Escape from Harrizel (16 page)

***

It’s Lecture Time again.

Donned in the same red robe with black
lining, Beshib is going through the same routine as last time,
describing how we killed ourselves and sacrificed everything to
feed our greed. Tonight, however, Beshib finishes his encouraging
speech with a bit more news.

“Lastly,” he concludes, “it’s come to my
attention that the humans have contracted a new disease in the
colony,” he emphasizes his accusation toward us. “In fact, I heard
of one particular passing—most terrible, indeed,” he nods to
himself, his hands at his back. “News of her treachery did make its
way across my path. Not treachery in the
worst
way, you
understand,” he continues turning about the trunk, his crimson robe
flapping with each black booted step, “but treachery, regardless.
With warnings, with well-intentioned advice to not go out,
not
to encounter potentially lethal wildlife, she couldn’t
be convinced and found herself in this manner.” He stops, scanning
us. “Do you see, now? Disobeying our orders—which are put in place
for
your
good,
your
safety—will only bring harm.
We’re doing our best to remedy this situation but we can only work
so fast. In the meantime, you’ll find a pill in your left sleeve
pocket.”

Everyone in the room checks their arm at the
same time.

Running my fingers over the scratchy blue
material, I feel a tiny bump, like a rock in the padding. Pulling
back a cleverly hidden flap, I reach in, rolling out the small
lavender pill as I hold it between my finger and thumb.

“A tablet,” Beshib goes on, waiting for each
of us to find it. “It will not completely cure you of the berry
juice ailments but it will help prevent it from being passed
to
you.” He waits a moment before advising with a hint of
instruction. “You may take it now.”

I can’t believe how willing everyone is.
Without a second’s hesitation, people slip the pill in their mouth
like ordered. Grasping it between my fingers, I bring my hand to my
mouth, imitating the gesture.

A satisfied grin sneaks across Beshib’s
lips. “Very good. We will notify you when you need to take it
again, so you don’t pass it on. Not that it’s
contagious
,”
he corrects quickly, worried at his misnomer’s effect. But we all
stand, listening to his words bounce around us. Encouraged by our
unresponsiveness, he goes on, “…So don’t let it upset Leisure Time.
Just know it’s easy to contract these diseases from the environment
around you. That’s why we request—we
plead
—that you stay
within the gate. If temptation should get the best of you, think of
your responsibility to your human race.”

He offers a lowly dipped, overly gracious
bow before leaping from the trunk and into the parting crowd below.
And then he’s gone.

The music starts and the room erupts into
itself, the heavy layer of lust settling like usual. And just like
that, people are back to their routines without any idea of what
they just put in their body. Unless they feigned it like me?
They’ve got to be smarter than taking something the Dofinikes give
us. But I need to know for certain.

Taking off, I weave through the crowd in
search of Sampson or Reid or Pratt. Maybe one of them will have
information on this pill. Curving toward the West wall, I locate
Reid instantly, but stop as I find him paired off with a beautiful
honey-haired girl. She grasps his scrub with desperate fingers,
demanding his attention, but he’s not listening. He eyes the crowd,
finding interest in anything else,
everything
else. About to
retreat, I step back and bump into a body behind me.

“Careful there,” Walker steadies me,
“wouldn’t want to endanger you twice in one day.”

“Oh—sorry.”

“You just don’t know when to quit,” he folds
his arms, “do you? Your first day and then today? What’s going
through that insane head of yours?”

“At least I’m trying.”

“To get yourself killed? Yeah, we’re aware
of that,” he grins, leaning in, “look—that thing you did earlier
was amazing. Really. No one’s stood up to Tetlak.
Ever
. It
got a lot of people talking… but no one’s ready to back you yet. So
you got to cool it before things heat up.”

“Thought they only took you if you tried to
escape?”

“I’m sure they’d make an exception,” he eyes
something over my shoulder, his face growing stern. He looks to me
again, “I got to bounce. Just… remember what I said, all
right?”

He dashes through the crowd and disappears
behind a shield of dancing bodies. And suddenly, Reid’s here, in
front of me, standing where Walker stood mere seconds ago. It feels
a lot closer. “Is Raj still pushing him on you?”

“No. He just wanted to say hi.”

“Sure he does,” Reid stares off after him.
Finally, he abandons the mission, returning his focus to me. “So…
did you take it?”

“Give me credit,” I bring up my hand,
revealing the tablet still hidden between my fingers. “Like it
isn’t obvious.”

“Well, you and me.”

“The others?”

He nods.

“What do you think it is?”

“Not an antidote,” he rolls his eyes,
“that’s for sure.”

“Does this happen often? Pills?”

“Never. Only when we first get here. You’re
still new,” he glances over me, reminding himself, “didn’t Jeb give
you something when you woke up?”

“Yeah… he did actually.”

Something’s ticking behind Reid’s eyes which
suddenly get lost in the distance. He frowns, reading movement to
the right before quickly pulling me back to the wall. He wedges me
between two couples and before I realize what he’s doing, he
flattens his body on mine.

“Pretend to be intimate,” he leans in,
brushing his lips against my neck and igniting the fireball
somewhere below. I stiffen as the fiery roots burn their way up my
chest and down, into the unexpected yearnings of my loins. He
senses me tensing beneath him and, releasing his grip on my hips,
rests his mouth at my jaw. “Relax…”

My heart threatens to explode, especially as
he kisses below my ear.

“
Go with it
…” he whispers, tightening
his squeeze again, his nose trailing down my neck and ending at the
base of my throat. It sends a chill over my body, my mouth opening
at the sensation. He slows to a still, something catching his
attention again. He withdraws slightly but then, after another
minute, when my body feels like putty, like liquid held together in
the trappings of my skin, he pulls back fully, freeing himself of
the heat. He runs his hand through his hair, “Sorry…”

My heart’s still trying to quiet back down,
my mind racing with what just happened.

What
did
just happen?

Reid rubs the back of his neck, his eyes
aloof, away from mine. He motions behind him. “Ergiloff and Jeb and
the others… they…uh… like to catch up,” he clears his throat,
scanning the movement behind us, “mostly with people available to
chat,” and finally his eyes find mine, shifting between them. “I’m
not ready to chat.”

“So I was your scapegoat?”

“Something like that,” he laughs, clearing
his throat, “although it seems the only way to keep them off your
back.”

“What?” my heart’s still slowing. “Keeping
busy?”

He returns his serious stare, the kind that
liquefies me all over again. “Yeah. Listen,” he backs up, “I need
to take care of a few things. Pick up Raj by the entrance,” he
indicates down the wall to the Maze’s opening, “do a lap, then meet
me back there in ten. Cool?”

“Yeah…” I start and then pause, “wait—how do
you know she’s there?”

He shrugs. “I’ll have her sent.”

“By
who
?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he winks, “see you
in a few.”

I head for the West Wall’s entrance, going
over everything. If Reid’s not a Rogue… then what’s his deal? Why
do certain people—like Raj now—work for him? Is he something
similar to the Kisses, being his own independent unit? Or is it
something else?

“Hey,” Raj grins, joining me at the
entrance. “Ready for our lap?”

“Lead the way.”

We walk in silence, my mind still racing
with the Jeb- Ergiloff distraction… and Reid’s lips. Does he do
that often? And is
that
why Leisure Time is the way it is?
Because no one wants to ‘catch up’ with the Guide and scientist?
There are so many things to diagnose, the foremost being the pills.
Why did the Dofinikes have us take them?

“Raj…” I ignore the heat still radiating
from my skin, “did you take the pill?”

“For the berry juice? Yeah,” she throws me a
contemplative frown. “Didn’t you?”

Ignoring her question, I try to keep this as
innocuous as possible. “Do you feel any… different?”

“Not really.”

We breeze up by the East Wall. “So… no
different at all?”

“Why?” she frowns. “It’s supposed to protect
us.”

A long minute passes. “But what if it
doesn’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t know what it is.”

“It’s like they said—an antidote for the
berry juice.”

“Right, but what if it’s something else and
they’re using Hinson’s death as a catalyst to get us to trust
them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well think about it,” I toss her another
glance, “they tell us someone’s died, so there’s a reason to take
it, and it’d be strange if they
didn’t
offer some sort of
protection…”

“No,” her brows pinch together. “I mean,
who’s Hinson?”

I’m not sure what to say.

Is she joking? But why jest about this?
About something that was so clear to us all the other night. It
doesn’t make any sense. But Raj doesn’t look like she’s kidding. In
fact, she looks serious. Confused. Worried, if anything.

“Fallon?”

I can only manage one word. “Hinson.”

“Yeah, but who is she?”

“Hinson,” I repeat, as if she’ll get it by
the stress of the sound, “
Hinson
.”

“You keep saying that,” she exhales,
frustrated, “but who
is
she?”

It’s important how I phrase my next few
statements. She knows something’s wrong. Already. She can see it in
my hesitation, my aversion to look her in the eye and tell her it’s
lost. Whatever it is she’s supposed to have.

“Let’s keep going,” I inch forward, along
the East Wall’s entrance, “we’ll get it straightened out.”

“No!” She snatches my hands in hers,
stopping us. A tremble quivers in her voice, “Don’t keep me in the
dark. Tell me,
please
…”

“It’s fine,” I lie, still inching forward.
Raj’s hand grows tight around mine, squeezing it to the point of
bruising. I look down to her.

“
Fallon
,” her voice grows shrill as a
few nosey onlookers glance in our direction. “I know something’s
wrong. Just tell me. Whatever it is,
tell
me. I have to
know.”

I grasp her shoulders, steadying her to the
ground. “Raj, I need you to do something for me,” I command in my
sternest voice, “can you do something for me?”

Like an obedient child, she nods, battling
out the moistness in her eyes.

“I need you to act like we’re having a
regular conversation. Because we are, right?” I enforce the
authority in my tone, reminding her I’m the one in charge.

She nods again, quickly. “We are.”

“Right. We’re just talking, about nothing
important, right?” I signal the correct response.

She nods again, wiping a lone tear from her
cheek with her palm.

“Good! So, what I’m going to do is take a
walk with you to Sampson. Not so hard,” I swing my arm over her
shoulder. “We’ll go have a chat and sort everything out, okay?”

This seems to calm her down.

“Okay,” she allows me to lead us back toward
the West Wall’s entrance.

I have no idea if he’s there but Reid will
know. And we’re expected to meet him anyway. Arriving just as Clark
disappears inside the entrance, I keep Raj tucked behind me, at the
edge of the narrow opening. Reid appears moments later, swimming to
us through the crowd.

“Is Sampson inside?” I indicate to the
entrance.

“Yeah,” he sees my unease, his brows
pinching together. “Why?”

“Let’s get to Sampson first,” I glance to
Raj under my arm.

Without a word, he leads us into the Maze
and back to the same spot with the hidden door. Sampson, Vix, Clark
and Pratt are already there. I drop Raj with Pratt before speeding
toward Sampson. “We need to go to Camp
now
.”

“What’s happened?”

I shake my head. “Best we talk there.”

“Of course,” he nods, his eyes shifting
between Reid and I, who’s suddenly at my side. “Take my Callix,”
Sampson tosses me the pulsating blossom, “so you can find your
way.” He turns to Reid, “we’ll get a head start. Meet us when you
can.”

With his hand on her shoulder, Sampson
escorts Raj through the black passageway where Pratt, Clark and Vix
have disappeared, the wall sliding into place behind them.

Once they’re gone, Reid spins to me. “What’s
going on?”

“She doesn’t remember Hinson.”

He studies my face, searching for any hint
of doubt or mistake. Surely he misheard. “What do you mean she
doesn’t remember Hinson?”

“She doesn’t remember her,” I shake my head,
stressing, “at
all
.”

Reid slips his hand in mine, pulling me back
through the Maze. We’re obviously not following the others so…
where are we going? After a few turns, we reach another dead end.
It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust but then I see it—the
nearly invisible outline ahead.

“Are you serious?” How many hidden exits are
there in this place? And how does Reid know so many? “Do the
Dofinikes know about these?”