Gated (16 page)

“Each and every time I’ve sent you out there, I’ve worried. Your safety has always been my number one concern. But I’ve also worried about your peace of mind. Folks out there are bent on twisting what’s special, what’s right about us. They don’t want to open their eyes and see this world for what it is. They won’t turn away from the rot and stench of it. Heck, they probably don’t even smell it. They ignore the infection. The damage. They embrace the evil of it. All because they’re slaves to the temporary pleasures it can provide. They’ve turned their backs on the truth that the Brethren have tried desperately to show them.” Pioneer’s face is the picture of sadness and regret.

“And I’m here to tell you that misery like that loves company, brothers and sisters, it surely does. They want nothing more than to turn you all away from the truth you’ve found here so that you’ll be as doomed as they are.”

Boos erupt from the crowd. Several of the adults shake their heads and cry out, “No!”

Pioneer grins, wide and toothy. “But we’re too smart for them, aren’t we?”

“You said it!” Marie’s dad, Mr. Diaz, stands up and flexes his biceps. He can be really goofbe x2019;t wey sometimes.

Several people begin to laugh and clap.

“We have our eyes on the future. We have our hearts set on the Brethrens’ will. I am so proud of all of you for that. So deeply moved.” His voice cracks and he swallows hard. “You have earned your places here. We all have. For those who never have to go to Culver Creek again, tonight’s a time of celebration.”

The crowd erupts into cheers and Pioneer holds up his hands to quiet them down again. “But it is also a time to ask the Brethren for the safe return of our beloved Thomas and his family, our sisters Allison and Lyla. They are the last of us to venture forth and rub elbows with those fools. We must shield them with our prayers. We must believe for their safe return.” Pioneer’s voice lowers and his face grows somber. “Because the Brethren have told me that they will face opposition. Evil has a way of sensing its last opportunity. Somehow it will attack. So let us talk to the Brethren, ask them to keep our loved ones safe.”

We all bow our heads, and Marie’s, Will’s, and Brian’s hands settle on my shoulders. Others move to stand with my parents so that they can put their hands on them as well.

“Our Brethren, please help our brother and sisters as they travel in among the Outsiders tomorrow. Help them to go about their business, not looking to the right or the left, not stopping until they are safe within our walls once more. Do not allow this family to doubt or falter in their mission. Keep them so that they may join us once more in
waiting for this world to be restored and for your return at that time.”

I put one hand over Marie’s and one hand over Brian’s. I’m thankful for their concern, for their pleas to the Brethren. It makes me feel connected to them, loved. I’ll do what I can to not let these pleas be in vain. I will leave Cody alone. I won’t look for him or wonder about him any longer. I won’t allow the evil that surrounds him and the others out there to infect me. This attraction I feel is nothing more than a deception, a trick meant to draw me away from what’s right. But I won’t be fooled, not anymore.

Pioneer looks up. “We have survived their 9/11, their global warming, their kidnapping, terrorizing, and thieving. We have turned our backs on all of it. We have stepped out in faith toward our creators from our neighboring universe and accepted their calling. We are committed to rebuilding, renewing this earth. We will not be thrown off course. Not now, not ever. No way! Say it with me.”

“No way.” Our voices join as one.

“Again!” Pioneer shouts.

“No way!”
we say, louder.

“Again!”

“NO WAY!” we roar. Our voices ring out across the prairie. All around me people shake their fists into the air. My mom comes up to stand beside me. She’s crying and laughing at the same time, her hands clasped to her chest. Dad stands on her other side. He leans over until our eyes
meet and we say the words again along with the rest of the crowd. We are one voice, one cry, practically one person.

“NO WAY!”

“NO WAY!”

“NO WAY!”

Pioneer closes his eyes. He sways as if to music only he can hear. Then he does a little jig across the pavement in front of us. It’s like he can’t contain the joy he feetheosels as he listens to our chant. We laugh and clap and cheer.

It’s a while before things settle down. First my parents and I are gathered into dozens of fierce hugs and shoulder pats. My mom is bolstered by it, her head high. My dad looks humbled by the outpouring of love and concern. I’m not sure how I feel. I just know that I want it to already be Saturday night. I want the supply run—and Cody and this awful pull I feel toward him—behind me.

Pioneer pulls us aside while everyone prepares to find a seat for movie time. He puts an arm around my shoulders and hugs me. “Feel ready for tomorrow now, Little Owl?”

I nod and look over at my parents. My father looks serious all of a sudden, sobered.

Pioneer gets in front of me, his hands now on my shoulders and his face up close to mine. My parents stand behind him. “You’ve been disappointing me lately, Little Owl. To be honest, I wasn’t at all sure that you should go with your parents.” He hesitates. “But then the Brethren spoke to me and do you know what they said?”

I shake my head. I have no idea, but they’ve never spoken to Pioneer about me before, so I’m curious.

“They said that you had to go. They said that you needed to be tested. To be tempted. They want you to prove your devotion to the Community, Little Owl. They want you to earn your place. They will be watching you tomorrow. There are no free tickets to the new world, no sirree.”

I let his words sink in. The Brethren aren’t sure that I’m meant to be here? My stomach hollows out. What is he saying?

“I’ve had a discussion with your parents about this very thing earlier today. They’ve assured me that they feel that you are up to the challenge of being amongst the Outsiders. They’re going to keep a close watch over you and help you prove yourself.”

I swallow and look at my parents. Are they at all unsure of where my loyalties lie? I know that I’ve had some weak moments recently, but I never meant to make them all worry this way.

“I’ll do whatever you need me to do to show you that I belong here,” I say desperately. I need for them to believe that I belong here. For the Brethren to believe it too. Where else would I belong?

Pioneer squeezes my shoulders. “Make me proud.”

He goes to stand with my dad, and my mom comes to stand by me. She puts her arms around me. “No more
misbehaving,” she says softly in my ear, and kisses my cheek. “I need you with me, Lyla. Always.”

I hug her back. As we walk toward the pool to join the others, I hear a snippet of Pioneer’s conversation with my dad.

“Keep a close eye on her, Thomas,” he says.

“I will.”

“And if she falters. What will you do?” Pioneer is starting intently at my dad.

Dad swallows. “I’ll do what I have to to keep her in line.”

Pioneer pats his arm. “Good. You’re a good man, Thomas.”

Deep down they’re all convinced that I’m weak, not to be counted on to handle the unpleasant stuff that happens here. No one thinks that I’m capable of protecting the Community, of keeping it safe. The same anger I’d felt earlier in the pool resurfaces. Well, I am, at least I think I can I ca be. I just have to try a little harder.

The screen flickers to life and I settle into an inner tube and float out with Will to the center of the pool, where the other kids are. We smile at each other as the light from the screen settles on us. Will holds out his hand and I take it.

The screen slowly comes into focus. I watch, curious to see what Pioneer’s selection is. I’m hoping for something funny and happy. I want to laugh tonight, to forget the conversation between my dad and Pioneer. Still, I’m completely blindsided when the title pops up.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
.

I look over at Pioneer to see if he did this on purpose. Does he know that Cody talked to me about it? Is this his way of letting me know? Is he testing my strength before I even leave for town? My whole body breaks out into goose bumps. I swallow hard and try not to feel sick.

I keep looking for Pioneer in the crowd around the pool. It takes me forever to spot him—probably because I can’t calm down enough to do a thorough search. He’s standing back by the projector with my dad. His back is to the screen and they’re in deep conversation, probably abo
ut tomorrow and whatever it is that they’re keeping from me.

He can’t know. It’s impossible. Right?
I try to tell myself that his movie choice is just a bad coincidence. Maybe Pioneer simply noticed Cody’s shirt and somehow, subconsciously, it made him remember this movie. But deep down it doesn’t feel like a coincidence—not the part where it’s our turn to go to town or the movie or meeting Cody. It feels more like an attack on my resolve. An omen. A test. I grit my teeth and stare at the screen. This is one test that I’m not about to fail.

I wake up to a hailstorm. Is a tornado coming? But it isn’t the season.… Is this it, the beginning of the end? I try to scramble out of bed but get tangled in the covers and fall out instead. I roll over and try to see out the window. From where I’m lying, the sky looks clear. There aren’t any telltale back-to-back flashes of lightning.

Tap, tap, tap, tap
.

Still, something is hitting my window. I get up slowly and peer outside. Marie’s down in the side yard. She’s doing a sickly version of a jumping jack that looks more like a kid’s peepee dance than an actual exercise, and I laugh. When she catches sight of me, she motions for me to come outside. I can’t imagine why she wants to talk so early, but I slip out of my room and head down the stairs in a tiptoeing run. She’s obviously attempting stealthiness, since she didn’t use the front door, which makes me think that whatever it is that she’s up to can’t be good. Again.
And yet everyone’s worried about me and my so-called misbehaviors.
Figures
.

“Jeez, Lyla, it took you long enough. I was beginning to think you were comatose or something.”

“What’s up?” I yawn and gather my hair behind my neck, twirl weing it into a rope before I loop it around itself into a loose knot.

“Listen, I don’t have much time. If my mom figures out I’m gone, I’ll be on permanent house arrest until Armageddon.” She half smiles. “I wanted to ask you a favor.”

I can’t help smiling back. This is classic Marie. “What, no ‘Goodbye, my dear, sweet friend and soul sister; I’ll hold the Silo door open for you just in case the world ends while you’re still in town’?”

Marie rolls her eyes and has the decency to look at least a little embarrassed. “I came to say goodbye too.” She sighs and then blurts, “I thought maybe you could try to get us some more magazines?”

I stare at her and she squirms. “How am I supposed to do that? I doubt the same lady you ran into last time will be out there again with another recycling bin, waiting for me to show up.”

Marie shoots me a look. “I know that.… I was hoping you would buy them.”

This time I laugh out loud and she claps her hand over my mouth and shushes me. “With what, my smile? We aren’t allowed to have any money, remember?” I whisper between her fingers.

She digs into her pocket and pulls out a napkin. In the center of it is a rubber-banded tube of cash. She takes my hand, uncurls my fingers, and puts it on my palm.

I stare at it like it might sting me. “Where did you get this?”

“I’ve sort of been saving it. I’ve been taking a little every time my family’s gone to town for the last year or so. I always volunteer to pay for stuff, fake like I’m trying to learn about money so I can explain how we’ve had to pay for things to my children or something someday. My dad thinks it’s kind of smart, actually. He usually lets me go in and pay at the gas station when we fill up the truck. I only ever take a few dollars at a time. At first it was more to see if I could get away with it than anything else, but then I thought it might be fun to buy some stuff.”

Marie is looking around and shifting from foot to foot like she’s poised to sprint. None of this is really about the magazines at all. It’s about this delusion that she has about finding Drew in one of the magazines, famous and happy and safe. Does she think that if she actually manages to find him, she’ll be able to contact him and get him to come back? Even if it were really possible, there’s nowhere near enough time for that to happen, she has to know that. But then it dawns on me that this is her last chance to try, to hold on to her hope, before we’re underground. After that she has to give up this pretense of seeing him again, because he’ll be dead for sure. She needs to keep holding on for as long as she can. I can see it in her face. And it
reminds me of my mom. It must have taken every ounce of bravery that she has to bring this to me, to risk my disapproval. And admittedly, I’m not making things very easy on her.
Should I?