Nil (9 page)

“Wow.” I thought about the quake, another event in the real world I’d missed. “You wouldn’t happen to know how the Canucks finished last season, would you?” I joked.

“I don’t know how they finished, but I do know they beat the tar out of the Thrashers. Our team got pounded. It was bad.”

I stared at Charley.
Our team
, she’d said. Like she actually cared. “You follow hockey?”

“Just the Thrashers. We go to tons of games. They’re really fun.”

“Yeah.”
Charley likes hockey.

“Thad.” The smile was gone from her voice, bringing my thoughts to a halt. “What do you think’s happening back home? I mean, does anyone know about Nil? Is anyone coming to find us?”

Time for some hard Nil truth
. Just one piece. If you get it all at once, it’s too much to swallow, and I didn’t want Charley to choke.

“I don’t know,” I said with complete honesty. “I don’t know what they know, but here’s the thing: I wouldn’t count on any help from back home. There’re no ships, no planes, nothing ever even washes up here. There’re nothing but what’s on the island.” I paused. “There’s one way in and one way out. A gate.”

She nodded, no doubt letting the zero hope of rescue sink in. “What about you?” she asked quietly. “Where were you when your gate hit?”

Snowboarding, and pissed
. “I was on top of a mountain. I’d gone heli-boarding.” I paused, wrenched back to the moment. “There were four of us
.” Me, Jonas, Finn, and Carter, my best friend who’d just spilled his guilty guts about sleeping with my girlfriend
.

“Everyone else had taken off, I was catching my breath.”
And giving Carter some space before I beat the ever-living shit out of him.
“The sun was bright. I remember sweating in my gear. Then the snow went liquid, and I was more than sweating; I was burning. I passed out. When I woke up, I was here.”

“I passed out, too. I’d never fainted before in my life. And now I’ve fainted twice in two weeks.” She looked surprised.

Don’t be
, I thought. Nil was full of surprises. And to give Charley credit, she didn’t look like the fainting type. She actually looked like she might kick some ass if she got something to eat.

Charley was watching me. “Did you wake up in the red desert, too?”

“Nope. I landed at the base of the mountain.” I pointed.

“So gates can show up anywhere.”

Even though her statement wasn’t a question, I nodded.

“And they only come at noon?” Charley was connecting the dots.
It won’t be long
, I thought.

“Outbounds only flash at noon,” I said. “But incoming ones flash anytime. Mine dumped me here at night.”

“At night?” She looked horrified. “That’s awful. I can’t imagine waking up here in the dark.”

We walked in silence. I was gearing up to break the ultimate bad news.

“So the outbounds,” she said. “Do they always come in sets like waves?”

I wondered exactly how many gates she’d seen in her twelve days. “No. Singles are the most common, and the fastest. They’re racers, tough to catch because of their speed. Doubles are less frequent, but not by much. They move slower and are easier to catch. Triples are rare, but they happen. They tend to be drifters, even slower than doubles.”

“What about quads?”

“Quads?” I shook my head. “I’ve never seen one.”

“I have.”

“Hey, quick question,” I said. “Do you wear contacts?”

She laughed. “My vision’s fine. Twenty-twenty. And I did see a quad, in the red rock field, the day I arrived. It wasn’t moving that fast, but I didn’t catch it either.” She looked chagrined. “I didn’t think to chase it until the last wave. By then it was too far out.”

“I’m impressed. Most people run from gates at first, not after them.”

“Oh, I did that, too. Don’t forget—it was a quad. I had a few minutes to consider it.”

“Not that many minutes.” I still couldn’t get over the idea of a quad.
Giving us more chances, Nil, or are you playing the tease?
Now I had the hope of a quad, as well as the knowledge that we’d missed four solid chances to get off this rock. Surely Samuel could have made one of four. Or better yet, Li.

Charley was looking at me, expectantly.

“Since we’re talking about gates, let me give you the scoop on the City. We Search for gates in teams, and the longer you’ve been here, the greater your priority. And someone’s your Spotter.”

“Spotter?”

“Spotter.” I nodded. “We all show up naked, so glasses don’t make it. Or contacts. Some people wouldn’t see a gate five meters away, let alone fifty. You have to see the ground turn liquid in the distance, then watch it rise and roll. And you need to know which direction to run to intercept it. That’s the Spotter’s job—to spot the gate rising and tell you which way to go. All you do is run.” I paused. “Search teams are three or four people, five at the most. It gives the Spotter company on the return trip to the City, plus help carrying the gear.”

Ask it, Charley. Tell me how much you’re ready to swallow
.

She frowned. “Why doesn’t the whole team go through the gate?”

Atta girl. One down. Two to go.
“Because only one person can take a gate at a time. One person, one gate. Nil’s rules.”

Charley was island quiet.

Surely it’s part of Nil’s fun. Seeing rookies squirm as they put the pieces together. Watching as they finally see through the island’s façade. For Charley, Nil’s mask was just starting to crack. For some people, it all crumbles at once; for others, it falls one piece at a time. Either way, it disappears for everyone, eventually. Because it has to.

“And the gates take us back?” Charley asked, her voice remarkably steady. “Back home, back to the Target lot? Or do they take us somewhere else? Some other world?”

That’s two
, I thought.
One to go.
“I don’t know, Charley. No one does. But we know every incoming gate comes from our world, so it makes sense that outbounds take us back, like a loop. But the truth is, we don’t know. Not for sure.” I watched emotion whirl across her face, so fast and furious that I reached out to stop it.

“Hey,” I said, tilting up her chin with my finger, “it’ll work out. You’ll see your family again. I can’t promise it, but I believe it.” I sounded as fierce as Samuel the day before.

Charley’s golden eyes searched mine, like she was hunting for truths. For the last truth, the one that cracked Nil’s beautiful mask for good. She nodded, but her eyes stayed troubled.

“It’s okay.” I whispered the lie, the same one I told her yesterday.

Her eyes stayed on mine. “I have one more question,” she said.

Here we go
. The final question, breaking Nil’s mask to bits.

“Shoot,” I said, braced and ready.

“When I woke up this morning, I swear there was a cheetah pelt on that girl—Natalie’s—bed. Y’all have cheetahs here?”

Her question was not the one I was expecting. “Not that I know of, but there could be.” I smiled. “We’ve had the occasional cheetah, lion, and tiger, along with cows and goats.”

“Don’t forget the zebra,” she said, forcing a smile.

“Too right. We don’t want to leave him out.”

“How do you know it’s a him? It could be a her.”

“Point conceded.”

Charley’s eyes swept the trees. “Thad, my point is, Nil has dangers, like cheetahs, that we might not know about, right? Things we can’t see?”

“You got it,” I said.
Person, place, thing, or animal
. It’s always the things that are the toughest.

“Just trying to figure Nil out,” she said. She wasn’t smiling.

I knew I should tell Charley about the days. But I hesitated. Maybe because I didn’t want to ruin the morning. Maybe because once you know, it’s always on your mind, like a leech on your brain, sucking out hope. Or like a clock, counting off the minutes, only in my head it sounded like a detonator. The tick-tock, just before the
boom.

Soon enough
, I thought.
You’ll see Nil for what she is soon enough.

I didn’t tell her.

Charley filled the silence before I could. “So what’s the deal with the carving? The one on the black rocks, south of where we met?”

“The Man in the Maze?” I asked.

“The Man in the Maze,” she repeated, like she was feeling the way it sounded. “Exactly. Who carved it?”

“Don’t know.” I shrugged. “There’s an identical carving on the eastern side, near the rain forest, only that one has a woman in the middle.”

“What do they mean?”

“No clue,” I said.

She was quiet. Then, “What do you think they mean?”

“That we’re rats in a maze?” I said, grinning.

“I’m serious,” she said.

“So am I.”

For a long moment, the only sound was leaves crunching to dust under our sandals.

Then she stopped and looked straight at me. “Do you know anyone who’s made it out? I mean someone you know personally, Thad, not just someone you heard about?”

“Yes,” I said softly. “I do. I promise there’s hope, Charley.” Because I knew that was what she was asking.
Is there a chance? Or am I screwed?
“For all of us.” This time I wasn’t sure whether my words were for her or for me.

She nodded.

“So tell me about your family,” I said, desperate for a change of subject. “Is your sister older or younger?”

“Older. By ten months.” As Charley spoke, the words rolled off her tongue like sugar. I’d never met anyone like Charley, not on Nil, not anywhere. Her long legs matched mine stride for stride, and I liked that, too. I wondered if she liked to run.

She’d better
, Nil laughed.

In that moment, I knew Nil had made her move and that now she was playing dirty. Because as much as I hated Nil, I liked Charley more, and I couldn’t wait to know her better.

But I was leaving.

Nil says go. Nil says stay
. Nil was totally screwed up, or maybe that was me.

Charley had stopped talking.

“What were you saying about Em?” I asked, moved to fill the sudden silence.

Her head was tilted to the side. “Is that breakfast? Something smells delicious.”

“Definitely. I’m guessing roast fish, warm pineapple. It’s a break from yesterday’s roast fish and warm pineapple.” Smiling, I stole another look at Charley. She looked hesitant, almost nervous. I watched her lift her chin, like she was steadying herself.

“Hey,” I said, drawing her golden eyes. They were almost level with mine, another hot Charley-fact. But they were guarded, like when I’d first met her.

“I know it’s weird, coming into the City. Meeting people. Like a roller coaster of new. But don’t forget, everyone’s been in your sandals. If you want, I’ll stick close. Be your personal island guide.” I grinned.

Just say yes.

CHAPTER

14

CHARLEY

DAY 13, MID-MORNING

“Okay,” I said. “I’ve always wanted my very own island guide.” I was just happy I didn’t say island
god
, which is what I was thinking.

Then I smelled a wave of something yummy, and all I could think was
food
.

The fire ring hummed with action. Fish hung across the coals, and green cabbage-like leaves lay stacked in piles to one side. People milled around, maybe a dozen. Guys wore no shirts, showing off decent physiques, but most were on the thin side. One looked almost skeletal. The girls were similarly trim. Clearly the island diet was a hard-core weight loss plan, especially when you threw in the physical demands necessary to survive. Most girls wore wrap skirts like mine, and almost all had a cloth wrapped around their chest like I’d done with Kevin’s bandana. One girl had a halter like me, tied the same way, which was a relief. I’d never cared much about clothes, but that didn’t mean I wanted to wear them backward either.

Thad put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. As all heads turned toward us, he called, “Morning, everybody. Meet Charley.”

I felt like the new kid being introduced in the middle of the school year.

“As some of you know,” Thad was saying, “she found Kevin’s clothes. She’s been here thirteen days.”

Feeling all eyes on me, I automatically waved and smiled. “Hi, y’all.” Heads nodded, faces smiled. I recognized the girl who’d been under the cheetah quilt, Natalie. She waved back.

“And in case you didn’t hear, Charley’s not our only new arrival. Heesham roped a cow yesterday.” Several boys whooped and shouted. Thad smiled, raised his hand, and kept talking. “Jason says she’s a Holstein—that’s a dairy cow, people—so fresh milk is on the menu. Feel free to ask Jason for a lesson in milking. Last but not least, tonight’s a Nil Night.”

More whoops and smiles from the crowd. I was grateful he’d introduced me first, then the cow and the Nil Night, whatever that was. I was no longer the center of attention. If that had been his plan, it was awesome.

“So let’s get busy, and get lucky.” Thad saluted. As the conversations resumed, a boy strode over to us. Tan and wiry, the boy had dark hair that fell to his shoulders like Thad’s.
The standard male island haircut
, I thought.

“Hola, Charley.” The boy’s voice was soft. “I’m Miguel.” The carver, I remembered.

Before I could say hello, he turned to Thad.

“I need you, amigo. There’s something you need to see.” The intensity in Miguel’s voice gave me chills.

Thad nodded at Miguel. “Okay.” Turning to me, Thad’s eyes were dark. “Charley, why don’t you grab a bite? I know you’re starving. I’ll be back in a minute.” Then he smiled. “Watch for zebras, okay?”

Look for them or watch out for them
? Because somehow zebras seemed the least of my worries. Thad was already walking away, listening to Miguel, who spoke too fast for me to catch. My eighth-grade Spanish was weak to start with, and it hadn’t aged well.

And my island guide was gone.

Unsure what to do, I stood there in my ridiculously short skirt, feeling self-conscious and oddly alone.
Here’s your tribe
, I thought, looking around. But I felt like I was joining after the merge, late in the game.