Deliverance (21 page)

Again.

 

 

 

 

33

 

Saturday marks the third day since Guard Nev contacted me—three days was the meeting date. When he doesn't show up, I begin to worry. I sit at the table and eat my breakfast, going for normal as I check my communications on the HELP screen. If anyone is watching my cams, there's no reason to make them suspicious.

Guard Nev's absence can't be good, though. He had to have been caught. It's the only reason he wouldn't at least slip me a note.

Unless I'm being watched.

I grind my teeth as I move to the window. No one seems to be out of the ordinary, but that means nothing. I move to the bed and take Mom's perfume from my nightstand. I wish she were here with me now. She would know what to tell me. She always knew what to tell me. Once, when I turned thirteen and got my very first ID card, I worried that I looked silly in my picture. It was the first picture I'd ever seen of myself, and I didn't like it. Mom had smiled and patted my hair, telling me not to worry about how I looked right then. She said one day I would have a beautiful picture, and I would be important to the society.

Inhaling her scent, I remember all of the fun times we had together. She used to sing songs in my ear as I fell asleep at night. Her words always made me feel better.

I sigh and hug my pillow to my chest. I could use those songs right now.

Instead it is Keegan's songs that comfort me. I wonder how long it will be before they take that away, too.

I tuck the perfume inside the safety of the drawer, and I head to the Training Dome. The front of my building is empty as I step onto the street. The only cam disks I see are the ones that have always been there, and no one seems to be watching me. I walk slowly, glancing around casually like I don't have a care in the world. Unlike nearly a week ago when I noticed the curly headed girl getting into the transporter, no one here seems to be out of place. No one seems to be watching any harder than normal. In fact, not a single person seems to notice me at all.

A transporter arrives at the gate just after I do, and Berry climbs from it. “Wait for me,” he calls. The transporter pulls away, and Berry checks in with the guard on duty. We walk onto campus together.

“Why don't you take a transporter?” he asks.

“I like walking,” I say with a shrug. “At home we didn't have cars or transporters, or whatever you want to call them.”

“Really?”

I don't know why this surprises him.

He steps closer and lowers his voice. “I heard my dad giving orders this morning.”

A couple of trainees pass us on the sidewalk, talking and laughing loudly. We slow our pace as we near the shiny, metal dome.

“They're bringing a delivery of inmates to the prison in four days.”

Four days. That doesn't give me much time, especially if I can't find Guard Nev. “Do you know if I'm being watched?” I ask.

His eyebrows rise. “I have no idea. Do you think you are?”

I glance around then back to him. “Yes.”

He looks away, a habit I've noticed he has when he's thinking. “Do you know what you need to do?” he finally asks.

“Yes.” I have to get to Broken City and find Miriam. She's the only person I know who can help me.

“Can you do it tonight?”

I nod.

“Then go. I will do what I can to make sure you don't have a tail.” He begins to step toward the dome, but I grab his arm.

“Berry, why are you helping me? They will watch these feeds. They will see you talking to me. You're going to get in trouble if I do this.”

His gaze is focused on the nothingness in the distance. “I don't think so. My father won't let that happen.”

I want to argue with him and tell him that his father won't be able to do anything if he angers Supreme Moon, but Berry isn't one to change his mind so easily. “Thank you,” I say instead.

He nods, still not meeting my eye. “Don't think I'm doing it for you, though. I have your ideas. Once you're out of the picture, I will be able to use them to rise to the top of favor.”

Of course he will.

I don't know what to say and so I say nothing, and we head inside. Berry is cold and calculating. He doesn't care about helping the Lessers. He doesn't care about helping me. He cares for himself only. For the first time ever, I pity him.

As soon as training ends, I gather my things to hurry home. During training I made a decision. I will not go to Broken City alone. I will not deny Kassy a chance at learning more about being a Christian.

God, please let this be the right decision.

I grab Kassy's arm as we step out of the vac chamber. “Do you still want to talk?”

She nods immediately.

“I'm not going home,” I warn. “And you'll have to promise to never tell.” The memory of the new tests comes to mind, and I inwardly cringe. What if she can't help but tell? I push the thought aside and wait for her answer.

“I want to help,” she says. There is no hesitation in her voice.

“Then follow me.”

Cutting down a different block, I bypass our apartment building completely. After a few minutes of walking, it hits me that we are too visible on the street, and I call a transporter. “Take me to the lake,” I say.

It zips away, pulling in and out of traffic.

Once we're at the lake, I head west down the same road as before. It's then I get the feeling someone is behind us. I turn, but no one is there.

“Where are we going?” Kassy asks.

“You told me about Broken City,” I say.

She nods.

“Well, I found it.”

Her eyes bulge and she stumbles to a stop. “You found it?”

I nod quickly and tug her arm to keep her moving. “Kassy, can I trust you? I can't let you go on if I can't trust you.”

“Of course you can,” she says. Her face shows me that she's hurt, but it's too risky. I had to make sure.

“There are people there, and they know things about our country. Things aren't what we've always been told. You must know this, especially after our visit to Lesser 6.”

She nods. “Everyone knows that bad things go on. We just ignore it.”

“But don't you think it's wrong? We shouldn't be lied to that way. The Lessers aren't anyone's slaves.”

Confusion swirls across her face, but she doesn't say she disagrees.

“They are going to help me,” I finally say. “And they can help you, too, if you want to learn more about God and more about helping me.”

She doesn't speak for a few moments, but finally she nods. “OK. I want to know what I can.”

Something snaps behind us and I turn. Again no one is there, but I'm sure someone is following us. The only question is whether or not they heard anything we said.

After a few more steps, we veer inside a house and wait. I press my finger over my lips when Kassy begins to question me. Peeking out a window, I see her. It's a woman, dressed in neutral-toned clothes, blending in with the nothingness around her. She darts in and out of hiding places, making her way to the house.

Her movements and demeanor let me know she isn't a guard. She has been told to follow me, but it isn't an official order. Maybe it was Supreme Moon who sent her, or maybe it was Berry's father. It doesn't matter who sent her, I can't let her follow me. If she catches me, I will be demoted or worse, and I can't lead her right to Miriam and the Free.

God, help me.
I pray. I'm not sure how to stop her. I have nothing to offer her in return for keeping my secret.

Broken pieces of wood litter the inside of the dilapidated house. I pick one up and take a deep breath. Can I do this?

She bolts inside the house and I swing. The sickening thud makes my stomach drop, and when her head hits the floor, I lose what little food I had in my stomach.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

After a few minutes, I rise on weak legs and hurry from the room. “I'm sorry,” I whisper to her. She's going to have a terrible headache when she wakes up.

Kassy is silent as we dart away, but her face is ashen, and she glances at me like I'm a stranger.

The sky has just turned an orange color as the sun sinks in the distance. No one else seems to be following, so I continue down the street toward Broken City. It takes me a while, but I finally locate the house where I spotted the curly headed girl the week before. I peek inside, but all I see are ruins. Whatever she had been doing with her flashing machine is gone.

We make the rest of the trip in quick time, and we reach the
Priceco
just as darkness falls across the paved field. Staring up at the huge building, I pause. This is it. If I do this, I will never be the same. I will have a tracker in my arm, and I will either dig it out when I'm done or stay tagged for life.

What if Miriam can't do it or can't do it tonight? What if I don't make it back by morning?

This is the only way I will ever get inside the prison. It is the only way I will see for myself what is going on in this country. I have to do it, so I push the door open to find them.

 

 

 

 

34

 

“Miriam?” I call out softly, stepping through the darkness. “Hello?”

No one answers.

I can't see in the inky blackness at the back of the store, so I shuffle through the aisles, hoping I'm going the right way. Kassy stumbles along beside me, so I reach out my hand to her. At first she hesitates, but then she latches on and we walk together.

“Hello?” I call again.

This time something scrapes in the distance. Kassy gasps, but I turn to my left and make my way toward it.
“Miriam?”

“It's me,” Guard Nev says. He shines his flashlight in my face and I sigh in relief.

“Guard Nev! I thought you were dead.” My relief at seeing him alive and well nearly chokes me.

He reaches me and grabs for my arm. “Did you get tagged?”

“No, Sindy showed up and I couldn't meet your contact. What happened to you? You said you would come in three days' time.” I look him up and down, like the answers will be hanging around his neck. His right arm is wrapped in thin, white gauze. “And what happened to you?”

“They removed my identification tags and put in new ones.”

“What?” That sounds terrible.

“It was the only way I could ever go back.”

As terrible as it sounds, his words still bring relief. It means Miriam can do the things I was hoping for.

Guard Nev shines the flashlight in Kassy's face. “Why did you bring her?”

I glance at Kassy and then back to Guard Nev. “She knew about this place already. She isn't happy with the way things are done in Greater City, and she wants to learn more about God.”

His face shows his disapproval of my choice, but he says nothing. Instead, he leads us toward the back room with his flashlight as he continues to explain, “I was apprehended for being around you. They say there was a witness.”

The woman on the stairs. So she told, after all.

“When they came for me, I knew that was the end. They were ready to send me away, so I ran. I got away from them and came here, to the place you described.”

He was so close to being punished—again—because of me.

I take a deep breath and let it out with a slow sigh. “There's a new shipment of inmates going to the prison in four days—or three days now, I guess. We have to be on that transport.”

He nods, not even asking how I know. “Come on. We have to tag you tonight.”

Butterflies erupt in my stomach, but I push them down, determined not to be a baby. I've never done all that well with pain.

The Free sit around the room just as they did a few nights ago. Everyone turns to watch me as we walk through the room.

Miriam stops what she's doing and strides over. “Are you sure you want to do this? Going into that prison will be dangerous.”

Guard Nev must have told her my plans.

“I'm sure.” Whatever Supreme Moon is hiding, he's hiding it there. If we're going to make any changes, it has to begin on the inside of those walls.

She watches me, sizing me up. Finally she nods. “Your actions could free us all.”

The truth of her statement settles on my shoulders like one of the heavy transporters. I don't feel seventeen anymore. I feel like I'm one hundred.

“Do you need to be tagged?”

Her words bring me out of my self-pity, and I swallow hard. “Yes.” My voice matches my confidence level.

She stomps away and begins barking orders for the supplies to be brought.

Guard Nev guides me to a back corner of the room. Lamps are set up, and some type of medical table sits beside a bed. Everything smells like bleach.

My heart thunders in my chest and I take slow, deep breaths. This is going to hurt and I'll forever have a scar to remind me of what it felt like.

Miriam returns to us and picks up a clunky, handheld machine. It glows blue at the top, and it has a trigger almost like a gun.

“What is that?” I ask.

“Carrier gel. It will carry the chip in your bloodstream without letting your natural antibodies destroy it.”

She grabs my arm and glares at me. “Are you sure about this? If I put this chip in your arm you will never be able to go back to Greater City.”

I hadn't expected that, or prepared for it. What about my Bible? What about Mom's perfume. “What? Why?”

“You'll be marked,” Guard Nev explains softly. He must realize I hadn't thought it through. Bad habit of mine. “Every checkpoint you pass will pick you up. They might not notice at one or two checkpoints, but after a few they're going to figure out they don't have a guard who matches your identifications.”

“Besides that,” Miriam says. “You will be unconscious for nearly two days.”

I grip the chair sides. “What?”

“It takes time for your body to acclimate to the carrier gel, and then the chip has to find a host location to attach to. You will be kept here and monitored until the prison run.”