Compliance (23 page)

“You’ve got a new mission.”

“Fine. Give me their names and employee numbers.” With all that’s happened the past few days, I’ll be happy to save a few Deviants. A new mission will be a welcome distraction, even if I have to trust Zina to get the kids to safety.

“It’s not an extraction,” she says. “This mission’s more important.”

I step back. “I’m not doing
anything
under your orders. You aren’t my FA contact anymore—if you ever were.” Zina is a liar. And even if she has a legitimate mission for me, now that I know more about the FA’s tactics, I’m no longer certain I want to be involved.

“Believe me, I’m not coming to you by choice.” Zina makes a face as if she’s eaten bad meat.

“Fine, get someone else.”

“Rolph needs your special talent.”

I frown.

“He wants to send a message to Management, to hit them where it hurts.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “You’ve got access to Senior Management. Next time you get close to the VPs, kill one.”

I shake my head. “No way. I’m not killing for Rolph. Not for anyone.”

She rolls her eyes. “I told Rolph you weren’t strong enough, that you couldn’t do it.”

“I
could
do it.” My stomach tightens. “I
won’t
.”

“Don’t be scared,” she says. “Assuming you can do what Rolph says, the VP’s death will look like natural causes.”

“I’m not committing a murder. And this doesn’t even
make sense. If it looks like natural causes, how would it send a message?” Zina’s setting me up.

“You let Rolph worry about that part.”

“I won’t do it.” I lift my chin. “Unless the FA has another extraction for me, I’m done. Finished with the FA.” Killing is wrong, no matter what justification.

She widens her stance. “This isn’t a request, Soldier. It’s an order.”

“And if I refuse?”

She smirks. “Then, little girl, you are done. If you refuse to follow orders, we can’t trust you and”—her eyes narrow—“you know way too much about us to live.”

Back in the barracks, I jump up onto my bunk and close my eyes. I can’t stop shaking. Zina was clear: do what the FA asks or I’m dead.

Her power to transform herself is terrifying. It’s so much more than I ever thought a Deviant could do. I curl on my side and tuck my hands under my pillow.

Nothing makes sense. I thought my life was complicated when I was sneaking out of the COT barracks nightly to save Deviants, but now that duplicitous life seems simple and easy. It might have been dangerous, but at least I had a clear purpose. At least I knew I was doing some good. At least I knew whom to trust.

Now everything’s turned upside down. Someone in Management has become the closest thing I have to a mother, the Hospital is saving Scout and making it safe to live Outside, and the FA asked me to kill.

I need to talk this through with someone, but whom? I’m completely cut off from Dad and Drake, and I can’t talk to Cal without betraying the FA, putting him in more danger.

And I can’t talk to Burn. I no longer understand him. I know he feels terrible when he kills—I’ve witnessed it, talked to him about it—so how can he reconcile what the FA and terrorists are doing?

His mere reappearance has turned me inside out, flipped me end on end, spun me so fast I feel dizzy, unable to see my path clearly. If I could roll back time, my life might regain an ounce of its normalcy, a pinch of its purpose.

I need to do an extraction. If I find someone, Burn will get them out.

My eyes snap open.
Gage’s family.
I found them in the System days ago, and based on what I read, his son Tobin’s in danger. As an added bonus, extracting Tobin will get Burn out of Haven and away from the rebels. I still don’t know how I’m going to stop them from bombing the Hub, but I can make sure Burn doesn’t take part.

I slide my hand under my pillow and my fingers strike something—a slip of paper.

Shaking, I read the word Laundry, along with tomorrow’s date and the time of 2300 hours. Given the location, it seems safe to assume that this is a time and place for a rebel meeting, but who left this note here?

My chest freezes.
The mole.
Whoever the mole is, he’s on to me. He knows I met with the rebels, and he has access to my room.

I
SHAKE THE
fabric flap that forms the door to Gage’s family’s apartment, and a woman lifts the door, holding a knife.

Graying hair frizzes up around her face as she stares at me with fierce eyes. “Get away. Leave us alone.” Her voice is scratchy.

“Wait.” Risking my fingers, I grab the edge of the fabric as it drops. “Theresa, I knew your husband. I want to meet you and your kids.”

I poke my fingers through a gap between the fabric door and its metal frame, risking an attack from that knife. The raspy breathing tells me she’s still close by on the other side, probably hoping I’ll give up and leave, but I hold my ground.

Finally, the fabric lifts to form a long triangular opening.

“Hurry,” she says.

I slip inside and she cranks a small lantern. A frail-looking girl, who seems younger than fourteen, clings to her side.

“You must be Kara.” I smile. “I’m Glory.” I want to tell them that Gage survived his expunging, but I can’t. It’s against FA protocol to mention anyone Outside, and besides, until I’m certain I can help reunite their family, mentioning him seems unfair. “I knew your Dad.”

Theresa grabs a fistful of my t-shirt and pulls me forward. “Don’t you talk about that man to my daughter. He was a Deviant. He was expunged. We’re trying to forget we ever knew him.”

“Sorry.” I lift my hands in surrender. “But Gage was kind to me. When I heard what happened, I wanted to meet his family. I’m sorry it took me three months to come by.” She drops my shirt and I look around the small space.

“Where’s Tobin?” I ask.

Kara lets go of her mom and backs up a few steps. Fear invades Theresa’s angry eyes. “Who?” Her voice shakes.

“Your son.”

“I don’t have a son.” Theresa’s voice is clipped and her hand trembles as she raises it to push stray hairs behind her ear. “Where did you get the idea I had a son?”

“Theresa.” I take a tiny step forward. “It’s okay. I would never ever turn him in. No matter what.”

She flinches. “Can’t turn in someone who doesn’t exist.”

“Okay.” My gut twists. Theresa’s unpleasant, but I get her denial. She doesn’t trust me and wants to protect him.
“I must have misunderstood when Gage said he had two kids.”

Her head jerks to the side. “That man was a liar. Typical Deviant.” She spits the second word out like poison.

I look down. “I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought.”

Her eyes narrow. “How
did
you meet him?”

I smile. “In the Hub, in line for the ration store.” Anticipating this question, I came prepared.

Theresa squeezes her arms tight to her sides. “He never went to the ration store. I did.”

“Every time?” I tip my head, keeping my cool. Then I smile and nod, like I’m remembering. “That must be why he asked my advice about which line had the freshest vitamin powder. I’d forgotten.” I shake my head. “Mostly, I remember all the nice things he said to me about you and your kids.”

Her shoulders jerk. “Kid. Singular. I have one child. A daughter.”

My heart rate goes up. The more she denies Tobin’s existence, the more I want to save him. Assuming I’m not too late. A chill races through me. Gage told me that someone close to him betrayed him to the Comps. I’m starting to wonder if it could have been his wife. If that’s true, how terrible. I feel sick. What if she did the same thing to Tobin? Could she turn in her own son?

“I’m going to boil some water,” Kara says from the far side of the small room. “Would you like a drink?”

Theresa spins toward her daughter, then back to me. “Yes. Sit.” She gestures to a spot on the floor. “Where are
my manners?” Her voice is flat. “Have a drink before you go.”

I lower myself to the floor as Kara takes a small pot filled with water out of the room, presumably to use whatever stove they have access to up in this Pent. The actual room’s a different shape but about the same overall size as the one I grew up in. I’d guess about sixty square feet. But at least our apartment had a door and solid walls on all sides, reportedly because it had been used for clothes storage BTD. This apartment was clearly partitioned off from a much larger space.

“Kara is even prettier than Gage described,” I tell Theresa after her daughter’s out of the room. “He talked about you all with such warmth and love.”

Theresa’s cheek twitches. “Can’t trust anything a Deviant says. They’re out to destroy Haven.”

Staying cool, I don’t answer. I’m treading on dangerous territory. I scan the room, looking for possible hiding places.

“My home not good enough for you?” Theresa says. “You look well fed. Your folks in Management?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I was just thinking how homey this is. It’s so much like the Pent I grew up in.” And there’s no way Tobin’s in here. The only furniture is a single mattress rolled up against the wall and a small metal box. There’s nowhere to hide.

“You really from the Pents?”

I nod.

She bends forward and puts her head in her hands. “It’s so hard. We had enough trouble feeding the kids with two
of us, but now with me alone…” Her voice trails off and she looks up and away from me, eyes glassy in the fading light.

“Kids?” I say.

She shakes her head. “Kara. One kid.”

“You can trust me,” I tell her.

She leans back. “With what?”

“With anything you want to tell me.” I reach forward to the lantern and turn the crank; she doesn’t object.

“Have you known any Deviants?” she asks. “I mean, besides my late husband?”

I nod, hoping this is my opening and she’ll admit Tobin exists and tell me where to find him. “My father was expunged over three years ago.”

She shakes her head. “You know how it is for my Kara, then. How horrible it was to learn of her father’s betrayal and be left with only one parent.”

“My mother died—before my father was exed.”

“Oh.” She leans toward me, and her expression softens. “So it’s just you? All alone? You poor thing.”

I don’t respond, not wanting to lie again but not wanting to mention Drake, or that my father survived his expunging, although I’m not sure how much more risk it would create at this point. I’m exposed. If this woman did turn Gage and her son in to the Comps, I could be next.

“Ah.” She takes my wrist and taps on my bracelet. “I see you’re not alone.” One side of her mouth crooks up and her eyes turn wistful. “A young man.” Her fingers slide over my dating license. “What’s his name?”

“Cal.”

“And does he have a good work placement? Is he happy?”

My stomach clenches. “He’s in Construction and Maintenance.” It’s not a complete lie. He was assigned to C&M for over two years before starting COT.

Kara returns, dips a tin mug into the steaming water, and passes it to me. “Sorry. We’re out of flavor powder until ration day.”

“This is wonderful.” I take the mug of plain water and let the steam fill my nose. “Yum.”

She serves her mother, then herself, and sits down cross-legged beside me.

“Are you enjoying GT?” I ask Kara. “What’s your favorite subject?”

She shrugs and I remember how annoyed I used to get when adults would ask me about GT and my classes, as if it were the only possible topic to bring up with a kid. But with the denial of Tobin’s existence like a shield between us, I can’t think of anything else to discuss. I need to make them comfortable so they’ll trust me.

Kara’s hand bumps into my leg. At first I ignore it, thinking I’ll embarrass her if I draw attention, then she does it again. I slide my right hand down my leg to the floor near her hand and she passes me what feels like a slip of paper. Where would Kara get the rations to buy paper?

Without looking toward her, I slide the paper up my leg. Pretending I’m scratching an itch, I tuck it into the waistband of my slacks.

“Have you graduated GT?” Kara asks, her cheeks pinking.

“Yes, last quarter.”

“Where did you get placed?” Theresa asks, and I sip my water, trying to decide how to answer. I’ve run out of lies and the energy to create more.

“I’d better get going.” I hand the mug to Kara and stand. “I just remembered how early I have to get up tomorrow. It’s past curfew so I’ll have to be extra careful getting home.”

“Where do you live?” Kara asks.

“In the Pents over in the far eastern sector.” At least that’s where I used to live.

“You’ve got a distance to go then.” Theresa starts to stand and I offer her a hand, surprised when she takes it and lets me help her. Her palm is rough and cold.

“Thank you so much for the hot drink,” I say. “It was so nice to meet you both. I’m so sorry about, about… Gage.” There’s no delicate way to discuss an expunging.

Theresa unclips the hooks locking the fabric door, “Come by again.”

“Thank you,” I say, but I can tell by her tone that she doesn’t mean it. Still, I’ll be back. I need her to trust me if I’m going to help Tobin. Next time I’ll convince her I can keep him safe.

Walking down the hall, the folded paper from Kara digs into my skin and I stop under a faint light in the hall to unfold it.

It’s an address and the word: roof.

Tobin. Have I found him? Even if Theresa wants to deny she has a son, Kara hasn’t forgotten her little brother.

Thinking of Drake pricks the backs of my eyes and
makes me want to find Tobin right now. But I should talk to Burn first to set the extraction plans. If Tobin’s hidden on the roof, his sister must be bringing him food. He can sit tight one more night.

“W
HY IS THERE
a wall outside Haven?” Ansel asks as we all study the map that our instructor, Mr. Mendell, projected onto the wall at the front of our classroom. The map shows not only the footprint of the dome, but also the big lake to our south and the wall that surrounds Haven about a mile out.