Thank you,” I whisper as I snuggle into his arm. He uses a laser pen to point out the different constellations for me. After a while, we both just lie back and enjoy the view. I fall asleep still cuddled in his arms.
I wake early the next morning, feeling stiff. Andi’s sleeping bag was so much more comfortable than a thin blanket on a hard floor. Once more, I’m reminded of how much I owe her.
Ryan and I walk back to the dorms together. Ryan says he’ll meet me at our lab if he can, but I’m doubtful. Elliot’s been keeping all the males in his lab and completely ignoring the girls, which is great for me but sucks for him. I get to research what I want in the lab, but Jake and Ryan are stuck being Elliot’s maids.
I take a towel off my pod and head to the showers before everyone else wakes and needs to get ready. I finish dressing and pack the remaining towels and clothes into my locker. That’s when I discover my photographs, every single one of them, are missing—irreplaceable photographs of me with my parents. I keep them tucked inside the locker door. Frantically I search around the room, hoping they’ve only been hidden. I even check the trashcans but can’t find any trace of them.
Kelly must have them, and one way or another I’m getting them back. If I knew where her room was, I’d already be there, ripping her out of her pod. I hurry outside and wait for her to exit the dorms, and I almost miss her. A drove of girls comes out all at once. While I search the crowd, she darts off on a morning run, but the motion catches my attention. She’s moving toward the perimeter. I’m not dressed to run, but I don’t care and sprint off after her. Without warning, I run full speed at her and knock her to the ground.
“What the hell!” She tries to stand, but I’m faster and pin her down.
“Where are my pictures?” I holler, and the frigid morning air turns my breath into a blast of white steam.
“It hurts to lose something you care about doesn’t it?” She chortles. Enraged, I pull back my arm to punch her, but she throws a handful of gravel in my face.
“Bitch!” I yell before she knocks me off. But I’m not letting her get away. I jump up and push her against the fence before she can break into a run.
“Get off me!” She swings at me.
I block her blows and screech. “Those are my parents. You had no right.”
“Just like you had no right to steal my boyfriend.” She snatches a fistful of my hair and pulls hard.
I hit her in the stomach. “So help me if there’s even a scratch on them…”
She hits me in the jaw cutting me off. “Please tell me just what you could possibly do that’s worse than what you’ve already done. Ryan was everything to me and you took him. So, please enlighten me, just what could you possibly do to make me feel worse.” Tears freely roll down her face.
I stop fighting and stare at her. I never considered her capable of deep emotions, but she really is heartbroken and lost without Ryan. Of course it could just be the pod’s programming, but her pain is real to her and whether or not I intended it, I’m why she’s feeling it.
“I never meant to hurt you. That’s why I didn’t say anything to Ryan about the spaghetti or the shower prank. You have every right to be mad at us.”
“What?” My response catches her off guard.
“Neither of us planned for this to happen,” I say, “any more than we planned on being caught in the flashflood.”
“Then give him back.”
“You know as well as I do that wouldn’t work. Ryan and I were just trying to survive, but along the way, we fell in love. As much as you’re hurting right now, it would be so much worse to be with someone who has feelings for someone else.”
“Nothing could hurt more than this,” Kelly whimpers before she breaks down, sobbing. I do the last thing I thought possible this morning—I comfort her.
“I know,” I say. “The best thing you can do right now is allow yourself to heal. This might sound silly, but try sleeping upside down in your pod from now on. You’ll heal faster than you can possibly imagine.”
Kelly jerks away from me. “You’re really something. You can sit there and see how much I’m hurting and still tease me anyway?”
I shake my head. “I’m not teasing, believe me.” I realize how lame that sounds. “Look, keep my pictures for the week. If at the end of the week, you’re not feeling any better, they’re yours to do with whatever you want, and I won’t say a word to Ryan or anyone else.”
Kelly scrutinizes my face. “I hate you.”
I don’t argue. “You should. But you should also try sleeping upside down.”
“If you’re lying you’ll get your pictures back shredded so small there’s not a single recognizable piece.” I nod. She gives me one more appraising look and then jogs back toward the dorms.
Everyone is already busy at work by the time I arrive at my field lab.
“You’re late,” Ryan calls from his computer station. “Elliot has us going on another field visit and—” He turns around, then hurries over to me. “What the hell happened?”
I must look worse than I realized. “I fell.”
“Brett.” His tone warns me to cut the crap.
I’m embarrassed. “I lost my temper and got into a little disagreement. It’s no big deal, really.”
“With who? Over what?” he demands.
Those are two things I can’t tell him without losing my photographs. “Ryan, please just let it drop, I’m already embarrassed enough.”
He grumbles a bit, but eventually focuses back on work. After cleaning up in the bathroom, I join him at the computers.
Chapter 17
Elliot noticed Jeremy’s tagged bumblebee on the tracking system and wants to follow it back to its hive. The supposed hive is nowhere near the area we’re currently exploring. It’s a five-mile detour into a previously unexplored grid area, but pointing that out to Elliot is useless and will get me in more trouble with Dr. Brant. I carry his equipment and wordlessly follow him, keeping my thoughts to myself.
The tracker leads us to a large grassy hill. Jennifer, Elliot’s entomologist assumes that the bees must have their hive underground, similar to yellow jackets. Jake disagrees and warns that we should be cautious. Elliot ignores Jake’s warning and starts toward the hill with Jennifer.
I trust Jake and can’t ignore the knot forming in my stomach. Goose bumps pop up on my arms, and I know they’re not from the cold. I can’t remain silent, regardless of the consequences.
“Stop!” I step in front of Elliot and catch hold of his arm. “You need to listen to Jake. He knows what he’s talking about.”
My warning only antagonizes Elliot. He twists out of my grasp. Walking up the hill backward, he points at me. “You need to get off your high and mighty throne. I’m sick and tired of hearing you preach about how your ways are so much better. Now you’re trying to claim that your scientists are smarter? You’re really something.”
I remain silent and unmoving, focusing on the self-control I need to keep from screaming. Isaac and Gabriella stop at the bottom of the hill. They look from me to Elliot, uncertain. Jennifer hesitates, but my words fail to convince her. She continues after Elliot.
I try my best to sound calm. “Look I’m not saying anyone is smarter, but we should err on the side of caution.”
Elliot pauses and snickers. “You’re welcome to stay down there if you’re scared. Leave the exploring to the real scientists.”
“That’s enough, Elliot,” Ryan says, coming to my defense. “Ever since we joined your team you’ve been marking your territory. It’s time to put your pride and insecurities aside and listen to some common sense.”
“Oh big surprise that you’d—” Elliot never finishes his sentence. One moment he’s there and the next second he’s gone, his presence replaced by his scream and a loudening hum. Jennifer sees what’s happening and tries to scurry away, but she’s too slow and drops into the widening hole. The deafening buzz vibrates the entire hill. The bees’ nest isn’t in the hill—it
is
the hill.
A scream brings my attention back to the top of the hill. Jennifer must have grabbed onto something. The ground on the edge of the hole holds, but as the buzzing grows louder, so do her screams. The bees are attacking. Ryan and Jake scramble up the sides of the hill.
“Stop!” I yell after them. “You’re too heavy. You could collapse the rest of the hive.”
“We have to do something!” Ryan yells.
“Get down and let me climb. The two of you can pull me and Jennifer back down,” I explain.
They hurry down, but before they can boost me up, Molly’s climbed halfway up the hill. Ryan and Jake shift plans and plant their hands under her feet, pushing her the rest of the way up. The closer she gets to Jennifer the more bees appear. She flinches from the stings, but continues in silence. By the time she reaches Jennifer, all I can see are swarming bees. Molly reaches Jennifer and tries to pull her out of the hole, pleading for Jennifer to help.
I pray she can hear me. “Molly, just hold on,” I call. “Let Jake and Ryan do the work.”
Ryan and Jake latch onto Molly’s legs and pull. Molly buries her face against her arm, but it offers little protection from the bees. Isaac and Austin rush forward to help, but Cam, the other soldier, is noticeably missing. As soon as Molly’s feet hit the ground, Ryan and Jake take Jennifer, and Isaac supports Molly. Then we run as fast as we can away from the hive.
“Brett,” Ryan calls to me. “You and Gabriella get the Epi-pens.”
I pull off my pack and blindly feel through it for the first aid kit. I’m breathless when we finally stop, but I know Molly and Jennifer are worse off. I drop down to the ground, open the first aid kit, and toss an Epi to Ryan. Then I flick the cap off of the second one and slam it into Molly’s thigh as Ryan injects Jennifer.
Isaac suddenly clutches Jake’s arm. “What about Elliot? We need to go back and get him.”
“Isaac, we can’t.” Jake tries to fend him off, but Isaac’s in a full panic and tries to drag Jake back to the hive. Ryan finally pulls Isaac off Jake and tosses him to the ground.
“Elliot’s dead,” Ryan yells. “We can’t go back to get him. But you can still help Jennifer. She’s in bad shape. We need to get her back to the base as quickly as possible.”
The wild look fades from Isaac’s eyes, and he nods his understanding. Ryan directs Isaac and Jake to carry Jennifer. Then, he helps me with Molly.
“I’m fine,” she protests, but then can’t stand on her own. I can’t tell if it’s from the Epi or the pain of her stings, but her muscles are shaking. Ryan hooks his hands under her arms as Austin lifts her feet. Whether she likes it or not, they’re carrying her.
Clearing the forest seems to take forever. I’ve radioed ahead to alert medical staff, and several golf carts are waiting for us in the clearing. They quickly whisk Jennifer and Molly away and assess the rest of us. After a quick look, they transport us to the field hospital too. They doctors check us for singers, but don’t find any. The pink bees may look like honeybees, but are likely barbless like a wasps and yellow jackets. Nurses apply what I suspect is meat tenderizer to each of us before we’re allowed to visit Jennifer or Molly.