Numbers Ignite (21 page)

Trying to remember my march down into this mountain, I mentally traced the trail all the way up. The fire was headed straight for the larger, newer structures—the loftier citizens’ homes. Mills probably lived up there.

I glanced around, looking for the guard, but he was nowhere to be seen. Went home as soon as his shift ended, probably. Or maybe Mills had ordered him away, hoping someone would kill me and spare him the trouble.

My hands gripped the bar, and I took satisfaction in squeezing until it hurt. Those higher settlers wanted me dead, every single one of them.

I could sit back and watch. Easy as falling back asleep. I was in no danger, and neither were my people. It was the settlers who were the problem, and surely someone would discover the fire any second now and raise the cry. They could use a bit of humbling anyway.

The smoke was heavier now, but it still reminded me of home. The smoke that had whirled amongst popping flames and brought me delicious smells of breakfast as a boy was the same smoke that had eventually filled the camp with the scent of death. That scene was about to repeat itself tonight.

I owed my accusers nothing.

The smoke swirled in front of me again, stinging my eyes. The fire nearly doubled in size with each passing minute, and the wind seemed to carry the smoke across the lake and straight to my cage. It reminded me so much of home that it hurt. The last time I’d seen my dad, it was through haze like this. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die. He would have raised a cry by now.

The realization sent guilt like pain down my spine. What had I become?

“Fire.” It came out as a croak. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Wake up! There’s a fire!”

Six calls and the dark structures finally stirred. I didn’t stop yelling until several people, all men, emerged from their doorways and headed my direction. I pointed across the lake.

One of them stopped dead in his tracks and took up my cry. “Fire! Somebody sound the alarm.”

Everyone on this side of the lake was awake now, and I heard the shout being carried above us. A crowd gathered around my cage. “I can’t believe they haven’t woken up yet,” someone muttered. “That’s got to be louder than a stampede and hotter than hell.”

“Probably all passed out from a late night partying, like always,” a woman said. “Serves them right.”

“Who’s in charge of the alarm?” the first man said. “We’re wasting time!”

“Now, wait a second,” the woman said, looking guilty. “The divide will keep us safe. We don’t need to worry about no fire. Let them suffer a bit and remember that they’s people just like the rest of us.”

Several murmurs from the crowd made me frown. She wasn’t the only person who felt that way.

The man stiffened. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?” the woman snapped. “You can bet they wouldn’t say a word if the fire was on this side. They’d dance with joy to have us gone.”

“Just curious,” one man said. He approached my cage and stopped in front of the door. I recognized him from somewhere but couldn’t quite place him. “I wonder why this boy decided to raise the alarm, seeing as how he’s doomed and all.”

Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to me. I shrugged. “It’s true that they deserve what they get. But if we let them die, we’re no better than they are.”

“This ain’t about philosophical stuff,” a man grumbled.

“At the very least,” I continued, “they’ll lose their homes. You really think the higher settlers will let you keep your shelters while the higher settlers use rocks for pillows?”

“They’ll have to fight us off,” someone said.

“And it’ll be war. More people dead. Details can be worked out later, but lives can’t be replaced.”

Shouts echoed from across the lake. Someone had noticed the fire—finally—and raised the alarm. People began streaming out of the hazy buildings.

“Grab buckets, cups, bowls, anything that can hold water,” I said. “Cross the divide and get yourselves wet in the lake. Form a line from the water up. Try to get above the fire line if you can and either remove the dry vegetation or wet it down. It may not do much, but it’s all we’ve got at this point. Just
stay wet
. Wouldn’t do to lose any of you. Remember, the better off they are up top, the better off we are down here.”

The familiar man cocked his head as if examining me under a glass but finally shook his head. “Well, Hawking has a point. Let’s get moving.”

And they did. They actually went. The crowd grumbled, and I got more than one dirty look, but they went. The group filed back into their homes to retrieve containers, and then it began. Some swam across the lake; others ran around. They arrived at about the same time and sprang into action.

I watched them from my cage, frustrated with the bars that caged me.

When the sun came up, the fire had been beaten back. It wasn’t completely out. I could see lines up people dumping lake water onto it. The heavy smoke turned white as it thinned and died. It had been three or four hours at most. The entire settlement seemed to be there, a huge black swarm of exhausted workers. It was hard to tell the high settlers from the lower ones from this distance, and it was probably hard for them too. I knew their faces and clothing would be charred and blackened. They’d fought a battle together and won. It was a double victory.

“I heard what you did,” a voice drawled.

I turned to find an older man with a trimmed mustache and an expensive-looking dark blue jacket. He held a wooden cane in one hand but barely leaned on it. He looked down a bulbous nose and smiled. The only way to tell was the faint movement of his mustache.

“What did I do this time,” I grumbled, “blow up the moon?”

“Nah, I mean last night,” he said. “I been talking to your people, and they told me. You rallied the lower sections to come help when they resisted the idea.”

“Forgive them for not racing immediately to the rescue, but it’s tough when you upper settlers treat them like trash.”

“That we do,” the man said, not sounding sorry at all. He caught me looking at his jacket and nodded. “I stayed late at a friend’s. Tried to go home this morning to find the south side of my house completely charred. They woke up my daughter and got her out in time. She’s fine.”

“Good.” I wasn’t sure where the guy was going with this.

“My daughter is deaf. If your people hadn’t broken in and grabbed her when they did, she may not have woken up in time. You saved her life.”

“
I
saved nobody. I stood here and watched the whole time.”

“You’re locked away, Hawking. If free, you would’ve helped like you did when the missile hit. Rumors can be powerful, you know, and most of them are about you.”

“Let people say what they want.”

He pulled something out of his coat pocket and set it on the floor of the cage. I picked it up. A yeast roll, white and fluffy and still soft.

“It’s a noble thing you did,” he said. “Some people are wondering when you’re going to challenge the governor for his position.”

I felt my eyes widen. This man was halfway to the loony house. “I’m just happy nobody’s put a bullet in my head yet.”

“We need someone who can see past all the lines we’ve drawn between ourselves, boy, and that’s you. ’Course, I wouldn’t challenge him until you’re sure to win because the losers always disappear.”

“You mean he kills them off.”

He shrugged. “Not right away, but eventually, all mysterious-like. Anyway, just thought I’d plant the idea.”

Then he plodded his way up the trail again and disappeared into the smoky haze covering the valley.

The settlers slept in the cavern that night, piles of shivering bodies strewn amongst blankets and rolled-up clothing. Infants and sobbing children sounded here and there, but my mind had learned to block them out. What it hadn’t learned to block out was the huddled figure sitting with his back against the door. Coltrane hadn’t moved from that spot in ten hours. He hugged his knees, head down, his torn and bloody shirt still visible from where I sat. Once in a while a shudder racked his body. Dozens of settlers had filtered past to give him a hug and wish him well. I’d just walked away.

I couldn’t face him.

The dream came again that night. As always, hundreds of bodies littered the ground, their eyes fixed on me. The empress laughed. Tali lay silent, her body twisted among the wreckage of a building.

“You’ve killed us all,” the group said as one.

“Death follows me,” I whispered, “but I don’t cause it.”

“You’ve killed us all.”

“I’ve never wanted anyone to die!” I burst out in frustration. “I’m not the one who did this. Why won’t you leave me in peace?”

The bodies watched me, unblinking.

Suddenly Tali was right next to me. Instead of the bald, broken body in the ground, she was the way I remembered her—choppy dark hair, slightly smudged uniform, a smile lighting her eyes. “You’re smarter than that, Treena,” she said. “You know we’re not talking about the bomb.”

I sighed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“We are the people of NORA,” she said simply. “You didn’t kill us with explosives. You killed us when you left.”

Ruby shook me awake, her eyes were red rimmed and swollen. I wondered if she’d slept at all. She held an orange-yellow quilt tightly around her shoulders, and I recognized it as the divider that had hung in her doorway. “Amy, dear, wake up.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked in alarm.

“Nothing.” She chuckled. “Well, everything, but let’s not get technical here. The settlers will wake soon, and they’ll expect a plan. I believe I have one. But I need your input.”

I rubbed my eyes and glanced at the figure blocking the door. Coltrane lay on his side, his back to me, one arm extended over his head. The sight was like a punch to the gut. I looked away, swallowing hard. “What help would I be?”

“I found the excavator,” Ruby said. “You see that pile over there, covered with the tarp?”

It was just a dark shadow, but I nodded.

“If we can get it to work, we can carve out a tunnel to the surface. I’m assuming that’s why Lillibeth stored it in here. But I’m not sure whether NORA will be waiting for us out there.” She hesitated. “And since I haven’t set foot outside in many months, I need to know if there is anywhere safe left for us to go.”