Infraction (25 page)

The houses are close together, with skinny side
yards separating each one by only a few feet. The streets are
narrow but open. They'd be easy to walk through, giving us all a
break from the obstacle course of the forest. But this easy route
makes the hair on my neck stand up. It's too easy, too open. We
only saw one soldier back at the meadow, which means there are
almost two dozen still unaccounted for. They could have set up here
in the streets, waiting for us to materialize out of the woods.
We'll wind through the side yards.

Dave nods when I write to him. “I'm with you. Too
open.”

“
Just what they'd like,” Madge says,
hands on her knees to catch her breath. Even though the air is
chilly, her curls hang limp with sweat. “Us to come prancing down
the street.”

The side yards are filled with debris: boxes,
crates, trash cans, all kinds of junk that must have been tossed
aside. After Madge's astute lessons, I see a million uses for each
of these, but when this town was first picked over, they didn't
have Madge. I wonder if the agents keep people in the labor camps
for life just because they're cruel or because they're selfish and
want the skills they can imprison indefinitely. It doesn't matter
now. Our skills are ones they'll never have again.

I smell the tang of sea water mingled with dead
fish. This place isn't healthy in any sense of the word, but we're
close. Then I hear the boots.

Dave holds out an arm, and we run up against the
side of a house, all of our faces painted with fear. We're at the
front of a side yard, next to a house that might once have been
painted blue. Now the paint peels in long strips like a snake
shedding its skin. I sag against the house with Lily as the tramp
of boots echoes down the corridor of the street, bouncing off all
the windows, the constant rhythm telling me, “We're close, we're
close, we're close.”

They're hunting for us.

We need to hide. I see an open window leading into
the basement of the blue house. I squeeze Jack's arm and point. He
taps Dave and nods toward the window. We all slither through the
space. I panic for a moment as Kai gets stuck in the opening, but
then she rotates half on her back and slips through the rest of the
way. Mary closes the window and locks it.

We're in a small, dusty space filled with old
furniture and boxes, and the scurrying and squeaking retreating
into the corners tells me we share this space with smaller
creatures. The smell is horrible: moldy, dank, and with the stink
of animal excrement. But for a brief moment, we're safe. No one was
chasing us, so they may not even know that we've made it to this
town.

My mouth is so dry I feel like I'll choke on the
stump of my tongue. I look around, hoping for some sort of
provisions like Jack and I found in the gas station, but there's
nothing but rot here.

Kai leans back against a stack of moth-eaten
blankets and sighs deeply, rubbing her belly. Jack goes over to
her.

“
Are you okay?”

She nods. “The baby's really moving. I think he felt
too sloshed around out there, and now he's letting me have it.” She
smiles and closes her eyes.

Lily leans into me. “I didn't know your escape would
be quite so . . . vigorous.”

I smile, and she rubs my arm.

“
That Mary called me Nell back in
solitary. Who's Nell?”

My smile fades as I wonder if Nell's safe, if Red is
still there to protect her. I gently take Lily's hand. Her skin is
wrinkled and soft.

She was like a grandmother.

“
Well then I'm honored to be
confused with her. So where are we going?”

I can't help but laugh. Madge glares at me, but I
shrug. Lily followed us, pushed herself to breaking, and she has no
idea where we're going. I don't know if I deserve the faith she's
put in me. Now I have to get her to the beach and the submarine and
the promise of peace.

To the ocean. I'm a colonist.

Lily studies me, her eyes glinting. I smile at her,
glad I don't see open hostility on her face. “I always hoped those
bedtime stories I told my own babies were true.” She takes my face
in both hands, and cradles me there for a moment. “I'll never get
them to safety. I don't even know if they're alive or dead. But
thank you, Terra. You've jump-started my old heart, and I feel like
we could run another mile.”

Jack steps beside us and gently places two fingers
on Lily's wrist. His eyes close in concentration. “Good because
that's what we're doing next. And your heart is going strong. As
long as you let us help you, you'll be able to make it.”

Lily gives him a stern look. “Of course I'll make
it, young man. If they couldn't kill me in solitary, you certainly
aren't going to do it by running me ragged.”

Jack grins, and I can tell he sees the similarities
too. I have to know if Dave knows anything more than Mary did. I
take his hand.

Nell and Red?

His eyes are tired, the blue surfaces dull in the
dim light. He puts a hand to the back of his neck. “As far as I
know, Red got her out of there. We saw the choppers coming from
across the Sound, and Red took her and ran. Sam helped him. A few
minutes later the trucks came. Mary and I were loaded onto one
truck, but it was overflowing. Everyone else was loaded onto an
empty one. I didn't see any of the others at the camp. I don't know
where they are.”

I can only hope that Nell, Red, and Sam are safe
somewhere, out of harm's way. I picture Nell's silver hair, her
arthritic hands, her sweet smile, her way with growing things. She
would shrivel and die just like one of her hydrangeas if she were
in a labor camp. I wonder if she'd like the colony any better, or
if she'd be like me: hating the artificial lights and the dark
ocean that presses in on everything. If she'd only be happy in the
open air, even if it does mean danger at every turn.

“
She'll be fine, Terra,” Jack says
softly. “Red will take care of her.”

I know it's true. If anyone can protect her, it's
Red. And Sam is there too. He's young but he's strong and helpful.
I turn to face the room. Everyone looks at me with expectation all
over their faces, and I don't know what to do for them. What do
they want from me?

I take Dave's hand. A flicker of doubt gleams in
Jack's eyes as I do, and I'm not sure why. Dave's the most natural
leader among us right now, and Jack knows that. Is he jealous?
Still unsure of how I feel? And why not? I realize I haven't given
him any indication of how my feelings have changed—not changed,
exactly, but how I understand myself now. There just hasn't been
time. We'll get a free moment soon. We'll have to.

How long do we stay?

Dave and I peer out the window. From here we can
just catch a glimpse of the road beyond the side yard. It looks
vacant, but we still hear the sounds of marching soldiers, barked
commands, and trucks.

“
I don't know. Madge, Jane, Lily,
you've been in that camp the longest. How do these soldiers act?
How long will they patrol?”

Madge snorts. “You're sure a young pup to be in
charge.”

Dave crosses his arms over his chest, but he doesn't
look angry. “Tell me about it.”

Madge smiles. “They're out there because they think
we'll come this way. Which means they won't leave until they find
something that tells them otherwise.”

Mary smacks her hand against a box. “This is insane
sitting down here and hiding like penned animals. We'll miss the
sub if we just hide out here, waiting to be captured. We need to
go.”

Madge nods.

“
But we can't just go through the
streets,” Jack says. “There are soldiers everywhere. They'll either
shoot us on the spot, or worse we'll be captured.”

“
I'm not going back.” Lily's
resolute voice startles me. “I'm not going back to
solitary.”

The way her eyes shine from the slice of moonlight
coming through the window hardens me. I had been wavering before,
wavering between putting all their lives in danger and just hiding
for the rest of our lives. But we can't hide. Hiding is just
sitting still without reaching for something. We have to move. I
have to move. I can't be in this limbo any longer; it sets every
one of my nerves on edge.

As I head for the stairs, Jack grabs my arm.

“
Where are you going?”

I pull my arm away and head up. Jane sees my face
and she knows. We've been cooped up together long enough that she
knows. She follows me.

Madge laughs. “I think we're finally moving. About
time. I was getting the itches.”

Jack trails behind me. “Terra, are you sure? It's so
dangerous out there. If anything happened to any of us, if anything
happened to you—”

I whip around to face him, wishing I could just let
all the words spill out of my mouth. There are so many words right
now and not enough time to write them. The pain on his face, the
worry and heartache, cut at my heart. But there's never enough
time. Maybe he'll see it in my eyes. All I can do is squeeze his
hand and then continue on to the back of the house.

The back door faces south and opens out to another
backyard. I pull a tattered curtain back, but it doesn't look like
the soldiers are patrolling the yards, only the streets. There's so
many of us—and with a pregnant woman and a geriatric—maybe they
think all we can do is stick to the streets. I smile grimly. If
only they knew how badly Lily and Kai hate them and want to get to
the ocean, then they'd never underestimate them.

Jack touches my arm—he doesn't dare grab it this
time. “Are you sure?”

There is time for words now.
Y
ou want to hide forever?

His eyes instantly show his hurt, and I know even in
writing it sounded harsh. But I can't help it. He has to know that
I need to do this. This is a way that I can help these people, give
them a chance for a future. It is something I can do and no one
else. He falls behind me, and I feel cold without him by my
side.

As I open the door, it creaks on its hinges. I
wince, waiting for gunfire to erupt, but nothing happens, so I yank
the door open, ripping it off like a bandage. I try to smooth the
cringe off my face. I poke my head out and peer around. There's the
house behind this one and then the street beyond that. It doesn't
matter if the soldiers have made it that far. We're going.

I creep down the three steps into the overgrown
backyard. There's a swing set in one corner, and I wonder how long
ago children actually played here. Come to think of it, I haven't
seen very many children on the Burn at all, only the few at the
settlement. I hope they're kept safely tucked away. Madge looks at
the swing, her face wistful. My heart breaks for her. She'll never
have those children back. Kai grabs her hand, and Madge accepts the
unexpected gesture.

We walk through the grass, leaving trails behind us.
There's a gate separating the two backyards, but it's so rusted
shut we have no hope of opening it. I hop over the fence and then
turn to help Lily down as Jack boosts her up. Once we're all
across, we make our way through the yard and to the back of the
next house. It's a single story and feels so much smaller than the
house we just came from. It's stupid, really, feeling more exposed
next to this one, but I'm psyching myself out. I press into the
shadows of the house and inch along the side yard to the front and
the street.

I stop behind an overgrown flower bush. It's more
wood than leaves, and the leaves are shriveled and rasp against
each other as I bump up against them. I wait until we're all here,
all in a line. I peer up and down the street. I don't see any
soldiers, but that doesn't mean anything anymore. The moonlight
offers me only so much visibility. They could be camped out on
rooftops or sitting on the front porch in a rocker, their guns
across their knees, just waiting.

I'm ready to sprint across when Dave grabs me.

“
We can't all go at once. We'll be
too big of a target.”

I'm too twitchy right now. I'm glad
someone here is thinking straight. I grab his hand.
Me.

Mary whisper-laughs. “Right. You're
the only one who can get us to the sub. I'm quicker anyway.
I'll
go first.”

Dave's eyes linger on her but he nods his head. “Be
careful.”

She puts a hand to his cheek. “Always,” she says
with a smile on her face, like it's some kind of joke. I guess it
is. I haven't known Mary to ever be terribly careful about
anything.

She hunches over and steps a few feet beyond the
front of the house. She swivels her head side-to-side, but nothing
stops her as she suddenly bursts across the yard, her legs pumping
and her feet slapping across the concrete to the next patch of
lawn. Something crashes a few houses down, and I jump out. Mary's
still running, not safe yet behind brick and wood. I run out,
heedless of Jack grabbing at my shirt, trying to stop me.

I run, my heart racing and my breath coming in
gasps. Mary still tears across the lawn. The crash comes down the
street again, and I squint against the darkness. Out of the gloom
comes a feline shape with a waving tail. Just a cat. I could almost
laugh at myself, but then the manic grin disappears off my face as
I hear the thud of boots rounding the corner.

I wave frantically, and my friends pour out from
behind the house in a ragged line, racing across the lawn, the
street, the lawn for the cover of the next house. The first soldier
appears at the bend of the street, and there's no way he'll miss
our rag-tag bunch streaming across the moonlit open space before
them.

Lily just makes it to the shade of a sprawling tree
when the boots pick up speed and I can hear guns readying. Jack's
eyes are as wide as mine.