Deliverance (22 page)

My gaze creeps to Guard Nev. He watches me intensely. “This is your decision,” he says.

“Why me?”

His eyes soften and he shrugs. “Why not you?”

I close my eyes and pray for strength before nodding. “Go ahead. I'm ready.”

Miriam raises the injector, and that is the last thing I remember.

…

…

I yank my arm away from whatever is searing it, but the pain persists.

“Stop,” I beg, trying to roll away. My head bumps something hard and I peel my eyes open. A wall.

There are no walls around my bed in Greater City. Groaning, I roll over to see where I am. Maybe they've sent me back home.

As my eyes adjust to the dim light, I take in the storage room in the
Priceco
in Broken City. Most of the people are now lifeless bodies as they rest in sleep, but a few sit in groups, whispering quietly. Guard Nev and Miriam notice me right away.

Guard Nev rushes to my side. “Are you OK?”

I attempt a nod, but really it hurts to move at all. “Why do I feel this way?”

“I'm sorry. We didn't want to tell you because I figured you'd rather not know.”

He's right. If I had known how much pain it would cause, I might have changed my mind. Changing my mind is no longer an option.

“It's the carrier gel,” Miriam explains. “Your body fights it until it acclimates. You're probably running a slight fever, and you'll have general achiness, but by tomorrow night you'll feel much better.”

I put a hand to my forehead. “I don't feel hot.”

She reaches out and grips my hand. “That's because your hand is burning up.”

“Don't you have any tech meds?”

“Tech meds don't work against carrier gel,” she says with a smile, “but we can give you something mild for the pain and fever.”

“Where is Kassy?”

Guard Nev and Miriam glance at each other. “She's safe,” Guard Nev says.

I don't like the way he says it, but I swallow the pills and lie back down to rest. I'm out again before I can ask what day it is.

 

 

 

 

35

 

Two days pass and it's the day before the shipment. I finally feel like myself again. The fever has been gone for twelve hours, or so they tell me, and I'm ready to do this. We're leaving today to meet the transport vehicles for the prison. People hurry around the store room, rushing and preparing. It's odd that they're doing it all for us when they don't even know us. They don't owe us anything.

Miriam has provided Guard Nev and me back packs to carry on our journey. When we leave the prison, we aren't to return to their camp. We have to figure out our own ways, which terrifies me, but her request makes sense. She has her people to protect, and if we return here we could lead the Greaters right to the Free's doorstep. That makes us a great danger.

I check the contents of my bag before I zip up—a Taser, which I remember the guards using back home, flashlight, dyno sticks, and dried fruits and meat, along with bottled water. It's enough to get us started, but not enough to sustain us for long. We'll have to carve out a life for ourselves, and Miriam suggests heading west. She says the Lesser cities in the west are guarded less, and the land is open and mostly free. She says she's heard that the people in the cities don't even know they're slaves for the Greaters—I know she's right.

Her advice is solid, but I have no intention of heading west, even if Guard Nev goes. My family, the people I love, are here. I will stay and fight for them. I'll find them if I can.

Days have passed since I left Greater City, which means Supreme Moon is aware I'm missing. Is he angry? Disappointed? Scared? He isn't one to let things go easily. I worry about Keegan. Supreme Moon will want to take my absence out on someone.

I whisper a prayer for him as I haul my bag onto my shoulder and move to meet Guard Nev.

We should be safe enough on our own, at least for now.

The same can't be said for Kassy. According to Guard Nev, she panicked when they stuck me with the ID gun. She wanted to leave immediately, but they couldn't let that happen. Not yet.

Muffled sobs come from a closed-off room behind me. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have brought her. How many bad decisions will I make before I start to make good ones?

Miriam promises Kassy will be OK. She says they will try to talk Kassy into staying with them, but no one has an answer for if she refuses to stay.

“Are you ready?” Guard Nev asks. He wears a pack on his back, and he's suited up in his guard uniform.

“Yep.” Miriam's people scrounged up a guard uniform for me. The oversized camos feel heavy on my body. I'm not used to so many layers, but Guard Nev assures me I'll get used to it.

“Circle around the south side of the city perimeters,” Miriam says. “The transport trucks will load near Lesser City 4. Be at that transport. The contact has put your names into the system.”

I bite my lip, only letting myself worry for a moment. How does the ”system” work? We were given fake names. I only hope I can remember mine. What if it flags our pictures? After a moment, I let the fear go. This is the only way to make things better. We have to expose the deception for what it is.

Miriam gives Guard Nev a few more instructions, and I try to focus on what she says, but I know so little and they seem to know so much. Kassy's advice about getting directions on the HELP comps is coming in useful, and I try to picture the maps I saw there. Broken City lies to Greater City's southwest. We will follow along the southern border, making our way back east. That is where Lesser City 4 lies.

I swallow around the lump in my throat. If I get caught, that might be where I end up.

Miriam puts her hands on my shoulders so I'm facing her directly. “You are stronger than you know. You can do this.”

“Thank you.” The words are confident. Too bad I don't feel that way at all.

She shakes hands with Guard Nev then we make our way into the open air. Dusk is falling, casting an eerie shadow on Broken City. For the first time, I try to imagine what all of this looked like when it was new. Did it appear as bright and shiny as the new buildings in Greater City? Did the people smile and greet each other in the streets, living in confidence as the Greaters do? It's hard to picture it being anything like that, especially in this wasteland.

“This way,” Guard Nev says, and we head southeast, keeping the sinking sun on our right. For hours we walk, our boots crunching across broken gravel and then overgrown grasses as we circle the city. The night sky is an inky black as we near the road. I glance in the direction of the prison and narrow my eyes. Red lights shine in the sky. The people in Greater City must see them. Do they ever ask questions, or has all of their curiosity been bred out of them? Has Guard Nev ever seen it?

“Look.”

Guard Nev turns and frowns. He stares at the lights. “What is that?”

“I don't know. Some type of flying machine. I saw it back home a few months ago. It's what made me start looking for answers in the first place.”

He stares for long moments until he finally turns back to the path. “Let's—”

A rumbling moves toward us. Guard Nev's eyes widen and he grabs me and pushes me into the brush. “Stay down,” he whispers.

We keep our faces low to the ground. Bristles and thorns scrape my cheek, but I don't move a muscle even when blood trickles down my face.

An entourage of trucks rumbles past us.

When the road is clear, Guard Nev stands up. “Stay here. I'm going to make sure it's safe to move.”

He creeps away, leaving me alone in the dark brush. I close my eyes, pretending I don't hear crawling things in the tall grass.

Low I am with you always, even unto the ends of the earth.

The memory of the Bible verse offers a tiny bit of comfort, but I don't open my eyes until Guard Nev nudges me with his boot. “It's clear.”

He helps me to my feet and we continue to the side of the main road, making our way to Lesser City 4. If it's as bad as Berry said, then I'm not looking forward to visiting.

We walk for a few more hours, and light is breaking as I see the first hint of a wall in the distance. My feet ache and the pain reaches up my shins.

“Let's rest here,” Guard Nev says. “They'll leave this afternoon, and we'll be there, but for now we need to sleep.”

Sleep sounds good.

“Go ahead,” he says, looking me over. “I'll let you sleep for a few hours, then you can take watch.”

I nod, too tired to care. I pull off my boots and inspect my aching feet. Blisters burn my heels and big toes, and I pour a small amount of cool water on each one.

“Save that,” Guard Nev advises. “It won't last long.”

He's right. I put the water away, replace my boots, and lay my head in the overgrown grass. My eyes are heavy, and I know it won't take long to fall asleep. As I drift further away, I have one last thought. I am no longer Greater. I am not Middle or even Lesser.

I am Free.

 

 

 

 

36

 

The rumbling of transport trucks wakes me. It's early afternoon by the way the sun hangs in the sky, and I sit up to look around. The first truck stops at the gates of Lesser City 4, and Guard Nev watches it from his hiding spot.

“You were supposed to wake me,” I say.

He doesn't respond, but I have to admit he looks much more refreshed than I feel. Maybe guards are used to less sleep than civilians.

“What's the plan?” I ask.

Guard Nev and I crouch behind the brush, watching the trucks. We'll never get inside the city unless we're on one of those trucks, but how will we get on without being seen?

“Do you see the way they slow down as they approach the gate? We'll wait until the last truck approaches, and when it slows we'll jump onto the back.”

Each truck has a pedestal and metal handles on its back corners. It'll be easy to get on, and once we're in, no one will question our names being on the list.

“Got it,” I say, even though I've never jumped anywhere.

Four more trucks pull through, and the one bringing up the rear of the convoy moves more slowly than the others. We inch our way toward the roadside, careful to stay hidden behind the overgrown brush. As the last truck approaches our hiding place, Guard Nev looks at me.

“On three.”

I nod.

“One, two, three!”

I leap for the truck. My shin bangs the pedestal, but my arms reach the metal handle, and I haul myself to a standing position. When I look over, Guard Nev already stands on his pedestal. He nods in approval, but I stare in awe. How did he get over there so quickly?

The truck stops at the gate and guards from Lesser 4 swarm the trucks, scanning each guard's identification. They come to Guard Nev and me, and we hold out our arms. My heart stutters in my chest. What if Miriam's contact didn't get the information into the system in time?

The guard barely glances at us, just scans and moves on. Once he's out of sight, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I smile at Guard Nev, triumphant, but he doesn't return my excitement.

I swallow hard, remembering that we haven't accomplished anything yet. We won't achieve our goal until we're on our way out of the prison.

The truck gets the final nod of approval, and we are jostled inside the city. We approach a huge warehouse and are parked before we have time to think. The guards pour from the trucks, so Guard Nev and I hop down and join them. I clasp my hands behind my back, trying my best to mimic some of the others.

A head guard steps to the front of the group. “Each group of prisoners will be chained together. Your trucks are numbered one through five, and each group of prisoners is marked for a specific numbered transport. Once the groups are in your trucks, go over the manifests to make sure each one is there.”

He finishes his instructions and the guards move en masse toward the warehouse. I step into line with them, but my eyes are busy scanning the warehouse. Could Fischer be here? Could Jamie? How likely would they be to send a pregnant girl to the prison? If everyone's suspicions are right, then Supreme Moon is using the criminals of the country to fight in some type of war. It doesn't make sense, since criminals hardly seem like the best choice for soldiers.

My stomach twists at the thought of war. Who are we at war with when we've never been told there were others out there?

I don't recognize anyone in the warehouse at first glance, and no one looks remotely pregnant. Just the opposite, these prisoners are skin and bone. I help hustle a long line of them out of the warehouse and into a transport truck. Then I head back to assist another group.

Once everyone is inside, I find Guard Nev. “Which truck do I get on?”

“I saw the master manifest for truck four. My name was on it, but yours wasn't.”

Great. So I need to be on one of the other trucks and I have no idea how to find out which one it is. “OK. Let me see what I can figure out.” I march away, a guard on a mission.

Swallowing my fear, I step up to the driver's side of one of the trucks. “One of these prisoners looks out of place. Has anyone checked the manifest?”

The guard shrugs and hands me a clipboard with a sheet of paper. “Go at it.”

I smile and nod, trying to hide the immense relief washing over me, and I step to the back of the truck to scour the list for my name. It's not there. That's two trucks down and three to go. I return the clipboard and make my way to the next truck in the convoy.

No one sits in the cab of the truck. I glance around to make sure I'm not being watched, and I haul myself inside to search for a manifest.

“What do you think you're doing in there?” A guard stands at my feet, which are hanging out of the truck. He scowls and rips the manifest from my hands.